Social movements have three potential trajectories: they can grow; they can change, and they can decay and eventually die. To compare their trajectories, I examine 47 organizations in six women's movements in Buenos Aires, Argentina during the last twenty years. I synthesize data from interviews with activists, organization documents and participant observation of women's movement activities during December 2001--June 2003, a period of intense collective action. Three themes--decision-making forms, participation, and external ties--are at the foundation of how we can understand social movement organization (SMO) growth, decay, and change. First, hierarchy does have its benefits for SMOs, but it is not the only means by which SMOs survive, remain active, and grow. Second, the way that SMOs actively structure participation (with decisions about SMO collective identity, exclusivity and inclusivity, non-member participation, and recruitment) is central to SMO growth. Third, outside ties with SMOs and other actors can bring groups material resources, external recognition, moral support, public attention, and human resources, but these relationships can be conflict-ridden. This dissertation generates a new way to think about SMOs as organizations that need to resolve dilemmas about decision-making, participation, and external ties. It contributes to the literature on social movements in Latin America and gendered collective action in the context of democratization. It also includes practical insights for social movement organizations and activists.

Criminal Alienation: Arizona Prison Expansion 1993-2003 argues that border militarization and the criminalization of Latino immigrants has increasingly driven Arizona prison expansion between 1993 and 2003. It identifies four policy shifts that have reversed decarceration trends in the state's prison growth over this ten year period, resulting in the emergence of an expanding "border-prison system". The project both enacts and argues in favor of a politically participatory cultural studies methodology, guided by a post-structuralist Marxist theoretical approach stressing interdependencies between political economic processes and subject formation. Criminal Alienation offers an intervention in the field of cultural studies, arguing for the foregrounding of state repression in the study of capital and social power relations. It also contributes to the field of prison studies with an analysis of the role of U.S. immigration policy, narratives of immigration, and the social production of "criminal alien" and "consenting citizen" identities in the expansion of the contemporary prison industrial complex. The case studies in Criminal Alienation center on narratives and practices surrounding the emergence of immigrant-only prisons, both state and federal, in Arizona. The project analyzes a variety of repressive state practices and narratives, identifying the ways in which the effects of state coercion are manifested in the social reproduction and reiteration of the border-prison system as well as the ways that these effects shape networked abolitionists struggles in and beyond the region. Finally, Criminal Alienation identifies the Arizona-Sonora border region as a significant front in the struggle for prison abolition by delineating historical and contemporary linkages between abolitionist resistance strategies and practices and the emergence of collaborative, socially transformative visions of community-based development, led by the communities most adversely affected by coercive state practices.

The twin objectives of this dissertation, understanding political behavior as a social phenomenon and assessing the relative impacts of action and interaction on behavior, are realized through the empirical study of cosponsorship in the United States Congress. Cosponsorship, the formal support of a bill, is commonly said to be a rational action by a member of Congress designed to further electoral goals. However, it is also possible that cosponsorship is the arational result of social interaction. Processes based on the principles of action and interaction may occur within the Congress or with reference to entities outside the Congress. Combinations of principle and environment provide a simple theoretical framework from which a number of hypotheses are generated. To test these hypotheses, a random sample of 100 bills from the House of Representatives during the 105th Congress is generated. Information regarding leadership, reciprocity, congressional districts, campaign contributions, media coverage, election results, organizational memberships, member demography and bill cosponsorship is recorded for each combination of sampled bill, member of the House, and week the Congress was in session. Comparisons and relations between members are represented in matrix form. A combined network effects-discrete time approximation approach converts these matrices into individual-level predictions of a congressperson's likelihood of cosponsorship over time. Alternatively, QAP analysis regresses relations on relations to make cross-sectional predictions about any two members' cosponsorship overlap. Results illuminate the importance of interaction to political behavior.

Historians have commonly associated the standardization and simplification of Ch'in characters with bureaucratic expansion. The Ch'in empire's need for communicative efficiency has motivated character transformation from more pictographic, symbolic figures to more abstract, logographic patterns. This hypothesis is evaluated through (1) a critical analysis of bureaucracy and its impact on communication, and (2) a detailed examination of the formal properties of Ch'in characters and their effects on perception. The present thesis performs these tasks by taking a three-fold approach. First, I discuss the merits and demerits of bureaucracy with respect to its functions. Then, I elaborate upon aestheticism and writing materials as possible alternatives to communication for character transformation. Finally, I examine formal properties of Ch'in characters with regard to their communicative efficiencies.

There are a lot of misconceptions about the Owls Club, located at 378 N. Main Street in Tucson, Arizona. Many of these are the result of the popularity of the bachelors who formed Tucson's first men's club, The Owls, in the late nineteenth century. The restoration/renovation of the building in 1986 facilitated a revival of popular notions that the Owls Club served as a clubhouse for the gregarious society of men. However, by examining the building in its appropriate context of "Tucson Boosterism," different conclusions are drawn. Although the residence is connected with members of The Owls, the buildings construction after the organization's social and group emphasis had ended. Instead, research revealed that the Owls Club was designed as a single-family residence to promote the development of an elite Anglo neighborhood in Tucson while, simultaneously, reinforcing its patrons' position in society.

