(In)audíveis é um uma plataforma teórico-prático, que pensa mecanismos de reflexividade e de produção de uma audiência crítica, nos projetos de arte contemporânea com que se relaciona - como trabalho de minha própria localização diante do estado atual da Arte. Esta tese alinha-se às práticas artísticas de cunho estético-político e a questão documental. A produção teórico-prático desta pesquisa pautase primeiramente nas experiências artísticas dos anos de 1960 e 1970, por estar identificada com a forma de produção e pensamento auto-reflexivo e críticos de seu contexto. A pesquisa aqui apresentada, no entanto, tratará de identificar estes aspectos políticos como documentais hoje, pelo paradigma das práticas discursivas- o problema da espacialização dos discursos na forma fílmica e instalativa (Vídeo-Instalação e Cinema de Exposição). / (In)audibles is a theoretical-practical platform for thinking the mechanisms of reflexivity and of production of a critical audience in the contemporary art projects with which it relates to - as work of my own localization before the present state of Art. This thesis is related to artistic practices of an aesthetic-political bias and to the issue of documentation. The theoretical-practical production of this thesis is grounded first on the artistic experiments of the 1960\'s and 1970\'s, because they are identified with the kind of production and selfreflexive and critical thought of such context. The research here presented, however, will seek to identify such political aspects as documental aspects of the present day, by means of the paradigm of discursive practices- the problem of discourse spatialization in the filmic and installation forms (Video Installation and Exhibition Cinema).

Dynamique capacitaire et développement du projet: étude des processus identitaires chez une population étudiante / Dynamic of Capabilities and Project Development: Study of Identity Processes in a Student Population

Cette thèse poursuit un double objectif. D’une part, étudier les transformations contemporaines du rituel de mariage catholique en France à partir d’une observation ethnographique de l’ensemble des activités qui composent le rite – de la préparation à la célébration. D’autre part, évaluer la pertinence de la théorie foucaldienne des « techniques de soi » pour rendre compte de ces activités. Cette double dimension, ethnographique et théorique, constitue le fondement d’une « philosophie de terrain » dont on définit les enjeux méthodologiques. La première partie de ce travail est d’ordre épistémologique : elle présente et discute différentes manières d’appréhender la ritualité catholique contemporaine. La deuxième partie se concentre sur la préparation au mariage : on étudie alors les exercices mis en place par les prêtres et les animateurs laïcs de l’association Centres de préparation au mariage (CPM), et on souligne notamment la dimension réflexive de ces dispositifs qui conduit à adopter de nouveaux schèmes narratifs et de nouvelles techniques de communication pour s’engager dans leur vie de couple. La troisième partie est centrée sur la célébration de l’union : on montre alors que, dans le contexte du catholicisme contemporain, l’effectivité de ce rite ne se comprend pleinement que si on l’envisage à l’aune de la préparation qui le conditionne. Deux enjeux généraux émergent de ce travail. D’une part, on présente les apports de la théorie de la subjectivation à l’analyse rituelle. D’autre part, les observations ethnographiques permettent d’approfondir de façon critique la théorie foucaldienne. / This thesis has a twofold objective. On the one hand, to examine the contemporary transformations of the Catholic wedding ritual in France based on an ethnographic observation of all the activities that comprise the rite — from preparation to celebration. On the other hand, to evaluate the relevance of Foucault's ‘‘technologies of the self’’ to reflect these activities. This dual dimension, ethnographic and theoretical, constitutes the basis of a ‘‘field philosophy’’ whose methodological issues are defined. The first part of this work is of an epistemological nature: it presents and discusses different ways of understanding contemporary Catholic rituality. The second part focuses on marriage preparation: we then explore the exercises set up by priests and lay animators of the association Centres de préparation au mariage (CPM). In particular, the reflective dimension of these devices (dispositifs) is highlighted, leading to the adoption of new narrative patterns and new communication techniques to engage in their couple's life. The third part focuses on the celebration of union: it is then shown that, in the context of contemporary Catholicism, the effectiveness of this rite can only be fully understood if it is considered in the light of the preparation that conditions it. Two general issues emerge from this work. On the one hand, the contributions of subjectification theory to ritual analysis are presented. On the other hand, ethnographic observations allow us to critically deepen Foucault's theory.

