This thesis examines how men and women as co-interactants in management meetings use various interactional mechanisms to play out their roles and identities, as they position their ideas in a particular way for intended meaning and effect. The study aims to demonstrate how a particular approach to the examination of naturalistic data, gathered through the use of a case study design, based on recordings and supported by a number of ethnographic strategies can, when examined and informed by conversation analysis, pragmatics and more indirectly critical discourse analysis, generate further insights into the semantic and pragmatic meanings of utterances. The study focuses on four companies in postcolonial Zimbabwe, where the entry of women into senior management positions has changed the complexion of most organisations, but men continue to be the fundamental power brokers in the corporate workplace, which remains a site of social struggle where language, power and gender are important variables. This study finds that while perceptions of power may not vary significantly between men and women, how they use language to play out this power in meetings is of significance. The study suggests that gender-linked communication styles are reflected in management of talk in areas of influence, such as the corporate boardroom. It also shows that men and women, irrespective of their levels of position power or perceived power, present themselves in meetings in different ways, possibly due to gender-role socialisation processes. Apart from generating some new insights regarding theory and research methodology, and describing and interpreting male-female interaction in an under-researched domain (management meetings in a Zimbabwean corporate setting at a time of major socio-economic transformation), it is hoped that this study will also be of value at an applicational level: serving for instance to support applied linguistic goals such as the development of Language for Specific Purposes courses; and conscientising corporate citizens, in particular, to be more accommodating about, and appreciative of differences in communication styles that may be gender-based. / Linguistics / D.Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

Text in Afrikaans / Die objek van studie in hierdie proefskrif is ietwat ongewoon. Die studie is outobiografies en is gegrond op die aanname dat daar tussen die psigoterapeut, sy geskiedenis, die wetenskap (etnografie en tweede-orde kubernetika) en die klient(e) 'n unieke patroonverband bestaan. Die psigoterapeut in die platteland het weens afstand of finansies nie altyd die voorreg om supervisie van 'n eksterne supervisor te ontvang nie. In so 'n situasie kan selfsupervisie, deurdat dit 'n proses van selfontdekking is, 'n belangrike rol in die psigoterapeut se selfontwikkeling speel. Selfsupervisie plaas die klem op die psigoterapeut as persoon en as terapeut; oor wie hy is, waar hy vandaan kom en waarheen hy binne die psigoterapeutiese proses op pad is. Vir enige psigoterapeut is dit belangrik om na 'n hoer vlak van psigoterapie te streef. Hierdie strewe impliseer 'n proses van selfondersoek, delwing, selfevaluasie en disseksie. Hierdie proses is aan die hand van dagboekinskrywings gedoen, waar die psigoterapeut sy daaglikse ervarings en gebeurtenisse vanuit die verlede interpreteer het. Dit plaas die psigoterapeut as hoofspeler, met sy familiegeskiedenis en huidige interpersoonlike opset as inherente deel van sy mondering, op die voorgrond. In hierdie proses word die psigoterapeut sentraal geplaas met die klem op eie verantwoordelikheid met betrekking tot die proses van selfsupervisie. Die probleme wat deur hierdie persoonlik gekleurde, wetenskaplike studie aangespreek word, is probleme wat die psigoterapeut deur middel van sy selfsupervisie ge1dentifiseer het. So 'n selfondersoek lei tot 'n diepere selfkennis wat die psigoterapeut tot voordeel van homself, sy gesinsisteem en klientsisteem kan gebruik. Hierdie studie is 'n poging om 'n nuwe wyse van navorsing te identifiseer. Dit is omvattend en lei tot persoonlike vervulling asook diepere selfkennis en is 'n man waardeur ander psigoterapeute ook hulself en hul werelde kan ontdek. Dit is 'n stadige en pynlike proses. Hoofstukke 1 tot 4 is die teoretiese, wetenskaplike beredenering van die studie en hoofstukke 5 tot 12 is 'n uitbeelding van die geskiedenis van die psigoterapeut. Hoofstuk 13 plaas selfsupervisie as selfevalueringsmetode binne die psigoterapeutiese beroep. / The object of this study somewhat unusual. The study is an autobiography based on the assumption that there exists an unique patterned connection between the psychotherapist, his history, science (ethnography and second-order cybernetics), and his clients. Due to distance or financial problems, a rural psychotherapist cannot experience the privilege of supervision with an external supervisor. In such a situation selfsupervision could play an important role in the self-development, because it includes a search of self that will lead to more effectiveness in psychotherapy. Self-supervision focuses on the psychotherapist as a person and therapist, who he is, where he comes from, and in what direction he, as a psychotherapist, is developing within the psychotherapeutic process. It is important to any psychotherapist to strive towards a higher level of psychotherapy. This implies a process of selfinvestigation, dissection and self-evaluation. This process was conducted by means of diary entries in which the psychotherapist interpreted his daily experiences and events in terms of his past. This places the psychotherapist, with his family history and current interpersonal situation, as intrinsic parts of himself, in the foreground. In this process the psychotherapist takes centre stage with emphasis on his responsibility concerning the process of self-supervision. The problems addressed by this personally coloured, scientific study, are problems that the psychotherapist identified through the process of self-supervision and introspection. Such introspection leads to a deeper personal knowledge which the psychotherapist can use to his own benefit but also to the benefit of his family and client system. This study is an attempt to identify a new way of research. It is comprehensive and leads to personal fulfilment and deeper self-knowledge and is also a method by which other psychotherapists could discover themselves and their worlds. It is a slow and painful process. Chapters 1 to 4 comprise of the theoretical rationale of the study and chapters 5 to 12 depict the history of the psychotherapist. Chapter 13 situates self-supervision as a method of self-evaluation in the profession of psychotherapy. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil.