<p> Understanding the role of the public school teacher and how that role has changed over recent history is critical to comprehending the nature of teaching and teachers in American schools. This 2-phase, hypothesis-generating study was undertaken to develop a deeper understanding of the role of the teacher and, in particular, the ways that role has remained stable or changed across the historical process. It explored how the role of the teacher is construed by current, experienced teachers through personal construct systems and through their shared enactments of a social construct system proposed as an extension to personal construct theory. Departing from the traditional disciplinary approaches that have characterized much of the previous research on this topic and which have been limited in scope and method by their associated paradigms, this study adopted an interdisciplinary, mixed methods approach that integrated the perspectives of several disciplines and professional fields. It employed the repertory grid technique (RGT) from personal construct theory to elicit personal constructs from 16 experienced teachers in intensive RGT interviews to identify shared constructs. Those shared constructs were then employed as an inferred social construct system in an anonymous online survey of experienced practicing teachers (<i>n</i> = 258) to identify the ways in which that social construct system is enacted in construing the role of the teacher across the historical process, envisioning the future role of the teacher, and perceiving the ideal role. Latent class analysis indicated heterogeneity in teachers' views regarding the role and substantial perceived change across recent history, suggesting a lack of role consensus. The study also compared the participants' views of the ideal role of the teacher with their expectations for the future. The findings have implications for future research and for educational theory, policy, and practice.</p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> education history, repertory grid technique, teacher role</p>

En este trabajo pretendemos mostrar como Clarin critica extensamente, y de forma poco comun, los valores en declive de una sociedad espanola tradicional. En lugar de envilecer a la sociedad e introducirse directamente en las bajezas de la misma, el autor elabora una imagen idealizada y ficticia de la mujer real de finales del siglo XIX. No rebaja a los vetustenses para acercar al lector a sus perversidades y vicios, sino que Clarin nos presenta a su personaje femenino en un pedestal, como si de un alma o espiritu superior se tratase, en medio de la opresion y corrupcion social reinantes. Asi pues Ana Ozores aparece como instrumento principal para plantear la critica de la sociedad; critica que se siente mordaz al topamos con lo inusitado, al introducirnos en la psicologia de una mujer que representa la excepcion a la norma social de la epoca. En La Regenta observamos la influencia del temprano liberalismo de un autor con simpatias hacia un personaje, cuya condicion de mujer determina que sea aplastado por las instituciones sociales de finales del siglo XIX.

<p> This study examined the relationship of Internet-Mediated Social Network, the formation of adult Christian community, and its affect on adult Christian growth. The researcher compared and analyzed three types of adult Christian learning communities: traditional, hybrid, and virtual. Each week over the course of six weeks, the three types of learning communities met weekly. Participants were pretested and posttested, utilizing instruments that evaluated spiritual maturity. Analysis of interactions on Internet-Mediated Social Networking was conducted. Findings were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Results indicated the usage of Internet-Mediated Social Network offers potential for adult Christian education and should be further explored. </p>

<p> This study examined the impact of 12-step programs on executives' leadership styles. Nine executives in active recovery from addiction were recruited using convenience and snowball sampling strategies and completed surveys and interviews about the use, outcomes, and transferability of 12-step program elements. Participants reported heavily relying on the 12-step program in their personal and professional lives. Participants reported several personal, professional, and leadership impacts as a result of their use of the 12-step program, such as learning to connect with God and others, achieving professional success, and having a different motivation. These impacts enable them to balance concerns of both humanity and results in the workplace. A 12-step program adapted for both a non-recovery population and organization specific culture could be an effective and inexpensive way to develop humanistic, results-oriented leaders. Continued research should use a larger sample and examine the unique impact of each program element.</p>

<p> This project focused on the motorcycle culture as evidenced in the definition of motorcycling brotherhood, the role of women in motorcycle culture, branding, and construction of self-identity. This study is intended to provide an in-depth analysis of these four areas for every-day bikers rather than outlaw motorcycle gangs. Previous research to date has focused on the culture and context of brotherhood among outlaw motorcycle gangs.</p><p> I use these four sections to determine what the everyday bikers understanding of brotherhood is, what women's current place is in motorcycle culture compared to men, the effects of branding and logos on motorcyclists, and how motorcyclists create their selfhood based upon these brands and logos. I attempt to determine if alienation is a prevalent theme or theory for the everyday biker. I found that out of 21 respondents interviewed, 10 Harley Riders and 11 non-Harley Riders, social psychology is a more prevalent explanation for why motorcyclists choose to ride.</p><p> Most of the bikers I interviewed stated that they ride because it provided a sense of adventure, it could free their mind temporarily, it felt like freedom, they felt like one with nature or the world, it was a great hobby, and most of all it allowed them to practice and share in social relationships. I also found that while women riders have grown in numbers over the years, patriarchy still exists and masculinity still dominates the motorcycling scene. Brotherhood is also found to be related to the biker code. Overall, motorcyclists still believed it is important to help out their fellow brother on two wheels rather than to worry about the brand of bike or type of bike they ride.</p>