This thesis contributes to the existing literature by exploring the intersection between collective memory theory and ontological security theory within East Asia’s autonomous entities. It explores how varying degrees of political autonomy shape the construction of collective memory in history textbooks, navigating the dynamics in the pursuit of ontological security. Drawing from ontological security, collective memory, and autonomy literature, this thesis posits that the level of political autonomy within an entity influences the divergence or alignment of its collective memory from that of the central state in its process of ontological security seeking. The theoretical assumption for this thesis is that entities with greater political autonomy tend to construct a more distinct and independent collective memory, while those with lesser autonomy align their narratives closely with the central state. The findings suggest that Taiwan with the highest autonomy, forms the most distinct narratives from the central state, presenting Japan in a relatively positive light and depicting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in a negative role. This distinct narrative reflects Taiwan’s assertion of its ontological security. Conversely, Macau with the lowest political autonomy, closely parallels the Mainland Chinese narrative, focusing predominantly on Chinese victimhood and celebrating the CCP’s heroism. Macau’s limited autonomy results in aligning its narrative closely with the central state to affirm ontological security through securing a positive relationship with the central state. Hong Kong, enjoying a comparatively higher autonomy than Macau, adopts a more nuanced approach, acknowledging Japan as a perpetrator while incorporating positive postwar Japanese imagery. Additionally, it portrays the CCP negatively in the context of war, differentiating its narrative from Mainland China. Thus, this thesis sheds light on how varying degrees of political autonomy shape ontological security pursuits, influencing the construction of collective memory.

[pt] A dissertação de mestrado busca explorar a proposta do ex-presidente dos Estados Unidos Donald J. Trump de construir uma barreira física ao longo de toda a fronteira sul durante os anos de sua campanha eleitoral e posterior presidência (2015 - 2020). Mais especificamente, busca-se questionar o papel desempenhado pelo muro fronteiriço, construído apenas parcialmente em termos físicos, mas amplamente fortificado em termos discursivos e simbólicos, considerando a retórica afetivamente carregada de Trump que narrou um cenário de crise existencial nos Estados Unidos, apelando para sentimentos de insegurança ontológica entre seu eleitorado. Enquanto o projeto para construir o muro físico na fronteira encontrava-se cheio de inconsistências e desafios técnicos, o muro simbólico evocado por Trump repetidamente através do discurso parecia desempenhar um papel mais abrangente que ia além da barreira física, tornando-se elemento central na agenda política de Trump ao longo toda a sua presidência no que diz respeito à política de imigração. Quais são, então, os caminhos possíveis para entender como e por que o muro resiste discursiva e politicamente, mesmo quando parece falhar na prática? Para esta tarefa, o trabalho de pesquisa emprega uma abordagem dupla, primeiro sugerindo pensar criticamente sobre os enquadramentos discursivos de Trump sobre o muro de fronteira por meio de uma abordagem lacaniana à segurança ontológica e, em segundo lugar, adotando um olhar mais atento ao contexto sócio-econômico ao qual o muro responde, e que permite que este ressoe tão amplamente através do discurso, explorando as experiências vividas pela parcela dos apoiadores de Trump que encontravam-se empobrecidos e muitas vezes raivosamente ressentidos sob décadas de hegemonia neoliberal progressista. / [en] This Master s dissertation seeks to explore former US president Donald J. Trump s proposal to build a physical barrier along the entire Southern border throughout the years of his campaign and presidency (2015 - 2020). More specifically, it seeks to question the role played by the border wall, built only partially in physical terms but extensively fortified in discursive and symbolic ones, considering Trump’s affectively charged rhetoric which narrated a scenario of existential crisis in America, appealing to feelings of ontological insecurity among his constituency. While the project to construct the physical border wall itself was filled with inconsistencies and technical challenges, the symbolic wall evoked by Trump repeatedly through discourse seemed to play an overarching role which went beyond the physical barrier, and was a core element in Trump’s political agenda throughout his entire presidency wherever immigration policy was concerned. What, then, are the possible pathways for understanding how and why the wall withstands discursively and politically even as it seems to fail practically? For this task, this work of research employs a two-fold approach by first suggesting thinking about Trump s discursive framings of the border wall critically through a Lacanian approach to ontological security and, secondly, by arguing for a more attentive look towards the social and economic contexts to which the symbolic wall responds and which enables it to resonate so widely through discourse, exploring the lived experiences of impoverished and often angrily resentful Trump supporters under decades of progressive-neoliberal hegemony.

