Brazil is one of the largest biomass producers in the world, thus it has a huge potential for biogas production across all its territory. Nowadays, biogas production remains largely unexplored, representing just a small fraction of its potential. The adoption of biogas technologies has grown over the past years, but it is unevenly distributed across Brazilian states. This master thesis investigates the conditions under which the widespread diffusion of biogas technologies can be enabled in the Brazilian context by looking at the factors that influence the adoption of biogas technologies and why it differs across the Brazilian territory. Technological innovation systems (TIS), societal embedding, and diffusion of innovation theory are combined in the theoretical framework to create a broad understanding of the diffusion process of biogas technologies in Brazil. While TIS focusses on what are the functions been performed within the system, Societal embedding contributes to the understanding of why technological diffusion may not happen in the same way in different regions and how technologies are rooted in society. Diffusion of innovation theory adds to the importance of individual choices and strategies in the adoption of technologies. A comparative case study was design between the states São Paulo and Paraná. 16 semi-structured interviews served as the main research instrument with the support of document studies. When looking at the factors that could impact the adoption of biogas technologies the presence of specialized actors that can offer technical support to the implementation of projects locally proved to be positive considering that biogas technologies are still novel in Brazil. The unreliability of the energy grid in rural regions also favours the adoption of biogas technologies for electricity generation in agriculture properties that can combined waste treatment with energy security. Access to financial and human resources is still the largest barrier for the diffusion of biogas technologies. Financial institutions are at large unprepared to offer good conditions for the implementation of biogas projects, mainly because they do not understand the singularities of these projects. The adoption of biogas technologies in the case studies was mainly dictated by the economic activities in place, which shaped the view on biogas technologies. The complexities of the regulatory environment in Brazil could explain why electricity generation is still the main application of biogas technologies as the electricity market is regulated at national level while gas markets are the responsibility of individual states. When biogas technologies are portraited as a tool for sustainable development, other advantages of these technologies are highlighted – environmental and social benefits such as waste treatment and job creation – creating a better claim for biogas technologies which could boost adoption.

Corruption is a kind of behavior that undermines good governance. Current research has suggested that Jamaica's present anticorruption policy is ineffective, and needs strengthening. A civic organization in Jamaica has advocated for an independent anticorruption agency, with both investigative and prosecutorial powers to strengthen Jamaica's anticorruption policy. Little is known about the perspectives from the Jamaican business community on this concept. The purpose of this study was to discover and understand perspectives from the Jamaican business community on this concept. A framework included in this study is the principal-agent theory, which provides an understanding of the essence and relevance of perspectives from the Jamaican business community. Phenomenological research was used to gain a deep understanding of these perspectives. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 5 business owners and a focus group comprising of 6 business owners. The data were analyzed thematically. Two perspectives were that an independent anticorruption agency with both investigative and prosecutorial powers in Jamaica could result in an improvement in some social benefits for its people, but the agency itself could experience challenges. Participants also thought that a collaboration among societal actors in Jamaica could bring increased success in terms of corruption control. An implication for positive social change is that societal actors in Jamaica can use collaboration to achieve effective public policies for Jamaica.

Globally, by 2050, the older adult population will be larger than other age segments of the population. Government programs and health care guidelines are being put in place to help encourage exercise. However, there is little information on how the societal pressure presented in these government programs makes people feel, especially those over the age of 65. The purpose of the present study was to understand what the societal pressure to exercise means to adults over the age of 65 using a qualitative, phenomenological approach and employing in-depth interviews using the health belief model as the guiding framework. The interview questions addressed areas surrounding knowledge held by older adults on exercise recommendations and the pressure to exercise, along with their feelings, their opinions toward exercise, exercise commercials, and exercise-related products, and how these views may have changed over the years. Seventeen older adults were interviewed with each interview lasting approximately 45 minutes. Data collected from these interviews were coded and examined for themes. The results showed that adults 65+ have mixed views on the societal pressure to exercise. The consensus was that while they felt that the societal pressure to exercise was good, the societal pressure messages were not meant for them. The information obtained from the present study supports positive social change by giving government officials and healthcare policymakers a better understanding of what exercise and pressuring older adults to exercise means, which will help the design of better interventions and programs, specifically for this portion of the population.

