Este estudo teve como objetivo entender os modos de uso de computadores por diferentes membros das camadas sociais médias na cidade de São Paulo, em um momento histórico de aumento do consumo das classes menos privilegiadas. Levando-se em conta a teoria dos campos de Bourdieu, a hipótese central deste estudo é a de que os diferentes modos de uso dos computadores são originados a partir da distribuição desigual dos capitais econômico e cultural entre membros dos diferentes grupos sociais pesquisados. Através da etnografia dos usos, foi possível observar e comparar diversos modos de uso do computador e da internet que colaboram com a hipótese central. Esta pesquisa apresenta as barreiras que a desigualdade digital impõe às classes menos privilegiadas assim como também apresenta algumas estratégias de superação dessas barreiras que essas classes adotam. / This research aimed to understand the different ways in which members of the middle classes in Sao Paulo City have been using computers. The timing of this study is particularly special as it took place in a period when the consumption power of the unprivileged classes was gaining momentum. Based on the Bourdieus fields theory, the main hyphotesis of this dissertation is that the different ways in which computers have been used stem from the unequal distribution of both economic and cultural types of capital among the members of the social groups analyzed. Having the ethnography of use as the main approach for the data collection procedures, it was possible to identify and compare different ways to use computers and the internet that corroborate the main hyphotesis. This study features the barriers that the digital inequality imposes to the unprivileged classes and the strategies those classes use to overcome such barriers.

Nous avons souhaité accompagner des populations d’Afrique subsaharienne en France, sur une démarche de santé communautaire, afin d’agir sur les inégalités de santé. Ce travail permet une mesure des effets et conséquences sur le comportement de promotion de la santé sous l’angle des rapports interculturels. Cette démarche repose sur une méthodologie exploratoire constituée à la fois d’outils de recherche en psychologique, de protocoles d’intervention en santé publique et d’une problématique psycho-sociale d’interculturalité. Les évolutions de comportement en faveur d’actions de promotion de la santé sont liées de manière significative à cette démarche qui allie focus groupe et application de la théorie du comportement planifié (TCP). Une telle approche permet une réflexion sur les inégalités sociales en santé des communautés migrantes, et l’accompagnement vers les soins, en favorisant les relations entre habitants et professionnels de santé dans une démarche interculturelle. Les objectifs de l’étude étaient (i) de mieux comprendre l’intention des immigrants africains d’adopter une approche personnelle pour les problèmes de santé communautaire et (ii) d’évaluer la sensibilisation et le développement des compétences des membres de la communauté sur leur comportement de promotion de la santé. / We wanted to accompany sub-Saharan African population in France, on a community health approach, to act on health inequalities. This work allows to measure the effects and consequences of health behavior promotion from an inter-cultural relations angle. This approach is based on an exploratory methodology made up of both psychological research tools, protocols for intervention in public health with the psycho-social problematic of inter-culturality. Behavioral changes in favor of health promotion actions are significantly related to this approach, which will combine group focus and the application of planned behavior theory (PBT). Such an approach allows a reflection on the social inequalities in health of the migrant communities, and the accompaniment towards care, favouring relations between inhabitants and health professionals on an intercultural approach. The objectives of the study were (i) to better understand the intention of African migrants to adopt a personal approach to community health problems and (ii) to assess the influence of developing members’ awareness and skills of the community on their health promotion behavior.

