In this study I employ Lacanian psychoanalysis and ideological criticism to analyze the development of "gender and mathematics" research over the past fifty years. This study is motivated by the original Marxist-Lacanian claim by Valerie Walkerdine in the 1980s that women's relationship with mathematics must always be considered as fundamentally problematic, and by the complex and often contradictory claims that are made in research artifacts that report on this topic. Many approaches to this topic that focus on "closing the gender gap" or aiming for "gender equity" warrant an ideological critique to situate these motivations within the political realm of mathematics education research. Artifacts analyzed in this study were gleaned from a comprehensive electronic library search of over 600 entries, where 178 were retained as yield. A complete ideological critique was performed on a subset of these. Findings include (1) historical alignment of the ideologies evidenced in the research with the ideological influences of the political situation at the time of publication, including scientism, neoliberalism, evolutionism, and solutionism, (2) the ideology of interpellationism which indicates the role of scientific ways of knowing in capitalist political economy, and (3) theoretical foundations of what I call the feminine-quilted-speech indicate how at the present moment in the field, we have the opportunity to shift the ideological underpinnings of research on gender and mathematics. The study avows the role of gender as an agent of capitalist accumulation in school mathematics, through a notion I develop called the masculine-quilted-speech. / Doctor of Philosophy / "Gender and mathematics" is a concern for mathematics education researchers that is old as the field itself, yet it is one that continues to be an active focus for a large swath of researchers. Conundrums abound. Such research includes, for example, neurotic obsessions and phantasies about closing achievement gaps between males and females, whilst other approaches consider the social factors impacting women's and men's relationship to mathematics. I wager that one reason for this plurality of approaches (and the incommensurability of their constituent findings and results) is the inability of existing theoretical perspectives for getting to the root of the problem (the point-de-capiton of the discourse). This dissertation offers a political psychoanalytic counter-perspective to prevailing theoretical approaches on the issue of "gender and mathematics" that critiques the ideologies advanced by researchers in the field through their actions of performing and publishing research on this topic. Findings indicate the extent to which ideology structures the actions of researchers, and the role of gender in the capitalist mode of school mathematics.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att utifrån teorier om hegemonisk maskulinitet och homosocialitet studera hur normer för maskulinitet reproduceras i tre svenska populära podcasts. Uppsatsen innehåller tre frågeställningar som är följande: Hur förhandlas maskulinitetsnormer hos Alex & Sigge, Filip & Fredrik och Luuk & Lokko?, genom vilka rollprestationer upprätthålls eller omförhandlas normer för hegemoniska maskulinitetsideal? och vad innehåller dessa podcasts för specifika strukturer och hur återfinns maskuliniteter i detta innehåll? Mitt teoretiska och analytiska perspektiv grundar sig i forskning om maskulinitetsprocesser och hegemonisk maskulinitet. Vidare utvecklar jag mitt teoretiska ramverk med genreteoretiska anknytningar där den ideologiska funktionen inom dessa blir central. Analysen består av samtalscitat från mitt material där jag transkriberat relevanta delar för att kunna gå nära texten. Ut efter tematiseringar grundade på huvudpersonernas relationer till varandra och till personer utanför texten analyserar jag sedan mitt material i två delar. Maskuliniteten konstrueras i och med olika rollprestationer som huvudpersonerna sätter i spel gentemot varandra och andra. Dessa rollprestationer blir talande i min analys och bidrar till min slutdiskussion. Sammanfattningsvis avslutar jag med en slutdiskussion där jag anknyter till mitt teoretiska ramverk och diskuterar vilka maskulinitetsnormer som är rådande inom min text. Jag lyfter även det teoretiska perspektivet till en större samhällelig kontext i och med att jag anser att maskulinitetsnormer ingår i ideologiska strukturer i samhället. / The purpose of this paper is: based on theories of hegemonic masculinity and homosociality to, study how masculinity is reproduced in three popular Swedish podcasts. The paper contains three research questions: Which values around masculinity exists and is represented in the three podcasts that I have chosen? How is masculinity represented based on defined performances of Alex & Sigge, Filip & Fredrik and Luuk & Lokko? What content does these podcasts have and which specific structures around masculinity is found in this content? My theoretical and analytical perspectives are based on research in masculinity representations and hegemonic masculinity. Furthermore, I develop my theoretical framework with genre theories, where the ideological functions of these become central. The analysis consists of conversation quotes from my material, which I transcribed the relevant parts in order to get close to the text. I have thematically constructed two levels of analysis based on the characters' relationships to each other and to the persons outside the text. Masculinity is constructed with various performances by the main characters put in play against each other and others. These performances will be critical in my analysis and contribute to my final discussion. In the chapter called conclusion I end with a final discussion, in which I relate to my theoretical framework, and discuss which masculinity values that are present in my text. I also broaden my theoretical perspective to a larger social context, in that I believe masculinity norms are included in the ideological structures of society.

