This thesis reports the results of a case study conducted in a Portuguese manufacturing organisation, a part of a large group, which endured profound organisational changes. The initial objective of the research was to explore, in a processual way, the long-term interactions between an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, the consultants that implemented it and management accounting and control, in this organisation. However, during the fieldwork, the researcher was confronted with an apparent puzzle: in the past, formally powerful ‘central’ actors had been confronted with important limitations – including in their relations with formally less powerful actors, particularly ‘local’ actors at the plant level. At the time of the fieldwork, however, the situation had substantially changed. The researcher was therefore confronted with a puzzle, which seemed to be about the distribution of power in the organisation, about who the powerful actors were and, more fundamentally, what caused (or limited) actors’ relational power. Three innovations introduced by central actors appeared to have played an important role in this fundamental change in the organisation and in the distribution of power within it. At stake were a technological innovation – the adoption of the financial module of an ERP system (SAP FI) – and two organisational innovations: the relocation of the Corporate Centre (CC); and the creation of a Shared Services Centre (SSC), in the same location of the group headquarters and of the Chairman and majority shareholder. Clegg’s (1989) framework of ‘Circuits of Power’, based on a Foucauldian and Actor-Network Theory (ANT) approach, was drawn upon as interpretive lenses to address the empirical puzzle about power. The researcher’s mobilisation of the framework facilitated the understanding of what caused (or limited) actors’ relational power, not only in the past but, particularly, at the time of the fieldwork, when the ongoing repercussions of the three innovations were taking place. Such in-depth understanding was constructed through a qualitative, interpretive and processual research, adopting the method of an explanatory case study combining both retrospective and longitudinal components. During the three-year’ fieldwork, 54 interviews with 29 respondents, lasting more than 90 hours, were supplemented by other information generating techniques, such as documentation analysis and observation of meetings, presentations and artefacts in numerous socio-technicalinteractions. The researcher’s interpretation of the case study insights highlighted that the previous power limitations perceived by the formally powerful, ‘central’ actors could be traced to characteristics of the circuit of social integration (rules of meaning and membership across the organisation, as interpreted, accepted and enacted by actors) and of the circuit of system integration (techniques of discipline and production). The three technical and organisational innovations – SAP FI, the CC and the SSC - introduced by central actors in the circuit of system integration (conceptualised, in ANT terms, as nonhuman and collective actors, respectively) had significant repercussions across the various circuits of power. These repercussions had a structural nature, since the innovations collectively succeeded in giving rise to a network of complementary, mutually dependent and mutually reinforcing Obligatory Passage Points. The emerging network of Obligatory Passage Points was essential in promoting the introduction, interpretation, acceptance and enactment of rules across the organisation as desired by central actors. This thesis proposes several contributions concerning the repercussions of the collective of innovations across the circuits of power. Some examples are embedding rules in technology (Volkoff et al., 2007) and organisational processes, redefining the scope of agencies, creating non-zero sum outcomes, and the emergence of the perception of control inevitability and naturalness within organisational normalcy. Collectively, these innovations promoted rules enactment (by both human and nonhuman actors) in ways that benefited the interests of central actors. In addition, this thesis proposes contributions related with the two theoretical frameworks and literatures framing the research. It proposes several refinements to Clegg’s (1989) framework, comprising changes in its graphical layout, linkages and even concepts. The second contribution is an ANT-inspired, OIE model of rule-based action. This model draws on Burns and Scapens’ (2000) macro structure and concepts, but it proposes additional structures and substantially different perspectives, mechanisms and even concepts. It adopts a wide definition of rules, also viewing them as internal structures orienting actors. Thus defined, rules underlie routines and fill a gap in routines-focused frameworks – in particular, when there are no established routines as regards particular issues.The model acknowledges intra-organisational diversity and focuses on the processes of introduction, interpretation, acceptance and enactment of rules. It also relates rules with material conditions, in particular since rules may be technologically and organisationally embedded. Finally, the model highlights that rules may be enacted by both human actors (individual and collective) and nonhuman actors. The model provides a novel way to conceptualise how actors’ interests may be achieved through the various intersections between rules and material conditions, and by the ultimate enactment of rules by both human and non-human actors.

