ABSTRACT This study compared selected commercial bank advertisements published in 1994 with those published in 2004.Its purpose was to establish whether advertising discourses found in these texts reflect the socio-political changes that occurred in South Africa between 1994 and 2004.It further sought to identify the features of the advertisements that appeared during these periods in order to determine if there have been any shifts in discourses during this time. This qualitative research relied heavily on Fairclough’s theory and method of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) for both its theoretical framework and data analysis. In the data analysis section, a need arose to employ some of the tools of semiotic analysis as provided by Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (1996) ‘grammar of visual analysis’ as well as a limited form of Thematic Content Analysis. Data analysis began with a thematic content analysis of all 36 advertisements collected for this study in order to gain a broader perspective of the range of themes covered by these advertisements. This was followed by a comparative detailed Critical Discourse Analysis of two representative pairs of advertisements from 1994 and 2004 to illustrate the behaviour of advertising discourses at these two distinctly different historical junctures. While the research has found some reproductions of discourses from the 1994 period in the 2004 advertisements, it has also revealed that there have been shifts in the discourses between 1994 and 2004.There is also evidence to suggest that in some instances the shifts have more to do with the ways in which the discourses are communicated rather than clear changes in the discourses as such. In the main, the study found that advertising discourses, because of their hybridism and social embeddedness, tend to mirror the sociopolitical context in which they are produced and distributed. As a result, they can be said to reflect the changes and challenges faced by society at the time of their production.

Faculty of Science; School of Geography, Archaelogy and Environmental Studies; PhD Thesis / This thesis investigates agropastoral production and ecological conditions under which complex socio-political systems in the Shashe/Limpopo River Basin, southern Africa, periodically expanded and declined between ~AD 900 and 1700. Environmental reconstruction for this period, derived from multi-stable isotope analysis of modern and archaeological fauna from the area, demonstrate that agropastoral settlement and changes in their social, economic and political complexity were less driven by climate than previously had been assumed. Rather, at a relatively short-term climatic scale, these cultural events took place even as precipitation and temperature appeared to have fluctuated above and below the modern seasonal mean of ~350mm and ~22oC, conditions presently considered to be marginal for agropastoral production. Alternative to a climate driven model for settlement, ethnographies of traditional southern African agropastoral systems provide a comparative basis for understanding the range of environmental and social parameters that past agropastoralists in the Shashe/Limpopo River Basin may have employed to sustain population growth and intensify socio-political complexity in the face of short-and long-term climatic variability. Over a long-term climatic scale, the δ15N and δ18O values from Bos taurus and Ovis/Capra indicate that the initial settlement by Zhizo agropastoralists people, between AD 900 and 1010, took place under semi-arid conditions that were similar to, or only marginally wetter, than the present. This thesis suggests that the Zhizo settlement and their ‘capital’ site of Schroda were motivated by broader cultural factors, such as trade networks, and not solely by climate conducive for agriculture. As documented ethnographically, crops and livestock herds could have been sustained by taking advantage of various geographical features of the river basin, such as planting near outcrops where dammed water keep soils moist even in dry periods and using browse and crop fodder to offset diminished grazing lands. Results for sites dating between AD 1010 to 1415, support previous interpretations that the Leopard’s Kopje A and B cultural period ‘capitals’ of K2 and Mapungubwe, respectively, rose to prominence under a trend towards increased available moisture. The additional moisture would have facilitated the greater floodplain settlement recorded between AD 1010 and 129, which was most likely a response to increased population pressures of the capitals and the need to extend cultivated lands. This spatial shift was accompanied by an apparent greater management of livestock. The preliminary 87Sr/86Sr data, together with intra-annual δ18O and δ13C values, from B. taurus and Ovis/Capra indicates a geographical expansion of herd management took place with the transition from K2 to Mapungubwe. This thesis proposes that to sustain population and socio-political growth in the face of short-and long-term climatic variability, livestock management would need to be politically coordinated. Maintaining large-scale herds outside the river basin would have allowed for expansion of crop production onto previous river basin pasturelands, while extending territories or networks. Further, the δ15N and δ18O data indicates that the period of increased available moisture extended beyond the abandonment of Mapungubwe at AD 1290. Previous assumptions that link this event to the negative agricultural impact of a cool dry trend starting at ~AD 1300, as extrapolated from sub-continental scale climatic sequence, must be re-assessed. The isotopic data from Moloko/Khami cultural period sites suggest that drier conditions did not develop in the area until after ~AD 1450. Their initial settlement in the area during this drier period needs to be re-considered, as does the entire sequence from ~AD 900 onward, in terms of agropastoral production strategies within shifting natural, economic and political environments.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate and analyze practices in multilingual mathematics classrooms in compulsory school in Sweden. By using ethnographic methods, mainly participant observation, data were collected in a number of multilingual mathematics classrooms in suburban areas of a major city. The data include field notes, interviews and informal conversations with students, teachers and school administrators. The analysis is based on a coordination of Foucault’s discourse theory and Skovsmose’s critical mathematics education. The socio-political viewpoint defines power as relational and as having an effect on school mathematics practices. Discourse, agency, foreground and identity are used as analytic tools. In five articles, the thesis investigates how the various discourses affect multilingual students’ agency, foreground and identity formation as engaged mathematics learners. The effects of students’ and teachers’ agency on discourse switching in multilingual mathematics classrooms are also investigated. The findings indicate that bilingual communication in the mathematics classroom enhances students’ identity formation as engaged mathematics learners. Language- and content-based instruction seems to do the same, though monolingual instruction may jeopardize students’ identities as bilinguals while the discourse may normalize Swedish and Swedishness exclusively. Focus on linguistic dimensions in mathematics build up a communicative reform-oriented school mathematics discourse. The competing and intersecting discourses available in the multilingual mathematics classroom affect students’ agency, foreground and identity formation as engaged mathematics learners. For example, a reform-oriented school mathematics discourse intersecting with a social-relational discourse affects students’ active agency allowing power relations to be negotiated. A principal conclusion is that the success or failure of multilingual students in multilingual mathematics classrooms cannot be explained in terms of language and cultural factors alone, but only in relation discourse, and to social and political conditions in society at large. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Accepted. Paper 4: Manuscript. Paper 5: Manuscript.

