In Germany, the Last Generation emerged as a new climate activist group at the end of 2021. The group is considered rather controversial due to their contested protest actions of for instance vandalizing artwork. This study examines the influence of their controversial protest actions on the online climate debate on Twitter, compared to actions of Fridays for Future Germany, which enjoy a less contested reputation. The three chosen activities per group were analyzed with the help of a case study approach using content and sentiment analysis. The analysis was then conducted based on the three following concepts: deliberation, on the one side, which fosters constructive debates, as well as communitarianism and liberal individualism, on the other side, which can foster polarization. The analysis revealed that polarization dominated the online climate debate generated by the posts of the two groups. As such, hostile attitudes, condescending language, as well as monologic statements fostered communitarianism and liberal individualism within the comment sections of the Twitter posts. Yet, also deliberation was visible, but to the greatest extend within the comment section of a non-controversial activity of Fridays for Future Germany. This, among others, led to the conclusion that the protest actions of activist groups do have an influence on the climate debate. As such, the controversial activities of both groups influenced the climate debate in so far as the debate shifted from the climate debate to the activity itself by for instance focusing on child protection instead of climate change/protection. This was supported by the use of negative sentiments expressed explicitly towards the action of the group(s).

This thesis investigates the resistance of actors of civil society against perceived militarism, by means of a qualitative case study. As the title suggests, the establishment of a “Cyber Valley” in Tübingen, has not only been met with approval by local citizens. This thesis examines a protest movement against the Cyber Valley – a cooperative research project for technological advancements in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The research reveals that this protest movement was not reliant on a firm organizational structure but was led by an open alliance of individuals, called the Bündnis gegen das Cyber Valley. The organizational approach resulted in various forms of civil resistance. The empirical research on these acts of resistance, adds a perspective for a more holistic approach. On their website (nocybervalley.de) the Bündnis gegen das Cyber Valley documented developments of the protests. These accounts constitute a large part of the written material this study is based on, complemented with semi-structured expert-interviews with four protesters. The interviews generated a conceptualization of militarism, as a driving motivation for the activists. Thereby, this study contributes to the contemporary definition of militarism in the context of civil resistance. The field of peace and conflict studies can benefit from this and similar studies in that they uncover conceptualizations of key conflicts, as perceived by actors of civil society.

