<p>ABSTRACT</p><p>Liljestrand, Johan (2002): Klassrummet som diskussionsarena. (The classroom as an arena for discussions)</p><p>The aim of the dissertation is to study whole class discussions in the Swedish upper secondary school, concerning issues subjected to controversy in the public debate. The empirical study is related to a wider question: the possibilities for the school to educate democratic citizens. </p><p>By using discourse analysis,14 videotaped lessons from social- and religious studies where analysed, with the ambition to investigate recurrent patterns of participation and meaning making. Five teachers and six classes participated in the study.</p><p>The analysis shows that the teachers have two concurrent goals: to focus on the students’ contributions on issues in the public debate, and introduce the students to different questions in the public debate. A consequence of these goals is that the role of the teacher often becomes complex. By acting on the basis of having responsibility for the students’ development of knowledge, and sometimes also calling attention to certain values, the teacher attempts to guide the students as not yet ready for the public debate. Features from other kinds of teacher-centred education are thereby present in the discussions. However, students can also act as more autonomous participants in relation to the teacher. When they are not answering the teacher’s questions in an expected way, and in particular, in situations in which they are interacting with each other, the students may discuss the public issues without being teacher-guided to the same extent as in other situations. </p><p>The last chapter concludes that the authority of the teacher is partly given by the official steering-documents. It is still possible to ask if the guiding role of the teacher itself could be subjected to discussion. This suggestion is made from the point that teacher authority is considered as more or less limited for developing a critical attitude among the students. One may also ask if the students’ could be offered possibilities to choose the topic for discussion themselves. This latter point is made against the background that classroom-discussion presupposes student’s viewpoints in order to be accomplished. </p><p>Key words: discussion, democracy, public issues, education, participation, meaning making.</p>

Rural communities, often called outports, throughout Newfoundland are currently experiencing important socio-economic changes. External forces, such as the ever-growing oil industry in Alberta and provincial planning based upon centralization, are undoubtedly reconfiguring the life and future of people living in small, isolated outports. For many of them, tourism has become a way to secure their present and future by exploiting their rich historical and natural heritage. A highly successful example of a tourism oriented endeavor in rural Newfoundland is the Viking settlement at L’Anse aux Meadow in the Northern Peninsula. White Harbour is a small community on the Baie Verte Peninsula of Newfoundland and is used here as an example in a study attempting to understand the reasons behind the lack of tourism-related initiatives, particularly on the part of women. White Harbour has it all: an important archeological site, a museum, rich history, traditions, and a wonderful natural setting. Women in White Harbour, most of them aged 30–60, stay home and do not seasonally migrate to Alberta as many men do. They perfectly understand the potentiality of their place but most do not attempt any tourist-related entrepreneurship. As the study will reveal, there are many, often contrasting reasons why women do not become entrepreneurs. These reasons, which may be personal, cultural, or economic are very different in character and constitute a complex web that often discourages women from starting small businesses like coffee shops, art galleries, or bed and breakfasts. This study aims to uncover some of these difficulties and offers a unique opportunity to reflect upon them. The findings are discussed in light of the latest works on rural communities, women, tourism, and globalization.

The perception of pets as ‘family members’ is an important area of research in the study of human-animal relationships. The objective of this thesis is to assess the ways in which pets are integrated into the home, and to explore how pet owners regard their dogs and cats within their constructed circles of kinship and social bonds. This research also examines a sample of attitudes toward some important issues with pet keeping, from what constitutes responsible pet guardianship to modern issues in animal welfare. Thirty-four participants were recruited, and data was collected through individual qualitative interviews. Data analysis shows the level of integration of the pet into the family has some correlations with the gender of the primary pet caretaker, and shows the impact of individual experiences of participants, particularly in childhood, which strongly influenced preferences of pet type, and their view of the role of animals in the home.

Rural communities, often called outports, throughout Newfoundland are currently experiencing important socio-economic changes. External forces, such as the ever-growing oil industry in Alberta and provincial planning based upon centralization, are undoubtedly reconfiguring the life and future of people living in small, isolated outports. For many of them, tourism has become a way to secure their present and future by exploiting their rich historical and natural heritage. A highly successful example of a tourism oriented endeavor in rural Newfoundland is the Viking settlement at L’Anse aux Meadow in the Northern Peninsula. White Harbour is a small community on the Baie Verte Peninsula of Newfoundland and is used here as an example in a study attempting to understand the reasons behind the lack of tourism-related initiatives, particularly on the part of women. White Harbour has it all: an important archeological site, a museum, rich history, traditions, and a wonderful natural setting. Women in White Harbour, most of them aged 30–60, stay home and do not seasonally migrate to Alberta as many men do. They perfectly understand the potentiality of their place but most do not attempt any tourist-related entrepreneurship. As the study will reveal, there are many, often contrasting reasons why women do not become entrepreneurs. These reasons, which may be personal, cultural, or economic are very different in character and constitute a complex web that often discourages women from starting small businesses like coffee shops, art galleries, or bed and breakfasts. This study aims to uncover some of these difficulties and offers a unique opportunity to reflect upon them. The findings are discussed in light of the latest works on rural communities, women, tourism, and globalization.

The perception of pets as ‘family members’ is an important area of research in the study of human-animal relationships. The objective of this thesis is to assess the ways in which pets are integrated into the home, and to explore how pet owners regard their dogs and cats within their constructed circles of kinship and social bonds. This research also examines a sample of attitudes toward some important issues with pet keeping, from what constitutes responsible pet guardianship to modern issues in animal welfare. Thirty-four participants were recruited, and data was collected through individual qualitative interviews. Data analysis shows the level of integration of the pet into the family has some correlations with the gender of the primary pet caretaker, and shows the impact of individual experiences of participants, particularly in childhood, which strongly influenced preferences of pet type, and their view of the role of animals in the home.

