Interpersonal violence and abuse in New Zealand is so widespread it is considered a normative experience. Mental health nurses witnessing the inscribed effects of abuse on service users are lead to consider whether we are dealing with a breakdown of the mind or a breakdown in social or cultural connection (Stuhlmiller, 2003). The purpose of this research is to examine the cultural context which makes violence and abuse against women and children possible. In 2003, the public debate on prostitution law reform promised to open a space in which discourses on sexuality and violence, practices usually private or hidden, would publicly emerge. Everyday discourses relating to prostitution law reform reported in the New Zealand Herald newspaper in the year 2003 were analysed using Foucauldian and feminist post-structural methodological approaches. Foucauldian discourse analysis emphasises the ways in which power is enmeshed in discourse, enabling power relations and hegemonic practices to be made visible. The research aims were to develop a complex, comprehensive analysis of the media discourses, to examine the construction of harm in the media debate, to examine the ways in which the cultural hegemony of dominant groups was secured and contested and to consider the role of mental health nurses as agents of emancipatory political change. Mental health promotion is mainly a socio-political practice and the findings suggest that mental health nurses could reconsider their professional role, to participate politically as social activists, challenging the social order thereby reducing the human suffering which interpersonal violence and abuse carries in its wake.

This study analyzes the three most recent pieces of Canadian immigration legislation: the Immigration Act of 1952, the Immigration Act of 1976, and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of 2001 (herein referred to collectively as the documents). The intent is to contribute to the archaeology of immigration in Canadian Federal legislation, and more specifically, to the ways that the immigration applicant, immigrant, and the immigration process in Canada, have been constituted over time. This project uses a modified version of Jean Carabine’s (2001) method of Foucauldian discourse analysis to articulate the various meanings and potential effects that are produced in the documents. The work of Michel Foucault and the governmentality approach is then applied to make sense of these findings. Two main conclusions are generated. The first details how elements of state racism and bio-nationalism are apparent in all three acts, and must be regarded as complimentary to one another, as they co-exist and operate together on different planes. The second discusses a shift in the documents from a focus on welfare rationalities, to neo-liberal rationalities, using the example of the shifting portrayal of the immigrant (and immigration applicant) from someone with the potential to become a liability to the welfare state, to a neo-liberal subject.

This study analyzes the three most recent pieces of Canadian immigration legislation: the Immigration Act of 1952, the Immigration Act of 1976, and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of 2001 (herein referred to collectively as the documents). The intent is to contribute to the archaeology of immigration in Canadian Federal legislation, and more specifically, to the ways that the immigration applicant, immigrant, and the immigration process in Canada, have been constituted over time. This project uses a modified version of Jean Carabine’s (2001) method of Foucauldian discourse analysis to articulate the various meanings and potential effects that are produced in the documents. The work of Michel Foucault and the governmentality approach is then applied to make sense of these findings. Two main conclusions are generated. The first details how elements of state racism and bio-nationalism are apparent in all three acts, and must be regarded as complimentary to one another, as they co-exist and operate together on different planes. The second discusses a shift in the documents from a focus on welfare rationalities, to neo-liberal rationalities, using the example of the shifting portrayal of the immigrant (and immigration applicant) from someone with the potential to become a liability to the welfare state, to a neo-liberal subject.

This study analyzes the three most recent pieces of Canadian immigration legislation: the Immigration Act of 1952, the Immigration Act of 1976, and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of 2001 (herein referred to collectively as the documents). The intent is to contribute to the archaeology of immigration in Canadian Federal legislation, and more specifically, to the ways that the immigration applicant, immigrant, and the immigration process in Canada, have been constituted over time. This project uses a modified version of Jean Carabine’s (2001) method of Foucauldian discourse analysis to articulate the various meanings and potential effects that are produced in the documents. The work of Michel Foucault and the governmentality approach is then applied to make sense of these findings. Two main conclusions are generated. The first details how elements of state racism and bio-nationalism are apparent in all three acts, and must be regarded as complimentary to one another, as they co-exist and operate together on different planes. The second discusses a shift in the documents from a focus on welfare rationalities, to neo-liberal rationalities, using the example of the shifting portrayal of the immigrant (and immigration applicant) from someone with the potential to become a liability to the welfare state, to a neo-liberal subject.

