The purpose of this dissertation is to develop the theoretical concept of social movement momentum by examining the origins, framing strategies, and organizational dynamics of the East Timor transnational social movement. To accomplish this, in-depth interviews of twenty activists and intellectuals involved in the East Timor movement from 1975-1999 were conducted and examined using qualitative data analysis methods. Specifically, comparative historical methods utilizing grounded theory and the phenomenological approach were employed. This study fills a gap in the social movement literature by engaging and expanding the main theoretical debates in sociology over movement mobilization, political outcomes, movement emotions, solidarity, and movement framing. These debates, along with the theoretical concept of social movement momentum as developed in this dissertation, are used to explain and analyze interviewees' first-hand accounts of the East Timor campaigns. . This resulted in a series of successes that represent the peak of the momentum in the East Timor movement. In sum, this study aids researchers in understanding how the successes and failures of social movement activity can be better explained using the theoretical concept of social movement momentum. By analyzing the significance of momentum in a movement post hoc, this study contributes a more nuanced understanding of how social movements create social change. / by Shane Gunderson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Mon projet porte sur le concept de marginalité dans trois romans, Al-Riwayah (Le Roman) de Nawal El Saadawi, Les Intranquilles d’Azza Filali et Jeux de rubans d’Emna Belhaj Yahia. L’étude la marginalité « femme », plus que toute autre marginalité, nous renseigne sur les orientations d’une société, sur ses aspirations et nous informe des dynamiques qui la travaillent. Dans ce sens, le marginal « sert de miroir à la société » (Barel). Il s’agit de voir ce que la marginalité femme fait des normes sociales qui l’infériorisent, qui font d’elle une marginalité, c’est-à-dire un objet visible mais tenu à l’écart. La marginalité « femme » chez Nawal El Saadawi, Azza Filali et Emna Belhaj Yahia parvient-elle à rejeter d’emblée les normes qui sont à l’origine de sa mise à l’écart ? Est-il possible d’envisager un processus d’autonomisation à partir des normes existantes ? Mon hypothèse est qu’il ne suffit pas de se réapproprier les normes sociales de sorte à s’affirmer à l’intérieur des traditions établies. Dans les trois romans étudiés, les traditions qui cautionnent certaines normes et pratiques sociales finissent par être rejetées. Il ne suffit pas d’« élargir » les normes sociales et de multiplier les analyses et interprétations des textes qui cautionnent certaines idées qui sont à l’origine de la mise à l’écart des « femmes » et autres groupes sociaux et minorités. L’individu doit être en mesure d’envisager une existence qui lui est propre sans avoir à se référer aux traditions héritées. Dans les trois romans étudiés, la marginalité « femme », pour envisager une existence libérée des contraintes du groupe, doit défaire la norme, c’est-à-dire redéfinir ce qui est de l’ordre des priorités pour elle et remettre en cause les idées reçues. Je pars du présupposé butlérien selon lequel la norme est à la fois une nécessité et une contrainte. La norme sert à définir les rapports entre individus et à organiser les activités. C’est ce qui organise aussi la vie en commun. Il n’y a pas d’existence à l’extérieur de la norme (Butler). Le marginal doit subvertir la norme, être dans la norme et à l’extérieur de celle-ci. Il s’adapte mais ne se conforme pas. S’il envisage de se constituer en tant que sujet grâce à la norme et à partir de la norme, l’individu doit avant tout admettre que la norme lui confisque sa liberté et son libre-arbitre. Il doit reconnaître que l’initiative individuelle est prohibée par les normes de groupe. Les frontières entre la marginalité et son opposé, la normalité, sont mouvantes. C’est dans cette perspective que des changements sociaux peuvent être envisagés. Des interactions entre la marginalité et la société « normale » ont lieu. La marginalité qui était socialement visible et spatialement localisable devient diffuse. Les divisions entre le centre, lieu de concentration des activités et lieu central dans l’espace, et la périphérie, lieu d’exclusion, et entre normalité et marginalité sont remises en cause. L’individu de la marge et celui de la société « normale » ont en réalité les mêmes préoccupations. / My project explores the concept of marginalization in three novels: Al-Riwâyah (Nawal El Saadawi), Les Intranquilles (Azza Filali) and Jeux de rubans (Emna Belhaj Yahia). The study of these novels shows that the marginalization of women (more so than the study of any other marginalized group) reveals society’s aspirations, the direction society is headed in and the dynamics that drives it. In essence, this marginalized group mirrors society (Barel). I concentrate on the way in which women are marginalized by societal norms, the very norms that ensure women are lesser beings and how they are viewed by society. Can the marginalized women in El Saadawi, Filali and Yahia’s novels succeed in rejecting the norms that place them on the outskirts of society? Do the existing norms allow for a process of empowerment? My contention is that taking ownership of societal norms is not enough. In each of the three novels in question, traditions that uphold certain norms and social practices are rejected by the women characters. It takes more than an “extension” (Butler) of social norms and analyses of notions that contribute to the exclusion of women and other minorities to create transformation. The individual must be capable of imagining his/her own place in society without having to remain bounded by inherited traditions. In these three novels, the marginalized women redefine their priorities and question convention, thus tearing down norms in order to visualize a role free from the constraints of the majority. I argue that norms are shown in these novels to be both necessary and restrictive (Butler). Societal norms define relationships and common activities. They add structure to the community. The marginalized individuals and groups must topple the norms all the while existing both inside and outside those norms. They adapt but do not conform. If the marginalized wishes to challenge and change existing norms, s/he must first admit that norms prevent him or her from enjoying freedom and free will. S/He must recognize that individual initiative is outlawed by societal norms. The boundaries between the margins and mainstream society can shift. Unexpected interactions between marginalized individuals and groups and what is known as the mainstream can occur. Minority groups and the majority can share the same concerns. If social changes have to take place, it will be due to the involvement of all of the social groups.

