Troupers: Essays in Three Rings is a collection of fourteen essays focused mainly on variety entertainers (including the author). It leads the reader through a menagerie of the author's own enthusiasms--from clowning and circus elephants, to hot jazz and the ukulele. While the primary occupation of the "troupers"spotlighted here has always been to delight audiences, many of them--both human and animal--could not escape the hardscrabble, the sundered relations, the violence of everyday life. The author tells the stories of these "troupers" here, stories that reveal both their suffering and their refusal to suffer.

This study examines expats and their families in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland. Their reasons and choices regarding integrating (or not) into the Swiss society, educational strategies for their children and possessed capital assets upon arrival in Switzerland is the three problem statements being explored. Pierre Bourdieu’s´ sociology is the theoretical framework for this study – the concept of different types of capital and educational strategies are especially important in this regard. Interviews with female expats whose children attend the Inter-Community School Zürich (ICSZ) were conducted and the stated purpose of the study was obtained. This study concludes that these expat families choose the international grounds rather than the local, due to language barriers. The language makes it hard for both themselves and their children to integrate and/or feel part of the Swiss community and society. The expats are integrated into the international ´expat-bubble´ rather than the Swiss society or community, and the reason is due to the lack of time spent with the local people, not mastering the language and/or not being interested enough to make the effort to integrate. This specific group of expats can be seen as an ´international elite- group´, based on their assets of capital, their cosmopolitan lifestyle and international social grounds.  These expats value their capitals highly but is not stating that one specific capital is more needed than another; all their assets are of worth and they do not consciously use a specific capital for their integration.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:16:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Beat Wehrle.pdf: 4420698 bytes, checksum: d9b567add2073b441d5574edeeb38a85 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-10-07 / The following dissertation investigated the welfare states as a specific configuration of social security systems developed in industrialized countries during the twentieth century. This model, known as welfare, recognizes social rights in a wide format and transforms the political nature of the relations between the State and the society. The objective of this study was the analysis of a supposed transition from the welfare state to a welfare production state known as workfare, as a decentered regulation of the welfare production and as a centered regulation on the insertion of its users on the labor market. The investigative process had as objective the analysis of the thesis of this transition as a modernization process of the capitalist hegemony having as the specific focus the social assistance in Switzerland. The investigation, of qualitative character, was substantiated methodologically in bibliographic material, in testimonials of the actors of the social assistance in Switzerland, obtained by structured interviews, as in the participative observation of the researcher. The accomplished study verified that the reconfiguration of welfare in workfare perspective does not get processed necessarily by the dismounting of the welfare systems. Nevertheless, it changes the regulation of the welfare production transforming the social assistance in a social control apparatus serving the globalized capitalism / A presente dissertação investigou os estados de bem-estar social enquanto configuração específica de sistemas de proteção social desenvolvidos nos países industrializados ao longo do século 20. Esse modelo, conhecido como welfare, reconhece direitos sociais de forma ampla e transforma a natureza política das relações entre Estado e sociedade. O objeto deste estudo foi a análise de uma suposta transição do welfare para uma forma de produção de bem-estar denominada de workfare, como regulação descentrada da produção de bem-estar e centrada na inserção de seus usuários no mercado de trabalho. O processo investigativo teve como objetivo analisar a tese dessa transição enquanto processo de modernização da hegemonia capitalista tendo como foco específico a assistência social na Suíça. A investigação, de caráter qualitativo, fundamentou-se metodologicamente em material bibliográfico, em depoimentos de atores do sistema de assistência social na Suíça, obtidos por meio de entrevistas estruturadas, bem como na observação participante do pesquisador. O estudo realizado verificou que a reconfiguração do welfare na perspectiva do workfare não se processa necessariamente por meio do desmonte dos sistemas de proteção social. No entanto, ela altera a regulação da produção de bem-estar transformando a assistência social em instrumento de controle social a serviço do capitalismo globalizado

