Abstract not available.

In this day and age of women's liberation, we constantly hear about the victimization of women and their efforts to free themselves from the domination of men. We all, men and women, seem to take for granted that man is by nature an aggressive individual, the oppressor, that violence is an inborn trait in him, an instinct, or a force released to ease frustrations. The Freudian theories have of course largely contributed to implant those ideas in our minds. Those theories however are now being challenged more and more by the social learning theorists and justly so, as it appears. Indeed, when we read Stendhal's Le Rouge et le Noir, we are struck at first by the pervasive violence. Violence is not only physical, it may take many forms and subtle guises - mental, psychological, verbal, etc. In fact, pressure, tension are ubiquitous in the novel. Our second realization is that not only women are being victimized: men are oppressed and perhaps more generally so. We then come to face the evidence that, because of its particular structure, society is the oppressor. The traditional society of Western civilization is a hierarchical one, based on inequality and power. In such a system, violence has a place and a function. It seems to us that such was the situation in Stendhal's society and in the portrait of it that he painted for us in Le Rouge et le Noir. Our method of investigation has been as follows: our starting point in Chapter 1 is to explain why man in Le Rouge seems to be a victim, as well as a perpetrator, of violence. In the light of findings from modern research in psychology, as well as of socio-economical, historical and political studies, we first examine violence and how it affects the nature of man, "molds" him, so to speak. We look at its causes and implications, how it intensifies, and why men seem to be more violent than women in the novel. We then turn to the social context in which man is supposed to function and study the structure of power as Stendhal described it in Le Rouge et le Noir. We also look at the role of women in that male-dominated society and try to show how men and women reinforce each other in their traditional and stereotyped roles, increasing in the process the communication gap between the sexes. Having thus described the structure of power according to Stendhal, we study in our second chapter the status of man at each level of this hierarchy. This leads us to examine all the male characters in the novel through a systematic survey of the nobility, the clergy and finally the commoners. This detailed examination brings us to a conclusion that seems to be twofold. We discover that man, at whatever level in the hierarchy, is both important, indeed indispensable, as a member of a supporting group, while totally unimportant and even vulnerable, as an individual. In our third and final chapter, we discuss in detail three male characters who embody three different stages in the evolution of man in Stendhal's society: Valenod, M. de Renal, and of course Julien Sorel himself. In our conclusion, we ask ourselves the question: what kind of a message does Stendhal leave us at the close of his novel or, if there is no direct message to the readers, what kind of reaction does Le Rouge et le Noir bring forth in us? Stendhal, in our view, first seems to show us that in order to "succeed" in society, men (and women, for that matter), have to either be without, or abandon all moral principles because the acquisition and use of power must necessarily e at the expense of other people. On the other hand, with Julien Sorel, we see a man who first tries to achieve power without renouncing his own beliefs and must therefore wear a mask, conceal his true nature. The self-imposed necessity of playing a part which does not correspond to his real personality and profound aspirations almost destroys him. At the last however, when about to lose his life, Julien is saved by Stendhal who makes him abandon his sex role. No longer conditioned by a society which rejected and condemned him, Julien becomes finally free to be himself and achieve a balance between the mind and the heart, intelligence and sensibility. And so, since Stendhal did not apparently believe in another life after death, it seems to the reader that the author challenges all men of good will to tear off here and now their stereotyped masks of superiority which in fact enslave them in order to find equality, freedom, love and happiness. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

When the heterogeneity of the city is considered, the sociological implications which stem from this heterogeneity become important to understanding the social structure of the city. One of these sociological implications is intrinsic in the patterns of transportation. This is an ecological study of the structure and changing structure of parts of the city. We will study the relationship between two variables; social area characteristics and patterns of transportation.

This dissertation postulates that as effect of the model of development adopted by Puerto Rican authorities since the late forties, Puerto Rico became a "Regional Armature" of U.S. intensive accumulation and monopolist regulation over the 1950-1980 period. The asymmetrical insertion of the island into U.S. intensive accumulation circuits, is documented through an account of the shares of local manufacturing assets, value added and employment represented by U.S. corporations, as well as by an approximation to the industrial linkages between Puerto Rico and the United States. The linkage with U.S. monopolist regulation is presented through the historical account of the gradual partial extension to the island of mainland regulation institutions such as; collective bargaining practices, welfare programs, the Federal Reserve, the consumer credit network and the oligopolistic structures in the final goods market. The asymmetry of the island's integration into U.S. accumulation and regulation networks is marked by the location of only certain phases of U.S. manufacturing activity, much higher unemployment levels, lower wages and less per capita federal aid in Puerto Rico as compared to other economic regions of the United States. It is argued that the island's participation in mainland mass production activities and Keynesian mainland macro-economic policies to stimulate aggregate demand during the 1950-1973 growth period, led to economies of scale in the production of consumer durables and to increases in real and social wages making possible the local adoption of mainland mass consumption patterns. It is also argued that these consumption patterns were partially maintained during the 1974-1989 crisis period through the direct income enhancement effect and the indirect credit enhancement effect of U.S. food stamps and the credit multiplier effect of corporate CD's in local banks. Stability tests for the intercept of the consumption function for durable goods were performed to back up the latter hypothesis. Finally, the generalization of low wage, low productive Neo-taylorist service jobs among small pockets of higher wage jobs in manufacturing and services, is presented as evidence of Puerto Rico's insertion into the new extensive accumulation patterns prevalent in the United States.

