Does mediation via the Internet contribute to the use of the Bible as a cultural resource, and if so does this contribute to other ways of relating to the Bible as an authority? This is investigated in three steps. Firstly, quantitative survey data concerning Bible reading and other forms of contact with the Bible as well as attitudes to the Bible are scrutinized for variation over time and generational differences. Secondly, patterns of use on a Swedish Christian ecumenical web site on the Bible targeted at teenagers are explored. Thirdly interviews with young users of this web site are assessed in terms of detraditionalization. Earlier results emphasizing the privatizing effect of the mediation of religion are complemented by considering a cultural component against which the individual relates to religion in a manner which is both private and social. This study supports the findings of earlier studies on the Internet and religion, as to the significance of factors such as offline experiences of religion, attitude to pluralism, and technical features online. This study adds to those results by exposing how these features come into play in the use of a Christian website, and that such a site may also work as an arena for young people from diverse religious backgrounds. Thirdly, the role of the mediation of religion via the Internet for religious and social change is understood in a reciprocal manner: the Internet is a product of a time of insecurity, an agent contributing to this insecurity, as well as a cultural response to this insecurity. It is argued that the use of the studied website can be seen as detraditionalization, in terms of weakening of traditions and individualization of religion. The concept virtual plausibility structure is suggested for understanding the role of the Internet in between the individual and the social in late modernity.

As sociedades ocidentais têm vivenciado processos difusos pelos quais, por um lado, institucionalizam sistemas políticos democráticos, com a ampliação de uma gama de direitos individuais e sociais. Por outro lado, têm vivenciado o crescimento de processos de desestabilização referentes ao controle social, ancorados em fenômenos tais como o crescimento das formas de violência e de criminalidade. Esta ambivalência tem sido caracterizada pelo conceito de modernidade tardia. Neste quadro, o papel da polícia, instituição que emergiu ligada à expansão do poder do Estado, de manter a ordem, garantir a segurança das cidades e lutar contras as formas de delinquência, tem sido foco de críticas, notadamente no que se refere à questão do uso da força. O clássico modelo educativo dado aos policiais – notadamente aos policiais militares – passa a ser alvo frequente de análises que apregoam a necessidade da construção de um novo perfil profissional. Modelo que auxilie as instituições policiais a superarem os padrões militarizados, hierárquicos, ligados a uma postura combativa e focada no crime. Não obstante, a formação dos policiais tem transcorrido, de forma recorrente, dentro das corporações policiais, caracterizadas pela existência de padrões de conduta disciplinares que mantém uma conformação específica de educação, bem como consolida mecanismos formativos muito diferentes daqueles preconizados pelos críticos. Este emaranhado de elementos que perpassam os processos formativos de policiais militares (brasileiros e paraguaios) conforma um campo de saberes/poderes que delimitam os embates travados em torno da formação dos policiais. / The Western societies have experienced diffused processes by which, on the one hand, institutionalize democratic political systems, with the expansion of several individual and social rights. On the other hand, they have experienced the development of destabilization processes concerning the social control, based on phenomena such as the development of forms of violence and crime. This ambivalence has been characterized by the concept of late modernity. In this context, the police role, an institution that emerged related to the expansion of State power, is to keep the order, ensure safety of cities and fight against forms of delinquency, but this has been a focus of criticism, especially regarding the issue of the use of force. The classical model of education, given to the policemen, especially the military police, becomes a frequent target of analyses that proclaim the necessity to establish a new professional profile. A model that assists the police authorities to overcome the militarized, hierarchical patterns, which are associated to a combative attitude and focused on crime. Nevertheless, the training of police has passed on a recurring basis, inside the police companies, characterized by the existence of disciplinary standards of conduction that maintains a conformation-specific education, training and consolidating very different mechanisms from those recommended by the critics. This mixing of elements that run through the training processes for police officers (Brazilian and Paraguayan) forms a field of knowledge/power that surrounds the difficulties lived by the policemen concerning their training.

