The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to examine queer aspects of the animated television show Steven Universe (2013-present), created by Rebecca Sugar and produced by Cartoon Network. Situating Steven Universe in the context of Cartoon Network and children’s animation in general, and drawing on queer theory, as well as feminist cultural studies and kinship studies, the thesis aims to contribute to understanding of non-normative family representation in children’s entertainment. Through a close reading of the material, the thesis explores how Steven Universe queers the notion of family. It focuses on the show’s depiction of kinship, temporality and reproduction, and examines how each of these aspects subverts reproduces different modes of normativity. In Steven Universe, the family of the main character, Steven, is depicted as socially unintelligible, and as a mixture of biological and chosen kinship, highlighting the importance of both. It places great emphasis on being accepted by one’s family and community, and I discuss how this message can be both empowering and undermining. Steven’s family mostly inhabits queer time and does not give in to chrononormative structures. However, I also explore and critically evaluate parts of the series in which queer temporality is provisionally replaced by chrononormativity and striving for maturity. Finally, Steven Universe queers reproduction, by defamiliarizing the notion of (hetero)sexual reproduction and providing other alternatives for reproduction and motherhood. In general, the depiction of family on Steven Universe is characterized by transgressing multiple dichotomies and by having a complex relationship to different modes of normativity, by both resisting them and engaging in them.

Thomas Hobbes está preocupado com as consequências do desacordo moral que, segundo ele, impedem as sociedades de viverem em paz, a qual é condição necessária para a garantia uma vida confortável a todos. Para apresentar uma solução a esse problema, o autor começa estudando a condição natural dos humanos, que, sem um poder soberano, vivem em condição de guerra. Depois de alcançar essa conclusão, Hobbes nos mostra como é possível constituir corretamente uma república. Apesar de apresentar o argumento do estado de natureza como sendo o ponto de partida para a instituição da soberania, ele está focado principalmente no seu significado para a estabilidade da república. Hobbes afirma, assim, estar consciente de que as pessoas sempre desejam viver juntas e de que elas têm vivido assim desde sempre. Seu principal interesse está, na verdade, em demonstrar como as pessoas podem viver juntas em paz ao longo do tempo. Hobbes mostra aos seus leitores que a paz só é possível quando os cidadãos conhecem as leis de natureza e estão corretamente motivados a segui-las. Essa tese tem dois objetivos principais: (i) discutir como Hobbes desenvolve sua teoria moral, e como ele conecta essa teoria à lei civil, e (ii) debater sua teoria sobre a natureza humana e a possibilidade de ensinar os cidadãos sobre a necessidade de obedecer ao soberano. Os principais tópicos discutidos e as contribuições que essa tese pode proporcionar estão relacionados à questão da normatividade das leis de natureza e ao impacto que ela pode ter no restante da teoria política de Hobbes, com particular destaque à relação, em uma república, entre moralidade e educação, pois a segunda motiva os cidadãos a seguirem a primeira. / Thomas Hobbes is concerned with the consequences of moral disagreement as, according to him, they prevent societies from living in peace, which is a necessary condition to guarantee a comfortable life to everyone. In order to present a solution to this problem, Hobbes starts studying the natural condition of humans, who, in the absence of a sovereign power, live in a state of war. After reaching this conclusion, Hobbes shows us how it is possible to correctly institute a commonwealth. Despite presenting the argument concerning the state of nature as a starting point to the institution of the sovereignty, he is focused mainly on the state of nature’s meaning to the stability of the commonwealth. Hobbes hence asserts that he is aware that people always desire to live together and have always lived like that. His main interest is actually to demonstrate how people can live together in peace over time. Hobbes shows his readers that peace is only possible when citizens know the laws of nature and are correctly motivated to follow them. This paper has two main aims (i) to discuss how Hobbes advances his moral theory and how he connects it to the civil law, and (ii) to reflect his theory about human nature and the possibility of teaching citizens about the need of obeying the sovereign. The main topics discussed and the contributions this paper may make concern the normativity of the laws of nature and the impact it may have on the rest of Hobbes’s political theory, with particular emphasis on the relation, in a commonwealth, between morality and education, as the latter motivates citizens to follow the former.

