Upon identifying the multifaceted and disparate array of ever-changing environmental informants to architectural discourse, one is confronted with how to unite this dialogue in meaningful ways to current modes of thought and action. The question gains more significance as our knowledge of the greater environmental domain becomes more systemic and complexly heterogenic, while at the same time, approaches to the issues have proved to be progressively more reductivist, disconnected, overtly abstracted or theorized, and universally globalized in regard to multifaceted and content-rich human particularities in situ. This research focuses on the implications and applications of Critical Environmentalism (CE) to propose a corresponding epistemological framework to wide-ranging socio-environmental complexities occurring across architectural endeavors, primarily within urban and community developments as comprising the greatest number of intersections between human constructions and the greater environmental domain. CE addresses environmental issues reciprocally emerging across numerous disciplines and theoretical stances and fosters critical and systemically collective approaches to knowledge integration, amalgamating multiple stakeholder perspectives within an interconnective and operational goal of creative communal development and betterment of the human condition in relation to environmental concerns. Situating the environment (Umwelt) as an interconnecting catalyst between divergent points-of-views, CE promotes a multi-methodological, co-enabling framework intended to foster increased ethical and participatory dynamics, communal vitality, co-invested attention, and productive interchanges of knowledge that cultivate an overall quality of knowing and being within the intricacies of the greater domain. As such, it engages broader definitions for architecture within its social community, significantly embodied and epistemologically co-substantiating within a shared, environmental life-place. Fundamentally a hermeneutic standpoint, this investigation elucidates conceptual connections and mutual grounds, objectives, and modes-of-operation across knowledge domains, initiating an essential, socio-environmentally oriented framework for architectural endeavors. In this, it brings together common threads within critical social theory and environmentalist discourse to subsequently promote distinct interconnective components within a framework of socio-environmental thought for architecture. The research then provides case examples and recommendations toward stimulating progressive environmental initiatives and thus increased capacity to improve existing epistemic conditions for architecture, urban design, and community development within the broader scope of Critical Environmentalism.

This project studies the aesthetic nuances of contemporary menstrual poetic representations with the aim of undoing the stigma underlying them as well as fostering the development of a finer appreciation for period poetics and discursive portrayals. Through the lens of aesthetic theory, it looks into the ways in which menstruation not only can become languageable by dint of poetry, but also how it is permeated by its own system of aesthetic principles and characteristics. Using discourse analysis, this research explores the sociopolitical valence of menstrual aesthetics, while working against their neutralization in verse. By foregrounding the all-red discursive palettes of period sensation(s), flows and chromatic configurations, it makes a case for their dehegemonizing capacity, their potential to facilitate intermenstrual relatedness and most notably, their beauty.

Motivated by the immature theoretical framework of design, this thesis employs transdisciplinary discourse to provide a contemporary and forward-looking model of design and design theory, as well as the linkages between the two, along with the necessary methodology. The discourse involves research into the current understanding of design, its principles, its practice and conceptual framework. The methodology developed and employed in this thesis can be outlined in five steps: 0. Design briefing 1. Developing a conceptual model based on the writings of Michel Foucault and Helmut Krippendorff. 2. Presenting the model in a written form. 3. Using accounts of conferences as tools for Designing Design and building monuments. 4. Interrogating the theory through an expert system. 5. Summarising and evaluating the findings. Design Briefing The present study delves into design, and into the design of theory. In Chapter A.1.6, a summary of Chapter A.0−A.1.5 is given, highlighting the underlying discourse. As shown, the theory behind this work is based on a hypothesis, which cannot be proved experimentally, or deduced from experimental data, at least at the time of its construction. Therefore, it needs to be understood that the case studies (A.3.2−A.3.5) in this thesis are not intended to serve as experiments that were conducted in order to prove the theory; rather, these case studies are design cases—products and artefacts—and should be viewed as discourse frameworks that can be adopted to design design. As described in Chapter 3.1, these are elements of monuments—in reference to Raichman (1988)—that have resulted from the discursive strategies and were designed within a community of designers, allowing the design understanding to be shaped. Methodologically, the theory is created through an indication of differences. These differences were elaborated on in the literature review, and can be explained using either logic-based or hermeneutical metaphors. As the latter approach is more flexible, it might be more applicable to