This thesis discusses the central ideas that surround Michael Dummett's claim that there is an incompatibility between a truth-conditional conception of meaning and a minimalist conception of truth. These ideas are brought into relation to the work of John McDowell and Donald Davidson, as all three philosophers can be better understood by locating them within Dummett's dialectic regarding the incompatibility. Dummett's argument crucially depends upon the assumption that a meaning-theory should be full-blooded in nature, against McDowell's insistence that a meaning-theory can only ever be modest. The main contention of this thesis is that neither Dummett nor McDowell is successful in establishing their strong contentions regarding the form that a meaning-theory should take. McDowell only wants to provide trivial answers to questions about the constitutive nature of the meanings and competency of particular items in a language. Dummett, on the other hand, wants to provide a reductive account of the central concepts that concern the philosophy of language. What this thesis will argue is that once both of these claims have been rejected, the position Dummett and McDowell jointly dictate is in fact the position that we should read Davidson as occupying, who lies in a conceptual space between the extremes of maximal full-bloodedness and modesty. This is an understanding of Davidson that is contrary to how McDowell reads him, who has been an influential commentator of Davidson. How Davidson should actually be interpreted is achieved by understanding how he has the resources to avoid Dummett's claim of an incompatibility between a truth-conditional conception of meaning and a minimalist conception of truth.

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In 2012, President Barack Obama used prosecutorial discretion to initiate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that deferred deportation and provided employment authorization for a two-year renewable period to undocumented immigrant persons that came to the U.S. as children. Under former President Donald Trump’s administration, DACA was rescinded in 2017. A review of the literature suggests this is the only study to explore the perceived impact of a policy shift in DACA status, given the critical time of interviews conducted from April 2016 to October 2018. Thus, substantially advancing the literature, qualitative data on a diverse group (N=10) of young adult DACA beneficiaries revealed positive and negative impacts. The sample included 60% currently gainfully employed, 40% attending college—while 80% had experienced emotional distress by having an unauthorized legal status and facing obstacles to pursuing higher education. Of note, 40% rated themselves as currently relatively healthy, while 60% indicated having experienced a decline in their physical or mental health since entering the United States. As significant sources of stress, 90% had experienced anxiety centered around having to wait to renew their DACA status and having to pay for their status renewals. Given the rescinding of the DACA program in 2017, many were ill-prepared, as 90% had never experienced being undocumented without a DACA status as an adult in the United States. The main body of qualitative data generated six categories that encompassed 51 emergent themes: 1-Participants’ health trajectory across their lifespan; 2-Participants’ experiences of barriers to seeking care and having their health and mental health needs addressed; 3-Participants Living at the Intersection of Contemporary Immigration; 4-The impact of other family members’ immigration status; 5-From enjoying benefits of the DACA program, to having a false sense of normalcy, to feeling ambivalence, and experiencing detriments; and, 6-Potential DACA policy shifts and anticipated impacts ranging from negative (fear, loss, suffering) to positive (relief). These six broad categories suggest how, despite the benefits of their DACA status, substantial barriers and sources of anxiety and stress still impacted the lives of the young adults and their families. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Russian-American Relations and the Mass Media Securitization of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in the American Press by Valeriia Alikina This thesis is focused on two issues relevant to Security Studies and Political Science: relations between the Russian Federation and the United States of America, which are currently experiencing yet another decline, and problematics of political journalism. It reviews the process of securitization of Russia through speech acts in the mass media of its historical opponent, the United States. First, the thesis provides a theoretical framework, securitization theory, introducing its main principles. To prove that the process of securitization indeed occurs, the method of discourse analysis is employed. The third chapter provides background information on the relations between the Soviet Union/Russia and the United States since the end of the World War II; this information is completed by the role mass media had in their affairs. The next chapter frames the issue of propaganda, elaborating on the meaning behind this concept, the "fake news" narrative, and the idealistic idea of media objectivity. In the fifth chapter, the case study, two processes of securitization are reviewed. The first one is the American mainstream media, namely ​The New York Times​ and ​The...

