Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur arbetsrelaterad stress påverkar diakoner i Svenska Kyrkan, samt vilken inverkan diakoners arbetsmiljö har på arbetsrelaterad stress. Studien har utgått från en kvantitativ ansats och datainsamling gjordes i form av en webbenkät som skickades ut till vigda diakoner som arbetar i två stift inom Svenska Kyrkan, varav 65 diakoner deltog i studien. Enkäten bestod av ett antal bakgrundsfrågor och sedan frågor tagna från det validerade frågeformuläret Work stress questionnaire. Empirin analyserades sedan utifrån de fyra kategorier som återfinns i Work stress questionnaire. Specifika frågor analyserades även utifrån arbetskrav och resurser som återfinns i teorin Job Demands- Resources Model och de sju antaganden från Human Relations Theory of Management, samt utifrån den tidigare forskning som finns om ämnet. Studiens resultat visade att det finns flera faktorer i diakoners arbete och arbetsmiljö som kan vara bakomliggande faktorer till arbetsrelaterad stress. Stor arbetsbelastning, otydliga mål, höga krav och förväntningar samt tidspress är några av de största bakomliggande faktorerna till arbetsrelaterad stress som diakoner ställs inför i sitt arbete. Studien visar även på att det behövs framtida forskning kring ämnet för att förstå och minska de faktorer i diakoners arbete och arbetsmiljö som leder till arbetsrelaterad stress.

This dissertation explores how different understandings of power in IR theory lead to different understandings of world order. In particular, I examine how notions of power have informed recent 'debate about empire' and what the term empire might usefully mean in the context of contemporary international relations. I start by investigating how power is understood in relation to the role of shared understandings. Mainstream or "Rationalist" scholars of IR have argued that shared norms and principles are epiphenomenal, existing only to the extent that sovereign states find utility in them. 'Reflectivist' scholars, on the other hand, have suggested that we attribute a much greater degree of autonomy to what they call "constitutive knowledge". That is, the intersubjective and historically contingent truths about world politics that inform the values and norms of state behavior. What is noteworthy about the recent debates about "empire" is that, for better or for worse, Rationalist scholars have tended to explain America's recent unilateralism in terms of a return to the logic of political realism which gives primacy to state power. However, following the Reflectivist argument, I argue that it is a mistake to limit the analytic scope of unilateralism to the egoistic agency of any one state. Instead, it may be more precise to situate American unilateralism in the context of an emerging regime or formation of shared understandings which is more global in scope. To explore this possibility, I turn to Foucault's theory of power which explores how liberal governments both direct their populations and rationalize the use of certain forms of violence. I turn also to Hardt and Negri who, taking their lead from Foucault, offer a novel definition of the term empire as a quality or condition of the practice of global governance particular to late modernity. Hardt and Negri define empire as a new form of global sovereignty that has emerged along with the global market and global circuits of production. My research explores how this definition can be used to refine such key concepts and categories of IR theory research as sovereignty, political economy and security. Through the reinterpretation of these key categories, I show how theories based on constitutive knowledge are capable of recognizing that there is in fact a great deal more going on in contemporary global power relations than American unilateralism. / Ph. D.

The existential dimension has gained importance in health studies in the last decades (Moreira-Almeida & Koenig, 2006; DeMarinis, 2008). Little Swedish research exists in this area. A pilot study was conducted in a suburban Stockholm, Church of Sweden parish. Research question was: “How does the existential dimension of health, understood as the ability to create and maintain a functional meaning-makings system, affect the person’s self-rated health and quality of life?” Theoretical framework included: health research focusing the existential dimension; public health through psychology of religion; and, object-relations theory. The mixed-methods format included semi-structured interviews, and surveys: 1) on meaning-making, and 2) Swedish pilot translation of WHOQOL-SRPB (self-rated health and quality of life including spirituality, religiousness and personal beliefs). Central results showed a positive relation between the existential health dimension and: overall ratings of physical, mental, social, and environmental health (p = .008); the overall existential health dimension and mental health (p = .008); and, social health (p = .046) and, the combined health items “How do you feel?” and “How satisfied are you with your health?” (p = .001). These results find support in WHO’s health perspective, and are linked to DeMarinis’ health dimensions and Winnicott’s understanding of potential space. Health dimensions: physical, mental, social, ecological and existential, are closely interlinked. The existential dimension is important through interaction with the others, and through its function as an autonomous health dimension. The study underlines the need for – and offers a culturally-tested method and model to explore existential needs in this secularized context.

