Following a series of profound conflicts in the early 21st century, Bolivia became the world’s first pluri-national state in 2009. The idea of the pluri-national state goes beyond the (uni-)national state; imagining a state that allows peoples’ coexistence on an equal footing in a state that facilitates their autonomy (Garcés, 2011). However, recent research indicates that, in practice, the Bolivian state transformation is full of tensions. Based on a framework that brings together Open Marxism (Holloway and Picciotto, 1977; Clarke, 1991c; Bonefeld et al., 1992b, a; Bonefeld et al., 1995b) and the 'de-colonial option' (Quijano, 2006), I offer in-depth insights into contemporary Bolivia. In this, I understand the state as the political form of the social relations of capital, which is marked by modernity and its 'darker side' - coloniality (Mignolo, 2011). This thesis offers tools for studying how the state 'translates' indigenous- and non-indigenous struggles into policies, law and polity (Dinerstein, 2015) while also mediating external pressures. After embedding the pluri-national state in its historical context, covering the emergence and development of the Bolivian state form, I look in depth at the pluri-national state. In this, I unpack the multifaceted struggles for autonomy and find that when mediating autonomy into the pluri-national state, something essential to the definition of plurinationality is lost in translation. First, struggles for autonomy as peoples’ self-determination and deepened decentralisation became subordinated to, yet not annihilated by the government’s social-communitarian model that is advocated in the name of the pueblo’s self-determination and ensures the state’s material basis. Secondly, state-recognised autonomy comes at the cost of submission to a state which continuously operates pre-dominantly according to modern/colonial ideas of law, order and organisation. The contradictions found in the pluri-national autonomy regime and the state are inherent in it and hence, cannot be resolved through reform.

Neste trabalho, desenvolvemos uma discussão sobre a relação entre ceticismo e filosofia no idealismo alemão, notadamente em Hegel. Em particular, no interessa o papel que essa relação desempenha no problema da autodeterminação racional, problema que, a nosso ver, é central para o projeto de filosofia moderna adotado pelos autores do idealismo alemão, e de grande importância para a sua compreensão. Pretendemos mostrar como a confrontação dos autores deste período com os céticos, em particular com Hume, Schulze, Maimon e Sexto Empírico, desempenha um papel central na formação de suas concepções sobre a filosofia, sobre tarefa desta e sobre como ela poderia realizar essa tarefa apenas pela incorporação do ceticismo. Mais do que isso, visamos a mostrar como a confrontação com o ceticismo será fundamental para o desdobramento da concepção que os idealistas alemães têm da autodeterminação racional já que seria como resposta ao ceticismo que eles veriam a necessidade de desenvolver mais profundamente essa concepção do que os seus predecessores haviam o feito o que ajudaria a explicar porque, de um projeto crítico baseado na determinação dos limites do entendimento humano, passamos para filosofias segundo as quais toda filosofia tem que e só pode começar pelo absoluto. Esperamos contribuir para a compreensão desses importantes filósofos do idealismo alemão, bem como para a compreensão do ceticismo, mostrando como essas duas formas de filosofia podem se enriquecer mutuamente por meio do debate em torno do problema da autodeterminação racional. / In this work, we attempt to discuss the relationship between skepticism and philosophy in german idealism, specially in Hegel. We are particularly interested in the role this relationship plays in the problem of rational self-determination, which, as we see it, lies at the core of the project of modern philosophy adopted by the authors of german idealism, and is of great importance for their comprehension. We aim to show how the confrontation of authors of this period with the skeptics, in particular with Hume, Schulze, Maimon and Sextus Empiricus, has an important role in the constitution of their conceptions of philosophy, its task and how it could accomplish said task. Moreover, we will attempt to show that the confrontation with skepticism is fundamental for the development of the conception of rational self-determination held by the german idealists, since it is as an answer to skepticism that they find it necessary to develop this conception further than it had been done by their predecessors which would help explain why, from a critical project of determining the limits of human understanding, we go to philosophies to which all philosophies must start with the absolute. We hope to contribute to the comprehension of these important philosophers of german idealism, as well as to the comprehension of skepticism, by showing how these two forms of philosophy can mutually enrich each other through the debate around the rational self-determination problem.

