Une maladie est considérée comme étant rare si elle touche moins d’une personne sur 2000. Étant donné les connaissances limitées sur ces conditions médicales, les adultes atteints de maladies rares peinent à être diagnostiqués rapidement et à obtenir des traitements appropriés. Ces soins inadéquats leur occasionnent des difficultés importantes dans le milieu de la santé, leurs vies quotidiennes, leurs relations interpersonnelles ainsi que leurs carrières et leurs études. Plusieurs de ces difficultés peuvent être qualifiées de situations moralement problématiques selon l’éthique pragmatiste. L’éthique pragmatiste est une théorie en éthique qui reconnaît la place centrale de la moralité dans la vie humaine. Elle souligne l’importance existentielle de ces situations pour les personnes qui les vivent. Elle apprécie leur agentivité. Elle leur offre des outils pour mieux comprendre ces situations et les résoudre. Malgré la signification qu’ont ces situations pour les personnes qui les vivent, elles n’ont pas été étudiées précédemment. En parallèle, le concept de situation moralement problématique a seulement été décrit superficiellement dans la littérature. Pour répondre à ces lacunes dans la littérature, le projet de recherche décrit dans cette thèse avait quatre objectifs : (1) identifier des situations moralement problématiques vécues par les adultes atteints de maladies rares; (2) approfondir les situations moralement problématiques les plus significatives vécues par les adultes québécois atteints de maladies rares; (3) proposer un plan d’action de nature éthique qui soutient la résolution des trois situations moralement problématiques les plus significatives vécues par les adultes atteints de maladies rares; et (4) enrichir le concept de situation moralement problématique en précisant ses composantes. Pour répondre à ces objectifs, nous avons entrepris un projet de recherche-action participative compris d’étapes de recherche qualitatives. Nous avons formé le Groupe de travail sur l’éthique et les maladies rares pour nous appuyer dans la mise en œuvre du projet. Le groupe de travail était constitué de trois personnes atteintes de maladies rares, deux cliniciens-chercheurs, une représentante d’une association de patients, une assistante de recherche et un éthicien. Les étapes de recherche du projet étaient une revue de littérature, une collecte de témoignages sous la forme d’un sondage en ligne et le développement d’un plan d’action de nature éthique. Les membres du groupe de travail ont contribué au développement de ces étapes, à l’interprétation des résultats et à la rédaction des chapitres de résultats qui en découlent. Ces étapes de recherche révèlent que les adultes atteints de maladies rares vivent des situations moralement problématiques dans le milieu de la santé, la vie quotidienne, la carrière et les études ainsi que dans les interactions sociales et les relations interpersonnelles. Ces situations sont moralement problématiques parce qu’elles engendrent des tensions internes chez les personnes qui les vivent, contraignent leur agentivité et à l’occasion, les incitent à mobiliser des stratégies d’autonomisation pour les surmonter. Ces situations ont des causes et des répercussions affectives, elles évoluent et elles ont des impacts négatifs et positifs. Dans notre plan d’action de nature éthique, nous présentons des interventions prometteuses qui pourraient limiter l’émergence de ces situations dans le milieu de la santé. / A disease is considered rare if its prevalence is less than 1 in 2,000 people. Given the limited knowledge about these medical conditions, adults living with rare diseases struggle to be promptly diagnosed and receive appropriate treatment. This inadequacy in care causes them significant difficulties in the healthcare environment, their daily lives, their interpersonal relationships, and their careers and studies. Many of these difficulties can be qualified as morally problematic situations according to pragmatist ethics. Pragmatist ethics is a theory in ethics that recognizes the centrality of morality in human life. This theory underlines the existential importance of these situations for the people who experience them. It also appreciates their agency. Thus, it provides them with tools to better understand these situations and resolve them. Despite the significance that these situations have for those who experience them, they have not been studied previously. Moreover, the concept of the morally problematic situation has only been superficially described in the literature. To address these gaps in the literature, the research project described in this dissertation had four objectives: (1) to identify morally problematic situations experienced by adults living with rare diseases; (2) to understand in greater depth the most significant morally problematic situations experienced by adults living with rare diseases in the province of Québec; (3) to propose an ethics action plan that supports the resolution of the three most significant morally problematic situations experienced by adults living with rare diseases; and (4) to enrich the concept of the morally problematic situation by specifying its components. To meet these objectives, we undertook a participatory action research project that included qualitative research steps. We created the Ethics and Rare Diseases Working Group to support us in carrying out the project. The working group was made up of three individuals living with rare diseases, two clinician researchers, a representative of a patient association, a research assistant and an ethicist. The research stages of the project were a literature review, collecting testimonies through an online survey and the development of an ethics action plan. The members of the working group notably contributed to the development of these stages, the interpretation of the results, and the drafting of the chapters reporting these results. Our research reveals that adults with rare diseases experience morally problematic situations in the health environment, daily life, career and studies, and in social interactions and interpersonal relationships. These situations are morally problematic because they elicit internal tensions within the people who experience them, constrain their agency and, on occasion, prompt them to mobilize empowerment strategies to overcome them. These situations have causes and emotional repercussions, they evolve, and they have negative and positive impacts. In our ethical action plan, we present promising interventions that could limit the emergence of these situations in the health sector.