nÃo hà / Trata-se de estudo teÃrico acerca da normatividade caracterÃstica dos discursos que prescrevem o âbom comportamentoâ no trabalho. Amparado pelas discussÃes gadamerianas, parte-se do âpreconceito inicialâ, de que tais discursos sÃo passÃveis de uma crÃtica Ãtica. Os discursos que prescrevem jeitos de ser, sentir, falar e comportar-se no trabalho, sÃo primeiramente visados em textos informativos do cotidiano, presentes em um jornal e uma revista. Tais textos, apresentados de forma exemplificativa, funcionam como disparadores das questÃes centrais a serem enfrentadas pelo trabalho: seria possÃvel articular uma crÃtica de fundamentaÃÃo Ãtica a tais discursos? Em que eles seriam injustos? O recurso à crÃtica que se articula no campo psicossociolÃgico à o movimento inicial da pesquisa. Encontra-se um pensamento crÃtico articulado acerca da distÃncia dos discursos que âprescrevem autonomiaâ e que âobrigam a participarâ, por exemplo. Trata-se de um discurso paradoxal. Percebe-se o lugar de destaque da Teoria do Capital Humano como tecnologia de âautogestÃoâ, âinternalizaÃÃo do controleâ. Passa-se pela contextualizaÃÃo do discurso no campo mais amplo das transformaÃÃes sociais pelas quais passa a sociedade contemporÃnea lÃquida e suas inversÃes das responsabilidades pÃblicas e privadas. O discurso normativo do bom comportamento acompanha, ou vem acompanhado, das transformaÃÃes da sociedade privatizada, que cria o sujeito psicologizado. Enfrenta-se, por fim, o desafio de elaborar uma crÃtica que se faÃa notar como eminentemente Ãtica. A noÃÃo de subjetividade enquanto passividade frente ao Outro traz o Dizer Ãtico de LÃvinas ao dito do texto acadÃmico. O solo da Ãtica à o encontro face ao Outro, Ãnico Outro, desnecessidade de leis, de regras. Com a entrada em cena do Terceiro, sempre a partir de LÃvinas, tenta-se articular uma justiÃa que seja o equivalente social do apelo Ãtico da paridade eu-Outro. O julgamento Ãtico se faz necessÃrio com o Terceiro. Entram em cena as regras, as leis, o direito. O discurso prescritivo do âbom comportamentoâ no trabalho se revela como uma lei injusta sem Alteridade. O encurvamento do eu sobre si na autogestÃo do Capital Humano mostra-se como fechamento ao Estrangeiro. O preconceito inicial de que tais discursos sÃo passÃveis de uma crÃtica Ãtica parece legÃtimo. / This is a theoretical study on the normativity of speech which guides the âgood behaviorâ at work. Based on Gadamerian discussions, we start from the âinitial prejudiceâ, which states the speech is subject to a critical ethics. The speech which regulate the ways of being, feeling, speaking and behaving at work are primarily seen in daily informative texts, such as newspapers and magazines. Such texts, presented in a sample way, work as triggers of the main question to be faced at work: is it possible to articulate a critique of ethical basis to these kinds of speech? How fair would they be? The resource to the critiques articulated in the psycho-sociological field is the starting point of this research. An argumentative articulated thought about the distance between the speeches that âprescribe autonomyâ and the ones that âobligate participationâ, for example, could be found. It is about a paradoxical speech. We could also notice the importance of the Human Capital Theory as the âself-managementâ technology and âcontrol internalizationâ. We explore the speech contextualization in the large field of social transformations which the net contemporary society goes through and its inversions of public and private responsibilities. The normative speech of good behavior follows, or is followed by, the changings of the privatized society, which creates the psychologized subject. Lastly, we face the challenge of elaborating a critique which is eminently ethical. The notion of subjectivity as passivity before the Other brings LÃvinas‟ ethical saying to the academic text. The Ethics‟ soil stands for the meeting facing the Other, only Other, needless of rules and laws. With the Third coming in, always according to LÃvinas, it is articulated a justice which is the social equivalent of the ethical appeal about the me-Other parity. The ethical judgement is made with the Third. Then, the rules, laws and rights come into the scene. The prescriptive speech of âgood behaviorâ at work shows itself as an unfair law without Alterity. The self-curving over itself at the self-management of Human Capital is shown as the closing to the Other. The initial prejudice which state these kinds of speech are passive of an ethical critique seems rightful.