DSM-5 har valt att klassificera spelmissbruk som ett substansrelaterat missbruk då forskningen på området har funnit många likheter med substansmissbruk vad gäller förhöjd tolerans, sämre beslutsförmåga och lägre impulsförmåga. Dock har det väckts kritiska röster beträffande generaliseringen av gruppen spelmissbrukare, och forskare menar att beroende på om personer vänder sig till så kallade skicklighetsspel eller chansspel, finns det olika bakomliggande orsaker till varför människor börjar spela om pengar.  Syftet med denna studie har därför varit att analysera likheter och skillnader i hur svenska skicklighetsspelare och chansspelare beskriver sina upplevelser och erfarenheter av att vara spelmissbrukare. Studien har baserats på totalt åtta kvalitativa intervjuer med respondenter inom respektive grupp. Intervjuerna utgick från semistrukturerade frågor som berörde respondenternas tidigare relation till spel, vad som fick dem att börja samt hur det utvecklades till ett spelmissbruk. Respondenternas utsagor bearbetades genom tematisk analys. Resultatet visade skillnader mellan grupperna vad gäller motivationen till att börja spela då skicklighetsspelarna upplevde ett större nöje och underhållning till spelet medan chansspelarna såg spelet som en konsekvens eller nödvändighet på grund av den rådande livssituationen. Likheterna mellan grupperna blev tydliga i takt med mer frekvent spelande, då framförallt verklighetensflykten och jakten på ekonomiska kompensation var centrala faktorer. Studien har bidragit till en djupare förståelse kring spelmissbrukares upplevelser och kan vara till hjälp för framtida forskning som vill titta närmare på skillnader inom gruppen spelmissbrukare. Studien kan även vara till hjälp för professionella som möter spelmissbrukare och som strävar efter att anpassa behandlingen beroende på vilken speltyp som konsumeras.

Detta arbete är en systematisk litteraturstudie med syftet att ta reda på om och i så fall hur undervisningen kan påverka elevers motivation och attityd till ämnet matematik och hur undervisningen kan utformas för att eleverna ska utveckla motivation och positiv attityd till matematik. Studiens resultat baseras på 15 stycken kvalitetsgranskade artiklar som tagits fram via systematiska databassökningar. Dessa artiklar har sedan mynnat ut i olika kategorier som resultatet presenteras i med hjälp av innehållsanalys. Resultatet visar bland annat att motivation och attityd går att påverka med hjälp av lärarens förväntningar på eleven. Resultatet visar även att elevernas motivation hänger samman med vad de har för prestationsmål, achievement goal och att lärandemål är att föredra framför resultatmål.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of explicitly teaching self-advocacy skills to three middle school students with mild/moderate disabilities by having them memorize a script and request accommodations in a training and generalization setting. The intervention components included 16 lessons comprising discussion and reflection about their disabilities and educational rights under IDEA, a four-part script, and a prompting procedure. The script included (a) greeting teacher and asking if it's a good time to talk, (b) expressing concern with assignment, (c) asking for accommodation, and (d) thanking teacher. The dependent variables were (a) frequency, measured by the number of cumulative requests made over the course of the study, and (b) accuracy, measured by number of steps aligning with the pre-rehearsed script. Results, evaluated using a multiple-baseline across-participants design, indicated a functional relationship between the intervention and the dependent variables. Results suggest that special education teachers can effectively teach self-determination skills, allowing students with disabilities to self-advocate for accommodations in the general education setting. Further research is needed to confirm current findings.

Sweden has received critique from international organizations for its discrimination of indigenous rights. Even though there are conflicts taking place on the Swedish side of Sápmi, where the Sami people are fighting for their human rights as an indigenous people, there is at same time little or no research done on conflicts involving the Sami population, especially in the north of Sweden. Located on the Swedish side of Sápmi the Sami village Girjas has filed a lawsuit against the Swedish government for the hunting and fishing rights on the reindeer husbandry area of the Sami village territory. This lawsuit has led to a conflict that has been frequently discussed by the media. By applying Gray’s frame theory; “framebased resistance to collaboration”, this study aims to analyse the different stakeholders’ preferences and to focus on media´s framing of the conflict in order to deconstruct the issue and lay forward the affected stakeholders’ preferences, identity, characterisation and willingness to collaboration. The results of this study show that even though the conflict is being framed as polarized, attempts to reframing in order to aim for successful collaborations are starting to take place in the media. Moreover, the media perspective on the conflict has shifted from fuelling arguments from both sides of the conflict into embracing the Sami perspective by highlighting issues for the Sami population and criticizing discriminating and colonial norms held by the Swedish government and authorities. This result could mean that a postcolonial perspective has stated to dominate the media due to the fact that higher awareness and interest in the  Sami population’s fight for self-determination is developing in the public arena.

There is a need to explore ways to better motivate students in instruction, as student motivation is an issue confronting teachers at all levels of education. Instructor-student rapport (ISR), a multidimensional concept comprised of students’ enjoyable interaction and personal connection with instructors, has potential to offer educators a tool for increasing these important student outcomes. Further, self-determination theory (SDT) may have utility for illustrating the psychological mechanisms through which instructors influence students by building rapport. First, this study explored what behaviors instructors should employ to build ISR with students. Specifically, prosocial humor (related and unrelated) and confirmation (responding to questions, demonstrating interest, ad teaching style) were investigated as instructor rapport-building behaviors. Results showed that instructors’ use of related humor, demonstration of interest, and teaching style were significant predictors of both dimensions of ISR; mixed results were found for both responding to questions and unrelated humor. Second, this study considered whether ISR was a significant predictor of student outcomes: intrinsic motivation, perceived cognitive learning, and academic performance. While enjoyable interaction was a significant, positive predictor of all three outcomes, personal connection was not a significant, positive predictor of any student outcomes. In fact, personal connection was a significant, negative predictor of perceived cognitive learning. Third, this study explored whether ISR served as a mediator between these rapport-building behaviors and student outcomes as posited by SDT. Enjoyable interaction was a significant mediator in a majority of the models. However, personal connection was not a positive mediator in any models and served as a negative mediator when predicting perceived cognitive learning. Theoretical implications for this study’s findings, along with practical tips for instructors hoping to build ISR with students, are forwarded. In addition, future directions and limitations are discussed.

