La ricerca si propone di indagare sulle forme di cambiamento che stanno interessando l’agricoltura contadina contemporanea in Italia. In particolare, il proposito è quello di individuare le forme attraverso cui i contadini stanno cambiando il proprio rapporto con il mercato e con la società, proponendo stili di vita, di produzione e di consumo sostenibili. Le Teorie sulle Pratiche e gli studi sulla cultura materiale saranno utilizzati per comprendere il rapporto tra pratiche e reti sociali. / The research aims to investigate the forms of change that are affecting contemporary farming in Italy. In particular, the purpose is to identify the forms through which farmers are changing their relationship with the market and with society. Practice Theories and studies on material culture will be used to understand the relationships between practices and social networks.

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According to Samin Nosrat’s (2017) best-selling cookbook, salt, fat, acid and heat are key to cooking good food. At the same time, the process of making food has never been more connected with media. Given how intertwined food and media are today, I also add media to the list of ingredients. Food has become a popular topic in traditional media, as well as on new digital platforms. Since there is already a large body of research on food media texts, this thesis concentrates on food media related practices in the everyday life and the convergence between traditional and digital food media. For this study, a mixed-method approach was chosen, which included a questionnaire and a subsequent in-depth interview for the participants. The qualitative analysis of the data builds on a theoretical framework which draws first and foremost on Couldry’s (2004) Practice Theory which is complemented by Foth & Hearn’s (2007) Communication Ecology Theory to organize the practices. The food media practices of the study participants illustrated how embedded media have become in everyday practices and explained the convergence between traditional and digital food media. At the same time, the results brought media power dynamics to light and demonstrated that even media, that seems innocent at first, has to be consumed with a critical eye.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Studies on rational medicine use (RMU) have mainly focused on identifying, quantifying, and addressing irrational use without exploring reasons behind this irrational use. In addition, minimal work has been conducted on irrational use of medicines in the context of the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This PhD research examined medicine use in Eswatini, (previously Swaziland) between April 2017 and March 2019, with a focus on prescribing practices linked to specific diagnoses. It further explored factors influencing RMU, which included testing the effects of a short intervention - prescription audit and feedback coupled with small group education - on prescribing practices in health facilities.

The textile and fashion industry is one of the most extensive and unsustainable industries in the world. Fast fashion companies, and the consumers purchasing, using and disposing the items, have an especially negative impact on the environment. Previous research does not provide deep knowledge of how environmentally sustainable clothing disposal is performed in word and deed as a part of consumers everyday life. However, this is needed to improve environmental sustainability. This research study aims to contribute to and deepen the existing body of research regarding this, investigating female members of Generation Z in a fast fashion context. Thus, the purpose of the study is to contribute with a current understanding of the practice of sustainable clothing disposal by developing knowledge about how consumers perform disposal activities post-consumption, as well as revealing the meanings driving the behaviour. In order to fulfill the purpose, a qualitative research strategy was used. Empirical material was collected through ten semi-structured interviews with female Generation Z participants. The study uses a practice theory approach, viewing a practice as a complex interaction between what consumers say and do in a specific context. A practice consists of several different activities and is dependent on three elements: competence, material and meaning. Furthermore, the theoretical framework consists of previous research on sustainable clothing disposal behaviour. The findings reveal that the practice of sustainable clothing disposal includes a number of activities performed by the participants in the context in question. Several central tendencies are distinguished; showing how female Generation Z consumers perform the activities under different circumstances, through routinised actions and communication in their everyday lives. In addition, the findings identify five different forms of meaning driving the behaviour. Accordingly, both theoretical and practical contributions are generated. The findings build on the existing body of research, adding deep and current understanding of sustainable clothing disposal behaviour. Furthermore, actors in the textile and fashion industry can interpret the findings of the behaviour and meaning-making, and hence improve their adaptation to the consumer. Ultimately, this can cause a positive impact on environmental sustainability.

This study aims to explore the development of employee acceptance and process challenges and opportunities that surface when new technologies are introduced in a workplace environment. In the case of the implementation of automated vehicles, this study was conducted in close relationship with the organisation. In particular, we investigate employee acceptance and process challenges with an assistance of an analytic model, TAPA, built on the theoretical framework of trust, practice theory and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which is supported with trust and practice theory to form a comprehensive framework.   The study stands on the philosophy of engaged scholarship and uses qualitative material from an exploratory case study, interviewing 22 respondents in order to cover an extensive part of the processes and practices affected by this implementation. Interestingly, the empirical data suggests that developing employee acceptance and combating process challenges and harnessing opportunities are not separate subjects, but streams in the same river. Therefore, to develop acceptance, the organisation would also need to work through the process challenges the respondents warrants action.