the design environment. The generated knowledge can be located in three areas—design knowledge, epistemology, methodology (the process to get there), and phenomenology (the composition of the artefacts). While the main focus of this thesis has been on theory design, it was also important to delineate how to get there, as well as analyse the questionable differences between theory and practice, since they are ideal types that mark the extreme ends of a continuum (Jonsen and Toulmin 1988, p.36). The work presented in this thesis was conducted in a circular manner, like a design process, in order to encapsulate the instance. Therefore, essential topics reappear, allowing them to be reframed and newly contextualised. Chapter 0.0 to 0.7 reperesent the introductory part of this work. Thus, the content presented could be referred to as ‘the briefing’—as a parallel to a design case—to provide the background. It shows the motivation, a first hypothesis, some methodological considerations, and the research design and decisions. The aim is to provide insight into the phenomenon of interest and discuss some preconceptions. Thus, these introductory chapters provide orientation through locating some statements of the provided (design) discourse. Developing a conceptual model based on the writings of Michel Foucault and Helmut Krippendorff. As a follow up, Section A consists of several key components, and encompasses the research methodology specificity, its theoretical underpinning, and its connection to design, a reframing and contextualisation. This section also provides the means to overcome the discrepancy between researching and designing. Therefore, in Chapter A1−A1.6, a more substantial discourse of design is provided, along with the theory and the essential knowledge. Here, we can see the method in operation, as a patching of discursive statements—akin to an additive process of designing. Clearly, the attempt made here belongs to the constructivist epistemology, as the idea of design is a mental construct. Nonetheless, the aim is to provide a broad perspective of what can be presently observed in the design field. The employed methodology strategically aims to overcome the divide between designing and researching—between acting and reflecting—in order to provide a conceptual model. Still, it also makes the designing practice a conscious process, whereby theory is designed through discourse. Such discourse is revealed within the discovery of textual statements based on an extensive literature review, as well as through the discovery of textual statements from organised interactive conferences. The theory developed here is, in fact, a theory derived from theory, and is shaped through finding patterns and the simplification of the overall structure they form. In A.2, the concept of discourse and its designing quality is revealed. It shows how discourse, as the guiding method, is ‘excavated’ from the writings of Michel Foucault and Helmut Krippendorff. Methodologically, Michel Foucault’s ‘Archeology of Knowledge’ was analysed against and parallel to Helmut Krippendorff’s ‘Semantic Turn’, as these sources are complementary to each other. The goal of this process is a comparison of statements, yielding reasoning towards discourse and design discourse. In sum, this analysis helped reveal that it is a matter of design how the discourse is provided. The outcome of the aforementioned comparison is very interesting and satisfying. The findings revealed a difference in discourse, because engineering and design discourses are informed by rhetoric of design, rhetoric of deliberation, in opposite to humanistic discourse, which consumes textual objects (Perelman 1999). The discursive designing process within these chapters reveals some important elements, such as the conceptual frame of politics, referred to in Foucault’s discourse explorations. According to the author, power is a generating force in shaping discourse (Faucault 1980, p.119). In contrast, Krippendorff (1995b) sees power as emanating from language, which can be overcome through avoiding the construction of certain language. In the research presented, the designing practice that took place during the conferences, as well as the aforementioned notions, play a role, as was shown in Chapter 3. Power, as it was experienced, is unavoidable. Yet, rather than seeing it as a problem, it should be viewed as a generating force. A second more substantial question arises around the notion of discontinuity (A.2.3), which is essential in Foucault’s concept. According to Krippendorff, knowledge is not partitioned; it rather provides continuity through the various disciplines. As this research shows, this view should not be seen as an opposite to Foucault’s concept of discontinuity, because statements can refer to the same object, but coming from a discontinuous field, from various disciplines. In other words, as design discourse can be viewed as a discourse hosted by various disciplines, it is discontinuous! With respect to Foucault’s concern of grasping of statements, the main goal of this thesis is to provide support for this perspective. As the author noted, the grasping of the statements needs to follow the exact specificity of their occurrence (Foucault 1972). The prudence and success of dissociating statements from their original context to place them in a new context is questionable, since no discontinuity can be ignored (Foucault 1972). Often, rather than paraphrasing the text so that it reflects one’s own understanding of it, the result is a mere citation of the original texts and con-texts. The awareness of discontinuity does not allow for this thesis to be presented according to the positivistic paradigm.

