Construite à la fin des années 90 et désormais régulièrement employée comme instrument de mesure et d’analyse dans de nombreux pays, la catégorie NEET, désignant les jeunes ni en emploi, ni aux études, ni en formation établit un pont entre deux « problèmes publics » : le décrochage scolaire et le chômage des jeunes. Enjeu institutionnel et scientifique émergent au Canada et au Québec, les jeunes en situation NEET figurent comme premier axe d’intervention du Secrétariat à la jeunesse québécois depuis 2016. Cette catégorie permet une mesure plus précise et un portrait plus fin des jeunes en retrait des sphères traditionnellement reconnues d’intégration des études et de l’emploi. Cependant, les orientations institutionnelles et les représentations sociales sous-jacentes à son usage ouvrent la voie à un ensemble de stigmatisations. Ainsi, dans le contexte québécois au sein duquel la focale institutionnelle se concentre sur la « pénurie de main-d’œuvre », il émerge un répertoire d’arguments symboliques alimentant une lecture institutionnelle et sociale de la situation NEET à travers le « désengagement », la « passivité » et la responsabilité individuelle. S’appuyant sur 36 entretiens réalisés avec des jeunes en situation NEET dans différentes régions du Québec, cette thèse prend le parti d’inverser le regard en étudiant le rapport de ces jeunes aux normes sociales à travers lesquelles ils sont eux-mêmes jugés et catégorisés comme non-conformes aux attentes institutionnelles et sociales. Tout en rendant compte des épreuves communes auxquelles font face ces jeunes, cette recherche explore ainsi les déterminants et fondements des différentes manières qu’ont ces jeunes d’interagir avec la normativité du travail et les principes du modèle méritocratique. Trois logiques d’interaction avec les normes de travail, de mérite et de réussite émergent, nous renseignant également sur les différentes façons de donner sens à leur situation NEET : - Une logique de résistance, se traduisant par un retrait assumé du système éducatif et du marché du travail, subjectivement justifiée par une indignation vis-à-vis des conditions du marché du travail et une mise à distance des normes socialement valorisées de mérite et de réussite. - Une logique d’intériorisation, à ne pas confondre avec l’apathie, s’inscrivant dans un fort sentiment de dévalorisation de soi et de responsabilité individuelle dans la difficulté à se sortir d’une situation source de souffrance sociale. Un fort pessimisme quant à un avenir désirable émerge et s’incarne dans un repli sur le présent. - Une logique de compromis au sein de laquelle les jeunes s’appuient sur l’espoir et la confiance en la réversibilité de leur situation, ainsi que la valorisation des efforts, afin de maintenir leur adhésion à la normativité du travail et à la méritocratie. En filigrane, cette thèse montre le déplacement d’une catégorie d’action publique vers une catégorie sociale à fortes connotations morales, nous renseignant autant sur ces jeunes que sur nos propres normes et grilles de lecture. Elle permet ainsi de comprendre la manière dont l’étiquetage de non-conformité attribué aux jeunes en situation NEET s’inscrit dans une perspective de l’utilité sociale mesurée et restreinte au productif, illustrant tout le mal que l’on a à reconnaitre et légitimer, en tant que société, les manières d’être et agir s’écartant des assignations capitalistes. Sans adopter une démarche de prescription d’actions publiques, cette thèse rend compte de la nécessité de réorienter les logiques d’adaptation de ces jeunes vers une interrogation collective quant aux conditions dans lesquelles ces derniers sont pressés à se réintégrer. À rebours des représentations du « désengagement » et de « l’apathie », les jeunes rencontrés dans le cadre de cette recherche, bien que s’inscrivant dans une condition précaire et une constellation de désavantages, interrogent les normes sociales structurant nos parcours de vie. Il en résulte la nécessité, d’un point de vue scientifique, de ne pas présupposer que la capacité à remettre en cause le système de valeurs dominantes soit l’apanage des jeunes diplômés. Dans la continuité de cette idée, cette thèse invite à considérer un ensemble de registres subjectifs dans l’appréhension des aspirations, du mérite et de la réussite, et offre des pistes afin de saisir les colères, frustrations, mais également les ressources, de jeunes davantage invisibilisés qu’« invisibles ». / Developed at the end of the 1990s and now regularly used as a measurement and analysis tool in many countries, the NEET category, which refers to young people who are neither in employment, education nor training, bridges two "public problems": school dropout and youth unemployment. As an emerging institutional and scientific issue in Canada and Quebec, youth in NEET situations have been the primary focus of the Quebec Youth Secretariat since 2016. This category allows for a more precise measurement and a finer portrait of young people who are outside the traditionally recognized spheres of integration of education and employment. However, the institutional orientations and social representations underlying its use open the way to a series of stigmatizations. Thus, in the Quebec context, where the institutional focus is on the "labour shortage", a repertoire