Sustainable urban development is emerging out as tool to tackle climate change with a big difference mark. With cities acting as emitters of huge chunks of GHG gases, voices from all corners are intensifying pressure to mend the current urban development model and help find a solution. Several UN conferences fuelled the debate to include local people living in cities and held them accountable for their living behaviour towards the natural environment, and help change the existing unsustainable living patterns or practices which already exist in society. Since, it is the humans for whom these technological solutions have been provided, therefore, it becomes important how the humans themselves thinks while adapting or rejecting any sustainable solutions in their daily lives. The role of spatial planning becomes important here, because it involves all round planning which influences their daily living behaviour, considering individual as the ‘bearer’ of its ‘final outcome’. This thesis will help explore human dimensions in the sustainability debate, thoroughly arguing the factors humans consider in their daily lives, while making a new choice between sustainable and unsustainable practices which is introduced by the spatial planning around them. The study also helps to understand that regardless of individual negotiations, how residents motivated to adapt sustainable measures in their lives. This is being done by undertaking two theoretical viewpoints, the social-practice theory and the structure-agency theory.  Social-practice theory helped understand how daily living practices of the residents in Hammarby Sjöstad are related with spatial planning. This relationship between practices and spatial planning involves several rounds of negotiations between individuals and their existing daily routines, before a final choice is made. This second concept is understood through structure-agency theory. The case under study for this thesis is Hammarby Sjöstad, a district located in the south of Stockholm city in Sweden, which is being projected as a model for sustainable urban development. The data for the study was collected through qualitative research method, conducting interviews of the residents in Hammarby Sjöstad. The interviews conducted for the study found out that public transport, waste recycling and open spaces emerged as one of the most effective and efficient spatial planning in Hammarby Sjöstad, according to the respondents. The study also highlights individual cases where respondents have given specific reasons for making particular decisions, highlighting the individual negotiations.

With the COVID-19 pandemic taking over the world faster than anyone had anticipated and creating a ‘new normal’, consumers had to adapt and get used to these changes. The pandemic caused lockdowns in several parts of the world, where businesses, schools, and stores had to shut their doors, although essential stores such as grocery stores remained open. Not only did this happen, but consumers' social life was also impacted as they were asked to stay at home and limit their contact with other people. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a shift in the practices of consumers, with food and safety being one of the most essential needs, consumers converted to stockpiling on food and hygienic products which led to a lower on shelf availability in grocery stores. Even though many countries around the world imposed a lockdown, Sweden never imposed any lockdown during the COVID-19 period, making it an interesting country to research. Although Sweden did implement some measures which for all public areas meant a limited amount of people allowed in the store, whereas other measures were more focused on recommendations such as keeping distance, avoiding large crowds, and working and studying from home as much as possible. Ultimately, the COVID-19 pandemic did impact university students in Sweden, as student life completely stopped on campus and classes were partly given through Zoom. The city of Jönköping is a city where many students live, and over 19.000 students are registered at the university of Jönköping. These students are in a crucial stage of their life where new experiences and changes are happening. This initiated the purpose of the study to research whether the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the grocery shopping practices of students pre and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the city of Jönköping. To perform the research a qualitative study has been conducted. An interview was formulated after reviewing the literature to gather information from university students in Jönköping, where the aim was to analyze their grocery shopping practices before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 15 university students were interviewed, in the age range of 23-26, who all study and live in the city of Jönköping during the pandemic. To study the practices of the students, the framework of Arsel and Bean (2013) has been applied. The objects and doings of the students pre and during COVID-19 have been researched and analyzed, and from the collected data, categories of meanings have been identified to analyze the meanings of the objects that were used and the doings that were performed by the informants. Changes in practices were identified in which the students mainly kept the same grocery shopping routine with adaptations to protect themselves against the virus. The grocery stores are visited less frequently, and items are avoided out of fear of getting infected. The main practices identified is that the students started to wash their hands, keep distance, and started to use hand sanitizer as protective measures. This thesis provides a guide for governmental institutions on how consumers react to regulations during a pandemic. Also, this may help grocery stores to know how consumers adapt their grocery shopping practices amidst a pandemic.

This study explores the teaching practices and labor conditions of media and communication adjunct faculty at three universities. Since the late 1960s, the number of faculty who are part-time and contingent is increasing and adjuncts are now more than 70% of college and university faculty (AAUP, n.d.). In this study, I examine the neoliberal university’s reliance on the teaching labor of part-time faculty and interrogate the use of adjunct labor for skills-based, vocationally oriented elements of the media and communication curriculum. The history of higher education, the literature of teaching and learning, and the theoretical frameworks of Bourdieu’s practice theory and Freire’s critical pedagogy situate this qualitative study of adjunct faculty teaching practices and labor conditions. A multi-method approach includes textual analysis of course syllabi and university documents; eight interviews with administrators, department chairs, sequence heads, course directors, and university leadership; three interviews with union activists; eleven interviews with current or former adjuncts; semester-long participant observation of teaching practices of thirteen courses taught by nine adjunct faculty; and three student focus groups with nineteen total participants. This study reveals media and communication adjuncts as key members of the academic community who apply student-centered practices and who are responsible for important elements of the curriculum, and at the same time, marginalized as a flexible, on-demand, and disposable labor force that serves the neoliberal university. This study offers insights to improve the labor conditions of adjunct faculty. I conclude that the COVID-19 global pandemic and the disruption of higher education’s normal tempo reveals a changing higher education landscape with threats of financial exigency and increased precarity for all faculty. / Media & Communication

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