BDSM (bondage, discipline/dominance, submission/sadism and masochism) has recently gained greater visibility in dominant discourses around sexuality. However, these depictions are often constructed in rigid ways to typically exclude experiences of sexual intimacy. Despite this apparent exclusion, constructions of subspace (an altered mental state induced through BDSM encounters) on online blogs intrigued me to consider it as an alternative to widely accepted notions of sexual intimacy. Using a poststructuralist theoretical framework, I conducted an online ethnographic study in which I explored the varied ways in which self-identified South African BDSM individuals construct meaning around sexual intimacy. Through a Foucauldian discourse analysis, I consider how constructions of intimacy in the BDSM community might have been silenced through exclusionary definitions in dominant discourses. I identified four discourses in the text: A discourse of romantic vulnerability, a discourse of knowledge, a discourse of difference/sameness and a discourse of role differentiation. The findings suggest that BDSM practitioners, in constructing meaning around intimacy, at times comply with dominant discourses and at other times subvert normative ideas around sexuality, gender and sexual intimacy. I conclude with implications for gender and sexuality studies as well as the discipline of psychology in its engagement with BDSM identities and practices. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Psychology / Unrestricted

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.

Shalom Schwartz invented the theory of Basic Human Values in 1987 – based on a study in which the quantitative data he collected, had been organised within an obscure manner. His theory has been validated and positioned as the universal way all individuals organise their values on a personal and cultural level, and has been researched in over 70 countries. South African researchers have however found significant challenges in replicating Schwartz's model within this multi-cultural society, and have ascribed the difficulties to ‘unintended item biases' within Schwartz's measurement instruments. This has been observed when utilising two different measurement instruments, as well as when further assessing ‘finer' sub-value types. A viable quantitative trend in utilising non-verbal assessment techniques has emerged, but has not been adapted for adults yet. In addition, Schwartz's theory has largely only been explored from a quantitative perspective, since its inception in 1987. Only four qualitative studies could be traced within Values-research which all highlighted a different way values were constructed and ordered, through utilising psycho-lexical research methodology. This type of research methodology does not necessarily highlight the effect of socio-economic and educational disparities within its participant's constructions, which Schwartz' highlighted a possible effect within South African research efforts. This study utilised a Social Constructionist approach known as Foucauldian Discourse Analysis to assist in deconstructing the ecology of values-talk from South African participants' linguistic expressions. Four focus group discussions were conducted across four different racial groups (White; Black; Indian and Coloured), as a means for unlocking the different discourses which govern the different ways in which South Africans ‘talk' about personal values. The analysis uncovered five different discourses which were activated and replicated throughout discussions – when constructing values which embraced participants socio-economic and educational positions. These discourses seemed to function in a complimentary and opposing nature at times, depending on the value being discussed. These constructions were compared to Schwartz's Basic Human Values model, and similarities and differences in constructions were discussed. In addition, the research findings were scrutinised to see how they could inform future qualitative research efforts to further explore how Schwartz's Basic Human Values model is ‘lived'. Finally, the study discusses its limitations and various considerations researchers would need to employ, when considering applying non-verbal assessment methodology within an abstract topic like values. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Human Resource Management / MCom / Unrestricted

There is a scholar consensus that girls have been marginalized in childhood studies. Taking into account the gender effect in constructing different childhoods for boys and girls this thesis explores the frontiers of girlhood. Girlhood as being abandoned and not perceived in the here and now is constructed only in the future, namely in the frames of femininity and womanhood. This initiates pathology in the lives of girls. This thesis through film representation explored new constructions of girlhood. Two films Barbie as Rapunzel and Tangled based in the fairy tale of Rapunzel were explored through Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. The discursive constructions, the “preppy” girl and the “alternative” girl emerged accordingly as the versions of the “authentic” girl that is searching for her identity and leading to the “self-regulated” girl discourse as a way to reconstruct girlhood.These discursive constructions can be used in the reorientation of girlhood as they unravel the necessities that exist in girl studies.

This dissertation focuses on the following questions: 1) What is the structure of the Korean sport for international development discourse? 2) How are the historical transformations of particular rules of formation manifested in the discourse of Korean sport for international development? 3) What knowledge, ideas, and strategies make up Korean sport for international development? And 4) what are the ways in which these components interact with the institutional aspirations of the Korean government, directed by the official development assistance goals, the foreign policy and diplomatic agenda, and domestic politics? To address these research questions, I focus my analysis on the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and its 30 years of expertise in designing and implementing sport and physical activity–related programs and aid projects. For this research project, I collected eight different sets of KOICA documents published from 1991 to 2017 as primary sources and two different sets of supplementary documents including government policy documents and newspaper articles. By using Foucault’s archaeology and genealogy as methodological frameworks, the analysis highlights how KOICA sport has functioned for three decades as 1) an international development tool, 2) a diplomacy tool, and 3) a domestic policy tool of the Korean state. The conclusion focuses on 1) the relevance of findings to the larger context of SFD, sport diplomacy, and domestic policy and political literature; 2) additional cases demonstrating the ways other nations might employ sport for political purposes, in comparison with KOICA sport; 3) KOICA sport’s potential future as an alternative to Korean SFD and future direction of my research journey toward a big picture of East Asian SFD.