Abstract In accordance with several scholars in the field of human resource management, developing employee commitment towards the employing organization is valuable due to the assumption that it increases their satisfaction, productivity and adaptability. By taking a pedagogical perspective focusing on impact processes, the aim of this master thesis is primarily to identify the constructions and functions of interpretive repertoires, of a few employees, in their descriptions of how the experience of Nynas’ Corporate Group Induction has influenced their commitment to Nynas, but also to categorize the constructions and functions of interpretive repertoires in a booklet underlined during the Corporate Group Induction, which I refer to as “This is Nynas”. In addition, the aim is to identify if other employees at Nynas share similar experiences, regarding the influence of the Corporate Group Induction. Moreover, the primary methodological approach used and theoretical perspective taken in this study is discursive psychology, based upon the premises of social constructionism. The empirical material is mainly consisting of interviews with six employees at Nynas, as well as of an analysis of the booklet “This is Nynas”. Additionally, the empirical material consists of a web-survey, based upon a five-point Likert scale, containing a sample of 25 employees. The study has identified two main interpretive repertoires in the booklet “This is Nynas”, explicitly the identity and the internalize repertoires, as well as subversions of these repertoires. In relation to this, the study has found that the interviewees in their language use to a large extent emphasize the interpretive repertoires constructed in “This is Nynas”. Furthermore, this master thesis have identified that the interviewees constructed certain interpretive repertoires when describing the experience of the Corporate Group Induction, and its influence on their commitment to Nynas, namely: the enhancement, the involvement, the development, the reciprocity and the constancy repertoires. Moreover, the study illustrates that the interviewees generally highlighted the Corporate Group Induction as having a strengthening influence on their commitment to Nynas, especially in relation to feelings of being a part of the company, due to the fact that they experienced themselves as active participants during the program. Furthermore, the result shows that the interviewees perceived the Corporate Group Induction as a sign of reciprocal dedication between themselves and Nynas, particularly on the subject of their integration into the company. Finally, the study has found that the experience of those who participated in the survey corresponded to a high extent with the interviewee’s experience of the Corporate Group Induction, and its influence on their commitment.      Keywords: induction program, Corporate Group Induction, social constructionism, discourse analysis, discursive psychology, discursively constructed, reflexivity, commitment, affective, continuance, normative, Likert scale, late modernity, strategic sampling.

This study offers insights into the motif of monstrous corporality in a transmedia environment, through the vampire and zombie characters. Different narratives of corporeal transformation surround us constantly. On one hand, discourses of self-improvement in late modernity (Giddens 1991/2008) and ‘makeover culture’ (Johansson, 2006; 2012; Miller, 2008; Weber, 2009) demand a ‘creation of self’ through change and development, often in relation to physical appearance and bodily traits. On the other hand, numerous narratives of monstrosity and bodily change through destruction are also evident. This study takes on this double focus on corporality, against the backdrop of a late modern mediascape that has enabled people to imagine lives and possibilities different from their own through electronic mediation (Appadurai, 1996). As narratives now move between media platforms, new dimensions are brought to the imaginary, as different platforms interact differently with audiences. The aim of the study is to examine monstrous corporality in popular culture both in relation to media texts and audience practices through analyzes of representation, consumption and performance. The study examines medial and corporeal transformation through: concrete bodily change (the monstrous body), shifts between media platforms (transmedia) as well as the transmission of affect between media material and viewer (embodied spectatorship). These dimensions are explored in four empirical chapters, which examine two television series (True Blood and The Walking Dead) through textual analyses, the promotion of these series, audience participation (in online fora) and also participatory practices (Live action role play and zombie walks) through focus group interviews. The results indicate that the theme of monstrous corporeal change in TB and TWD reflects corporeal change in late modernity in several ways. Both transformations are focused on ‘before’ and ‘after’ and change of the monstrous body is connected to particular traits or parts of the body, which are also prominent in makeover culture narratives, such as skin, teeth and weight (appetite). The televisual narrative offers representations of bodily interiors and bodily harm that affect the viewers in a physical way, through an embodied spectatorship. The analyses of transmedia environments connected to the series indicate that the promotion of the programs use dimensions that emphasize the corporeal address, by bridging the gap between diegetic and actual reality. This is done through media environments (posters, websites and the like), and by introducing diegetic elements as actual, tangible objects in the actual reality of potential viewers. The analyses of posts on televisionwithoutpity.com show that participants use forum discussions as strategies to prolong and widen the media experience, and share it with others. Interviews with larpers and participants in zombie walks indicate that practices that stage the monstrous, also function as deepened embodied narrative experiences. Performances such as larps and zombie walks are interpreted as both conscious acts, and as strategies to handle unconscious performative (Butler, 1991/2006) dimensions of late modernity. Taken together, the zombie and vampire embody the pressures, risks and paradoxes connected to late modern makeover culture, and the mediated form they are presented through, tie them closer to those who engage in narratives about them.