Interpersonal violence and abuse in New Zealand is so widespread it is considered a normative experience. Mental health nurses witnessing the inscribed effects of abuse on service users are lead to consider whether we are dealing with a breakdown of the mind or a breakdown in social or cultural connection (Stuhlmiller, 2003). The purpose of this research is to examine the cultural context which makes violence and abuse against women and children possible. In 2003, the public debate on prostitution law reform promised to open a space in which discourses on sexuality and violence, practices usually private or hidden, would publicly emerge. Everyday discourses relating to prostitution law reform reported in the New Zealand Herald newspaper in the year 2003 were analysed using Foucauldian and feminist post-structural methodological approaches. Foucauldian discourse analysis emphasises the ways in which power is enmeshed in discourse, enabling power relations and hegemonic practices to be made visible. The research aims were to develop a complex, comprehensive analysis of the media discourses, to examine the construction of harm in the media debate, to examine the ways in which the cultural hegemony of dominant groups was secured and contested and to consider the role of mental health nurses as agents of emancipatory political change. Mental health promotion is mainly a socio-political practice and the findings suggest that mental health nurses could reconsider their professional role, to participate politically as social activists, challenging the social order thereby reducing the human suffering which interpersonal violence and abuse carries in its wake.

This thesis traces the etymology of 'materialism' using a Foucauldian discourse analysis to bring to the fore the word's use as discursive mode of power. Through examining over 5000 texts, spanning across 400 years, I trace a line from the origins of materialism in philosophical thought of the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras to its uptake in American rhetoric and integration into the consumer behaviour literature. This approach leads to a reconceptualization of materialism. Commonly viewed in consumer studies as a measurable value, trait, or motive inherent in the consumer, I situate materialism as external to the consumer. The word's history, especially in consumer studies, demonstrates that it embodies moral condemnations. I find that accusations of materialism rise in discourses during moments of intense social dislocations. It is wielded by social groups as part of a play for status. In this analysis, concepts of power as per Foucault and social distinctions as per Bourdieu, are used to explain the motives residing behind the use of the word. These motives, which reflect sociocultural dynamics and geo-political agendas, manifest in the meanings attributed to 'materialism', and the directionality of the allegation. Thus I argue that 'materialism', at its essence, is an epithet used to advance or demobilise a set of interests. This is what I term, delegitimizing discourse - words used to debase other social groups. Studying 'materialism' as a case in point, I note that groups use delegitimizing discourse either an assimilative measure - rhetoric geared towards indoctrination - or as a defensive mechanism - rhetoric used to debase threatening elements and behaviours. It is hoped that this new perspective will encourage academics to be rethink their approach to studying materialism, or in the least, to be aware of what is being measured, and what moral judgements and interests they are perpetuating through their continued studies.