Die gegenwärtige Politik betrachtet Windenergieanlagen als ein entscheidendes Mittel für die Gestaltung einer nachhaltigen Zukunft. Dennoch lehnen die BewohnerInnen der griechischen Insel Amorgos Anträge zum Bau von Windenergieanlagen ab. In der vorliegenden Untersuchung analysiere ich, wie die InselbewohnerInnen die Option der Windenergie beurteilen. Die Analyse basiert auf einem interdisziplinären theoretischen Ansatz und einem neu entwickelten analytischen Rahmenwerk, dem Institutions - Habits - Intuitions (IHI) framework. Qualitative Forschungsmethoden, insbesondere persönliche Befragungen und teilnehmende Beobachtungen, sind wesentliche Elemente der Datenerhebung und erlauben mir, mich umfassend in den amorgianischen Kontext zu vertiefen. Die Forschungsergebnisse zeigen, dass der Beurteilungsprozess auf dem Zusammenwirken von Kosten-Nutzen Kalkulationen, der Infragestellung der Thematik der Windenergie und intuitivem Handeln basiert. Die Option der Windenergie erschüttert die herkömmlichen Interaktionen der InselbewohnerInnen, die die lokale Tourismuswirtschaft und Gemeindeverwaltung bestimmen. Die Kombination pre-formeller Institutionen, eingefahrener Gepflogenheiten und intuitives Agierens aufgrund bisheriger Erfahrungen bringt die amorgianische Gesellschaft dazu, Windenergieprojekte abzulehnen. Die Analyse beruht auf der Anwendung von Ansätzen der Sozialpsychologie und der Institutionenökonomik. Damit wird u.a. die gängige Annahme, der Mensch sei a priori ein Investor hinterfragt und die Absicht verfolgt, die Kluft zwischen Wirtschaftswissenschaften und ‘realer Welt’ zu verringern. Die Insel von Amorgos ist ein beispielhafter Mikrokosmos in und für Griechenland als Ganzes. Energiepolitische Strategien und die lokalen und nationalen Beurteilungsprozesse dieser sind dabei nur zu verstehen, wenn die mit dem Neoliberalismus zusammenhängende, tiefgreifende sozio-ökonomische Krise Griechenlands in den Blick genommen wird. / Locals of the Greek island of Amorgos refuse wind energy proposals, while contemporary politics regards wind farms as a crucial means of pursuing a sustainable future. On the basis of an interdisciplinary theoretical approach, I develop a new analytical framework called Institutions - Habits - Intuitions (IHI) framework to explain the way Amorgians judge the option of wind energy development on their island. The data collection relies on qualitative research methods, that is, face-to-face interviews and participant observations, which enable me to delve into the particular Amorgian context. The research results show that the synergy of locals’ calculation (cost-benefit analysis), reflection and intuitive action influences their deliberation on the wind energy issue. The option of wind energy development shocks the ordinary run of things on the island, which is characterised by off-the-record interactions that shape both the tourism economy and the municipal administration. The combination of local pre-formal institutions, entrenched habits and intuitive responses causes Amorgian society to resist wind farms. Analysing the Amorgian case through applying approaches derived from social psychology and institutional economics, I aim at bringing the readers of this book to reflect on the discourse on sustainability and narrowing the gap between the discipline of economics and the real world. My analysis questions the utilitarian assumption that man is a priori an investor, and goes beyond the case of Amorgos, which constitutes a microcosm of Greece, which currently experiences a deep socio-economic crisis. I draw attention to the fact that locals of Amorgos act and interact within the context of this crisis, which is related to the political economic thinking attributed to neoliberalism. Finally, I claim that increasing bureaucratisation of social life clashes with local ethics, thereby affecting responses to politics of climate change mitigation.

