This study suggests that bus stops be viewed from a perspective that sees them both as elements of mobility and public space. Though bus stops represent a seemingly immobile aspect of mass transit, activities can still occur within such spaces, making possible the notion of waiting time as a rich duration that holds the potential for diverse activities. Through such diverse activities present in bus stops, these spaces can be better perceived as a public space. This research approaches the idea of bus stops as a transit assemblage consisting of diverse human and non-human actors that work together yet remain independent. The gathering of empirical data takes place through observing and recording various human actors at seven bus stops that are a part of three study locations. The research takes a mostly qualitative approach in regard to the collection and analysis of data but also includes minor instances of quantitative analyses to better frame and distinguish the findings. The concept of territorial production is utilized both as a theory to explain how diversity of activities can contribute to public space, and as a method to analyze and explain the data gathered through observations. This research identifies multiple design aspects that may aid the diversification of activities occurring at bus stops. It does this by providing insight into various categories of users and their activities throughout the different bus stop environments selected for investigation. In essence, this study claims that a bus stop environment which is able to accommodate a wider variety of users can allow us to move closer to the perception that bus stops are public spaces. By producing such insightful findings, this study hopes to aid in the planning and design of transit stops and to contribute to the creation of more social bus stop environments.

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The notion of social space or field is a central but under-studied category in the philosopher and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's theory of practice. The present study of social space is introduced with a contextual account of spatial models in the social sciences prior to Bourdieu that highlights the aptitude for relational spatial models to capture complex social phenomena. It then demonstrates how social space, as an empirically robust and epistemologically intuitive social-scientific model, facilitates the objective representation as well as the subjective understanding of social phenomena. The central thesis is that Bourdieu's reflexive sociology operates in large part by a multiform engagement with the (intuitive or conceptual, but always constructed) apprehension of space, an interpretation that suggests the integration of both physical and social spaces in a unified explanatory framework. A dialectical understanding of the relations between social space and physical space, drawn from the logic of Bourdieu's social theory, is argued for. This philosophical extension of Bourdieu's work is then applied to phenomena in which the reproduction of structures in social space is carried out in and through physical space, and vice versa. Two case studies, the first of office tower districts in contemporary cities and the second of deconstructionist architecture, reveal interactions between social organization and the built environment. The case studies, taken together, also demonstrate the virtue, inherent to a Bourdieuian approach, of explaining both the trends of relative stability and the instances of radical change that are observed in social phenomena. / Philosophy

This thesis is about the scalar paradoxes of islands as seen through the cultural movement of a small island nation in the nineteenth century. As the divide between Celticism and Teutonism grew in Britain, the cultural movement of the Isle of Man created a hybrid heritage of both. Antiquarians, archaeologists, and cultural activists that were settled in the island organised themselves for the preservation and eventually revitalisation of a Manx past, in communication with scholars in the British Isles and the North. By investigating three major societies from this movement; the Manx Society (1858), the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society (1879) and the Manx Language Society (1899); this thesis follows the development of a national exceptionalism through their selective identification with Nordic, Celtic, and British spaces, caught in between a Western large state ideal of progress and its antithesis: the imaginative geography of an isolated island. Lefebvrian theory shows that their navigation in a past of Celtic settlers and Viking invaders led to a multifunctional transnational history that could be transferred and repurposed for opposing social spaces. It is argued that this transnationalism functioned as cultural shelter, in accordance with how political and economic shelter from larger states has proven successful for small island nations. It shows that if Manx history was to be regarded as a legitimate and valuable addition to the history of nations in the late nineteenth century, it required manifold connections abroad that could be translated to different transnational agendas. And while this type of (trans-) national exceptionalism was adapted to their situation as a small island nation, its inherent co-dependency on transnational connections was only enforcing an inferiority complex within existing hierarchies in Northern European history.

In the nineteenth century, amidst the rise of anti-Catholicism in the Western world, narratives served as a persuasive medium to influence the reading public. Anti-clerical sentiment was conveyed in various forms of text, often depicting the Catholic convent as a place of sinister confinement. This thesis offers an alternative representation of the French nineteenth-century convent. Considering the prevailing social, economic, and political environment in France, along with the conception of social space, I argue that the convent represents a place of sanctuary and opportunity for some women and girls. Further, in view of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, I examine the representation of the convent as a place for rebirth. Likewise, in analyzing George Sand's autobiography Histoire de ma vie, I explore the representation of the convent as a haven for reviving creativity. Thus, by close reading and critical examination of these literary representations, I contend that the nineteenth-century convent can provide a place of refuge. / Master of Arts / Following the French Revolution of 1789, two opposing ideologies gathered momentum in France: monasticism and anti-clericalism. Beginning in 1815, enlistment of nuns in religious congregations doubled every fifteen years until the end of the century. During this period, anti-clericalism remained a potent political and social force. As with any institution of power, narratives served as a persuasive medium to influence the reading public. Anti-clerical sentiment was conveyed in various forms of text, often depicting the Catholic convent as a place of sinister confinement. These diverse depictions of the convent as a nefarious enclosure seem to contradict the growth and appeal of female religious orders during the epoch. This thesis offers an alternative representation of the French nineteenth-century convent. Partially owing to prevailing social, economic, and political structures that limited women's opportunities, convents attracted women from middle- or upper-class families who desired to serve in the public domains of healthcare and education. Considering this environment in France, along with the conception of social space, I argue that the convent represents a place of sanctuary and opportunity for some women and girls. Further, in view of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, I examine the representation of the convent as a place for rebirth. Likewise, in analyzing George Sand's autobiography Histoire de ma vie, I explore the representation of the convent as a haven for reviving creativity. Thus, by close reading and critical examination of these literary representations, I contend that the nineteenth-century convent can provide a place of refuge.

"The following study is an attempt to compare the relative amount of personal space to demographic variables of sex and socio-economic status."--9.

The thesis discusses the social phenomenon of fitness and exercise in the fitness centers. It contains descriptive and comparative research of visitors fitness centers in Prague and Frankfurt am Main as representatives of this new phenomenon. It is a group of visitors who visit the fitness center at their leisure time. Research on the theoretical basis Bourdie's concept of habitus, social space and capital is trying to detect and describe patterns and main motivations of visitors fitness centers and their potential differences or similarities on the international basis.

Esta dissertação analisa o espaço da participação popular através do processo intitulado orçamento participativo. O estudo da realidade do município de Rio Claro/SP através da discussão e deliberação por parte da população, proposta pela administração municipal, durante sete anos de execução, revelou uma cidade produzida socialmente, porém apropriada de forma desigual e cujas carências urbanas evidenciam a reprodução do processo de produção capitalista. Apresentamos ainda como o processo de produção desigual do espaço urbano se evidencia nas reivindicações feitas pela população quando ela passa a discutir sobre parte dos investimentos do município por meio do orçamento participativo. Debatemos também como a gestão participativa da cidade aponta para o debate da cidadania e os limites deste instrumento de gestão pública. / This dissertation analyzes the space of the popular participation through a process named Participative Budget. The study of the town of Rio Claro/SP reality through the discussion and the deliberation from the population, proposal by the municipal administration, during seven years of execution, revealed a city socially produced, however unequally appropriated and which urban lacks show the capitalism reproduction process. We present as well how the process of unequal production of urban space highlighted by claims made by the population when they discuss on part of investments of the city by means of the participative budget. We also discuss how the participative management of the city emphasizes the discuss of the citizenship and the limits of this of public management instrument.