South African foreign policy is not made in a bubble; as a democracy since 1994, its outward orientation is theoretically subject to lobbying and pressure from outside groups as well as jockeying among bureaucratic entities. This study applies the principles of Foreign Policy Analysis, a theoretical framework that attempts to unpack the processes through which governments’ foreign policies are made, to South Africa to determine whether foreign policy making is in reality open to outside inputs, or whether the foreign policy arena—as in many countries globally—is an elite reserve. The thesis has a specific focus on the 1994-2008 period, during which time Deputy President (1994-99) and later President (1999-2008) Thabo Mbeki dominated government’s foreign policy formulation, to determine whether South Africa’s democratic transition was accompanied by “democratization” of the foreign policy making process compared to the apartheid government. In addition, the thesis sought to disaggregate the various actors involved in the process—both from the influencing and decision making sides of the coin—to analyze their individual roles in influencing foreign policy, both pre- and post-1994. The thesis found that the dominant actor in South African foreign policy, both before and after 1994, was the national leader (Prime Minister before 1984; President thereafter) or, on occasion, his chosen delegate if the leader was disinterested in the external realm. This is in part because South African Constitutions vest most decision-making power in the executive, in line with international norms, but also due to a lack of pressure by non-governmental actors. While South Africa’s post-apartheid dispensation allows for greater inputs by the public and other outside actors, the practice of influencing foreign policy—either through the ballot box or through concerted pressure between elections—changed very little. Public engagement on foreign policy, already weak, did not improve after 1994. Parliament, despite having a dedicated committee on the issue, showed itself largely disinterested, as did the broader ANC. The press, business, the ANC, and most civil society organizations similarly showed little desire to weigh in on foreign policy beyond isolated instances. Only academia consistently attempted to influence policy during the Mandela and Mbeki administrations, with mixed results. Ultimately, blame for this lack of change appears to lie mostly with outside actors themselves, who during the first 14 years of democracy failed to take advantage of political space opened to them. In examining Thabo Mbeki specifically, the thesis found that he took advantage of this leeway to dominate the foreign policy debate and rarely went out of his way to open the foreign policy debate any more than he had to. He gave short shrift to the inputs of pressure groups; had no time for the press or business; and dominated the ANC and its parliamentary caucus. Mbeki had a clear and well-defined worldview, and he had little time for people or organizations with decidedly different views. That said, those close to Mbeki, and even outsiders—notably from the academic community—paint a far more nuanced picture of the man, as someone who would listen and engage with others on foreign policy, at least if he believed they had done their homework on the issues in question. Hence, portrayals of Mbeki as a “dictator” in the foreign policy realm appear to be overstated. / Political Sciences / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Politics)

