This study explores the ways in which young people orient themselves as moral/political beings to contemporary contexts. It sets out to understand the nature of these contexts, with a particular focus on the ideological challenges produced by globalisation and postmodernity. In equal measure, it sets out to examine the ways in which young people inhabit this context, drawing on a blend of Activity and Narrative Theory to expose the strategies that they employ to achieve such engagements. As such, it offers contributions which connect together existing literatures from divergent fields in a coherent way, and which place these amongst data reflecting lived experience. The research fundamentally conceptualises its subject matter as concerned with a process of learning (about oneself, and the world in which one inhabits). As such, though it is not concerned directly with the institution of schooling, or the practice of teaching, it contributes broadly to the field of education.The methodology of the research places equal emphasis on literature and empirical work, generating its key contributions by fostering interplay between the two. It operates by bringing together disparate aspects of theory, and holding these against a lived context, as represented by the perspectives of participants. Empirical data was generated this data through two waves of interview. In the first, sixteen teenage participants were asked in pairs to respond to a series of stimulus images. Follow-up interviews with three sets of these pairs sought responses to initial analysis and commentary on its data. Analysis combined content and critical discourse analysis, examining both what participants’ said of their experience in the world, whilst also interrogating the how those responses were constructed.Through this exploration, I demonstrate that the partiality, ambiguity and contradiction borne of processes of globalisation and postmodernity contort moral/political being. These trouble our moral impulses, perceptions and usual mechanisms of response. As a result, usual theoretical frameworks that attempt to describe to moral being are often unsatisfactory. In particular, these tensions problematise the sense of moral functioning as a rational response to known experience, and the modernist portrayal of development as the gradual development of the cognitive mechanisms necessary to do this. Rather, I represent moral/political existence (what I call ‘ideological being’) as a more organic and reflexive process, by which individuals must import meaning and subjectivities, in order to ‘anchor’ partial experience in something amenable to evaluation. In doing so, I draw heavily on existing work on socially mediated being (particularly that of Wertsch and Tappan), and demonstrate the useful and cogent ways in which it might be integrated with a broader ‘narrative’ turn in social theory.

abstract: Social situational awareness, or the attentiveness to one's social surroundings, including the people, their interactions and their behaviors is a complex sensory-cognitive-motor task that requires one to be engaged thoroughly in understanding their social interactions. These interactions are formed out of the elements of human interpersonal communication including both verbal and non-verbal cues. While the verbal cues are instructive and delivered through speech, the non-verbal cues are mostly interpretive and requires the full attention of the participants to understand, comprehend and respond to them appropriately. Unfortunately certain situations are not conducive for a person to have complete access to their social surroundings, especially the non-verbal cues. For example, a person is who is blind or visually impaired may find that the non-verbal cues like smiling, head nod, eye contact, body gestures and facial expressions of their interaction partners are not accessible due to their sensory deprivation. The same could be said of people who are remotely engaged in a conversation and physically separated to have a visual access to one's body and facial mannerisms. This dissertation describes novel multimedia technologies to aid situations where it is necessary to mediate social situational information between interacting participants. As an example of the proposed system, an evidence-based model for understanding the accessibility problem faced by people who are blind or visually impaired is described in detail. From the derived model, a sleuth of sensing and delivery technologies that use state-of-the-art computer vision algorithms in combination with novel haptic interfaces are developed towards a) A Dyadic Interaction Assistant, capable of helping individuals who are blind to access important head and face based non-verbal communicative cues during one-on-one dyadic interactions, and b) A Group Interaction Assistant, capable of provide situational awareness about the interaction partners and their dynamics to a user who is blind, while also providing important social feedback about their own body mannerisms. The goal is to increase the effective social situational information that one has access to, with the conjuncture that a good awareness of one's social surroundings gives them the ability to understand and empathize with their interaction partners better. Extending the work from an important social interaction assistive technology, the need for enriched social situational awareness is everyday professional situations are also discussed, including, a) enriched remote interactions between physically separated interaction partners, and b) enriched communication between medical professionals during critical care procedures, towards enhanced patient safety. In the concluding remarks, this dissertation engages the readers into a science and technology policy discussion on the potential effect of a new technology like the social interaction assistant on the society. Discussing along the policy lines, social disability is highlighted as an important area that requires special attention from researchers and policy makers. Given that the proposed technology relies on wearable inconspicuous cameras, the discussion of privacy policies is extended to encompass newly evolving interpersonal interaction recorders, like the one presented in this dissertation. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Electrical Engineering 2011