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The title of this thesis is Christ in Tropical Africa - in the Tension Between Identity and Relevance. Within a few years Africa will be the greatest Christian continent, and African Christianity will then no longer see itself as a mere continuation of Western Christianity. On the threshold of the 21st Century, this insight challenges Christian theology and missiology which have for a long time answered the helm of the Western missionary movements. This contribution to the scholarly debate on cultural and religions identity issues deals with the question how the recent development ought to be integrated in a systematic reflection, and how Africans - especially African theologians - themselves attempt to highlight the necessity of a relevant and authentic African Christianity and theology. The post-colonial and partly post-missionary era has resulted in a sense of departure and transition which has created space for a renewed and adjusted conception of the question of identity. This dissertation present a critical discourse on African themes and questions concerning identity issues in the perspectives of studies in the areas of theology, anthropology, philosophy, and religion. The discourse shows the complexity of what is called identity, africanity etc. and threw critical light on a tendency of making generalizations and constructions. Dangers of constructions of which Christian African theologians have not always been sufficiently conscious. The interdisciplinary perspective of this study is widening the question of identity while it still constitutes a hermeneutical key to understand the concerns of Christian theology in the tropical part of Africa. African theology is situated in the tension between identity and relevance. This become obvious in African christological proposals. The thesis put a critical test question to the theologians who have contributed with new Christ-titles and -models: Have they both managed to give grounds for the significance of christology for human freedom and identity (the relevance of christology), and at the same time secured the continuity and agreement with the original theological content of christology (the identity of christology in the New Testament)? The question can only partly be answered affirmatively. In some cases the actual understanding of life and conception of reality in a certain context provides the decisive criterion in the interpretation of Biblical concepts and christological titles. This creates hermeneutic problems which are dealt with in the close of the thesis. / <p>Contains an English summary</p>

XIX ir ypač XX amžius pasižymėjo stipriomis ideologijomis, kurios ne tik keitė pasaulio ir žmonių gyvenimus, bet ir turėjo įtakos visoms vėlesnėms kartoms. Šio darbo tyrimo objektas – XIX – XXI amžiaus ideologijos kritika. Bandant suprasti pačias svarbiausias ideologijas, neišvengiamai tenka gilintis į marksizmo, kaip vieną iki šių dienų svarbiausią ideologiją ir pabandyti suprasti, kur slypi marksizmo fenomenas. Žinoma, čia neišvengiamai tenka kalbėti ir apie kitas ideologijas, tokias, kurias neigė pats marksizmas – tai ir buržuazijos ideologija ir hegelizmo ideologija. Todėl darbo tikslas ir problema – atskleisti kuo įvairesnį ideologijų vaizdą ir parodyti, kaip evoliucionavo pati marksizmo ideologija, kuri – jau galima teigti – nėra vienalytė. Joje mes galime aptikti pačią ideologijos šerdį: kuomet mistifikacijos neįmanoma atpažinti „iš vienos“ pusės. Be abejo, toks darbas negali pretenduoti į paprastos ir aiškios „tiesos“ suradimą, o iškelti tikslais ir problemos – tik nuoroda, kuri nurodo, kuria linkme judama. Aptariant vieną po kito marksizmo klasiką, juos analizuojant, aptariant jų samprotavimus apie teorinį marksizmo įgyvendinimą, galime geriau suprasti, kaip evoliucionavo marksizmas ir kodėl XX amžiuje jo įgyvendinimas buvo toks nevykęs. Didžiosios ideologijos negimsta be žmonių lūkesčių. Kita vertus, kuomet kalbame apie ideologijos kritiką – labai dažnai – mes jau kalbame apie pačią ideologiją. Visi didieji ideologai neigė kurią nors ideologiją ir įrodinėjo, kad jų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The 19th century and 20th century in particular were famous for strong ideologies, which not only changed the world and the lives of people but also made some influence on the subsequent generations. The object of the paper is the criticism of ideology in the period of the 19th-21th centuries. In order to understand the most important ideologies, it is inevitable to go deep into Marxism, as one of the most important ideologies, and try to understand the phenomenon of Marxism. It is also necessary to speak about other ideologies that Marxism has been denying: Bourgeoisie and Hegelism. The goal and the problem of this paper aim at revealing the variety of ideologies and showing how Marxist ideology evolved (which is not indiscrete anymore). In this ideology there is a core of ideology: mystification cannot be recognized “on one” side. Of course, this paper cannot put in for the simple and clear finding of the truth, while the goals and problems are only references to the direction we move. Describing the classics of Marxism one after another, analyzing them and commenting on their reasoning about the theoretical implementation of Marxism, the evolution of Marxism, and the failure of its implementation in 20th century can be better understood. The greatest ideologies do not emerge without people’s expectations. On the other hand, when speaking about the criticism of ideology, it is often referred to the ideology itself. The greatest ideologists denied some of the ideologies... [to full text]