This study investigates how Greenpeace, a non-profit environmental organization, and Preem, a for-profit fuel company, construct sustainability in their external communication. Through Foucauldian discourse analysis, we explore the interests, values, and discursive strategies employed by Greenpeace and Preem and how they shape sustainability discourses. Our findings reveal distinct perspectives on sustainability: Greenpeace emphasizes vast and complex environmental issues such as climate change, pollution, and destruction of nature, advocating for radical societal changes and global solutions. Aligning with the dominant sustainability discourse, Greenpeace strategically leverages its legitimacy to promote an alternative discourse. On the other hand, Preem opposes the holistic discourse of Greenpeace, advocating for incremental reform and technological innovation within the existing politico-economic system. Thus, both organizations assert their authority and employ discursive strategies to legitimize their interests. Greenpeace portrays sustainability as a struggle, underscoring the need for collective action, while Preem presents sustainability as a journey, emphasizing individual responsibility in line with a neoliberal ideology. Our research contributes to our understanding of sustainability discourses in organizational communication. It sheds light on how different actors strategically construct and communicate sustainability messages, focusing on the ideological foundations, values, and interests that underlie these discourses. By enhancing our understanding of discourse transformation in shaping legitimate sustainability actions, our findings have implications for policymakers, researchers, and society at large.

Uppsatsens undersökning är en foucauldiansk diskursanalys av hur gymnasieelever talar om praktiken litteraturläsning där datainsamlingsmetoden är fokusgruppsintervjuer. Syftet med uppsatsen är att bidra med kunskap om hur gymnasieelever talar om praktiken litteraturläsning genom att undersöka vilka mönster som framträder i intervjuerna och hur dessa kan förstås gentemot dominerande diskurser i samtiden. Motiven till undersökningen är bland annat att debatten om ungas läsande har aktualiserats det senaste decenniet, att det finns få granskningar av dominerande uppfattningar som omgärdar praktiken litteraturläsning och att perspektivet hur elevers uppfattningar är konstruerade saknas i forskningen. Två mönster går att urskilja i fokusgruppsintervjuerna. Det ena mönstret är att litteraturläsning som praktik anses ge flera goda effekter såsom större ordförråd och förmågan att se saker ur olika perspektiv. Att läsa anses nyttigt och boken som artefakt äger hög status. Detta mönster utgör en reproducering av den dominerande diskursen om praktiken litteraturläsning där läsning som fenomen och läsande som praktik ses som något oproblematiskt gott. Det andra mönstret som framträder under fokusgruppsintervjuerna är att en motdiskurs etableras. Motdiskursen grundar sig på upplevelsen att läsandet som praktik är kopplat till press, tvång och prestation, och därför något olustigt. Enligt eleverna bör läsandet dels utgå från frivillighet, dels utgå från andra former av läspraktiker, såsom att läsa från mobiltelefonen. Undersökningens didaktiska implikationer är att en inkluderande litteraturundervisning förutsätter ett perspektivtagande där det omkringliggande samhällets värderingar om litteraturläsande diskuteras. Om så görs, kan en fördjupad förståelse nås om hur eleverna ser på litteraturläsning och vad som formar deras uppfattningar. / This master essay is a Foucauldian discourse analysis of how students in the Swedish upper secondary school talk about the practice of reading literature where the data collection method is focus group interviews. The purpose of the essay is to contribute to how students talk about the practice of reading literature by examining what patterns emerge in the interviews and how these can be understood in relation to dominant discourses in the society. The motives for the study are, among other things, that the debate about young people's reading has become more intense in the last decade, that there are few reviews of dominant perceptions that surround the practice of reading literature and that the perspective on how students' perceptions are constructed is lacking in research. Two patterns can be distinguished in the focus group interviews. One pattern is that the practice of reading is considered to have several good effects such as greater vocabulary and the ability to see things from different perspectives. Reading is considered useful and the book as an artifact has a high status. This pattern can be understood as a reproduction of the dominant discourse about the practice of reading literature, where reading as a phenomenon and reading as practice are seen as something unproblematically good. The second pattern that emerges during the focus group interviews is that a counter-discourse is established. The counter-discourse is based on the experience that reading as a practice is linked to pressure and achievement, and therefore something unpleasant. According to these students, reading should instead be based on free will and om other forms of reading practice, such as reading from a mobile phone. The didactic implications of the study are that an inclusive literature teaching presupposes a perspective-taking where the surrounding society's values ​​of literature reading are discussed. If this is done, an in-depth understanding can be reached about how the students view reading literature and what shapes their ideas.