Este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar as arenas públicas compostas pelos Conselhos Municipais de Desenvolvimento Rural, a ação de mediação da EMATER-RS entre outros atores e a influência das políticas públicas de incentivo à participação social. Através deste objetivo são destacadas as categorias centrais de análise: arenas públicas, participação e mediação social. Como recurso metodológico foi utilizado um estudo exploratório em nível estadual, grupos focais em determinadas regiões e entrevistas não diretivas com os atores envolvidos nos Conselhos de Arroio do Meio, Montenegro e Osório. A arquitetura da participação em nível federal e estadual promoveu uma série de arranjos institucionais para participação dos cidadãos. A EMATER-RS atua em diversas arenas públicas, com destaque para os Conselhos Municipais de Desenvolvimento Rural e os Conselhos Municipais de Assistência Social. No contexto do rural, os Conselhos Municipais de Desenvolvimento Rural-CMDR tiveram ênfase por parte da extensão rural e de determinadas políticas públicas. As informações obtidas indicam que atualmente apenas um pequeno percentual dos CMDR tem funcionamento efetivo, porém os existentes apontam algumas possibilidades para à construção democrática. The existing demodiversity indicates a series of procedures and practices to create greater symmetry among the actors, autonomy, increased participation, and representation of the farmers. Participatory methods have not had widespread use, but where the use of these tools has been internalized by technicians and farmers, an impact on group processes was observed. Social mediations have demonstrated strong influence on the dynamics of the Councils, and the relationship established has allowed the emergence of relations of empowerment, guardianship or autonomy, which result from interventions and dynamic interactions between the actors. To continue and deepen this study, we have perceived the theoretical contribution of social networks, which allow the understanding of the relationships among mediation, foreclosure, weak and strong ties, and the potential of each of these configurations in the performance of public arenas. / This work aimed to study public arenas composed of the Municipal Councils of Rural Development, the mediation action of EMATER-RS among other actors, and the influence of public policies to encourage social participation. Through this objective the central categories of analysis are highlighted: public arenas, participation, and social mediation. An exploratory study at the state level, focus groups in certain regions, and non-directive interviews with actors involved in the Councils of Arroio do Meio, Montenegro and Osorio were used as methodological resources. The architecture of participation in federal and state levels has promoted a series of institutional arrangements for citizen participation. EMATER-RS operates in various public arenas, especially in the Municipal Rural Development Councils and Municipal Councils of Social Welfare. In the rural context, the Municipal Councils of Rural Development (CMDR) had an emphasis on rural extension and certain public policies. The information obtained indicates that currently only a small percentage of the CMDR has effective functioning, but the existing ones point out some possibilities for the democratic construction.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar as arenas públicas compostas pelos Conselhos Municipais de Desenvolvimento Rural, a ação de mediação da EMATER-RS entre outros atores e a influência das políticas públicas de incentivo à participação social. Através deste objetivo são destacadas as categorias centrais de análise: arenas públicas, participação e mediação social. Como recurso metodológico foi utilizado um estudo exploratório em nível estadual, grupos focais em determinadas regiões e entrevistas não diretivas com os atores envolvidos nos Conselhos de Arroio do Meio, Montenegro e Osório. A arquitetura da participação em nível federal e estadual promoveu uma série de arranjos institucionais para participação dos cidadãos. A EMATER-RS atua em diversas arenas públicas, com destaque para os Conselhos Municipais de Desenvolvimento Rural e os Conselhos Municipais de Assistência Social. No contexto do rural, os Conselhos Municipais de Desenvolvimento Rural-CMDR tiveram ênfase por parte da extensão rural e de determinadas políticas públicas. As informações obtidas indicam que atualmente apenas um pequeno percentual dos CMDR tem funcionamento efetivo, porém os existentes apontam algumas possibilidades para à construção democrática. The existing demodiversity indicates a series of procedures and practices to create greater symmetry among the actors, autonomy, increased participation, and representation of the farmers. Participatory methods have not had widespread use, but where the use of these tools has been internalized by technicians and farmers, an impact on group processes was observed. Social mediations have demonstrated strong influence on the dynamics of the Councils, and the relationship established has allowed the emergence of relations of empowerment, guardianship or autonomy, which result from interventions and dynamic interactions between the actors. To continue and deepen this study, we have perceived the theoretical contribution of social networks, which allow the understanding of the relationships among mediation, foreclosure, weak and strong ties, and the potential of each of these configurations in the performance of public arenas. / This work aimed to study public arenas composed of the Municipal Councils of Rural Development, the mediation action of EMATER-RS among other actors, and the influence of public policies to encourage social participation. Through this objective the central categories of analysis are highlighted: public arenas, participation, and social mediation. An exploratory study at the state level, focus groups in certain regions, and non-directive interviews with actors involved in the Councils of Arroio do Meio, Montenegro and Osorio were used as methodological resources. The architecture of participation in federal and state levels has promoted a series of institutional arrangements for citizen participation. EMATER-RS operates in various public arenas, especially in the Municipal Rural Development Councils and Municipal Councils of Social Welfare. In the rural context, the Municipal Councils of Rural Development (CMDR) had an emphasis on rural extension and certain public policies. The information obtained indicates that currently only a small percentage of the CMDR has effective functioning, but the existing ones point out some possibilities for the democratic construction.