Many of us have grown up hearing or using words meant as insults or negative adjectives that were in fact names for social groups. Most of them have gone unquestioned in the mainstream consciousness, but the term Gay in the generally negative meaning has in the past years been given attention as offensive and homophobic, with debates emerging in response over whether or not this is true, particularly on the internet. It is the articles and forum threads from these debates that make out the empirical material for a qualitative study as I ask what these people’s thoughts are about this term and how it is perceived. After a qualitative coding and analysis of these texts, and interpretation of the results based on Erving Goffman’s theory of Phantom acceptance and stigma terms, Judith Butler’s theory of performativity, Ferdinand de Sassure’s theory of signifier and signified and how it connects to the community and Baudrillards theory of simulacra, this is the principal conclusion that I have drawn: For some of the people in this debate, the term Gay and its use is about homophobia and heterosexism, though mostly it’s not overt but a subconscious part of the continued dehumanization and stigmatization of homo- and bisexual people. This is a position I call The socially focused skepticism. Others distance themselves from this idea, talking about language development, the lack of inherent meaning of words and freedom of expression. Using Baudrillard for guidance, I interpret this as having a different, more abstract view of language than those who connect the term to heterosexism, and with this focus on language I name this position The language centered defense. Yet another group frame their reasoning about the term in compromise, preferring to limit their use of it to certain contexts rather than disposing the habit entirely or risk causing offense. To these people, whether or not the word is homophobic is less relevant to the discussion than showing respect for how it can be perceived, which gives their position the name The compromising position.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

L’objectif de ce mémoire est de comprendre comment s’articule la réception d’expositions socialement engagées dans un contexte muséal contemporain et québécois. Afin de mener à bien cette recherche, deux études de cas seront analysées : Art et féminisme (1982) et Pour la suite du Monde (1992). Comme l’exercice du mémoire commande un développement restreint, nous avons sélectionné des manifestations qui se sont déroulées dans une seule institution, le Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. Avant d’aborder directement le phénomène de réception et afin de bien cerner le contexte artistique et théorique des années 80 et 90, le premier chapitre sera consacré aux différentes théories et pratiques de l’exposition, telles que développées au cours de cette période. Ainsi, nous parcourrons des théories relatives à l’exposition d’art et à son commissariat de Jérôme Glicenstein, Mieke Bal, Yves Michaud, Nathalie Heinich et Michel Pollak ainsi que Daniel Buren. Ensuite, les deuxième et troisième chapitres seront exclusivement voués à Art et féminisme et Pour la suite du Monde. Outre l’examen de leur réception, nous décrirons leur contexte de mise sur pied, et ce, tant du point de vue conceptuel que sociohistorique. Le but de cet exercice sera de bien comprendre comment s’énonce le propos d’une exposition lorsqu’il est lié de près à sa réalité politique, culturelle et institutionnelle. / The present thesis aims to understand how audience and critical reception of politically and socially engaged art exhibitions articulates itself in the museum context in Quebec. In order to do so, two case studies will be examined: Art et féminisme (1982) and Pour la suite du Monde (1992). Within the scope of this thesis, a thorough study will be facilitated by selecting exhibitions which took place in a single institution, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. Before directly addressing reception and in order to better define the artistic and theoretical context of the 1980’s and 1990’s, the first chapter will be dedicated to the different theories and practices regarding exhibitions as they were developed in that period. As such, the work of exhibition practitioners and theorists Jérôme Glicenstein, Mieke Bal, Yves Michaud, Nathalie Heinich and Michel Pollak, as well as Daniel Buren, will be summarised. The second and third chapters will exclusively address the Art et féminisme and Pour la suite du Monde exhibitions. While their reception will be examined, the specific conceptual and socio-historical context in which they were deployed will be detailed. The aim of this exercise is to fully comprehend the way in which an exhibition enunciates its subject matter when the latter is closely linked to its political, cultural and institutional reality.

