This thesis puts forth an ethnographic, social constructionist account of tattoo shops with the aim of examining how heavily tattooed individuals negotiate positive social meaning in a constructed society. This research assumes that heavily tattooed individuals may be viewed as deviant, which can create problems associated with labeling and stigma. Consequently, these individuals need to develop ways to cope, and can do this by seeking out the company of like-minded people who can help them define away stigma. The central focus of this research will be on the social structures of the space (tattoo shops) and the individuals who visit it - more specifically on their interactions, conversations and experiences. Data were collected from both participant observation and semi-structured open ended interviews with participants. The results from this study demonstrate that tattoo shops are environments that can be interpreted as ‘new third places.’ / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2013-08-02 18:45:32.617

Read abstract in the document / Dissertation (MInt(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Architecture / MInt(Prof) / Unrestricted

This dissertation is an auto/ethnographic account, which examines food, close personal friendships, and community. The research combines autoethnography with ethnographic observations and personal/group interviews conducted within the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa, Florida. The observations are of a weekly dinner event referred to by most attendees as Family Dinner. I am one of the founders of this event; the participants of this study are neighbors (or were at some point in time) as well as past and present attendees of the weekly dinner. The purpose of this research is to illustrate how food can be a tool to build community. In the Seminole Heights neighborhood, food acts as a communicator/builder of community and produces (a) nourishment for close personal bonds, and (b) sustainment of social capital. The nourishment and sustainment are made possible through (c) interaction. While there are many works of literature that discuss the topics of food, bonds, social capital, and interaction, little has been written on how these aspects function synergistically to create community. Using literature that speaks to food, close personal bonds, social capital, and interactions, I examine how these key aspects integrate with the ideas of community and their relationship to community building. I specifically address how people form community around the sharing of food and social interactions. In order to do so, I explore the role food plays in nourishing this community and look at how people experience and participate in community through the sharing of food. There are three areas comprising my research. 1. First, the observations describe the interactions of the community. 2. Secondly, the interviews give a sense of the weekly dinners from participants who still attend, who no longer live close enough to continue attending, and who have stopped attending for reasons other than their proximity to the neighborhood. 3. Lastly, the weaving of ethnography with autoethnography allows for a reflexive view of what these dinners mean, not only to myself, but also to those who participated in this research project. This study focuses on what constitutes community according to participants--their conceptions of community. In Addition, it illustrates the role food plays in nourishing community, and the participant's role in sustaining community.

The theoretical part of the thesis outlines the entire topic from the broad perspective created namely by foreign publications. Then the thesis presents the theories of two American sociologists whose conclusions represent the anticipation of the subject analysed here. This is followed by the definition of coworking and its brief history, the perspectives on it that management has adopted by comparing coworking to clusters as defined by Michael Porter. The purpose of the practical part of the thesis is to describe the functioning of coworking in real life situations, this from the perspective of the managers (or owners) of coworking centres, and their users. The data was obtained by quality and quantitative research, namely by multicase analysis and questionnaires data analysis. Individual chapters of the thesis describe conclusions reached from this research. The conclusion of the thesis summarizes the most important facts and results obtained by the research, it also confirms the hypothesis which was the basis of the thesis.

This dissertation explores the social patterns and cultural layers of musical "open mics" in New York City. The study uses a qualitative approach which includes methods such as ethnography, in-depth interviewing, historical and discourse analyses focusing on open mics and the popular musicians who attend and perform them. Open mics, short for "open microphones," are public events that allow musicians to perform songs without a pre-planned, formal booking with a club or venue. Owing a historical and discursive connection to the folk hootenannies and jazz jam sessions of the past, these events have proliferated and spread considerably across the United States since the 1990s since their development, by name, in the late 1970s. Open mics not only reflect a do-it-yourself and participatory cultural ethos manifested with other recent expressive cultural activities, but also demonstrate a growing interstitial "musical third place" residing between private practicing and public performance. Musical open mics as musical third places provide musicians and singer/songwriters to network with other musicians, practice new musical compositions and play when other performance opportunities are not readily available. It provides a means for musicians to "hone their craft" in terms of performance methods and also construct musical identities in the almost exclusive company of other working singer/songwriters. This "backstage region" is thus framed and keyed by the musicians onto a continuum between two theoretical poles: performance practicing and practicing performance. Performance practicing as defined in this study frames a more performance-oriented display for musicians in locations called "closed open mics" or COMs. These settings, also residing on a theoretical continuum are socially more exclusive in terms of performance types, the aesthetic careers of the performers, the genres represented and the sociological makeup of the setting participants in general. OOMs or "open open mics," on the other hand, usually have a more fluid, diverse sociological composition of musical performers, performance types, and musical genres played and represented in these mainly weekly events. Closed open mics align into more homogeneous, isomorphic settings comprising "local open mic scenes" and open open mics remain more heterogeneous, socially inclusive, and unsettled as "pre-scenes."