Abstract Loneliness is a negative, involuntary, subjective, relational and sociocultural experience. Due to the multidimensional nature of the experience, this topic calls for research that explores loneliness on multiple levels. Drawing from different disciplines of the human sciences and utilizing a mixed methods approach, this study aims at contributing new knowledge of young peoples’ loneliness and exploring its meaning over time. Data for the study was drawn from the population-based Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (NFBC1986) (N = 9,432). In three articles of the four included in this study, logistic regression analysis was used with samples of adolescents (aged 15–16; n = 5,817–7,014) who reported loneliness in the 2001–2002 adolescents’ questionnaire in order to explore what kind of associations loneliness has with different socioemotional, health, wellbeing and contextual factors. Girls reported loneliness more often than boys. Loneliness was associated with several adverse factors among adolescents, including deliberate self-harm, being bullied, dissatisfaction with life and feelings of unhappiness, sadness, and depression. School dislike was associated with loneliness only among girls. The findings from these quantitative articles and earlier loneliness theories informed the semi-structured interview guide utilized in data production for the fourth article. Qualitative data consisted of 35 interviews, conducted in 2013, selected from a sample of the same participants who reported being very lonely in the adolescents’ questionnaire. The study explored in what ways young adults (aged 27–28) described the experience of loneliness, how loneliness felt and what was the meaning of the experience over time. Based on qualitative, theory-guided content analysis, the experience of loneliness was described with five dimensions; Personal, Relational, Physical context, Life event and Sociocultural. The duration and intensity of loneliness fluctuated over the course of life and six loneliness trajectories were constructed from the data. (Hetero)gender(ed) norms and normativity had a central influence on the experience of loneliness. In this synopsis, the different types of findings were compared to explore their convergence or divergence. The findings mainly converged, providing a more comprehensive understanding of loneliness that would have not been possible had only one type of research approach been used. / Tiivistelmä Yksinäisyys on negatiivinen, ei-valittu, subjektiivinen, relationaalinen ja sosiokulttuurinen kokemus. Moniulotteista yksinäisyyttä onkin tärkeä tarkastella tieteenalojen rajoja ylittäen ja useita tutkimuksellisia lähestymistapoja yhdistäen. Tässä tutkimuksessa yksinäisyyttä lähestytään erilaisista ihmistieteellisistä lähtökohdista hyödyntämällä monimenetelmällistä lähestymistapaa Pohjois-Suomen syntymäkohortti 1986-aineistoon (N = 9 432) (NFBC1986). Tavoitteena on tuottaa uutta tietoa nuorten ihmisten yksinäisyydestä ja sen merkityksestä heidän elämässään. Tutkimukseen sisältyvästä neljästä artikkelista kolmessa olivat mukana ne 15–16-vuotiaat nuoret (n = 5 817–7 014), jotka vastasivat yksinäisyyttä mittaavaan kysymykseen nuorten kyselylomakkeessa vuonna 2001–2002. Artikkeleissa tutkittiin yksinäisyyden yhteyttä erilaisiin sosioemotionaalisiin, kontekstuaalisiin sekä terveys- ja hyvinvointimuuttujiin logistisella regressioanalyysillä. Tytöt kokivat yksinäisyyttä poikia useammin. Nuorten yksinäisyys oli yhteydessä useisiin negatiivisiin tekijöihin, kuten onnettomuuden, surun ja masentuneisuuden tunteisiin, kiusatuksi tulemiseen, elämään tyytymättömyyteen, itsensä tahalliseen vahingoittamiseen ja tyttöjen osalta myös koulusta ei-pitämiseen. Neljännen artikkelin