Legal practice heavily depends on the construction and evaluation of narrative accounts. The ability to legitimately narrate a series of events is a source of power that is unequally distributed in the courtroom. Grounded by a detailed empirical analysis of the court transcripts from R. v. Ghomeshi (2016), this dissertation investigates the relations of power and taken-for-granted assumptions that condition struggles over narrative construction in the sexual assault trial. The project contributes to feminist critiques of sexual assault trials by mobilizing the work of Pierre Bourdieu, which has been largely overlooked in feminist socio-legal scholarship, and by showing how the concepts of narrative capital and what I term configurational power can help us examine narrative power structures. Briefly, narrative capital refers to the speaking positions and properties that bestow authority on one’s narrative practices. The term configurational power refers to the ability to legitimately organize a set of events and experiences into a narrative whole. Through consideration of the conditions and premises that structure who can narrate, in what manner and with what legitimacy, we can better understand the factors contributing to the discrediting of certain testimonies in the courtroom. Analysing the court transcripts revealed several techniques through which the lawyers exercised configurational power and narrative domination over the complainants during the trial: disconnecting and interrupting the complainants’ accounts; highlighting the complainants’ position as unknowing characters; configuring inconsistencies in their accounts; and controlling the narrative ending. Unequal distributions of configurational power constituted a relation of domination that existed as self-evidently legitimate, a form of domination that Bourdieu refers to as symbolic violence. The standards of legal impartiality, autonomy, and objectivity, as well as cultural stock stories about sexual assault and law’s taken-for-granted view of reliable memory, were enacted in the courtroom narrative practices and contributed to the reproduction of this symbolic violence. The unequal relations of narrative capital and configurational power in the courtroom limited the complainants’ ability to narrate their victimization and allowed the defence lawyers to create narrative twists during cross-examination that framed the complainants as manipulative women and upended their claims of victimhood. Through this dissertation, I critically analyze the relations of domination that both condition and were reproduced in the courtroom practices of narrative telling and interpretation.

Today’s business world is highly dynamic, increasingly international, and marked by powerful corporations. Nonetheless, individual human beings shape the environment in which business takes place. In light of such surroundings, one increasingly important challenge for organizations is successful change management, which can only succeed with employees’ support. When facing a well-informed, interconnected array of stakeholders, companies must also tackle demands to take social responsibility. By combining various theoretical and methodological approaches, the present dissertation addressed these trends in four empirical papers. Study 1 and Study 2 considered the reactions of employees during organizational change. The first study investigated the connection between dispositional resistance to change and emotional exhaustion. In a multilevel model, work-unit level informational team climate and perceived organizational support were relevant moderators. Using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), the second paper turned to factors associated with employees’ intended support for change. Drawing from the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991), it revealed relevant configurations of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Study 3 focused on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and investigated which combinations of responsible and irresponsible activities, both recent and more historical, shape corporate reputation among the general public. Lastly, Study 4 expressly brought change management and CSR research together by showing that employees reacted more favorably to organizational change when their supervisors effectively communicated responsibility. Taken together, the present dissertation demonstrated that corporations can make a change through responsibility in order to favorably influence both stakeholder and business outcomes, thereby providing relevant implications for both research and practice.

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This dissertation examines the factors and combinations of factors that affect the performance of continuum of care homeless service networks, applying the configurational approach of contingency theory to data sets drawn from federal sources. The study accepts the two key assumptions from the theory: (1) that there are multiple paths to high performance and (2) key conditions have a joint influence on network performance. The data analysis in this study has two parts. The first employs OLS regression to examine the causal relationship between independent variables and the performance of permanent supportive housing (PSH) programs. This study also applies fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to identify multiple combinations of factors that influence the performance of PSH programs. The results identify key factors and multiple combinations of factors that lead to high and low network performance. Federal CoC funding emerges as a core condition for high and low performance, but all relevant conditions can be critical factors depending on how they interact with other relevant conditions. This analysis helps expand the utility of existing contingency theory by using it to explain the dynamic interactions between factors in the context of public service networks. Ultimately, this dissertation confirms that fsQCA can be a useful method for evaluating the performance of public service networks and helping them provide more services more effectively.