Aim of the thesis is to analyze the ability of media to provide a sense of ontological security to their users. Changes, related to the transformation of traditional society into a modern society caused in the opinion of Anthony Giddens a weakening of the sense of ontological security of individuals. Such an outcome was a result of the space-time distanciation and individuals opting out of social systems as an impact of some globalization processes. Mass media in the modern society work as a main factor of social integration and differentiation. The ability to construct the sense of ontological security among its recipients is attributing in the field of television studies attributed to the traditional medium, television. But some basic characteristics of television broadcast and the role of television in households have changed with a digital television transition. Employing the methods of qualitative sociological research I will analyze whether new media have the potential to substitute television in the role of providing the sense of ontological security among its users. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The Arctic region is changing. This is an oft-cited statement researcher, policy-makers and the general public say about the Arctic. But who can change the Arctic order? This academic paper is interested in determine Greenland’s role and ‘actorness’ in this changeable region. Adopting an interpretivist approach, I advocate to embrace the narrative turn in IR as a useful move to understand how Greenland, as a sub-state regional entity, can enhance its agency capacity in Arctic affairs. Using phronetical case study, govermentality and narrative analysis as main methodologies, this study decipher how the Arctic governance has changed and been shaped by different narratives and governmental practices. Greenland’s possibilities to exercise more power have been analysed through the lenses of ontological security theory because this theory is intimately related to human agency. However, this theory presents several challenges that must be overcome by doing a revision of the theory. The final results are discusses in a reflexive manner adopting four phronetical value-rational questions that policy-makers should take into account when planning any relevant strategic action, such as Greenland’s visibility and empowerment in Arctic affairs.

This study is in response to globalisation, changing world values and the call in modern literature for leaders of good character. Servant-leadership is offered to fill this requirement because its effectiveness is said to be reliant on the good character of the leader. In the literature this type of leadership is said to represent a new paradigm. The work of servant-leadership's proponent, Robert Greenleaf, is thoroughly examined to explain how his understanding of trust as faith is linked to spirituality and this is the key to understanding the character of servant-leaders. Greenleaf's work is compared with the modern servant-leadership literature and identifies a gap in the literature explaining Greenleaf's spirituality.This is a qualitative analysis using classical Grounded Theory and uses the work of Anthony Giddens to give it a modern sociological grounding. Classical Grounded Theory uses typologies or

