This thesis is about the growth and sustainability of a systemic consultancy that for more than ten years has experienced continuous growth and development. It sets out to describe the kind of distinctive dialogical relational practices (Shotter, 2006, 2008) that enables the conditions for a continuous creation of novel and innovative practices which has been expressed into an ever growing and mutating practice both within the community but also in relation to clients. It is argued that it is the distinctive systemic way of being irreverent towards one's own practice; that is privileging curiosity over certainty (Cecchin, 1987), imagination over inference (Rorty, 1989, 1991a), that is perhaps the most specific difference between systemic theory-practitioners and other ways of consulting. Through cases these ideas are described from within the experiences of those participating offering unique expressions of how this difference is lived in a day-to-day conduct. The treatment of these episodes leads to the hypothesis that innovative practices become a 'way of being' in the world rather than a special feature applied on practice which means that it is not only something we do it is also how we see ourselves grow and develop as individuals as well as a community. How this is expressed into client relationships is explored through two cases of innovative consultancy. The thesis is also a self-reflexive portrait described through neo-pragmatic ideas as found in Rorty's (1980, 1989, 1991a, 1991b, 1999) writing. This project is providing a tension within the project of developing the thesis re-viewing my previous systemic vocabulary through the use of new words and metaphors, through which the reader is invited into an extension of the idea of 'irreverence' with Rorty's writing on irony and redescription. During the course of this project a portrait of the kind of leadership practice that facilitates a relationally dialogical way of being in an organisation is described, which serves as a kind of self portrait. The research methods applied is best captured by the notion of participant research (Lindlof, 1995. Wadel, 1991), which entails using a series of data such as interviews, on the spot observations, written material, post episode reflections and participant dialogues in relation to the different meanings an episode can have. All the data used is discussed and related to the theoretical project within the thesis.

Buddhist forms of “ethical advice”—instructions that address life’s problems and offer methods for alleviating them—are widespread in Buddhist literary history. This dissertation studies four such works, all written by the nineteenth-century Tibetan teacher Dza Patrul Rinpoche (Rdza dpal sprul O rgyan 'jigs med chos kyi dbang po, 1808-1877). I provide a rhetorical analysis of these compositions and endeavor to show how each aspires to reach outside of itself to act on its respective audience. The compositions do so, I argue, by deploying special literary devices that encourage their audiences to invest themselves, emotionally and imaginatively, in the practices of self-development that the works themselves advocate. The aim of the project is to use Patrul’s writing as a case study to suggest modes of analysis that can offer us insight into the ways in which specially designed modes of writing enable moral self-cultivation. The dissertation specifically addresses the relationship between the recurring themes of singularity, performativity and reflexivity as they appear in Patrul’s advice writings. I argue that these compositions employ discursive devices that play on their audience’s feelings and expectations, aspiring to generate affective responses that range from utter hopelessness to profound relief. They employ expositional strategies designed to compel their audiences to imagine familiar practices anew. Finally, their performative character calls attention to the status of Patrul, the model author, as a singularly capable and skillful teacher. The reflexive nature of Patrul’s works thereby serves to provoke the implied audience’s imagination about “Patrul” the heroically talented teacher. These self-reflexive writings also act as devices for Patrul’s own self-transformation. They are sites of imagination, opportunities for Patrul to enact a self-creation via the medium of advice writing. Patrul’s compositions not only aspire to work on their audience. They, in and of themselves, constitute transformative work for Patrul.

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Following is a study of fathers 'experiences of balance between work and home life. The method the researchers used was based on qualitative interviews aimed at describing father’s own experiences and values, which affects them. The researchers chose to specifically study situations where the fathers were faced with situations where their children needed to be cared for in the home because of a cold or similar illness since this is a situation that directly affects the time that was meant for work, but now risk being moved to areas of life that the researchers define as home life. This is to see whether the respondents felt that this situation affected the balance between work- and home life. The result shows that there are many values of masculinity and fatherhood that influence the respondents when they create their identities. It is those values that come into conflict, as different roles floats into other areas of life, which results in an imbalance between work- and home life. This means that fathers experience distress as they try to compensate by working from home or at other times. It also creates a conflict in ideal gender-equal relationships in which men and women in theory, try to act on values of gender-equality but in practice, solve these situation based on traditional gender patterns.