Linguistic diversity represents a real challenge for a harmonious coexistence in Europe and in today’s globalised world. Language learning has therefore become an undeniable asset of competitiveness in a multilingual European area, with 24 official European Union languages and more than 60 minority languages. This thesis hence focuses on language acquisition during the Erasmus Mundus student mobility program of Euroculture. Does Euroculture succeed in facilitating language learning, thus enabling social integration in the host countries? In order to analyse this issue, it is essential to address English as lingua franca and lingua academica, used in international higher education programs. Some the- ories have been developed on lingua franca and are useful to analyse the role English plays in the Euroculture program. Indeed, Nicholas Ostler’s argument on the end of Eng- lish as lingua franca in the future will be confronted with Louis Jean Calvet’s gravita- tional model of languages. Calvet’s model asserts the predominance of English as lingua franca, which could threaten multilingualism. This is what the study aims to assess. Eu- ropean linguistic policies and tools set up to improve plurilingualism are also explored in order to provide a comprehensive framework and to analyse whether the study findings reflect the recommendations of European policies. An empirical quantitative method con- sisting of 26 questions, submitted to Euroculture students and alumni, has been used to analyse the extent to which Euroculture facilitate language acquisition. The findings have shown that two main factors facilitate plurilingualism: the language courses offered at partner universities and students’ own decisions to integrate in the host countries through various factors are among the elements facilitating language acquisition. The research also revealed important barriers in the language learning process and the social integra- tion in host countries, namely the “Euroculture bubble” phenomenon, the predominance of English as lingua franca and barriers to access language courses.

This thesis is a study of the everyday communication of second language speakers in a major Swedish company. On the basis of eighteen interviews with permanently employed industrial and office workers, who came to Sweden as adults from countries outside the Nordic region where non-Germanic languages are spoken, five individuals were chosen for observation. The overarching aim of the study is to identify communicative factors with a positive impact on the integration of second language speakers in the workplace and in their immediate work team. Subsidiary aims are to map out the communication of the five participants and to analyse their involvement in communicative activities, both professional and social. The focus is on the interaction between participants and fellow employees, primarily in terms of what participants themselves do to promote mutual understanding and good relations at work. Theoretically and methodologically, the study has its basis in discourse analysis, interactional sociolinguistics and the ethnography of communication. By means of fieldwork, a large body of empirical data was collected, comprising detailed field notes, audio and video recordings of naturally occurring talk, and texts read and produced by participants. The five participants’ day-to-day communication is shown to be influenced to a large degree by the type of occupation. At the company studied, whose corporate language is English, white-collar employees can manage without a knowledge of Swedish, so long as they know English. Factory workers, meanwhile, regard an inadequate command of English, rather than Swedish, as an obstacle to promotion. All the participants perform communicative acts designed to create and maintain group solidarity. In seeking to foster good relations in the workplace, they make use of jokes, compliments, narratives, swearing and greetings. The participants are shown to be metalinguistically and metaculturally aware, which aids everyday communication and integration. Linguistic and cultural asymmetries seem to be able to mitigate potential threats to face, making the participants a valuable resource in sensitive communicative situations. All co-workers provide linguistic scaffolding, but in interaction with the most career-oriented participant, markers of power can sometimes be observed. A high level of awareness and performance of relational communicative acts appear to facilitate and speed integration in the workplace and the immediate work team. / Den kommunikativa situationen för invandrare på svenska arbetsplatser (KINSA)

This article is about the causes of riots and collective social violence. The root causes are explored within context to the theoretical framework of social identity theory. The root causes were attributed to being caused by socioeconomic, ethnic and racial differences among individuals, especially immigrants and racial minorities. Also, the mass media and neglectful governments were partly to blame. We also propose a few viable solutions with regards to achieving better social cohesion through improved government interaction, the role of multinational corporations and the fostering of social tolerance.

