The aim of this thesis is to analyze the transnational family relationships of Czech pre-1989 political émigrés and post-1989 love/ economic migrants in Sweden and their homeland-based relatives, by looking at the practices via which these relationships are initiated and maintained and the role of materiality in these practices. The theoretical framework builds on the notion of “transnationalism from below” as a perspective which intersects migration and family studies, and posits the focus on material culture as an effective analytical tool. After setting the research in the context of Czech and Czechoslovak migration in the 20th century, qualitative analysis of life history narratives and ethnographic interviews is used to investigate the topic in question. Considering the influence of historical and individual factors, the study identifies the parallels and divergences in the two migrant groups’ practices of long-distance communication and mutual visits and in their attitudes to the role of materiality in transnational family relationships. The thesis concludes by stating that in contrast to the pre-1989 émigrés, the post-1989 migrants’ transnational connections with the homeland-based kin are more frequent and intensive. While material aspects play a more significant role in the post-1989 migrants’ transnational family relationships, material differences are more pronounced in the pre-1989 émigrés’ relationships. The historical circumstances of migration, the individuals’ perceptions of their own acts of migration as voluntary or forced and the question of whether or not they were given a license to leave by their homeland-based kin are said to have a significant impact on relationship initiation, the practices of relationship maintenance and the inherent role of materiality. The importance of individual-level enquiry of the migration experience is thus emphasized.

<p>Plants often grow in communities closely surrounded by neighbouring plants. Plants can actively and intensely compete for resources and also anticipate competition by sensing environmental cues from the presence and identity of neighbours. Moreover, it’s been proposed that the evolution of both increased and decreased competitive ability may serve as a mechanism for invasiveness. However, still little is known about how plants integrate competitive responses when sensing multiples cues of competition and which individual competitive traits respond to the identity of competitors. In addition, whether and why the evolution of competitive traits may contribute to the ability of introduced species to become invasive is also poorly understood.</p> <p>Here I present a body of work that examined the competitive responses of a native and an invasive plant species to cues of competition and the identity of neighbours. I also examined how experimental manipulation of pot volume, to control belowground resources, affects plant growth and allocation. In one study I tested the competitive responses of the North American native, <em>Impatiens pallida</em>, to cues signalling the presence of neighbours above and belowground simultaneously in competitive environments composed of either siblings or strangers. I demonstrate that<em> I. pallida</em> can recognize siblings and shows more aggressive competitive behaviours towards strangers than kin.</p> <p>In two other studies, I compared the competitive responses of the invasive and native ecotypes of <em>Alliaria petiolata</em> to changes in density, as well as to the presence and identity of neighbours. I found that invasive ecotypes produced less competitive phenotypes especially under high density. Moreover, I found that invasive ecotypes performed better when sharing rooting space with neighbours that were siblings.</p> <p>Taken together, these results demonstrate the ability of these plant species to respond to the identity of neighbours and provide strong evidence in support of the evolution of reduced competitive ability hypothesis in invasive plant species potentially mediated by the action of kin selection in invasive ecotypes.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Syftet med denna studie är att få ökad kunskap om hur anhöriga till en närstående äldre som beviljats särskilt boende upplever sitt anhörigskap under flyttprocessen. Studiens material består av tio kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med anhöriga makar och döttrar. Materialet har analyserats med hjälp av Bronfenbrenners utvecklingsekologi och med hjälp av det teoretiskt laddade begreppet livsbrott som framkommit i tidigare forskning. Studien visar att flyttprocessen upplevs som en känslomässig och omvälvande tid i de anhörigas liv och medför både förändringar, förluster och livsbrott då de anhöriga möter flera utmaningar under sitt anhörigskap. Känslor som skam, skuld och sorg är vanligt förekommande och anhöriga upplever ofta sin tillvaro som att vara i en väntesorg. Studien visar att anhörigskapet ofta upplevs som ensamt och osynligt och ger upphov till frustration, inte minst i relation till socialtjänstens olika representanter de kommer i kontakt med. Studien visar att de anhöriga tar på sig olika roller under flyttprocessen och att den sorts hjälp och omsorg som de ger till sin närstående äldre oftast ändras när sammanhanget för anhörigskapet skiftar från hemmet till det särskilda boendet. Studien visar också att relationen mellan anhörig och närstående förändras under och av flyttprocessen. Vidare framkommer att det är värdefullt att ha tillgång till stöttande nätverk under flyttprocessen, både privata och professionella. Att sakna stöttande nätverk visar sig påverka anhörigskapet på ett negativt sätt. / The purpose of this study is to gain increased knowledge about experiences and attitudes of next of kin towards the relocation process of an elderly family member to a nursing home. The material consists of ten qualitative semi-structured interviews with spouses and daughters. The material has been analyzed with the help of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory and with the help of the theoretically charged concept of life breaking point that has emerged in previous research. The study shows that the relocation process is experienced as an emotional and transformative time by next of kin and entails both changes, losses, and life breaking points as they face several challenges during the process. Emotions such as shame, guilt and sadness are common, and next of kin often experience this time as being in a state of anticipatory grief. The study shows that next of kin often feel lonely, frustrated, and invisible during the relocation process, not least in contact with the social services' various representatives. The study shows that next of kin take on different roles over the different phases of the process and that the help and care they give to the elderly often changes when the context shifts from the home to the nursing home. The study also shows that the relationship between next of kin and elderly changes. Furthermore, the study illustrates the importance of supportive networks during the relocation process, both private and professional. Lack of supportive networks proves to affect the next of kin in a negative way.