Stereochemistry is important aspect of chemistry that customarily includes the study of the relative spatial arrangement of atoms within molecules (static stereochemistry), and the study of the stereochemical requirements and outcomes of chemical reactions (dynamic stereochemistry). These two branches complement each other in modern stereochemistry. Chiral organometallics feature prominently in organic synthesis as reactive intermediates. The possibility of exploring their stereochemistry in synthesis is associated with the configurational stability of the metal-bearing stereogenic center. We were interested in the configurational stability of lithiated and magnesiated nitriles. We developed a new series of lithio-cyclopropylnitriles bearing chelating groups for intramolecular coordination, as a possible strategy to impart configurational stability. Although this strategy has not yet been successful, using density functional theory (DFT) method, we addressed the effect of chelating groups on racemization via the "conducted tour" mechanism. We then explored metal-bromine exchange on enantiopure bromonitrile as alternative route to metalated nitriles. In this way, we demonstrated that magnesiated 2,2-diphenyl cyclopropylnitrile is configurationally stable on the macroscopic timescale. No other metallated nitrile has ever demonstrated configurational stability on this timescale. In contrast, bromine-lithium exchange of 1-bromo-2,2-diphenyl-cyclopropylnitrile demonstrated fast racemization under the same conditions. Another major project focused on conformational control of acyclic molecules. Using X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy, we found that the 2,6-disubstituted aryl group eclipses its geminal hydrogen, and induces an antiperiplanar relationship of the geminal and vicinal hydrogens. Interestingly, anti-nitrile aldols or syn-ketone aldols bearing 2,6-disubstituted aryl groups demonstrate unanticipated remote effects on acyclic conformation: the 2,6-disubstituted aryl group prefers to be in a gauche position to the largest vicinal group. The minimization of allylic 1,3-strain and syn-pentane-like interaction works together in establishing this conformational preference. / Ph. D.

A dissertação aborda as dimensões econômica e morfológica da organização espacial da atividade industrial na Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre - RMPA, propondo interfaces entre a Ciência Econômica e o Planejamento Urbano e Regional. O objetivo da pesquisa consiste em identificar se e como as propriedades morfológicas das redes de circulação urbana e rodoviária são capazes de informar tendências em processos de organização espacial da atividade industrial em ambientes urbanos. Neste sentido, foi realizado um estudo de caso multidimensional e multiescalar a partir de cinco recortes espaciais de cinco municípios da RMPA – Alvorada, Cachoeirinha, Gravataí, Porto Alegre e Viamão – e seus complexos industriais, áreas contínuas de zoneamento funcional destinados à indústria. A hipótese é de que os potenciais de movimento e as probabilidades de fluxo, depreendidas por medidas de centralidade morfológicas e espaciais captam padrões locacionais e de organização espacial das atividades industriais. Isto é verificado a partir da correlação geoestatística entre análises configuracionais da rede de circulação urbana, apoiadas nas concepções teórico-metodológicas da sintaxe espacial, e as análises econômico-locacionais, da localização das estruturas industriais, fundamentadas nas teorias econômicas. Os resultados dispostos permitiram concluir que existem correlações estatísticas significativas entre a lógica de organização espacial da indústria em áreas urbanas e as propriedades morfológicas multiescalares da configuração espacial da rede de circulação urbana, indicando que hierarquias de centralidade morfológica, informando potenciais de movimento e probabilidades de fluxo na rede urbana de circulação, captam tendências do processo de organização produtiva. / Dissertation addresses the economical and morphological dimensions of industrial activities spatial organization in the Porto Alegre’s Metropolitan Region – PAMR, proposing interfaces between Economic Science and Urban and Regional Planning. The research objective is to describe and analyse if and how the morphological properties of road and circulation urban networks are able to inform trends about the industrial activities spatial organization processes in urban areas. The empirical study multidimensional and multiscalar analyses encompasses PMAR’s five municipalities – Alvorada, Cachoeirinha, Gravataí, Porto Alegre and Viamão and their industrial complexes, continuous industrial-dedicated functional zones. The hypothesis is that movement potentials and flow probabilities informed by centralities´ hierarchies correlate to industry locational patterns and spatial organization. This is verified applying geostatistical correlations between road circulation networks spatial configuration measures, based on space syntax methodology; and locational analyses of industrial structures placement, based on economic theories. Results makes it possible to conclude that there are significant statistical correlations between industrial spatial organization logics in urban areas and multiscalar centrality measures for road circulation networks, indicating that the urban centralities hierarchies – and the network morphological properties – capture trends about this process.