The present study aims at the discussion of the contemporary forms of construction of selfidentity through the perspective prompted by the transformations ocurring in the health field. The increasing influence of the health promotional discourses in the media is reflected in the personal sphere, through the popularization of the “healthy lifestyles”. These are understood as supporting the construction of late modern identities. Within this phenomenon, we discuss the specific implications of the health eating discourse as portrayed in a specialized publication, attempting to the overlapping connections between lifestyle, food and discourse in the shaping of self-identities. Through this perspective, food is approached as bearing fundamental implications to the constitution of the individual. The present study is placed within the sociological theories on late modernity, the discourse analysis theories and the media as the provider of the symbolic content. / O presente estudo tem por objetivo discutir as formas de construção de identidade pessoal na contemporaneidade através da perspectiva das mudanças que ocorrem no campo da saúde. A crescente influência do discurso da promoção da saúde na mídia se reflete na esfera pessoal através da popularização dos “estilos de vida saudáveis”, que são observados como oferecendo um suporte para as identidades na modernidade tardia. Dentro deste fenômeno, discutimos as implicações específicas do discurso acerca da alimentação saudável em uma publicação especializada, atentando para as relações que se sobrepõem entre estilos de vida, comida e discurso como centrais para a constituição da identidade. A comida, nesta perspectiva, é vista a partir de suas implicações simbólicas para a constituição do indivíduo. Este estudo posiciona-se dentro das teorias sociológicas sobre a modernidade tardia, as teorias da análise de discurso e o campo da mídia como provedor do material simbólico. / Den aktuella studien syftar på att diskutera nutida form av konstruktion av självidentitet i mediala texter. Från det här perspektivet utgör hälsofrämjande diskurser ett verktyg för att bygga uppfattningar om sig själv där mat är ett särskilt viktigt symboliskt objekt i detta projekt. Inom detta fenomen, diskuteras den specifika innebörden av meddelanden kring hälsosam kosthållning som framförs i ett specialiserat tidningsmagasin. Fokus är på de överskridande förhållandena mellan livstil, mat och diskurser i skapandet av självidentitet. Studien befinner sig inom sociologiska teorier om senmodernitet, teorier om diskursanalys och media som en instans där symboliskt innehåll om subjektiviteter kan hittas.