A dissertação mapeia a formação da identidade internacional da União Europeia através da sua arquitetura de segurança internacional que tem como um dos seus nós a securitização da imigração, utilizando ferramentas metodológicas não-tradicionais para confirmar a nossa tese. A primeira parte do trabalho é um marco teórico: discutimos a virada linguística nas relações internacionais para entender a intersubjetividade entre pesquisador e objeto, de modo que nós escolhemos reflexividade como a nossa abordagem metodológica; em seguida, discutimos as escolas europeias em segurança internacional do pós-guerra fria, como a Escola de Copenhague, Escola Crítica de Gales e Escola de Paris, apresentando conceitos e objetos estudados por especialistas que nos são caros para entender nosso estudo e colocar nossa pesquisa dentro de sua comunidade epistêmica; finalmente, discutimos e incorporamos conceitos e abordagens da Teoria do Discurso (estudos de Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe e Escola de Essex) para fazer uma construção cronológica e geodiscursiva da região euromediterrânea. Na segunda parte, reconstruímos histórica e institucionalmente a arquitetura europeia de segurança internacional do pós-guerra a hoje vis-à-vis com suas políticas de migração notando suas correlações, também com foco na análise detalhada dos principais documentos oficiais de segurança. A parte quantitativa final (e nossa contribuição original) procura confirmar a causalidade do link segurança-imigração na arquitetura europeia; para isso, utilizamo-nos da linguística computacional para análise semântica semi-automatizada, mais especificamente Topic Model; analisamos cerca de 20.000 documentos oficiais de segurança da União Europeia para indicar estatísticas, agentes, instituições, agendas e discursos que confirmam nossa tese. / The dissertation maps the formation of the international identity of European Union through its international security architecture that has as one of its nodes the securitization of immigration, using non-traditional methodological tools to confirm our thesis. The first part of the work is a theoretical framework: we discuss the linguistic turn in international relations to understand the intersubjectivity between researcher and object so we choose Reflexivity as our methodological approach; then we discuss the European schools in international security from post-cold war such as the Copenhagen School, Wales Critical School and Paris School, presenting concepts and objects studied by experts who are dear to us to understand our study and place our research within its epistemic community; Finally, we discuss and incorporate concepts and approaches from Discourse Theory (studies from Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe and Essex School) to make a chronological geodiscursive construction of the euromediterranean region. In the second part, we reconstruct historically and institutionally the European international security architecture from post-war till today vis-à-vis with its migration policies and noting their correlations, also focusing on detailed analysis of the main official security documents. A final quantitative section (and our original contribution) seeks to confirm the causality of the security-immigration link in European architecture; for this we use computational linguistics for semi-automated semantic analysis, more specifically Topic Model; We analyze around 20,000 official security documents from European Union to indicate statistics, agents, institutions, agendas and speeches which confirm our thesis.

Neste trabalho, concentramo-nos em uma grande questão norteadora: a produção do discurso decisório, pelos representantes do Estado (juízes e desembargadores), no processo de subsunção da norma abstrata ao caso concreto, resulta em discursos imparciais, pautados exclusivamente na lei, ou estes discursos podem refletir decisões totalmente influenciadas e permeadas por outros discursos, representando as outras vozes que comporão conjuntamente estes discursos dialógicos? Para responder a esta questão, realizamos uma análise de sete sentenças judiciais e sete acórdãos, versantes sobre a situação jurídica de negros escravos. Como são decisões proferidas no século XIX, anos de 1873, 1874(3), 1875(3), 1876(4), 1877(3) e 1878, período de pré-vigência da Lei Áurea, encontram-se manuscritas. Por isso, utilizamos, para compreensão linguística dos manuscritos, da ciência filológica e de uma de suas formas de transcrição, a edição semidiplomática. Após a edição destas decisões, levantamos todos os aspectos do campo de produção deste gênero e do processo enunciativo, para então, posteriormente, detectarmos os recursos linguísticos e discursivos utilizados pelos magistrados em suas decisões, que revelaram como este juiz-autor de seu discurso- maneja as diversas vozes que os perpassam, as vozes dos personagens (autor, réu do processo, testemunhas), as vozes de outros julgamentos, outros tribunais ou a própria voz interior deste sujeito-autor-juiz, como uma singularidade. Com isto, objetivamos, debater o estatuto discursivo destas decisões judiciais e de suas constituição como gênero e como práxis discursiva dialógica, discussão esta amparada pelo arcabouço da teoria dialógica do discurso. / In this work, we concentrate on one major leading question: the decisive speech production by the representatives of the State (judges and high level court judges), the process of subsumption of the abstract norm to the concrete case, results on impartial speeches, guided only by the law or these speeches may reflect decisions totally permeated and influenced by other discourses, representing the other voices that compose together these dialogical discourses? To answer this question, we analyzed seven judicial judgment sentences and seven high level court judgments, about the legal status of slaves. As the decisions were made in the nineteenth century, years of 1873, 1874 (3), 1875 (3), 1876 (4), 1877 (3) and 1878, period of the Golden Law pre-term, they are handwritten. Therefore, we used, for linguistic understanding of the manuscripts, philological science and one of its forms of copying, the semidiplomatic edition. After editing these decisions, we raised all aspects of the production field of this gender and the enunciation process, and then, subsequently, detect the linguistic and discursive resources used by judges in their decisions, which showed how this Judge-author of their speech manages the several voices that permeate them, the characters voices (author, accused of the case, witnesses), the voices of other judgments, other courts or their own interior voice within this subject-author-judge, as a singularity. With this, we intend to discuss the discursive policy (statute) of these decisions and their constitution as a genre and as a dialogical discursive praxis, such discussion supported by the theoretical framework of the dialogical theory of discourse.