Church growth missiology has been severely criticized by ecumenical, but also by evangelical missiologists. This often led to its rejection as it was considered incompatible with other missiological approaches. But church growth does deal effectively with important issues as other missiologies do. In light of Martin Luther's interpretation of the First Commandment a more general wholistic missiological approach is requested, which considers the full spectrum of human needs, and under which church growth can function with other missiologies together. The treatment of the task of missiology and the unity by attitude of the missiologist contribute to the argument. Therefore four major criticisms brought forth against church growth are dealt with in order to evaluate and finally suggest a potential theological compatibility of this approach with other missiologies. This is further confirmed by a brief introduction to important elements of the present status of church growth theory development / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / Th. M. (Missiology)

This thesis investigates the period in Judah which took place precisely a century between the death ofHezekiah (687 BCE) and the final fall of Jerusalem (587 BCE) Seldom has a nation experienced so many dramatically sudden reversals of fortune in so relatively short a time. Throughout the first half of the seventh century BCE the Assyrian empire reigned supreme. In the second half, in rapid succession, Judah, as a vassal, experienced periods of independence and of subjection, first to Egypt, then to Babylonia, before finally destroying herself in a futile rebellion against the latter. The aim of the thesis was to set Judah in the global context and investigate the role she played. To this end the Great Powers, namely Assyria, Egypt and Babylonia were surveyed, as well as were the Small Powers, like Judah, Phoenicia and the Transjordanian states, and the relationships probed. The thesis traces the life of the wicked but extraordinarily successful King Manasseh, and his equally reprobate son, Amon, who was brutally murdered by his servants, and was avenged by 'the people of the land'. Josiah is the only monarch who fits the Deuteronomistic requirements of a good king. Religious and national reform generally go hand in hand with politics, and the cultic reform and centralization of the cult characterise his reign. · With the fall of Assyria, the temporary surge into prominence by Egypt and the tragic death of Josiah in 609 BCE, Judah experienced radical political fluctuations and with them alternate subjugation by, and rebellion against, each of the major powers. Inexperienced leadership and a situation of dual kings, followed Josiah's death. The rapidly changing international scene demanded of the rulers of Judah skillful manoeuvring and exceptional adaptability, and frequently confronted them with ominous political situations. Judaean leaders and the puppet King Zedekiah, propped up by false prophets, failed to grasp the shift in the balance of power, and clung to questionable Egyptian aid against the new world power, Babylonia. Highly vulnerable and left in the lurch, Jerusalem faced protracted siege and famine in Jerusalem, destruction ofthe Temple, and deportation ofthe cream ofher people. / Classics and Modern European Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Judaica)

The study investigated Zimbabwean Christian and Muslim women who had experienced domestic violence with a view to finding out the extent to which these women used provisions of the Domestic Violence Act of 2006. The study was conducted in urban Masvingo and its surroundings. The methodology applied to the empirical investigation was qualitative and was informed by the phenomenological, feminist and pragmatic theoretical frameworks. Data was collected, by means of in-depth semi-structured interviews, from 30 participants, 22 Christian and 8 Muslim, who were selected using purposive sampling and snowball sampling techniques. In investigating the women’s experiences, some questions guided the study. These include: Where and to what extent does a select group of Christian and Muslim women who fall victim to domestic violence normally seek help? How do religious and cultural beliefs and practices influence the response to domestic violence by the abused as well as those to whom they report? To what extent do religious communities prevent selected victims of domestic violence from seeking legal assistance? Data was analysed by coding responses according to themes. The study revealed that the participants perceived domestic violence as having diverse causes and most of them saw their religion as crucial in addressing their plight. It emerged that a majority of the participants sought help from their religious communities as well as relatives and friends. Mixed responses emanated from these sources of help. The most common response, based largely on religious and cultural beliefs, was to encourage participants to avoid reporting to authorities. It also emerged that most of the participants were not willing to seek help from the police, courts or legal practitioners to seek redress because of the advice they received as well as their own internalised beliefs. Religious, social, and economic factors prevented most participants from appealing to provisions of the Domestic Violence Act.It was concluded that the Zimbabwean Domestic Violence Act had limited usefulness for participants because of religious, social and economic factors. It was recommended that if relevant stakeholders could jointly work together, domestic violence would be alleviated. Recommendations for further research were also made. / Religious Studies & Arabic / D. Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies)