aineistontuotannossa käytetty haastattelurunko muodostettiin edellä mainittujen artikkeleiden tulosten ja aiemman teoreettisen ymmärryksen pohjalta. Aineisto koostuu vuonna 2013 tehdyistä teemahaastatteluista, joihin osallistui 35 nuorta aikuista (27–28-vuotiaita), jotka ilmoittivat nuorten kyselylomakkeessa vuonna 2001–2002 olevansa erittäin yksinäisiä. Tässä artikkelissa tarkasteltiin, miten haastateltavat kuvasivat yksinäisyyden kokemustaan, miltä yksinäisyys tuntui ja mikä oli yksinäisyyden merkitys heidän elämänkulussaan. Laadullisen teoriaohjaavan sisällönanalyysin perusteella nimettiin viisi keskeistä yksinäisyyden ulottuvuutta sekä kuusi yksinäisyyden muotoutumista ja muuttumista kuvaavaa kehityskaarta. (Hetero)sukupuolittuneiden normien ja normatiivisuuden vaikutus oli keskeinen yksinäisyyden kokemisessa. Tässä yhteenveto-osiossa määrällisiä ja laadullisia tuloksia tarkasteltiin rinnakkain ja vertailtiin tulosten yhteneväisyyksiä ja eroja. Tulokset olivat pääosin yhteneväisiä. Monimenetelmällinen tutkimus tuotti monitasoista tietoa nuorten yksinäisyydestä, mitä ei olisi saatu vain yhtä lähestymistapaa hyödyntäen.

Le constat est aujourd’hui unanime. Le principe de légalité criminelle est affaibli par les évolutions du droit. En effet, la loi pénale n’est plus l’unique source du droit pénal, sa qualité est en déclin et le juge joue désormais un rôle incontestable en droit pénal. Ces évolutions sont ancrées dans le droit pénal, dont elles sont des paramètres. Il est impossible de revenir en arrière afin de retrouver un droit pénal conforme au principe de légalité criminelle, tel que proclamé par les révolutionnaires de 1789. Il convient alors de le faire évoluer. Ainsi, ces paramètres ont en commun d’être à l’origine de la norme pénale. Contrairement à la loi pénale, la norme pénale intègre toutes les évolutions du droit pénal. Cette norme pénale est au cœur du droit pénal dont elle en est la source. Le principe de légalité criminelle n’est donc plus configuré autour de la loi pénale, mais autour de la norme pénale. Par conséquent, il convient de parler de principe de normativité criminelle. Cette reconfiguration est ainsi la solution face à un principe de légalité criminelle et une loi pénale en déclin. Elle permet de garantir la protection des droits et liberté individuelle tout en tenant compte des évolutions du droit. Il convient dès lors d’affirmer « qu’il n’y a pas d’infraction sans norme pénale ». / The consensus today is unanimous. The principle of criminal legality has been weakened by developments in law. Statute law is no longer the sole source of criminal law ; its influence is declining and judges will play an indisputable role in criminal law. These developments are rooted in criminal law, of which they are parameters. It is impossible to find a criminal law in history that conforms to the principle of criminal legality such as that proclaimed by the revolutionaries of 1789. It is therefore appropriate that it should evolve. Therefore, these parameters are together the origin of the criminal standard. Contrary to statute law, this standard integrates all developments in common law. This standard is at the core of the common law for which it is the source. The principle of criminal legality is therefore no longer configured with reference to statute law but the criminal standard. As a consequence, we should speak of the principle of the standardisation of criminal law. This reconfiguration is therefore the solution to a principle of criminal legality and a statute law in decline. It allows for the guaranteed protection of individual rights and liberties taking into account developments of law. From now on, it shoudl be affirmed « that there is no crime without the criminal standard ».