Storage is an important part of the background in many archaeological studies of the origins of early complex societies. Yet, a problem with many of these studies of formation and change in complex societies is that the social significance of storage is assumed rather than demonstrated. In this dissertation, I examine the practice of storage in three regions of prehistoric Korea and its relationship with socio-political structural changes. I analyze the distribution of storage artifacts and features such as pits, large-capacity pottery, and raised-floor structures in the context of their spatial relationships with other archaeological features and elite precincts at the household and settlement levels. The archaeological features used for storage in the Mumun Pottery Period (3390-2290 calibrated years B.P.) changed in form diachronically and show that underground pit storage remained constant during the period of study and that clandestine storage was not completely replaced by above-ground visible storage. Elite actors seem to have had some influence on the nature of storage in at least two central settlements, Daepyeong I and II and Songguk-ri, but appear to have been unable to completely control stored agricultural surplus in the two settlements and had little control over the surrounding areas.

Storage is an important part of the background in many archaeological studies of the origins of early complex societies. Yet, a problem with many of these studies of formation and change in complex societies is that the social significance of storage is assumed rather than demonstrated. In this dissertation, I examine the practice of storage in three regions of prehistoric Korea and its relationship with socio-political structural changes. I analyze the distribution of storage artifacts and features such as pits, large-capacity pottery, and raised-floor structures in the context of their spatial relationships with other archaeological features and elite precincts at the household and settlement levels. The archaeological features used for storage in the Mumun Pottery Period (3390-2290 calibrated years B.P.) changed in form diachronically and show that underground pit storage remained constant during the period of study and that clandestine storage was not completely replaced by above-ground visible storage. Elite actors seem to have had some influence on the nature of storage in at least two central settlements, Daepyeong I and II and Songguk-ri, but appear to have been unable to completely control stored agricultural surplus in the two settlements and had little control over the surrounding areas.

This study explores the differences (and similarities) between sentencing reform and the legal practices of criminal defence lawyers. This research specifically focuses on Section 718.2 (e) of the Criminal Code, which is aimed at reducing the use of imprisonment for Aboriginal offenders and the application of the section in the Supreme Court’s 1999 decision R .v. Gladue. It investigates whether or not the section and/or Gladue has affected the legal practices of criminal defence lawyers and if so, how. The practice of lawyers, in this study, is conceptualized as structured action. The agency of lawyers is thus constrained and enabled by both macro and micro processes. These include traditional legal ideology, managerial/organizational ideology, presuppositions surrounding Aboriginality as well as the broader socio-political context of neo-liberalism and neo-conservativism. How the practices of defence lawyers either reflect or contradict the section and Gladue is examined through the oral narratives of lawyers—obtained through in-depth semi-structured interviews with twelve defence lawyers. The findings of this analysis show that the vast majority of lawyers were not integrating the section or Gladue in their defence strategies. This suggests that efforts to remedy the issue of Aboriginal over-incarceration need to be aware of the complexity of criminal justice processes, the agency of lawyers and the broader social and political context. / October 2008