In the present milieu of global change and redefinition, traditional approaches to Third World development are being submerged in a rising tide of skepticism given the dubious record of development efforts to date. The root problem in traditional approaches to development has been epistemological: They have failed to deal appropriately with the complex questions of how people change their beliefs and practices, how development insiders and outsiders reach new, mutually constructed development meanings and understandings that provide the basis for development praxis and address in a productive manner the 'tradition-modernity' dialectic in development. In recent years, increasing attention is being paid to articulating alternative discourses of development that better address the phenomenon of change at the implementation level, the level of discourse. This dissertation proposes that a fusion of philosophical hermeneutics and critical theory in the form of a 'critical hermeneutic discourse of development' (CHDD) effectively addresses the epistemological dimensions of the development problematic and can, therefore, ground the discourse-practices of an alternative development. The major theorists drawn upon in constructing this discourse are Hans-Georg Gadamer and Jurgen Habermas. Chapter 1 examines the development problematic, focusing especially on the epistemological dimension; it establishes the rationale for proposing CHDD as a viable counter-discourse, and describes the methodology of the study. Chapter 2 reviews prominent theories, models, and strategies of change and development, and deconstructs them in order to free development discourse from its traditionally positivist moorings. Chapters 3-5 describe the major dimensions of hermeneutics and critical theory and delineate their implications for development discourse. Chapter 6 examines the socio-cultural background of Cambodia and introduces the case study, the Cambodian Village Development Project, a rural development project on which the researcher was Field Director during 1992-1994. In Chapters 7 and 8 the major dimensions of a CHDD are applied to the case study, the aim being to demonstrate how they were exemplified in the design, implementation, and overall discourse-practices of the project. The study concludes in Chapter 9 with a critical assessment of a CHDD and a discussion of the myriad development issues and questions it helps to illuminate with new light.

As political liberalization spreads through Africa, there arises the urgent question of what to do with the continent's existing undemocratic press systems. What should be the fate of government- and party-owned radio and television stations and newspapers? Who should decide what should or should not be broadcast or published by such media under the new regimes? How, if at all, can previously undemocratic institutions be turned into tools for promoting and defending democracy? What kind of new media are required in the struggle for democracy on the continent? What lessons learned from Africa's past history, and from media systems elsewhere in the world, can benefit this process? This dissertation is an attempt to provide answers to these questions and lay out some of the options that should frame the theorizing about the role of the press in a pluralistic African society. The dissertation combines political economy and critical cultural studies to examine the application of competing development and press theories in Africa and their implications for the media in the continent. It conceives news as socially produced knowledge and explores the origins of the notion of news as objective truth versus that of news as ideology, and the implications of these notions for the role of the media in the democratic process in Africa. Two case studies--Kenya and Zambia--are used to try and explain the historical circumstances and economic, political and social context in which the current press system in African developed; how those factors overdetermined the press, and how the factors were, in turen, overdetermined by the press. Toward the end, it examines the philosophy underlying some of the foreign aid-driven efforts to reform the Africa press and the possible direction of such reforms. Finally, it offers an alternative social democratic press model based on Africa's unique political, social and economic conditions--a model that emphasizes public information as a social product, rather than a private commodity for sale--and conceives media that are an integral part of other social institutions, rather than independent of them.

