Seldom are we privileged to witness an international philosophical movement, which in addition to being a philosophical revolution, vindicates the values and concerns of a critical anthropological approach in Spirituality from the analytic tradition. The work of critical realists is potential remedy for the ills, dichotomies and lacunae inherent in the Western philosophical and spiritual traditions. Critical realism and philosophy of meta-reality, it is claimed, not only emancipate philosophy but, science and society as spiritual. This dissertation explores the many points of confluence and exposes dimensions of living and studying spirituality, which challenge us to think of ontological realism, epistemological relativism and rational (reflexive) judgement in a mode, which cautions against the naive relativism, tacit irrealism and other mistakes which tend to over-characterise our academic discourse with social linguistification, to the detriment of humanity and our utopian freedom and flourishing. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality)

While recent publications indicate that employees in human service professions have higher risk of sickness absence and mental ill-health, little is known about the association with other health outcomes and possible mechanisms behind the differential risk. This study investigates differences in burnout, self-rated health and sickness absence between those in human service professions and other professions and examines whether differences in psychosocial and organizational work environment can explain possible variations. Data were derived from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH), an approximately representative sample of the Swedish working population (n=4486). Results from binary logistic regressions suggested that those in human service professions had higher odds of burnout and sickness absence those in other professions. Differences in burnout were explained by background variables while differences in sickness absence were explained by psychosocial and organizational work factors. Employees in human service professions had lower odds of suboptimal self-rated health than others in the fully adjusted model. Women were at higher risk of burnout, sickness absence, and all adverse psychosocial and organizational work environment factors except social support. Future studies should investigate the most crucial psychosocial and organizational work factors in human service professions with the objective to improve employee health.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH SUMMARY: With diminishing sources of capital over the past two decades, developing countries have increasingly regarded the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) as their main source of capital for development. In response to this, countries have also liberalised their policies, making their investment climate friendlier to FDI. This has been accompanied by increased competition amongst such countries to attract FDI, resulting in higher investment incentive packages offered by host governments to potential investors. This study aims to analyse the significance of host country incentives in attracting FDI, and consider whether or not these generous incentives benefit only the foreign investors, without any positive spillovers and linkages being created within the domestic economy, as this is usually given as the strongest motivation for offering these generous incentives. The research has used case studies of three diverse countries to compare and contrast their approach to incentive policies: • Lesotho, where no incentives are offered specifically to foreign investors • Namibia, with its export processing zones (EPZ) and • South Africa, which offers industry-specific incentives. The analysis is undertaken on aggregate FDI inflows to these three countries for the period 1998 to 2004. These are then compared to other selected countries from Africa. A further analysis of relative performance of FDI to gross fixed capital formation and GDP has also been undertaken for the same period. A separate analysis of the flow of FDI to Namibia four years before and after the introduction of the EPZ regime is also undertaken, and the results are compared with those of Lesotho and South Africa during the same period. It can be concluded that fiscal incentives have not had a significant impact on aggregate FDI inflow into Namibia, but that industry specific incentives such as those used in South Africa have had a much better impact. The results also show that there has been little evidence that FDI has created positive spillovers and linkages in these economies and therefore that the use of generous incentives may have benefited foreign investors more and accrued costs for the host governments. The study has also shown that, despite the absence of essential determinants of FDI in countries such as Angola i.e. adequate infrastructure, economic stability and good governance, FDI in Africa has been mainly resource seeking; concentrated on resource and in particular petroleum rich countries such as Nigeria, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. This form of FDI creates little or no linkages with the rest of the economy and therefore contributes which means that little contribution is being made to the broader development of the economy of the continent.

