The purpose with this essay is to explore the social changes in relation to changes in mortality for the two largest ethnic groups in Estonia; ethnic Estonians and the Russian minority. Since this is a geographical essay, my purpose is also to explore these changes in relation to the country’s internal geography. As these changes appear over time in space, the content is partly rooted in a time geographical point of view. It is also rooted in a regional geographical point of view, since I have been comparing the mentioned changes between different areas in Estonia (with considerations on developments abroad). Two different development lines can be seen as a consequence of the social changes taking place in the 1990s. While the ethnic Estonians situation has improved, the Russian minority’s situation has instead declined regarding to social existence and health. As a result the mortality has increased enormously for the Russian minority. The ethnic Estonians had also a mortality increase in practically all studied causes of death in all studied areas, but this increase wasn’t as high as for the Russian minority. Nevertheless, when comparing two different counties with each other as well as with the country as whole, the pattern seems to be more complicated. The Russians living in the western county of Läänemaa, have been affected more favourably by the social change than those living in the north-eastern county of Ida-Virumaa. Except for mortality by alcohol poisoning, the Russians living in Läänemaa had a much lower mortality increase than those living in Ida-Viruma and even compared with the country as whole. It seems as those Russians living in the western parts of Estonia have been affected more favourably than those living in the north-eastern parts. These structures are very much depending on the history, since most of the Russians living in the north-eastern area immigrated during the Soviet era, while the western parts had a much earlier immigration of Russians. Considering the time and place of the Russian immigration, one can divide the Russian minority in two groups; those in the west, and those in the east.

This essay deals with the use of censorship in propaganda in Spain during the reign of Francisco Franco.

This thesis explores the structures of white supremacist capitalist patriarchy as embodied in US systems of oppression and violence both within the United States and in El Salvador. As the United States illegally funded and trained the Salvadoran military during its 1978-1992 civil war, it simultaneously transformed the domestic prison system into one of mass incarceration, torture, and social death. In examining both policies, their roots in violence, racial capitalism, and gendered oppression emerge. Furthermore, by focusing the examination within a gendered lens, the potential of such methods of resistance such as radical transnational feminist praxis come to the forefront as today’s most integrated method of tearing down such pernicious systems of violence. As this thesis connects the dots between seemingly disparate structures of exclusion and incapacitation, the global levels of both infrastructural violence and feminist resistance surface.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore, describe and examine how the child welfare experience affects the personal and social identities of Anishinabe participants. Contextual realities, specifically the cultural and child welfare contexts, and how participants situate themselves in those realities, are explored. A Critical Ekweism conceptual framework is used to inform the design of the study and analyze the unique experiences of participants. The framework seeks to respect and understand the unique historical backgrounds and perspectives of participants as they critically evaluate their contexts as knowers and experts of their own experiences. While participants collectively identified existing dilemmas and practices, they also decided to actively think of ways to re-address and to positively transform these dilemmas and practices. Methods of inquiry included the Aboriginal Circle paradigm that is interwoven with Phenomenological procedures. The Aboriginal Medicine Wheel was used as an organizational tool to illustrate and explain study findings, and Phenomenological procedures were used to explore the meanings participants append to their experiences. Both sharing circles and individual interviews were used to collect data from twenty-seven participants who were involved in the child welfare system at the time of the study. Some were living in Northern Ontario, others in a large city. Data were transcribed and Grounded Theory coding procedures used to analyze the data and identify themes. Four main themes emerged: Place of Understanding’, ‘Place of Disconnection’, ‘Place of Identification,’ and ‘Place of Reconnection’ to represent the sacred knowledge-making spaces where participants through the Reality Circle make sense of their contexts. The meanings that underpin each of these sacred spaces are discussed. An analysis of the meanings of these four sacred spaces further describes how participants’ personal and social identities are juxtaposed in their cultural and child welfare contexts. Of interest is how participants’ child welfare experiences affect their cultural and parenting identities. Child welfare practices are interpreted in terms of parent, social work and First Nations Community responsibilities. A diagram depicting these responsibilities is presented as the ‘Anishinabe Identity Circle.’ The study is significant for the social work profession because an Anishinabe approach to ‘doing’ social work with this particular group of participants is developed and has implications for Aboriginal-based Theory and Aboriginal-based support and policies. Even though this is a small step towards changing some of the existing practices in the Child Welfare System, it may pave the way for larger and more constructive social changes for participants and their children in the future.