Esta tese foi desenvolvida no campo da Formação Continuada do professor, mais especificamente do professor de Inglês, da rede pública de ensino. A hipótese levantada é a de que, em contextos de Formação Continuada, os professores são levados a expandir seus conhecimentos teórico-práticos. Ao mesmo tempo, focalizamos o surgimento de um comportamento mais voltado à reflexividade de sua prática, mostrado por meio das mudanças ocorridas em seus escritos anotações efetuadas em diários e observações em sala de aula. Vinte e dois professores-sujeitos da pesquisa escreveram relatos, e quatro professores, inclusive a professora do curso, foram entrevistados e tiveram seus depoimentos gravados em áudio. Os resultados apurados, após um ano de comparecimento ao curso, e a análise dos dados revelaram momentos de observação e momentos dos registros nos diários. No primeiro momento, referente às observações, pudemos notar alguns estágios: (1) silêncio profundo; (2) olhar sobre si mesmo; e (3) busca de autonomia: um olhar sobre sua prática. No momento dos registros em diários, pudemos categorizar: (1) muro das lamentações; (2) luz no fim do túnel; e (3) sinais de reflexividade: ação e controle. / Our research comprises the field of English Teaching Continuing Education and we start from the assumption that in Continuing Education courses the teachers are given a chance to enlarge their theoretical and practical knowledge of English teaching while they are exposed to the course. We hypothesize that there will be some changes in their personal and professional life as they develop a reflective and critical teaching. To analyse these changes we chose to conduct a case study with State English teachers taking a methodology English course at a binational center located in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The group selected was composed of 22 teachers who have been teaching English for at least 5 years, in state schools in Sao Paulo. The subject-teachers were asked to write their diaries while they attended the course in which they would register their interaction with their students in English classes. Also, 4 teachers were interviewed and their responses were recorded. The observation of the classes in the Methodology course took a year during which time the researcher took notes and took pictures of their group work. The results were categorized in two different moments. The first was the observation moment in which the researcher observed some stages such as: (1) profound silence; (2) egocentric talk; and (3) in search of autonomy: a look on their practice. The second was the moment of the diary analysis in which the researcher was able to get to the following categories: (1) mourning wall; (2) light at the end of the tunnel; and (3) signs of reflexivity: action and control.

Operating at the boundaries of philosophy of mind, cognitive science, politics and social theory, this thesis aims to develop an interdisciplinary model of the relationship between agency and structure. This thesis explores the question of why the agency/structure argument in the social sciences has not yet been resolved and argues for an interdisciplinary model of agency to be utilised by social theory. In the wake of poststructuralism there has been a gravitation back towards characterising the terms of this debate in more strongly dichotomous terms, arguing for the autonomy of agency in particular as a natural kind. This trend can be seen most clearly in Archer's analytical dualism within the morphogenetic theory of social elaboration, where the desire for the clarity of dualist terms has become tangled with claims to ontology. I suggest that this tendency is not limited to social theory, but is characteristic of the neoliberal political environment from which such theory is being produced, understood and utilised. Understanding the way in which our political and social context influences the ways in which we may understand or conceptualise a problem such as this, establishing the logical intuition and methods which we use to do this kind of deductive reasoning, is key for both performing the philosophical task of engaging in the agency-structure debate, but is thoroughly interrelated with how we need to conceptualise that relationship itself. It is both the method and the content, the 'how' and the 'what', of investigating the relationship between external social structures and the feeling of autonomous authorship and choice. I argue that the political value system inherent to neoliberal and economic logics, which prioritise and naturalise individuality and autonomous, internal agentic capacity, works to make the experience of agency appear inevitable and universal. This thesis engages with the assumptions that underpin this illusion, looking to philosophy of mind in order to etch out a framework for understanding agency. This framework has two necessary components. Firstly, that it acknowledges the experience of agency as real, and that as a way-of-being-in-the- world it is necessary to continue to explore how individuals experience agency in their environments. Secondly, and most importantly, that this 'realism' about agency, does not inevitably indicate that agency has an ontological and epistemological reality that transcends the particular social and political contexts in which it makes sense. The thesis explores how the fundamental components of agency, intelligence and cognition are produced in the interrelationships between a subject and their physical, social and political environment. The argument presented is that deliberative consciousness and self-awareness emerge as a response to, and as an effect of, complex social interaction. In contrast to Archer's conception of the sui generis, causal efficacy of reflexive agency, this thesis argues that smooth, embodied, coping with the environment is the preferred mode of interacting with the world. By critically engaging with the idea that those studying social dynamics should conceptualize agency as internal and inherent the thesis explores and critiques the prevalent use of the term 'agency' within social theory, arguing that an explicit engagement with what agency is is an understudied but fundamental and necessary philosophical task within sociology. A strong position is proposed that social institutions not only precede the self-aware, experience of choice and autonomy, but actively produce it. This proposition stands in opposition to dualistic notions of agency and structure as they are conceived by critical realism. This has widespread political implications in a field that often assumes agency to be an intrinsic part of human nature that stands outside of socialisation. This goal of this thesis is to demonstrate that in order to understand the experience of agency within our particular contexts and how it manifests as a force for social change, social theory must engage critically with philosophy of consciousness.