Topics associated with the United States' foreign policy towards the European Union have become increasingly intense in expert discussions since the turn of the millennium. This is due to several factors, primarily including the strength of the two clusters, on two shores of the Atlantic ocean. The work on the topic of transatlantic relations is divided into four chapters, where the first chapter deals with the theory of regionalism, the historical development of relations between the United States and the European Union, and the European Community. The conclusion of the chapter then anchors foreign policy actors from the US perspective. However, the thesis aim is to compare two US presidents and their relations with the EU. The selected presidents are Barack Obama and Donald Trump, when the 2012-2018 period is a crucial time for work. The aim of the thesis is to find answers to several questions, when the main one is whether and what difference is in the approach of Barack Obama and Donald Trump towards the EU. The paper sets out several criteria by its research, which will then be compared from the perspective of two presidents in order to show whether and how the policies of two consecutive presidents differ in EU relations.

Because of the relative uniqueness of the runaway experience as it now exists, minimal current research information is available. It was our feeling that knowledge about runaways, their families, and the social agencies which serve them is essential if significant prevention and treatment for the problem were to be implemented by the community. The purpose and scope of this exploratory research was essentially two-fold; to contribute descriptive information about runaway youth and their families to the community, and to evaluate the current populations of two agencies which service them. An underlying goal throughout the research was to utilize the data collected to identify trends in runaway behavior, increase the potential for predictability, and provide some real insight into prevention techniques. Our informal hypothesis was that there is a significant difference in specific variables between runaway and non-runaway populations. We were interested in developing a typology of runaways, identifying those factors which increase a child's probability that he/she will run away. Finally, we wanted to know if different agencies tend to serve a particular kind of runaway who has specific characteristics. These constituted the major goals for this research practicum. Since most law enforcement and social service energy is spent at the point of crisis, this research sought to identify trends in the scope of the problem which would aid preventative services for runaways. Hopefully, the impact of this practicum will influence crucial issues in terms of family dynamics, treatment intervention, community resources, and delinquency prevention. The results of this study will be distributed to the participating agencies and other interested segments of the community. Probably more detailed hypothesis testing will be needed; however, this study forms a base of information for future research. Better assessment of meeting the problem by evaluating all existing services should be a continuing focus for the social service community.

This study focuses on the construction of American identity over time as it relates to U.S. foreign policy. It is based on the insights of poststructuralism and variants of discourse theory. In particular, the study depicts the historical development of identity representations within U.S. foreign policy discourse from 2008 to 2020, in order to demonstrate how the ongoing construction of identity enabled Donald Trump's disruptive foreign policy. Much of identity research in IR focuses on Self/Other relationships and understudies affirmative representations of identity. The current study fills this research gap by examining processes of affirmative linking in the construction of identity. The main results of the study found that the Trump administration's identity representations radically diverged from those of the Obama administration. The latter articulated America predominantly as a leader in the world, while the former reconstructed American identity as one of being a victim. However, two representations of American identity stayed constant: America as an inspiration to others and America as a force for good in the world.

Donald Trump's rhetoric of winners and losers has prompted dangerous division in the United States. It is well understood that Trump's divisive discourse appealed to white, blue-collar Americans who had become disillusioned with the political establishment. This study explores how Trump persuaded this audience by transitioning business communication principles, highlighted by his signature 'winners and losers' theme, into politics. Trump's use of the reality television show, The Apprentice, as a branding platform had the rhetorical effect that catapulted Trump's unique 'winning' brand back into the public's consciousness. While the principles of business rhetoric Trump used in The Apprentice were clearly transitioned to Twitter during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, his tweets were unique in how they foregrounded the 'losers' he faced during the campaign. To illuminate Trump's branding strategy as both TV personality and political candidate, this analysis of Trump draws on Kenneth Burke's concept of consubstantiation and contemporary theories of business rhetoric, namely the idea of narrative-processing and its influence on consumers' connection with a brand. Because Trump constructs his brand with language that aims at restructuring America's social hierarchy, this study also uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) to understand the implications of power for both his audience and his opponents. This study concludes that while Trump's winning brand identity contributed to him winning the presidency, it also promotes male dominance and exacerbates political division in the United States.