of symbolic arguments emerges that feeds an institutional and social reading of the NEET situation through "disengagement", "passivity" and individual responsibility. Based on 36 interviews conducted with young people in NEET situations in different regions of Quebec, this thesis takes the approach of reversing the perspective by studying the relationship of these young people towards the social norms through which they themselves are judged and categorized as not conforming to institutional and social expectations. While accounting for the common challenges faced by these young people, this research explores the determinants and foundations of the different ways in which these young people interact with the normativity of work and the principles of the meritocratic model. Three logics of interaction with the norms of work, merit and success emerge, also informing us about the different ways they make sense of their NEET situation: - A logic of resistance, resulting in an assumed withdrawal from the educational system and the labor market, subjectively justified by an indignation towards the conditions of the labor market and a distancing from socially valued norms of merit and success. - A logic of internalization, not to be confused with apathy, inscribed in a strong feeling of self-depreciation and individual responsibility for the difficulty of getting out of a situation that is a source of social suffering. A strong pessimism about a desirable future emerges and is embodied in a withdrawal into the present. - A logic of compromise in which young people rely on their confidence in the reversibility of their situation and the valuing of their efforts to maintain their adherence to the normativity of work and meritocracy. This thesis shows the shift from a category of public action to a social category with strong moral connotations, giving us information about these young people as well as our own norms and reading grids. It thus allows us to understand the way in which the label of non-conformity attributed to young people in NEET situations is part of a vision of social utility measured in terms of productivity, illustrating the difficulty we have in recognizing and legitimizing, as a society, ways of being and acting that deviate from capitalist assignments. Without adopting an approach of prescribing public actions, this thesis considers the need to reorient the logics of adaptation of these young people towards a collective questioning of the conditions under which these young people are pressed to reintegrate. In contrast to the representations of "disengaged" and "apathetic" youth associated with NEET, the young people we met in this research, although in a precarious condition and a constellation of disadvantages, question the social norms structuring our life paths. As a result, it is necessary, from a scientific point of view, not to presuppose that the ability to question the dominant belief system and values is the prerogative of young graduates. In line with this idea, this thesis invites us to consider a set of subjective registers in the apprehension of aspirations, merit, and success, and offers avenues to grasp the anger, frustrations, but also resources of young people who are more invisiblized than "invisible".

No description available.

Questo studio è composto da due ricerche. La prima riguarda bambini della scuola dell’infanzia di età compresa tra 4 e 6 anni (N=44) ed esplora la comprensione dell’ironia e la sua possibile correlazione tra la comprensione di norme sociali, la teoria della mente e la competenza emotiva. I risultati mostrano come la comprensione delle norme sociali, della loro violazione e le competenze emotive possono aiutare i bambini nella comprensione dell’ironia La seconda ricerca relativa agli adulti (N=88) esplora la correlazione tra teoria della mente ed elaborazione di informazioni ironiche attraverso l’utilizzo dello strumento eye tracker. Lo studio evidenzia relazioni significative tra lo sviluppo della teoria della mente di tipo emotivo e l’elaborazione di informazioni ironiche: nello specifico, si verifica che in presenza di un enunciato ironico, soggetti con una teoria della mente elevata osservano frasi/ disegni che descrivono la realtà dei fatti, mentre soggetti con una teoria della mente meno elevata osservano frasi/ disegni relativi al significato letterale dell’ironia. Ciò sembra confermare il ruolo della teoria della mente nell’elaborare forme di comunicazione non letterali già ad un livello di base, pre-riflessivo come quello qui indagato. / This research consists of two studies. The first, involving school children aged between 4 and 6 years (N = 44), explores the understanding of irony and its possible correlation between social norms understanding, theory of mind and emotional competence. The results show that the understanding of social norms, their violation and emotional skills can help children in irony understanding. The second study related to adults (N = 88), explores the relationship between theory of mind and irony visual elaboration with the eye tracker Instrument. Results found relationships between the development of emotional theory of mind and irony visual elaboration, confirming the role of theory of mind during the growth of the individual to elaborate ironic sentences.