Is an institutional framework of participatory mechanism for identifying the poor needs? Institutions not only act to solve poverty : they also contribute to the persistence of poverty, as the core institutional problem is the unresponsiveness of many institutions to the needs of poor people. This study focuses on the case of contemporary Vietnam, with four empirical research questions: (i) what are the poor people’s needs? (ii) how to measure the needs of poor people? (iii) what are the elements and configurations of institutions offering participatory mechanisms? (iv) how are institutional rules of participatory mechanisms established? In the first part of the book, we develop a new approach to account for the multidimensionality of poverty : a ‘mixed methods’ approach that combines the selection of a static set of core dimensions with mechanisms of deliberative participation. Based on Sen’s theoretical framework, we apply participatory assessment methods and data reduction techniques together with linear regression models, so as to measure the capabilities of poor people. Theoretical contributions from political economy, political science and policy analysis are also brought in the picture. In the second part of the book, we use Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as well as models of regression analysis, to analyze the grassroots institutions and poor people’s participation at the local level (communes). One core conclusion is that the formal institutional logics do allow some needs of poor people to be taken into account, but that this does not empower the poor themselves. Further, a strong independent civil society, combined with the direct involvement of poor people themselves, empowers the poor people at the collective choice level and leads to the best responsiveness of institutions to the poor people’s needs. This study also opens up possibilities for comparisons with other developing or transition countries.

A supercavitating vehicle, a next-generation underwater vehicle capable of changing the paradigm of modern marine warfare, exploits supercavitation as a means to reduce drag and achieve extremely high submerged speeds. In supercavitating flows, a low-density gaseous cavity entirely envelops the vehicle and as a result the vehicle is in contact with liquid water only at its nose and partially over the afterbody. Hence, the vehicle experiences a substantially reduced skin drag and can achieve much higher speed than conventional vehicles. The development of a controllable and maneuvering supercavitating vehicle has been confronted with various challenging problems such as the potential instability of the vehicle, the unsteady nature of cavity dynamics, the complex and non-linear nature of the interaction between vehicle and cavity. Furthermore, major questions still need to be resolved regarding the basic configuration of the vehicle itself, including its control surfaces, the control system, and the cavity dynamics. In order to answer these fundamental questions, together with many similar ones, this dissertation develops an integrated simulation-based design tool to optimize the vehicle configuration subjected to operational design requirements, while predicting the complex coupled behavior of the vehicle for each design configuration. Particularly, this research attempts to include maneuvering flight as well as various operating trim conditions directly in the vehicle configurational optimization. This integrated approach provides significant improvement in performance in the preliminary design phase and indicates that trade-offs between various performance indexes are required due to their conflicting requirements. This dissertation also investigates trim conditions and dynamic characteristics of supercavitating vehicles through a full 6 DOF model. The influence of operating conditions, and cavity models and their memory effects on trim is analyzed and discussed. Unique characteristics are identified, e.g. the cavity memory effects introduce a favorable stabilizing effect by providing restoring fins and planing forces. Furthermore, this research investigates the flight envelope of a supercavitating vehicle, which is significantly different from that of a conventional vehicle due to different hydrodynamic coefficients as well as unique operational conditions.