Neste trabalho, concentramo-nos em uma grande questão norteadora: a produção do discurso decisório, pelos representantes do Estado (juízes e desembargadores), no processo de subsunção da norma abstrata ao caso concreto, resulta em discursos imparciais, pautados exclusivamente na lei, ou estes discursos podem refletir decisões totalmente influenciadas e permeadas por outros discursos, representando as outras vozes que comporão conjuntamente estes discursos dialógicos? Para responder a esta questão, realizamos uma análise de sete sentenças judiciais e sete acórdãos, versantes sobre a situação jurídica de negros escravos. Como são decisões proferidas no século XIX, anos de 1873, 1874(3), 1875(3), 1876(4), 1877(3) e 1878, período de pré-vigência da Lei Áurea, encontram-se manuscritas. Por isso, utilizamos, para compreensão linguística dos manuscritos, da ciência filológica e de uma de suas formas de transcrição, a edição semidiplomática. Após a edição destas decisões, levantamos todos os aspectos do campo de produção deste gênero e do processo enunciativo, para então, posteriormente, detectarmos os recursos linguísticos e discursivos utilizados pelos magistrados em suas decisões, que revelaram como este juiz-autor de seu discurso- maneja as diversas vozes que os perpassam, as vozes dos personagens (autor, réu do processo, testemunhas), as vozes de outros julgamentos, outros tribunais ou a própria voz interior deste sujeito-autor-juiz, como uma singularidade. Com isto, objetivamos, debater o estatuto discursivo destas decisões judiciais e de suas constituição como gênero e como práxis discursiva dialógica, discussão esta amparada pelo arcabouço da teoria dialógica do discurso. / In this work, we concentrate on one major leading question: the decisive speech production by the representatives of the State (judges and high level court judges), the process of subsumption of the abstract norm to the concrete case, results on impartial speeches, guided only by the law or these speeches may reflect decisions totally permeated and influenced by other discourses, representing the other voices that compose together these dialogical discourses? To answer this question, we analyzed seven judicial judgment sentences and seven high level court judgments, about the legal status of slaves. As the decisions were made in the nineteenth century, years of 1873, 1874 (3), 1875 (3), 1876 (4), 1877 (3) and 1878, period of the Golden Law pre-term, they are handwritten. Therefore, we used, for linguistic understanding of the manuscripts, philological science and one of its forms of copying, the semidiplomatic edition. After editing these decisions, we raised all aspects of the production field of this gender and the enunciation process, and then, subsequently, detect the linguistic and discursive resources used by judges in their decisions, which showed how this Judge-author of their speech manages the several voices that permeate them, the characters voices (author, accused of the case, witnesses), the voices of other judgments, other courts or their own interior voice within this subject-author-judge, as a singularity. With this, we intend to discuss the discursive policy (statute) of these decisions and their constitution as a genre and as a dialogical discursive praxis, such discussion supported by the theoretical framework of the dialogical theory of discourse.

