This essay examines the madness portrayed in Selma Lagerlöf’s The Emperor of Portugallia and Olivier Bourdeauts Waiting for Bojangles, in order to identify a conceptual apparatus describing its interaction with the social ordering of reality, using the theoretical concepts of utopia and heterotopia. The concept of utopia used for this essay is the definition formed by Paul Ricoeur and the concept of heterotopia created by Michel Foucault. The examination is carried out by comparing both of the fictive portraits of madness against first Ricoeurs three-legged utopia and secondly against Foucault’s definition of heterotopia. A conclusion is made that the fictive portrait of madness in these two texts generates heterotopias based on utopian fantasies the characters have for their respective existences.

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Thesis advisor: Richard R. Gaillardetz / The following dissertation argues that the relations of power operative in the investigation and silencing of Fr. Leonardo Boff, O.F.M. by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) can be adequately understood through the application of a model derived from the works of Michel Foucault. Drawing on the affirmation of the Second Vatican Council that the Catholic Church receives both charismatic and hierarchical gifts, the basis of this model is two elementary forms of power: charismatic power and pastoral power. The category of pastoral power includes, but goes beyond, the traditional ecclesiological concepts of office, law, hierarchy, or institution and includes all forms of ministries and modes of service set over the good of each and all members of the faithful. In order to accomplish this broader task, Foucault’s distinction between sovereignty, discipline, and governmentality are employed as three strategic logics of the Christian pastorate. Charismatic power is then understood as the free gifts of the Holy Spirit that uplift and perfect the talents of each member of the faithful in order to participate in the loving service of the church’s mission in dialogical relation to each respective strategy of pastoral power. In order to defend the claim that each of these strategic relations of power can be observed in the Boff case, this dissertation offers a historical review of the theological concepts entailed therein, genealogical analyses of the discursive and non-discursive practices carried out by both Boff and the CDF, and an explication of Foucault’s thought on power relations. This dissertation concludes with an interpretation of the Boff case that shows how the fundamental arguments of both parties are theologically sound, although with respect to different strategic logics. The conclusion also offers a preliminary outline for a generalized theology of power in the Catholic Church based on the lessons learned from this particular case study. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

The aim of this study is to examine John Chrysostom’s views on slavery, specifically in his homilies on the Pauline Epistles and Hebrews. Roman slaveholding is approached as a complex habitus, and Chrysostom’s negotiation with and reimagination of this habitus is examined. The method of enquiry used is a cultural-historical analysis, and the theories of Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu are extensively utilized. Moreover, based on the work of Jennifer Glancy, slavery is approached as a corporeal discourse – one focused on the slave as a body. The discursive formation of the slave-body is further deconstructed into four related corporeal discourses – namely the domesticity, heteronomy, carcerality and commodification of the slavebody. The study commences by revisiting and re-reading Hellenistic, early Roman, Judaistic, and early Christian sources on slaveholding from a cultural-historical perspective in order to reconstruct the main discursivities of the habitus of Roman slaveholding. Then, the first question asked is how Chrysostom understands the domesticity of the slave-body. Based on his exegesis of the haustafeln, it is concluded that Chrysostom negotiates and reimagines the discourse in three ways: a) he proposes a shift from strategic to tactical slaveholding; b) he formulates his theology, especially hamartiology and eschatology, on the Stoic-Philonic metaphor of domestic slavery; and, c) he advises that domestic slaves be reformed by being taught Christian virtue and trades. Secondly, Chrysostom accepts the heteronomy of all bodies, and hence uses slavery as a basis for his ethics. The body is either ruled by God or sin/passions, and the problem of institutional slavery is downplayed. Thirdly, Chrysostom affirms that slaves should remain in their carceral state and stay obedient to their masters, while masters ought to treat slaves justly since they are also slaves of God. Finally, Chrysostom sees slaves as both economic and symbolic capital, and the shift to tactical slaveholding supports his more general vision of promoting a popular asceticism in the city. Chrysostom does not simply accept, ameliorate or reject slaveholding – we rather see sophisticated discourses of negotiation and reimagination of slaveholding to fit in with his wider programme of social and ascetic reform among Christian households. / Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Ancient Languages / unrestricted

Föreliggande uppsats analyserar framställningen av kvinnans villkor i Willy Kyrklunds roman Solange från 1951. Äktenskapskildringen av makarna Solange och Hugo har i tidigare forskning tolkats som en allegori över kampen mellan två olika moralfilosofiska principer för och emot frihet, mellan ett manligt förnuft och ett kvinnligt oförnuft. Syftet med denna undersökningen har istället varit att avläsa Solanges öde utifrån romanens sociala kontext. Yvonne Hirdmans studier om folkhemmets systematiska underordning av kvinnan i svensk folkhemspolitik placerar Solange i sitt historiska sammanhang och belyser relationen mellan romanen och dess samtid. Hirdman i sin tur läses jämsides med Michel Foucaults syn på korrelationen mellan makt och kunskap i det biopolitiska samhället. Analysen redovisar olika infallsvinklar som berör kontinuiteten mellan maktens inflytande över Solanges vardagliga liv och hur maktrelationen i äktenskapet konstitueras av en viss typ av vetande. Via Hirdman knyter det teoretiska perspektivet an till den feministiska kritiken av Foucaults generaliserande av maktens specifika inbegripande på kvinnan och kvinnokroppen. Slutet av uppsatsen diskuterar hur Solanges irrationella beteende kan läsas som ett resultat av en dominerande patriarkal rationalitetstradition.