Den här studien har undersökt hur föräldrar till barn 0-2 år i Karlstad kommun konsumerar till sina barn inom tre produktkategorier; kläder, mat och leksaker. Syftet har varit att se om att få barn kan vara en drivande faktor för att bli en mer medveten konsument. Har personernas konsumtionsbeteende förändrats efter att de har fått barn? Enkäter och fokusgrupper har använts på fyra öppna förskolor i Karlstads kommun för att samla in data. Som teoretiskt ramverk har ekologisk modernisering, politisk konsumtion samt svag och stark hållbar konsumtion använts. Inom de tre produktkategorierna går det att se vissa skillnader. Enkätsvaren säger att respondenterna handlar kläder efter behov, men fokusgrupperna talar om att de handlar för att det är roligt, ett fritidsintresse. Inom mat har många blivit noggrannare med att handla ekologiskt, främst till barnet. Det är dock inte en stark ståndpunkt eftersom de flesta väljer oekologiskt om varan inte finns som ekologisk. Kategorin leksaker hade de flesta deltagarna inte hunnit handla så mycket från än, då deras barn fortfarande är små. De uttrycker dock att det är en svår kategori att veta så mycket om och de går oftast efter vad barnet visar intresse för. Överlag går det att se ett visst förändrat beteende, men deltagarna saknar en helhetssyn över konsumtionskedjan. Resultatet visar också att föräldrarna är starkt styrda av sociala normer som bestämmer vad som anses vara ett behov. Deltagarna reflekterar inte över konsumtionsnivån utan håller sig inom svag hållbar konsumtion där de istället väljer att byta ut vissa saker mot mer hållbara alternativ. Avsaknaden av helhetssynen märks också genom att de inte praktiserar politisk konsumtion i så stor utsträckning, de räknar helt enkelt inte med sig själva i konsumtionskedjan. Detta är kvalitativ studie som möjligen skulle fått andra resultat i andra sammanhang. / This study has examined how parents of children, age 0-2, in Karlstad consumes for their children within three product categories; clothing, food and toys. The aim was to see if having children could be a driving factor to become a more aware consumer. Have the participants consumption behaviour changed after they have had children? Surveys and focus groups have been completed in four open preschools in Karlstad municipality to collect data. As a theoretical framework has ecological modernization, political consumption and weak and strong sustainable consumption been used. Within the three product categories it is possible to see some differences. The survey result say that respondents shop for clothes according to need, but the focus groups talk about that they shop because it is fun, a hobby. It has become more important for the parents to buy organic food, mostly to the child. However, it is not a strong position because most respondents choose to buy conventional produced products if they don’t have an ecological alternative in the store. Because most of the respondents children where still small they hadn’t purchased that many toys yet. They express, however, that it is a difficult category to know that much about and they usually goes on what the child shows interest for. Overall, it is possible to see some changes in behaviour, but participants lack a comprehensive view of the consumption chain. They don’t reflect on the level of consumption and so they pursue on the path of weak sustainable consumption where they consumes the same amount but change to more sustainable materials. The lack of overall vision is also evident in that they don’t practice political consumption to any wider extent, they simply don’t see their own impact on the consumption chain. The result also shows that the parents are strongly guided by social norms that sets the rules for what they consider to be their needs. This is a qualitative study and could therefore have gotten a different result in another context.