A dissertação mapeia a formação da identidade internacional da União Europeia através da sua arquitetura de segurança internacional que tem como um dos seus nós a securitização da imigração, utilizando ferramentas metodológicas não-tradicionais para confirmar a nossa tese. A primeira parte do trabalho é um marco teórico: discutimos a virada linguística nas relações internacionais para entender a intersubjetividade entre pesquisador e objeto, de modo que nós escolhemos reflexividade como a nossa abordagem metodológica; em seguida, discutimos as escolas europeias em segurança internacional do pós-guerra fria, como a Escola de Copenhague, Escola Crítica de Gales e Escola de Paris, apresentando conceitos e objetos estudados por especialistas que nos são caros para entender nosso estudo e colocar nossa pesquisa dentro de sua comunidade epistêmica; finalmente, discutimos e incorporamos conceitos e abordagens da Teoria do Discurso (estudos de Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe e Escola de Essex) para fazer uma construção cronológica e geodiscursiva da região euromediterrânea. Na segunda parte, reconstruímos histórica e institucionalmente a arquitetura europeia de segurança internacional do pós-guerra a hoje vis-à-vis com suas políticas de migração notando suas correlações, também com foco na análise detalhada dos principais documentos oficiais de segurança. A parte quantitativa final (e nossa contribuição original) procura confirmar a causalidade do link segurança-imigração na arquitetura europeia; para isso, utilizamo-nos da linguística computacional para análise semântica semi-automatizada, mais especificamente Topic Model; analisamos cerca de 20.000 documentos oficiais de segurança da União Europeia para indicar estatísticas, agentes, instituições, agendas e discursos que confirmam nossa tese. / The dissertation maps the formation of the international identity of European Union through its international security architecture that has as one of its nodes the securitization of immigration, using non-traditional methodological tools to confirm our thesis. The first part of the work is a theoretical framework: we discuss the linguistic turn in international relations to understand the intersubjectivity between researcher and object so we choose Reflexivity as our methodological approach; then we discuss the European schools in international security from post-cold war such as the Copenhagen School, Wales Critical School and Paris School, presenting concepts and objects studied by experts who are dear to us to understand our study and place our research within its epistemic community; Finally, we discuss and incorporate concepts and approaches from Discourse Theory (studies from Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe and Essex School) to make a chronological geodiscursive construction of the euromediterranean region. In the second part, we reconstruct historically and institutionally the European international security architecture from post-war till today vis-à-vis with its migration policies and noting their correlations, also focusing on detailed analysis of the main official security documents. A final quantitative section (and our original contribution) seeks to confirm the causality of the security-immigration link in European architecture; for this we use computational linguistics for semi-automated semantic analysis, more specifically Topic Model; We analyze around 20,000 official security documents from European Union to indicate statistics, agents, institutions, agendas and speeches which confirm our thesis.

Submitted by Márcio Maia (marciokjmaia@gmail.com) on 2016-08-25T23:13:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 4774065 bytes, checksum: 208edf009516d049d9e2ce771603137b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-25T23:13:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 4774065 bytes, checksum: 208edf009516d049d9e2ce771603137b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-02 / The crisis of perception, the tensions and the negotiations that education concerns, specially the teaching curriculum of History in Basic Education, has assumed great relevance in the Brazilian educational system agenda in the beginning of this century. This doctoral study is included in this debate and defends the argument that the teaching curriculum of History is contributing for the hegemony of the worldview of the linear modernity. Besides, it claims that the values and concepts that constitute the linear and unidimensional thinking of modernity are not sufficient to comprehend the complexity of our days. Based on this finding, an effort to analyze policies of the teaching curriculum considering the post-struturalist debates was made. Specially, the concepts developed within the Theory of Discourse of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe (1987); and from the dialogues with the Theory of the Complexity of Edgar Morin (1996; 2011) and the Post-Colonial studies of Homi Bhabha (2001). Considering that education and curriculum are discursive practices, this research elected the significants: “subject”, “identity”, “time”, “place” and “cross-cultural exchanges”, and, with the mediation between them, interpreted the meanings produced in the context of the teaching curriculum of History. In order to make the analytical procedures of this study feasible, the discursive corpus of the research was composed by the PCNEM (BRASIL, 2000), the PCN+ (BRASIL, 2002), the DCNEM (BRASIL, 2012), the OCEM (BRASIL, 2006), the Curricular References for High School from the State of “Paraíba” (RCEM-PB, PARAÍBA, 2006). As well as, the Framework of the National Examination for High School (ENEM), and the interviews with four teachers and four students of History from senior High School groups from two schools in the city of “João Pessoa”. The research based the thesis on the teaching curriculum of History inserted in the crisis of perception of the contemporaneity and subjected to permanent negotiations and