This thesis attempts to illustrate how texts engage in a struggle to define social reality. The academic and political debate on the drone provides a case study illustrating pro-drone, anti-drone and drone-deconstructivist text´s attempt to define social reality around the drone. Through this exploration the thesis contests the positivist notion that reality is fixed and can be discovered. The thesis utilizes IR poststructuralism as a theoretical guideline and engages with a range of poststructuralist concepts and sub-theories identified in previous research. Methodologically, the thesis conducts a qualitative content analysis on three journal articles, two speeches and two chapters of a report. Moreover, the thesis conducts a discourse analysis to contextualize findings and provide in-depth analysis of examples. The thesis presents and analyzes findings in accordance with the categories identified in coding, highlights an example through discourse analysis and links findings to the research question concerned with texts struggle to define social reality. The thesis concludes by arguing that the drone-debate is a “battlespace” for defining social reality, thus contesting the positivist notion that social reality is fixed.

Through a critical analysis of ten Swedish parliamentary debates, this thesis investigates how Swedish naturalization is conceptualized by the Moderates, the Sweden Democrats, and the Social Democrats, which represent Swedish political elites and the broader category of Swedish political discourse. These conceptualizations are deduced through a systematic analysis which operationalizes concepts of support for multiculturalism, representations of citizenship, functions of naturalization, the lightening vs. strengthening trend in naturalization policy, and otherness. Furthermore, by applying a postructural constructivist perspective and conducting discourse analysis using the text dimension and discourse production dimension of Fairclough’s three dimensional model, this thesis contributes a modern contextualization of Swedish naturalization that future researchers can build upon in the rapidly developing area of Swedish naturalization. The value of this research is tied to the poststructural perspective that the production of discourse by political elites reflects and generates contextual meanings that have influence over naturalization decisions and policy.

Women in the Theological Anthropology of the Afrikaans Reformed Tradition This dissertation examines women in the theological anthropology of the Afrikaans Reformed Churches. The study is set out as follows: In Chapter 1, a survey of methodology is presented. The exposition of the question about the theological anthropology is done against a poststructural background. Both structuralism and poststructuralism largely put aside existentialism as an inadequate methodology. Chapter 2 aims to give an overview of the contribution of Michel Foucault. The chapter begins with a discussion of structuralism. This brief overview is then followed by a classification and investigation of the basic aspects of Foucault's approach. The chapter highlights Foucault's rootedness in poststructuralism. Chapter 3 attempts to explain silence of women in the theological anthropology of Dutch Reformed Church. The central aim of Chapter 3 is to demonstrate, against the development of the women ministries and the discourse about the ordination of women, that the Dutch Reformed Church theological anthropology is deeply influenced by the discursive practices developed during 1928-1932. Chapter 4 gives an overview of the developments in the theological anthropology of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church, Dutch Reformed Church of Africa and the Uniting Reformed Church of Southern Africa that took place from 1924 until 2002. Different approaches to the women question developed in the course of time. At the heart of the discourse is the shift in the reading process. The developments in the feminist standpoint theory as such led to this displacement. In Chapter 5 the deconstruction of the theological anthropology are being discussed. Preference is given in this chapter to the concept partnership or transformative relations. In the concluding chapter [Chapter 6], a poststructural feminist discourse is presented. Selected guidelines that the church may wish to take into account in the deconstructing of the theological anthropology are suggested. In the future, the frame of reference to the women question would likely be poststructural. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

Women in the Theological Anthropology of the Afrikaans Reformed Tradition This dissertation examines women in the theological anthropology of the Afrikaans Reformed Churches. The study is set out as follows: In Chapter 1, a survey of methodology is presented. The exposition of the question about the theological anthropology is done against a poststructural background. Both structuralism and poststructuralism largely put aside existentialism as an inadequate methodology. Chapter 2 aims to give an overview of the contribution of Michel Foucault. The chapter begins with a discussion of structuralism. This brief overview is then followed by a classification and investigation of the basic aspects of Foucault's approach. The chapter highlights Foucault's rootedness in poststructuralism. Chapter 3 attempts to explain silence of women in the theological anthropology of Dutch Reformed Church. The central aim of Chapter 3 is to demonstrate, against the development of the women ministries and the discourse about the ordination of women, that the Dutch Reformed Church theological anthropology is deeply influenced by the discursive practices developed during 1928-1932. Chapter 4 gives an overview of the developments in the theological anthropology of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church, Dutch Reformed Church of Africa and the Uniting Reformed Church of Southern Africa that took place from 1924 until 2002. Different approaches to the women question developed in the course of time. At the heart of the discourse is the shift in the reading process. The developments in the feminist standpoint theory as such led to this displacement. In Chapter 5 the deconstruction of the theological anthropology are being discussed. Preference is given in this chapter to the concept partnership or transformative relations. In the concluding chapter [Chapter 6], a poststructural feminist discourse is presented. Selected guidelines that the church may wish to take into account in the deconstructing of the theological anthropology are suggested. In the future, the frame of reference to the women question would likely be poststructural. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

This study applies a poststructural discourse analysis developed by Carol Bacchi, called the WPR-approach, on Japanese ageing society-related policy. It utilises Foucauldian ideas about how policy creates rather than discovers ‘problems’ through representation, and what effects this can have. The purpose of the study is to analyse how the problems around women and immigration are represented in Japanese policy, if this representation has been affected by the ageing society, and what effects it may have on the people and politics of the country. The results show that both women and immigrants are mainly represented as resources for economic growth. Policy proposals show signs of having been affected by the ageing society, but the representation in the policies indicate that underlying social ideas about gender and immigration are not addressed. A conclusion is drawn that this focus may result in a lack of politics which tackle harmful traditional gender norms and xenophobia.