La présente thèse traite des chaînes de magasins. Le but est de comprendre comment ces entreprises ont cherché à conquérir les clients (ou consommateurs) des petites villes et des villages, territoires inexplorés de l’histoire du commerce de détail et de la consommation. La notion de « conquête des clients » désigne deux activités fondamentales du commerce de détail. La première est de mettre les marchandises à la disposition des consommateurs : c’est la fonction principale du secteur, selon les économistes. La seconde consiste à capter ces consommateurs. Capter, selon la définition de Franck Cochoy, c’est tenter « d’avoir prise, d’attirer vers soi, de garder ce ou ceux que l’on a attiré(s) » (Cochoy 2004, p. 12). La période considérée court de 1920 à 1960 : ces années voient le développement des chaînes dans les petites localités suisses, et permettent d’aborder la conquête des clients dans des contextes économiques variés, de crise, de guerre et d’abondance. L’ouvrage se base principalement sur l’étude des archives de la société Gonset, active dans la partie occidentale du pays. Il ne s’agit cependant pas seulement d’accumuler des connaissances sur ce détaillant helvétique et ses concurrents. L’objectif est aussi d’enrichir l’histoire du commerce de détail, l’histoire de la consommation et la sociologie économique grâce à l’étude du cas suisse. Ce pays, en effet, est un cadre privilégié pour appréhender la conquête des clients hors des grandes villes : son réseau urbain se compose principalement de petites villes et de villages. / This thesis deals with chain stores. Its goal is to understand how these firms have endeavoured to conquer the customers (or consumers) of small towns and villages, unexplored territories of the history of retail trade and consumption. The concept of “conquest of customers” refers to two basic activities of retail trade. The first is to put the goods at the consumers’ disposal, which is the main function of the sector, according to economists. The second is to “capt” (capter in French) these consumers. To “capt”, according to Franck Cochoy’s definition, means to “try to exert a hold over, or attract to oneself, or retain those one has attracted” (Cochoy 2007, p. 204). The period under examination covers from 1920 through 1960. Those years witness a significant increase of chain stores in small Swiss communities and enable us to approach the conquest of customers in varied economic contexts, in times of crisis, of war and of abundance. This publication is mainly based on the study of Gonset Company’s archives, active in the western part of the country. However, it is not merely a matter of accumulating knowledge about this Swiss retailer and his competitors. The objective is also to enrich the history of retail trade, the history of consumption, and economic sociology thanks to the study of the Swiss case. This country, indeed, is an ideal framework to take account of the conquest of customers outside major cities: its urban network is mainly composed of small cities and villages.

À la fin du VIe millénaire av. J.-C. le Néolithique s’est propagé en Europe centre-occidentale par l’intermédiaire des courants danubien et méridionaux. Pourtant les premières traces connues d’occupation néolithique au sein du Plateau suisse n’apparaissent que près d’un millénaire plus tard. Cette thèse a pour objectif d’étudier la faune issue des niveaux supérieurs de l’abri sous roche de la Souche (Arconciel, Canton de Fribourg, Suisse). Le nombre de restes de faune inégalé pour le Second Mésolithique régional, l’exceptionnelle stratigraphie de ce gisement et la datation des ensembles étudiés à la fin du Second Mésolithique en font un site idéal pour appréhender de nombreux aspects du mode de vie des derniers chasseurs-cueilleurs d’Europe centrale. Les résultats de cette étude montrent une évolution dans le temps des activités liées à la chasse qui ont pris place au sein de l’abri. En replaçant les résultats de cette analyse archéozoologique au sein d’un corpus plus vaste, ce travail aborde également les facteurs qui peuvent influer sur la composition des spectres de chasse et le rôle qu’ils ont pu jouer à la fin du Mésolithique. / At the end of the VIth millennium BC, the Neolithic propagated in central and western Europe through danubian and meridional streams. However, the first known traces of Neolithic occupation on the Swiss Plateau date from a thousand years later only. This PhD work focuses on the study of the fauna remains from the upper levels of the La Souche rock shelter (Arconciel, Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland). The site is characterized by unusually abundant fauna remains for the regional Second Mesolithic, an exceptionally extensive stratigraphy and the dating of the studied assemblages to the end of the Second Mesolithic. It therefore constitutes an ideal tool to investigate the various aspects of the last hunter-gatherers way of life in central Europe. The results of the study point to an evolution over time of the activities linked to hunting in this shelter. By integrating the results of this archeozoological analysis in a more general context, we can further address the factors that can affect the composition of the hunted faunal spectra, and the part they played at the end of the Second Mesolithic.

