Urban Voodoo mimics semiotic phenomena, which constitute language and functions as a system of signs that intra-act ambiguously within their own system. This project explores the link between the ambiguous signs of the worm, what looks like a mimesis of icons/symbols, and the way in which simulations are caught up in semiotic implications. Urban Voodoo, which followed on from my earlier Project Iroiro, developed language precursors from the study of the marks of the worm, creating different patterns and styles, and generating language-like effects. Using this system of signs, my project explores the idea that humans are part of a system operated by language, and examines the notion that language itself may be disrupted. To explore this, my project is about layers of competing imprints, about 'languages' tagged into spaces occupied by several graffiti artists within a local skate park. Urban Voodoo acts as a new Graffiti system. In mimicry, organisms make themselves resemble others or their environment. Icons 'look like' what they represent; simulation proposes 'to be' what it suggests. These concepts of assimilation and representation will be explored to understand and interrogate the power balance of language systems, starting with a specific local situation, the skate park. Latin; Inter" denotes "among" or "between," so "between symbols" or "among symbols" is a reasonable meaning. "Intra" denotes "within," as "intra muros," meaning "within the walls.". See also http://arden.aut.ac.nz/moodle/login/index.php#_ftn1 Iroiro, the mark of the worm found in nature, under the bark of trees or etched into the surface of seashells. It is these intriguing patterns that are of interest to this research. These marks perform a role in which systems of language surface. See also http://arden.aut.ac.nz/moodle/login/index.php#_ftn2 Graffiti Piece; the terminology used to define larger works of graffiti art as opposed to tagging, a form of territory recognition mark. See also http://arden.aut.ac.nz/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=3410#_ftn3

Senior Honors thesis--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on May 12, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 156-159). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

The population of 2nd generation Canadian-Muslim women who choose to veil, or wear the hijab, is steadily increasing. Rather than inquire why these women choose to do so, this study explores how Muslim youth use the veil as a fashion accessory. Guided by research questions that focus on the representation of the veil in popular culture, this study explores the veil as a sign as the women negotiate ‘being Muslim’ and ‘being Canadian’. Informed by a cultural studies conceptual framework, veiling in fashionable ways, or, ‘voguing the veil’, is explored as a form of ‘public pedagogy’ (Giroux, 2004). Using an Advocacy and Participatory methodology, the four women and myself engage in a collaborative inquiry examining meanings behind how we vogue the veil. Through a series of interviews, focus groups and journal entries accompanied by personal photographs (photovoice), the women and I co-construct narratives around their identity as women who veil in ways that contest dominant discourse. Together we explore the impact of constructs such as beauty, femininity and sexuality on our identities as Muslim women who veil in Canada. Co-constructing participant case studies permits readers “access to the world from the view-point of individuals who have not traditionally held control over the means of imaging the world” (Berg, 2007, p. 233), at many times surprising and contradicting what is ‘known’ about the veiled Muslim woman. The findings reveal themes that deeply impact how the women choose to veil. These themes include the strategies the women use to employ their veils as a means of agency and how, within and through different pedagogical spaces, the women’s performances and performativity of the veil shifts. The women in the study demonstrate that by ‘voguing the veil’, they are in fact attempting to transform the meaning of the veil as a marker of Canadian Identity. Using the voices, photos and narratives of the four women I argue that through ‘voguing the veil’ these young Muslim women are actively entering into and creating spaces so to be seen as an integral part of Canadian society and as such can be recognized as an emerging subculture.

The theme of the thesis entitled "Skinheads - political activists" is a description and follow-depth analysis of apolitical segment of the Czech skinhead subculture in the terms of their political orientations. Introduction to the theme consists of the subculture theories which were created in past. The following methodological part summarizes research progress of the selection of respondents by snowball sampling, the scenario of in-depth interviews and the analysis of alternative media. After this part there is a brief introduction to the history of skinhead subculture. Empirical findings than summarize political influences on subculture and its values and political orientations. The aim of this work is to reveal the link between extremism and subculture of skinheads in the Czech environment. The results of the analysis revealed that the apolitical segment of Czech skinhead subculture is not inherently extremist movement, although in some particular values intertwined with racist and xenophobic ideologies. But at the end it seems not necessary to control this part of subculture, because its foundat