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar as arenas públicas compostas pelos Conselhos Municipais de Desenvolvimento Rural, a ação de mediação da EMATER-RS entre outros atores e a influência das políticas públicas de incentivo à participação social. Através deste objetivo são destacadas as categorias centrais de análise: arenas públicas, participação e mediação social. Como recurso metodológico foi utilizado um estudo exploratório em nível estadual, grupos focais em determinadas regiões e entrevistas não diretivas com os atores envolvidos nos Conselhos de Arroio do Meio, Montenegro e Osório. A arquitetura da participação em nível federal e estadual promoveu uma série de arranjos institucionais para participação dos cidadãos. A EMATER-RS atua em diversas arenas públicas, com destaque para os Conselhos Municipais de Desenvolvimento Rural e os Conselhos Municipais de Assistência Social. No contexto do rural, os Conselhos Municipais de Desenvolvimento Rural-CMDR tiveram ênfase por parte da extensão rural e de determinadas políticas públicas. As informações obtidas indicam que atualmente apenas um pequeno percentual dos CMDR tem funcionamento efetivo, porém os existentes apontam algumas possibilidades para à construção democrática. The existing demodiversity indicates a series of procedures and practices to create greater symmetry among the actors, autonomy, increased participation, and representation of the farmers. Participatory methods have not had widespread use, but where the use of these tools has been internalized by technicians and farmers, an impact on group processes was observed. Social mediations have demonstrated strong influence on the dynamics of the Councils, and the relationship established has allowed the emergence of relations of empowerment, guardianship or autonomy, which result from interventions and dynamic interactions between the actors. To continue and deepen this study, we have perceived the theoretical contribution of social networks, which allow the understanding of the relationships among mediation, foreclosure, weak and strong ties, and the potential of each of these configurations in the performance of public arenas. / This work aimed to study public arenas composed of the Municipal Councils of Rural Development, the mediation action of EMATER-RS among other actors, and the influence of public policies to encourage social participation. Through this objective the central categories of analysis are highlighted: public arenas, participation, and social mediation. An exploratory study at the state level, focus groups in certain regions, and non-directive interviews with actors involved in the Councils of Arroio do Meio, Montenegro and Osorio were used as methodological resources. The architecture of participation in federal and state levels has promoted a series of institutional arrangements for citizen participation. EMATER-RS operates in various public arenas, especially in the Municipal Rural Development Councils and Municipal Councils of Social Welfare. In the rural context, the Municipal Councils of Rural Development (CMDR) had an emphasis on rural extension and certain public policies. The information obtained indicates that currently only a small percentage of the CMDR has effective functioning, but the existing ones point out some possibilities for the democratic construction.

A presente dissertação consiste num estudo sobre políticas públicas e mediação social no mundo rural. O objetivo principal foi analisar os processos de implementação de políticas públicas na Comunidade remanescente de quilombos de Casca – Mostardas, RS e o papel que cumprem os mediadores sociais neste contexto. Questionou-se os efeitos de poder da ausência de competências para decodificar códigos oficiais por parte dos integrantes da comunidade. O trabalho constituiu-se num estudo de caso e a metodologia utilizada valeu-se do método etnográfico através das técnicas de observação participante do quotidiano da comunidade e de suas relações com diversas instâncias de mediação. As entrevistas estruturadas e semi-estruturadas buscaram compreender as diversas percepções sobre a implementação de políticas públicas nas comunidades remanescentes de quilombos e os efeitos das ações dos mediadores na tentativa de construção de comunidades de argumentação. Os resultados desta dissertação demonstram que os movimentos realizados, no sentido da construção de espaços nos quais o protagonismo das comunidades remanescentes de quilombos, no encaminhamento de seus pleitos, seja uma realidade efetiva, está distante de ser atingido. As lógicas de ação, as trajetórias e os recursos dos agentes envolvidos são díspares ocasionando relações assimétricas de diálogo e impossibilitando o estabelecimento de pressupostos consensuais sobre as regras que estão sendo disputadas. / This thesis consists in a study about public policies and social mediation process in a rural environment. Its main goal is to analyse the implantation process of public policies in remaining Quilombo community from Casca – Mostardas, RS, as well as the role played by the social mediators in this context. The effect of power when there is no competency able to decode community members oficial codes was discussed. The methodology of this study case used an ethnografic method and participant observation techiniques of the comunity daily life and of its relationships with different mediation levels. The structured and semi-structured interviews aimed to understand different perceptions in relation to the public policies implantation in remaining quilombo comunities and mediators action effects when they try to build argument communities. The results have shown that movements made in order to create an espace where the main role of remaining quilombo communities become a effective reality haven’t reached their goal yet. Involved Agent’s Logical actions, paths and sources are unequal which provoques assimetric dialogue relationships and unables the establishment of common presuppositions about the disputed rules.