No description available.

Inflationen har i många länder varit låg sedan finanskrisen 2008. I försök öka inflationstakten har centralbanker sänkt sina räntor till rekordlåga nivåer. I Danmark, Schweiz och Sverige har styrräntorna varit negativa. John B Taylor föreslog 1993 en makroekonomisk regel med syfte att kunna ge en prognos för styrräntan. Enligt Taylorregeln kan styrräntan förklaras av tidigare perioders inflationstakt och bruttonationalprodukt. Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka Taylorregelns empiriska relevans i Danmark, Schweiz och Sverige under perioden 2000 till 2018. Två tester genomförs. Det första är att, med en linjär regressionsmodell, undersöka sambandet mellan styrränta, inflationsgap och BNP-gap. Det andra är ett Granger-kausalitetstest för att se om den implicerade kausaliteten i Taylorregeln stämmer. Granger-testet bygger på resultaten från en vektor autoregression. Resultaten i denna uppsats visar att det finns ett samband mellan inflationstakt och styrränta, men inte mellan BNP-gap och styrränta i de valda länderna under undersökningsperioden. Vidare visar resultaten att kausaliteten går från inflationsgap och BNP-gap mot styrränta, som Taylorregeln föreslår. Resultatet lyckas inte påvisa att negativa styrräntor skulle påverka Taylorregelns relevans. / The rate of inflation has been low in many countries since the financial crisis in 2008. In attempts to increase the inflation rate, central banks have lowered their interest rates to historically low levels. In Denmark, Switzerland and Sweden, the central banks key interest rates have been negative. In 1993, John B Taylor proposed a macroeconomic rule with the aim of providing a forecast for the key interest rate. According to the Taylor rule, the policy rate can be explained by the inflation rate and gross domestic product of previous periods. This paper aims to investigate the empirical relevance of the Taylor rule in Denmark, Switzerland and Sweden during the period 2000 to 2018. To do this, two tests are performed. The first is that, with a linear regression model, investigate the relationship between the key interest rate, the inflation gap and the GDP gap. The second is a Granger causality test to see if the implicit causality of the Taylor rule is correct. The Granger test is based on the results of a vector autoregression. The results of this paper show that there is a correlation between the rate of inflation and the key interest rate, but not between the GDP gap and the key interest rate in the selected countries during the investigation period. Furthermore, the results show that causality goes from the inflation gap and the GDP gap towards the key interest rate, as the Taylor rule suggests. The result does not suggest that negative key interest rates would affect the relevance of the Taylor rule.