O estudo trata do fenômeno do movimento em sistemas urbanos. Investiga seu condicionamento pelo espaço edificado e a maneira como é abordado pelo planejamento institucional. Particulariza a análise para o processo de conurbação e dirige a atenção para o caso da Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre – RMPA. A motivação surge em função dos conflitos relacionados ao sistema viário principal estipulado em cada município da Região, evidenciados a partir da justaposição de seus planos diretores vigentes em 2006, elaborados ou revisados por força do Estatuto da Cidade. Tal fato denota dificuldades das partes na compreensão de sua inserção na totalidade metropolitana. Como decorrência, objetiva-se examinar de que maneira o processo de estruturação espacial da conurbação influenciou a formação de rotas priorizadas pelo movimento em diferentes escalas na RMPA, e em que medida essas rotas estão presentes no entendimento que planejadores urbanos locais e regionais possuem sobre as possibilidades de deslocamentos mais amplos: entre bairros, setores e cidades. A pesquisa, conduzida sob o enfoque da complexidade e apoiada na teoria e na metodologia da Sintaxe Espacial, permitiu identificar, a partir de relações topológicas e geométricas existentes na configuração representativa da malha viária, redes de espaços públicos de circulação com maior potencialidade de abrigar o movimento de passagem na escala global da conurbação e o movimento restrito aos limites municipais: a Rede Metropolitana de Escolha – RMeE e a Rede Municipal de Escolha – RMuE. O processamento das informações georreferenciadas possibilitou a sobreposição dessas redes com o sistema viário principal dos municípios e, portanto, a avaliação do grau de coincidência entre seus espaços, a hierarquia espacial emergente com base na potencial quantidade de movimento, sua distribuição geográfica e sua conectividade. Em termos quantitativos, as conclusões apontam para existência de uma grande concentração dos espaços com maior potencialidade de movimento em seus níveis hierárquicos mais elevados, em que pese o conjunto de rotas ressaltadas na Rede Metropolitana de Escolha – RMeE, apresente uma melhor distribuição geográfica do que o conjunto das vias que integram os sistemas viários principais dos municípios pesquisados, indicados pelos respectivos planos diretores. De outro lado, os espaços correspondentes aos sistemas viários principais dos municípios tendem a coincidir em maior número com aqueles pertencentes às redes municipais de escolha (RMuE). Embora sem diferenças significativas, tal fato denota uma compreensão parcial, na maioria dos municípios analisados, em relação ao movimento de passagem regional por parte dos planejadores municipais. A análise qualitativa permite discutir, no âmbito de cada município, a incidência dos níveis hierárquicos emergentes, a relações existentes entre espaços de maior movimento de passagem e uso do solo, bem como o papel econômico desempenhado no contexto regional, entre outros. O estudo permitiu concluir que os princípios básicos detectados no processo de construção da integração espacial sintática, em especial o da centralidade e da linearidade, ficam bastante evidenciados no processo de estruturação da Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre. Ao final, são apontadas as possibilidade de aplicação da pesquisa realizada em estudos futuros. / The study focuses on movement phenomenon within large urban systems. It investigates how it is affected by built environment and the way institutional urban planning approaches it. The analysis targets specifically effects conurbation processes might produce on movement, using The Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre Metropolitan Region – MRPA - as a case study. From main streets system autonomous definition within each MRPA municipality, driven by federal legislation directives and deadlines, conflictive strategies became evident in 2006, when the entire metropolitan system was not apprehended as a whole. The metropolitan area individual parts juxtaposition displayed the misunderstandings and limits each municipality faces to fulfill their interactive roles within metropolitan totality. The analysis focuses these processes disruptive consequences for the conurbation spatial structure and pin out their impact on main movement routes within the RMPA. For that, different scale routes are examined in order to depict how these scales are operated by urban planners, locally and regionally, and to precise the limits they face to understand mobility alternatives among neighborhoods, sectors and cities. The problem is approached as a complex system, and draws from Space Syntax theory and methods to describe and analyze the whole RMPA spatial configuration. This allowed to identify the circulation system and open spaces network topological and geometrical structures, to evaluate the relations which contribute to enhance movement potential through the entire conurbated system and compare these routes to the potential through movement within each municipality – both Metropolitan Choice Network (MeCN) and Municipal Choice Network (MuCN). GIS appliances allowed superposing both networks (MeCN and MuCN) to each municipal main street system and evaluate their coherence degree towards the emergent spatial hierarchy based on potential movement, geographical distribution and connectivity. Conclusions drawn from quantitative analysis indicate that higher potential through movement clusters into higher hierarchy spaces, depicting MeCN routes that also display better geographical distribution than those composing each municipality main street systems such as defined in each Municipal Master Plan, mostly coincident to those depicted by MuCN. Even without outstanding differences, results denote partial understanding of the through movement regional system by municipalities’ urban planners. The qualitative analysis was based on the relations between land use labels intensities and through potential movement to discuss emergent hierarchical levels occurrence within each municipality and to evaluate their role within the metropolitan area regional economy. Conclusions drawn from qualitative analysis indicate that Porto Alegre Metropolitan Region spatial structure enhances its linear integration and centrality depicted through space syntax methods. The evidence provided means that topological and geometrical relations exceeds metrical ones in driving these processes. These findings point out to further applications towards large scale circulation systems problem solving and Space Syntax as a valid tool in orienting future regional and metropolitan development strategies.