The purpose of this thesis is theory development. It begins by evaluating existing explanations of why states undertake humanitarian intervention. Realists argue that states only intervene when their national interests are at stake. Normative scholars argue that states are at times motivated to save foreign citizens. Neither approach adequately accounts for the pattern of post-Cold War state practice. Building from this conclusion, the thesis conducts research based on two propositions derived from an analysis of existing debates: that examining state motive holds promise for elucidating the weaknesses in current approaches and that studying state argumentation can provide insight into state motives. To better investigate state motives, a theoretical framework is developed to explain how motives translate into state decision-making and manifest themselves in state argumentation. By employing process tracing, argumentation analysis, and elite interviews, this framework is applied to three cases: Northern Iraq in 1991, Rwanda in 1994, and East Timor in 1999. Each case study constructs a theoretically informed narrative, assesses debates between states at the United Nations Security Council, and evaluates the consistency between state discourse and state practice. The cases are then used heuristically to identify opportunities for improving existing theory and developing new theory. This yields several conclusions. First, not only do states often possess mixed motives, but the humanitarian impulse also appears in some cases to have been a necessary condition for humanitarian intervention. Second, the norm of humanitarian intervention does not function as a general rule. Rather, it is a cluster of principles derived from just war theory and international law, but also connected to related norms about sovereignty, human rights, and self-determination. Third, state decision-making is a collective process structured by the prevailing post-Cold War institutional and normative context. The thesis concludes by outlining promising avenues of research for better understanding why states respond to some occurrences of mass atrocities and not others.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Today, political scientists working with international organizations seek to resolve internal conflicts in Bosnia- Herzegovina, Cyprus, and Kashmir. To solve such crises, political scientists have mostly tried to apply domestic comparative politics approaches. These techniques emphasize agreements among internal actors and have not been successful in most cases. In the case of the Transdniestrian conflict in the Republic of Moldova, mediators have found it difficult to achieve internal agreement because external factors also have played a significant role during the conflict. Therefore, even if an internal agreement is achieved, it will remain fragile due to the vulnerable geographic location of the Republic of Moldova and to the limited state capacity to counter influential external actors. For the purpose of solving the Transdniestrian conflict in the long run, this thesis analyzes the possibilities of creating regional complex interdependence around the Republic of Moldova, which would strengthen an internal agreement to resolve the conflict. Regional complex interdependence inter-connects the countries interested in the region around the Republic of Moldova: Romania, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine. This solution presumes external and internal interconnections based on the complex interdependence theory of neo-liberalism. The main potential drawback is that any asymmetrical dependencies in the initial stage of cooperation will imbalance the proposed complex interdependence causing unilateral dependence (most likely on Russia) leading other actors to take countermeasures. In fact, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe as a neutral party has been being a legal umbrella for mediation since all parties consider it an appropriate organization for the negotiations. Nevertheless, creating such an arrangement requires an initial role of the United States of America and the European Union to balance Russian influence until the region becomes interdependent. At that moment, the continuation of the Transdniestrian conflict will become irrelevant because the pre-conditions for conflict will be eliminated. / Major, Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Moldova

[pt] O objetivo central desta dissertação é fazer uma análise discursiva pós-colonial sobre o desenvolvimento e o panorama atual da área de Relações Internacionais no Brasil, na China e na Índia. Procura-se analisar o entrelaçamento destas experiências com a experiência dominante na área (a estadunidense), com o intuito de expor a participação subordinada destes locais (de enunciação) na construção da área globalmente. Para tal, utiliza-se, principalmente, o discurso pós-colonial de Homi Bhabha e autores que interpretam sua obra, como Ilan Kapoor, James Ferguson e Marta Moreno. Através de uma leitura baseada nestes autores, busca-se interpretar a história e os saberes destes locais para além de seu entendimento como cópia inautêntica da experiência estadunidense ou como tentativa frustrada de criação completamente inovadora. Almeja-se, pelo contrário, ressaltar como as histórias e os saberes da área pelo globo são construídos a partir de relacionamentos históricos; os quais, por serem assimétricos, omitem e menosprezam a participação e a contribuição da produção em RI pelo globo. O método de análise discursiva desta dissertação tem como base metodologias de cunho pós-estruturalista e pós-colonial, a saber: a justaposição de narrativas e a ênfase nos conhecimentos subjugados. Esta análise se deu através da revisão de material escrito (artigos de revistas acadêmicas, livros especializados ou coletâneas acadêmicas) que aborda o desenvolvimento e o panorama atual da área de RI de Brasil, China e Índia. Buscase, assim, contribuir com a subversão da Historiografia Tradicional da área de RI através da escavação de outras historiografias e outros saberes que se entrelaçam na construção da área globalmente. / [en] The main goal of this dissertation is to perform a postcolonial discursive analysis on the development and current overview of the area of International Relations in Brazil, China and India. It seeks to analyze the relationship of these experiences with the worldwide dominant experience (that of the U.S.A.), in order to expose the subordinated participation of these (enunciative) places in the construction of the area globally. In order to do so, it is used, mainly, the postcolonial discourse of Homi Bhabha and authors who interpret his work, such as Ilan Kapoor, James Ferguson and Marta Moreno. Through a reading based on these authors, it is sought to interpret the history and the knowledge of these places beyond their understanding as inauthentic copy of the American experience or as a frustrated attempt of a complete innovation. It is aimed, on the contrary, to highlight how the stories and knowledge of the area across the globe are constructed by historical relationships; which, for being asymmetric, omit and despise the participation and contribution of IR production across the globe. The method of discursive analysis of this dissertation is based on poststructuralist and postcolonial methodologies, namely: the juxtaposition of narratives and the emphasis on subjugated knowledge. This analysis has been done by reviewing written material (articles from academic journals, specialized academic books or academic collections) that addresses the development and current situation of the IR area of Brazil, China and India. The aim is, thus, to contribute to the subversion of IR traditional historiography by excavating other historiographies and other knowledge that intertwine in the construction area globally.