The philosophical and empirical study reported here developed from the observation that information science has had no comprehensive understanding of nonuse of information. Without such an understanding, information workers may use the words "nonuse of information" while referring to very different phenomena. This lack of understanding makes the job of the information professional difficult. For example, the model presented here reduces hundreds of theories of information behavior to a conceptually manageable taxonomy of six conditions that lead to nonuse of information. The six conditions include: 1) intrinsic somatic conditions, 2) socio-environmental barriers, 3) authoritarian controls, 4) threshold knowledge shortfall, 5) attention shortfall, and 6) information filtering. This dissertation explains and provides examples of each condition. The study of a novel area that had no prior theory or model required a novel methodology. Thus, for this study, I adopted the pragmatism formulated by Charles Sanders Peirce, a method of evaluating concepts by their practical consequences. This pragmatism applied in two ways to the study of nonuse of information. First, because nonuse of information is a behavior, pragmatism helped me to limit the psychologic implications of the study to behavior, rather than to expand the discussion to psychodynamics or cognition, for example. I justified this limiting on the basis that behavior reflects the use or nonuse of information, and behavior is more observable than other aspects of psychology, such as cognition. Second, Peirce's concept of pragmatism supported another of his contributions to philosophical inquiry, retroduction, sometimes referred to as abduction. To study nonuse of information through retroduction, I created a fivestep "definition heuristic," based on the writings of Spradley and McCurdy. I then created a nine-step "retroduction heuristic" based on the system of logic identified and termed "retroductive" or "abductive" by Peirce. I used this heuristic to identify examples of nonuse of information and applied the examples to a second corpus of research reports that contained examples of compelled nonuse of information. The taxonomy of this study resulted from this second application and represents a descriptive model of compelled nonuse of information. / text

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Throughout history, threats emerging from Iran's frontiers have significantly influenced its security policies towards Iraq. Given Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, Iran's security environment has changed a great deal. Does Iran have a strategy for post-Saddam Iraq and, if so, what is it? With few exceptions, Kenneth Waltz's Realpolitik and balance-of-power theories have guided Iran's security policy decisions. The combined effects of Iran's formative history, individual and institutional agendas, and national interests form the foundation for a Realpolitik strategy aimed at preventing a resurgent "anti-Teheran" government in Iraq. Pragmatism, consensus, influence, and competition appear to be the watchwords for an assertive strategy built upon military prudence and cross-border, multi-disciplined engagement. Iran is putting its internal political and economic house in order so as to achieve greater effectiveness in the pursuit of its national interests vis-a-vis Iraq and the United States. While an alliance is unlikely, there is alignment with the U.S.-led coalition's strategic interests in Iraq. / Major, United States Marine Corps

Cette thèse interroge l’émergence de ce que j’appelle le problème guerre-communication-public dans le travail de Walter Lippmann (1889-1974), le célèbre journaliste et écrivain, pour ensuite aborder le déploiement ultérieur de ce problème au sein de deux formations contemporaines de pouvoir, le spectacle et la société de contrôle biopolitique. Au niveau théorique et méthodologique, cette thèse réactive l’analytique du pouvoir en tant que guerre proposée par Michel Foucault (1997), laquelle solidarise l’enquête historique et l’analyse du pouvoir. Adoptant cette perspective, cette thèse relève tout à la fois de l’enquête historique et de l’analyse du pouvoir et vise simultanément à produire un savoir historique original et à mobiliser ce savoir afin d’éclairer certains aspects de l’exercice contemporain du pouvoir, notamment quant aux savoirs qui y sont mobilisés. La première partie de cette thèse aborde le renversement de la relation clausewitzienne entre guerre et politique caractéristique du travail de Lippmann, lequel est central au problème guerre-communication-public. Afin d’exposer ce renversement, cette thèse revisite la question des influences intellectuelles de Lippmann à partir d’une enquête archivistique ainsi que par une analyse généalogique de la notion de guerre froide (qui est généralement attribuée à Lippmann). Ce faisant, cette partie de la thèse contribue aux débats historiographiques portant sur l’apport de Lippmann aux théories de la communication (débats avec lesquels cette thèse s’engage), notamment en proposant une nouvelle analyse du débat Dewey-Lippmann et des rapports de Lippmann à la philosophie pragmatiste. La deuxième partie de cette thèse interroge le fonctionnement contemporain du pouvoir en tant que spectacle et société de contrôle biopolitique à partir du problème guerre-communication-public. Cette démarche permet de préciser certains aspects de ces formations de pouvoir, notamment quant à leurs événements historiques, leurs modes de fonctionnement, leurs ancrages dans la guerre et la stratégie ainsi que leurs rapports mutuels. / In this dissertation, I question the emergence of what I call the war/communication/public problem in the work of renowned journalist and writer Walter Lippmann (1889-1974), before addressing the subsequent unfolding of two contemporary power formations, namely the spectacle and the biopolitical control society. At a theoretical and methodological level, this dissertation is based upon Michel Foucault’s (1997) analytics of power as war, which links historical enquiry and power analysis. Through this perspective, this dissertation relates both to historical inquiry and to power analysis, and aims both to produce original historical knowledge and to mobilize that knowledge in order to shed light on some aspects of contemporary exercise of power, especially with respect to the knowledge it mobilizes. The first part of this dissertation addresses the reversal of Clausewitz’s relation between war and politics, which characterizes Lippmann’s work and is central to the war/communication/public problem. In order to highlight this reversal, this dissertation revisits the question of Lippmann’s intellectual influences, thanks of archival work as well as to the genealogical analysis of the notion of cold war (which is usually attributed to Lippmann). In doing so, this first part of the dissertation contributes to the historiographical debates relating to the Lippmann’s contribution to communication theory (debates with which this dissertation converses), especially by suggestion a new outlook on the Dewey-Lippmann debate and the latter’s relationships to pragmatist philosophy. The second part of this dissertation questions the functioning of contemporary power as a spectacle and as a biopolitical control society, through the war/communication/public problem. This endeavor allows pinpointing some aspects of these power formations, especially with respect to their historical events, their modes of operation, their anchoring in war and strategy, as well as their respective relationships.

