This Master Thesis focuses on the theoretical reconstruction of a positive feminist conceptualization of vulnerability via the thorough systematization and critical comparison of Martha Fineman’s socio-legal philosophy and Judith Butler’s poststructuralist ethico-political theory. In the introductory remarks, the reader becomes familiar with the turbulent receptions and numerous interdisciplinary re-artications of the term vulnerability within the realms of contemporary feminist theory. The second chapter mainly illustrates the core thematic axes of Fineman’s vulnerability approach. More specifically, the second chapter explores Fineman’s vulnerability perspective both in terms of an alternative ontological paradigm revolving around the recognition of our fundamentally vulnerable, shared, fragile and dependent universal condition, as well as in relation to its juridico-political normative implications apropos of the legitimate political organization of democratic societies and the just function of their central institutions. Furthermore, the third chapter systematizes the dual texture of the Butlerian radicalization of vulnerability in terms of both an existential condition of irreducible relationality, as well as in terms of a socio-politically contextualized and differentially allocated distribution of violence, deprivation, insecurity, injury and trauma to certain -gendered, racialized, sexualized and nationalized- social categories. To that end, the third chapter further elucidates the nuanced differentiations between the Butlerian conceptions of vulnerability, precariousness, precarity and dispossession, while further investigating Butler’s revolutionary constellation of vulnerability and resistance. Conclusively, this Master Thesis critically designates the similarities and divergences between the two above analysed feminist frameworks and supports that the twofold texture of the Butlerian vulnerability theory invests Butler’s ethico-political theory with more nuanced theoretical conceptions and more empowering political devices in comparison to Fineman’s universalistic postidentitarian vulnerability approach. In order to further enhance this core argument, I develop my own critical assessment of Fineman theory’s epistemological, political and conceptual limitations in regard of its self-declared ‘post-identitarian’ structure.

This essay is based on a case of a Swedish student with dyslexia who was denied the right to his aid during the national exam in Swedish. The purpose of the study is to shed light on the problems in how practice is interpreted and how future cases can behandled. In order to examine the current law in discrimination that dyslectics experience within the school system. The study has used the legal dogmatic method,the right as it is “de lege lata'' as well as “de lege ferenda”, as the right should be. The study has concluded that even if the student is not denied the right to a free education,the study wishes to draw attention to the fact that the student may have been exposed to discrimination based on the European Convention Art.14. What the study has discovered by analyzing the material is that the adaptations offered to the student did not compensate for the absence of the compensatory aid for the national test.

Interpretations of the Politics of Fictive Landscapes in Context: A Comparison of Allan Sekula's Sketch on a Geography Lesson and Martha Rosler's In the Place of the Public Airport Series Throughout this thesis project I examine the geopolitical context(s) of the photographs featured in Martha Rosler's 'In the Place of the Public Airport Series' (1983) and Allan Sekula's series, 'Sketch on a Geography Lesson' (1982). I investigate the manner in which they question the legitimacy of the genre of documentary photography within the post-modern age by emphasizing the documentation of an actual physical place, presenting an alternative to the post-modern notion of photograph merely as another component of simulacra, or the intentional creation of an image without meaning or origin. By looking at photographs that Rosler and Sekula made during the burgeoning stages of post-modern theory, presents a broader interpretation of the development of Marxist documentary photography from the early 1980's to today. One way in which I dialogue with the discourse surrounding documentary photography in the 1980's is to focus on Rosler's and Sekula's intentional choice of material that emphasizes the political dialogue rather than concepts that are abstract and maintain no reference to real life. Furthermore, the period of the 1980's is considered a point in contemporary art history when the political fervor of the 1960's and early 1970's diminished greatly. Departing from this trend, Rosler's and Sekula's work continues to address political ideas throughout the 1980's, creating a bridge to today's photographers, such as Edward Burtynsky and Andreas Gursky who consider aesthetics from a socio-political perspective. / Art History

The thesis examines the relationship between Martha Stewart's rendition of domesticity and a broader cultural trend of the late 1990s U.S. domestic retreatism. It argues that the mode of construction and representation of the "domestic dream" in Stewart's programs cannot be examined outside of such concepts as class and ethnicity, whose understanding depends on the cultural, social, and political context of a given era, a context, in which they become transparent as aspects of the Western (white, patriarchal) status quo. Performing a deconstructive reading of these categories as employed by Stewart in the process of creation of her media persona, the thesis examines what the negative as well as positive reactions to "Martha Stewart" convey about the condition of American society of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Many studies have been carried out throughout the world on how street-connected children relate to the streets, but not enough of these studies are seen through a gender perspective. Hence, the general conception of street-connected children is in some manner still mainstreamed, which casts an image claiming all children in the same category. This demonstrates that there is currently a missing gap of knowledge. This study covers whether the role of gender could affect the lives of the children that live and work on the streets, through a qualitative research in the field with 28 interviewees. These interviews were largely conducted in Brikama, Serekunda, Topkunda, Farafenni, Madina Salaam and Bakau in The Gambia, where the majority of the Gambian NGOs and street-connected children is located. The results from analysing these interviews pointed towards the same pattern: that there were a few similarities in the livelihoods of the street-connected boys and girls. However, the differences concerning their livelihoods on the streets were greater since the findings demonstrated that their challenges and opportunities of achieving the Ten Central Human Capabilities were different. Street-connected boys and street-connected girls were both exposed to child labour. The main difference was, street-connected boys, who lived in groups, worked in car garages, fish industries and for shop owners, while the few girls who permanently lived on the streets, were alone and sexual exploited. This research is thus not merely a contribution to the studies of street-connected children, but how gender is relating to the streets. Furthermore, a contribution to improve these vulnerable children’s livelihoods and also increase the awareness through the perspective of humanities, which might be crucial in future policy recommendations and research.