As sociedades ocidentais têm vivenciado processos difusos pelos quais, por um lado, institucionalizam sistemas políticos democráticos, com a ampliação de uma gama de direitos individuais e sociais. Por outro lado, têm vivenciado o crescimento de processos de desestabilização referentes ao controle social, ancorados em fenômenos tais como o crescimento das formas de violência e de criminalidade. Esta ambivalência tem sido caracterizada pelo conceito de modernidade tardia. Neste quadro, o papel da polícia, instituição que emergiu ligada à expansão do poder do Estado, de manter a ordem, garantir a segurança das cidades e lutar contras as formas de delinquência, tem sido foco de críticas, notadamente no que se refere à questão do uso da força. O clássico modelo educativo dado aos policiais – notadamente aos policiais militares – passa a ser alvo frequente de análises que apregoam a necessidade da construção de um novo perfil profissional. Modelo que auxilie as instituições policiais a superarem os padrões militarizados, hierárquicos, ligados a uma postura combativa e focada no crime. Não obstante, a formação dos policiais tem transcorrido, de forma recorrente, dentro das corporações policiais, caracterizadas pela existência de padrões de conduta disciplinares que mantém uma conformação específica de educação, bem como consolida mecanismos formativos muito diferentes daqueles preconizados pelos críticos. Este emaranhado de elementos que perpassam os processos formativos de policiais militares (brasileiros e paraguaios) conforma um campo de saberes/poderes que delimitam os embates travados em torno da formação dos policiais. / The Western societies have experienced diffused processes by which, on the one hand, institutionalize democratic political systems, with the expansion of several individual and social rights. On the other hand, they have experienced the development of destabilization processes concerning the social control, based on phenomena such as the development of forms of violence and crime. This ambivalence has been characterized by the concept of late modernity. In this context, the police role, an institution that emerged related to the expansion of State power, is to keep the order, ensure safety of cities and fight against forms of delinquency, but this has been a focus of criticism, especially regarding the issue of the use of force. The classical model of education, given to the policemen, especially the military police, becomes a frequent target of analyses that proclaim the necessity to establish a new professional profile. A model that assists the police authorities to overcome the militarized, hierarchical patterns, which are associated to a combative attitude and focused on crime. Nevertheless, the training of police has passed on a recurring basis, inside the police companies, characterized by the existence of disciplinary standards of conduction that maintains a conformation-specific education, training and consolidating very different mechanisms from those recommended by the critics. This mixing of elements that run through the training processes for police officers (Brazilian and Paraguayan) forms a field of knowledge/power that surrounds the difficulties lived by the policemen concerning their training.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:06:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JoaoBCJ_DISSERT.pdf: 943593 bytes, checksum: d28d49da9db8c1860d7e8754ffc3a90a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-27 / Universidade Estadual do Rio Grande do Norte / In the context of late modernity, the socio-cultural transformations established new social practices which corroborate discursive changes in dialectic movements, contributing to the order of the educational discourses to be more and more affected by typical market discourses and values which are covered by ideologies, hegemonic struggles and power relations. In this sense, this research study, which is based on the theoretical tenets of the Critical Discourse Analysis in its interdisciplinary branch (FAIRCLOUGH, 2006; ORMUNDO, 2010; PEDROSA, 2010; RAMALHO E RESENDE, 2011), aims at discussing how the sociocultural changes in the context of private education interact with the market proposal of neoliberal and economical policies. The research was methodologically based on the qualitative approach (CHIZZOTTI, 1991; BOGDAN e BIKLEN, 1994; MINAYO, 1994), especially on the principles of contemporary Applied Linguistics (SIGNORINI, 1998; MOITA-LOPES, 2006; MENEZES, SILVA, GOMES, 2009). Data were gathered from advertisements used in campaigns by private educational institutions and agencies in Natal/RN; the advertisements were collected in primary and secondary levels and in language courses from October to December, 2010. The data analysis indicate that education, in the context of