<p>The central concern of this thesis is to investigate the development of the personal identity of the main characters in four novels, a novella, and a short-story, written in German by authors from different countries who have immigrated to post World War II Germany and Switzerland. Earlier research concerning these identity processes is reviewed with emphasis on the relevance of the different theoretical models of development of personal identity used. A model called “identity-balance”, first described by the German sociologist Lothar Krappmann, is used in analysing the changes in personal identity. This model is preferred because of Krappmann’s strong emphasis on interaction, process, and openness. Based upon the results of the interpretations a modification of Krappmann’s model is suggested in order to better shed light upon identity processes following migration. As languages are shown to play a great role in these processes, aspects concerned with multilingualism and the part languages play in the “identity-balance” are discussed throughout the thesis. The textual interpretations reveal the connection between three lines of change: changes in personal identity, changes in society following migration, and changes in the field of literature.</p>

Since the late nineteenth century, Switzerland, a self-professed “playground” and “classroom” of the world, has successfully promoted itself as a desirable destination for international study and tourism. The historically entangled private schooling and tourism industries have steadily communicated idealised images of educational tourism in Switzerland via advertising. Concentrating on the period 1890 -1945 – when promotional ties between tourism organisations and private schools solidified – this thesis investigates the social construction of educational tourist place in two different types of promotion aimed at English-speaking markets: private international school prospectuses and education-focused tourism brochures. An analysis of early prospectuses from three long-standing private international schools and of education-focused tourism guides written by municipal organisations, travel agencies, school boards and the Swiss government revealed highly visual, ideologically-charged textual representations of locations and markets simultaneously defined, idealised and commodified international education in Switzerland. Chapters provide close interpretation of documents and aim, through thick description, to understand specific place-making examples within a wider socio-historical context. Chapter One examines the earliest prospectuses of Le Rosey and Brillantmont, two of the world’s must exclusive Swiss schools (1890-1916). An examination of photo-essay style prospectuses reveals highly selective portrayals of “Château” architecture communicated capacity to deliver a “high-class” and gender appropriate Swiss finishing. Visual cues hallmarking literary and sporting preferences indicated texts catered to the gaze of social-climbing, Anglo-centric markets desirous a continental cosmopolitan education that was not overly “foreign.” Chapter Two analyses the social construction of towns in French-speaking Switzerland as attractive educational centres (1890-1914). It explores how guides promoting Geneva, Neuchâtel and Lausanne constructed an idealised study-abroad landscape through thematic testaments to the educative capacities of local human and natural landscapes. The remaining chapters explore interwar texts. Chapter Three examines a high-altitude institute’s use of the idealising skills of high-end tourism poster artists to manufacture a pleasant, school-like image for the mountain sanatoria-like campus of Beau Soleil. Chapter Four investigates two series of education-focused tourism guidebooks which promoted education in Switzerland. An examination of a Swiss National Tourist Office series reveals discourses of nationhood racialised the Swiss as natural-born pedagogues and constructed Switzerland as a safe, moral destination populated by cooperative, multi-lingual and foreign student-friendly folk. An analysis of R. Perrin Travel Agency’s series explores guidebooks which openly classified education as a tourism commodity. The final chapter examines Le Rosey and Brillantmont’s interwar prospectuses within the context of complex, transnational schooling and school advertising practices. An analysis of images of school sports at winter holiday resorts suggests prospectuses expressed the sense of freedom which accompanies upper-class identity more so than any sense of gender-driven restriction.