Nesta tese problematizo os modos de incorporação da Educação Sexual no currículo de licenciatura em Biologia da Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS). Para tanto, busquei articular os campos de estudos de sexualidade e gênero, estudos sobre currículo e os estudos culturais pós-estruturalistas com aporte em teorizações foucaultianas, visando analisar como discursos acerca de sexualidade e gênero atravessam a proposta de Educação Sexual desse currículo. Para produção do material empírico, essa trajetória investigativa envolveu: exame de documentos, como o projeto político pedagógico e a matriz curricular do curso; grupos focais com sete licenciandos/as e/ou recém-licenciados/as em Biologia organizados em três encontros; realização de 14 entrevistas semiestruturadas com os sete participantes do grupo focal e mais sete formandos/as e/ou egressos do curso. A trajetória analítica foi norteada pela análise foucaultiana do discurso, que permitiu descrever os limites e as possibilidades da Educação Sexual incorporada nesse currículo. No primeiro capítulo analítico, questiono ‘o que a biologia tem a enunciar’ sobre sexualidade e gênero. Os ditos dos/as (futuros/as) biólogos/as anunciaram questionamentos, conflitualidades e contradições decorrentes de uma multiplicidade de discursos essencialistas, fundacionalistas e universalistas, que instituem binarismos e normatizações acerca dessas dimensões da vida. Entretanto, um incessante exercício de problematização e desconstrução desses discursos deixou marcas nesse currículo para além do que a Biologia costumava ‘enunciar’, principalmente ao reconhecer sexualidade e gênero como “constructos socioculturais”. Ao argumentar a Educação Sexual como um campo transdisciplinar que engloba discursos sobre sexualidade e gênero, a partir das enunciações dos/as participantes, discuti as (des)conexões entre abordagens biológico-higienistas e sociocultural, bem como problematizei as pedagogias culturais encenadas nesse currículo. Nesse cenário, destaquei os limites e as possibilidades para mudanças e ressignificações, visto que o currículo investigado sugeriu tanto conflitualidades quanto rasuras e deslocamentos decorrentes da problematização de “verdades absolutas” acerca das temáticas da Educação Sexual; principalmente por meio da inclusão das disciplinas Corpo, Gênero e Sexualidade (CGS) e Perspectivas culturais no Ensino de Biologia e Educação, que instigaram acionar um campo discursivo com múltiplas identidades e diferenças ecoantes além da Biologia. Conclusões contingentes e transitórias permitem sintetizar esse processo sociocultural e político ensaiado para uma ressignificação da Educação Sexual “além do biológico”, o que instiga múltiplos questionamentos e (des)aprendizados acerca dos regimes de verdade no campo da Biologia e distintos modos de produção e/ou manutenção de relações de poder que marcam sexualidade e gênero. / In this thesis, I problematize the ways of incorporating Sexual Education in the undergraduate curriculum in Biology of the Federal University of Sergipe (FUS). In order to do so, I sought to articulate the fields of sexuality and gender studies, studies on curriculum and post-structuralist cultural studies with contributions in Foucauldian theorizations, aiming to analyze how discourses about sexuality and gender cross the Sexual Education proposal of this curriculum. For the production of the empirical material, this investigative trajectory involved: examination of documents, such as the pedagogical political project and the curricular matrix of the course; focus groups with seven graduates and/or recent graduates in Biology organized in three meetings; 14 semi-structured interviews with the seven focal group participants and seven other graduates and/or alumnus of the course. The analytical trajectory was guided by the Foucauldian discourse analysis, which allowed us to describe the limits and possibilities of Sexual Education incorporated in this curriculum. In the first analytical chapter, I question ‘what biology has to say’ about sexuality and gender. The sayings of future biologists have raised questions, conflicts and contradictions stemming from a multitude of essentialist, foundational and universalist discourses that institute binarisms and norms about these dimensions of life. However, an incessant exercise in the problematization and deconstruction of these discourses left traces in this curriculum beyond what Biology used to ‘enunciate’, especially when recognizing sexuality and gender as ‘sociocultural constructs’. In arguing Sexual Education as a transdisciplinary field that encompasses discourses on sexuality and gender, from the enunciations of the participants, I discussed the disconnections and connections between biological-hygienist approaches and sociocultural, as well as problematizing the cultural pedagogies staged in this curriculum. In this scenario, I highlighted the limits and possibilities for changes and resignifications, since the curriculum investigated suggested both conflicts and destabilities and displacements resulting from the problematization of “absolute truths” about the themes of Sexual Education; mainly through the inclusion of the disciplines Body, Gender and Sexuality (BGS) and Cultural Perspectives in the teaching of Biology and Education, which instigated a discursive field with multiple identities and echoing differences beyond Biology. Contingent and transient conclusions allow us to synthesize this socio-cultural and political process rehearsed for a re-signification of Sexual Education “beyond the biological”, which instigates multiple questions and learning and/or unlearning about the regimes of truth in the field of Biology and different modes of production and/or maintenance of power relations that mark sexuality and gender.

A presente Dissertação teve por objetivo problematizar a interdisciplinaridade, entendendo que essa tem se constituído em uma das verdades contemporâneas pertencentes ao discurso do campo educacional que teria por objetivo romper, ou minimizar, as fronteiras disciplinares. Neste sentido, as questões que moveram a investigação foram: Quais são as enunciações dos educandos do Curso Licenciatura em Educação do Campo: Ciências da Natureza a respeito da interdisciplinaridade? Que enunciados emergem de tais enunciações? Que efeitos de verdade sugerem? No intuito de responder tais questões entrevistei 32 discentes do curso Licenciatura em Educação do Campo: ciências da natureza – da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul – campus Litoral Norte UFRGS/CLN. Para análise e produção do material empírico visitei a oficina de Foucault e recolhi algumas ferramentas conceituais tais como: enunciado, enunciação, discurso e verdade. O exercício analítico sobre o material empírico mostrou que: a) a interdisciplinaridade é adotada como perspectiva para o curso Licenciatura em Educação do Campo porque há alinhamentos entre as enunciações dos pesquisadores vinculados a discussões sobre a educação para os povos do campo e os discursos sobre a Interdisciplinaridade. b) os estudantes, mesmo em um curso interdisciplinar, ainda fazem referência aos campos disciplinares e isto talvez ocorra em virtude do baixo grau de remanência das enunciações interdisciplinares e c) o discurso da interdisciplinaridade tem aditividade com os provenientes do campo da sociologia que se propõe a descrever as condições da sociedade atual. Estas articulações entre os enunciados acabam por fortalecer ambos os discursos, forjando-os como verdades contemporâneas. / The purpose of this dissertation was to problematize interdisciplinarity, understanding that this has become one of the contemporary truths belonging to the discourse of the educational field that would aim to break, or minimize, the disciplinary boundaries. In this sense, the questions that moved the research were: What are the enunciations of the students of the Graduation Course in Field Education: Nature Sciences regarding interdisciplinarity? What statements emerge from such enunciations? What effects do they suggest? In order to answer such questions, I interviewed 32 students of the Undergraduate Course in Field Education: Nature Sciences - from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - North Coast campus UFRGS / CLN. For analysis and production of the empirical material, I visited Foucault's workshop and collected some conceptual tools such as statements , enunciation, speech and truth. The analytical exercise on the empirical material showed that: a) interdisciplinarity is adopted as a perspective for the graduation course in Field Education blecause there are alignments between the enunciations of researchers linked to discussions about education for the rural people and the discourses about the Interdisciplinarity. b) students, even in an interdisciplinary course, still make reference to the disciplinary fields and this may occur because of the low degree of remanence of interdisciplinary utterances and c) the discourse of interdisciplinarity has additivity with those coming from the field of sociology that proposes to describe the conditions of present-day society. These articulations between the statements end up strengthening both discourses, forging them as contemporary truths.

