Political liberalization and increased public costs have placed new demands on the Swedish public sector. Two ways of meeting these novel requirements have been to corporatize and privatize organizations. With these two organizational changes, however, comes a risk of increased insecurity and higher demands on employees; the ability to handle these changes is likely dependent on their social status within an organization. The general aim of the thesis is to contribute to the understanding of how corporatization and privatization might affect employees’ work climate, work attitudes and ill-health. Special importance is placed on whether outcomes may differ depending on the employees’ social status in the form of hierarchic level and gender. Questionnaire data from Swedish acute care hospitals were used in three empirical studies. Study I showed that physicians at corporatized and privatized hospitals reported more positive experiences of their work climate compared with physicians at a public administration hospital. Study II showed that privatization had more negative ramifications for a middle hierarchic level (i.e., registered nurses) who reported deterioration of work attitudes, while there were no major consequences for employees at high (physicians) or low (assistant nurses) hierarchic levels. Study III found that although the work situation for women and men physicians were somewhat comparable (i.e., the same occupation, the same organization), all of the differences that remained between the genders were to the detriment of women. The results of this thesis suggest that corporatizations and privatizations do not necessarily imply negative consequence for employees. However, the consequences appear to differ between groups with different social status. Employees whose immediate work situation is affected but who do not have sufficient resources to handle the requirements associated with an organizational change may perceive the most negative consequences. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript.

This paper concerning the regional architectural term known as the Tjust Empire style analyses manor houses built in the Tjust area by the east coast of Småland in the period 1810-1860. The term Tjust Empire style was invented in 1937 by PhD. Manne Hofrén in his dissertation on architecture in Kalmar län in the period 1650-1850. The aim of the paper is firstly to determine whether there is a distinct difference between the regional Tjust Empire style in architecture and the common Swedish empire style or as its Swedish equivalent is known; the Karl Johan style. Secondly, the paper strives to analyse why and how the Empire style became so popular in the area during this period, focusing on architecture as a means to express social identity and status. My disposition is grounded in an ethnological viewpoint on architecture where culture is seen as created by and part of human existence. In order to give my analysis substance two case studies have been done of two manor houses in the area; Casimirsborg and Blekhem, in order to compare these with architecture representative of the Swedish Empire/Karl Johan style. The manor houses have been chosen partly because they represent the architectural style of the period well and partly due to them being accessible. As material concerning the construction of the two buildings, such as plans and sketches is sparse the opportunity to examine and analyse them at the spot has been invaluable. When I have been able to, I have used plans and fire insurance documents available. For a general view of the architecture during the period I have had to rely on material already written concerning the architecture of the time, the patrons, their architects and master builders. This has shown that the Tjust Empire style is in fact very closely tied to the common Swedish Empire or Karl Johan style and that it directly strives to commit to it. I have also been able to show that the the reason for the Tjust Empire style being so popular in the area in the period lies in a unique economic and social situation at the time; as well as, a relationship between the patrons and their favoured architects.

The present study focused on changes over time in university-level Japanese students' sociocultural perceptions of social status during their year abroad in Canada, and the impact of such altered perceptions on their perceptions at subsequent time points. The sociocultural perception to be examined was perceived "social status" which Brown and Levinson (1987) discussed as a contributory factor in the perception of social asymmetry, power and authority. The study attempted to examine (1) whether (and to what extent) Japanese students, before they came to study in Canada, had recognized English native speakers' understanding of social status and had learned how to offer advice appropriately in English to individuals of various social statuses, (2) what proportion of differential pragmatic development among Japanese students in Canada was accounted for by their English proficiency and amount of exposure to English, and (3) whether (and to what extent) living and studying in Canada facilitated Japanese students' pragmatic development, which was assessed by the degree of approximation to native speech act behavior in various advice-giving situations repeated during the course of an academic year. To this end, the study compared the development of Japanese exchange students' pragmatic competence during their year abroad in Canada with peers in Japan who did not undertake a year abroad.

This study analyzes the status of women and men in eight South American societies, as reported in ethnographies. It uses a multidimensional model of status, examined in two aspects (distribution of economic goods and child care), and compares women's and men's resulting status configurations within societies and among them. Overall, women's statuses are highest in the domestic domain and lowest in the political public area for both variables. Men have high statuses in all areas of distribution, especially the public. Women generally have less choice than men do in their participation in both variables. An important outcome of this study is a method for analyzing qualitative information in context, allowing the researcher to present analysis in as much context as is appropriate, then display the results in a comparable form. This thesis also includes status flexibility, an innovation which allows presentation of the range of statuses for women and men. / Department of Anthropology