Social, economic, and cultural components of trapping furbearers was studied in six Northeast states. In 1994, a 12 page mail-back questionnaire was sent to a sample of licensed trappers in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and West Virginia. A total of 2,279 questionnaires was returned for an overall response rate of 65 percent for the six states combined. Factor analysis identified five underlying dimensions associated with the importance of reasons for trapping. The strongest reasons related to dimensions associated with "Lifestyle Orientation," and "Nature Appreciation," followed by "Wildlife Management." Other reasons related to "Affiliation with Other People," and "Self Sufficiency," though they did not rank as high in importance for the overall sample as did the previous three dimensions. To identify the existence, structure, and function of trapping-related networks of trappers, 92 fur trappers from the six states participated in face-to-face, in-depth interviews designed to gather data on their trapping-related social relationships and interactions. Participation in trapping-associated activities included cooperatively setting and checking traps; processing pelts; verbally sharing trapping experiences with others; giving, bartering, or selling pelts, products, meat, and trapping services; and participating in events such as a fur auction or rendezvous. These forms of interaction linked trappers to broader social network structures that included nuclear family, extended family, friends, workmates, neighbors, landowners, wildlife agency personnel, trapping association members, and fur buyers. Overall, respondents who trapped alone, primary alone, or with others, exhibited similar patterns of trapping-related ties and interactions with other people. These patterns included a high level of trapping-related interactions with nuclear family members, friends, participants at trapping association events, and fur buyers; and a moderate level of interaction with extended family, landowners, and wildlife agency personnel. Far fewer trappers reported trapping-related interactions with workmates and neighbors. Findings indicate women trappers exhibited much less of a tendency than men to have trapping-related ties with friends or with fur buyers. Results suggest network relationships act as 'social resources' that not only facilitate affective ties of sociability and companionship but also serve instrumental purposes such as sharing of information, social support, and exchanges of furbearer-related goods and services.

This research is an exploration of the local, place-based knowledge surrounding a degraded urban river, the Lower Neponset River and Estuary in southern Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, and its environmental restoration. Through a mixed-methods approach to sociological inquiry that included 18-months of ethnographic interviews and participant observations, Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, archival document research, and critical environmental history, it explores the different ways local citizens interpret the river as a place of historical importance, personal nostalgia, social and family networks, neighborhood legacies, aesthetics, economic security, danger, psychological refuge, ecology, and political power. Using an interpretive analysis of the narrative, visual, and spatial data related to those meanings, it then explores how such different local, place-based interpretations can be used to inform the theory, practice and politics of urban river restoration. The research shows that recognition of the socio-cultural diversity in local citizen interpretations of the Lower Neponset River’s restoration is important for environmental managers, planners, and local decision-makers to recognize alongside ecological and economic development “best-practices” (e.g., holistic watershed management, anadromous fish re-introduction, flow and function, ecosystem services, affordable housing quotas, “Smart” growth, etc.). The research recommends that environmental managers, planners, and local politicians and decision-makers give equal consideration to the socio-cultural, political, economic, and ecological factors surrounding urban rivers, and the diversity of meanings that their “restoration” conjures, in order to make strides towards ethical environmental restoration and management practices that are socially, as well as environmentally, sustainable.

This qualitative study investigates the individual, structural, and social systemic interconnections of conflict in a nonprofit organization. It confronts the simplicity of mainstream, popular resolution methods that typically over-individualize and frame organizational conflict as a personal problem. In contrast to traditional organizational diagnoses based on individual self-reporting of past conflicts and the reduction of conflict systems into isolated parts, this study captures organizational conflict interaction in the moment and emphasizes the complex entanglement of organizational conflict networks. In the tradition of ethnographic fieldwork, participant observation captures conflict-rich events over a compressed timeframe of sixteen months. Critical ethnographic elicitation methods filtered through a social justice perspective, probe insider stories to reveal patterns and themes of complex meaning systems that contribute to contextually grounded analyses. This study intimately follows the conflict story within an animal welfare organization that dared to address conflict, and in doing so, managed to clarify organizational identity, identify contradictions between their implicit values and explicit mission, and unravel routines and reform relationships to reorganize and reclaim their organization. Key findings include the role of conflict in revealing significant differences in underlying ideology and the relationship of conflict to gendered organizational processes. The approach to conflict resolution outlined in this study is invaluable to grassroots and social action organizations seeking to maximize conflict for organizational growth and development.

This dissertation argues that the impetus, growth, and financial success of many North American high-tech companies—biotechnology, computer software development and design, as well as Internet startups—are partly due to their collective way of organizing the production and distribution of gross profits received. The dissertation shows how and why these collectives can be conceived as an alternative to the conventionally understood forms of enterprise organization. Hence, the analysis demonstrates how industrial success and technological innovation can be at least partly attributed to a kind of economic and social energy emanating from collectively structured production sites. The dissertation also presents and analyzes what it defines as the hybrid nature of many high-tech companies. That is, these companies often exhibit at one and the same time both collective and non-collective ways of organizing the production and distribution of gross profits. A class analysis reveals how and why these hybrids are formed, what happens to them, and why enterprises containing these collectively organized class structures can become caught up in cyclical growth patterns—where their collectives emerge from, only to reabsorb back into, fully capitalist class structures. Some famous examples evolved from small, informally run ventures producing in residential car garages into multi-billion dollar public companies with eventual spin-offs of their own. Consequently, the dissertation brings into focus the ironic conclusion that capitalism's supposed “high-tech revolution” might actually derive from different forms of collective production. Accordingly, economic theorists are forced to consider the political as well as economic effects of an analysis that treats collectivity not as the basis for some alternative, potential society that is entirely “futuristic” but rather as an enterprise component contemporarily “realistic.”