The purpose of the study was to field test a unit of lessons in which students explore how a variety of social issues and value systems impact the meaning expressed in their artwork. By exposing students to different systems of belief, their historical contexts, and providing opportunities for students to discuss, research and symbolically express meaning I hope to develop critical thinking skills; promote increase in the social conscience of teenagers; help students develop critical thinking skills; promote student active involvement in their community at large; encourage social activism; and help students become part of the larger global community. The study utilized pre and post written tests, student artwork, student written responses and an auto-ethnographic approach to document student outcomes. Although evidence of progress was observed there is a need for additional research about ways art education might be used to assist students in the development of a social conscience and awareness of the global community.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Communication

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Government and Public Administration

Historically, autobiography has been used to perpetuate neo-liberal ideologies. Yet, when autobiography becomes social and is used to engage political communities of color, political transformation is possible. This project, through the collaborative visualization of Asian American social biography using pedagogical and relational methods as a means for engagement, seeks to destabilize dominant notions of time and space, and provide a mechanism for the retention of and documentation of institutional, and social histories using the Asian American Student Union at Scripps College as the site for political praxis.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore, describe and examine how the child welfare experience affects the personal and social identities of Anishinabe participants. Contextual realities, specifically the cultural and child welfare contexts, and how participants situate themselves in those realities, are explored. A Critical Ekweism conceptual framework is used to inform the design of the study and analyze the unique experiences of participants. The framework seeks to respect and understand the unique historical backgrounds and perspectives of participants as they critically evaluate their contexts as knowers and experts of their own experiences. While participants collectively identified existing dilemmas and practices, they also decided to actively think of ways to re-address and to positively transform these dilemmas and practices. Methods of inquiry included the Aboriginal Circle paradigm that is interwoven with Phenomenological procedures. The Aboriginal Medicine Wheel was used as an organizational tool to illustrate and explain study findings, and Phenomenological procedures were used to explore the meanings participants append to their experiences. Both sharing circles and individual interviews were used to collect data from twenty-seven participants who were involved in the child welfare system at the time of the study. Some were living in Northern Ontario, others in a large city. Data were transcribed and Grounded Theory coding procedures used to analyze the data and identify themes. Four main themes emerged: Place of Understanding’, ‘Place of Disconnection’, ‘Place of Identification,’ and ‘Place of Reconnection’ to represent the sacred knowledge-making spaces where participants through the Reality Circle make sense of their contexts. The meanings that underpin each of these sacred spaces are discussed. An analysis of the meanings of these four sacred spaces further describes how participants’ personal and social identities are juxtaposed in their cultural and child welfare contexts. Of interest is how participants’ child welfare experiences affect their cultural and parenting identities. Child welfare practices are interpreted in terms of parent, social work and First Nations Community responsibilities. A diagram depicting these responsibilities is presented as the ‘Anishinabe Identity Circle.’ The study is significant for the social work profession because an Anishinabe approach to ‘doing’ social work with this particular group of participants is developed and has implications for Aboriginal-based Theory and Aboriginal-based support and policies. Even though this is a small step towards changing some of the existing practices in the Child Welfare System, it may pave the way for larger and more constructive social changes for participants and their children in the future.

Språk både reflekterar och påverkar vår världssyn. Hur mottas då försök från gräsrotsnivå att introducera ett könsneutralt pronomen i ett språk som speglar den i samhället rådande könsdikotomin? Syftet med denna uppsats är att utifrån Hirdmans och Butlers respektive genusteorier undersöka vilken inställning användare på ett stort svenskt internetforum har till det könsneutrala personliga pronomenet hen. Undersökningen genomfördes med hjälp av en internetbaserad enkät som besvarades av cirka 150 personer. För att analysera svaren till de slutna frågorna tog vi hjälp av statistikprogrammet SPSS och för att bearbeta de öppna frågorna har vi använt oss av en tematisk analys. Resultatet visar på starkt polariserade åsikter runt hen, där ungefär lika många personer är för som emot ordet. Bland dem som är emot användandet av hen uppfattar de flesta att syftet med ordet är att skapa ett könslöst samhälle, medan hen-förespråkarna ser det som ett komplement till hon och han. Vi har även kunnat se att det finns ett visst samband mellan individens attityd till hen och dennes syn på kön och genus, vilket bekräftar vår hypotes om att det finns en sådan korrelation. / Language reflects our worldview as well as shapes it. How is grass roots level attempts to introduce a gender neutral pronoun received in a society which reflects a gender dichotomy? The purpose of this study is to, inspired by Hirdman’s and Butler’s respective theories on gender, explore what attitudes users of a large Swedish internet community have towards the gender neutral pronoun hen. The current work was performed using an Internet-based survey which was completed by roughly 150 individuals. To analyze the closed ended questions of the survey we used SPSS, whereas the open ended questions were processed with the aid of a thematic method of analysis. The results indicate that the opinions concerning hen are largely polarized, with about as many respondents pro as against the usage of the word. Among those who are against using hen the majority perceive that creating a “genderless” society is the main purpose of the word, whereas most of the word’s intercessors think  that the purpose is to pose as a complement to the pronouns han and hon (he and she).  The study shows that there is a certain connection between the respondent’s attitude towards hen and his/her view on gender, which confirms our hypothesis that there is such a correlation.