<p>This thesis addresses the issue of weighted cost-benefit analysis (WCBA). WCBA is a welfare evaluation model where income distribution effects are valued by distributional weighting. The method was developed already in the 1970s. The interest in and applications of this method have increased in the past decade, e.g. when evaluating of global environmental problems. There are, however, still unsolved problems regarding the application of this method. One such issue is the choice of the approach to the means of estimating of the distributional weights. The literature on WCBA suggests a couple of approaches, but gives no clues as to which one is the most appropriate one to use, either from a theoretical or from an empirical point of view. Accordingly, the choice of distributional weights may be an arbitrary one. In the first paper in this thesis, the consequences of the choice of distributional weights on project decisions have been studied. Different sets of distributional weights have been compared across a variety of strategically chosen income distribution effects. The distributional weights examined are those that correspond to the WCBA approaches commonly suggested in literature on the topic. The results indicate that the choice of distributional weights is of importance for the rank of projects only when the income distribution effects concern target populations with low incomes. The results also show that not only the mean income but also the span of incomes, of the target population of the income distribution effect, affects the result of the distributional weighting when applying very progressive non-linear distributional weights. This may cause the distributional weighting to indicate an income distribution effect even though the project effect is evenly distributed across the population.</p><p>One rational for distributional weighting, commonly referred to when applying WCBA, is that marginal utility of income is decreasing with income. In the second paper, this hypothesis is tested. My study contributes to this literature by employing stated preference data on compensated variation (CV) in a model flexible as to the functional form of the marginal utility. The results indicate that the marginal utility of income decreases linearly with income.</p><p>Under certain conditions, a decreasing marginal utility of income corresponds to risk aversion. Thus the hypothesis that marginal utility of income is decreasing with income can be tested by analyses of individuals’ behaviour in gambling situations. The third paper examines of the role of risk aversion, defined by the von Neumann-Morgenstern expected utility function, for people’s concern about the problem of ‘sick’ buildings. The analysis is based on data on the willingness to pay (WTP) for having the indoor air quality (IAQ) at home examined and diagnosed by experts and the WTP for acquiring an IAQ at home that is guaranteed to be good. The results indicate that some of the households are willing to pay for an elimination of the uncertainty of the IAQ at home, even though they are not willing to pay for an elimination of the risks for building related ill health. The probability to pay, for an elimination of the uncertainty of the indoor air quality at home, only because of risk aversion is estimated to 0.3-0.4. Risk aversion seems to be a more common motive, for the decision to pay for a diagnosis of the IAQ at home, among young people.</p><p>Another rationale for distributional weighting, commonly referred to, is the existence of unselfish motives for economic behaviour, such as social inequality aversion or altruism. In the fourth paper the hypothesis that people have altruistic preferences, i.e. that they care about other people’s well being, is tested. The WTP for a public project, that ensures good indoor air quality in all buildings, have been measured in three different ways for three randomly drawn sub-samples, capturing different motives for economic behaviour (pure altruism, paternalism and selfishness). The significance of different questions, and different motives, is analysed using an independent samples test of the mean WTPs of the sub-samples, a chi-square test of the association between the WTP and the sample group membership and an econometric analysis of the decision to pay to the public project. No evidence for altruism, either pure altruism or paternalism, is found in this study.</p>