Czech animated allegories of the period of 1946 to 2012 encode their political ideas in objects and things, rather than through conventional narrative techniques such as voice-over or dialogue. The existence of these objects in cinematic time and space is integral to this process of political encoding, which is achieved through the selection of objects, cinematography and editing. In some of these films, time and space themselves are politically encoded. Materialist critical approaches to the film texts can help illuminate these latent political meanings. 'Thing theory', which puts a critical emphasis upon reading objects and things, exposes the politically resistant role of simple, domestic objects in the films of Jiří Trnka and Hermína Týrlová. Trnka's cinema in particular defends traditional, pastoral modes of being in which the individual is rooted within their environment. 'Actor-network-theory', a means of interrogating the relationship between actors in networks, resonates with the political ideas present in the cinema of Surrealist artist Jan Švankmajer. Švankmajer's central political project is an interrogation of anthropocentrism and attempts by humans to exert systems of control and order upon non-human actors. Rather than celebrating functional, domestic objects like Trnka or Týrlová, Švankmajer's cinema is radically anti-utilitarian. Objects are depicted as things that resist categorisation. 'Rhythmanalysis' – a mode of poetic-scientific investigation developed by philosopher Henri Lefebvre – can be used to unpick the rhythms in the animations of Jirí Barta. Barta's films critique rational clock time and the design of urban spaces through the use of editing patterns and repetition. Finally, all three materialist approaches in combination help illustrate the political content of animated films (and live-action films with significant passages of animation) produced in the wake of the Velvet Revolution. Such films often question the relationship between the individual Czech citizen and the Czech capital city of Prague. The animated films of the aforementioned directors and historical periods, tend to give precedence to the material world of objects over the semiotic world of humans, though these two realms are often shown to be inter-dependent. To this end, the political messages of the films are conveyed not through language, but through images and things.

Esta tese aborda o fenômeno da complexidade da educação a distância e semipresencial segundo referenciais conceituais da modalidade, em diálogo com teorias sobre a comunicação digital, a epistemologia da complexidade, a teoria ator-rede e a cartografia das controvérsias. Investiga quem são os atores que constituem o agregado social educação a distância através do mapeamento de conflitos no fórum geral de discussão do primeiro curso semipresencial da USP, o curso de Licenciatura em Ciências, no período de novembro de 2010 a novembro de 2011. Na perspectiva deste trabalho, as controvérsias ocorreram devido à prevalência de uma visão humanocêntrica que deposita nos atores humanos a proeminência e a prevalência das ações, não reconhece que objetos, processos, encontros, entre outros actantes, são também mediadores e não simples intermediários ou atores coadjuvantes. A pesquisa procura demonstrar que a compreensão do que seja o social, conforme a Teoria Ator Rede, pode ajudar a explicar e a superar os entraves que a modalidade da educação a distância ainda enfrenta na sociedade brasileira. / This thesis approaches the phenomenon of complexity of distance and blended education according to conceptual references of the modality, in a dialogue with theories about digital communication, the epistemology of complexity, the actor-network theory, and the cartography of controversies. It investigates who are the actors that constitute the social aggregate of the distance education through mapping of the conflicts which arose in the general discussion forum of the first blended course taught at the University of São Paulo, Licentiate in Sciences, from November 2010 to November 2011. Under the perspective of this work, the controversies originated due to the prevalence of a view, which assigns to human actors the prominence and the prevalence of the actions and does not recognize that objects, processes, meetings, and encounters, among other, are also mediators and not just mere intermediary or supporting actors. This research intends to demonstrate that the understanding of what the social is, according to the actor-network theory, may help to explain and overcome the hindrance that the distance education modality still faces within Brazilian society.