This thesis is an investigation into the socio-economic effects of English literacy among the Chinese of Singapore between 1945 and 2000. Through the use of oral history, statistical evidence, and existing secondary literature on the conditions of everyday life in Singapore, it explores how English literacy as a life chance has played a key role in shaping the class structures that exist among the Chinese in Singapore today. Adopting a 'perspective from below', this study provides a historical account that surveys the experiences of everyday life in Singapore through the stories of everyday life. It seeks to present an account that more accurately reflects the nation's nuanced past through defining eras in Singapore's post-war history 'Singapore Stories' in the plural, as opposed to the singular. Viewing the impact of English literacy through the prism of Max Weber's concept of life chances allows an examination of the opportunities in the lives of the interviewees cited within by distinguishing between negotiated and corralled life chances. The overarching argument made by this study is that in the later stages of Singapore's postwar history and development, English literacy was a critical factor that allowed individuals to negotiate key opportunities in life, thus increasing the likelihood of socioeconomic mobility. For those without English literacy, the range of possibilities in life became increasingly restricted, corralling individuals into a less affluent economic state. While acknowledging the significance of structural forces, and in particular the shaping influence of industrialisation, economic policy, and social engineering, this study also demonstrates how regarding the Singapore Chinese as possessing a variety of distinguishing social and economic characteristics, all of which serve to segment the community as an ethnic group, adds a new and critical dimension to our academic understanding of the nation's social past and present. By locating areas of resistance and the development of life strategies by an individual or household, this thesis illustrates how language, literacy, and class operated within the reality of undefined and multilayered historical spaces among the Chinese of Singapore.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Political Science and Public Administration. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rijuksuniversiteit te Utrecht, 1982. / Summary in Dutch. Includes bibliographical references.

MPhil / The concept of ‘new Englishes’ developed as a result of the relatively new perception of English as an adapting and evolving language within increasingly wider global contexts. According to McArthur (1992:688) the term “new Englishes” refers to "recently emerging and increasingly autonomous variet[ies] of English, especially in a non-western setting, such as India, Nigeria, or Singapore." Such varieties of English develop from an English, traditionally recognised as standard, to become distinctly individual: they retain some cultural and linguistic characteristics of the standard English but additionally represent and include many aspects of the culture and language of the country in which the new English functions. These new Englishes are lexico-grammatically sophisticated and as viable as any of the traditionally recognised standard Englishes. The “new languages” are used intranationally and internationally and so are not only a result of intercultural communication; they also facilitate and enable intercultural communication. This thesis investigates (i) Swazi English (SwE) as a ‘New English’ and (ii) the perceptions that Swazis themselves, as well as speakers from other language communities, have of SwE and its users. Swaziland is a landlocked country in the northeast region of Southern Africa and one of the last remaining monarchies on the African continent. English was introduced to Swaziland during the 1800’s and remained one of the official languages alongside siSwati after Swaziland achieved independence from Britain in 1968. English in Swaziland continued to develop despite increasingly restricted access to input from English first language speakers of British descent thus resulting in SwE developing independently of any external norm. SwE now appears to be a stable variety of English that is not only spoken but also written in newspapers, in government and legal correspondence and in the public relations documents of Swazi companies. The research for this thesis identifies a number of lexical, syntactic and semantic features of SwE that are different from those of standard British or American English. These features of SwE occur frequently and consistently in newspaper articles. Nevertheless, as indicated by the research results of this thesis, SwE continues to be perceived as an error-ridden second language variety rather than as a new English in its own right. Furthermore, the language prejudice is extended to users of SwE as many judge the intelligence, credibility and trustworthiness of writers of SwE negatively on the basis of linguistic features that cannot be indicators of character, skill or competence. This prejudice gives rise to stereotyping which is a barrier to effective intercultural communication.

This work freely follows the bachelor thesis Social predeterminations for studying in France. The content studies evolution of french educational system and experts opinions on problematics of equal chances in acces to the education. Pierre Bourdieu and Raymond Boudon reflect in their theories changes in society after 1968, student protests and crisis of universities, and ask how to solve them. Interviews with University of Avignon's students and teachers and questionnaire research brought many important ideas which helped to explore the difference of entering to two academic insitutions: university and grand école. KEY WORDS: education, predetermination, social status, french educational system, school reformes

The Bachelor Thesis looks into the cultural identity of a Romany child in foster care in the so-called majority family. The theoretical part of my thesis is focused on foster care topic, and does not neglect any failure, problems or trauma that children bring into foster families from their previous life. It also describes basic terms of the mentioned issue, such as human race, ethnic group, culture, identity, role and status. The practical part deals with the analysis of interviews with the foster parents and seeks to answer the research question: What circumstances (categories) affect a Romany child in foster families from the majority society during the process of adaptation into a family and social integration?