This thesis describes and analyses the politics of the Australian DIY anarcha-punk scene and the ethos of the culture's participants. Eschewing the orthodox sub-cultural approach which situates 'punk' within a structuralist hegemony / resistance paradigm, the thesis uses participant observation and textual analysis techniques to understand the role played by zines (hand made publications) in fostering the intellectual and ethical capacities needed to participate in the Australian DIY anarcha-punk scene. The zines, in their deviation from classical anarchism, often invoke concepts of power and 'the political' analogous with those of poststructuralist theory, yet DIY anarchist politics also diverge from poststructuralism. I therefore address DIY anarchist politics by questioning the significance of these inconsistencies with Theory. In doing so I am led to suggest that the zines may be more usefully approached as elements in the ethico-political practice of DIY anarchism, which nonetheless draws on the 'conceptual vocabulary' of much poststructuralism, as well as other theoretical approaches. Thus I re-describe DIY anarchism as an ethos which seeks to argue for its agendas and values on non-foundational terms. Further, I demonstrate that by pursuing an ethos of 'autonomy', the culture's participants seek to develop their intellectual and ethical capacities through a self-consciously 'developmental' engagement of power relationships, in the form of DIY 'prefiguration' or exemplification. Following the preoccupation with gender politics in the zines and the wider scenes, I describe the approach to gender politics in similarly ethico-political terms, drawing likewise on various elements of poststructuralist and other theories. I show this feminist ethical practice to be based on assumptions about gender which embody a certain poststructuralist approach to 'gender', one that is predicated on the material effects of a discursively congealed gender structure, but forms part of an ethos aiming to deconstruct this structure. By re-describing the political approaches of these zines in reference to various theoretical perspectives and ethico-political practices, I am able to offer perspectives to the culture in question, as well as to the interdisciplinary academic context within which I am writing.

Teachers play a pivotal role in the production of discourse on race relations in education, yet few studies have researched the impact of white teacher identity construction as a variable in the creation and maintenance of racial ideologies, particularly here in Canada. The majority of the current research done on racism in schools has produced data that points to the widespread denial of racism by the majority of white teachers and students, while parents, teachers and students of color acknowledge the pervasive role racism plays in their educational and social lives. While the focus on institutional and systemic racism is important, it sometimes denies the role individuals play in the reproduction of racism and in our ability to make change. For these reasons, it is critical to consider the identity constructions of white teachers, as these constructions will influence how we interpret and respond to existing racial inequalities in education. <p>This research will draw from poststructural theories of discourse analysis in order to analyze how white teacher identity constructions of innocence are reproduced in an education system where racial inequalities are pervasive and systemic. Discourse analysis and deconstruction are important in understanding the way our subjectivity as white teachers continues to be produced and maintained.<p>This study takes place in the Prairie region, where Aboriginal people have been produced as the racial Other historically. Using an open-ended questionnaire, in-service, and focus group method, this research study invites educators to narrate their own perceptions of racism in schools. The collection and analysis of this data begins to address the theoretical gap in academic knowledge on teacher perceptions of racism in education.

This master’s thesis focus on Dewey Decimal Classification during the period 1932 to 2011, where the classification of the psychological knowledge domain is analyzed and discussed. In the light of the recent swedish switch from the swedish classification system SAB to DDC, this research area deserves prominence. The aim of this study is to investigate how DDC represents the historical development of the psychology subject with its underlying epistemology, to identify and analyze values and prejudice, and to analyze problems with DDC’s classification of psychology in relation to three other classification systems. The theoretical framework consists of Birger Hjørland’s Domain Analysis and Critical Classification represented by Hope A. Olson among others. The results show that DDC is updating slowly in relation to subject developments, and that the multidisciplinary character of the psychological field causes problematic spreading of its disciplines in the system. These problems are to a certain degree due to the fact that DDC is a universal classification system, leading to the creation of compromise solutions, that are to a large degree avoided in specialized systems, like Birger Hjørland’s. Moreover, results show that the system’s choice of terms indicates certain values and prejudice occurring at certain times, thereby marking the system’s non objective character. The findings are also discussed in relation to postmodernism and poststructuralism, showing that the universal classification system DDC isn’t compatible with these viewpoints.

Teachers play a pivotal role in the production of discourse on race relations in education, yet few studies have researched the impact of white teacher identity construction as a variable in the creation and maintenance of racial ideologies, particularly here in Canada. The majority of the current research done on racism in schools has produced data that points to the widespread denial of racism by the majority of white teachers and students, while parents, teachers and students of color acknowledge the pervasive role racism plays in their educational and social lives. While the focus on institutional and systemic racism is important, it sometimes denies the role individuals play in the reproduction of racism and in our ability to make change. For these reasons, it is critical to consider the identity constructions of white teachers, as these constructions will influence how we interpret and respond to existing racial inequalities in education. <p>This research will draw from poststructural theories of discourse analysis in order to analyze how white teacher identity constructions of innocence are reproduced in an education system where racial inequalities are pervasive and systemic. Discourse analysis and deconstruction are important in understanding the way our subjectivity as white teachers continues to be produced and maintained.<p>This study takes place in the Prairie region, where Aboriginal people have been produced as the racial Other historically. Using an open-ended questionnaire, in-service, and focus group method, this research study invites educators to narrate their own perceptions of racism in schools. The collection and analysis of this data begins to address the theoretical gap in academic knowledge on teacher perceptions of racism in education.

Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 319-330).