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Paul Auster’s City of Glass contains a jumble of identities. In fact, the identities are more numerous than the characters, and consequently, characters have several different identities. Some of these identities are obvious constructs, but with others the degree of construction is less evident. Poststructuralist theory, however, puts forward the idea that these seemingly original identities are in fact constructs to the same level as all others. Thus, this essay argues that there are no original identities; identities are constructed by outer factors. This essay discusses three outer factors contributing to the construction of identities, factors commonly discussed in poststructuralist criticism, these three being language, cultural codes and chance.

Young women who serve time in adult prisons in New Zealand mix with adult prisoners, unless it is not considered safe to do so. If they do not mix, they serve their sentence in relative isolation, unable to participate in programs, recreation or other aspects of prison life. This is in contrast to male youth in prison who are placed in have specialised youth units to mitigate against the perceived negative effects of mixing with adult prisoners. Using discursive strategies to analyse texts from semi-structured interviews with young women in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) prisons and focus group interviews with iwi representatives, this study offers a challenge to dominant framings of both young and adult women prisoners. The study has shown that young women prisoners’ resilience is likely to be strengthened, and opportunities for health and well-being improved, within stable relationships with adults with whom they relate. Whanau-type structures in prison are in keeping with indigenous values and have the potential to provide mentoring relationships which may broaden the current limited subjectivities experienced by young women prisoners.

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Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The thesis involves a re-examination of feminist views of the childbearing body from a post-structuralist perspective and applies these theoretical ideas to an empirical investigation into contemporary childbirth and midwifery. Critiques of medicalised childbirth developed in Australia, Britain and the USA in the 1970s are related to debates within feminism about appropriate ways to theorise motherhood and the female body as well as to understand the role played by midwives and doctors in childbirth. It is argued these critiques were the product of three strands of feminism that differed in their analysis of gender politics, their philosophy of knowledge and their understanding of power. The three critiques are also related to differences between the USA, Britain and Australia in respect of their medical system, ways in which the history of childbirth practices are viewed and differences between the professional roles of midwives. It is argued that these critiques need to be modified by more recent post-structuralist feminist approaches, particularly the way in which bodies are shaped by language and power is related to the distribution of knowledge The empirical study concentrates on a maternity unit in a regional town in New South Wales. The unit was studied through repeat interviews with mothers attending the hospital for the birth of their second or a later child, interviews with the midwives and doctors working in the unit and observations over several months. Childbirth is re-imagined as a drama and found to be an intense embodied experience shaped in turn by the practices of the hospital and the changing boundaries between medicine and midwifery, relationships of the women with the staff and the women’s own diversity. This approach to the analysis of the interview data demonstrates the limitations of the liberal feminist critique that there is insufficient rational and ‘scientific’ evaluation of childbirth practices, the radical feminist critique that the key issue is men’s domination of women’s bodies and the materialist feminist critique of the lack of fairness and support given to childbearing women, while showing how these discourses continue to circulate in debates over the management of childbirth.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The thesis involves a re-examination of feminist views of the childbearing body from a post-structuralist perspective and applies these theoretical ideas to an empirical investigation into contemporary childbirth and midwifery. Critiques of medicalised childbirth developed in Australia, Britain and the USA in the 1970s are related to debates within feminism about appropriate ways to theorise motherhood and the female body as well as to understand the role played by midwives and doctors in childbirth. It is argued these critiques were the product of three strands of feminism that differed in their analysis of gender politics, their philosophy of knowledge and their understanding of power. The three critiques are also related to differences between the USA, Britain and Australia in respect of their medical system, ways in which the history of childbirth practices are viewed and differences between the professional roles of midwives. It is argued that these critiques need to be modified by more recent post-structuralist feminist approaches, particularly the way in which bodies are shaped by language and power is related to the distribution of knowledge The empirical study concentrates on a maternity unit in a regional town in New South Wales. The unit was studied through repeat interviews with mothers attending the hospital for the birth of their second or a later child, interviews with the midwives and doctors working in the unit and observations over several months. Childbirth is re-imagined as a drama and found to be an intense embodied experience shaped in turn by the practices of the hospital and the changing boundaries between medicine and midwifery, relationships of the women with the staff and the women’s own diversity. This approach to the analysis of the interview data demonstrates the limitations of the liberal feminist critique that there is insufficient rational and ‘scientific’ evaluation of childbirth practices, the radical feminist critique that the key issue is men’s domination of women’s bodies and the materialist feminist critique of the lack of fairness and support given to childbearing women, while showing how these discourses continue to circulate in debates over the management of childbirth.