This thesis consists of an introductory part and the following four self-contained papers: In Paper [I] we analyze the implications of social identity and self-categorization for optimal redistributive income taxation. A two-type model is supplemented by an assumption that individuals select themselves into social categories, in which norms are formed and education effort choices partly depend on these norms. The results show, among other things, that externality correction by a welfarist government leads to an element of tax progression that serves to reduce the discrepancy between the effort norm and the actual effort chosen by low-productivity individuals in the high-effort group. Furthermore, if the preference for social identity is sufficiently strong, increased wage-inequality leads to higher social welfare through a relaxation of the selection constraint. It may thus be desirable to use publicly provided education to induce more wage-inequality, even if higher wage-inequality increases the intrinsic utility of a potential mimicker. In Paper [II] I employ high quality register data to present new facts about income mobility in Sweden. The focus of the paper is regional differences in mobility, using a novel approach based on a multilevel model. This method is well-suited when regions differ greatly in population size as is the case in Sweden. The maximum likelihood estimates are substantially more precise than those obtained by running separate OLS regressions. I find small regional differences in income mobility when measured in relative terms. Regional differences are large when adopting an absolute measure and focusing on children with below-median parent income. On the national level I find that the association between parent and child income ranks has decreased over time, implying increased mobility. In Paper [III] I study the long term effects of inter-municipal moving during childhood on income using Swedish register data. Due to the richness of the data I am able to control for important sources of selection into moving, such as parent separation, parents' unemployment, education, long run income, and immigration background. I find that children's long run incomes are significantly negatively affected by moving during childhood, and the effect is larger for those who move more often. For children who move once, I also estimate the effect of the timing and the quality of the move. I measure the quality of each neighborhood based on the adult outcomes for individuals who never move. The quality of a move is defined as the difference in quality between the origin and the destination. Given that a family moves, I find that the negative effect of childhood moving on adult income is increasing in age at move. Children benefit economically from the quality of the region they move to only if they move before age 12 (sons) and age 16 (daughters). In Paper [IV] I study the bias of IGE estimates for different missing-data scenarios based on simulated income processes. Using an income process from the income dynamics and risks literature to generate two linked generations’ complete income histories, I use Monte Carlo methods to study the relationship between available data patterns and the bias of the IGE. I find that the traditional approach using the average of the typically available log income observations leads to IGE estimates that are around 40 percent too small. Moreover, I show that the attenuation bias is not reduced by averaging over many father income observations. Using just one income observation for each generation at the optimal age (as discussed in the paper) or using weighted instead of unweighted averages can reduce the bias. In addition, the rank-rank slope is found to be clearly less sensitive to missing data.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis explores the existence of misperceptions regarding the peer‐drinking norm among undergraduate students at Stellenbosch University and the role of these misperceptions in explaining students’ drinking behaviour. A more permissive perception of the drinking norm has been associated with heavier alcohol consumption and negative consequences for oneself, others and property. Perceptions of the academic norm and its relation to personal academic and drinking behaviour are also investigated. Furthermore, the study examines the role of perceptions of the drinking norm in personal drinking behaviour in the context of other cognitive factors (perceptions), experiences prior to enrolling at university, as well as socio‐demographic and contextual factors. The theoretical framework used to understand the origin, occurrence and perpetuation of misperceptions regarding the social norm includes Bourdieu’s theory of habitus, social norms theory, social learning theory and attribution theory. Data were collected from 640 students out of a random sample of 3 177 who had been invited to participate in a web‐based survey during September 2009. In addition, 18 personal semi‐structured interviews were conducted with students.   