globalization and late modernity, has become a market agency and that the new face of the educational discourse of private institutions is interwoven with a social representation of education as a site of struggle and hegemonic dispute. Therefore, the research leads us to infer that, as the educational public policies based on hegemonic economy and on ideological assumptions of international agents (Global Bank, FMI, etc.) have become widespread, education has become an arena of dispute and a powerful economic product to the market of cultural and commercial industry, thus emphasizing a society in which everything is economically based / No contexto atual da modernidade tardia, as mudan?as socioculturais instauram novas pr?ticas sociais que corroboram mudan?as discursivas em movimentos dial?ticos, contribuindo para que a ordem de discursos educacionais seja cada vez mais contaminada pelos discursos e valores t?picos de mercado revestidos por ideologias, lutas hegem?nicas e rela??es de poder. Nesse sentido, esta pesquisa, ancorada no aporte te?rico-anal?tico da An?lise Cr?tica do Discurso (ACD), em sua vertente transdisciplinar, (FAIRCLOUGH, 2006; ORMUNDO, 2010; PEDROSA, 2010; RAMALHO E RESENDE, 2011), tem como objetivo discutir como as mudan?as socioculturais, via o momento discursivo, no contexto da educa??o privada em Natal/RN, dialogam com a proposta mercadol?gica da pol?tica econ?mica neoliberal. A pesquisa se constituiu metodologicamente numa abordagem de natureza qualitativo-interpretativista (CHIZZOTTI, 1991; BOGDAN e BIKLEN, 1994; MINAYO, 1994), assentando-se nos pressupostos da Lingu?stica Aplicada contempor?nea (SIGNORINI, 1998; MOITALOPES, 2006; MENEZES, SILVA, GOMES, 2009). O corpus analisado concentrou-se numa compila??o de 11 an?ncios publicit?rios usados nas campanhas publicit?rias de institui??es privadas de ensino bem como de ag?ncia de fomento ao cr?dito estudantil em Natal/RN, desde a educa??o b?sica a cursos de idiomas, no per?odo de outubro a dezembro de 2010. Os dados evidenciam que a educa??o, no contexto da globaliza??o da modernidade tardia, configura-se como uma ag?ncia mercadol?gica e que a nova face do discurso educacional das institui??es privadas de ensino est? imbricada a uma representa??o social de educa??o associada a campo de luta e disputa hegem?nica. Portanto, a pesquisa autoriza a inferir que, com a propaga??o de pol?ticas p?blicas educacionais referendadas no ide?rio hegem?nico da economia neoliberal e nos pressupostos ideol?gicos dos agentes financeiros internacionais (Banco Mundial, FMI dentre outros), a educa??o tornou-se arena de disputa, um poderoso produto rent?vel para o mercado da ind?stria cultural, midi?tica e mercantilista, intensificando a constitui??o de uma sociedade na qual tudo ? medido economicamente

As sociedades ocidentais têm vivenciado processos difusos pelos quais, por um lado, institucionalizam sistemas políticos democráticos, com a ampliação de uma gama de direitos individuais e sociais. Por outro lado, têm vivenciado o crescimento de processos de desestabilização referentes ao controle social, ancorados em fenômenos tais como o crescimento das formas de violência e de criminalidade. Esta ambivalência tem sido caracterizada pelo conceito de modernidade tardia. Neste quadro, o papel da polícia, instituição que emergiu ligada à expansão do poder do Estado, de manter a ordem, garantir a segurança das cidades e lutar contras as formas de delinquência, tem sido foco de críticas, notadamente no que se refere à questão do uso da força. O clássico modelo educativo dado aos policiais – notadamente aos policiais militares – passa a ser alvo frequente de análises que apregoam a necessidade da construção de um novo perfil profissional. Modelo que auxilie as instituições policiais a superarem os padrões militarizados, hierárquicos, ligados a uma postura combativa e focada no crime. Não obstante, a formação dos policiais tem transcorrido, de forma recorrente, dentro das corporações policiais, caracterizadas pela existência de padrões de conduta disciplinares que mantém uma conformação específica de educação, bem como consolida mecanismos formativos muito diferentes daqueles preconizados pelos críticos. Este emaranhado de elementos que perpassam os processos formativos de policiais militares (brasileiros e paraguaios) conforma um campo de saberes/poderes que delimitam os embates travados em torno da formação dos policiais. / The Western societies have experienced diffused processes by which, on the one hand, institutionalize democratic political systems, with the expansion of several individual and social rights. On the other hand, they have experienced the development of destabilization processes concerning the social control, based on phenomena such as the development of forms of violence and crime. This ambivalence has been characterized by the