L’essai Mind the Gap porte sur les questions de la distance et de l’absence dans la narration de récits à la deuxième personne. Au coeur de ma réflexion se trouve L’absence, de Pierre Vadeboncoeur, un texte hybride, à la fois essai philosophique et lettre d’amour. La lecture de L’absence permet de mettre en lumière la relation qui apparaît entre Je et Tu dans deux oeuvres de statut et de forme bien différents, soit les récits Et tu n’es pas revenu par Marceline Loridan- Ivens et Enfance par Nathalie Sarraute. Dialogue à sens unique d’une part et dédoublement narratif d’autre part, les deux oeuvres mettent à l’épreuve certaines notions développées par Vadeboncoeur pour expliquer la dynamique particulière en jeu quand une narration est dirigée vers Tu, des notions inédites telles que l’être augmenté, l’empreinte et l’Ailleurs de l’écriture. S’adresser à l’autre en l’absence de, c’est transcender cette absence pour en faire une distance, pour se mettre en marche, pour s’engager à franchir le gap. L’enjeu de mon essai est de documenter ce dispositif de l’écart (entre narrateur et narrataire) et de son franchissement à la fois impossible et essentiel. Le bon chien est le récit fragmenté d’une narratrice qui s’adresse à celle qu’elle était bien des années plus tôt pour se remémorer leur passé commun dont elle croit s’être affranchie. C’est l’histoire d’une enfant sage et studieuse, d’une ballerine appliquée et travaillante, d’une amoureuse effacée, c’est l’histoire d’un bon chien. / Mind the Gap examines the issues of distance and absence in second person fiction. The analysis focuses on Pierre Vadeboncoeur’s L’absence, a hybrid text that is both a philosophical essay and a love letter. L’absence is used as a starting point to highlight the relationship between I and You in two works of fiction that are very different in form and status: Marceline Loridan- Ivens’s Et tu n’es pas revenu and Nathalie Sarraute’s Enfance. Part one-way dialogue, part split narrative, the two works challenge a set of novel concepts such as l’être augmenté (the enhanced being), l’empreinte (the imprint) and l’Ailleurs de l’écriture (the elsewhere of writing), developed by Vadeboncoeur to explain the unique dynamics of second person narratives. To address the other in the other's absence is to transcend that absence in order to create a distance instead and make a commitment to bridge the divide. This paper looks to explain how the distance between narrator and narratee is achieved and how closing that gap is both impossible and essential. Le bon chien is the fragmented story of a narrator who reminisces with her earlier self of many years back about a shared past that she believes she has freed herself from. It is the story of a well-behaved studious child, a dedicated hard-working ballerina, a faded lover—it is the story of a good dog.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / Reissued 30 May 2017 with correction to degree on title page. / The thesis argues that the Maoist-led government in post-insurgency Nepal has failed to deliver on the promises of reform that brought it to power. The long-enduring social and economic grievances based on the Nepali Hindu social structure persist. Starting in 1996, the Maoists successfully capitalized on such grievances, and with the promise of radical reforms, led a decade-long successful insurgency. A political negotiation incorporating major Maoist demands ended the insurgency in 2006. The electoral victory right after the end of the insurgency provided the Maoists with the mandate and opportunity to reform traditional socio-economic and political structure. Unfortunately, the post-2006 period is seeing an emergence of political instability akin to the post-1991 era. This thesis examines the state of reforms in post-insurgency Nepal to identify the gaps between the promises made and the reforms implemented that are causing ongoing grievances. The thesis also highlights the importance of the coalition culture in producing political stability to eliminate persistent grievances and implement reforms for the future stability of Nepal. / Lieutenant Colonel, Nepalese Army

The overall aim of this thesis was to gain new knowledge of factors and interventions that improve work ability and return to work (RTW) among women on long-term sick leave from human service organizations (HSOs). The specific aims of the studies were: to evaluate the associations between the self-rated Work Ability Index (WAI) and Work Ability Score (WAS), and the relationship with prospective sick leave, symptoms, and health (Paper I); to investigate whether intervention with myofeedback training or intensive muscular strength training could decrease pain and increase work ability among women with neck pain (Paper II); to examine the associations between workplace rehabilitation and the combination of supportive conditions at work with work ability and RTW over time (Paper III); and to explore experiences, views, and strategies in the rehabilitation process for RTW (Paper IV). This thesis is based on a prospective cohort study (n=324) and a randomized controlled study (RCT) (n=60, participants with neck pain). Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The data collection consisted of questionnaires, laboratory-observed data, register-based data, and interviews. The results showed a very strong association between WAI and WAS, and results predicted future sick leave degree, health-related quality of life, vitality, neck pain, self-rated general health, self-rated mental health, behavioral stress, and current stress (Paper I). In the RCT (Paper II), individuals in the myofeedback intervention group increased their vitality and work ability over time and individuals in the intensive musculoskeletal strength training group increased their WAI, WAS, and mental health over time. WAI, WAS, and RTW increased over time among individuals provided with workplace rehabilitation and supportive conditions at work (Paper III) such as a sense of feeling welcome back at work, influence at work, possibilities for development, degree of freedom at work, meaning of work, quality of leadership, social support, sense of community, and work satisfaction. Women described (Paper IV) how they were striving to work and how they had different views, strategies, and approaches in the rehabilitation process for RTW. They expressed a desire to work, their goals for work, and their wishes for work. In the rehabilitation process for RTW they described their interaction with stakeholders as either controlling the interaction or struggling in the interaction. They described strategies to cope with RTW in terms of yo-yo (fluctuating) working: yo-yo working as a strategy or yo-yo working as a consequence. This thesis identifies factors of importance in improving work ability and RTW among women on long-term sick leave from HSOs. For women with neck pain, the intervention study showed feasibility of the intervention and demonstrated improved work ability and decreased pain (Paper II). The intensive muscular strength training program, which is easy for the individual to learn and perform at home, was associated with increased work ability. The results regarding rehabilitation highlight the importance of integrating workplace rehabilitation with supportive conditions at work to increase work ability and improve RTW (Paper III). Women expressed that they were striving to work and that they wanted to work (Paper IV). These women were “going in and out” of work participation (yo-yo working) as a way to handle the rehabilitation process. For assessing the status and progress of work ability among women on long-term sick leave, the single-question WAS may be used as a compliment to the full WAI as a simple indicator (Paper I). / <p>Akademisk avhandling som för avläggande av medicine doktorsexamen vid Sahlgrenska akademin, Göteborgs universitet, kommer att offentligen försvaras i hörsal Hamberger, Medicinaregatan 16 A, Göteborg, måndagen den 6 oktober 2014, klockan 09.00</p>