Text in English / The purpose of this dissertation was to establish the rhetorical function of Romans 7 within the context of Romans 5-8. Chapter 1 involved a survey of the problem that led to the investigation and a discussion of a number of approaches offered as an interpretation for understanding Romans 7. Chapter 2 centred on an investigation into the nature of Paul's audience in Rome. Chapter 3 investigated the purpose of the letter as a help to understanding the rhetorical function of Romans 7. Chapter 4 dealt with the rhetorical function of Romans 7. The causa underlying Paul's rhetoric in Romans 7 was a tendency among Gentile Christians to want to return to the law. Paul set out strongly to counter this tendency because it was incompatible with their position in Christ and would foil his plans in respect of the Gentile Christians in Rome and of the Gospel to the West. / Biblical & Ancient Studies / M.A. (Biblical Studies)

Research has indicated that offering support and services for people who experience mental health problems and their families is a complex and contested area. Despite the controversies surrounding therapeutic interventions with families, it has now been recognised that relatives and other supporters of people with mental health problems should be included in their care. Whole- family interventions and partnership working with carers and families is now central to secondary care UK mental health policies and clinical practice guidelines. However, for many families/ carers this remains an aspiration rather than a reality. The way in which we successfully developed family focused mental health practice, as well as specialist family interventions (FI) for people who have been given a diagnosis of psychosis, has therefore aroused considerable interest. The Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has adopted a Strategy to Enhance Working Partnerships with Carers and Families, developed best practice guidance and has established two complementary workforce development projects - the development of specialist family intervention services and the widespread training of mental health staff to create a ‘triangle of care’ with service users and their families. This has resulted in widespread adoption of systemically informed, ‘whole-family’ practice. In response to the widespread difficulties experienced following other staff- training initiatives we developed specialist family interventions (FI) services by means of an innovative one-year course delivered in partnership with Plymouth University. This training initiative has been widely acknowledged for its novel integration of psycho-educational and systemic approaches and the effective in-situ, multi-disciplinary service development model. An advantage of this approach is that by the end of the course a local FI Service has been established and staff experience fewer difficulties in applying their new skills than people trained in other programmes. We then ensure the continued development of clinical skills by means of a service structure that emphasises on-going supervision. Regular audits of the service and in-depth research studies clearly indicate that the service is effective and highly valued by users. Our ‘cognitive-interactional’ approach, which integrates systemic therapy with psychosocial interventions (individual- and family-CBT) within a collaborative therapeutic relationship, enables us to meet the needs of families in a flexible, tailored manner. The FI teams are able to deliver early interventions for people with first episode psychosis, as well as meeting the NICE guidelines for people with longstanding symptoms. Recognising that many families do not require formal family interventions/ therapy, we also have been designing ‘stepped-care’ family intervention services. We have developed, and extensively evaluated, short training packages to enhance working partnerships with families throughout our mental health services. We have used this three-day package to train a range of community and inpatient teams. We have also encouraged family- inclusive practice with the establishment of a trustwide steering group, practice guidelines and the establishment of ‘family liaison’ posts to facilitate family meetings on inpatient units, as part of the assessment process. Both training initiatives explicitly focus on developing systemic thinking, by integrating CBT and systemic therapy. The involvement of families/ carers in the design and delivery of both training initiatives is also crucial.