Ce mémoire propose une étude du parcours de vie de Marcel Rioux qui cherche à saisir les conditions qui l’ont amené à incarner la figure de l’intellectuel au Québec à son époque. En effet, cette étude propose l’analyse de l’itinéraire social, tel que le suggère Bernard Lahire dans sa biographie sociologique, à l’origine de dispositions mentales et sociales, puis de ressources — héritées ou acquises au fil de l’itinéraire biographique de Rioux —, qui lui confère une position privilégiée dans la société; position en vertu de laquelle se forment l’autonomie et la liberté d’expression propres à l’engagement social et politique digne de lui conférer la qualité d’être intellectuel. C’est sur la base de la mobilisation de dispositions et de ressources particulières, qui prend la forme d’un rapport habitus et capital chez Pierre Bourdieu, propre à générer l’autonomie nécessaire à faire exister l’intellectuel dans son orbite et apte à légitimer sa position sur la scène publique, qu’il sera démontré en termes théoriques que n’est pas intellectuel qui veut. / This present master’s thesis proposes a study of the route of Marcel Rioux’s life in order to seize the conditions which lead him to embody the intellectual’s figure in Quebec in his time. Indeed, this study proposes the analysis of the social route, such as suggests Bernard Lahire in his sociological biography, at the origin of mental and social capacities, then of resources — inherited or acquired in the course of the bibliographic route of Rioux —, which confers him this privileged position in society; position by virtue of which form the autonomy and the freedom of expression for the social and political commitment conferring him the quality to be intellectual. On the basis of the mobilization of capacities and particular resources, which takes the combined shape of habitus and capital for Pierre Bourdieu, appropriate to generate the autonomy needed to make the intellectual exist in his orbit and capable of legitimizing his position on the public scene, it will be demonstrated in theoretical terms that is not intellectual whoever wants to be.

People are not always rational, rely on heuristics and are influenced by situational factors being conducive to biased decisions. Hence, the decision outcome cannot be explained by consumers’ preferences exclusively. This offers opportunities to service managers to steer the decision outcome into a desirable direction by a beneficial design of situational factors. In contrast to the discussed opportunities, situational factors can also become a pitfall for researchers and managers. I show that situational factors may compromise the validity of research results based on self reports in a service context, because the reported scores of research participants may be biased. Three perspectives related to service management are distinguished in this thesis: First, the customer independently of the service provider; second, the interaction of customer and service provider; third, the service provider independently of the customer. From the perspective of the customer, I investigate the impact of different defaults in a customization process on the decision outcome of different types of customers. From the perspective of the customer and service provider interaction, I point out a new solution to overcome a dilemma related to service productivity. Finally, from the perspective of the service provider, the possible contamination of service related constructs by socially desirable responding is examined.

Des études récentes suggèrent que le perfectionnisme est un phénomène multidimensionnel avec des composantes néfastes, mais aussi des éléments positifs, au bien-être psychosocial. Une étude a été élaborée afin de comparer la prévalence de ces éléments chez les garçons et les filles surdoués. Quarante-neuf enfants âgés de 7 à 11 ans ont rapporté leurs attitudes perfectionnistes, appartenant à deux dimensions du phénomène : le perfectionnisme orienté ver soi et le perfectionnisme socialement prescrit. Contrairement à nos attentes, les résultats révèlent que la prévalence des deux dimensions de perfectionnisme ne diffère pas de manière significative entre les filles et les garçons surdoués. Une analyse des résultats et de leurs implications pour de futures recherches est offerte. / Recent research suggests that some components of perfectionism can be detrimental to psychosocial well-being, but others can be positive to adjustment. The present investigation was designed to compare the prevalence of negative and positive components among gifted boys and girls. Two dimensions of perfectionism, Self-oriented and Socially-prescribed Perfectionism, were examined in a sample of 49 children between 7 and 11 years old. Contrary to our predictions, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of both dimensions between boys and girls. Implications for future studies are discussed.