The representation of Balinese people and culture within scholarship throughout the 20th century and into the most recent 21st century studies is examined. Important questions are considered, such as: What major themes can be found within the literature?; Which scholars have most influenced the discourse?; How has Bali been presented within undergraduate anthropology textbooks, which scholars have been considered; and how have the Balinese been affected by scholarly representation? Consideration is also given to scholars who are Balinese and doing their own research on Bali, an area that has not received much attention. The results of this study indicate that notions of Balinese culture and identity have been largely constructed by “Outsiders”: 14th-19th century European traders and early theorists; Dutch colonizers; other Indonesians; and first and second wave twentieth century scholars, including, to a large degree, anthropologists. Notions of Balinese culture, and of culture itself, have been vigorously critiqued and deconstructed to such an extent that is difficult to determine whether or not the issue of what it is that constitutes Balinese culture has conclusively been answered.

The representation of Balinese people and culture within scholarship throughout the 20th century and into the most recent 21st century studies is examined. Important questions are considered, such as: What major themes can be found within the literature?; Which scholars have most influenced the discourse?; How has Bali been presented within undergraduate anthropology textbooks, which scholars have been considered; and how have the Balinese been affected by scholarly representation? Consideration is also given to scholars who are Balinese and doing their own research on Bali, an area that has not received much attention. The results of this study indicate that notions of Balinese culture and identity have been largely constructed by “Outsiders”: 14th-19th century European traders and early theorists; Dutch colonizers; other Indonesians; and first and second wave twentieth century scholars, including, to a large degree, anthropologists. Notions of Balinese culture, and of culture itself, have been vigorously critiqued and deconstructed to such an extent that is difficult to determine whether or not the issue of what it is that constitutes Balinese culture has conclusively been answered.

(The classroom as an arena for discussions) The aim of the dissertation is to study whole class discussions in the Swedish upper secondary school, concerning issues subjected to controversy in the public debate. The empirical study is related to a wider question: the possibilities for the school to educate democratic citizens. By using discourse analysis,14 videotaped lessons from social- and religious studies where analysed, with the ambition to investigate recurrent patterns of participation and meaning making. Five teachers and six classes participated in the study. The analysis shows that the teachers have two concurrent goals: to focus on the students’ contributions on issues in the public debate, and introduce the students to different questions in the public debate. A consequence of these goals is that the role of the teacher often becomes complex. By acting on the basis of having responsibility for the students’ development of knowledge, and sometimes also calling attention to certain values, the teacher attempts to guide the students as not yet ready for the public debate. Features from other kinds of teacher-centred education are thereby present in the discussions. However, students can also act as more autonomous participants in relation to the teacher. When they are not answering the teacher’s questions in an expected way, and in particular, in situations in which they are interacting with each other, the students may discuss the public issues without being teacher-guided to the same extent as in other situations. The last chapter concludes that the authority of the teacher is partly given by the official steering-documents. It is still possible to ask if the guiding role of the teacher itself could be subjected to discussion. This suggestion is made from the point that teacher authority is considered as more or less limited for developing a critical attitude among the students. One may also ask if the students’ could be offered possibilities to choose the topic for discussion themselves. This latter point is made against the background that classroom-discussion presupposes student’s viewpoints in order to be accomplished.

The repatriation of Aboriginal human remains is still a debated issue in some forums. However, among many Canadian museums and other institutions, repatriation of ancestral remains is no longer a debate. It has become part of an obligation institutions have to ‘decolonize’ their collections. While the question concerning whether repatriation is ‘the right thing to do’ has been recognized in most North American museums, trying to decide the best method to return the remains is still undecided. In examining how perceptions of human remains have changed in the Anglo-European, Haida and Ojibway cultures, an explanation of the importance of repatriation emerges. This thesis analyses how changes in perception have impacted the acceptance of repatriation among museums and other institutions and produced a discourse concerned with returning all Aboriginal remains back to Native communities. By analysing the experiences and opinions of 14 stakeholders in repatriation (collected during in-person and telephone conversations as well as open-ended questionnaires) I was able to garner a general opinion on the status of repatriation in Canada. It was found that the current method Canadian institutions employ to repatriate Aboriginal human remains adequately addresses the issue. Flaws are found in all methods of repatriation; however, presently, negotiations based on mediation and not litigation produce more valuable consultation relationships, more cooperation between institutions and Native groups, and a more beneficial repatriation experience.

In a great deal of social scientific literature on gender, female impersonators have been framed as the example par excellence of crossgendering and crossdressing behaviour in the West. Perceived rather dichotomously as either gender transgressive or reinforcing of hegemonic gender norms, female impersonators occupy a very central position within the emerging fields of gay and lesbian, transgendered, and queer studies. Certain schools of feminist thought, dating back to the mid to late 1970s have framed female impersonators as misogynistic gay men who appropriate female bodies and a “feminine” gender from biological women. These theories argue that female impersonators utilize highly stereotypical and overly sexualized images of the feminine, in order to gain power, prestige, and status within the queer community. This study challenges popular feminist perspectives on drag, first on a theoretical level, utilizing advances in contemporary queer theory and secondly on an ethnographic level, based on a year long field study which involved both participant observation and unstructured interviews with several female impersonators and nightclub patrons at a local queeroriented nightclub in a city in southern Ontario, Canada. Aiming to understand the degree to which performers identified with the normative femininity they performed, this study argues for a more complex understanding of what motivates individuals to become drag queens, one that incorporates female impersonators unique subjective understandings of their own gender identities. Overall, this study calls for a more holistic perspective on female impersonation, which does not limit itself to any one theoretical model of drag.