Nesta tese problematizo os modos de incorporação da Educação Sexual no currículo de licenciatura em Biologia da Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS). Para tanto, busquei articular os campos de estudos de sexualidade e gênero, estudos sobre currículo e os estudos culturais pós-estruturalistas com aporte em teorizações foucaultianas, visando analisar como discursos acerca de sexualidade e gênero atravessam a proposta de Educação Sexual desse currículo. Para produção do material empírico, essa trajetória investigativa envolveu: exame de documentos, como o projeto político pedagógico e a matriz curricular do curso; grupos focais com sete licenciandos/as e/ou recém-licenciados/as em Biologia organizados em três encontros; realização de 14 entrevistas semiestruturadas com os sete participantes do grupo focal e mais sete formandos/as e/ou egressos do curso. A trajetória analítica foi norteada pela análise foucaultiana do discurso, que permitiu descrever os limites e as possibilidades da Educação Sexual incorporada nesse currículo. No primeiro capítulo analítico, questiono ‘o que a biologia tem a enunciar’ sobre sexualidade e gênero. Os ditos dos/as (futuros/as) biólogos/as anunciaram questionamentos, conflitualidades e contradições decorrentes de uma multiplicidade de discursos essencialistas, fundacionalistas e universalistas, que instituem binarismos e normatizações acerca dessas dimensões da vida. Entretanto, um incessante exercício de problematização e desconstrução desses discursos deixou marcas nesse currículo para além do que a Biologia costumava ‘enunciar’, principalmente ao reconhecer sexualidade e gênero como “constructos socioculturais”. Ao argumentar a Educação Sexual como um campo transdisciplinar que engloba discursos sobre sexualidade e gênero, a partir das enunciações dos/as participantes, discuti as (des)conexões entre abordagens biológico-higienistas e sociocultural, bem como problematizei as pedagogias culturais encenadas nesse currículo. Nesse cenário, destaquei os limites e as possibilidades para mudanças e ressignificações, visto que o currículo investigado sugeriu tanto conflitualidades quanto rasuras e deslocamentos decorrentes da problematização de “verdades absolutas” acerca das temáticas da Educação Sexual; principalmente por meio da inclusão das disciplinas Corpo, Gênero e Sexualidade (CGS) e Perspectivas culturais no Ensino de Biologia e Educação, que instigaram acionar um campo discursivo com múltiplas identidades e diferenças ecoantes além da Biologia. Conclusões contingentes e transitórias permitem sintetizar esse processo sociocultural e político ensaiado para uma ressignificação da Educação Sexual “além do biológico”, o que instiga múltiplos questionamentos e (des)aprendizados acerca dos regimes de verdade no campo da Biologia e distintos modos de produção e/ou manutenção de relações de poder que marcam sexualidade e gênero. / In this thesis, I problematize the ways of incorporating Sexual Education in the undergraduate curriculum in Biology of the Federal University of Sergipe (FUS). In order to do so, I sought to articulate the fields of sexuality and gender studies, studies on curriculum and post-structuralist cultural studies with contributions in Foucauldian theorizations, aiming to analyze how discourses about sexuality and gender cross the Sexual Education proposal of this curriculum. For the production of the empirical material, this investigative trajectory involved: examination of documents, such as the pedagogical political project and the curricular matrix of the course; focus groups with seven graduates and/or recent graduates in Biology organized in three meetings; 14 semi-structured interviews with the seven focal group participants and seven other graduates and/or alumnus of the course. The analytical trajectory was guided by the Foucauldian discourse analysis, which allowed us to describe the limits and possibilities of Sexual Education incorporated in this curriculum. In the first analytical chapter, I question ‘what biology has to say’ about sexuality and gender. The sayings of future biologists have raised questions, conflicts and contradictions stemming from a multitude of essentialist, foundational and universalist discourses that institute binarisms and norms about these dimensions of life. However, an incessant exercise in the problematization and deconstruction of these discourses left traces in this curriculum beyond what Biology used to ‘enunciate’, especially when recognizing sexuality and gender as ‘sociocultural constructs’. In arguing Sexual Education as a transdisciplinary field that encompasses discourses on sexuality and gender, from the enunciations of the participants, I discussed the disconnections and connections between biological-hygienist approaches and sociocultural, as well as problematizing the cultural pedagogies staged in this curriculum. In this scenario, I highlighted the limits and possibilities for changes and resignifications, since the curriculum investigated suggested both conflicts and destabilities and displacements resulting from the problematization of “absolute truths” about the themes of Sexual Education; mainly through the inclusion of the disciplines Body, Gender and Sexuality (BGS) and Cultural Perspectives in the teaching of Biology and Education, which instigated a discursive field with multiple identities and echoing differences beyond Biology. Contingent and transient conclusions allow us to synthesize this socio-cultural and political process rehearsed for a re-signification of Sexual Education “beyond the biological”, which instigates multiple questions and learning and/or unlearning about the regimes of truth in the field of Biology and different modes of production and/or maintenance of power relations that mark sexuality and gender.