Bakgrund: Barn som anhöriga till en förälder med psykisk eller fysisk sjukdom, missbruk eller dödsfall är en grupp som blir direkt påverkade av förälders situation och som ofta hamnar i skymundan. De tar ett större ansvar hemma och både skolan samt barnens sociala liv kan bli påverkat. Skolsköterskor har en stor möjlighet att träffa och hjälpa dessa barn. Det finns dock begränsat med forskning kring deras erfarenhet.   Syfte: Att beskriva skolsköterskors erfarenheter av att möta barn som anhöriga.  Metod: För att besvara studiens syfte användes en kvalitativ intervjustudie med induktiv ansats. Data insamlades genom tio semistrukturerade intervjuer med skolsköterskor. Dataanalysen genomfördes med manifest innehållsanalys enligt Graneheim och Lundman.  Resultat: Den insamlade datan resulterade i två huvudkategorier; betydelsen av en god relation vilken belyser vikten av att lyssna, vara lyhörd och skapa en kontakt med barnen och att arbeta utifrån barnets bästa vilken belyser samarbetet med andra professioner både i och utanför skolan. Ett barncentrerat arbetssätt möjliggör för skolsköterskorna att identifiera och stödja barnen genom att se varje barn och utgå ifrån deras enskilda behov.  Slutsats: Arbetet med barn som anhöriga kommer med många möjligheter men även utmaningar. Samarbetet med andra professioner möjliggör skapandet av en helhetsbild kring barnen vilket förbättrar möjligheterna att individualisera insatser och stöd för varje enskilt barn. Därav behövs uppdaterade rutiner och riktlinjer för att ytterligare kunna hjälpa barnen. Då barn som anhöriga kan visa diffusa tecken och dölja sin situation behöver skolsköterskor ytterligare kunskap. Vidare forskning behövs för att fortsätta uppmärksamma barnen och deras behov av stöd / Background: Children who are next of kin to parents which are suffering from illness, substance abuse or death is a group which are directly affected by their parents' situation and are often neglected. They take on greater responsibility at home, which affects both school and their social life. School nurses have a great opportunity to meet and help these children, though, there is not much research concerning school nurses' experiences with children who are next of kin.   Aim: To describe school nurses experiences working with children who are next of kin.   Method: A qualitative interview study with and inductive approach was conducted to answer the studies aim.  Data was collected through ten semi structured interviews with school nurses. The data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis according to Graneheim and Lundman.  Result: The collected data resulted in two main categories; the importance of a good relationship which enlightens the importance of listening and creating a contact with the children and working for the child’s best interest which enlightens the collaborations with other professions both inside as well as outside of school. A child-centered perspective enables the school nurses to identify and support the children by seeing every individual child and their needs. Conclusion: Working with children who are next of kin comes with both opportunities and challenges. Collaboration with other professions was essential when creating an overall picture of the child's situation and thereby individualizing the support and care. Hence, updated routines and guidelines are needed to be able to further help the children. As children who are next of kin can show diffuse signs and hide their situation, school nurses need additional knowledge. Further research is necessary for highlighting the importance of children who are next of kin and their need of support.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第25343号 / 農博第2609号 / 京都大学大学院農学研究科応用生物科学専攻 / (主査)准教授 田川 正朋, 教授 三田村 啓理, 教授 益田 玲爾 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DGAM