The entire world needs and seeks information to survive and thrive in the 21st century as a result of information acquisition, with doctors, lawyers, teachers, students and even the elderly all desiring information for their everyday activities. Researchers of different disciplines working at the various federal institutes in Nigeria are no exceptions to the craving for requisite information that will enable them successfully carry out their numerous research projects undertaken towards achieving sustainable national development. The aim of the study was to investigate the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of researchers at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi, Nigeria. This study applied both quantitative and qualitative research approaches for the purpose of triangulation. The quantitative approach had a strong dominance over the qualitative approach in this study. This study adopted the positivist paradigm. The questionnaire, interview and observation data collection tools were the chosen tools used to collect data from researchers from the six departments of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi and five professional librarians of the institute’s library. Out of 165 questionnaires that were administered to researchers, a total of 121 were returned (resulting in a response rate of 73%). Inaccuracies were identified in seven copies of the questionnaires which were discarded and not analysed. Therefore, usable returns totalled 114 (67%). Wilson’s 1999 model of information behaviour was used as the theoretical framework. This study revealed that both formal and informal sources were consulted by the researchers. It was important to note that the internet was the information source most commonly used by the researchers to obtain information. The institute’s library was poorly used because it contained outdated library materials and was not equipped with an internet facility. The researchers opted for the use of mobile phone/iPad, personally owned or sourced internet access and business centres (supplying internet services outside the institute) to access information sources for information. The study ascertained that there was undoubtedly an instituted library officially established within the institute to provide information to researchers. But due to socio-economic and political problems faced by the country Nigeria, predominantly with respect to the outlook of poor funding of sustainable library development concerns and the government’s lack of interest in research, outdated library collections and poor information provision services have become the given at the institute’s library. This ultimately brought about pessimistic reactions from the researchers. Among its recommendations, the study suggested that funding the institute’s library in order to update and replace outdated library collections is a priority. An information audit should be carried out to ascertain the current state of ICTs within the institute and the institute’s library should be equipped with an internet facility promptly. Adopting these recommendations would enable researchers to have limitless access to items of information they need for research as they seek for information. / Information Science / D. Phil. (Information Science)

Since the 1990s, urban cultural policy in the UK has been bound to the cause of urban regeneration. Much has been written in examination and critique of this relationship, but what happens when the direction of strategic attention is reversed and civic leadership seeks to regenerate culture itself? The city of Glasgow, having made capital of culture over many decades, has moved towards a strategy for the development of literary Glasgow. This thesis documents a search for those factors crucial to that strategy. The research focuses on literary Glasgow as one aspect of the city’s cultural sector; identifies and examines gaps in the relationship between the civic cultural organisation and literary communities; and highlights those elements vital to the formation of a strategy for development of the literary in Glasgow. An extended period of participatory ethnographic research within the Aye Write! book festival and Sunny Govan Community Radio, is supplemented with data from interviews conducted across the literary sector and analysis of organisational documentation. Through these a gap has been identified between the policies and operations of a civic cultural organisation, and the desires of those engaged within the literary community. This gap is caused, in part, by the lack of a mechanism with which to reconcile contrasting narratives about the cultural essence of the city, or to negotiate the variations in definitions of value in relation to cultural engagement. The interdisciplinary approach builds upon insights from existing work within publishing studies, cultural policy, complexity theory and organisational studies to construct an understanding of the dynamics of Glasgow’s literary sector. This reveals the need for a framework in support of a landscape of practice, a desire for the placement of boundary objects to facilitate engagement, and the significance of value in relation to participation in literary activity. This work informs a strategy for literary Glasgow and contributes to conversations on strategies for cultural development in other cities.