In the present study, I examined how the quality of relatedness (operationalized as Mutually Responsive Orientation) in the mother-child relationship in kindergarten students affects the association between the mother's values about school and the child's emotional engagement in school. Relatedness, as described by Self-Determination Theory, posits when a child feels a sense of relatedness—supported, respected, and connected with another individual—the child will be more likely to integrate that person's values into their own belief system. Sixty-six mother-child dyads were observed and videotaped doing four everyday activities (mother worked while child played independently, mother and child had a snack, mother and child played a game, mother and child cleaned up). In addition, the mothers filled out a questionnaire reporting their own valuing of school, and children participated in the Berkeley Puppet Interview, a semi-structured interview between researcher and child in which children reported their levels of emotional engagement in school to two dog puppets. Data were coded and then analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Relatedness between mother and child was found to have a moderating effect on the relation between mothers' values about school and children's school engagement. The strongest relation between mothers' values and children's school engagement was found when mother-child relatedness was low. When mother-child relatedness was high, the engagement of the child was not affected by the mother's valuing of school. The study findings offer implications for how children experiencing high levels of relatedness with their mothers will be able to be more successful in the school setting, regardless of the mothers' valuing of their own school experiences.

Although the link between classroom instructor behavior and student engagement has been well documented, the same cannot be said for instructors and students interacting with one another in clinical settings. Given the relatively close nature of the student-clinical instructor (CI) relationship and the considerable differences between the structured environment of the classroom and the unpredictable and often stressful environment of the healthcare clinic, classroom-based assumptions of what constitutes effective or ineffective teaching behavior may or may not be valid for the clinic. This study applied self-determination theory to investigate the degree to which CI psychological need-supporting/thwarting behaviors affect student clinical engagement. An online survey consisting of items from established scales recognized to measure teacher autonomy-, competency- and relatedness-supporting/thwarting behavior was used to question 751 undergraduate students who were currently enrolled in the clinical portion of their education in one of four radiation science disciplines (radiologic technology, radiation therapy, diagnostic medical sonography, and nuclear medicine technology) at one of 387 institutions of higher education across the United States. Correlational and linear regression analysis revealed a strong connection between overall CI need-supporting/thwarting behavior and student clinical engagement (r(749) = 0.75, p = .0000 and ΔR2 = .5181, pr > F = .0000). The study also revealed CI relatedness-supporting/thwarting behaviors to have the most influence on student clinical engagement (β=.4197, p = .000), followed by autonomy-supporting/thwarting behaviors (β=0.1298, p = .001) and competency-supporting/thwarting behaviors (β=0.1110, p=.007). A number of key student background factors proved to have very little or no influence on student clinical engagement. The results of this study brings awareness to the powerful impact clinical instructors have on their students' motivation to engage in educationally productive clinical activities and serves to underscore the need for routine in-service programs specifically designed to teach CIs how to effectively employ psychological need-supporting behaviors and avoid psychological need-thwarting behaviors when working with their students.

At least one third of college students enrolled in a given year take at least one course that is 80%+ online delivery (Allen & Seaman, 2015). This number has increased from 10% of students just within the last decade. Given this increase, the need for instructional communication research in this context has also grown. One construct that has had little attention in online settings is that of perceived instructor caring. Caring instructors are perceived as concerned, sensitive, not self-centered, and having students’ best interests at heart (McCroskey & Teven, 1999). Caring has the potential to impact various aspects of student success, but has seen limited application in online learning research. Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) uses the term relatedness, and assess the impact on motivation; however, this has also been applied very little in online settings. Guided by self-determination theory, the purpose of this dissertation is to explore perceptions of instructor caring in online education environments, to compare student and faculty views of instructor caring, explore the measurement of mediated instructor caring, and to test a mediation model proposing that perceived instructor caring, autonomy, and competence impacts perceived cognitive learning with motivation and affect as mediators. To do this, the author conducted two mixed-methods studies to compare instructor and student perceptions of caring, validate the measurement of caring, and test the model. Findings seek to improve understanding of how these constructs operate in online learning contexts and to assess self-determination theory for use in online settings, as well as to guide future research in various contexts of instructional communication.