I denna uppsats belyses den svenska gängkulturen som är en kultur med bestämda krav förmedlemskap. Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen kring de svårigheter många gängmedlemmar har att lämna kriminaliteten. För att kunna besvara studiens syfte har detanvänts en huvudfråga: Hur förklaras att så många medlemmar stanna kvar i gängen trots hårda samhällsåtgärder? Den forskning som är gjord på det nationella och på detinternationella planet visar att gängkulturen uppstått genom samhällets svek. Metoden ärkvalitativ och indelad i sex delar som ser ut på följande sätt: Hermeneutik, förförståelse, val av metod, bekvämlighetsurval, analysmetod och reliabilitet. I resultatet framkommer att Mcgänginte är mer kriminella än andra, men att de som vill hoppa av ofta utnyttjas av polisen. Därför behövs det mer stöd från samhället, så att organisationerna som hjälpergängmedlemmar att hoppa av kan fortsätta existera. De teorier som har använts ger vissa indikationer på riskfaktorer kring kriminalitet. För att tränga ner på djupet och analysera orsakssamband till kriminella handlingar har jag använt följande teoretiska ramar:Gängsteorier, organisationsteorier, underklass och sociala band. Detta innebär slutligen att denna studie har lyckat visa att Hells Angels och Bandidos inte uppfyller kriterierna för organiserad brottslighet. / This study highlights the Swedish biker culture that has specific demands for membership. The purpose of this study is to enhance the understanding of the difficulties gang member face they decide to leave criminality. To answer the study´s purpose it has been used one key question: How can it be explained that so many members choose to stay in the gangs despite the harsh civil community actions? The qualitative method is divided in six parts:Hermeneutic, pre understanding, choice of method, choice of comfort, method of analysis and reliability. From the results it emerges that biker gangs are not more criminal than other gangs, but that those who want to defect are often misused by the police. That is why we need more support from the civil community so that organizations that help gang members leave criminality can continue to exist. The implemented theories give some indications on the risk factors around criminality, getting to the bottom of the echoes and analyse the cause of criminals’ actions. The following theoretical frames are used: gangs’ theories, organizations’ theories, socials ties and underclass. Finally this means that the present study has been successful in showing that the Hells Angels and Bandidos do not fulfil the criteria of organized crime.

This study investigates why African-Caribbean boys continue to underachieve in schools. It is based on an extensive study of one Inner London school and has also involved a thorough review of the existing literature about why this particular group of students do not fulfil their potential. The inspiration for this study has been the work of Bernard Coard (1971) who wrote influentially about how the first generation of West Indian children was branded as ‘Educationally Subnormal’ by the British school system. Over thirty years later, the failure of African-Caribbean boys continues to be an alarming phenomenon, despite years of multi-culturalism and education for ‘diversity’. One of the arguments of my study is that African-Caribbean boys can even become ‘hidden’ amongst much larger groups of students who have English as an Additional Language (EAL) and who as a result, often receive extensive additional support. British schools have changed since the time that Coard (1971) was writing, but as my study demonstrates African-Caribbean boys are still likely to be over represented in the various Behaviour or Learning Support Units. I have also discovered that, far fewer African-Caribbean boys in the school investigated are likely to go on to the sixth form in comparison to students from other backgrounds. Even though there have been many studies about race and education, far fewer researchers have tried to ‘hear it from the boys’. I have carried out extensive research at school level amongst the boys and their teachers. As well as conducting an Institutional Focus Study of the school in question. I have argued that, whilst other groups such as white working class boys have been hostile to school, on the contrary, most of the boys in my study wanted to learn or saw the importance of obtaining qualifications in order to improve their chances in life. African-Caribbean boys are not ‘their own worst enemies’, but the reasons for their underachievement are complex, being the result of a range of factors. As I am a practitioner, I have concluded my study with some practical proposals for change which I hope will make a difference to the lives of these boys.

I combine approaches drawn from sociology, social psychology, and linguistic anthropology to create a unique, novel framework for the study of language, culture, and affect. The social psychological concept of affective meaning in language is measured in a single, bilingual culture and applied to the study of bilingualism, language shift, and the transmission of culture through language. The data are collected from three generations of people identifying as Cajun in South Louisiana and a small comparative sample of elderly, non-Cajuns in the Southwest. Quantitative, affective data - collected from all study participants - are bolstered by qualitative video- and audio-based data collected using anthropology-based field techniques from Cajun French/English bilingual participants, oral family histories collected from middle-aged participants, and survey data collected from high school student participants. These data and personal accounts of lives, histories, and language conception and change provide the basis for answering the following research questions: 1) When using their different languages, do bilingual speakers hold different meanings for words that have the same translated meanings? 2) Can language shift be tracked affectively? 3) Does loss of language mean loss of culture? The answer to each of these questions is yes. It is my hope that the methods developed in this study will provide the basis for future language recording and analysis and cultural preservation projects.