Environmental strategies implemented today are strongly influenced by the ideologies capitalism, neoliberalism and ecomodernism. As such, they should promote global economic expansion while mitigating environmental impact. This is in line with the prevailing environmental political discourse of sustainable development, in which economic, ecological and social dimensions are considered compatible and dependent on each other. However, this essay challenges the normative assumption regarding the win-win-win narrative by examining the economic, ecological and social consequences of Max Burgers’ environmental strategies through three critical scientific theories. By posing an ideology critique and through the lens of our theoretical framework, we find that Max Burgers mystifies the apparent relation between local economic growth, global ecological impact and divided social progress, thus reinforcing unequal power dynamics and patterns of uneven development.

As the notion of digitalisation make its way further into our lives and society, the educational system must modernise – digitalise – in order to stay relevant. But where is the digitalised school heading? Drawing on governmental policy documents associated with Sweden’s national digitalisation strategy, the study aims to emphasise the political dimension of the strategy in order to analyse more fundamental questions regarding the idea and ideological function of the Swedish educational system in the late modern age. Thus, the analysis follows a conceptual framework of mainly Giddens (1991) late modernity theory in order to shed light on the strategy from the angle of Giddens institutionalised tripartite dynamics of social change: time-space distanciation, disembedding mechanisms and institutional reflexivity. Key findings are that the concept of digitalisation often is formulated as an incentive for stimulating market dynamics, retaining reflexivity and disembedding knowledge. In other words, to preserve and proceed the very nature of the late modern state, through the educational system and its student.

This thesis explores how the Lacanian concept of ‘the enjoyment of the Other’ (la jouissance de l’Autre) can be applied to break open normative understandings of the political factors shaping the climate crisis deadlock. The principal aim is to investigate how ostensibly disconnected environmental debates may be regarded as linked by an economy of enjoyment, more precisely by the promise of enjoyment by which the subject is libidinally attached to an ideology. Analysis of text proceeds by way of a psychoanalytic critique of ideology on two case studies from UK news media, namely, i) the development of onshore wind turbines and, ii) the appearance of direct-action environmentalist groups, in particular the activities of the group Just Stop Oil. This thesis finds that rhetorical devices across the discourses analysed are sustained by an ideological belief that the subject’s enjoyment has been stolen or ruined by the Other, that is, the external symbolic framework of language, morals and other people that shapes and influences subjectivity. On the one hand it is argued that the mediatisation of the climate crisis in terms of the enjoyment of the Other, that is, the belief that the Other has access to a full enjoyment which the subject is denied, portrays environmental politics as an empty display or ‘spectacle.’ On the other hand, it is suggested that the experience of environmental politics as a spectacle is a symptom of the decline of the state’s symbolic role in late capitalism.