This thesis interrogates the question ‘how does a local poet achieve connections in a context defined by difference?’ The creative practice section offers a collection of poetry written within given contexts, from specific places and emerging out of collaboration, commission and participative practice. Each project offers the difference anticipated by the research question. Therefore the context from which the poem emerged is made explicit to further support the argument. A local poet achieves connections in a context constituted by difference by using her imaginative capacities to produce virtual and emergent, yet real, material space. In Chapter One I define the creative process as that of ‘Local Poetics’ via a discussion of Heaney’s use of the term local poet and New-Materialist thought. I offer close readings of poems by Norman Nicholson, Adrian Henri and Barry MacSweeney to describe how the poem is a ‘local solution to a local problem’ and I present the history of participatory writing in Liverpool in relation to my own experience to support this idea. Chapter Two offers ‘case studies’ of my creative writing process to argue for ‘local poem as more than words’. The local poem emerges from multiple influences not all of them linguistic. In Chapter Three I extend this idea to consider how a local poet writes with their context not about it making poetry with the agency and affordances of materials. I conclude that connections are achieved by the local poet when multiple material trajectories acting on the sensate body become imaginative thought. In the process those material energies are transformed. Through intimate connection with an audience or reader the material process continues. I describe this activity as the work of the local poet.

Based on two university libraries which represents the academic disciplines humanities and applied arts and design, this bachelor thesis examines how their respective collections of zines are handled in terms of preservation and availability. Furthermore, this bachelor thesis emphasises – by the help of Derrida’s and Cvetkovich’s theories of the archive, Bryant’s ontological realism, Frow’s literary frame and Plate’s new material turn – the need to broaden the view of zines as a physical artefact, and the meaning-bearing properties objects can have in and of itself. By the means of semi-structured interviews with librarians, complete with observations of the collections, this bachelor thesis also examines how different views and definitions of zines can have a substantial influence of how they are handled. This bachelor thesis also suggests that libraries need to take the inherent properties of zines – such as their socialfunctions – into consideration when planning on how to treat their collections.

In a world with an ever-changing economic landscape, the concept of financial stability can function as a buffer against the negative effects financial crises have on consumers' well-being and finances. Parallel to this, researchers are pushing marketers to move away from traditional marketing and instead focus on psychological well-being (PWB) and mindful consumption since this will grow efforts towards sustainability. Studies suggest that mindless consumption leads to financial stress, debt, and decreased well-being. Therefore, it is suggested that mindful consumption has a positive relationship with PWB and financial stability. However, there is currently a gap in the theoretical understanding regarding the impact of mindful consumption on PWB. The purpose of this thesis is to study the relationship between mindful consumption and PWB with a particular focus on how financial stability can explain this relationship. Drawing on a comprehensive review of existing literature, the following research questions were developed: RQ1: “How do the dimensions of mindful consumption (awareness, caring, and temperance) affect psychological well-being?” RQ2: “To what extent does financial stability contribute to the connection between the dimensionsof mindful consumption and psychological well-being?” This study uses a deductive approach with a quantitative internet survey strategy. The study had a total of 218 responses where the findings suggest that financial stability does not function as a bridge or link between mindful consumption and PWB. However, it was found that mindful consumption positively influences both financial stability and psychological well-being. / I en värld med ett ständigt föränderligt ekonomiskt landskap kan begreppet finansiell stabilitet fungera som en buffert mot de negativa effekter finansiella kriser har på konsumenternas välbefinnande och ekonomi. Parallellt med detta driver forskare marknadsförare att gå bort från traditionell marknadsföring och istället fokusera på psykologiskt välbefinnande (PWB) och medveten konsumtion eftersom detta kommer att öka ansträngningarna mot hållbarhet. Studier tyder på att tanklös konsumtion leder till ekonomisk stress, skuldsättning och minskat välbefinnande. Därför föreslås det att medveten konsumtion har ett positivt samband med PWB och finansiell stabilitet. Emellertid finns det för närvarande en lucka i den teoretiska förståelsen angående effekten av medveten konsumtion på PWB. Syftet med denna avhandling är att studera sambandet mellan medveten konsumtion och PWB med särskilt fokus på hur finansiell stabilitet kan förklara detta samband. Med utgångspunkt i en omfattande genomgång av befintlig litteratur utvecklades följande forskningsfrågor: RQ1: "Hur påverkar dimensionerna av medveten konsumtion (medvetenhet, omtanke ochnykterhet) det psykiska välbefinnandet?" RQ2: "I vilken utsträckning bidrar finansiell stabilitet till sambandet mellan dimensionerna avmedveten konsumtion och psykiskt välbefinnande?" Denna studie använder en deduktiv metod med en kvantitativ internetundersökningsstrategi. Studien hade totalt 218 svar där resultaten tyder på att finansiell stabilitet inte fungerar som en bro eller länk mellan medveten konsumtion och PWB. Däremot visade det sig att medveten konsumtion har en positiv påverkan på både finansiell stabilitet och psykiskt välbefinnande.