Similar to findings of research in other countries, the results of this research show that students at Stellenbosch University tend to perceive other students’ drinking behaviour (descriptive norm) and approval of drinking behaviour (injunctive norm) as more permissive than their own. The degree of misperception increases as the social distance of reference groups increases and is also significantly related to personal alcohol consumption. There is also evidence of misperceptions regarding the academic norm and its association with personal drinking behaviour and academic behaviour. Multiple regression analysis reveals that the perceived drinking norm of close friends is the best predictor of personal drinking behaviour, followed by personal approval of drinking and drinking behaviour during the last year of high school. The data presented here for Stellenbosch University students extend the evidence that peer drinking norms are misperceived and highlights the importance of a student’s experiences before enrolling at university. Furthermore, it provides evidence that misperceiving the drinking norm is a pervasive problem that may have behavioural consequences. Various American higher education institutions have developed and implemented campaigns aimed at correcting these misperceptions. This has resulted in significant reductions in misperceptions as well as in heavy drinking among students. Students at Stellenbosch University and elsewhere might also benefit from these types of intervention strategies. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek die bestaan van wanpersepsies aangaande die portuurgroep‐drinknorm onder voorgraadse studente aan Universiteit Stellenbosch en die rol daarvan in die verduideliking van studente se drinkgedrag. ’n Meer liberale persepsie van die drinknorm hou verband met swaarder alkoholgebruik en meer negatiewe gevolge vir die persoon self, ander en eiendom. Die studie ondersoek ook persepsies van die akademiese norm en die verband daarvan met persoonlike akademiese en drinkgedrag. Verder word die rol van persepsies van die drinknorm in persoonlike alkoholgebruik in die konteks van ander bewussynsfaktore (persepsies), ervarings voor inskrywing by die universiteit, asook sosiaal‐demografiese en kontekstuele faktore ondersoek. Die studie maak gebruik van die teoretiese raamwerke van Bourdieu se habitus, sosiale norm‐teorie, sosiale leer‐teorie en attributasieteorie om die oorsprong, aanwesigheid en voortsetting van wanpersepsies te verstaan. Data is versamel onder 640 studente uit ’n ewekansige steekproef van 3 177 studente wat uitgenooi was om gedurende September 2009 aan ’n webgebaseerde opname deel te neem. Daar is ook 18 in‐diepte semi‐gestruktureerde onderhoude met studente gevoer.   Soortgelyk aan bevindinge van navorsing in ander lande, toon resultate van hierdie navorsing dat studente aan Universiteit Stellenbosch geneig is om ander studente se drinkgedrag (beskrywende norm) en goedkeuring van alkoholverbruik (injunktiewe norm) as meer liberaal as hulle eie waar te neem. Die graad van wanpersepsie neem toe namate die sosiale afstand van verwysingsgroepe toeneem en hou ook betekenisvol verband met persoonlike alkoholgebruik. Daar is ook bewyse van wanpersepsies aangaande die akademiese norm en die verband daarvan met persoonlike drink‐  en akademiese gedrag. Resultate van ’n meervoudige regressie‐ontleding wys dat die waargenome drinknorm van goeie vriende die beste voorspeller van persoonlike drinkgedrag is, gevolg deur persoonlike goedkeuring van alkoholgebruik en drinkgedrag gedurende die laaste jaar van hoërskool. Die data van Stellenbosse studente lewer verder bewys dat portuurgroep‐drinknorme verkeerdelik waargeneem word en beklemtoon die belangrikheid van studente se vorige ervarings. Dit bewys ook dat die verkeerde waarneming van die drinknorm ’n konstante probleem is wat gedragsgevolge kan hê. Verskeie Amerikaanse universiteite het al veldtogte ontwikkel en geïmplementeer gemik op die regstel van dié wanpersepsies, en dit het wanpersepsies en swaar drankgebruik onder studente betekenisvol verminder. Studente aan Universiteit Stellenbosch en elders sal waarskynlik ook by soortgelyke intervensiestrategieë baat vind. / jfl2011 / Imported from http://etd.sun.ac.za