This study explored how the discursive practices of government education systemic discipline policy shape the behaviour of Aboriginal primary school students in an urban education district in Western Australia. First, this study conducted a Foucauldian genealogical discourse analysis of the historical and contemporary discursive forces that shaped systemic discipline policy in Western Australian government schools between 1983 and 1998 to uncover changing discursive practices within the institution. This period represented a most turbulent era of systemic discipline policy development within the institution. The analysis of the historical and contemporary discursive forces that shaped policy during this period revealed nine major and consistent discursive practices. Secondly, the study conducted a Foucauldian genealogical discourse analysis into the perspectives of key interest groups of students, parents and Education Department employees in an urban Aboriginal community on discipline policy in Education Department primary schools during the period from 2000 to 2001; and the influence of these policies on the behaviour of Aboriginal students in primary schools. The analysis was accomplished using Foucault's method of genealogy through a tactical use of subjugated knowledges. A cross section of the Aboriginal community was interviewed to examine issues of consultation, suspension and exclusion, institutional organisation and discourse. The study revealed that there are minimal consistent conceptual underpinnings to the development of Education Department discipline policy between 1983 and 1998. What is clear through the nine discursive practices that emerged during the first part of the study is a strengthened recentralising pattern of regulation, in response to the influence of a neo-liberal doctrine that commodifies students in a network of accountability mechanisms driven by the market-state economy. Evidence from both genealogical analyses in this study confirms that the increasing psychologisation of the classroom is contributing towards the pathologisation of Aboriginal student behaviour. It is apparent from the findings in this study that Aboriginal students regularly display Aboriginality-as-resistance type behaviours in response to school discipline regimes. The daily tension for these students at school is the maintenance of their Aboriginality in the face of school policy that disregards many of their regular cultural and behavioural practices, or regimes of truth, that are socially acceptable at home and in their community but threaten the 'good order' of the institution when brought to school. This study found that teachers and principals are ensnared in a web of governmentality with their ability to manoeuvre within the constraints of systemic discipline policy extremely limited. The consequence of this web of governmentality is that those doing the governing in the school are simultaneously the prisoner and the gaoler, and in effect the principle of their own subjection. Also revealed were the obscure and dividing discursive practices of discipline regimes that contribute to the epistemic violence enacted upon Noongar students in primary schools through technologies of power.

Medical textbooks have previously represented women’s bodies and menopause life transitions by using notions of ‘machine productivity’ and ‘machine breakdown’ (Martin, 1987). This study aimed to explore whether these representations have changed, especially given recent HRT clinical trial results. Eight relevant compulsory medical textbooks for first and second year medical students at two New Zealand Universities were identified. A Foucauldian discourse analysis (Parker, 1990) was undertaken on relevant content to identify representations of menopause, HRT, women’s bodies, and ageing. Five major discourses were employed in the textbooks in descriptions of menopause and HRT: failure, estrogen deficiency as disease; HRT as saviour; obscurity and the new discovery discourse. Menopause continues to be represented as resulting from a ‘failure’ of a machine-like body. Although the recent HRT clinical trials were reported as a serious risk factor in half of the textbooks, HRT was also represented as a saviour particularly against postmenopausal osteoporosis. The discovery of ‘new’ drugs to ‘treat’ HRT and the ‘postmenopausal’ patient were heralded with much excitement. Medical textbooks continue to use failure discourses to describe women’s bodies at menopause. New risk-based HRT assessments for ‘patients’ with menopause ‘symptoms’ are promoted. These portrayals reinforce linear and reductionist ways of thinking about menopause and women at midlife and provide few spaces for resistance or alternative constructions to more accurately reflect women’s embodied worlds.

Medical textbooks have previously represented women’s bodies and menopause life transitions by using notions of ‘machine productivity’ and ‘machine breakdown’ (Martin, 1987). This study aimed to explore whether these representations have changed, especially given recent HRT clinical trial results. Eight relevant compulsory medical textbooks for first and second year medical students at two New Zealand Universities were identified. A Foucauldian discourse analysis (Parker, 1990) was undertaken on relevant content to identify representations of menopause, HRT, women’s bodies, and ageing. Five major discourses were employed in the textbooks in descriptions of menopause and HRT: failure, estrogen deficiency as disease; HRT as saviour; obscurity and the new discovery discourse. Menopause continues to be represented as resulting from a ‘failure’ of a machine-like body. Although the recent HRT clinical trials were reported as a serious risk factor in half of the textbooks, HRT was also represented as a saviour particularly against postmenopausal osteoporosis. The discovery of ‘new’ drugs to ‘treat’ HRT and the ‘postmenopausal’ patient were heralded with much excitement. Medical textbooks continue to use failure discourses to describe women’s bodies at menopause. New risk-based HRT assessments for ‘patients’ with menopause ‘symptoms’ are promoted. These portrayals reinforce linear and reductionist ways of thinking about menopause and women at midlife and provide few spaces for resistance or alternative constructions to more accurately reflect women’s embodied worlds.