Alla barn har inte de förutsättningar som krävs för ett talat språk, vilket gör att alternativa kommunikationssätt krävs för att barnet ska möjliggöras ett redskap och en språklig form för att uttrycka sin mening. Forskning visar att det finns ett stort intresse för att hitta alternativa kommunikationssätt genom språkstödjande material för barn men att fokuset tycks hamna på teknologin och att undervisa om materialet istället för att använda det i kommunikativt syfte. Med anledning av detta ämnar uppsatsen att skapa kunskap om materialets användning och hur det diskursivt kan konstituera barnet som subjekt i en förskolekontext. Detta kommer att besvaras genom frågeställningarna Vilka diskurser om kommunikation kommer till uttryck i språkstödjande material för förskolan? Vilka subjektspositioner möjliggörs i de diskurser som uttrycks i språkstödjande material för förskolan?MetodUppsatsen har ett diskursanalytiskt angreppssätt som inspireras av Foucaults diskursteori. De centrala begrepp som behandlas är makt, inneslutning och uteslutning samt subjektspositioner. Både text- och bildanalys ingår i studien. Texterna har en beskrivande roll om det språkstödjande materialet och representeras huvudsakligen av Specialpedagogiska skolmyndigheten (SPSM). Bilderna utgör praktiknära exempel från Region Stockholm, Region Uppsala och Västra Götalandsregionen.ResultatI studien identifieras två framträdande diskurser; det lekande barnet och det lärande barnet. Diskursernas strukturer innehåller olika handlingsmöjligheter och möjliga subjektspositioner. Diskursen om det lekande barnet erbjuder barnet att vara ett aktivt lekande barn eller ett passivt lekande barn. Diskursen om det lärande barnet erbjuder barnet att vara ett autonomt barn eller ett lydigt barn. En produktiv maktrelation mellan förskolläraren, barnet och bilderna framträder som visar sig vara både stödjande och styrande – men framförallt är den komplex och värd att problematisera.

This thesis discusses the conception of power relations and gender stereotypes in Gabriela Preissová's literary masterpiece - Gazdina roba and Její pastorkyňa. The analysis employs the concept of power as an analytical categoryand draws on Michel Foucault's theories. The thesis further examines the discourse in which the main characters find themselves. The analysis of male and female characters focuses on the position of the main character and also on the ways in which female protagonists become influenced by their male partners. Selected characters are also interpreted by using Foucault's concept of bio-power and a special attention is paid to the subject type of homo oeconomicus. The thesis attempts to answer the question, whether the discussed literary characters are "disciplined bodies", or whether they embody a subversion of the (gender) system. Part of the text is also dedicated to the comparison of male and female characters in both Preissová's works as to whether they do or do not comly with traditional images of "masculinity" and "femininity" (and related gender stereotypes), or how many of them represent resisting or (in the case of some female protagonists) collaborating entities. Possible interpretations of the characters' inner drive in this regard are also offered. Key words:...

The aim of this qualitative study is to with the help of discourse theory according to Michel Foucault and queer theory, to define and understand how the sub discourse of regretted motherhood is communicated on online platforms in Sweden. More specifically, how the responses to women who express their regretted motherhood on online platforms take form and what communicative strategies are used. The second part of the study focuses on what characteristics define this specific taboo. The third part focuses on how normative parenthood is maintained. The material in question consists of fifteen media texts, also known as comments, from two different platforms. The first platform is Facebook where the five most liked comments were chosen from a post containing an interview with a woman who discussed why she regretted her motherhood. The second five comments were chosen from the platform Familjeliv from an anonymous post from a woman explaining how come she regretted her motherhood. The last five were also from Familjeliv that refers to a post regarding a mother who wanted to give her 3 year old up for adoption. The result from the analysis showed there is a deep incomprehension regarding what regret means and how it should be met. Subjective experiences were used as universal facts with the intention to shame the woman who regrets her motherhood. The lack of empathy resulting in shameful comments throughout the material, resulted in a wide taboo within the sub discourse dicated by normative parenthood.

The Beat poet Bob Kaufman was in many ways nearly destroyed by the state. Forcible electroshock therapy, repeated targeting by police, repeated brutalization by police, and frequent homelessness all threatened to snuff him out, but Kaufman refused to give in. He remained a political beacon of hope for his community throughout his life, asking those around him to envision a world where he could be free. Through his poems, through the poems of Etheridge Knight and Jimmy Santiago Baca, and through contemporary visions of abolition from Angela Davis and community organizers that become ever more relevant as the prison system continues to destroy its subjects, we can look towards a deeply necessary shift. Envisioning the world without prisons is foreign to many, perhaps even unimaginable. However, with the perspectives I will incorporate in this thesis, the necessity and beauty of envisioning abolition is clear.

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to study why the concept of digital competence previously has been frequently addressed in Swedish politics, and to examine possible connections to the related concepts information literacy and media and information literacy (MIL). These inquiries have been studied using Carol Lee Bacchi’s methodological approach to policy analysis to, with basis in Foucaldian post-structuralist discourse analysis, study representations of the problem present in a public investigation, presented by the Digitization Committee regarding digital competence (SOU 2015:28). In order to perform a discourse analysis according to Bacchi’s methodology, elements from both Foucault’s archeology and genealogy have been used to examine the discursive formations of digital competence. Apart from the public investigation issued by the Digitization Committee, other relevant documents have been studied. The Media public investigation (SOU2015:94), the Government’s Digitization Strategy (N2017/03643/D) and the National IT Strategy for the Swedish School System (U2017/04119/S) have been examined, in search for competing discourses regarding digital competence. The results of the study show that digital competence has been frequently issued in Swedish politics in regard to its part of hegemony discourse and therefore to its prominent position in the economics and technology discourse. Connections to the related concepts information literacy and media and information literacy are identified in their part of a competing humanistic and sociological discourse, and their power and potential to rephrase hegemony discourse, regarding the concept of digital competence.