My work is a symptom of my ongoing quest to achieve immortality. I perpetually attempt to make permanent the traces we leave behind and the impressions we make upon each other. I use the body to portray boundaries – between the skin and the heart, comfort and disquiet, holding and letting go. The objects I make serve both as an agent for physical contact and as the commemoration of an ephemeral interaction. I create personal fossils, revealing the interstices formed when two bodies come into contact with one another. I use materials that reference endurance and longevity to record transient spaces whose edges continuously shift and whose membranes are particularly tenuous. This work is an ongoing catalog of the people in my life and my persistent efforts to hold on to those fleeting connections.

American businesses have confronted a changing world economy marked by increasing competition , technological innovation, and instability. Many more women have entered the labor force. Many families' caregiving needs are now being met by family members who also are holding down jobs. This, in turn, has fueled the rising need among employees for workplace policies that enable them to meet the often competing demands of job and home. In 1993, Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA of the Act) to provide a national policy that supports families in their efforts to strike a workable balance between the competing demands of the workplace and the home. The objective of this study is to examine the amount of FMLA lost time at one particular company in order to determine a demographic and job characteristic profile of employees who take time away from their jobs for reasons that are protected by the Act.

Ce mémoire examine le rapport du visible à l’invisible dans l’œuvre du cinéaste hongrois Béla Tarr afin de montrer comment cette œuvre fait sa plus grande place, quoique le plus souvent sous la forme d’une absence-présence, à la question du néant et de la mort. À travers une étude tripartite, tour à tour concernant le traitement cinématographique et thématique du monde, du temps et du personnage et de leurs fonctions, l’objectif de cette recherche est celui de montrer comment cette œuvre soustractive interroge le rapport de l’existant à un monde qui fait défaut. C’est la promesse, en partie telle que théorisée par Peter Sloterdijk, qui permettra ultimement d’éclairer la démarche tragique des personnages tarriens : lutte contre la mort au moyen d’un constant effort de soi et ce, jusqu’à l’épuisement radical. La notion de personnage-figurant développée dans ce mémoire se propose d’articuler ensemble les valeurs figuratives et thématiques communes aux différents personnages qui traversent l’œuvre afin d’en mieux comprendre, malgré les ruptures stylistiques et narratives, la continuité. Enfin, le dialogue engagé ici entre l’œuvre du cinéaste et certains concepts-clé de la tradition philosophique (le monde, le soi, le temps) entend montrer comment la première ouvre des pistes pertinentes pour une réflexion sur le sujet contemporain et son époque. / This master’s thesis examines the relation between the visible and the invisible in Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr’s work in order to shed light on the exploration of nothingness and death—mostly appearing as an absence-presence—in Tarr’s cinema. Through a tripartite study focusing on the visual and thematic treatment, as well as the function of the world, of time and of the cinematic character, I will demonstrate how Tarr’s “subtractive” films interrogate the relation of the self to a missing world. The notion of the “promise”, as conceptualized by Peter Sloterdijk, will provide insight into the Tarrian character’s tragic fate: a tremendous effort to escape death that can only end in an extreme fatigue. The notion of “personnage-figurant” proposed here aims to bind together the figurative and thematic values shared by the various characters in order to better understand the continuity of the work beyond its stylistic and narrative ruptures. Finally, the dialogue initiated here between Tarr’s work and various philosophical key concepts (world, self, time) intends to demonstrate how the Hungarian director’s work opens up interesting avenues for a discussion of subjectivity in our own times.

This thesis deals with the question of evil as privatio boni according to the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and the conception of evil in the work of Carl Gustav Jung who denied this Augustine's teachings. In the thesis I analyze attitudes that adopt both thinkers to categories of good and evil in relation to impacts of their conceptions on understanding of God, self-understanding of man, of his life, death and salvation, further of the relation of God and man and the human moral responsibility before God and society. Augustine maintains that evil is an absence of good, but Jung thinks that the reality is put together from the balance of good and evil. Their attitudes I scarify with the aid of the secondary literature and the explanation of that biblical places that both thinkers refer to.