There is a need to explore how Indigenous knowledge(s) relates to Anishinaabe ongoing resilience. I do this by telling the story of my home and privileging Anishinaabe Gikeedaasiwin, which means Anishinaabe knowledge. This study investigates socio-cultural knowledge(s) of the Lake Nipigon and Lake Superior region in Northern Ontario by using storytelling as a culturally specific research method. A multi-layered reflexivity approach combined with grounded theory act as the basis for a discussion of Anishinaabe ontology and epistemology. The sociology of knowledge provides the framework for critiques of modernist hegemonic knowledge. This study offers a nuanced view of Anishinaabe ways of knowing by considering Anishinaabe writers Patrick McGuire Sr. and Norval Morriseau. Arising from these stories are conceptual thematic understandings which included: The land and relationships to the land are foundational. Eshkakimikwe Giikeedaasiwin – Relational understandings and this is land based knowledge; The relationship between land, spirit and the Anishinaabe - Kiimiingona manda Giikeedaasiwin are part of the original instructions given to the Anishinaabe: There are multiple realities which are accessible by physical and spiritual means. Manidoo Waabiwin – seeing in a spirit way and Kiimiingona manda Giikeedaasiwin are part of the original instructions given to the Anishinaabe are evident; There are cycles of life and the land is sustaining to people. Muskiki Aki means medicine land which provides life; Anishinaabe values of responsibility and obligation are recognized. Gnawaaminjigewin is the responsibility to look, to see, to witness; There is a need to maintain and continue relationships in the world. Bzindamowin is learning by listening and the relational practice of a good life, Mino Bimaadiziwin; and Anishinaabe values relating to transformation, renewal, reciprocity and sharing to maintain life. Manitou Minjimendamowin means spirit memory, teachings on how to live life and Bzindamowin, that is learning by listening, is reflected. This study argued that exploring the survival and resurgence of Anishinaabe knowledge(s) can set different directions for the social renewal and transformation of Anishinaabe societies. This is an important understanding in any future development and social change, and especially resource development directly involving the land.

This thesis deals with Martin Heideggers critique of the Cartesian problem of scepticism in Being and Time. In addition to the critique itself, Heideggers position with regards to the sense and task of phenomenological research, as well as fundamental ontology, is discussed as a necessary underpinning of his critique. Finally, the objection to Heideggers critique that is raised by Charles Guignon in his book, Heidegger and the Problem of Knowledge, (namely, that it suffers from the problem of reflexivity) is evaluated.

This thesis is a study of Italian women’s sensual embodiment in leisure and tourism experiences (involving beautifying in the city and tanning at the beach) in, and around, the city of Rome. The central link in this thesis connects the field of tourism studies with social cultural theories of the ‘body’, placing this research within the most recent theoretical debates on the body. It is argued that in everyday life people take their bodies for granted, yet the body is absolutely crucial to the way we engage with the world and the people around us. Through analysing Italian women’s embodiment, this thesis seeks to gain in-depth understanding of Italian society and more particularly women’s position in society, thereby positioning the field of tourism studies as a means for analysing people’s quotidian cultural habits. Embracing the critical paradigm, this thesis takes a reflexive and embodied approach to research, challenging the all-pervasive hegemonic dominance of positivist, masculinist Western academic approaches. Through post feminist lenses, auto ethnography, in-depth interviewing and document analysis were used to carry out the field work, with the central aim of capturing and contextualising Italian women’s voices and embodiment. This research shows Italian society to be strongly patriarchal, reflecting gender inequity and inequality. Women are dominated in discourse (politics, senior management and television shows being predominantly male), pressured into family roles, and objectified in society through the media and the male gaze. Paradoxically, women are empowered through choosing to reproduce patriarchal values of beauty and objectification (the power of the agency), and to embody these in a sensual and sensuous way, thereby reversing power relations in their favour. Aiming to understand Italian society through exploring women’s sensual embodiment, this thesis contributes to a broader understanding of the gendered construction of social identity, and of patriarchy and power relations, from a woman’s perspective. It contributes to gender and body studies in the tourism field through bringing these separate fields together, through exploring the power of agency in embodiment, and through the critical research approach to the body.