Die folgenden Fragen standen im Mittelpunkt der Dissertation: Wie handeln Grundschulkinder aus, wenn sie von ihren Peers ungerecht behandelt werden? Welche unmittelbaren Wirkungen hat ihr Vorgehen? In welchem Zusammenhang steht das Vorgehen in der Konfliktsituation mit der Stellung unter den Peers? Theoretische Grundlage waren die Entwicklungsmodelle zum Aushandeln von Yeates und Selman (1989) sowie Hawley (1999). Es nahmen 213 Dritt- und Fünftklässler an der Untersuchung teil. Eine Kombination qualitativer und quantitativer Methoden wurde verwendet. In einem individuellen Interview wurde erhoben, welche Taktiken (eine Handlungseinheit) sowie welche Strategien (Abfolge von Taktiken) die Kinder in einer hypothetischen Normbruchsituation einsetzen würden. Die Kinder wurden auch gefragt, welche unmittelbaren Wirkungen sie erwarten, wenn sie die vorgeschlagene Taktik einsetzen. Die Stellung der Kinder wurde sowohl bezüglich ihres Einflusses (Peerrating) als auch bezüglich ihrer Akzeptanz (Soziometrie) unter den Klassenkameraden erhoben. Die von den Kindern genannten Taktiken wurden vier übergeordneten Kategorien zugeordnet: Verhandeln, Erzwingen, Ausweichen und Aufgeben. Nach den Erwartungen der Kinder führen sowohl Verhandlungstaktiken als auch erzwingende Taktiken in um die Hälfte der Fälle zur Durchsetzung. Erzwingende Taktiken gehen jedoch häufig mit unfreundlichen Reaktionen einher. Einfluss und Akzeptanz der Kinder waren davon abhängig, welche Kombination und Sequenz von Taktiken (Strategie) sie wählten. Beispielsweise waren Kinder einflussreich und beliebt, die eine Reihe von Verhandlungstaktiken generierten oder die zunächst Verhandlungstaktiken vorschlugen und danach erzwingende Taktiken. Kinder, die sofort Zwang einsetzen würden, hatten wenig Einfluss und wurden abgelehnt. Außerdem fanden sich Geschlechts- und Altersunterschiede hinsichtlich des Vorgehens in der hypothetischen Normbruchsituation sowie der Zusammenhänge zwischen Taktiken und Stellung unter Peers. / The dissertation dealt with the following questions: How do children react, when a peer infringes upon their rights? What immediate outcomes are connected to their actions? What is the relation between the way children proceed in the conflict situation and their social standing among their peers? As a theoretical background served the modells about negotiations by Yeates and Selman (1989) as well as Hawley (1999). 213 third- and fifthgraders participated in the study. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used. Children were individually interviewed to assess what tactics (unit of action) as well as what strategies (sequence of tactics) they would apply in a hypothetical conflict involving a rights infraction. Children were also asked what immediate outcomes they expected, using the proposed tactic. Children's social standing was assessed concerning their influence (peerrating) as well as their acceptance (sociometrie) among their classmates. The tactics propsed by the children were assigned to four superordinate categories: negotiate, coerce, get out of the way, give in. According to the expectations of the children both negotiation tactics and coercive tactics lead to assertion in about half of the cases. Coercive tactics however often evoque unfriendly responses. Children differed in their influence and acceptance depending on the combination and sequence of tactics (strategy) they chose. For example children, which generated a series of negotiation tactics and children, which proposed negotiation tactics in the beginning and coercion tactics later were both influental and liked. Children, which chose coercion allready in the beginning had little influence and were rejected. Also gender and age differences were found concerning the tactics chosen in the hypothetical conflict situation and the relation between tactics and social standing among peers.

China has achieved unprecedented economic growth and consequent successes in poverty alleviation over the past three decades of economic liberalization and market-oriented reforms. Yet, in order to continue its progress in poverty reduction, while addressing pressing environmental and sociopolitical concerns, it is crucial for China’s leaders to achieve and sustain green, equitable, and robust economic performance in all parts of China. This thesis argues that a reconceptualized and strengthened rural industrialization program would enable China to maintain economic growth and assist with the transition to a domestically driven consumer economy. Moreover, rural industrialization, coupled with targeted administrative and institutional policy modifications, will enable the Chinese government to provide support to millions of its rural poor, thus avoiding social instability and potentially severe internal conflicts. Such a program would also lessen pollution and its associated costs on China’s densely populated cities, by shifting heavy urban industries to relatively less contaminated areas while adopting cleaner, environmentally sustainable technologies, introduced in a participatory manner in consultation with local communities. This approach would concurrently address regional, rural-to-urban, and intra-communal disparities, provide opportunity for “green growth” initiatives, and better equip rural populations to address growing vulnerabilities as a result of climate change.