A presente dissertação consiste num estudo sobre políticas públicas e mediação social no mundo rural. O objetivo principal foi analisar os processos de implementação de políticas públicas na Comunidade remanescente de quilombos de Casca – Mostardas, RS e o papel que cumprem os mediadores sociais neste contexto. Questionou-se os efeitos de poder da ausência de competências para decodificar códigos oficiais por parte dos integrantes da comunidade. O trabalho constituiu-se num estudo de caso e a metodologia utilizada valeu-se do método etnográfico através das técnicas de observação participante do quotidiano da comunidade e de suas relações com diversas instâncias de mediação. As entrevistas estruturadas e semi-estruturadas buscaram compreender as diversas percepções sobre a implementação de políticas públicas nas comunidades remanescentes de quilombos e os efeitos das ações dos mediadores na tentativa de construção de comunidades de argumentação. Os resultados desta dissertação demonstram que os movimentos realizados, no sentido da construção de espaços nos quais o protagonismo das comunidades remanescentes de quilombos, no encaminhamento de seus pleitos, seja uma realidade efetiva, está distante de ser atingido. As lógicas de ação, as trajetórias e os recursos dos agentes envolvidos são díspares ocasionando relações assimétricas de diálogo e impossibilitando o estabelecimento de pressupostos consensuais sobre as regras que estão sendo disputadas. / This thesis consists in a study about public policies and social mediation process in a rural environment. Its main goal is to analyse the implantation process of public policies in remaining Quilombo community from Casca – Mostardas, RS, as well as the role played by the social mediators in this context. The effect of power when there is no competency able to decode community members oficial codes was discussed. The methodology of this study case used an ethnografic method and participant observation techiniques of the comunity daily life and of its relationships with different mediation levels. The structured and semi-structured interviews aimed to understand different perceptions in relation to the public policies implantation in remaining quilombo comunities and mediators action effects when they try to build argument communities. The results have shown that movements made in order to create an espace where the main role of remaining quilombo communities become a effective reality haven’t reached their goal yet. Involved Agent’s Logical actions, paths and sources are unequal which provoques assimetric dialogue relationships and unables the establishment of common presuppositions about the disputed rules.

A presente dissertação consiste num estudo sobre políticas públicas e mediação social no mundo rural. O objetivo principal foi analisar os processos de implementação de políticas públicas na Comunidade remanescente de quilombos de Casca – Mostardas, RS e o papel que cumprem os mediadores sociais neste contexto. Questionou-se os efeitos de poder da ausência de competências para decodificar códigos oficiais por parte dos integrantes da comunidade. O trabalho constituiu-se num estudo de caso e a metodologia utilizada valeu-se do método etnográfico através das técnicas de observação participante do quotidiano da comunidade e de suas relações com diversas instâncias de mediação. As entrevistas estruturadas e semi-estruturadas buscaram compreender as diversas percepções sobre a implementação de políticas públicas nas comunidades remanescentes de quilombos e os efeitos das ações dos mediadores na tentativa de construção de comunidades de argumentação. Os resultados desta dissertação demonstram que os movimentos realizados, no sentido da construção de espaços nos quais o protagonismo das comunidades remanescentes de quilombos, no encaminhamento de seus pleitos, seja uma realidade efetiva, está distante de ser atingido. As lógicas de ação, as trajetórias e os recursos dos agentes envolvidos são díspares ocasionando relações assimétricas de diálogo e impossibilitando o estabelecimento de pressupostos consensuais sobre as regras que estão sendo disputadas. / This thesis consists in a study about public policies and social mediation process in a rural environment. Its main goal is to analyse the implantation process of public policies in remaining Quilombo community from Casca – Mostardas, RS, as well as the role played by the social mediators in this context. The effect of power when there is no competency able to decode community members oficial codes was discussed. The methodology of this study case used an ethnografic method and participant observation techiniques of the comunity daily life and of its relationships with different mediation levels. The structured and semi-structured interviews aimed to understand different perceptions in relation to the public policies implantation in remaining quilombo comunities and mediators action effects when they try to build argument communities. The results have shown that movements made in order to create an espace where the main role of remaining quilombo communities become a effective reality haven’t reached their goal yet. Involved Agent’s Logical actions, paths and sources are unequal which provoques assimetric dialogue relationships and unables the establishment of common presuppositions about the disputed rules.