Bakgrund: Det råder en heteronorm i samhället och forskning visar att HBTQI-personer är utsatta för våld, diskriminering och fördomar i samhället. Forskning visar även att det råder bristande kunskap om HBTQI-personers hälsa inom hälso- och sjukvården. HBTQI-personer har sämre hälsa jämfört med övriga befolkningen, både gällande psykisk och somatisk hälsa. Arbetet inom hälso- och sjukvården skall utgå från en värdegrund som beskriver att alla människor har lika värde och personcentrerad vård förespråkas.  Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva HBTQI-personers upplevelser av hälso- och sjukvården.  Metod: En litteraturöversikt har genomförts för att besvara syftet. Elva kvalitativa vetenskapliga artiklar som hämtades från databaserna CINAHL Complete och PubMed har kritiskt granskats enligt Fribergs metod. Resultat: Resultatet presenteras under tre teman, Normer och normativitet, Hälso- och sjukvårdspersonalens attityder och Hälso- och sjukvårdspersonalens kunskapsnivå. Slutsats: Litteraturöversikten visar att HBTQI-personer upplever att hälso- och sjukvårdspersonalens attityd är avgörande för hur mötet med vården upplevs. Negativa upplevelser av vården i form av dåligt bemötande eller bristfällig vård eller rädsla för ett negativt bemötande har i vissa fall medfört att vård undviks vilket kan medföra sämre hälsa. En inkluderande attityd kan överbrygga eventuell kunskapsbrist och olika normativa antaganden och därmed leda till en mer positiv upplevelse av mötet med vården. / Background: There is a heteronorm in society and research shows that LGBTQI-persons are exposed to violence, discrimination and prejudice in society. Research also shows that there is a lack of knowledge about the health of LGBTQI-persons in health care. LGBTQI-persons have poorer health compared to the rest of the population, both in terms of mental and somatic health. The work in health care must be based on a set of values that describes that all people have equal value and person-centered care is advocated. Aim: The aim was to describe LGBTQI- person's experiences of healthcare. Method: A literature review has been conducted to answer the aim. Eleven qualitative scientific articles retrieved from the databases CINAHL Complete and PubMed have been critically reviewed according to Fribergs method.  Results: The results are presented under three themes, Norms and normativity, Healthcare provider’s attitudes and Healthcare provider’s level of knowledge.  Conclusion: The literature review shows that LGBTQI-persons feel that the attitude of the health care providers is decisive for how the encounter with healthcare is experienced. Negative experiences of healthcare in the form of poor treatment or inadequate care or fear of a negative treatment have in some cases led to healthcare being avoided, which can lead to poorer health. An inclusive attitude can bridge any lack of knowledge and various normative assumptions and thus lead to a more positive experience of encountering healthcare.

The thesis deals with the normative discourse of transsexuality, both from a general cultural- historical perspective in the context of Western science and medicine and more specifically in the context of Czech sexology. On a detailed analysis of the publication Transsexualita: Diagnostika a léčba (Transsexuality: Diagnostics and Treatment), I illustrate the currently dominant conceptualization of transgender and/or transsexuality as a disorder, which, due to its normative influence, predetermines not only the possibilities of (self)identification available to trans* people in the Czech Republic, but also their treatment by Czech society and state institutions (e.g. in the conditions to be met for legal gender recognition, which still include compulsory sterilization). Methodologically, the thesis is chiefly grounded in discourse analysis, but it also shows an ethical standpoint in relation to the situation of Czech trans* people in the legal and medical systems. I also consider the factual dimension of transgender status and other expressions of gender diversity, primarily in maintaining a critical distance from the notions of their alleged pathology, still widespread in the normative sexological discourse. Keywords Biology, discourse, ethics, human rights, intersex, normativity, pathologization,...

Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit dem Wesen normativer Gründe – d.h. mit Gründen, die für oder gegen etwas sprechen (und somit für die Frage relevant sind, was jemand alles in allem tun sollte). Die einschlägige Forschungsliteratur unterscheidet dabei zwischen praktischen Gründen, die sich auf Handlungen und handlungsleitende Einstellungen (wie Wünsche oder Absichten) beziehen, und epistemischen Gründen, die sich auf doxastische Einstellungen wie z.B. Überzeugungen beziehen. Die zentrale Frage dieser Dissertation lautet: Welche Implikationen ergeben sich aus einer plausiblen Theorie epistemischer Gründe für die Frage, ob – und wenn ja, in welchem Sinne – praktische Gründe existieren? Die Dissertation leistet damit einen Beitrag zu einer einheitlichen Theorie normativer Gründe. Vertreten werden zwei zentrale Thesen: Erstens, der sogenannte Konstitutivismus – demzufolge normative Tatsachen letztlich durch deskriptive Tatsachen über das Wesen von Akteurschaft erklärbar sind – liefert eine überzeugende Theorie epistemischer Gründe. Zweitens, die Wahrheit des epistemischen Konstitutivismus impliziert, dass in Bezug auf praktische Gründe entweder eine Irrtumstheorie oder der praktische Konstitutivismus gilt – mit anderen Worten, dass praktische Gründe konstitutivistisch erklärbar sein müssen, sofern diese überhaupt existieren. Aus diesen beiden Thesen folgt unmittelbar, dass eine der gegenwärtig populärsten Theorien in der philosophischen Debatte über Normativität, der sogenannte Quietismus – demzufolge normative Gründe zwar existieren, ihre Existenz aber prinzipiell nicht gehaltvoll erklärbar ist –, falsch sein muss. Darüber hinaus liefert die Arbeit einen konstruktiven Vorschlag, wie der praktische Konstitutivismus (insbesondere mit Blick auf moralische Gründe) unter Verweis auf die soziale Natur von Akteurschaft entwickelt und gegen eine Irrtumstheorie verteidigt werden kann. / This thesis is about the nature of normative reasons – i.e., reasons that count in favor of or against something (and thus bear on the question of what one ought to do, all things considered). The extant literature distinguishes between practical reasons, which concern actions and action-guiding attitudes (like desires or intentions), and epistemic reasons, which concern doxastic attitudes like beliefs. The central question of this thesis is: How does a plausible theory of epistemic reasons constrain answers to the question of whether – and if so, in what sense – there are practical reasons? It is thus a contribution to a unified theory of normative reasons. I argue for two central claims: First, a so-called constitutivist view, according to which normative facts are ultimately explicable in terms of descriptive facts about the nature of agency, provides a plausible theory of epistemic reasons. Second, the truth of epistemic constitutivism entails that, regarding practical reasons, either an error theory or practical constitutivism is true – in other words, that practical reasons must be explicable in constitutivist terms, if there are practical reasons at all. It follows from these two claims that quietism – one of the currently most popular views about practical normativity, according to which normative reasons exist, but are not explicable in any meaningful way – must be false. Moreover, this thesis offers a constructive proposal for fleshing out a version of practical constitutivism (specifically with respect to moral reasons) and considers how it can be defended against the error theory.

This master’s thesis deals with international climate agreements and their legitimacy, using the Paris Agreement and the Kyoto Protocol as examples. The thesis examines sociological legitimacy as a possible reason for implementation deficiencies of international climate agreements. Sociological legitimacy of an international agreement, as defined by Bernstein (2005), is hinged on a normative consensus among the international community adopting the agreement in question. In order to determine the degree of sociological legitimacy in the illustrative cases, a critical discourse analysis is employed as a method to identify and sort the explicit and implicit norms of the agreements according to various and contrasting sustainability discourses. This analysis allows for an assessment of the internal consistency of the norms in each case, ultimately leading to conclusions about the extent to which sociological legitimacy is present or not. The results show that neither of the two cases portray an internally consistent application of norms, and therefore lack sociological legitimacy. Further research into the sustainability norms in a given nation or society is needed for determining the external sociological legitimacy of both agreements, thus providing a final conclusion.

This project delves into the role of American churches, notably the United Methodist Church (UMC), in perpetuating a segregation mindset and normalizing whiteness. The UMC's efforts toward a beloved community, exemplified by the Cross-Racial/Cross-Cultural (CR/CC) appointment, are scrutinized, emphasizing the need to confront racial and cultural challenges to prevent erasure, silencing, and assimilation by underscoring the importance of recognizing and addressing these issues for collective well-being, encapsulated in the principles of honoring, communication, and integration. Introducing the concept of re(de)fined and rethought Christian Conferencing, the project emphasizes the integration and honoring of diverse narratives, particularly through the Transformative Community Conferencing framework. Based on a narrative mediation approach, this framework seeks to challenge the pervasiveness of white cultural norms within the UMC, promoting collaboration between predominantly white congregations and clergy from non-white backgrounds. The project explores the transformative potential of this framework, stressing the importance of active engagement and concrete actions for genuine transformation in local UMC congregations, with a case study at Pound Ridge Community Church.