China has achieved unprecedented economic growth and consequent successes in poverty alleviation over the past three decades of economic liberalization and market-oriented reforms. Yet, in order to continue its progress in poverty reduction, while addressing pressing environmental and sociopolitical concerns, it is crucial for China’s leaders to achieve and sustain green, equitable, and robust economic performance in all parts of China. This thesis argues that a reconceptualized and strengthened rural industrialization program would enable China to maintain economic growth and assist with the transition to a domestically driven consumer economy. Moreover, rural industrialization, coupled with targeted administrative and institutional policy modifications, will enable the Chinese government to provide support to millions of its rural poor, thus avoiding social instability and potentially severe internal conflicts. Such a program would also lessen pollution and its associated costs on China’s densely populated cities, by shifting heavy urban industries to relatively less contaminated areas while adopting cleaner, environmentally sustainable technologies, introduced in a participatory manner in consultation with local communities. This approach would concurrently address regional, rural-to-urban, and intra-communal disparities, provide opportunity for “green growth” initiatives, and better equip rural populations to address growing vulnerabilities as a result of climate change.

Die vorliegende Dissertation möchte einen Beitrag zur Entwicklung eines Instrumentariums leisten, das Schlussfolgerungen hinsichtlich sich angleichender ökonomischer und sozialstruktureller Entwicklungen von Städten im Rahmen europäisierter Gesellschaften erlaubt. Anhand soziologischer und regionalökonomischer Theorien werden relevante Dimensionen abgeleitet, um ökonomische und soziale Strukturen von Städten im Städtesystem globalisierter und europäisierter Gesellschaften vergleichen bzw. bei wiederholter Analyse auf die Chancen einer EU-intendierten Konvergenz der europäischen Städte schließen zu können. Am Beispiel der Städte Ostmitteleuropas (Tschechiens, der Slowakei, Polens, Ungarns und Sloweniens) wird daran anschließend geprüft, inwieweit mit den bisher verfügbaren Daten der europäischen Statistik – insbesondere der Urban-Audit-Datenbank – eine empirische Überprüfung der theoretisch abgeleiteten Referenzdimensionen gelingt und welche Positionen die Städte in einem ostmitteleuropäischen Städtesystem einnehmen. Ein weiterer Fokus liegt auf den Wechselwirkungen, die sich am Beispiel der Analyse der ostmitteleuropäischen Städte zwischen ihren ökonomischen Positionierungen und ihren Sozialstrukturen zeigen.

In this dissertation project, I examine the experiences of displaced Hurricane Katrina survivors in the context of post-disaster housing policies and practices. This research is based on two years of in-depth interviews with Katrina survivors who were displaced to Austin, Texas. I analyze these interviews to understand the raced, classed, and gendered implications of post-disaster housing policies and to consider what these implications reveal about the relationship between social policies, housing, and social inequality more broadly. This project is informed by an intersectional understanding of social stratification systems and inequalities and a critical analysis of neoliberal social policy. First, I outline the gender, family, and class ideologies embedded in government-run post-Katrina housing policies and practices, and show how they specifically disadvantaged people who did not conform to them. I identify temporal domination as a specific aspect of class oppression evident in respondents’ experiences with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) rental assistance programs. Next, I specifically examine respondents’ experiences settling into their new neighborhoods and searching for jobs. I found that many black survivors ended up in segregated remote areas of the city, far from jobs and public transportation. Their job searching experiences suggest that employers used racist stereotypes about Latino workers to coerce them to work for low wages. This reveals the complex and interrelated racial dynamics of low-wage urban housing and labor markets. Finally, I explore how survivors got by in the face of such difficult and in some cases dire circumstances. One primary way survivors coped with the uncertainty caused by their displacement was relying on their social networks. While women tended to depend on adult child - parent and other familial relationships, men tended to distance themselves from the potential support of their mothers and other relatives. Respondents also constructed fictive kin relationships to provide support to others, sometimes for the explicit purpose of ensuring one or both members of the relationship had access to stable housing. This reveals how both gender and family relationships can shape disaster recovery and everyday experiences of poverty. Overall, this project contributes to the study of race/class/gender inequality, social policy, housing, and disaster recovery. / text