Submitted by Tânia Maria Oliveira Almeida Gouveia (almeida.tania@globo.com) on 2013-12-16T13:21:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Tânia Maria de Oliveira Almeida Gouveia.pdf: 1262465 bytes, checksum: 59168773b7d37540985bb2b82ea64d65 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by ÁUREA CORRÊA DA FONSECA CORRÊA DA FONSECA (aurea.fonseca@fgv.br) on 2013-12-18T14:29:53Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Tânia Maria de Oliveira Almeida Gouveia.pdf: 1262465 bytes, checksum: 59168773b7d37540985bb2b82ea64d65 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2014-01-02T19:02:35Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Tânia Maria de Oliveira Almeida Gouveia.pdf: 1262465 bytes, checksum: 59168773b7d37540985bb2b82ea64d65 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-01-02T19:23:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Tânia Maria de Oliveira Almeida Gouveia.pdf: 1262465 bytes, checksum: 59168773b7d37540985bb2b82ea64d65 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-11-25 / In this thesis, we talk about the socially constructed body, the body which is linked to subjectivity and to the identity ofthe individual, and which is impregnated by social and cultural elements. According to Giddens (2009), controlling the body is essential to the individual as to preserve what the author calls ontological security - which brings personal meaning to the individual's !ife and provides points of reference to help him carry on. In the consumer culture, appearance tends to be standardized; and, the cult of the body, among other things, has a selfindulgence appeal. Our main goal is to understand - within the context of normative aesthetics - the discourse and consumption practices of individuaIs in relation to their own bodies, identifying how it connects to their ontological security. In order to achieve this goal, we will: (a) understllIld how the individual sees hisl hers own body, assessing how it relates to their ontologicill'iecurity, (b) examine the presence ofthe market discourse in the tripod 'individualbody - ontological security', (c) identify and arialyze discursive elements as related to physical appearance; trying to understand the role of consumption in this context, (d) investigate the motivations that lead the individual to act, or not, in accordance to the aesthetic norm, analyzing body related consumer practices. The primary data collection was done through qualitative interviews. Respondents were men and women of varied professional activities, 18-50 years, belonging to classes A, B and C (ABEP, 2012), ali ofthem !iving in Rio de Janeiro. Field work was performed from October 2012 to July 2013. The data was ana1yzed using the approach of discourse analysis, considering the French school, particularly Pecheux's view. In line with authors such as Giddens (2002), Goffman (1978) and Schouten (1991), the research concludes that the body is an important part in the individual's notion of self and is also part of the construction of hislher identity. How the individual handles the market's normative message gives us c\ues about his ontological security. The ontologically secure individual is not one who dismisses the market and whose body related consumption practices escape the aesthetic norm. What differentiates a person whose ontological security is fragile is their motivation to adhere to certain stimu!i; and, how he/she deals with their consumer choices. We conclude that the individual with ontological security is less anxious about body related consumption options; and that he/she does not have somebody else's view of their body as a shadow when making decisions about their own appearance. In contrast, individuais without ontological security are more anxious when facing the market's message. There is, to a certain extent, anguish about not meeting these standards; and the body's aesthetic appearance becomes an important part oftheir lives. / Nesta tese, falamos do corpo construído socialmente, vinculado à subjetividade e à identidade do indivíduo e que está impregnado por elementos sociais e culturais. Para Giddens (2009), o controle do corpo é fundamental para que o indivíduo preserve aquilo que o autor chama de segurança ontológica – ou seja, para que ele tenha um sentido pessoal para a vida e pontos de referência que o ajudem a seguir adiante no cotidiano. Na cultura de consumo, sua aparência tende a ser normatizada e o culto ao corpo, entre outros aspectos, tem o apelo de autoindulgência. Nosso objetivo principal é compreender, dentro de um contexto de normatividade estética, o discurso e as práticas de consumo dos indivíduos em relação ao próprio corpo, identificando de que modo isso se conecta à sua segurança ontológica. Para alcançar esse objetivo, procuramos: (a) entender o olhar o indivíduo em relação a seu próprio corpo, avaliando de que forma isso tem relação com sua segurança ontológica; (b) examinar a presença do mercado no tripé indivíduo-corpo-segurança ontológica; (c) identificar e analisar elementos discursivos relacionados à aparência física, procurando entender o papel do consumo nesse contexto e (d) investigar as motivações que levam o indivíduo a agir ou não em conformidade com a norma estética, analisando as práticas de consumo relacionadas ao corpo. A coleta de dados primários foi feita por meio de entrevistas qualitativas. Foram entrevistados homens e mulheres, de atividades profissionais variadas, de 18 a 50 anos, pertencentes às classes A, B e C (ABEP, 2012), todos eles residentes no Rio de Janeiro. Este campo aconteceu no período de outubro de 2012 a julho de 2013. Os dados foram analisados a partir da abordagem de análise do discurso, considerando-se sua linha francesa e, particularmente a visão pecheutiana. Esta pesquisa conclui, em linha com autores como Giddens (2002), Goffman (1978) e Schouten (1991), que o corpo é algo importante na noção do indivíduo sobre si mesmo e faz parte de sua construção identitária. Além disso, a maneira como o sujeito lida com a mensagem normativa do mercado traz indícios sobre sua segurança ontológica. O indivíduo ontologicamente seguro não é aquele que descarta o mercado e cujas práticas de consumo relativas ao corpo fogem à norma estética. O que o diferencia daquele cuja segurança ontológica é frágil é sua motivação para aderir a determinado estímulo e a forma como ele lida com essas escolhas de consumo. Depreendemos que o indivíduo com segurança ontológica tem menos ansiedade em suas opções relativas ao corpo e não tem o olhar do outro como uma sombra quando toma decisões sobre sua própria aparência. Diferentemente, os indivíduos sem segurança ontológica são mais ansiosos diante da mensagem do mercado. Há, em algum grau, sofrimento quando não atendem a norma estética e, portanto, a aparência do corpo ganha um espaço importante em suas vidas.

The issue of human trafficking is, as stated by the EU, a crime that alters the fabric of our society and is a severe violation of human rights. However, the migration crisis within the EU has fueled a rise of the right across the continent. This rise reflects feelings of anxiety amongst citizens towards migration and resulting in hardening migration policies, increasing the vulnerability of migrants. It is this duality this study aims to understand by the introduction of ontological security. To understand the reality of victims, a qualitative content analysis revealed the ontological (in)securities of victims. Overall, they feel a lack of control and autonomy. This lack of control becomes highly visible in regards of obtaining a residence permit. The ontological (in)security felt by victims in this aspect, might be due to the ontological insecurity of the EU and its member states. The anxiety created by migration needs to be managed, resulting in an ambiguous policy. As found through a qualitative content analysis, the EU indicates a differentiation in EU victims and non-EU victims. This ambiguity is a result of the balancing act between the EU’s ontological security and the anxieties of its member states.

