Pfungstadt is a small German town which to date has not earned a footnote in the histories of either the Weimar Republic or the Third Reich. Based upon the efforts of men in towns like Pfungstadt (and towns which were not like Pfungstadt) the members of the Nazi party built a political structure which reached to the pinnacle upon which Adolf Hitler stood. Researching the growth of the Nazi party, the intense struggles that occurred with democratic forces, the seizure of power and the installation of a workable system of government is the problem. This thesis in no way purports to be more than a study of the history of the town of Pfungstadt between 1928 and 1935. Such a research problem demands field research. During a period of four months (September, 1971, to January, 1972) I lived in Pfungstadt. The main sources of the date which I gathered during that time were the town's newspaper, the Pfungstädter Anzeige, and the SPD newspaper, which was published in Darmstadt, the Hessischer Volksfreund. Daily accounts of the political and social events in Pfungstadt were carried in the Anzeiger; the Volksfreund contained a predominate amount of SPD party activities. Also consulted were various records from the town hall's archives. Supplementing, putting some flesh on the bones of the written records of Pfungstadt's history, were personal interviews with all of the living political leaders of the age, plus a broad cross-section of the general populace. The backbone of Pfungstadt's society was the middle class. Imbedded within that class were the seeds of Nazism. The working class was divided along political lines between the SPD (Social Democrats) and the KPD (Communists). The working class and the middle class (the bürgerlich), political competitors since the 1890's, grew wider and wider apart in political outlook with the advent of the depression in 1929. Ignoring their old association with liberalism, first a small portion, and then, by 1932, nearly the entire middle class fell into the Nazi's hands. The working class fought a double-barreled battle of its own. The KPD constantly scored the SPD for losing its “class identity” and took a sizable portion of the SPD's traditional electorate. The SPD, not desiring the radical programs of the KPD, formulated a liberal set of objectives, but was not able to stem the tide which was running for a "change." Democracy died in Pfungstadt because of the shortsighted vision of the middle class, a shortsightedness brought on by the seemingly insolvable depression. Faced with a choice, in their minds, between losing their social and political significance and voting for a change (any change) the middle class succumbed to an overwhelming political immaturity and voted for the Nazis. On March 7, 1933, with the middle class support assured, the Nazis seized power with the assistance of SA members from Darmstadt. Once in physical control of the town, a systematic series of measures assisted the Nazis in coordinating the town into their system. Everyone in Pfungstadt then was forced to pay an exorbitant price for the political blindness of the bürgerlich.

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This research studies how participatory theatre (PT) as a communication tool can promote development and social change in the city. Using a project developed in Johannesburg (SA) that engages the city’s socio-spatial concerns through performance, the paper analyses the participatory creative process utilised and in which ways it opened a space for debate and critical thinking. The objects of the study are the medium (the theatre), the context (the urban) and the creative stakeholders (the participants) and how they influence each other when creating the fictional space of the performance.  The findings suggest that, after participating in the performance’s making process, stakeholders have enhanced their ability to connect their lived experiences with the social-spatial issues of the city and have a better knowledge of the topics covered in the play. One significant aspect of this project is that the participatory approach has given participants a unique opportunity to exchange personal views of the city and find commonalities, and theatre has provided the medium to represent, negotiate and transform their relationship with the city.

This degree project aims to research if stand-up comedy has the potential to be a tool for social change, in terms of awareness-building and empowerment. It also researches if a specific comedian can be a voice and representation for multiple social movements. The research uses content analysis of stand-up comedian Dave Chappelle to also answer how he jokes and comments on social movements. The literature review and theoretical framework covers important concepts and theories regarding the background of using humor and comedy as a tool for social change, and theories regarding representation, intersectionality and stereotyping.   The research method used is content analysis to interpret segments from Chappelle’s Netflix specials and clips on YouTube, as well as online articles and social media comments from the audience of these clips. In total 9 clips were analyzed. The content analysis focuses on Chappelle’s stand-up comedy, his jokes, and comments between the jokes.    The conclusion of this research is that stand-up comedy can be a powerful tool for empowerment and spreading awareness but needs to be finely calibrated to serve its purpose and still be entertaining. Purpose, identity, representation, and an intersectional perspective are key factors for performances that can be awareness-building and empowering. Stand-up comedy has the potential to lower the threshold for important discussions in and between groups regarding sensitive and difficult issues. In regard to Chappelle, his point of view as an African American man makes his jokes on social movements and issues both empowering but also controversial. It also shows that jokes and comments are most effective when talking about issues that relates closely to the identity of the performer.   The degree project contributes to C4D by exploring stand-up comedy as a communication tool for promoting social and development issues through awareness-building and empowerment. The findings of the study can be useful for NGO’s, governments, and other actors working in the field of development and social change and in collaboration with influencers.