Introduction : La réduction des inégalités sociales de santé est un objectif de santé publique au Canada. Les liens entre les facteurs socio-économiques et les traumatismes en général ont été abondamment mesurés et illustrés notamment en pédiatrie, mais l’association entre les traumatismes crâniens et les inégalités sociales n’est pas assez investiguée dans la littérature. L’intérêt de ce travail en santé publique nous permettra de mieux connaitre les liens entre la défavorisation et les traumatismes crâniens particulièrement la sévérité. Objectif : L’objectif général de cette étude est d’examiner la relation entre les traumatismes crâniens et le statut socio-économique. Méthode : L’échantillon comprend 2269 patients ayant consulté le service d’urgence de l’Hôpital du Sacré Coeur de Montréal entre le 17 Mars 2008 et le 11 Janvier 2012, âgés de 14 ans et plus et habitant Montréal et Laval. Des analyses de régression logistiques ont été appliquées pour examiner la relation entre le quintile du statut socio-économique (mesuré à l’aide d’un proxy écologique) et la sévérité du traumatisme crânien (mesuré à l’aide de la tomodensitométrie). Résultat : A Montréal et à Laval, la cote d’avoir un scan normal est plus élevée chez les patients de quintile de revenu plus pauvre Q1 par rapport au quintile de revenu plus riche Q5, avec les valeurs respectives de 1,104 et 1,522 pour les régions de Montréal et Laval. A Laval lorsqu’on passe du quintile le plus pauvre Q1 au quintile le plus riche Q5, les cotes diminuent de 1,522 pour Q1; 1,302 pour le quintile de revenu bas; 1,126 pour le quintile de revenu moyen; 1,176 pour le quintile élevé à 1 pour le quintile le plus riche (quintile de référence). Conclusion : Bien que la relation entre les traumatismes et le statut socio-économique soit non significative, plusieurs questions se posent à travers ce mémoire notamment les causes différentes du traumatisme crânien en fonction du statut socio-économique et le territoire de résidence. D’autres recherches plus approfondies seraient utiles pour mieux informer les programmes de santé publique. Mots Clés : Traumatisme crânien, Statut socio-économique, Santé publique, Inégalités sociales, Chutes, Accidents de la route, Causes de traumatisme, Quintile de revenu / Introduction: Reducing social inequalities in health is a goal of health public in Canada. The links between socioeconomic factors and injuries in general have been extensively measured and illustrated, but the association between head trauma and social inequality is not enough investigated in the literature. The interest of this work in public health will enable us to better understand the links between deprivation and brain injuries. Objective: The overall objective of this study is to examine the relationship between brain injury and socioeconomic status Methods: The sample included 2269 patients who consulted the emergency department of the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal from March 17th 2008 to January 11th 2012, and aged 14 and over and living in Montreal and Laval. Logistic regression analyzes were used to examine the relationship between socioeconomic status (measured using a proxy ecological) and the severity of head injury (measured by computed tomography). Results: A Montreal and Laval, the odds of having a normal scan are higher in patients poorest income quintile compared to Q1 richest income quintile Q5, with the respective values of 1.104 and 1.522 for the Montreal and Laval. A Laval when moving from the poorest quintile Q1 to Q5 the richest quintile, the odds decrease by 1,522 for Q1; 1,302 for the bottom quintile of income 1,126 for the middle income quintile, 1.176 for quintile 1 for the richest (quintile reference). Conclusions: Although the relationship between head trauma and the socio-economic status is not significant, several questions arise through this memory of different causes including head trauma based on the socio-economic status and age, area of residence. Other further research would be useful to better inform public health programs. Keywords: Head trauma, Socioeconomic Status, Public Health, Social Inequality, falls, Crashes, Causes of trauma, income quintile

