Voices of Our Forefathers (2008) is a participatory video that was made with a group of Khwe Bushmen in Platfontein in the Northern Cape. It is unique not only for its inclusion of the Khwe subjects in the production process, but also for its unique representation of them. It portrays them from historical as well as modern perspectives. This research explores how a group of Khwe youth – the research participants – engaged and negotiated their encounter with the Voices of Our Forefathers (2008). It does this within the context of participatory communication for development and participatory video. It draws on theories of empowerment, reception and representation. A qualitative methodology was employed with in-depth interviews comprising the main data collection method, and thematic analysis and semiotics being the main data analysis methods. Thematic analysis was aided through the use of a software programme, Nvivo 8. The research explores research participants’ responses to Voices of Our Forefathers and critically examines articulations of empowerment. Most of the research participants felt empowered because VOOF (2008) incorporated the Khwe in the production process, particularly in terms of how they wanted to be represented. The Khwe Bushmen’s participation in their representation resulted in a range of nuanced interpretations and responses to VOOF (2008), which included discussions on rethinking their identities, learning new skills, fostering a sense of ownership of the film and the use of their language (Khwedam) in The Voices of Our Forefathers. It is argued, however, that although the research participants may have expressed that they are empowered, this needs to be understood and critically examined with respect to the larger contexts within which Bushmen, in general, live, which may or may not affect their senses of and the realities of their empowerment. Finally, it is argued that VOOF (2008) needs to be understood as a part of an on-going process in participatory communication for development. It might not have provided research participants with the necessary resources to completely transform their lives; it did, however, contribute to changing how they perceive themselves, which, according to Freirean theory, is a necessary step in empowering oneself. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

No abstract available. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

The concepts of power and state - particularly embedded in the idea of the Great Power, with a geopolitical perspective and a profoundly aggressive character - are tantamount in importance to the Russia's elite political ideology. However, the existence of different emphases within such a political ideology, ranging from the active-obstructive to the passive stances, brings into question the factors of variation that might be responsible for the elite's level of determination to pursue these concepts over an internal or foreign policy development. In addressing this query, two tasks are set: descriptive - involving a survey of the content of Russian aggressive political ideology over different periods in history; and explanatory - determining circumstances that might account for the empowerment of one or other option of Russian aggressive political ideology. Therefore, the thesis includes a comparison of historical periods with similar relevance to the Russian state. The concern here is in relation to shifting factors of variations of aggressive political ideology acting in the space-frame of one state, but in different time-frame. Resting on these frames the thesis explores the shaping of the Russian elite's defining principles of state internal and foreign policy development and traces the factors of variation responsible for the empowerment of one or other particular form of the aggressive political ideology. The factors of variation discussed in the thesis are different in nature and intensity. The primary impetus for variation in the form that aggressive political ideology would take is determined by the factor of national distress. Other factors (regime volatility, political and economic motivations, information dissemination, and challenges within the international system) are responsible for the depth and extent to which aggressive ideology is going to resonate. No factor could create the variation by itself. The argument is that a specific set of factors is required to create the conditions for variations in the form the aggressive political ideology would take and to determine whether aggressive ideology would generate or not an obstructive political decision.

Bibliography: leaves [282]-290 / vii, 290 leaves ; 20 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, 1988

Bibliography: leaves 453-490. / 490 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, 1990

The past decade has witnessed students with disabilities attending university in everincreasing numbers. In particular, many countries, including Australia, now report that students with so-called 'invisible disabilities' comprise the vast majority of those seeking support from Student Disability Services at university. Despite this increase, relatively few researchers have investigated the processes involved in the university education of students with disabilities, particularly during their crucial first year, when the highest rate of student attrition occurs across the board. The substantial body of research which has investigated the 'first year experience' for university students in Australia and the United States of America has ignored the issues unique to students with disabilities during this critical period. At the same time, some researchers, predominantly in the United States of America and the United Kingdom, have studied the tertiary education of students with disabilities. However, the subject has received less attention in Australia. Also, certain categories of university students with disabilities have been overlooked. In particular, university students diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) appear to be one of the groups that have attracted little attention worldwide, despite the vast body of research that exists on children and, increasingly, on adults with the diagnosis. These students constituted the focus of the study reported in this thesis. The aim of this study was to develop substantive theory about how university students who are diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) deal with their first year. The study is conceptualised within the social theory of symbolic interactionism. A central research question and a series of related guiding questions were used as the starting point for data collection. Data collection was conducted largely through in-depth, individual, face-to-face semistructured interviews, and participant observation consistent with the interpretivist qualitative research tradition. In addition, informal interviews, telephone interviews and documents provided supplementary data for the study. Data analysis, which occurred concurrently with data collection, employed the open coding method consistent with the grounded theory model and the development and testing of propositions. The central proposition of the substantive theory generated from this study is that students diagnosed with AD/HD experience a sense of developing empowerment as they progress through three stages in their first year at university. The first stage in the theory of developing empowerment is entitled the development of empowerment through realising a dream. The second stage is entitled the development of empowerment through becoming proactive. The final stage is entitled the development of empowerment through the feeling of belonging. The theory of developing empowerment provides a new perspective on how university students with a diagnosis of AD/HD deal with their first year of study. A number of implications for further theory development, policy and practice are drawn from it. There are also several recommendations for further research.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Tulsa, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 148-159).

Zugl.: Santiago de Compostela, Univ., Diss., 2003

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 312-338).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2006. / Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 186 p. Includes bibliographical references.