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Two trends that have become increasingly noticeable in recent years are increased data volumes and an increased focus on climate change. With an ever-increasing number of companies performing value-creating activities at the intersection of these two areas, and still relatively few previous studies, there is an interest in investigating how these two areas can be integrated. The purpose of the work is therefore to investigate the integration of sustainability data in Business Intelligence (BI) for companies in greentech, i.e. companies whose goal is to use technology to contribute to a more sustainable future. Based on this, guidelines and insights about good design and implications for the business are then generated. An interdisciplinary approach is utilized where accepted design theory, such as Donald Norman's design principles and the Action Design Research development framework, is combined with information systems and business intelligence theory. In practice, this has meant an iterative process where a prototype of a Business Intelligence tool has been developed to visualize sustainability data for a greentech company. The tool has been continuously evaluated by representatives from different parts of the company to investigate which factors are most important for high usability and what effects more easily accessible sustainability data has on the business. The investigation shows, among other things, that it is of great importance that the tool is closely aligned with the organization’s other activities, both in terms of design and daily operations, and that a highly requested functionality is the ability to segment and compare data in many ways. At the same time, there are several aspects that add complexity to the issue, such as a conflict between the organization and the employees as to whether Swedish or English should be the language of the tool. In addition, the results also indicate that a lack of easily accessible and accurate data can result in decisions being made based on intuition and experience, despite the advice of previous research. Something that also emerges clearly during the tests is the trend that an increasing number of companies need to report more sustainability information, and the area is therefore highly relevant for further research. / Två trender som blivit alltmer påtagliga de senaste åren är ökade datamängder och ökat fokus på klimatförändringar. Med ett ständigt växande antal företag som bedriver värdeskapande verksamhet i skärningen mellan dessa två områden, och ännu relativt få tidigare studier, finns det således ett intresse att undersöka hur dessa två områden kan integreras. Syftet med arbetet formuleras som en ansats att undersöka integreringen av hållbarhetsdata inom Business Intelligence (BI) för företag inom greentech, alltså företag vars mål är att nyttja teknik för att bidra till en mer hållbar framtid. Utifrån detta genereras sedan riktlinjer och insikter kring god design och implikationer för verksamheten. En tvärvetenskaplig ansats utnyttjas där vedertagen designteori, såsom Donald Normans designprinciper och utvecklingsramverket Action Design Research, kombineras med teori för informationssystem och Business Intelligence. I praktiken har detta inneburit en iterativ process där en prototyp av ett Business Intelligence-verktyg utvecklats för att visualisera hållbarhetsdata för ett greentech-företag. Verktyget har kontinuerligt utvärderats av representanter från olika funktioner i företaget för att undersöka vilka faktorer som är viktigast för hög användbarhet samt vilka effekter mer lättillgängliga hållbarhetsdata har på verksamheten. Undersökningen visar bland annat att det är av stor vikt att verktyget knyts nära övrig verksamhet, både designmässigt och verksamhetsmässigt, samt att en högt efterfrågad funktionalitet är att kunna segmentera och jämföra data på många olika sätt. Samtidigt finns flera aspekter som adderar komplexitet till frågeställningen, exempelvis en motsättning mellan organisationen och medarbetarna kring huruvida svenska eller engelska bör användas som språk i verktyget. Dessutom pekar också resultaten på att en avsaknad av lätt tillgängliga och korrekta data kan resultera i att beslut fattas baserat på intuition och erfarenhet, trots litteraturens avrådan. Någonting annat som även framkommit under testerna är trenden att allt fler företag behöver rapportera mer hållbarhetsinformation, och området därför är högaktuellt för vidare undersökningar.