The increasing amount of power and potentially negative impacts that corporations exert within society has become a growing concern for many people. In response to this and due to the changing role of business in society, more and more members of social groups, who are affected by corporate activities, are claiming their rights to be better informed of and more involved in corporate decision-making. Consequently, the need for companies worldwide to be more accountable for the ways in which they conduct their business has grown at a tremendous rate. Especially during the last decade, companies have globally been placed under increasing pressure from different stakeholder groups to demonstrate and prove their commitments to the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In order to facilitate and guide these CSR-commitments, society has for many years already begun to implement various standards of behaviour/performance, which corporations need to achieve in order to be accepted as being part of the citizenry. However, despite an abundance of such standards in terms of CSR-related guidelines and codes, a clear need has been identified for the development of better measuring tools of CSR, in order to efficiently assess and monitor companies’ performance. The Bench Marks is one of the most comprehensive sets of social and environmental criteria and business performance indicators available. It offers an ethical standard on which to base decisions about global corporate social responsibility. Consequently, the need arose from the Bench Marks Foundation - in collaboration with the Bench Marks Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility at the North-West University – to develop the current Bench Marks CSR Framework into a practical measuring instrument. This need has successfully been fulfilled through this research by means of two methods, namely a literature review and an empirical study. During the literature study, the concepts CSR and Corporate Personality were contextualised - particularly with the investigation of related concepts; as well as critically examined - specifically in terms of their theoretical measurement properties. During the empirical research, quantitative research techniques have been utilised which involved: the application of certain ‘theoretically recognised phases’ of measuring instrument development; as well as a survey in the form of a ‘preliminary measuring instrument’ (in questionnaire format) that was administered on a random sample respondents (n = 350), including the statistical analysis of the results. 189 Questionnaires were completed, which gave a response rate of 54%. The statistical analysis mainly served as an effective guideline for determining the best CSR items (in terms of reliability and validity) to be included in the final version of the instrument. Apart from measuring CSR performance in line with the Bench Marks, the instrument that has been developed by this study, can also be used as a measuring mechanism for Corporate Personality. This is achieved by assessing company behaviour in terms of the theoretical dimensions of CSR (economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic) and Sustainable Development (economic, social and environmental). In doing so, this instrument provides companies with a unique way of identifying their status of being true Corporate Citizens. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Sociology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

In this thesis I interrogate the possibility of 'willing and social' work participation in industrial organisation. I draw on Habermas's (1976, 1979, 1984 & 1987) work to synthesise marxist and weberian ideas, and to derive a socio -cultural or cultural Marxist perspective on Capitalism. From this position I highlight the limitations of social action in theories of organisation and work. Moreover, I theoretically derive a model of work participation that acknowledges broader orientations to work. I interrogate that model of work participation in a study of four dominant forms of industrial organisation. Those organisations are SEQEB the South East Queensland Energy Board, Eagle Boy Pizzas in Queensland, the New South Sugar Milling Cooperative Ltd, and Budge -Ellis Staff Co-operative. Gathering data for this study involved both primary and secondary research. I used a comparative and longitudinal field research approach, unstructured interviews with an interview guide, and the collection of documents recommended by interviewees. I interviewed people working in the organisations and relevant government agencies. My research involved travel in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. Ultimately, I produce a sociologically informed model for the establishment of 'willing and social' work participation. I conclude work participation exists within the context of capitalism, and social relations - either formally free or free; that work participation is directly influenced by rational configurations of the world of work comprising economic, political and social worldviews; and I argue the dominance of a worldview depends on whether the political action premises of buffering and shoring successfully neutralise competing worldviews; and whether the moral dictums or espoused values of work are prescribed or invoked and result in the exploitation or deployment of internal values. My thesis points in the direction of further work on co-operative forms of organisation and work and their commonweal ideologies. In particular, my findings demonstrate a crowding out of co-operative forms and ideologies, not only by capitalist forms but also by trade union collectives. The type of research I suggest has the potential to increase the legitimation of co-operative forms of organisation. Although, the Australian co-operative movement has many achievements there remains the problem of establishing a socially progressive rationality that makes practical or operational sense to people at work. The emancipator ideal of willing and social work participation is intended to epitomise the goals of the enlightenment project, and to lead in that direction.

Examensarbete, Civilekonomprogrammet, Ekonomihögskolan vid Linnéuniversitetet Författare: Gustav Johannesson och Martin Westport Handledare: Andreas Stephan Medbedömare: Anna Stafsudd Titel: Sambandet mellan Corporate Social Performance och finansiell risk - En kvantitativ studie som undersöker nordiska företag Bakgrund: Företags sociala ansvar har ständigt funnits på företagsagendan under senaste åren efter ökade globala utmaningar och större påtryckningar från intressenter. Man kan se allt större risker som är kopplade till företags hållbarhetsarbete. Med bakgrund till detta finns det ett stort intresse och en uppåtgående trend kring hållbara investeringar där Norden är ledande inom området. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att förklara sambandet mellan Corporate Social Performance, både på en sammanslagen och individuell nivå, och finansiell risk. Metod: Genom den deduktiva forskningsansatsen och den kvantitativa forskningsstrategin som är baserad på paneldata testar författarna sina hypoteser. Författarna bygger sina hypoteser på intressentteorin och riskhanteringsteorin som testas med ett nordiskt urval på 144 företag under tidsperioden 2002-2016. Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att det finns ett negativt samband mellan Corporate Social Performance och finansiell risk. Det finns även ett negativt samband mellan företags sociala prestationer och finansiell risk. Detta är i linje med författarnas förväntningar. Däremot visar resultatet inga samband mellan företags miljömässiga och styrningsmässiga prestationer och deras finansiella risk. / Degree Project, The Business Administration and Economics Programme, School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University Authors: Gustav Johannesson and Martin Westport Supervisor: Andreas Stephan Co-assessor: Anna Stafsudd Title: The relationship between Corporate Social Performance and Financial Risk - A quantitative study that examines Nordic companies Background: Corporate Social Responsibility has been on the corporate agenda in recent years following increased global challenges and greater pressure from stakeholders. One can see more risks associated with corporate sustainability. This has led to a great interest globally and an upward trend in Socially Responsible Investing where the Nordic region is at the leading edge. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to explain the relationship between Corporate Social Performance, both at a combined and an individual level, and financial risk. Method: Through the deductive research approach and the quantitative research strategy that is based on panel data, the authors test their hypotheses. The authors base their hypotheses on stakeholder theory and risk management theory and test them with a Nordic sample of 144 companies over the period 2002-2016. Conclusion: The study results show that there is a negative relationship between Corporate Social Performance and financial risk. There is also a negative relationship between social performance and financial risk. This is in line with the authors’ expectations. However, the results show no relationship between companies’ environmental and governance performance and their financial risk.