I den här avhandlingen undersöks den grammatiska samtalskonstruktionen apokoinou i svenskt samtalsspråk. I kontrast till traditioner av normativ grammatik och teoretiska perspektiv på språk, där apokoinou och besläktade fenomen har exkluderats från grammatisk beskrivning eller blivit behandlade som produkter av olika typer av misstag, är apokoinou här re-specificerad som en i högsta grad funktionell grammatisk resurs och metod för att åstadkomma lokala kommunikativa projekt i samtal. Apokoinouyttranden definieras formellt som produkterna av en konstruktionsmetod där det finala segment i en möjligt avslutad syntaktisk enhet (pivån) är retro-konstruerad som det initiala segmentet i en efterföljande syntaktisk enhet. Utbyggnaden av pivån görs med en dubblering av en eller flera syntaktiska konstituenter från segmentet som föregår pivån samt med en prosodisk design som integrerar yttrandet i sin helhet. Ur ett strikt och normativt perspektiv på en avgränsad (skrift)mening som grundenhet medför denna dubblering att den finala fasen i hela yttrandet framstår som inkoherent med den initiala fasen. Apokoinouyttranden är dock inte inkoherenta för samtalsdeltagare, utan är en familj av metoder för att åstadkomma två handlingar efter varandra inom samma yttrande. Den andra handlingen kan skifta perspektiv på den lokala ämnesaspekten, bekräfta eller insistera på ett lokalt ämne eller handling, avsluta och avgränsa ett lokal projekt, samt återuppta oavslutade kommunikativa projekt efter mellanliggande aktiviteter. Dessa handlingar är alla mottagaranpassade lokala kommunikativa projekt i det avseendet att de är utformade att passa in i en vidare kommunikativ kontext samt att de ofta är interaktionellt åstadkomna inom och genom minimala handlingssekvenser. Dessa resultat har konsekvenser för grammatiskt teori. En av dessa konsekvenser är att grammatik måste uppfattas som villkor för dynamiska konstruktionsprocesser, inte endast som statiska och fixerade strukturer. En annan konsekvens är att grammatik organiseras lokalt snarare än på en maximalt generell nivå. Apokoinou bör också inkluderas i en svensk samtalsgrammatik som en av de grammatiska resurser som är tillgängliga för deltagare i samtal. / This thesis investigates apokoinou in Swedish talk-in-interaction. In contrast to the traditions of normative grammar and theoretically based approaches to language, where apokoinou and related phenomena have been excluded from grammatical description altogether or been treated as the products of various kinds of mistakes, apokoinou is here re-specified as a highly functional grammatical resource and method to accomplish local communicative projects in talk. Apokoinou utterances are formally defined as the products of a construction method, where a segment that is final in a first possibly complete syntactic segment (the pivot) is retro-constructed as initial in a following second syntactic segment. The extension of the pivot segment is made by way of a doubling of syntactic constituents from the pre-pivot segment and with a prosodic design that integrates the whole utterance. From a strict and normative sentence-perspective, this doubling renders the final phase of the whole utterance incoherent with the initial phase. However, apokoinou utterances are not incoherent for participants, but a family of methods to accomplish two consecutive actions within one utterance. The second action can change perspective on some local topical aspect, confirm or insist on some local topic or action, close and demarcate a local project, and resume turns or skip-connect to pending local communicative projects after interstitial activities. These are all recipient designed local communicative projects in the sense of being designed to fit within the ongoing wider communicative context and they are often interactionally achieved in and through minimal sequences. These results have implications for grammatical theory. Among these are that grammar must be seen as conditions on dynamic constructional processes, not only as static and fixed structures, and that grammar is organized on a local level rather than on a maximally general level. Apokoinou should also be included in a grammar of Swedish conversational language as one of the grammatical resources available for participants in Swedish talk.