displacement of meanings. Regarding it, this work contributes for the hegemony of distinct worldview of linear modernity. / A crise de percepção, as tensões e as negociações que envolvem a educação, em especial o currículo-ensino de História da Educação Básica, têm assumido relevância na agenda educacional brasileira do início desse século. O presente estudo de doutoramento insere-se no referido debate e defende o argumento de que o currículo-ensino de História está contribuindo para a hegemonia da visão de mundo da modernidade linear e, articulado a isso, afirma que os valores e conceitos que constituem o pensamento linear e unidimensional da modernidade não são suficientes para se compreender a complexidade dos nossos dias. A partir dessa constatação, procurou-se analisar políticas de currículo-ensino a partir dos debates Pósestruturalistas, especialmente dos conceitos desenvolvidos no âmbito da Teoria do Discurso de Ernesto Laclau e Chantal Mouffe (1987), dos diálogos com a Teoria da Complexidade de Edgar Morin (1996; 2011) e com os estudos Pós-Coloniais de Homi Bhabha (2001). Partindo do entendimento de que educação e o currículo são práticas discursivas, esta pesquisa elegeu os significantes “sujeito”, “identidade”, “tempo”, “lugar” e “encontros culturais”, visando, com a mediação deles, interpretar sentidos produzidos no contexto do currículo-ensino de História. Para a viabilização dos procedimentos analíticos deste estudo, compuseram o corpus discursivo da pesquisa: os PCNEM (BRASIL, 2000), os PCN+ (BRASIL, 2002), as DCNEM (BRASIL, 2012), as OCEM (BRASIL, 2006), os Referenciais Curriculares para o Ensino Médio do Estado da Paraíba (RCEM-PB, PARAÍBA, 2006), a Matriz de Referência do Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (ENEM) e as entrevistas com quatro professores e quatro alunos de História, de turmas de terceiro ano do Ensino Médio, de duas escolas situadas na cidade de João Pessoa. A pesquisa alicerçou a tese de que o currículo-ensino de História, inserido na crise de percepção da contemporaneidade e submetido a permanentes negociações e deslocamentos de sentidos, está contribuindo para a hegemonização da visão de mundo própria da modernidade linear.

The problem of climate change is not simply scientific or technical, but also political and social. This dissertation analyzes both the role and the ethical foundations of citizenship and citizen engagement in the political and social aspects of climate change communication and policy-making. Using a critical discourse analysis of a policy recommendations drafted by the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact, I demonstrate how climate change policy documentation naturalizes a particular version of citizenship I call “climate citizenship.” Based on environmental critiques of liberal and civic republican citizenship, I show how this “climate citizenship” would be more productive and ethical if based on theories of environmental citizenship rooted in an ecological feminist ethic of flourishing. This critique of current representations of citizenship in climate change policy offers a theoretically sound basis for future engaged work in rhetoric of science focused on policy-making.

The demographic time bomb means that older people will become a major part of tomorrow's society. This has become an increasingly pressing issue for older people and government policy alike. ONS (2009) statistics suggest that past retirement age, the sense of quality of life (QoL) experienced by older people begins to decrease, with the fastest decline occurring after the age of 70. This research therefore began by investigating how ICT could be implicated in the social life of the older person and thus improve their QoL. Literature reviews of the field of older people's involvement with ICT indicated that there was very little research between the more general studies of ICT involvement (which include far more than the purely social aspects) and the very specific (which involve examining the social impact of just one piece of technology). This study therefore aimed to fill the gap between the two extremes. It also aimed to generate theory in an under-theorised area. The study began with a focus group and interviews asking questions around how people thought social life had changed with the advent of new technologies, how they experienced the technology, and how things could be improved in the future. The study was qualitative in nature and adopted a grounded theory approach in order to inductively generate theory. The study of the lived experience of ICT also contributed to a phenomenological approach. Comparative analysis of transcripts obtained in Phase One (Year One) enabled a set of Grounded Theory Categories to be created which accounted for what was happening in the data. A core category of identity was identified which influenced subsequent data collection in Phase Two (Year Two). Phase Two participants were then involved in more focused interviews around identity concepts. Further analysis in Year Two enabled a Schema of Subject Positions to be created concerning (digital) identities which accounted for all of the participants in the study and the ways in which they viewed and interacted with technology. The Categories were also subsumed within a Grounded Theory Model involving a tripartite identity schema aligned with Giddens theory of the reflexive project of the self. Findings suggest that participants are implicated in methods of identity involvement which can be playful or pragmatic; can be viewed in moral, immoral and amoral ways (leading to ideas of the authentic and the inauthentic); and can represent the individual or explore new identities. Identity construction can ultimately be implicated positively with the use of ICT, and may lead to a virtuous cycle of ICT usage which can improve quality of life by affirming better self-views or enabling the testing of new views of selfhood. Positive technology identities can be offered as identity role models for other older people to follow.