O presente estudo tem por objetivo discutir as percepções que os Agentes Comunitários de Saúde (ACS) têm sobre o seu processo de trabalho e, sobretudo, o modo como lidam com as necessidades cotidianas e desempenham seu papel no cuidado integral aos usuários. Outro objetivo é identificar as mediações existentes em suas tarefas no cotidiano do trabalho, e se elas são reconhecidas pelos próprios ACS. Faz-se importante avaliar o processo de trabalho desse grupo de profissionais, analisando a diferença entre o trabalho prescrito e o trabalho real, e identificar as tecnologias do cuidado utilizadas por eles. A pesquisa, de natureza qualitativa, utilizou a técnica da entrevista, com a participação de nove ACS, das respectivas Unidades de Saúde do Centro, Santanésia, Rosa Machado, Ponte das Laranjeiras, Caiçara, Jaqueira e Casa Amarela, do município de Piraí- RJ. Os achados nos mostram que os agentes comunitários estão satisfeitos em desempenhar sua função, mas que ela desencadeia um nível de estresse alto devido à sobrecarga de trabalho burocrático e à dupla jornada de trabalho que ocorre no município. Observa-se que o trabalho em equipe coeso é extremamente importante para que se consiga trabalhar de maneira eficaz na Estratégia de Saúde da Família, visando à mudança do modelo antigo, hospitalocêntrico, e almejando o novo, centrado nas ações de integralidade da atenção e do cuidado à família. / This study aims to discuss the perceptions that the Community Health Agents (ACS) have on their work process and, specially, on their ways to deal with the everyday needs and to develop their role on integral care of users. Another goal is to identify the existing mediations in their everyday tasks at work and if these mediations are fully recognized by them. It is important to evaluate this professional groups work process, analyzing the difference between the prescribed and the real work, and also to identify technologies of care used by them. This research, which had qualitative nature, applied interviews as a technique, where nine ACS participated, from the Health Unities of Centro, Santanésia, Rosa Machado, Ponte Laranjeiras, Caiçara, Jaqueira e Casa Amarela, of the municipality of Piraí RJ. The findings show us that the ACS are satisfied with their function, but that it leads as well to a high stress level, due to the overload of burocratic work and the double shifts. We observe that a strong teamwork is extremely important to the success in working efficiently on Family Health Strategy (ESF), as a way to change the older model, hospital-centered, and search for a new one, centered in actions of attention integrality and family care.

Fisher’s adaptive sex ratio theory predicts that organisms should invest equally in sons and daughters and the sex ratio at conception should be 1:1. Hamilton’s theory predicts that organisms should adjust sex ratios based on the relative strength of competition within a mating group. Testing sex ratio and sex allocation theories requires variation in sex ratio. Different sex allocation and sex allocation adjustment mechanisms can produce skewed sex ratios. I used Tigriopus californicus, a harpacticoid copepod with extrabinomial variation in sex ratios, to test sex ratio evolution and socially-mediated sex determination. Using artificially selected sex-biased populations, the trajectory of population sex ratios were as expected under Fisher’s theory and sex ratios approached/reached 0.5 proportion males. Populations with overlapping generations had a slower rate of change towards 0.5 than populations with non-overlapping generations. I show that these data are supported by multiple different models: a mechanistic and simulation model. I tested socially-mediated sex determination using seawater conditioned with different local sex ratios of copepods. There were detectable effects found in both wild populations and isofemale lines. However, these effects may be trivial as differences were small between treatments. Sex determination in T. californicus is a complex mechanism, with multiple genetic and environmental components. The complex nature of sex determination in T. californicus and the dynamic nature of their habitat in highly ephemeral splash pools provide a possible explanation for the non-Fisherian sex ratios we see. / Graduate