Comprendre le mode d’existence de l’organisation est certainement l’un des plus grands défis que se sont donnés les chercheurs qui s’intéressent à ce domaine d’étude. La littérature nous présente ainsi plusieurs images, métaphores et perspectives qui, combinées, dressent un portrait hybride de ce type de collectif. Je propose, dans cette thèse, de reconnaître et exploiter ce caractère hybride de l’organisation en partant d’une réflexion centrée sur l'espace. En m’inspirant particulièrement des travaux de la géographe Doreen Massey (1999, 2005), le concept d'espace auquel je souscris est celui d’un espace ouvert et dynamique (qui incorpore le temps), basé sur une relationalité matérielle et hétérogène, supposant des acteurs humains et non humains en interaction. L'espace peut donc être compris comme la coexistence d’ontologies hétérogènes, ce que Massey (2005) nomme une coexistence de trajectoires comme stories-so-far. Il s’agit ici d’une vision performative de l’espace organisationnel qui est constitué dans la relation de trajectoires distinctes qui coexistent, se rencontrent, s’affectent, entrent en conflit ou coopèrent (Massey, 1999). Je postule que pour assurer une certaine continuité et cohérence dans la coexistence de trajectoires hétérogènes, un travail d’alignement et d’ordonnancement est mis à l’oeuvre, et ce, par le suivi d’une trajectoire principale — ce que je nomme une trajectoire scriptée. Suivre cette trajectoire permet ainsi à l’organisation de s’étendre, de se rendre présente dans le temps et dans l’espace, sans pour autant perdre son identité : to be here and there at the same time, now and then at the same place. À partir de cette définition de l’espace, je propose d’« espacer l’organisation », et plus particulièrement d’« espacer » Explora, un programme d’éducation non formelle du gouvernement du Chili visant la diffusion et la valorisation de la science et de la technologie. Cette proposition est double : elle renvoie aux pratiques d’espacements — des pratiques hybrides, collectives et situées — des agents organisationnels (dans ce cas, aux pratiques des agents d’Explora impliqués dans l’organisation d’un projet, celui de la Semaine de la science 2006),mais aussi à une pratique de recherche. « Espacer l’organisation » veut donc dire déployer ces espaces pleins, déplier l’organisation, accroître la série des simultanéités-successions pour ainsi créer plus d’espace-temps. / To understand the organization’s mode of being is certainly one of the most important challenges faced by researchers who are interested in this field of study. The literature presents several images, metaphors and perspectives which, combined, draw up a hybrid portrait of this type of collective. In this dissertation, I propose to recognize and exploit this hybrid character by starting from a reflection on space. Inspired especially by the work of the geographer Doreen Massey (1999, 2005), the concept of space to which I subscribe is that of an open and dynamic space (which incorporates time), based on a material and heterogeneous relationality, which supposes human and nonhuman actors in interaction. Space can thus be understood as the coexistence of heterogeneous ontologies, what Massey (2005) calls a “coexistence of trajectories as stories-so-far”. It is then a performative vision of organizational space which is constructed through the relation of distinct trajectories that coexist, meet, affect each other, enter in conflict or cooperate (Massey, 1999). I argue that to guarantee a certain form of continuity and coherence in the coexistence of heterogeneous trajectories, a work of alignment and ordering is put at work, and this, by the following-up of a main trajectory — what I call a scripted trajectory. By following this trajectory the organization can then extend itself, making itself present in time and space, without loosing its identity: it can be “here and there at the same time, now and then at the same place.” Starting from this definition of space, I propose to “space the organization,” and more specifically to “space” Explora, a non formal educational program of the Chilean government, which aims to diffuse and promote science and technology. Spacing an organization implies a double proposal: it refers to the spacing practices — hybrid, collective and situated practices — enacted by organizational agents (in this case, Explora’s agents implicated in the organization of a project, that of the Science week 2006), but also to a research practice. “Spacing the organization” consists of deploying these full spaces, unfolding the organization, and increasing the series of simultaneities-successions in order to create more space-time.