Enligt IFLA:s mångkulturella biblioteksmanifest och Unescos folkbiblioteks- och skolbiblioteksmanifest har folkbibliotek ett ansvar att främja kulturell mångfald. Samtidigt påvisar forskning att folkbibliotek kan fungera som en förlängd arm i den så kallade integrationsprocessen. Med detta som bakgrund har uppsatsen som syfte att studera bibliotekarier vid ett stadsdelsbibliotek i Uppsala och analysera de villkor som präglar deras verksamhet riktad mot invandrare. Uppsatsens teoretiska ramverk är inspirerat av ett sociokulturellt perspektiv så som det beskrivs av pedagogikprofessorn Roger Säljö i Lärande i praktiken – Ett sociokulturellt perspektiv och Lärande och kulturella redskap: om lärprocesser och det kollektiva minnet. Teorin betonar kulturella och sociala aspekter i läroprocessen. I den vardagliga mellanmänskliga interaktionen kommunicerar man via kulturella redskap och dessa kulturella redskap är uppsatsens huvudsakliga studieobjekt. Studiens empiri består av fem kvalitativa intervjuer med bibliotekarier anställda vid ett stadsdelsbibliotek i Uppsala och studien arbetar utifrån frågeställningarna hur bibliotekarierna menar att de förhåller sig till Stadsdelsbibliotekets mångkulturella arbete, hur bibliotekarierna beskriver bibliotekets mångkulturella verksamhet och hur bibliotekarierna ser på bibliotekets uppdrag och roll gentemot invandrare. Informanternas utsagor har tolkats utifrån sociokulturella analytiska begrepp. Vilken kontext arbetar bibliotekarierna i, hur handlar bibliotekarierna i förhållande till kontexten, hur kommunicerar de med den invandrade lokalbefolkningen och genom vilka kulturella redskap kommunicerar de. Studiens resultat visar att bibliotekets verksamhet för invandrare baseras på de lokala behoven och att bibliotekarierna använder sig av språkliga-, kulturella-, sociala- och digitala kompetenser i sitt dagliga arbete. Dessa kompetenser fungerar som kulturella redskap som bibliotekarierna kommunicerar genom. Jag påvisar ytterligare att det inte finns någon motsättning mellan kulturell mångfald och ett integrationsarbete, tvärtom visar dessa istället tjäna varandra. I min slutdiskussion argumenterar jag för att bibliotekarier som verkar i en mångkulturell kontext bör få kontinuerlig fortbildning för att stärka dessa kompetenser som har visat sig verka underlättande i arbetet med mångkultur och integration.

Abstract   This study addresses the research gap on knowledge transfer on a team level, by examining the potential and realized Absorptive Capacity (ACAP) on the receiver's side and potential and realized Disseminative Capacity (DCAP) on the sender's side. The research question and purpose relate to how ACAP and DCAP can aid innovation development teams in reaching their goals and what role social integration mechanisms play in this process. We develop a theoretical framework in which we synthesize existing literature and through which we analyzed the empirical data.   We follow a qualitative method and employ a single case strategy that fits our empirical data and allows to gain an understanding of social dynamics underlying knowledge transfer. The data was collected through interviews in the R&D department of Atlas Copco, a large Swedish multinational corporation that operates in the mining and tunneling industry. From our analysis we conclude that social integration mechanisms can be used in order to lower the gap between potential and realized capacities. This can in turn lead to a higher innovative output of teams.

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This thesis argues that pluralism and diversity pose a more fundamental challenge to liberal constitutionalism than is sometimes recognised by liberal political theorists. While the challenges presented by moral pluralism at the philosophical level, and by cultural diversity at the socio-cultural level, have received a great deal of attention in recent political thought, the background within which these themes become salient has not always been fully acknowledged. What is new in the modern world is not so much diversity of lifestyles, but the disintegration of frameworks that traditionally provided an unproblematic basis for political authority. What this modern challenge forces us to confront then, is the idea that ‘the people’ who are subject to law, are also, as citizens, the ultimate source of political authority. I consider in detail the work of two contemporary political theorists who have provided among the most sustained and far-reaching attempts to respond to this challenge, Charles Taylor and Jürgen Habermas. Both make a significant contribution to responding to the contemporary situation of pluralism by taking on board the ‘dialogical’ nature of identity, and the role of the ‘people’ as the ultimate source of political power. However each places a heavy reliance on a privileged standpoint that may shield political judgement from the full implications of modern pluralism: Habermas, by appealing to ‘post-conventional morality’ and Taylor, by appealing to an incipient teleology.

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture