O tema da cultura organizacional tem sido visivelmente aprofundado a partir de mudanças na sua base epistemológica (de um paradigma funcionalista para um interpretativista) e na utilização de diferentes perspectivas conceituais (de uma abordagem gerencial para uma simbólica) e metodológicas (de pesquisas quantitativas para qualitativas). Todavia, a despeito de todos esses avanços, o tema não tem acompanhado o desenvolvimento alcançado pelos estudos antropológicos que enfocam o corpo como modo de repensar a problemática cultural. É meu objetivo nesta tese, portanto, desvelar de que modo um enfoque no corpo humano propicia um melhor entendimento da noção de cultura organizacional, a partir de dois eixos teóricos que trabalham com a relação corpo-cultura: o ‘corpo artefato’ (corpo sócio-histórico-cultural) e o ‘embodiment’ (experiência cultural incorporada). Para realizar ambas as análises, parto de observações oriundas de uma etnografia organizacional junto a uma grande livraria de shopping center, a Livraria Cultura de Porto Alegre. O grupo de informantes privilegiado nessas análises foi a equipe de vendedores. Com base nesse material empírico e, primeiramente, com base em estudos da Antropologia do Corpo (capítulo 2), na primeira parte deste trabalho, analisei o corpo do trabalhador como um artefato organizacional que se singulariza por seu caráter dinâmico, sua hierarquização e sua dimensão política. A partir dessas análises, foi possível repensar o caráter de objeto inanimado e a pouca atenção que é oferecida para questões como classificação, hierarquização e dimensão política dos artefatos organizacionais. Na segunda parte (capítulo 3), aponto para a relação cultural pré-objetiva (pré-reflexiva) que trabalhadores estabelecem com as organizações e com os produtos que comercializam, ou seja, como a cultura organizacional é experienciada e incorporada. Para isso, parto de estudos da Filosofia e de Ciências Sociais e Humanas para buscar compreender como os estudos de embodiment possibilitam um novo modo de se conduzir metodologicamente as pesquisas de cultura organizacional e como incrementam sua conceituação. Levantei que o foco no embodiment desvela o papel ativo que o corpo tem na vida organizacional e permite uma melhor compreensão da dinâmica do conceito de cultura. / The theme of organizational culture has been visibly deepened – changing its epistemological base (from a Functionalist paradigm to an interpretative one) generating different conceptual (from a managerial to a symbolic approach) and methodological perspectives (from quantitative to qualitative researches). However, in spite of all these advances, the theme has not been following the development reached by anthropological studies, which focus the body as a form of representing the culture. Therefore, it is my aim in this thesis to unveil in what way the focus on the human body propitiates a better understanding of the notion of organizational culture, starting from two theoretical orientations which work with the relation body-culture: the ‘body artifact’ (socio-historiccultural body) and the ‘embodiment’. In order to perform both analyses, I begin with observations resulting from an organizational ethnography in a great bookstore of shopping center, Livraria Cultura de Porto Alegre. The group of informers who have been privileged to participate in these analyses was the team of shop assistants. Based on this empirical material and, firstly, on studies of The Anthropology of Body (chapter two), I analyzed the body of the worker as an organizational artifact which is singularized by their dynamic feature, hierarchization, and political dimension. Based on these analyses, it was possible to reconsider the feature of inanimate object and the little attention that is offered to questions like classification, hierarchization, and political dimension of organizational artifacts. In the second part (chapter three), I indicate the pre-objective cultural relation (pre-reflexive) that the workers establish with the organizations and the products they commercialize, that is, the embodiment of organizational culture. Hence, I start from studies of Philosophy, Social, and Human Sciences to understand how studies of embodiment enable a new form of conducting methodologically researches about organizational culture and how they develop their conceptualization. I indicate that the focus on embodiment unveil the active role the body has in the organizational life and allows a better understanding of the dynamics of cultural concept.

The aim of this diploma thesis is a comparative analysis of the image of a forsaken child in the stories written by a popular English writer Neil Gaiman. The survey of a forsaken child in the Gothic, Romantic and Victorian literature (Walpole, Radcliffe, Blake, Dickens, the Brontë sisters) precedes the interpretation. In addition, this diploma thesis considers the separation of the young hero from his family and friends in traditional fairy tales. In this respect, the thesis discusses the role of transitional rituals and their links to the theme of the test in adventurous literature (Gennep, Bachtin). The first, theoretical chapters point out the fact that the transition to a new existence (adulthood) is often accompanied by horror elements or the nearness of death in the adventurous stories. The novel Coraline is a basis for the literary analysis. The psychological characteristic of the main heroine and her family is linked to the function of home and the role of "the other mother" as a source of the Gothic atmosphere and danger. The following chapters analyse other Gaiman's works ("M is for Magic", The Graveyard Book, Odd and the Frost Giants, Fortunately, the Milk, The Ocean at the End of the Zone) in order to study the relations between the reality and dreams, violence and interpersonal relationships, and to describe the heroes' search for the individual identity.

<p>Marriage is an institution found in every society, culture or religion in the world. The Catholic Church has maintained most of her seven Sacraments including that of marriage. The Church of Sweden, an established Evangelical Lutheran faith, born out of the 16^th century Reformation has two Sacraments excluding marriage. This field study was carried out in Gävle, Sweden in spring 2009. A comparative study of marriage in the Catholic Church and the Church of Sweden and the reason each church alludes to based on scripture and tradition was to help me, an African Catholic, understand differences between the respective churches and also understand why the Church of Sweden accepts same sex marriages. This was my motivation for writing this paper. I hope this paper will serve as a study guide to new people who come to Sweden from other cultures to enable them understand why the “Modus Operandi” regarding church marriage in Sweden is different from the church marriage in their native countries.</p>

The comparative experiences of the nineteenth-century British and American Army officer's wives add a central dimension to studies of empire. Sharing their husbands' sense of duty and mission, these women transferred, adopted, and adapted national values and customs, to fashion a new imperial sociability, influencing the course of empire by cutting across and restructuring gender, class, and racial borders. Stationed at isolated stations in British India and the American West, many officers' wives experienced homesickness and disorientation. They reimagined military architecture and connected into the military esprit de corps, to sketch a blueprint of female identity and purpose. On the physical journeys to join their husbands, and post arrival, the feminization of formal and informal military practices produced a new social reality and facilitated the development of an empowered sisterhood that sustained imperialist ambitions. This appropriation of symbols, processes, and rankings facilitated roles as social functionaries and ceremonial performers. Additionally, in utilizing dress, and home decor, military spouses drafted and projected an imperial identity that reflected, yet transformed upper and middle-class gender models. An examination of the social processes of calling and domestic rituals confirms the formation of a distinct and influential imperial female identity. The duty of protecting the social gateway to the imperial community, rested with a hostess?s ability to discriminate ? and convincingly reject parvenus. In focusing on the domestic site it becomes clear that the mistress-servant relationship both formulated and reproduced imperial ideologies. Within the home, the most intimate of inter-racial, inter-ethnic, and inter-class contact zones, the physiological trait of a white skin, and the exhibition of national artifacts signaled identity, status, and authority. Military spouses, then, generated social power as arbiters, promoters, and police officers of an imperial class, reaffirming internal confidence within the Anglo communities, and legitimizing external representations of the power and prestige of empire.

Marriage is an institution found in every society, culture or religion in the world. The Catholic Church has maintained most of her seven Sacraments including that of marriage. The Church of Sweden, an established Evangelical Lutheran faith, born out of the 16th century Reformation has two Sacraments excluding marriage. This field study was carried out in Gävle, Sweden in spring 2009. A comparative study of marriage in the Catholic Church and the Church of Sweden and the reason each church alludes to based on scripture and tradition was to help me, an African Catholic, understand differences between the respective churches and also understand why the Church of Sweden accepts same sex marriages. This was my motivation for writing this paper. I hope this paper will serve as a study guide to new people who come to Sweden from other cultures to enable them understand why the “Modus Operandi” regarding church marriage in Sweden is different from the church marriage in their native countries.

本論文探索從《道法海涵》中挑出的集中於王靈官道教醮抄本，兩抄本的書名皆是「靈官醮科」，一本源自於江西1861年或1921年，另一本源自於湖北木蘭1855年或1915年。江西的抄本是第一章節的中心點，進而追蹤抄本作者寫作參考的可能源始資料，包括道藏裡的節選；第二章節以兩抄本作為儀式內容與架構對比。本論文的目的是觀察以前沒研究的地方醮儀，因此擴展學術界對此在華人社會關鍵的儀式的概念。 關鍵字: 道教醮儀，靈官醮科，王靈官，江西，湖北，道法海涵 / This thesis explores two Daoist jiao ritual 道教醮儀 manuscripts from the Daofa haihan devoted to Numinous Officer Wang (Wang lingguan 王靈官). Both texts are titled “Jiao Liturgy for the Numinous Officer” (Lingguan jiaoke 靈官醮科), one originating in Jiangxi 江西 in 1861 or 1921 and the other from Mulan, Hubei 木蘭湖北 in 1855 or 1915. Chapter one focuses on the Jiangxi text and traces possible source material, including Daoist canonical selections, referenced to compose the ritual. Chapter two compares the ritual content and structure of the two ritual texts. The purpose of this thesis is to explore local jiao rituals in a setting previously unstudied, thus augmenting scholarly notions of this pivotal communal ritual Keywords: Daoist jiao rituals, “Jiao Liturgy for the Numinous Officer”, Numinous Officer Wang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Daofa haihan

This graduate report is a description of my artistic development through the graduate program at the University of Texas at Austin. It records my development and growth as an artist in relationship to the concepts, materials, and processes I have been investigating and exploring in the past three years. The graduate report focuses on three important concerns to which I’ve been dedicated. First, materials are imperative to my work. I physically collect and use my father’s ordinary objects and transform them with raw materials, such as clay, flour, honey, chocolate, beeswax, and petroleum jelly. The decision of choosing raw materials is based on my personal and cultural experiences. I am particularly interested in exploiting raw materials because I believe these raw materials can trigger a particular memory, place, or relationship that I want to preserve and remember. Second, my process of making involves ritualistic aspects with repetitive acts. I believe that everyday practices are a way of reconstructing relationships and remembering home. I am interested in embracing emotional attributes that may be simple activities: spraying a piece daily to keep it wet or sewing a personal object until it is impossible to sew. Finally, through the relationship among the objects, repeated actions, and an anticipation that evokes magical power and charged energy, I methodically transform objects. I do this to celebrate emotions and to preserve not only these personal objects but also my memories of home. / text

La solha (« réconciliation » en arabe) est une méthode de résolution de conflits millénaire provenant du milieu tribal proche oriental. Bien au delà du simple règlement de litige, cette réconciliation vise à rétablir l’harmonie au sein des tissus sociaux déchirés. Habilitée à traiter toutes sortes de conflits, de la simple forme pénale aux cas criminels les plus complexes (cycles de vengeances et de vendetta), la solha s’est adaptée à des milieux très différents. La cause principale de son efficacité semble être l’universalité de ses principes fondamentaux (le pardon, la nécessité d’une réinsertion sociale du coupable, la satisfaction des victimes, etc.) ainsi que l’adéquation de ses rituels de réconciliation aux mœurs des populations qui la pratiquent. Ce mémoire cherche à approfondir notre compréhension de cette approche traditionnelle afin d’enrichir nos connaissances et moyens en termes de résolution de conflits contemporains. A cette fin, seront isolés les éléments fondamentaux qui font l’efficacité de cette méthode. Ceux-ci constitueront un modèle théorique minimal de la solha qui permettra d’entamer, à ce stade de l’étude, une réflexion quant à la possibilité de transposer de tels acquis à des milieux d’interventions nouveaux. / The sulha (“reconciliation” in Arabic) is a thousand years old conflict resolution method used in the near east tribal world. Far beyond a simple mediation, its objective is a solid reconstruction of the destroyed social network. Habilitated to deal with all kinds of conflicts, from simple penal cases to long lasting vendettas, the sulha process has proven its usefulness in very different social milieu. The most evident reason for this success has been its dual composition: fundamental principles that seem universal (forgiveness, social reinsertion of the guilty, satisfaction of the victims, etc.) and adaptive rituals that fit into people’s customs. This thesis seeks to enrich our knowledge and means in terms of conflict resolution by trying to reveal the mechanisms that make this method so efficient. The main objective is to compose a basic theoretical model of the sulha that would open a reflection about the possibility of transposing this model to new intervention contexts. / Avant-propos: La résolution de conflits s’est installée dans les cursus universitaires comme une discipline à part entière sinon comme une orientation au sein de plusieurs sciences sociales. En effet, ce champ d’étude fait de plus en plus l’objet de réflexions en sciences politiques, en sociologie, en anthropologie, etc, et ce, de par l’interdisciplinarité des questionnements qui en relèvent. Toutefois, la dimension religieuse, souvent considérée comme source de conflits, est quasi inexistante lorsqu’il est question d’approches de résolution. Nous nous proposons donc d’examiner la solha, une pratique proche orientale au sein de laquelle le fait religieux est une composante essentielle à la réconciliation escomptée. Note concernant la translittération: Les termes provenant de l’arabe feront l’objet d’une translittération phonétique basée sur le français. Notez que les translittérations en langue française sont différentes de celle en langue anglaise. Par exemple, le terme solha trouvera son équivalent anglais dans le terme sulha (d’où la différence d’orthographe entre le contenu de cette étude et les citations qui proviennent d’articles anglophones). De plus, notez que le genre (féminin, masculin) des termes translittérés reprendra celui de la langue d’origine, l’arabe. Ainsi, solha sera féminin, jaha aussi, etc… Finalement, pour des raisons de clarté, les termes translittérés seront tous en italique dans le texte.

Countless millions of people in the world have little formally recognizable means for receiving any form of social justice. Laos, a small landlocked country in Southeast Asia, is a place that has seen some of the most brutal forms of poverty and violence. Over centuries, ethnic groups have been polarized and used by foreign powers to support their own agendas. In spite of this, the Lao people have consistently managed to recreate the peace and harmony that support their social relationships. Through the development and use of appropriate grassroots conflict resolution structures that do not require a formal court system, and exist outside the political arena, they have been able to resolve conflicts within and across cultural groups. Using in-depth interviews with different ethnic groups in Laos, this research examines traditional conflict resolution processes used in their communities. It identifies and discusses a Lao Conflict Resolution Spectrum, bringing particular attention to the Village Mediation Committee (Neoy Gai Geer). Laos' unique and most recognized conflict resolution ceremonies and rituals,the baci ceremony (soukhouan) and the reconciliation ceremony (soumma), are examined as tools for peacebuilding. These conflict resolution practices are significant in addressing conflict, repairing harm, rebuilding relationships, and restoring harmony to communities in conflict. The systems incorporate principles of effective conflict resolution, including transparency, accountability, inclusivity, flexibility, familiarity, accessibility, support networks, and relationship building. This research discovers how the conflict resolution systems of Laos are embedded in the fabric of grassroots life, and operate independently of the hierarchical structures that dominate governing institutions. It presents a case study of how people from a violent and impoverished past still manage to find ways to address their need for social justice and interconnectedness. The results provide greater understanding and appreciation of the contributions from diverse groups of people who are working daily to establish positive relationships, constructive and appropriate conflict resolution systems, and overall peace in their world. It demonstrates where peace can be found in difficult situations, among people who care little for political agenda and care a great deal about existing harmoniously with the people in their communities in order to mutually raise their quality of life.

Countless millions of people in the world have little formally recognizable means for receiving any form of social justice. Laos, a small landlocked country in Southeast Asia, is a place that has seen some of the most brutal forms of poverty and violence. Over centuries, ethnic groups have been polarized and used by foreign powers to support their own agendas. In spite of this, the Lao people have consistently managed to recreate the peace and harmony that support their social relationships. Through the development and use of appropriate grassroots conflict resolution structures that do not require a formal court system, and exist outside the political arena, they have been able to resolve conflicts within and across cultural groups. Using in-depth interviews with different ethnic groups in Laos, this research examines traditional conflict resolution processes used in their communities. It identifies and discusses a Lao Conflict Resolution Spectrum, bringing particular attention to the Village Mediation Committee (Neoy Gai Geer). Laos' unique and most recognized conflict resolution ceremonies and rituals,the baci ceremony (soukhouan) and the reconciliation ceremony (soumma), are examined as tools for peacebuilding. These conflict resolution practices are significant in addressing conflict, repairing harm, rebuilding relationships, and restoring harmony to communities in conflict. The systems incorporate principles of effective conflict resolution, including transparency, accountability, inclusivity, flexibility, familiarity, accessibility, support networks, and relationship building. This research discovers how the conflict resolution systems of Laos are embedded in the fabric of grassroots life, and operate independently of the hierarchical structures that dominate governing institutions. It presents a case study of how people from a violent and impoverished past still manage to find ways to address their need for social justice and interconnectedness. The results provide greater understanding and appreciation of the contributions from diverse groups of people who are working daily to establish positive relationships, constructive and appropriate conflict resolution systems, and overall peace in their world. It demonstrates where peace can be found in difficult situations, among people who care little for political agenda and care a great deal about existing harmoniously with the people in their communities in order to mutually raise their quality of life.