Mit der zunehmend künstlichen Gestaltung des menschlichen Lebensumfeldes verstärkt sich das Bedürfnis nach Aufenthalt in der Natur. Freizeit und Erholung sind dabei zunehmend von einem Drang nach Selbsterfahrung und Selbstverwirklichung geprägt. Freigabe und Genuß rücken zunehmend an die Stelle fester Formen und Regeln. In diesem Zeichen steht auch die Entwicklung immer neuer Trend- und Outdoorsportarten. Die Vielfalt der Sportarten und die stärkere Frequentierung führen zu einer stärkeren Belastung naturnaher Gebiete. Im Gegenzug schwinden weiterhin natürliche Lebensräume und mit ihren Tier- und Pflanzenarten. Noch naturnah verbliebene Lebensräume erhalten daher eine besondere Bedeutung für den Schutz von Natur und Landschaft. Gleichzeitig konzentrieren sich auf diese Freiräume Freizeit- und Erholungsaktivitäten. Sämtliche Natursportarten, einschließlich des Klettersports müssen sich daher in das Spannungsfeld von verstärkter Nutzungsintensität und begrenztem Platzangebot einordnen. Seit der Gründung des gleichnamigen Nationalparkes 1990 steht auch die Sächsische Schweiz verstärkt im Spannungsfeld von Naturschutz und Erholungsnutzung. Das landschaftlich eindrucksvolle Gebiet ist Rückzugsraum von Flora und Fauna, darunter einiger bedrohter Tier- und Pflanzenarten. Gleichzeitig gehört es zu den ältesten und bekanntesten Mittelgebirgsklettergebieten der Welt. Sowohl Bergsport als auch Naturschutz stellen Raumansprüche an die Sächsische Schweiz - Raumansprüche, die sich in ihrer Wirkungsweise wechselseitig beeinflussen. Insbesondere die bergsportliche Inanspruchnahme des Naturraumes führt zu einem raumbezogenen Nutzungskonflikt. Zur Betrachtung und Bearbeitung dieses Konfliktes ist die Geographie mit ihrer integrativen Betrachtungsweise der Landschaft als Wirkungsgefüge aus physischen, biotischen und anthropogenen Sachverhalten bevorzugt geeignet. Ziel des Nationalparkes ist es, die in Europa einmaligen naturräumlichen Eigenarten und die artenreiche Tier- und Pflanzenwelt zu bewahren sowie den ungestörten Ablauf der Naturvorgänge zu gewährleisten. Dazu ist eine Beruhigung der Lebensräume notwendig. Der Bergsport als touristische Erholungsnutzung hingegen strebt eine möglichst beschränkungsfreie Ausübung des Sports oder aber zumindest den Erhalt des Kletterns in seinem bisherigen Umfang an. Freies, uneingeschränktes Klettern in der Natur ist jedoch nur so lange möglich, wie es die Belastungsgrenzen des betreffenden Ökosystems nicht überschreitet. Da es sich bei Klettergebieten in der Regel um relativ naturnahe Räume und Rückzugsgebiete von Flora und Fauna handelt, werden hier oft schon frühzeitig Maßnahmen zum Schutz derselben eingeleitet. Dazu gehören räumliche und zeitliche Zutrittsbeschränkungen. Eine Alternative zu Sperrungen stellt die Aufstellung von Klettergebietskonzeptionen dar, die sowohl die Belange des Bergsports als auch des Naturschutzes berücksichtigen. In der Sächsischen Schweiz werden zwischen Nationalparkverwaltung und Sächsischem Bergsteigerbund seit 1996 Verhandlungen über eine Bergsportkonzeption geführt, welche die Grundlage für die zukünftige bergsportliche Nutzung des Nationalparkes darstellt. Daneben enthalten die Sächsischen Kletterregeln differenzierte Gebote für eine möglichst naturschonende Ausübung des Bergsports. Die Akzeptanz der behördlichen Einschränkungen im Rahmen der Bergsportkonzeption sowie die Einhaltung der traditionellen Sächsischen Kletterregeln sind Voraussetzung für eine Erhaltung des Klettersports in der Sächsischen Schweiz. Dazu sind Information und Weiterbildung der aktiven Kletterer notwendig. Umweltbildung als Instrument des vorsorgenden Naturschutzes kann dabei im Sinne einer verstehenden Lösungsstrategie zu freiwilligen Verhaltensänderungen und Verständnis von Zusammenhängen beitragen. Während der Arbeit erhobene Daten belegen, daß in die Kletterausbildung bereits naturschutzrelevante Themen einfließen. Allerdings existiert bisher kein umfassendes Lehrmaterial zum Thema Bergsport und Naturschutz in der Sächsischen Schweiz. Daraus resultiert möglicherweise der vielfach geäußerte Wunsch nach zusammenfassenden Informationsmaterialien. Diesem Anliegen könnte ein Umweltbildungsprogramm Bergsport und Naturschutz in der Sächsischen Schweiz gerecht werden. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde ein solches Umweltbildungsprogramm erarbeitet. Es setzt die naturräumlichen Gegebenheiten der Sächsischen Schweiz zur Art der bergsportlichen Inanspruchnahme in Beziehung, zeigt Grundlagen von Geboten der Sächsischen Kletterregeln auf und erläutert behördliche Regelungen. Einsatzfähig könnte dieses Bildungsprogramm zukünftig in der Kletterausbildung sein.