Les études sur les milieux de vie et la santé ont traditionnellement porté sur le seul quartier de résidence. Des critiques ont été émises à cet égard, soulignant le fait que la mobilité quotidienne des individus n’était pas prise en compte et que l’accent mis sur le quartier de résidence se faisait au détriment d’autres milieux de vie où les individus passent du temps, c’est-à-dire leur espace d’activité. Bien que la mobilité quotidienne fasse l’objet d’un intérêt croissant en santé publique, peu d’études se sont intéressé aux inégalités sociales de santé. Ceci, même en dépit du fait que différents groupes sociaux n’ont pas nécessairement la même capacité à accéder à des milieux favorables pour la santé. Le lien entre les inégalités en matière de mobilité et les inégalités sociales de santé mérite d’être exploré. Dans cette thèse, je développe d'abord une proposition conceptuelle qui ancre la mobilité quotidienne dans le concept de potentiel de mobilité. Le potentiel de mobilité englobe les opportunités et les lieux que les individus peuvent choisir d’accéder en convertissant leur potentiel en mobilité réalisée. Le potentiel de mobilité est façonné par des caractéristiques individuelles (ex. le revenu) et géographiques (ex. la proximité des transports en commun), ainsi que par des règles régissant l’accès à certaines ressources et à certains lieux (ex. le droit). Ces caractéristiques et règles sont inégalement distribuées entre les groupes sociaux. Des inégalités sociales en matière de mobilité réalisée peuvent donc en découler, autant en termes de l'ampleur de la mobilité spatiale que des expositions contextuelles rencontrées dans l'espace d'activité. Je discute de différents processus par lesquels les inégalités en matière de mobilité réalisée peuvent mener à des inégalités sociales de santé. Par exemple, les groupes défavorisés sont plus susceptibles de vivre et de mener des activités dans des milieux défavorisés, comparativement à leurs homologues plus riches, ce qui pourrait contribuer aux différences de santé entre ces groupes. Cette proposition conceptuelle est mise à l’épreuve dans deux études empiriques. Les données de la première vague de collecte de l’étude Interdisciplinaire sur les inégalités sociales de santé (ISIS) menée à Montréal, Canada (2011-2012) ont été analysées. Dans cette étude, 2 093 jeunes adultes (18-25 ans) ont rempli un questionnaire et fourni des informations socio-démographiques, sur leur consommation de tabac et sur leurs lieux d’activités. Leur statut socio-économique a été opérationnalisé à l’aide de leur plus haut niveau d'éducation atteint. Les lieux de résidence et d'activité ont servi à créer des zones tampons de 500 mètres à partir du réseau routier. Des mesures de défavorisation et de disponibilité des détaillants de produits du tabac ont été agrégées au sein des ces zones tampons. Dans une première étude empirique je compare l'exposition à la défavorisation dans le quartier résidentiel et celle dans l'espace d’activité non-résidentiel entre les plus et les moins éduqués. J’identifie également des variables individuelles et du quartier de résidence associées au niveau de défavorisation mesuré dans l’espace d’activité. Les résultats démontrent qu’il y a un gradient social dans l’exposition à la défavorisation résidentielle et dans l’espace d’activité : elle augmente à mesure que le niveau d’éducation diminue. Chez les moins éduqués les écarts dans l’exposition à la défavorisation sont plus marquées dans l’espace d’activité que dans le quartier de résidence, alors que chez les moyennement éduqués, elle diminuent. Un niveau inférieur d'éducation, l'âge croissant, le fait d’être ni aux études, ni à l’emploi, ainsi que la défavorisation résidentielle sont positivement corrélés à la défavorisation dans l’espace d’activité. Dans la seconde étude empirique j'étudie l'association entre le tabagisme et deux expositions contextuelles (la défavorisation et la disponibilité de détaillants de tabac) mesurées dans le quartier de résidence et dans l’espace d’activité non-résidentiel. J'évalue si les inégalités sociales dans ces expositions contribuent à expliquer les inégalités sociales dans le tabagisme. J’observe que les jeunes dont les activités quotidiennes ont lieu dans des milieux défavorisés sont plus susceptibles de fumer. La présence de détaillants de tabac dans le quartier de résidence et dans l’espace d’activité est aussi associée à la probabilité de fumer, alors que le fait de vivre dans un quartier caractérisé par une forte défavorisation protège du tabagisme. En revanche, aucune des variables contextuelles n’affectent de manière significative l’association entre le niveau d’éducation et le tabagisme. Les résultats de cette thèse soulignent l’importance de considérer non seulement le quartier de résidence, mais aussi les lieux où les gens mènent leurs activités quotidiennes, pour comprendre le lien entre le contexte et les inégalités sociales de santé. En discussion, j’élabore sur l’idée de reconnaître la mobilité quotidienne comme facteur de différenciation sociale chez les jeunes adultes. En outre, je conclus que l’identification de facteurs favorisant ou contraignant la