Esta dissertação analisa, conceitual e metodologicamente, a questão dos ganhos relativos na teoria de Relações Internacionais. A análise passa pelo exame da literatura relevante, e pela apreciação da utilização que essa literatura faz do ferramental de teoria dos jogos. Identifica-se um problema metodológico ligado à escolha das premissas comportamentais dos jogadores. Na tentativa de contribuir para remediar essa lacuna, é elaborado um conceito, chamado de preço da cooperação, para explicar como varia a predileção por ganhos absolutos ou relativos por parte dos estados (jogadores). A análise sugere que a sensibilidade à distribuição de ganhos gerada pela preocupação dos estados com segurança é apenas uma das fontes dessa sensibilidade. De modo que os efeitos do problema dos ganhos relativos sobre a cooperação internacional devem ser pensados e investigados levando-se em conta um conjunto de fatores causadores de problemas de ganhos relativos, com destaque para os conflitos distributivos inerentes às barganhas. / This dissertation analyses the problem of relative gains in International Relations theory, both from a conceptual and a methodological point of view. The research examines the relevant literature and investigates how it uses the tools provided by game theory. The research focus on the problem of choosing the assumptions pertaining to the behavior of players, and proposes the concept of \"price of cooperation\" to explain the variation in players\' sensibility to relative gains. This study suggests that the concern with security is only one of many sources of sensibility to relative gains. As such, the effects of the relative gains problem upon international cooperation should be investigated taking into account the various factors that may increase preference for relative gains, with special attention to bargainings inherent distributive conflicts.

This work aims to explore the phenomenon of play in detail and classify its relationship to artistic activity and education. As its starting point it uses the paradigm of general and developmental psychology with an emphasis on the formal and functional definition of the term play. This theoretical background will then be widened by- and confronted with the viewpoint of the depth psychology. The theories of the depth psychology will explain the connotations between the play, personality, imagination, and creativity more in depth. The main sources of this work will then be the works of the main representatives of the object relations theory. Due to their focus on early personality development they will help with uncovering where, when and which phenomena connected to artistic activity take place and their influence on human mentality. In this work's conclusion, based on the theories of the general and depth psychology, the foundations for didactic strategies of art education and art psychologists will be proposed, which arise from these theories. These foundations will, finally, be confronted with specialist literature about current approaches to arts education.

This thesis is an original contribution to critical international relations theory. Responding to Hartmut Behr's call for the development of more universalistic trajectories of ontological inquiry for contemporary (global) politics and ethics, our original contribution is to establish a 'critical' approach to international theory on a more universalistic meta-theoretical foundation. Proceeding from a philosophical analysis of 'ontological' foundations in influential normative, meta-theoretical, and critical approaches to international theory, we argue for a shift from international theory’s reliance on a shallow ontology of 'things that exist' to a fuller ontology of being, and of human being in particular. After identifying with the left-Hegelian tradition of thought, and establishing that the most compelling and promising advocate of a 'critical' approach to international theory, that of Andrew Linklater, rests on a limited conception of human existence and a thin understanding of human freedom, we explore the implications of conceptions of human being and freedom in the work of Martin Heidegger and Georg W. F. Hegel for critical international theory. Offering an epistemological defence of our universalism through Hegel's phenomenological constructivist approach to knowledge, then demonstrating how this allows us to transcend the schism between foundationalist and anti-foundationalist approaches to normative theory, we premise our own emancipatory cosmopolitanism on a commitment to the human being conceived as 'singularity' rather than subject. Proceeding from a discussion of 'what it means to be' a free human being according to Heidegger and Hegel, we then foreground two aspects of human freedom that have hitherto been obscured in critical international theory and develop a praxeological emancipatory cosmopolitanism on this basis. Rather than rejecting Linklater's emancipatory cosmopolitanism, we call for its 'overcoming,' and demonstrate ways that our meta-theoretical argument can effect international practice by offering 'love' as a guide for ethical and emancipatory praxis and an evaluative tool for critical social theory.