Submitted by Oliveira Santos Dilzaná (dilznana@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-05-06T14:46:38Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE de Cleide Magali dos Santos.pdf: 4558894 bytes, checksum: b843633dd38586742d3f139018981ccc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Oliveira Santos Dilzaná (dilznana@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-05-11T13:32:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE de Cleide Magali dos Santos.pdf: 4558894 bytes, checksum: b843633dd38586742d3f139018981ccc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-11T13:32:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE de Cleide Magali dos Santos.pdf: 4558894 bytes, checksum: b843633dd38586742d3f139018981ccc (MD5) / Este trabalho trata da segurança pública no estado democrático de direito brasileiro, os estudos se concentram nos sentidos e significados que compõem as ações de manutenção da ordem pública nos momentos de protestos em espaços públicos. Em um recorte histórico mais detalhado, centra-se nos protestos protagonizados por jovens nos dez primeiros anos do século XXI, nas ruas de Salvador-Bahia. A tese defendida é que a repressão de ações coletivas de protestos por parte da policia militar não pode ser explicada exclusivamente pelo passado ditatorial (ainda com impactos na atuação das forças de segurança pública no país) como expressão de uma política de controle social, mas também como expressão de uma noção de ordem (e desordem) decorrente de julgamentos ideológicos pautados em estereótipos e preconceitos sobre a conduta (in)desejada de determinados indivíduos - julgamentos estes, constituídos pelo intercruzamento de variáveis relacionadas aos valores quanto às questões raciais/étnicas, geracionais, de classe e gênero. Valores socioculturais também expressos quando do uso do poder discricionário do policial para definição de quem, quando e como se provoca a des(ordem), na margem deixada pela Constituição Brasileira. Aqui, não se trata de desonerar (ou desculpabilizar) a estrutura ou uma instituição nela inserida para onerar indivíduos por “atos mal feitos”, antes, a questão é alcançar as variáveis e seus intercruzamentos nos momentos de ações e assim contribuir para reflexão sobre uso e abuso da força, ampliando a compreensão do fenômeno. Assim, a investigação enfrenta uma permanente tensão entre estrutura e situação, entre explicação de ordem estrutural e explicação de ordem situacional - de um lado, está o campo da segurança pública que expressa a própria estrutura com uma dinâmica mais resistente às mudanças sociais e, por outro lado, está o campo dos movimentos sociais, que expressa na maioria das vezes o questionamento das estruturas e organizações sociais e por isso são inovadores, indicadores de mudanças sociais e pulsadores da sociedade. Como tema que ainda carece de um campo próprio constituído, tomam-se como fluídas as fronteiras das disciplinais (ciência política, sociologia, antropologia, história, direito) e recorre-se às teorias e teóricos agregados em quatro grandes grupos não unanimes nas abordagens e visões, mas que orientaram a investigação, a saber: teorização sobre estado democrático de direito; teorização sobre o sistema cidadão de segurança pública no estado democrático de direito; teorização sobre a criminalização das ações coletivas de protestos em espaços públicos no estado democrático de direito e, por fim, a teorização sobre os ciclos de protestos. A pesquisa empírica adotou a abordagem metodológica qualitativa, analisando representações sociais, cujo acesso se deu através da captura de discursos oficiais apreendidos via documentos; discursos mediáticos e discursos dos próprios agentes policiais militares. This paper discusses public security of the democratic state in Brazil. Our studies focus on the senses and meanings of actions for the maintenance of law and order during protests in public spaces. At a certain historic moment, it focuses on the protests led by young people in the first years of the 21st century on the streets of Salvador-Bahia. We argue that the suppression of protests by the military police cannot be explained only by the dictatorial past (it still presents impacts on the actions of the public security of our country) as expression of a policy of social control, but also as expression of a notion of order (or disorder) that results from ideological judgments based on stereotypes and prejudices about (not) desired conduct of some individuals – judgments that are based on the mixing of variables related to values of racial/ethnic, generational, class and gender. Sociocultural values are also expressed by the use of arbitrary power by the police for definition of who, when and how to provoke (dis)order, according to the margin left by the Brazilian Constitution. It is not a about exonerating (or excusing) the structure or an institution to be a burden on individuals for “bad behaviors”. The question is to achieve the variables and their interbreeding in times of action, contributing to the reflection on use and misuse of force in a way we can understand the phenomenon. Thus, the investigation faces a permanent tension between the structure and the situation, between the explanation of the structural order and the explanation of the situational order – on one hand there is the public security, which expresses its own structure according to a more resistant dynamics to social changes, and on the other hand there are the social movements, which usually expresses the questioning of structures and social organizations, and therefore they are innovative, indicators of social changes and motivators of society. Being a theme which needs a proper field, it is possible to see the shared borders among disciplines like political science, sociology, anthropology, history, law, and we use theories and authors from four large groups which do not share the same approaches and visions, but which are the base of our investigation: theorization of the democratic state; theorization of the citizen system of public security in the democratic state; theorization of criminalization of collective actions of protests in public spaces in the democratic state; and theorization of the protests cycles. Our empirical search is based on a qualitative methodology, and we analyze social representations through the capture of official discourses from documents, media discourses and military discourses.

Formal state-controlled education has been a central element for social development in South Africa since the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. The establishment and promotion of a culture of learning and teaching is regarded as a pre-condition for high educational standards. This thesis is a study of the role of the state in the establishment of a culture of learning and teaching in South Africa from 1910 to 2004. To understand the role that the state played in promoting, or inhibiting, a culture of learning and teaching, a historical review was taken of the state's role in formal schooling in the period of the Union (1910-1947), the era of apartheid (1948-1989), the transitional period (1990-1994) and in the era of the democratic South Africa. As an ideal, the state has a responsibility to ensure the establishment of a culture of learning and teaching. The historical review revealed, however, that the state used its policies to promote political rather than educational ideologies - and in the process, there was a complete breakdown in a culture of learning and teaching. The establishment and promotion of a culture of learning and teaching towards the maintenance of high academic standards in South African state schools was the motivating force behind this study. Therefore, this study concludes with guidelines and recommendations grounded in the historical review that will hopefully promote a culture of learning and teaching in South African schools in future. / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (History of Education)

Formal state-controlled education has been a central element for social development in South Africa since the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. The establishment and promotion of a culture of learning and teaching is regarded as a pre-condition for high educational standards. This thesis is a study of the role of the state in the establishment of a culture of learning and teaching in South Africa from 1910 to 2004. To understand the role that the state played in promoting, or inhibiting, a culture of learning and teaching, a historical review was taken of the state's role in formal schooling in the period of the Union (1910-1947), the era of apartheid (1948-1989), the transitional period (1990-1994) and in the era of the democratic South Africa. As an ideal, the state has a responsibility to ensure the establishment of a culture of learning and teaching. The historical review revealed, however, that the state used its policies to promote political rather than educational ideologies - and in the process, there was a complete breakdown in a culture of learning and teaching. The establishment and promotion of a culture of learning and teaching towards the maintenance of high academic standards in South African state schools was the motivating force behind this study. Therefore, this study concludes with guidelines and recommendations grounded in the historical review that will hopefully promote a culture of learning and teaching in South African schools in future. / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (History of Education)