Submitted by Franciele Moreira (francielemoreyra@gmail.com) on 2018-05-03T13:53:27Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Carolina Silva de Moura - 2018.pdf: 5329584 bytes, checksum: 5bfa61f6504213d3213b09998b948dfa (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-05-03T14:53:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Carolina Silva de Moura - 2018.pdf: 5329584 bytes, checksum: 5bfa61f6504213d3213b09998b948dfa (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-03T14:53:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Carolina Silva de Moura - 2018.pdf: 5329584 bytes, checksum: 5bfa61f6504213d3213b09998b948dfa (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-04-02 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás - FAPEG / The project seeks to map the economy mediated by the association between the algorithms and the user on Facebook turning to the commercial pages.Economics keep a direct relationship with the processes of collecting, storing and articulating data favoring a personalization of content. The first part presents the project regarding the problem, objectives and your relevance. The second delivery of conceptual discussion about algorithms, their developments, research perspectives and which ones are sought in this analysis. The third one deals with the Theory-Actor Network, a theoretical proposal for research to consider symmetrical human and non-human highlightly Latour (1994a, 2012). Therefore, we explore ways of implementing empirical research based on the development of cartography (VENTURINNI, 2010; BARROS, KASTRUP, 2009; ROMAGNOLI, 2009; PRADO FILHO, TETI, 2013). Taking this as a reference, the empirical exercise was carried out from the profile of the researcher on Facebook for a month was observed on based on the selection of some internal and external variables about platform. The following reading exposes the data observed in this analysis that point to an economy based on the circulation of segmented contents based on the actions of the user, in which the user's action deals of algorithm transactions that reverberate is not that it is not News Feed and so the user also carries out their translations in a network that is made and remade in a constant way. / O projeto busca cartografar a economia mediada pela associação entre os algoritmos e o usuário no Facebook voltando-se às páginas comerciais. Economia essa que estabelece relação direta com os processos de coleta, armazenamento e articulação de dados favorecendo a personalização de conteúdo. Na primeira parte apresenta-se o projeto quanto ao problema, objetivos e relevância. A segunda dá seguimento à discussão conceitual sobre algoritmos, seus desdobramentos, perspectivas de pesquisa e quais delas são buscadas nessa análise. A terceira aborda a Teoria Ator-Rede, proposta teórica para a pesquisa por considerar simétricos agentes humanos e não humanos a luz especialmente de Latour (1994a, 2012). Por conseguinte se explora as formas de implementação da pesquisa empírica fundamentada no desenvolvimento de uma cartografia (VENTURINNI, 2010; BARROS, KASTRUP, 2009; ROMAGNOLI, 2009; PRADO FILHO, TETI, 2013). Tomando isso como referência, o exercício empírico, foi realizado a partir do perfil da pesquisadora no Facebook que durante um mês foi observado com base na seleção de algumas variáveis internas e externas à plataforma. A leitura seguinte expõe os dados observados nessa análise que apontam para uma economia pautada na circulação de conteúdos segmentados com base nas ações do usuário, em que o agir dele promove traduções do algoritmo as quais reverberam no que é exposto no Feed de Notícias e assim o usuário também realiza suas traduções em uma rede que se faz e refaz de modo constante.

Esta tese aborda o fenômeno da complexidade da educação a distância e semipresencial segundo referenciais conceituais da modalidade, em diálogo com teorias sobre a comunicação digital, a epistemologia da complexidade, a teoria ator-rede e a cartografia das controvérsias. Investiga quem são os atores que constituem o agregado social educação a distância através do mapeamento de conflitos no fórum geral de discussão do primeiro curso semipresencial da USP, o curso de Licenciatura em Ciências, no período de novembro de 2010 a novembro de 2011. Na perspectiva deste trabalho, as controvérsias ocorreram devido à prevalência de uma visão humanocêntrica que deposita nos atores humanos a proeminência e a prevalência das ações, não reconhece que objetos, processos, encontros, entre outros actantes, são também mediadores e não simples intermediários ou atores coadjuvantes. A pesquisa procura demonstrar que a compreensão do que seja o social, conforme a Teoria Ator Rede, pode ajudar a explicar e a superar os entraves que a modalidade da educação a distância ainda enfrenta na sociedade brasileira. / This thesis approaches the phenomenon of complexity of distance and blended education according to conceptual references of the modality, in a dialogue with theories about digital communication, the epistemology of complexity, the actor-network theory, and the cartography of controversies. It investigates who are the actors that constitute the social aggregate of the distance education through mapping of the conflicts which arose in the general discussion forum of the first blended course taught at the University of São Paulo, Licentiate in Sciences, from November 2010 to November 2011. Under the perspective of this work, the controversies originated due to the prevalence of a view, which assigns to human actors the prominence and the prevalence of the actions and does not recognize that objects, processes, meetings, and encounters, among other, are also mediators and not just mere intermediary or supporting actors. This research intends to demonstrate that the understanding of what the social is, according to the actor-network theory, may help to explain and overcome the hindrance that the distance education modality still faces within Brazilian society.