Since the late 20th century, Western society has been permeated by a pervasive, yet fundamentally contested sense of ecological crisis. While diagnoses abound, shifts in critical forms of Western science and the so-called ‘postmodern condition’, raise a recurring issue for debate: the positioning and qualities of scholarship in relation to societal transformation. Reflexively, if not normatively, academia is challenged to reflect on the implications of the ‘storying’ and ‘re-storying’ of scholarship vis-à-vis the socio-ecological, such that both scholarly processes and ‘ends-in-view’ foster an intellectual field of inquiry and engagement that is more relevant to - if not responsible for - a ‘deeply’ democratic, ecologically sensitized social order. Providing a major line of response regarding this broader background, ‘sustainable higher education’ currently emerges as a highly complex phenomenon that takes shape across a range of sites and contexts in relation to a variety of local and specific academic practices. It may thus be variously understood as a strategy for addressing the environmental and sustainability crises identified at the Rio Earth Summit, as a matter of academic concern and field of intellectual inquiry, and as a regulative ideal for policy, professionalism and practice in the ‘greening’ of higher education. The present study documents the associated politics of (knowledge) change, by taking a broader interest in how sustainable higher education, as a social and discursive practice, is currently constituted and reconstituted across differently positioned academics from a range of academic sites and contexts, namely universities in England, Austria and Germany. Focusing on the academic knowledge practices in relation to the emergence of sustainable higher education, the study proceeds to analyse these through an integrated lens of academic subjectivity; i.e. with this not being conceptualised as a clearly ‘bounded’ or ‘fixed’ entity, but rather an entangled, relational and practical matter of culturally (re-)productive self-production. Working with empirical material generated from episodic interviews and via a set of heuristic tools developed from poststructuralist and critical hermeneutic theories, the study thus illustrates the contemporary constitution of subjectivities in/of sustainable higher education, illuminating how a historico-cultural reading of subject configurations and activities is suggestive of a wider structural shift. Working across diverse configurations of the policies and politics of the field, this shift is often expected, if not inferred, to be catalytic in transforming increasingly abstracted forms of knowledge/cultural production towards ‘re-responsibilitisation’. The study further exemplifies how this can be associated with the broader conditions of an ‘eco-politics of unsustainability’, which seems so hard to overcome precisely because it is made manifest at more practical levels through the quite mundane ways in which academics go about their daily business. Yet, a counter reading is possible too: this points to the perhaps ‘wild(er)’ aspects of these always-also affective practices through which new relationalities can emerge. Taken together, the study’s increasingly integrated readings thus work towards the exploration of how academic subjectivities might be re-made if positioned at the intersections of social inquiry and practical philosophy in the lives of ‘everyday sustainable higher education makers’.