This thesis explores the punk phenomenon in China. In order to examine punk members and practices, an ethnographic research was conducted in large-scale cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, and small-scale cities, such as Wuhan and Huaihua in China, as well as on the Internet. In particular, the thesis focuses on two prominent themes subculture and resistance as the main directions of analysis. Through discussing findings from the three dimensions of the individual, collective and online, it is argued that the Chinese punk phenomenon exists as a subculture and punk subcultural practices can be regarded as manifesting forms of resistance in China. First, this study presents a detailed individual biography of one punk musician and then further examines those of other participants. It is discovered that subcultural resistance can have a different impact at different stages of a person s life. Second, this study demonstrates forms of collective practices and how they are manifested, and reveals how Chinese punk subculture members collectively produce different forms of subcultural resistance. Finally, this study examines Chinese punk online. It focuses on how online group members produce meanings of their activities and deploy specific techniques to resist online norms and censorship. Overall this thesis contributes to the ongoing discussions in current field of subcultural studies. By providing a study on punk subculture in China, the research engages empirically in the question of power relations in a society from both individual and collective levels, which has rarely been undertaken before.

In Australia the homeless population has become more diverse over the last 20 years with more young people, women and families experiencing homelessness. It is also evident that there is considerable variation in the length of time people remain homeless. How these changes relate to movements into and out of the homeless population is not well understood. This research asks: 'Is there a connection between how people become homeless, how long they remain homeless and how they 'get out' of homelessness?' A review of the literature identified two gaps directly relevant to the issue of movement in and out of homelessness. First, it is not well understood why people experience homelessness for different lengths of time when they face similar structural conditions. Second, the prevalence of substance use and mental illness reported in the homeless population has led some to conclude these factors cause homelessness. However, researchers have generally been unclear about whether such problems precede or are a consequence of homelessness. In addition, research has generally presumed a relationship between the amount of time a person is homeless and patterns of behavioural and cognitive adaptation to a homeless way of life. Yet recent research suggests that people's biographies play a significant role in the duration of homelessness. How these different findings relate to each other remains unclear. This thesis investigates these issues through a longitudinal study of homeless households. Data was gathered in two rounds of semi-structured interviews. In the first round 103 interviews were conducted. Approximately one year later 79 of these households were re-interviewed. The process of, and connections between becoming, being and exiting the homeless pathway are analysed using the 'pathways' concept. While on these pathways homeless people actively produce and reproduce social structures including both embracing and rejecting the stigma and subculture associated with homelessness. This complex world of homelessness is then analysed by extending the pathways concept by distinguishing five ideal type pathways based on the main reason for becoming homeless. They are a mental health pathway, a domestic violence pathway, a substance use pathway, a housing crisis pathway and a youth pathway. The research indicates that people on each pathway respond to the experience of homelessness differently and this has implications for the amount of time they spend in the homeless population. People on the substance use and youth pathways commonly describe themselves as 'homeless', focus on the 'here and now', use the welfare service system, are very mobile, and over time, many start to sleep rough. Their embrace of the homeless subculture commonly 'locks' them into the homeless population for long periods of time. In contrast people on the domestic violence and housing crisis pathways generally do not identify themselves as homeless and resist involvement with other homeless people. These homeless careers tend to be shorter. Then there are those who enter homelessness on the mental health pathway. They were frequently exploited in the early stages of their homeless careers and most sought to avoid exploitation by isolating themselves which then increased their marginalisation. These were the longest homeless careers. The use of the pathways concept also helps to understand how the circumstances of homeless people can change while they are homeless. The research found that some homeless people changed pathways. In particular the study found that two thirds of the people who reported substance use problems developed these problems after they became homeless. Most of these people entered the homeless population on the youth pathway. The research also found that three quarters of the people with mental health issues developed these issues after they became homeless, and that for some this was also connected to drug use. Overcoming homelessness is never easy and individuals manage the process in different ways. Again the pathways concept proved useful to understanding how homeless people accomplished this. The findings show that people travelling the different pathways require different levels and types of assistance to resolve their homelessness. The research concludes that the process of re-integration can take a long time but, given the right social and economic support, every homeless career can end.