mobilité quotidienne des individus est nécessaire afin: 1 ) d’acquérir une meilleure compréhension de la façon dont les inégalités sociales en matière de mobilité (potentielle et réalisée) surviennent et influencent la santé et 2) d’identifier des cibles d’intervention en santé publique visant à créer des environnements sains et équitables. / In place and health research the exclusive focus on the residential context has been criticized for overlooking individuals’ daily mobility and the activity settings where they work, study or play, i.e. their activity space. While researchers are increasingly considering daily mobility in health studies, few have been concerned with social inequalities in health. This is so despite evidence suggesting that different social groups may not have the same capacity to reach healthy and favourable settings. Whether social inequalities in daily mobility contribute to social inequalities in health remains to be explored. In this thesis I first develop a conceptual proposition that anchors daily mobility in the concept of mobility potential. Mobility potential encompasses the opportunities and places that individuals can choose to access by converting their potential into realized mobility. Mobility potential is shaped by individual characteristics (e.g. income), geographic circumstances (e.g. proximity to public transit), and rules regulating access to certain places and resources (e.g. rights). All of these have been shown to be socially-patterned. It follows that social inequalities in realized mobility may result, both in terms of the extent of spatial movement and of contextual exposures in the activity space. I discuss various pathways linking inequalities in realized mobility to health inequalities. For example, lower social classes may be more likely to live and conduct activities in disadvantaged areas, compared to their more affluent counterparts, and this may contribute to health differentials between these groups. This conceptual proposition is then tested in two empirical studies conducted using cross-sectional data from the Interdisciplinary Study on Inequalities in Smoking (ISIS), Montreal, Canada (2011-2012). In this study 2,093 young adults (18-25 years-old) provided socio-demographic, smoking and activity location data in a self-completed questionnaire. Their highest education level attained was used as a proxy for their socio-economic status. Residential and activity locations were used to create 500-meter road-network buffer zones and to derive measures of area-level disadvantage and tobacco retailer availability. In a first empirical study I compare social inequalities in exposure to area-level disadvantage measured in the residential area and non-residential activity space. I also identify individual- and area-level correlates of non-residential activity space disadvantage. I find that there is a social gradient, across educational categories, in both residential and non-residential activity space disadvantage: the level of disadvantage experienced increases as education level decreases. Social inequalities in exposure to area-level deprivation are slightly larger in the non-residential activity space than in the residential neighbourhood for the least educated, but smaller for the intermediate group. Lower educational attainment, increasing age, not being in education nor in employment, and higher residential disadvantage are correlated with conducting activities in more disadvantaged areas. In the second empirical study I investigate the association between smoking status and two contextual exposures (area-level disadvantage and tobacco retailer availability) in both the residential neighbourhood and non-residential activity space. I also assess whether inequalities in these exposures help explain inequalities in smoking. I find that smoking is positively associated with conducting activities in the second least deprived areas and with tobacco retailer counts in residential and non-residential areas. Living in the second most deprived areas is protective of smoking. However, none of the contextual variables significantly affect the education-smoking association. Findings from this thesis advance conceptual reflection and empirical knowledge regarding the importance, in contextual studies of social inequalities in health, of not only considering where people live but also where they conduct daily activities. I discuss daily mobility as a factor of social differentiation among young adults. Furthermore, I conclude that identifying factors enabling or constraining individuals’ daily mobility is required to: 1) gain a better understanding of how social inequalities in mobility (potential and realized) arise and influence health; and 2) identify entry points for public health interventions aimed at creating healthy and equitable environments.