Lié aux diverses formes de spiritualité contemporaine, le néo-chamanisme offre à ceux qui y adhèrent un parcours de spécialisation basé sur des techniques d’apprentissage thérapeutique pratiquées dans le cadre de séminaires animés par un néo-chaman. Cette thèse porte sur le néo-chamanisme en tant que phénomène culturel à visée thérapeutique lié aux diverses formes de spiritualité contemporaine. La partie ethnographique, fondée sur un double terrain, en France et en Italie, a permis d’identifier dans les deux pays un fonctionnement similaire organisé autour de cinq éléments qui caractérisent cette pratique. La fascination envers un ailleurs exotique, les références à des cosmologies indigènes, la quête du bien- être et de la guérison individuelle, la sacralisation de la nature, une relation directe avec le néo-chaman, et un mécanisme de dédoublement réflexif des participants, tels sont les principes constitutifs de cette pratique. La thèse s’appuie sur trois axes: les modalités de diffusion des pratiques, la construction de la crédibilité des néo-chamans, et l’efficacité thérapeutique mise en œuvre dans le cadre des séminaires. Le premier axe montre comment les pratiques se diffusent à travers des réseaux créés autour de librairies, de festivals et de formes de tourisme spirituel. Dans ce contexte, la crédibilité que les spécialistes parviennent à obtenir auprès de leur public s’établit grâce à une mise en récit autobiographique de leur position au sein de ces réseaux, notamment de leur rapport immédiat avec des figures fondatrices. Enfin, les relations rituelles que les participants établissent avec les différentes entités du panthéon néo- chamanique médiatisent la rencontre avec soi-même et la création d’un lien avec une nature extérieure et en même temps avec une nature intime, envisagée comme résidant à l’intérieur de chacun. / This thesis investigates neo-shamanism, a cultural phenomenon with therapeutic purposes tied to different forms of contemporary spirituality. In addition to healing, the Neo-shamanistic practices being studied also offer adherents a specialized apprenticeship in the techniques as implemented during the seminars led by the neo-shaman. The ethnography, conducted in both France and Italy, finds similarities among the two countries which can be organized around five different elements that characterize such practice; a fascination with an ‘exotic elsewhere’, reference to indigenous cosmologies, a quest for well-being and individual healing, the sacralization of nature, a direct relationship with the neo-shaman and a twofold reflexivity of participants. The thesis highlights three elements; the spreading of the practices, the credibility of the neo-shaman and the therapeutic efficacy achieved during the seminars. The first element shows how practices spread via bookstores, festivals and forms of spiritual tourism. The analysis then demonstrates how the specialists earn credibility from their audiences. The third element of the thesis deals with the ritual relationships that the participants establish with the entities populating the neo-shamanic pantheon. These relationships with different entities mediate a therapeutic encounter with oneself while also constructing a bond with the outer and intimate nature thought to reside within all humanity.

Esta tese tem como objetivo principal analisar o modo como se erigem as identidades entre trabalhadores cortadores de cana-de-açúcar, cuja atividade apresenta dois traços distintivos, a saber: a sazonalidade do vínculo empregatício e a ocorrência das migrações. Ao fixar o interesse analítico no tema dos elos entre a experiência do trabalho e os processos de construção identitária, procura-se trazer a lume a trama de ações que envolve o exercício da reflexividade em face dos constrangimentos da estrutura. Importa, nesse sentido, sublinhar não apenas às condições de trabalho que o tornam precário, mas recuperar a dimensão da agência manifesta nos significados atribuídos às suas ações a partir desse contexto. Para tanto, a fundamentação teórica nutre-se de uma microssociologia das relações cotidianas que compreende as identidades em seu aspecto contingente, enquanto processo. A pesquisa de campo ocorreu em Sergipe, que é uma fronteira de expansão dessa atividade econômica e pólo de atração para trabalhadores de outras localidades. A composição da amostra dos casos incluiu trabalhadores de cinco usinas existentes no estado. O desenho metodológico, de tipo qualitativo, fundamentou-se em entrevistas biográficas com trabalhadores que estavam no corte da cana, além da observação direta dos espaços de trabalho e de vida extra-trabalho, bem como material quantitativo sobre o crescimento da área plantada, da produção e do perfil dos efetivos das usinas. Os resultados mostram que, mesmo em condições adversas os trabalhadores atribuem significados diversos à sua conduta, que não se resume à imagem de passividade com que por vezes são vistos. As identidades não são simples decalque da posição social. A maneira pela qual eles tecem representações acerca do contexto de vida e trabalho deixa entrever um campo de tensões prenhe de ações de resistência e confronto / This thesis aims to analyze how sugar cane harvest workers build their identities. This kind of work has two distinctive features: the seasonality of employment and the occurrence of migration. By analyzing the relation between the work experience and the processes of identity construction, we seek to bring to light the practice of reflexivity concerning structural constraints. The focus we intend to provide is not only on the poor working conditions, but also on the agency competence of the subjects which allow us to understand the meanings assigned to their social actions. Hence, the theoretical foundation is nourished by microsociology of everyday relationships, which consider identities in their contingent aspect, as a process. The fieldwork was carried out in Sergipe, which is a new frontier in the economic growth of this industry and it has attracted workers from other regions. The sample of the cases was composed of workers from five factories located in the area. As a qualitative research, the methodological design was based on biographical interviews with workers who harvested sugar cane, as well as on direct observation of work spaces and side work, including quantitative information about the expansion of the planted area, production and workers. The results show that even in adverse conditions the workers ascribe different meanings to their conduct, which is not reduced to an image of passivity, which is sometimes seen. Identities are not simple reflex of social position. The way they create representations about their lifestyle and work allows us to understand how the acts of resistance and confrontation work