Pour les robots mobiles autonomes conçus pour partager notre environnement, la sécurité et l'efficacité de leur trajectoire ne sont pas les seuls aspects à prendre en compte pour la planification de leur mouvement: ils doivent respecter des règles sociales afin de ne pas gêner les personnes environnantes. Dans un tel contexte social, la plupart des techniques de planification de mouvement actuelles s'appuient fortement sur le concept d'espaces sociaux; de tels espaces sociaux sont cependant difficiles à modéliser et ils sont d'une utilisation limitée dans le contexte d'interactions homme-robot où l'intrusion dans les espaces sociaux est nécessaire. Ce travail présente une nouvelle approche pour la planification de mouvements dans un contexte social qui permet de gérer des environnements complexes ainsi que des situation d’interaction homme-robot. Plus précisément, le concept d'attention est utilisé pour modéliser comment l'influence de l'environnement dans son ensemble affecte la manière dont le mouvement du robot est perçu par les personnes environnantes. Un nouveau modèle attentionnel est introduit qui estime comment nos ressources attentionnelles sont partagées entre les éléments saillants de notre environnement. Basé sur ce modèle, nous introduisons le concept de champ attentionnel. Un planificateur de mouvement est ensuite développé qui s'appuie sur le champ attentionnel afin de produire des mouvements socialement acceptables. Notre planificateur de mouvement est capable d'optimiser simultanément plusieurs objectifs tels que la sécurité, l'efficacité et le confort des mouvements. Les capacités de l'approche proposée sont illustrées sur plusieurs scénarios simulés dans lesquels le robot est assigné différentes tâches. Lorsque la tâche du robot consiste à naviguer dans l'environnement sans causer de distraction, notre approche produit des résultats prometteurs même dans des situations complexes. Aussi, lorsque la tâche consiste à attirer l'attention d'une personne en vue d'interagir avec elle, notre planificateur de mouvement est capable de choisir automatiquement une destination qui exprime au mieux son désir d'interagir, tout en produisant un mouvement sûr, efficace et confortable. / For autonomous mobile robots designed to share their environment with humans, path safety and efficiency are not the only aspects guiding their motion: they must follow social rules so as not to cause discomfort to surrounding people. Most socially-aware path planners rely heavily on the concept of social spaces; however, social spaces are hard to model and they are of limited use in the context of human-robot interaction where intrusion into social spaces is necessary. In this work, a new approach for socially-aware path planning is presented that performs well in complex environments as well as in the context of human-robot interaction. Specifically, the concept of attention is used to model how the influence of the environment as a whole affects how the robot's motion is perceived by people within close proximity. A new computational model of attention is presented that estimates how our attentional resources are shared amongst the salient elements in our environment. Based on this model, the novel concept of attention field is introduced and a path planner that relies on this field is developed in order to produce socially acceptable paths. To do so, a state-of-the-art many-objective optimization algorithm is successfully applied to the path planning problem. The capacities of the proposed approach are illustrated in several case studies where the robot is assigned different tasks. Firstly, when the task is to navigate in the environment without causing distraction our approach produces promising results even in complex situations. Secondly, when the task is to attract a person's attention in view of interacting with him or her, the motion planner is able to automatically choose a destination that best conveys its desire to interact whilst keeping the motion safe, efficient and socially acceptable.