Poderiam os direitos humanos, em vista das limitações que envolvem tanto a sua titularidade como o seu fundamento nuclear - a dignidade humana e dos desafios que permeiam a sua implementação, se valer de linguagens alternativas que contribuam para o seu avanço? Com fundamento nos estudos de Martha Nussbaum, o presente trabalho explora a viabilidade de aplicação da abordagem das capacidades como ferramenta para qualificação do discurso dos direitos humanos. / Could it be possible for human rights, in view of the limitations regarding the idea of being entitled to and its foundation the human dignity and also the challenges that surround its implementation, to make use of alternative languages that contribute to its achievement? Based upon Martha Nussbaums studies, the present work explores the possibility of using the capabilities approach as a tool to qualify human rights discourse.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T17:27:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jose Paulo Coelho Faradji Chadan.pdf: 375540 bytes, checksum: ab7fc5b38b7db201759793336d7aa00a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-09-27 / The dissertation wich the reader has in its hands concerns my master dissertation about the contemplation in the Cloud of Unknowing. The Cloud of Unknowing belongs to the late medieval period (XIV century), and was probably written by a cartusian monk, as a method of teaching a young man, probably around twenty-four years old, about the contemplative life. In his writing, the author compares the contemplative life to two important biblical figures. First he compares it to Mary, that having received Jesus in her house, listens to him patiently, unlike Martha, her sister, that goes about preparing his supper. Next the author compares contemplative life, to Moses, wich with a lot of effort, climbs to the top of the mountain and sees a great cloud. Mary´s passage reports to the gospel according to Luque chapter 10, verse 38-42. Moses passage belongs to the book of Exodus, chapter 24. Mary is compared to her sister Martha. The first one represents the contemplative life, while the second one represents an active life. Moses is compared to Aaron, the last one representing a person wich with little effort and by divine grace contemplates the lord, while the first one is only capable of the same with a lot of effort. We approach the degrees of ascension to the contemplative life: the purgative path; the progressive and the contemplative one. The first degree refers to the active life while the second one refers to the active and contemplative lifes. In its turn the third level relates only to the contemplative life. The active life, being the path lived according the works of mercy and charity, as well as contemplation. Is the search of the spirit becoming closer to God through silence, solitude and loving desire / O trabalho que o leitor tem em mãos, trata da minha dissertação de mestrado acerca do tema da contemplação na Nuvem do Não-Saber. A Nuvem do Não-Saber é uma obra que data do medievo tardio (séc. XIV), tendo sido escrita provavelmente por um monge cartuxo, como modo de ensinar a um jovem em torno de vinte e quatro anos, acerca da vida contemplativa. Na obra, o autor compara a vida contemplativa a duas importantes personagens bíblicas: em primeiro lugar, compara-a a Maria, que tendo recebido Jesus em sua casa, senta-se a fim de, paciente e atenciosamente, ouvi-lo, diferentemente de Marta (sua irmã), que se apressa em preparar-lhe a refeição. Em segundo lugar, mas tão importante quanto, compara a vida contemplativa a Moisés que, com muito esforço, sobe ao cume do monte e vê ali, uma grande nuvem. A passagem de Maria reporta-se ao Evangelho de S. Lucas, no capitulo 10, versos 38- 42, já a passagem de Moisés reporta-se ao livro do Êxodo, no capítulo 24. Maria é contraposta a sua irmã Marta. Esta, representando a vida ativa, e aquela, a vida contemplativa. Já Moisés é contraposto a Aarão. Este, representando a pessoa que, sem muitos esforços e por divina graça, chega à perfeita contemplação assim que o quer, e aquele, só o consegue depois de muitos esforços. Abordamos então, os três graus de ascensão à vida contemplativa: a via purgativa, a via progressiva e a via contemplativa ou apofática. O primeiro grau, respectivo à vida ativa, e o terceiro grau, respectivo à vida contemplativa, sendo o segundo grau, intermediário (partícipe) tanto da vida ativa quanto da vida contemplativa. A vida ativa, sendo a vida vivida segundo as obras corporais de misericórdia e caridade e a vida contemplativa, sendo a busca do espírito em unir-se a Deus, por meio do silêncio, da solidão e do desejo amoroso

Bibliography: p. leaves 62-68.

<p>The aim with this study was to increase the knowledge about as well as shed light on hidden refugees’ living conditions by compiling research about hidden refugees’ living conditions and complete this research by doing a field survey with people with different knowledge and experience of hidden refugees’ living conditions. The result was analyzed on the basis of Nussbaum’s list of ten human abilities and the convention of human rights. The study showed that hidden refugees' living conditions are experienced as very critical, and characterized by lack of human rights as well as means to utilize and develop their abilities. The conclusion of the study is that hidden refugees’ living conditions could not be considered humane and that there is a need for ethics when treating hidden refugees.</p>

The aim with this study was to increase the knowledge about as well as shed light on hidden refugees’ living conditions by compiling research about hidden refugees’ living conditions and complete this research by doing a field survey with people with different knowledge and experience of hidden refugees’ living conditions. The result was analyzed on the basis of Nussbaum’s list of ten human abilities and the convention of human rights. The study showed that hidden refugees' living conditions are experienced as very critical, and characterized by lack of human rights as well as means to utilize and develop their abilities. The conclusion of the study is that hidden refugees’ living conditions could not be considered humane and that there is a need for ethics when treating hidden refugees.