Cette recherche qualitative et exploratoire porte sur la construction identitaire de l’homme marié violent au Liban. Elle s’appuie notamment sur les discours de l’homme violent et de la femme violentée (récits de vie, interrogatoires juridiques, questionnaires) et aussi sur le discours de personnes-ressources non violentes. La construction identitaire de l’homme violent au Liban est liée au système patriarcal fortement ancré dans la culture, les institutions et la vie des Libanais. L’homme évolue en fonction de 3 prototypes :- masculin : dominant, pourvoyeur, protecteur, agressif- féminin : soumise, femme au foyer, disponible, douce- du couple : verrouillage des autres prototypes dans une complémentarité sexisteLa violence masculine traduit la place de l’homme dans le couple (violences symboliques et violences spontanées), elle traduit aussi sa volonté de conserver l’ordre patriarcal dans la famille car toute évolution des prototypes notamment celui de la femme est sentie par l’homme comme une menace contre sa masculinité (violences interactionnelles). La violence est accentuée car le Liban évolue sous l’empire de stress, ce qui met les rôles patriarcaux en question en permanence. La trajectoire identitaire de l’homme violent libanais montre qu’il a un père autoritaire et sévère, parfois faible. Sa mère pourrait être envahissante, absente ou ambivalente. Du point de vue couple l’homme violent cherche le couple fusionnel car il traduit parfaitement la complémentarité patriarcale sexiste. L’ordre social patriarcal libanais est en perpétuelle reproduction engendrant des hommes sexistes prêts à devenir violents. La femme est encerclée par la violence même, sa honte d’être femme battue et/ou femme divorcée, mais aussi à cause du tiers d’idéologie sexiste : parents, amis, société, institutions concernées. La lutte contre la violence conjugale au Liban doit être totale : contre la violence, les inégalités de genre et la culture patriarcale. / This qualitative and exploratory research is about the construction of the identity of the violent married man in Lebanon. It is based on different sources, the violent man, the battered woman discourse (biography, court records, and questionnaires) and the discourse of non-violent resource-person. The construction of the identity of the violent man in Lebanon is related to the patriarchal system which is strongly anchored in the culture, institution and life of the Lebanese. In this environment man evolves into three prototypes:- The masculine: dominant, protector, provider, aggressive.- The feminine: submissive, housewife, available, soft.- The couple: the clamping of the two other prototypes in one complementary sexist relationship.The masculine violence can reflect the man’s place in the couple (symbolic violence, spontaneous violence), and can also show the willingness to conserve the patriarchal order in the family because every evolution of prototypes especially the women’s role is felt by man as a threat against his masculinity (interaction violence). Violence is accentuated because Lebanon is a society under stress, which permanently distorts the masculine image. The identity trajectory of the Lebanese violent man shows that he has an authoritarian and severe father figure, or a feeble one. His mother can be overbearing, absent or ambivalent. Concerning the couple, the violent man searches for the fusional couple because it reflects perfectly the sexist patriarchal complementarity. The Lebanese social patriarchal order is in perpetual reproduction generating sexist man ready to become violent. The woman is surrounded by violence, and shame feeling of being a battered woman and/or divorced woman, and because of the others that are sexist: parents, friends, society institutions and concerned responsible. The struggle against violence can only be total: it must be against violence, gender inequality and against patriarchal society.

Millennials are not as committed to charity as the generations before them. Millennials have also been proven very difficult to attract, which is problematic since Millennials are the future donors’ charity organizations must depend on. The purpose of this study is therefore to identify possible patterns, relationships and opportunities that would make Millennials donate to charity. The study presents the current situation of charity on the Swedish market, which follows by an introduction for how non-profit promote themselves and do their marketing. This leads to the research question: How should charity organizations promote themselves to get Millennials to become loyal? This study applies a qualitative research strategy. The primary data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with five representatives from five different charity organizations. All five organizations work with international projects.   The result shows that the five organizations have knowledge about how to market to attract and engage Millennials, but they do not apply this knowledge. The result presents four paradoxes. We consider that the perception of these paradoxes, as well as responding to them, determines the charity organizations outcomes and overall ability to attract Millennials. The result also shows that to engage with Millennials and create long-lasting relationships, charity organizations marketing must be innovative, cool, and creative with repetitive messages. Charity organizations also must use the communication channels that Millennials engage with. The result has given rise to the "Interactional Model for Targeting Millennials", which is built on 11 key factors that charity organizations must apply to establish, develop and maintain a relationship with Millennials.