It is claimed that during the 1960s and 1970s a new chapter in the history of English Religious Education (hereafter RE) began. Christian Confessionalism, whereby children were introduced to, nurtured in, and encouraged to adopt, the Christian faith, was swept aside and replaced by a non-confessional, phenomenological, multi-faith model, in which children were introduced to a variety of World Religions, with the aim that they would become more understanding of and tolerant towards others. Subsequently the study of World Religions (hereafter SWR) was adopted at all phases of the school system. Whilst this transition has been subjected to a wealth of historical analysis, existing accounts concentrate on narrative reconstructions of what happened, rather than investigating the complex interaction of discourses that created circumstances in which the change became possible. By framing analysis within national boundaries these reconstructions also overlook supranational influences. Thus, the supranational ecumenical movement (concerned with achieving greater unity and co-operation between denominationally separated Christian groups) has hitherto been largely overlooked. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s historical methods, I have developed a critical methodology, which examines how certain practices become possible. This method, Statement Archaeology, follows Foucault in emphasizing ‘discontinuities’, ‘statements’, and the search for the ‘relative beginnings’ of particular practices. Deploying the method entailed a detailed forensic exploration of relevant primary, unutilized, sources drawn from relevant domains of ecumenical discourses at both supranational (World Council of Churches) and national (British Council of Churches) levels. These sources were identified by tracing the provenance, and origin, of ecumenical statements repeated within Schools Council Working Paper 36 (1971). A ‘compound’ framework of understanding, combining the notions of Governmentality and Normalization, has been used. The thesis presents a number of original contributions to knowledge. By focusing on the multiple intersections of supranational and national domains of ecumenical discourse, Statement Archaeology reveals a much greater level of complexity than has hitherto been described and exposes a more nuanced understanding of how it became possible for SWR to be adopted, suggesting that the ‘relative beginnings’ of the practice are located—to some extent—in national ecumenical discourses. Further, supranational issues that affected these processes are unearthed, and motivations behind them are exposed, thus highlighting the importance of incorporating ecumenical discourses into the historiography of RE. The research also problematizes some assertions that have become characteristic of the existing historical narrative. Amongst other things, it disputes the existing positioning of Working Paper 36, highlights the problematic positioning of ‘mass immigration’ as a causal factor in adoption of SWR, and exposes a complexity of terminology, none of which appear to have been examined previously. These findings have application both in England and elsewhere, and are briefly discussed in relation to two other national contexts where approaches akin to SWR have been adopted. Finally, the limitations of the study are discussed and recommendations made for further work.

The continued commitment to and assertion of the primacy of the sovereign state within international relations theory has resulted in a discourse which theorizes and examines only those issues and conflicts of international politics which can be made to fit neatly within the prism of the neorealist discourse. As such, there exists a void in the examination of such issues as the nature and possibilities of alternative forms of political community, or into the political and economic effects these alternative forms of political community (such as social, economic, religious and environmental) pose to the traditional state and the envisioning of a global society. The aim of this thesis is two-fold: first, to renew interest and inquiry into the discursive limitations of the neorealist discourse of difference and negation; and secondly, to call attention to how the practical and discursive constraints of the neorealist conception of the state as political community effects the ability of international relations theory to address current conflicts and issues on the international stage. The intent of this analysis is to spark a renewed interest in exploring not only the emergence of new forms of political community but the possibility of being able to speak about these new forms within a discourse of international relations. Only through a commitment to the critical examination of its discourse can international relations theory uncover new ways to re-envision such concepts as political community and international politics. / Master of Arts