A presente Dissertação teve por objetivo problematizar a interdisciplinaridade, entendendo que essa tem se constituído em uma das verdades contemporâneas pertencentes ao discurso do campo educacional que teria por objetivo romper, ou minimizar, as fronteiras disciplinares. Neste sentido, as questões que moveram a investigação foram: Quais são as enunciações dos educandos do Curso Licenciatura em Educação do Campo: Ciências da Natureza a respeito da interdisciplinaridade? Que enunciados emergem de tais enunciações? Que efeitos de verdade sugerem? No intuito de responder tais questões entrevistei 32 discentes do curso Licenciatura em Educação do Campo: ciências da natureza – da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul – campus Litoral Norte UFRGS/CLN. Para análise e produção do material empírico visitei a oficina de Foucault e recolhi algumas ferramentas conceituais tais como: enunciado, enunciação, discurso e verdade. O exercício analítico sobre o material empírico mostrou que: a) a interdisciplinaridade é adotada como perspectiva para o curso Licenciatura em Educação do Campo porque há alinhamentos entre as enunciações dos pesquisadores vinculados a discussões sobre a educação para os povos do campo e os discursos sobre a Interdisciplinaridade. b) os estudantes, mesmo em um curso interdisciplinar, ainda fazem referência aos campos disciplinares e isto talvez ocorra em virtude do baixo grau de remanência das enunciações interdisciplinares e c) o discurso da interdisciplinaridade tem aditividade com os provenientes do campo da sociologia que se propõe a descrever as condições da sociedade atual. Estas articulações entre os enunciados acabam por fortalecer ambos os discursos, forjando-os como verdades contemporâneas. / The purpose of this dissertation was to problematize interdisciplinarity, understanding that this has become one of the contemporary truths belonging to the discourse of the educational field that would aim to break, or minimize, the disciplinary boundaries. In this sense, the questions that moved the research were: What are the enunciations of the students of the Graduation Course in Field Education: Nature Sciences regarding interdisciplinarity? What statements emerge from such enunciations? What effects do they suggest? In order to answer such questions, I interviewed 32 students of the Undergraduate Course in Field Education: Nature Sciences - from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - North Coast campus UFRGS / CLN. For analysis and production of the empirical material, I visited Foucault's workshop and collected some conceptual tools such as statements , enunciation, speech and truth. The analytical exercise on the empirical material showed that: a) interdisciplinarity is adopted as a perspective for the graduation course in Field Education blecause there are alignments between the enunciations of researchers linked to discussions about education for the rural people and the discourses about the Interdisciplinarity. b) students, even in an interdisciplinary course, still make reference to the disciplinary fields and this may occur because of the low degree of remanence of interdisciplinary utterances and c) the discourse of interdisciplinarity has additivity with those coming from the field of sociology that proposes to describe the conditions of present-day society. These articulations between the statements end up strengthening both discourses, forging them as contemporary truths.