concept of late modernity. In this context, the police role, an institution that emerged related to the expansion of State power, is to keep the order, ensure safety of cities and fight against forms of delinquency, but this has been a focus of criticism, especially regarding the issue of the use of force. The classical model of education, given to the policemen, especially the military police, becomes a frequent target of analyses that proclaim the necessity to establish a new professional profile. A model that assists the police authorities to overcome the militarized, hierarchical patterns, which are associated to a combative attitude and focused on crime. Nevertheless, the training of police has passed on a recurring basis, inside the police companies, characterized by the existence of disciplinary standards of conduction that maintains a conformation-specific education, training and consolidating very different mechanisms from those recommended by the critics. This mixing of elements that run through the training processes for police officers (Brazilian and Paraguayan) forms a field of knowledge/power that surrounds the difficulties lived by the policemen concerning their training.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-16T18:10:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Paulo Augusto.pdf: 1093593 bytes, checksum: b9d9c0f97135dcadbab1c13ac3bf719c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-12-19 / This research achieves a study of reception of the dematerialized music, based on Cultural Studies, in the environment of the digital culture and the late modernity. It understands the dematerialized music as the music which migrates from physical supports (LP, CD, K7, DVD) to the virtual environment. It applies a form envolving 76 listeners in order to comprehend how they deal with such music, from the point of view of the technologies used by them and the habits and perceptions developed in their reception. It presents the cultural industry as a condition of the rising of the materialized music, from which it is dematerialized. It lists the main reception theories. It problematizes the digital culture in its potentialities and contradictions. It discusses the download culture. It raises reflections about the crisis of the phonographic industry and the dematerialization of the music at the late modernity scenario. / Este trabalho realiza um estudo de recepção da música desmaterializada, com base nos Estudos Culturais, nos ambientes da cultura digital e da modernidade tardia. Entende como música desmaterializada a música que migra dos suportes físicos (LP, CD, K7, DVD) para o ambiente virtual. Aplica um questionário a 76 ouvintes para compreender como lidam com tal música, do ponto de vista das tecnologias utilizadas e dos hábitos e percepções desenvolvidos em sua recepção. Apresenta a indústria cultural como condição para o surgimento da música materializada, a partir da qual ela se desmaterializa. Elenca as principais teorias de recepção. Problematiza a cultura digital em suas potencialidades e contradições. Discute a cultura do download. Levanta reflexões sobre a crise da indústria fonográfica e a desmaterialização da música no cenário da modernidade tardia.

The aim of this thesis is to study how self presentations and reflexive writing work as displaying identity in the school context. In the curriculum from 1994 and the current curriculum (GY11) for the Swedish upper secondary school, identity making is central in how the subject Swedish  is defined. It is through language and different media the student will strengthen her individual and cultural identity. The material consist of students’ texts, inspirational texts and an assignment from the national test 2008 in the subject Swedish from upper secondary school. I examine how these texts provide a context for the student's own self presentation. I see this as a situation of interaction between the school as an institution and students’ writing. The study is discourse analytical where self presentations produced within the school are linked to a societal and historical context, based on theories on reflexivity and modernity, communication and enterprise culture and individualization/subjectivity and power. The methodological tools are primarily drawn from Systemic Functional Grammar and Narrative analysis. The results indictate a clear interaction when it comes to content as well as form between self presentation / life story and the construction of the assignment and the inspirational texts that the school provides. The discursive practice has great impact on the students’ own stories about themselves, and shows how the students handle the the discursive framework and the prerequisite provided from the school. The study's main contribution to school and writing research is to show how this is carried out.