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the role of social norms and social networks on the organization of political violence. Challenging traditional accounts of collective action, this dissertation presents an alternative theoretical framework of recruitment by organizations that aim to engage in political violence. The framework hypothesizes that the use of social norms and social networks can help overcome the collective action problem for such organizations by minimizing the need for selective incentive provision. The theoretical framework is applied to two in-depth historical case studies of the conflicts in Chechnya (1994–1996 and 1999–2009) and Sierra Leone (1991–2002). Each case study is composed of two analyses of the organization of political violence. In the case of Chechnya, the organization of Chechen resistance in the First Russo-Chechen War (1994–1996) and the organization of Chechen resistance in the Second Russo-Chechen War (1999–2009) are treated as separate units of analysis. In the case of Sierra Leone, the units of analysis are the Revolutionary United Front that initiated the Sierra Leonean Civil War in 1991, and the Civil Defense Forces that were organized in opposition to the Revolutionary United Front in the mid-1990s. The analysis of the results from the case studies supports the hypotheses of the theoretical framework. Both case studies exhibit significant within-case variation. In both cases, it is shown that use of the norms and networks of the sociopolitical environment within which the organizations of political violence operate has a favorable effect on successful recruitment, and that non-use of these mechanisms has a detrimental effect. In addition, the results have implications for current theoretical debates in the literature on domestic conflict, as well as policy-related implications for the potential for conflict mediation. / text

Contemporary young women would appear to enjoy greater freedoms to consume alcohol and socialise in bars, pubs and clubs than their predecessors. However, concern about women’s level of alcohol consumption, drink spiking and drug-assisted sexual assault have contributed to a renewed focus on safety advice for young women in these social settings. This thesis examines the views, experiences and behaviours of 35 young women in relation to their safety in bars, pubs and clubs using qualitative data from interviews and focus groups with young women (18-25 years) in Scotland. Exploring the divergent claims made within feminist structural and poststructural perspectives, this thesis develops a nuanced understanding of young women’s safety in bars, pubs and clubs by drawing upon the theoretical concepts of power, resistance and social control. Constraints on women’s leisure imposed by patriarchal structures, safety concerns and notions of ‘appropriate femininity’, formed a significant focus of early feminist theorising in this area. More recently, however, poststuctural feminist theorists have highlighted the opportunities that leisure experiences may offer women for liberation by providing a means to resist conventional cultural discourses around feminine identities. To a certain extent, the findings from this study challenge the conventional construction of consuming alcohol and socialising in bars, pubs and clubs as a masculine leisure pursuit, by identifying this leisure activity as a central aspect of young women’s social lives. However, young women’s experiences and behaviours within bars, pubs and clubs remain significantly structured by gender and young women perceive the risks that they experience in these settings to have increased over time. The continuing salience of gender is evident in the way that women access bars, pubs and clubs, their safety concerns and experiences, and ultimately their behaviour within these venues. Young women’s safety concerns in this context are overwhelmingly related to the fear and reality of sexual violence, lending credence to social control theories espoused by radical feminists. These concerns and the individualising discourse embodied within safety literature results in women normalising and taking individual responsibility for preventing sexual assault. This reflects the positioning of sexual violence as an inevitable fixed reality, thus evading the need to question the behaviour of men who choose to sexually assault and harass women in bars, pubs and clubs. Safety behaviours adopted by young women in bars, pubs and clubs are complex and contradictory in that they simultaneously adopt, resist and transgress those advocated within safety literature. Since these safety behaviours are inextricably linked to normative femininity and gendered expectations of women’s behaviour in bars, pubs and clubs, they are more adequately theorised as ‘accommodating techniques’ than ‘resistant practices’. These findings pose significant difficulties for locating women’s experiences of consuming alcohol in bars, pubs and clubs within a poststructuralist framework of liberation and freedom; in some respects, it would appear that women’s behaviour within these social spaces is subject to heightened regulation and control. While poststructural theorising about power and resistance is of some assistance in illuminating the process of how safety concerns regulate women’s behaviour, alongside the possibility of resistance, understanding young women’s safety is best served by an appreciation of feminist structural perspectives which highlight the salience of gender, and in particular the power of gendered norms and taboos which continue to operate with regard to women’s sexuality. Ultimately, bars, pubs and clubs remain a social space infused with gendered expectations and risks.