L’ensemble romanesque Les Thibault de Roger Martin du Gard (publié de 1922 à 1940) est sous-tendu par un témoignage que l’auteur adresse au lecteur sur le monde réel dans lequel l’écrivain français vécut. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’analyser ce témoignage à travers certains aspects des relations multilatérales entre ces trois pôles que sont la société, l’œuvre et l’auteur. L’œuvre romanesque de Roger Martin du Gard informe la société de son époque autant qu’elle est informée par elle, et l’écrivain, façonné par la société, façonne à son tour une société romanesque. La relation au monde des personnages des Thibault puise ses sources dans l’expérience même de l’auteur : relations familiales, relations entre les deux sexes, relations sociales et religieuses, autant de clés pour comprendre l’œuvre mais peut-être aussi la vie de l’auteur. Pour permettre d’apprécier la réception de l’œuvre de Roger Martin du Gard auprès du public chinois, la dernière partie de cette thèse analyse les deux traductions des Thibault publiées dans les années 1980 en Chine, et propose aussi quelques éléments de comparaison avec une fresque romanesque chinoise à portée elle aussi familiale et sociale, la trilogie de Ba Jin (Pa Kin) intitulée Torrent (Famille – Printemps – Automne, 1932-1940). L’étude des analogies entre ces deux œuvres certes très différentes permet de découvrir comment le roman de Roger Martin du Gard et son message dépassent les frontières, trouvent écho dans d’autres cultures, et finissent par rejoindre l’humanité universelle. / In the eight novels Les Thibault by Roger Martin du Gard (published between 1922 to 1940), the author addresses the reader and describes the world in which the former lives. The objective of this thesis is to examine Martin du Gard’s discourse with respect to some aspects of the multilateral relationships between society, author and oeuvre. R.M.G’s novels informed society of his time and were themselves shaped by society. The author moulded by society then constructs a fictional world. The relationships in Les Thibault are autobiographical in nature whether familial, gender, social or religious and these constitute the principal means of understanding the oeuvre and the author’s own life.To evaluate the reception of Roger Martin du Gard’s work among the Chinese public, the final part of this thesis analyses the two translations of Les Thibault, published in China in the 1980s. Comparison with a Chinese trilogy, Torrent (Family – Spring – Autumn, 1932-1940), by Ba Jin (Pa Kin), although very different but which also considers family and social relationships, allows consideration of how Roger Martin du Gard’s message crosses frontiers and reflects universal concerns, those of humanity itself.

The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of ancient Egyptian kinship in the First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom (ca 2150–1650 BCE) by exploring how forms of relatedness were displayed in the monumental record. Kinship and marriage are contextually driven sociocultural phenomena that should be approached from the actors' perspective; such an approach can achieve some insight into emic notions of kinship, because monuments were integral to society and contributed to perpetuating and sustaining its fabric. The introduction (chapter 1) presents the theoretical background on which the thesis is based, namely the notion of kinship as process, where relationships can be constructed and reconstructed throughout one’s life. In addition, it provides a working definition of 'kin group', an analytical category that is taken as the primary unit of social analysis that can encompass several ways of being related. Chapter 2 offers a discussion of kinship terminology in the First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom. The focus is less on basic kinship terms than on the little understood terminology for kin groups and how these were presented in the written record. Chapter 3 treats stelae, which constitute the core corpus of material for the thesis. Stelae present a variety of images of kin groups and, moreover, they should be considered within the larger units of which they were part. Many of these stelae are unprovenanced but have been attributed to Abydos. At this site, memorial chapels have been identified archaeologically, and some stelae have been found in association with them. Thus, the site offers a materialisation of constellations of relationships. Possible reconstructions of such chapels – one from Saqqara and two from Abydos – are presented in chapter 4, and the impact they may have had on the social memory of visitors is assessed. Display, presence, and performance were some of the ways in which the social role of those groups was communicated. Chapter 5 is concerned with how change and time may be represented in apparently static objects. On the basis of the model of the developmental cycle of domestic groups first introduced by Meyer Fortes, the dynamism of the social fabric is explored through three case studies of groups at different stages of their developmental cycle. The strategies of survival can be seen pervasively in the monumental record, allowing for a glimpse into time and change in kin groups. The conclusion (chapter 6) offers a holistic approach to the material presented in the thesis, emphasising the ways in which the different theoretical approaches proposed intertwine with the material.