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This dissertation examines the concept of Other Diplomacies and argues for a human-centric approach to studying diplomacies. / The academic field of Diplomatic Studies has long been insulated from critical interventions in the broader discipline of International Relations. While critical discussions surrounding gender, race, and class have been in ascendance in International Relations, Diplomatic Studies has managed to police its traditional disciplinary boundaries by centring scholarship around states and their accredited agents. The state-centric focus of the field has resulted in scholarship privileging the interests of states, which are abstract entities, over those of actual living communities; therefore, engage with issues primarily important to masculine, Eurocentric, and elite actors. This dissertation intervenes in the academic field of Diplomatic Studies to decentre the state and reorient the field’s focus towards human-centric issues. It argues that societal non-state actors engage in Other Diplomacies as they interact with each other across boundaries of perceived differences. Thereby the dissertation contributes to the literature on Other Diplomacies by showing how Sri Lankan migrant workers engage in Other Diplomacies as they interact with their interlocutors in South Korea. It shows how Sri Lankan migrant workers utilise diplomatic skills to understand and navigate their gendered, racialised, and classist identities. This dissertation also contributes to the literature on consular affairs by arguing that it constitutes a part of Diplomatic Studies rather than a separate field of study. I sustain the human-centric focus of Other Diplomacies and shows that societal non-state actors provide and receive consular assistance from each other due to inadequate levels of assistance from their state. I propose that Other Diplomacies scholarship sustain a human-centric focus to uncover the gendered, racialised, and classist power hierarchies that societal actors must negotiate across as they interact with other actors, both state and non-state. Thereby this dissertation contributes to the critically inclined scholarship of Diplomatic Studies in particular and International Relations in general. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The academic study of diplomacy has focused on states and their accredited agents. This has resulted in scholarly work that mostly limits itself to issues, interests, and solutions relevant to states and their leaders. While these concerns are important and relevant, the scholarship has neglected to take the concerns of ordinary people and communities into account. The implications of this have been the excluding of issues related to race, class, and gender, among other distinctions from the scholarship. This dissertation argues that scholars studying diplomacy should also place humans at the centre of concern, rather than only states. It does so by examining how Sri Lankan migrant workers in South Korea engage in diplomacy through the functions of representation, communication, and negotiation. Therefore, the dissertation contributes by centring ordinary people and communities in the study of diplomacy and international relations and showing how they matter.

This study seeks to investigate the relationship between human development factors and domestic stock markets using a multiple linear regression model. Despite efforts to improve the model's explanatory power, the findings indicate that the model fails to confirm the research question. Nevertheless, the model uncovers a discernible trend in the dataset, albeit with limited explanatory capacity. These results highlight the complexity of the interplay between human development factors and domestic stock markets and suggest the need for further research and alternative modeling approaches to deepen the understanding of this relationship.

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No description available.

The term incel refers mostly to white heterosexual men who live in involuntary celibate.Sweden is estimated to have one of the most frequent number of incels per capita in the world which has led the Swedish government to raise the anti-terror preparedness, as incels are considered a security risk. The aim of this study is to, with help of gender and exclusion theories, develop a deeper understanding of what this type of exclusion may result in and how new types of groups are created out of societal exclusion. To answer this, a discourse analysis of two threads on the Swedish forum Flashback was made and the chosen threads were designed so incels themselves could discuss their opinions and experiences. Previous research shows that societal exclusion results in health problems, hatred and distancing from women, which motivates the need for this study. The results showed that incels maintain bad boys as the hegemonic masculinity through legitimizing it themselves and that incels can be seen as a separate type of masculinity. Incel, as masculinity, is based and dependent on men experiencing exclusion from society and the sexual market. In order to be included in the community and be allowed to call oneself an incel, the individual must be recognized by an already legitimate incel. If the individual does not meet the criteria for being an incel, he is quickly rejected and discredited by the incel community. / Begreppet incel syftar till största del på vita heterosexuella män som lever i ofrivilligt celibat. Sverige uppskattas vara ett utav det inceltätaste länderna i världen, och den svenska staten har höjt den nationella anti terrorberedskapen då incels anses vara en säkerhetsrisk. Studiens syfte är att med hjälp av genus- och exkluderingsteorier skapa en djupare förståelse för vad denna typ av utanförskap kan leda till och hur nya grupper skapas ur samhällelig exkludering. För att besvara detta utfördes en diskursanalys över två trådar i det svenska forumet Flashback där de utvalda trådarna var formade efter att incels själva kunde diskutera sina upplevelser och åsikter. Tidigare forskning har påvisat hur detta utanförskap leder till hälsoproblem, hat och distansering från kvinnor vilket motiverar till varför studien har genomförts. Resultatet visade att incels upprätthåller den hegemoniska maskuliniteten genom att själva legitimera den samt att incels kan ses som en egen typ av maskulinitet. Incel som maskulinitet bygger på och är beroende av att männen upplever en exkludering från samhället och den sexuella marknaden. För att få vara med i gemenskapen och få kalla sig som incel måste individen bli erkänd av en redan legitimerad incel, om individen inte når upp till kriterierna för att vara incel blir den snabbt avvisad och misskrediterad av incels som gemenskap.