This thesis explores how ontological security shapes Ukrainian memory politics in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Russian invasion's effect on ontological security. Despite their interdependence, ontological security and memory politics are seldomly studied together. Ukrainian memory politics, particularly in the post-Soviet era and after the implementation of the 2015 decommunization laws, have attracted European scholarly attention, as the Russo-Ukrainian (Memory) war has impacted Self and Identity on multiple levels. Furthermore, the thesis highlights the role of memory political measures in creating securitized unitary narratives, emphasizing the significance of memory for stability of Self. While unpopular at first, the decommunization laws emerged from the conflict and enhanced ontological security by solidifying a common Identity.

Theories in International Relations, often refered to as traditional, has an increasing difficulty in understanding conflict developments that – from their perspective – are considered irrational. The following study problematizes this issue by applying an ontological security perspective on the russian legitimatization of the full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which arguable constitutes such an empirical example. This is done concretely by providing two guiding research questions. These are: What main narratives, that legitimazes Russias warfare in Ukraine, could be identified in the 2022 mobilization- and annexation speeches by Putin? As well as: How can this narrative legitimization be understood based on ontological security theory? The process of answering these questions is designed through Brymans thematic content analysis, which is being applied on the speeches concerned. Three russian narratives could, as a conclusion, be identified and considered as main themes. These are the narrative of Russia as a rightous actor, the narrative about a Russia influenced Ukraine and the narrative about a hostile West, respectively. Further, conceptual definitions of ontological security are turned into more explicit sub questions in order to stimulate a wider discussion in the analytical chapter. The conclusion thereafter shows that the mentioned narrative legitimization can be understood as an expression of russian identity security seeking, and thus a view of security as ”being” rather than ”survival”.

Levels of loneliness are high in young adults, meanwhile they are the most connected generations ever through social media. Potential links between loneliness and the increased use of social media is of sociological interest to study. Potential gender differences are also of interest as previous research has mixed views on whether there are differences or not. The purpose of this study is to explore whether age is a factor in loneliness for young adults (18-35 year olds), and whether there are gender differences. Furthermore, the connection between perceived negative experience of social media usage and loneliness levels is studied. Potential gender differences in this connection are also studied as a variable. The theoretical frames used are Giddens (1996) ontological security and Connell and Pearse (2015) gender socialization framework. The approach used is a quantitative method. The data was collected through a digital survey spread through personal networks, workplaces, and the Facebook group “Dom kallar oss studenter”. The data was then analyzed through multivariate regressions. The results show that the majority of observations did not show a prominent level of loneliness, and that gender does not have an impact. However, these results were not significant. There seems to be a link between perceived negative impact of social media usage and levels of loneliness. Gender does however not seem to have an impact on this connection. / Ensamheten är hög bland unga, trots att de, via sociala medier, är den mest uppkopplade generationen någonsin. Därmed är det potentiella sambandet mellan ensamhet och sociala medier av sociologiskt intresse att undersöka. Potentiella könsskillnader är även av intresse att inkludera eftersom tidigare forskning har lett till delade uppfattningar om skillnader i upplevd ensamhet på grund av kön. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om huruvida ålder är en determinant för unga vuxna i åldern 18-35 år. Genom att särskilt fokusera på genusskillnader och utforska möjliga samband mellan ensamhet och sociala medier ämnar studien att bidra till en djupare förståelse av de faktorer som kan påverka graden av ensamhet i denna åldersgrupp. Den teoretiska referensramen som har använts för studien är Giddens (1996) begrepp ontologisk trygghet och Connell och Pearse (2015) genus- och kön socialiseringsteori. Studien genomfördes genom kvantitativ metod och datainsamling genom en digital enkät. Datainsamlingen skedde genom personliga nätverk, arbetsplatser, och Facebook Gruppen “Dom kallar oss studenter”. Datan analyserades genom multivariate regressionsanalyse. Studiens resultat visar att majoriteten av observationerna inte upplevde en hög nivå av ensamhet, och att det inte fanns några betydande könsskillnader. Dessa resultat var dock inte signifikant. Däremot verkar det finnas ett samband mellan den negativa upplevelsen av användningen av sociala medier och ensamhet nivå. Kön verkar inte ha någon påverkan på detta samband.