Hepatitis C is known as the ??silent epidemic??. Globally 170 million people live with chronic hepatitis C, yet it receives little policy, media or public attention. In developed countries the blood-borne virus is primarily transmitted through illicit drug injecting practices, aiding its silenced and stigmatised status. In this thesis I uncover some of these silences by exploring the narratives of forty people living with hepatitis C in New Zealand and Australia. My status as a person living with hepatitis C informed all aspects of this research project; I therefore also include my own experiences, foregrounding researcher reflexivity and the co-constructed nature of the interview process. My aims are both practical and theoretical. On a practical level I explore the experiences of people living with hepatitis C in order to inform recommendations for policy, research and practice, while also working to elucidate and employ an approach that allows for an analysis of the ill body as a lived experiencing agent, located in a substantive web of connections whereby discourse, corporeality and sociality, inform and mediate one another. To this end I employ a ??political phenomenology?? influenced by phenomenological and poststructuralist theoretical approaches. The central, previously under-researched, issues that arose in participants?? narratives structure the chapter outline, with results chapters focusing on participants?? experiences of diagnosis, living with hepatitis C, stigma, support group membership, alcohol use, and hepatitis C treatment. For many participants, it was found that living with hepatitis C was a liminal experience where distinctions between what it was to be healthy or ill were not clear-cut. Indeed, many of the participants?? narratives exposed the inadequacy of Western binary categorisations to speak to their experiences of living with hepatitis C. Throughout this thesis it can be seen that the meanings that participants ascribed to health, illness, and their hepatitis C were fluid and contextual, informed by the interplay of corporeality and discourse. From this interplay comes the ability to speak into the gaps of dominant discourses, creating the potential for the disruption, or subtle realignment, of normative ways of knowing.

Hepatitis C is known as the ??silent epidemic??. Globally 170 million people live with chronic hepatitis C, yet it receives little policy, media or public attention. In developed countries the blood-borne virus is primarily transmitted through illicit drug injecting practices, aiding its silenced and stigmatised status. In this thesis I uncover some of these silences by exploring the narratives of forty people living with hepatitis C in New Zealand and Australia. My status as a person living with hepatitis C informed all aspects of this research project; I therefore also include my own experiences, foregrounding researcher reflexivity and the co-constructed nature of the interview process. My aims are both practical and theoretical. On a practical level I explore the experiences of people living with hepatitis C in order to inform recommendations for policy, research and practice, while also working to elucidate and employ an approach that allows for an analysis of the ill body as a lived experiencing agent, located in a substantive web of connections whereby discourse, corporeality and sociality, inform and mediate one another. To this end I employ a ??political phenomenology?? influenced by phenomenological and poststructuralist theoretical approaches. The central, previously under-researched, issues that arose in participants?? narratives structure the chapter outline, with results chapters focusing on participants?? experiences of diagnosis, living with hepatitis C, stigma, support group membership, alcohol use, and hepatitis C treatment. For many participants, it was found that living with hepatitis C was a liminal experience where distinctions between what it was to be healthy or ill were not clear-cut. Indeed, many of the participants?? narratives exposed the inadequacy of Western binary categorisations to speak to their experiences of living with hepatitis C. Throughout this thesis it can be seen that the meanings that participants ascribed to health, illness, and their hepatitis C were fluid and contextual, informed by the interplay of corporeality and discourse. From this interplay comes the ability to speak into the gaps of dominant discourses, creating the potential for the disruption, or subtle realignment, of normative ways of knowing.