Hybridity, as it is currently understood in the Peace and Conflict Studies (PCS) and International Relations (IR) literature, is defined by the complex interactions between ‘the liberal peace' and ‘the local'. However, under this theoretical liberal-local rubric, the ways in which power is practiced has already been determined; how resistance is expressed and the forms it assumes have already been established. While it has yielded numerous important insights into how power circulates and resistance manifests in peacebuilding operations, the theoretical approach conceals other significant dynamics which escape detection by ‘the liberal peace' and ‘the local'. However, these undetected dimensions of hybridity comprise the very processes that emerge in ways which destabilise the boundaries between ‘the liberal peace' and ‘the local' and reshape the contours of the emerging post-liberal peace. Instead of accepting the liberal-local distinction which defines this theoretical hybridity, this thesis advances an alternative methodological approach to exploring the tensions at play in peacebuilding projects. Rather than deploying theoretical distinctions in order to explain or understand complex hybrid processes, this thesis develops a methodological strategy for exploring the tensions between how actors design a peacebuilding project and how that project changes as actors work to translate that project into complex, everyday living sites (Callon, 1986; Law, 1997; Akrich, 1992). This tension is expressed as practical hybridity. The process of practical hybridity unfolds as the concrete material changes, modifications, and adaptations that emerge as actors appropriate and contingently translate organised practices in new ways and for different purposes. Through an ongoing process of practical hybridity, the boundaries and distinction which define the distinction between ‘the liberal peace' and ‘the local' become increasingly unstable. Amidst this instability, the practices which characterised ‘the liberal peace' are becoming stretched into a post-liberal peace. Drawing on the work of Richmond (2011a; Richmond & Mitchell, 2012), Latour (1987b; 1988; 2004), and Schatzki (2002), and based on over five months of field research, this this thesis traces the process of practical hybridity at play during the implementation and evaluation of a peacebuilding project in Liberia. I participated as a research assistant on a Randomised Control Trial (RCT), implemented by a small research team under the auspices of the Oxford University's Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE). The team was assessing the impact of a legal empowerment programme managed by The Carter Center: the Community Justice Advisor (CJA) programme. As the CSAE's evaluation of the CJA programme unfolded, many dynamics associated with theoretical liberal-local hybridity surfaced; however, it also became apparent that this theoretical formulation obscured important dimensions which were reshaping what peacebuilding practice is in the process of becoming in the emerging post-liberal world.

&ldquo / Information-Based Economy&rdquo / , which is today&rsquo / s economy that is a proof and indicator of development level for the countries now on, comes on the scene with its new organizing model on the infrastructure of its own, which is called &ldquo / Information Society&rdquo / . The phenomenon of administration introduces to &ldquo / e-Government&rdquo / for reinforcing the roots of &ldquo / Information-Based Economy&rdquo / now. The objective of this study is to research the transformation of state, authoritarian and dominant power, that &ldquo / Information-Based Economy&rdquo / gives direction in the environment of &ldquo / Information Society&rdquo / and to determine the locus and focus of &ldquo / e-government&rdquo / as a new organizing model especially in the dilemma between administration and management, and in the dilemma between politics and administration by using the theories of public administration, keeping the variance of culture in mind. In addition, to have a systematic knowledge of the relation between &ldquo / Information-Based Economy&rdquo / , &ldquo / Information Society&rdquo / and &ldquo / e-Government&rdquo / as a whole composes of the theme of this thesis. For this purpose, questionnaire has been conducted in the Ministry of National Education, which is responsible for forming the society of the future, to understand whether there is a systematic knowledge on the relation between &ldquo / Information-Based Economy&rdquo / , &ldquo / Information Society&rdquo / and &ldquo / e-Government&rdquo / as a whole. Moreover, it has been aimed to discover what the mental formulations of participants are. Questionnaire results reveal that there is no systematic knowledge on the relation between &ldquo / Information-Based Economy&rdquo / , Information Society&rdquo / and &ldquo / e-Government&rdquo / as a whole in the Ministry of National Education, and that the participants are apt to perceive &ldquo / e-Government&rdquo / within the context in which they are in terms of professions, status and backgrounds. Questionnaire results also show that the responses given by the participants concerning &ldquo / e-Government&rdquo / are more or less the same due to the hierarchical organization of knowledge and official knowledge in particular.