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No. of bitstreams: 1 DissVARF.pdf: 6948850 bytes, checksum: d3b741c4c9de46c3ebb889107367b3e3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-10-05 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Third places, a term coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg to describe places other than home (first place) or workplace (second place), places where people attend to socialize with others besides co-workers and family. Third places provide neutral ground for people to express themselves freely, necessary for civil society and civic engagement, helping to create in their regulars the feeling of belonging. Parks, cafes, bakeries, museums, theaters, churches, bars and squares are examples of third places. These places have a key role in community life forging their cultural profile. Such places are characterized by being democratic and accessible, allowing people to discuss politics, the last football game, or the next music festivals, strengthening the notion of community. However, the modern lifestyle and the potential lack of third places can lead people to be more solitary or even have fewer opportunities to attend places that promote socialization, affecting the quality of life and the sense of community. In this context, this research explores how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can provide people opportunities for socializing in a third place, but unlike Oldenburg, independent of the location constraints and time, creating the phenomenon defined as thirdplaceness. Thus, it is expected to use ICTs to go beyond the traditional third places, providing opportunities for people to meet and socialize, reinforcing and extending the concept of third place, as well as confronting the stigma of isolation using technologies. To experience the support of ICTs to thirdplaceness even when there is no conventional third places to bring the community together, it is considered in this proposal the development and the use of an ICT interactive public art installation, called WishBoard. This installation explores the potential of interactions between mobile devices and public displays, allowing people to share with the community messages and their individual aspirations. This public sharing would be the opportunity for people to socialize in that space during the deployment. From the analysis of the shared messages, it was analyzed the role of ICTs to promote thirdplaceness and found evidence the cultural profile of the community in the shared anonymous messages. Considering the content of messages and the behavior of people, it was noticed that the use of public displays combined with interaction on mobile devices can promote a transformation of the place into a meeting place and conversation when they provide a way for individual self-expression and contemplation by the community that expression, causing engagement among people. / Terceiros espaços (do inglês, third places), termo cunhado pelo sociólogo Ray Oldenburg para descrever outros locais que não a casa (primeiro espaço) nem o local de trabalho (segundo espaço), locais que as pessoas frequentam para se socializarem com outros além dos colegas de trabalho e da família. Os terceiros espaços fornecem o espaço neutro para as pessoas se expressarem livremente, necessário para a sociedade civil e o engajamento cívico, ajudando a criar nos seus frequentadores o sentimento de pertencimento. Parques, cafés, padarias, museus, teatros, igrejas, bares e praças são exemplos de terceiros espaços. Esses locais têm um papel fundamental na vida das comunidades forjando o perfil cultural delas. Tais locais são caracterizados por serem democráticos e acessíveis, permitindo que as pessoas discutam política, o último jogo de futebol, ou o show que vai acontecer, fortalecendo assim a noção de comunidade. Contudo, o estilo de vida moderno e a potencial falta de terceiros espaços podem levar as pessoas a serem mais solitárias ou mesmo a terem menos oportunidades para frequentar locais que promovam a socialização, afetando a qualidade de vida e a noção de comunidade. Nesse contexto, esta pesquisa explora como as Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TICs) podem proporcionar às pessoas oportunidades de socialização em um terceiro espaço, mas diferente de Oldenburg, independente das restrições de localidade e de tempo, criando o fenômeno definido como thirdplaceness. Assim, almeja-se usar as TICs para ir além dos tradicionais terceiros espaços, provendo oportunidades às pessoas de se reunirem e se socializarem, reforçando e estendendo o conceito de terceiro espaço, bem como confrontando o estigma de isolamento pelo uso de tecnologias. Para experimentar o apoio de TICs ao thirdplaceness mesmo quando não se tem terceiros espaços convencionais para reunir a comunidade, considera-se neste trabalho o desenvolvimento e uso de uma instalação computacional pública e interativa chamada WishBoard. Essa instalação explora o potencial das interações entre dispositivos móveis e displays públicos, permitindo às pessoas compartilharem com a sua comunidade mensagens e as suas aspirações individuais. Esse compartilhamento público seria a oportunidade para a socialização naquele local durante a instalação. A partir da análise das mensagens compartilhadas, foi analisado o papel das TICs para promover thirdplaceness e foram encontrados indícios do perfil cultural daquela comunidade nas mensagens compartilhadas anonimamente. Considerando o conteúdo das mensagens e comportamento das pessoas, percebeu-se que o uso de displays públicos combinados com a interação por dispositivos móveis pode promover uma transformação do local em um local de encontro e conversa quando fornecem uma forma para autoexpressão individual e contemplação pela comunidade dessa expressão, provocando o engajamento entre as pessoas.