Comprendre le mode d’existence de l’organisation est certainement l’un des plus grands défis que se sont donnés les chercheurs qui s’intéressent à ce domaine d’étude. La littérature nous présente ainsi plusieurs images, métaphores et perspectives qui, combinées, dressent un portrait hybride de ce type de collectif. Je propose, dans cette thèse, de reconnaître et exploiter ce caractère hybride de l’organisation en partant d’une réflexion centrée sur l'espace. En m’inspirant particulièrement des travaux de la géographe Doreen Massey (1999, 2005), le concept d'espace auquel je souscris est celui d’un espace ouvert et dynamique (qui incorpore le temps), basé sur une relationalité matérielle et hétérogène, supposant des acteurs humains et non humains en interaction. L'espace peut donc être compris comme la coexistence d’ontologies hétérogènes, ce que Massey (2005) nomme une coexistence de trajectoires comme stories-so-far. Il s’agit ici d’une vision performative de l’espace organisationnel qui est constitué dans la relation de trajectoires distinctes qui coexistent, se rencontrent, s’affectent, entrent en conflit ou coopèrent (Massey, 1999). Je postule que pour assurer une certaine continuité et cohérence dans la coexistence de trajectoires hétérogènes, un travail d’alignement et d’ordonnancement est mis à l’oeuvre, et ce, par le suivi d’une trajectoire principale — ce que je nomme une trajectoire scriptée. Suivre cette trajectoire permet ainsi à l’organisation de s’étendre, de se rendre présente dans le temps et dans l’espace, sans pour autant perdre son identité : to be here and there at the same time, now and then at the same place. À partir de cette définition de l’espace, je propose d’« espacer l’organisation », et plus particulièrement d’« espacer » Explora, un programme d’éducation non formelle du gouvernement du Chili visant la diffusion et la valorisation de la science et de la technologie. Cette proposition est double : elle renvoie aux pratiques d’espacements — des pratiques hybrides, collectives et situées — des agents organisationnels (dans ce cas, aux pratiques des agents d’Explora impliqués dans l’organisation d’un projet, celui de la Semaine de la science 2006),mais aussi à une pratique de recherche. « Espacer l’organisation » veut donc dire déployer ces espaces pleins, déplier l’organisation, accroître la série des simultanéités-successions pour ainsi créer plus d’espace-temps. / To understand the organization’s mode of being is certainly one of the most important challenges faced by researchers who are interested in this field of study. The literature presents several images, metaphors and perspectives which, combined, draw up a hybrid portrait of this type of collective. In this dissertation, I propose to recognize and exploit this hybrid character by starting from a reflection on space. Inspired especially by the work of the geographer Doreen Massey (1999, 2005), the concept of space to which I subscribe is that of an open and dynamic space (which incorporates time), based on a material and heterogeneous relationality, which supposes human and nonhuman actors in interaction. Space can thus be understood as the coexistence of heterogeneous ontologies, what Massey (2005) calls a “coexistence of trajectories as stories-so-far”. It is then a performative vision of organizational space which is constructed through the relation of distinct trajectories that coexist, meet, affect each other, enter in conflict or cooperate (Massey, 1999). I argue that to guarantee a certain form of continuity and coherence in the coexistence of heterogeneous trajectories, a work of alignment and ordering is put at work, and this, by the following-up of a main trajectory — what I call a scripted trajectory. By following this trajectory the organization can then extend itself, making itself present in time and space, without loosing its identity: it can be “here and there at the same time, now and then at the same place.” Starting from this definition of space, I propose to “space the organization,” and more specifically to “space” Explora, a non formal educational program of the Chilean government, which aims to diffuse and promote science and technology. Spacing an organization implies a double proposal: it refers to the spacing practices — hybrid, collective and situated practices — enacted by organizational agents (in this case, Explora’s agents implicated in the organization of a project, that of the Science week 2006), but also to a research practice. “Spacing the organization” consists of deploying these full spaces, unfolding the organization, and increasing the series of simultaneities-successions in order to create more space-time.

This thesis examines how men and women as co-interactants in management meetings use various interactional mechanisms to play out their roles and identities, as they position their ideas in a particular way for intended meaning and effect. The study aims to demonstrate how a particular approach to the examination of naturalistic data, gathered through the use of a case study design, based on recordings and supported by a number of ethnographic strategies can, when examined and informed by conversation analysis, pragmatics and more indirectly critical discourse analysis, generate further insights into the semantic and pragmatic meanings of utterances. The study focuses on four companies in postcolonial Zimbabwe, where the entry of women into senior management positions has changed the complexion of most organisations, but men continue to be the fundamental power brokers in the corporate workplace, which remains a site of social struggle where language, power and gender are important variables. This study finds that while perceptions of power may not vary significantly between men and women, how they use language to play out this power in meetings is of significance. The study suggests that gender-linked communication styles are reflected in management of talk in areas of influence, such as the corporate boardroom. It also shows that men and women, irrespective of their levels of position power or perceived power, present themselves in meetings in different ways, possibly due to gender-role socialisation processes. Apart from generating some new insights regarding theory and research methodology, and describing and interpreting male-female interaction in an under-researched domain (management meetings in a Zimbabwean corporate setting at a time of major socio-economic transformation), it is hoped that this study will also be of value at an applicational level: serving for instance to support applied linguistic goals such as the development of Language for Specific Purposes courses; and conscientising corporate citizens, in particular, to be more accommodating about, and appreciative of differences in communication styles that may be gender-based. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D.Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)