Literature on lifelong learning indicates that major life transitions lead to significant learning. However, compared to learning in paid jobs, learning in and through household work has received little attention, given the unpaid nature and the private sphere where the learning occurs. The current study examined the changes and the learning involved in three aspects of household work: food work, childcare/parenting, and emotion work among recent Chinese immigrants in Canada. This study draws on data from a Canadian Survey on Work and Lifelong Learning (WALL), 20 individual interviews, a focus group, and a discussion group with new Chinese professional immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area. The results indicate that food work and childcare increased dramatically after immigration due to a sudden decline of economic resources and the lack of social support network for childcare. Emotion work intensified due to the challenges in paid jobs and the absence of extended families in the new homeland. To adapt to the changes in their social and economic situations, and to integrate into the Canadian society, Chinese immigrants learned new beliefs and practices about food and childrearing, developed new knowledge and skills in cooking and grocery shopping, in childcare and disciplining, in solving conflicts with children and spouses, and in transnational kin maintenance. In addition, the Chinese immigrants also developed new views about family, paid and unpaid work, meaning of life, and new gender and ethnic identities. However, these dramatic changes did not shatter the gendered division of household work. Both the qualitative and the quantitative data suggest that women not only do more but also different types of household tasks. As a result, it is not surprising that both the content and the ways of learning associated with household work varied by gender, class, and ethnicity. By exploring learning involved in the four dimensions of household work: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual, this dissertation demonstrates that learning is both lifelong and lifewide. By making household work visible, this research helps make visible the value of the unpaid work and the learning involved in it.

Literature on lifelong learning indicates that major life transitions lead to significant learning. However, compared to learning in paid jobs, learning in and through household work has received little attention, given the unpaid nature and the private sphere where the learning occurs. The current study examined the changes and the learning involved in three aspects of household work: food work, childcare/parenting, and emotion work among recent Chinese immigrants in Canada. This study draws on data from a Canadian Survey on Work and Lifelong Learning (WALL), 20 individual interviews, a focus group, and a discussion group with new Chinese professional immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area. The results indicate that food work and childcare increased dramatically after immigration due to a sudden decline of economic resources and the lack of social support network for childcare. Emotion work intensified due to the challenges in paid jobs and the absence of extended families in the new homeland. To adapt to the changes in their social and economic situations, and to integrate into the Canadian society, Chinese immigrants learned new beliefs and practices about food and childrearing, developed new knowledge and skills in cooking and grocery shopping, in childcare and disciplining, in solving conflicts with children and spouses, and in transnational kin maintenance. In addition, the Chinese immigrants also developed new views about family, paid and unpaid work, meaning of life, and new gender and ethnic identities. However, these dramatic changes did not shatter the gendered division of household work. Both the qualitative and the quantitative data suggest that women not only do more but also different types of household tasks. As a result, it is not surprising that both the content and the ways of learning associated with household work varied by gender, class, and ethnicity. By exploring learning involved in the four dimensions of household work: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual, this dissertation demonstrates that learning is both lifelong and lifewide. By making household work visible, this research helps make visible the value of the unpaid work and the learning involved in it.

The Kin Selection Hypothesis proposes that the genes associated with male androphilia (i.e., sexual attraction/arousal to adult males) may be maintained over evolutionary time if the fitness costs of not reproducing directly are offset by increasing one’s indirect fitness. Theoretically, this could be accomplished by allocating altruism toward kin which would increase the recipient’s ability to survive and reproduce. Evidence for this hypothesis has been garnered through research conducted in Samoa however, no support has been garnered from research conducted in more industrialized cultures (i.e., USA, UK, Japan). In this thesis, I use a Canadian population to examine: (1) the role geographic proximity plays in the expression of androphilic male avuncularity and (2) whether androphilic males direct altruism toward the children of friends who might represent proxies for nieces and nephews in more industrialized cultures. Other sociocultural factors that potentially influence the expression of androphilic male avuncularity are also discussed. / ix, 81 leaves ; 29 cm