Ce mémoire examine la question de la formation de l'identité en tant que procédure compliquée dans laquelle plusieurs éléments interviennent. L'identité d'une personne se compose à la fois d’une identité propre et d’une autre collective. Dans le cas où l’identité propre est jugée sévèrement par les autres comme étant déviante, cela poussera la personne à, ou bien maintenir une image compatible avec les prototypes sociaux ou bien résister et affirmer son identité personnelle. Mon travail montre que l'exclusion et la répression de certains aspects de l'identité peuvent causer un disfonctionnement psychique difficile à surmonter. Par contre, l'acceptation de soi et l’adoption de tous les éléments qui la constituent conduisent, certes après une longue lutte, au salut de l’âme et du corps. Le premier chapitre propose une approche psychosociale qui vise à expliquer le fonctionnement des groupes et comment l'interaction avec autrui joue un rôle décisif dans la formation de l'identité. Des éléments extérieurs comme par exemple les idéaux sociaux influencent les comportements et les choix des gens. Toutefois, cette influence peut devenir une menace aux spécificités personnelles et aux traits spécifiques. Le deuxième chapitre examine la question des problèmes qu’on risque d’avoir au cas où les traits identitaires franchiraient les normes sociales. Nous partons du problème épineux de la quête de soi dans Giovanni's Room de James Baldwin. L'homosexualité de David était tellement refusée par la société qu’elle a engendrée chez lui des sentiments de honte et de culpabilité. Il devait choisir entre le sacrifice des aspects de soi pour satisfaire les paradigmes sociaux ou bien perdre ce qu’il a de propre. David n'arrive pas à se libérer. Il reste prisonnier des perceptions rigides au sujet de la masculinité et de la sexualité. Mon analyse se focalise essentiellement sur l'examen des différents éléments théoriques qui touchent la question du sexe et de la sexualité. Le résultat est le suivant : plus les opinions dominantes sont rigides et fermes, plus elles deviennent une prison pour l’individu. Par contre, plus elles sont tolérantes et flexibles, plus elles acceptent les diversités de l'identité humaine. Dans le dernier chapitre, j'examine la question de la représentation des relations entre les caractères masculins dans Just Above My Head. L'homosexualité est présentée comme un moyen sacré pour exprimer l'amour. Les caractères révèlent leurs sentiments implicitement à travers les chants spirituel tel que le gospel ou bien explicitement à travers la connexion physique. Dans ce roman, Baldwin montre que c'est seulement grâce à la sincérité et à l'amour que l'individu peut atteindre la libération du soi. / The present thesis examines the construction of identity as a complex process in which many factors interact. A person's identity comprises both the personal self and the collective self. Having an aspect of identity that is judged as deviant or devalued will lead to the individual's confusion between maintaining an image that fits social prototypes or embracing his personal identity. My work demonstrates that the exclusion or repression of certain aspects of identity may lead to disconnection from one's inner self. Yet, it is only through self-acceptance and the embracing of all elements of the self that one manages to resist hostility and gain the liberation of the soul and body. In the first chapter, a social psychological approach is employed in order to explain group functioning and the role that group interaction plays in shaping one's identity. External factors like social ideals influence people's behaviors and choices. Therefore, they represent a threat to personal differences and unique traits. The second chapter examines the implications of having an identity that transgresses social norms by exploring David's quest for the self in James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room. David's insecure identity because of his homosexuality fills him with destructive feelings of shame and guilt. I maintain that sacrificing aspects of the self to satisfy social paradigms may cause the loss of the individual's integrated self. David fails in freeing the self which remains imprisoned in fixed internalized perceptions of manhood and male sexuality. I analyse theoretical views about sex and gender that vary from rigid and traditional opinions to more tolerant and universalizing ones that accept possibilities of diversity in human identity. iv In the last chapter, I will examine Baldwin's depiction of male's bonding in Just Above My Head. The characters confront their emotions. Homosexuality is portrayed as a sacred way of expressing love. The characters' feelings are revealed both in gospel singing and in bodily connection. In this novel, Baldwin demonstrates that it is only through sincerity, disclosure and love that one can attain the liberation of the self.

As mobile phones become increasingly ubiquitous in today’s world, academic and public audiences alike are curious about the interaction between mobile technologies and social norms. To investigate this phenomenon, I examined how individuals use technology to actively manage their communication behaviors. Through a three-month research project on usage patterns of Burner, a mobile application, this thesis explores the relationships among technology, culture, and privacy. Burner is a service that equips individuals with the means to create, maintain, and/or dissolve social ties by providing temporary, disposable numbers to customers. The application offers a way to communicate without relying on a user’s personal phone number. In other words, Burner acts as a “privacy layer” for mobile phones. It also provides a valuable platform to examine how customers use the application as a strategy for communication management. This thesis represents a marriage of practice and theory: (1) As an applied enterprise, the project was constructed as a customer needs assessment intending to examine how the service was situated in the lives of its users. The findings have successfully been applied to my client’s company strategy and have led to a more informed customer approach. (2) As an academic endeavor, this research contributes to existing scholarship in anthropology, computer-mediated communication, privacy, and design. The results provide rich fodder for discussions about the impact of mobile communication and services.