This thesis explores the effects of art-making in group art therapy sessions for people affected by Parkinson's Disease. It examines their experience of self through active engagement with art materials. It also draws on the experience of family caregivers and of professionals providing other therapeutic support for these patients. The research methodology is based on feminist, post-structuralist epistemological thought, situating the research as a political, reality-altering endeavour shaped by, and interpreted through, the researcher's particular ideological lens. The thesis emphasises the importance of developing a critical overview of the research context and considering how dominant discourses have shaped both the individual patient's experience of Parkinson's and the service approach to ways of improving their quality of life. A medical model is viewed as determining a narrow understanding and experience of the condition. Broadening the focus of the work to attend to how Parkinson's is culturally and socially embedded provides new understandings of its effects on patients and their wider needs. The research design has a strong participatory component drawing on the support of a consultancy group of six people affected by Parkinson's and three family caregivers, all seen as experts through their personal experience of the condition. The researcher defines her position as researcher-near using her background as artist, art therapist and her experience of working with people affected by Parkinson's at the research site. The research design is inspired by group art therapy practice, and takes research as praxis for theory building. Social science qualitative interviewing was used with four focus groups, and in ten semi-structured individual interviews which involved participant selected examples of their group therapy artwork. Nine audio-recordings of group art therapy sessions were collected. The researcher used art-making throughout the research process to create visual researcher diaries, and 'response' art as a way of exploring the material gathered for analysis. Besides providing an opportunity to consider the role of visual expression to complement verbal, this English language thesis uses data collected in Spanish and Catalan. Translation across languages (spoken, written and visual) and cultures became a method through which to consider interpretation, explore nuances and question assumptions. The dilemmas faced in translation enhanced researcher reflexivity and facilitated exploration of the space between art and language. This thesis offers an understanding of the potential contribution of group art therapy within six themes: 'Self-construction and discovery'; 'Material action'; 'Aesthetic group movement'; 'New perspectives'; 'Artwork as legacy'; and 'Physical transformation of issues'. These themes support the view that group art therapy acted as a catalyst for well-being and better functioning for participants, and that it can be modelled as a continuous process of embodied enquiry for those affected by Parkinson's. The triangular therapeutic relationship is explored and the terms 'creator' - 'artwork' - 'audience' are proposed to recognise the flexibility in the art-maker's position between creator and audience of their artwork. That artwork is conceptualised as an active meaning generator in the group art therapeutic encounter and the artistic intersubjective matrix is explored in relation to therapeutic factors specific to group art therapy. Implications for working with other related chronic, life changing conditions are elaborated.

In advancing a critical examination of post-processualism, the thesis has – as its central aim – the repositioning of the Neolithic within contemporary archaeological theory. Whilst acknowledging the insights it brings to an understanding of the period, it is argued that the knowledge it produces is necessarily constrained by the emphasis it accords to the cultural. Thus, in terms of the transition, the symbolic reading of agriculture to construct a metanarrative of Mesolithic continuity is challenged through a consideration of the evidential base and the indications it gives for a corresponding movement at the level of the economy; whilst the limiting effects generated by an interpretative reading of its monuments for an understanding of the social are considered. Underpinning these constraints is the conceptual privileging of the individual consequent upon the post-processual reaction to the totalising frameworks of modernist knowledge and the metanarratives of progress they construct – as exemplified in the economic reading of Childe. In examining the form of this reaction, the wider post-processual transposition of postmodernism within contemporary archaeological theory is also considered. In utilising Giddens’ concept of reflexivity, it is argued that rather than the ‘cultural turn’ itself, it is the inflection of the epistemological frameworks of the Enlightenment with a teleological reading of the past as progress that represents the postmodern within contemporary archaeological theory and it is through this understanding of postmodernism as expressing the capacity that modernity has to be self-aware that the conditions are established for the recovery of the Neolithic as a holistic object.