Objectives: Inclusion of sociopolitical context in therapeutic interventions is under-researched, largely limited to practitioners’ addressing diversity issues in therapy. Relevant studies have shown both trainees and qualified practitioners experience anxiety and discomfort associated with uncertainties about effectively incorporating diversity and sociopolitical context. Although various models exist to aid systematic case conceptualisation incorporating sociopolitical factors, these are not widely used. The majority of relevant literature continues to concentrate on idiosyncratic conceptual models specific to theoretical approaches. This study aimed to discover how qualified practitioners currently conceptualise and incorporate diversity and sociopolitical factors into practice. Design: Given the lack of research available to inform the area, a grounded theory study was conducted as an exploratory exercise. The qualitative approach was adopted to investigate practitioners’ subjective experiences of their current practice. Constructivist assumptions underpinned the approach to the data, leading to use of Charmaz’s (2006) version of the grounded theory approach. Method: Theoretical sampling was used to recruit the 13 participants. Two focus groups and 8 individual interviews were conducted. Analysis: Two models emerged, representing the processes practitioners engaged in to “find a comfortable fit”, and the range of contexts within which the processes took place. Personal and professional dissonance emerged as a central feature of practitioner development. Discussion: The study highlighted the contribution of dissonance and the situated nature of the practitioner as major contributors affecting how sociopolitical issues are conceptualised and addressed in therapy. Further research is needed to clarify how these factors may most usefully contribute to best practice. However, multiple ecological contexts cited as levels of influence add a degree of complexity that will require operationalizing by those wishing to investigate this area in the future.

This study is concerned with the artistic rewriting, in French and by writers and filmmakers of West African origins, of the massacre of Thiaroye (Senegal), the 1944 mutiny of African soldiers severely repressed by the French army. The corpus is formed by the following works: a poem, “Tyaroye” (1944), by Senegalese poet and president Léopold Sédar Senghor, another poem by Guinean artist Fodeba Keita, “Aube africaine” (1949), a play, Thiaroye terre rouge (1981), by Senegalese writer and journalist Boubacar Boris Diop, a novel, Morts pour la France (1983), by Malian author Doumbi-Fakoly, a movie, Camp de Thiaroye (1987), by Senegalese director Sembene Ousmane, a short animated movie, L’Ami y’a bon (2004) by French filmmaker of Algerian origins Rachid Bouchareb, and a play by professor and writer Cheikh Faty Faye, Aube de sang (2005). The main purpose of this study is to constitute and characterize a history of these artistic representations. I argue that these works, produced either before the accession of African countries to independence in the 1940s, or twenty to twenty-five years afterwards in the 1980s, or quite recently, in the so-called era of “globalization," belong to three main trends or stages, according to the socio-political role they assume: insertion of Thiaroye in the collective memories of France and West Africa, for Senghor and Keita, use of the events to criticize and resist (neo-)colonialism, for Diop, Doumbi-Fakoly and Sembene Ousmane, and rereading of the past in the hope of building a society based on forgiveness and better understanding among peoples, for Bouchareb and Faye. The socio-political function endorsed by each work is put forward thanks to the close examination of its artistic techniques and the reconstitution of its specific context of production. / text

Information systems and technology strategy has been discussed by many researchers and authors over last three decades. The concepts of business alignment, competitive advantage, value generation etc. have been elaborated and still similar discussions continue. While the advances in IS/IT strategy formulation were being made, the businesses were changing their operating models. More specifically they became global businesses active in multiple geographies at the same time. This research aims to provide deeper understanding of IT developments in global organizations as manifested in the changing social and political environment of the organization and the reciprocal effect of social and political changes on IT strategies. Further it aims to investigate whether the relevant theories and concepts can be integrated to develop a new model that can incorporate the socio-political aspects into IS/IT strategy formulation. To achieve this objective the literature survey was conducted to explore available published papers in the sphere of IS/IT strategy formulation. Considering that the applicability of information systems and technology falls into the sphere of social sciences, the research design focused on the qualitative approach. The primary method of data collection was through semi-structured interviews with IT managers. This was complemented by interviews with business managers and consultants. Further the experiences of the researcher in the earlier role of practitioner were taken into account. Using grounded theory approach the information collected through interviews, own experiences and the data gathered from literature survey were used to develop a new model of IT strategy formulation. The model addresses the context part of IT strategy formulation process. This model development is aimed to counter and account for the political and social aspects of strategy development and deployment in global corporations characterised by diversity of cultures, attitudes and behaviours.

This study explores the differences (and similarities) between sentencing reform and the legal practices of criminal defence lawyers. This research specifically focuses on Section 718.2 (e) of the Criminal Code, which is aimed at reducing the use of imprisonment for Aboriginal offenders and the application of the section in the Supreme Court’s 1999 decision R .v. Gladue. It investigates whether or not the section and/or Gladue has affected the legal practices of criminal defence lawyers and if so, how. The practice of lawyers, in this study, is conceptualized as structured action. The agency of lawyers is thus constrained and enabled by both macro and micro processes. These include traditional legal ideology, managerial/organizational ideology, presuppositions surrounding Aboriginality as well as the broader socio-political context of neo-liberalism and neo-conservativism. How the practices of defence lawyers either reflect or contradict the section and Gladue is examined through the oral narratives of lawyers—obtained through in-depth semi-structured interviews with twelve defence lawyers. The findings of this analysis show that the vast majority of lawyers were not integrating the section or Gladue in their defence strategies. This suggests that efforts to remedy the issue of Aboriginal over-incarceration need to be aware of the complexity of criminal justice processes, the agency of lawyers and the broader social and political context.