This thesis explores how the documentary film The Apology (as a medium) and its filmmaker (as a carrier group) functions as connection points between cultural trauma and transitional justice reparations driving social change. Earlier approaches to bringing justice to comfort women have been based on legal frameworks which this thesis considers restrictive and instead examines justice and reparations from a victim-centred perspective. To dig for details about how the protagonists' and the filmmaker understand justice, this thesis conducted a narrative analysis of the documentary film The Apology and an interview with the film director. Connecting theories from cultural trauma and transitional justice, the findings show a lack of higher levels of participation of the comfort women in designing and implementing justice and reparation programmes. The documentary produced new master narratives that facilitated the comfort women’s identity shift from passive receivers to active seekers of justice and reparations. This thesis concludes that carrier groups are humane agents with the ability to create powerful influencing narratives to support collective identity shaping, awareness raising, and push for social change and government actions. Finally, an effective public apology must be victim-centred and truthful. Otherwise, it risks remaining as a nice-looking political gesture to deceive the public.

Within the past few years, France has exhibited a changing relationship in regards to its memory of its collaborationist and colonial past. The controversies of the loi du 23 février 2005 and the 2007 Guy Môquet Commemoration displayed a new openness to discuss and evaluate traumatic pasts. Public debate during the two controversies focused on the difficult process of how to incorporate these traumatic events into the national narrative. Furthermore, this process of negotiation has opened up a vibrant discussion over what parties in France possess the authority and the right to construct the nation’s history. Medical metaphors of neurosis no longer appear to fit French practices of commemoration and remembrance. The Fifth Republic’s legislative effort to dictate the content and character of France’s past encountered significant resistance from a number of historians and educators. While they stood opposed to the State’s methods, French historians and scholars came to frame their resistance to legislated history as evidence of their loyalty to republican ideals, namely those of scientific inquiry and laïcité. They too desired the creation of a shared national history, yet insisted that this history could only be formed by respecting the presence of multiple narratives. Other scholars voiced their reservations that the restoration of traumatic narratives might further social breakdown. Interestingly, these historians expressed little concern for the role of the general public in the writing of history and, at times, revealed a distinct mistrust of the public’s capacity to think historically.

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This thesis examines two organizational strategies employed for influencing American environmental policy with considerations to the "power elite" and "pluralist" models of policy control. Using a data set comprised of 379 organizations derived from US congressional hearings on climate change policy between 1976 and 2006, I find that industrial corporations conceal the public footprint of their involvement by financially encouraging "independent" research centers to provide favorable testimony. Meanwhile, nonprofit organizations are more likely to be co-represented by shared experts, a resource that is strategically shared for political gain. These findings provide some circumscribed support for both the power elite and pluralist models of organizational influence: the organization of power elites has a disproportionate amount of resources in a system that provides an arena for competing values and goals. Implications for understanding the organizational strategies towards congressional testimony as well as directions for future research are discussed based on these findings.

This thesis explores the role and functionality of the Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre (HUCCHC) within the context of advocacy and activism to understand how this institution can contribute a pathway for social change in public health. This qualitative case study uses an interpretive lens to analyze primary health care at the HUCCHC, and how it is being used to improve the social determinants of health (SDH). The study investigated participants’ understandings of how the HUCCHC demonstrates that a community health centre can be a catalyst for social change. Moreover, this research project asked what sorts of conditions or circumstances are necessary to foster an environment conducive for community organizing for social change. This study employed field observation and interview techniques to gather data. Findings suggest that building equitable relationships based on dignity and respect, and community engagement were the foundational aspects necessary to provide the conditions conducive for community organizing. However, the outcomes from these relations put the HUCCHC at risk of becoming marginalized. Findings further suggest that equitable relationships and community engagement also provided a foundation for social action. The HUCCHC demonstrated that it is a catalyst for social change by embracing a primary health care model that also fosters a social action approach to health care. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)