Where does my individual responsibility for the environment start and end? Should I be responsible for environmental stress in India only because my shoes were produced there, or for climate change that endangers species in Antarctica, or rising sea levels on Pacific islands which just might have been caused by my driving? What do I need to do if I think it is my responsibility? And how do I decide which is a better alternative from an environmental point of view? Who should I trust when deciding on what action to take, and what opportunities do I need for acting?This multidisciplinary thesis takes the politicization of everyday household activities due to environmental consequences, and individualization of responsibility, as its starting points. These points make it increasingly important to understand what responsibility individuals experience, and how they act in accordance with these perceptions. The present thesis is a qualitative study with 28 Swedish households that concern how the householders express responsibility for the environment through their everyday activities, partly by claiming to be “environmentally conscious”, and how they attempt to exert political influence. The study contributes to the discussion on the wide field of sustainable development and environmental politics. It deals specifically with the ways four Swedish municipalities (Gothenburg, Huddinge, Piteå and Växjö) attempt to influence what the householders do in the private sphere when it comes to implementing sustainable development, and what opportunities and they supply, and what expectations they have on householders. The study thereby discusses the possibility to interfere in the perceived private sphere, and different ways to participate politically. / Sustainable households: activities, research, policies

L’Organisation des Nations Unies (ONU) – une organisation unique à vocation universelle possédant sa propre personnalité juridique contrairement aux autres organisations internationales soumises, elles, au droit international, et disposant du pouvoir de définir ses relations avec les tiers ou parties prenantes, agit dans le cadre d’un système de gouvernance à deux niveaux. Ce système est composé d’une part de mécanismes de « gouvernance externe » (pour une coordination entre différents acteurs comme les États, les Ministères, les autres institutions internationales, les entreprises et les Organisations non gouvernementales) et d’autre part de dispositifs de « gouvernement interne » (cf. Bouquin & Kuszla, 2014), qui encadrent les différents organes de l’ONU. L’articulation de ces deux formes de gouvernance doit assurer la mise en œuvre des politiques internationales. Ces politiques prennent la forme de plans ou programmes d’action dans différents domaines, en particulier dans le domaine environnemental. Même si cet axe ne fait pas partie des missions historiques de l’ONU comme la paix et la sécurité internationale, il a pris de l’importance à partir de 1972 avec la création du Programme des Nations Unies pour l’environnement – PNUE. Bien que ses missions aient évolué, le PNUE n’a jamais été aussi faible. L'analyse des configurations de contrôle du PNUE nécessite une approche sociologique prenant en compte les interactions entre les acteurs et la structure (théorie de la structuration et des métaorganisations). La comparaison de deux études de cas mit au jour trois configurations de contrôle des organisations à vocation universelle et une grille d’analyse des facteurs à prendre en compte pour assurer une articulation cohérente de leurs deux formes de gouvernance. / The United Nations (UN) – an atypical organization with its own legal personality unlike other international organizations, has the power to define its relationships with all its stakeholders and is acting within a system of governance at two levels: one of "external governance" (for coordination between different actors such as governments, other international institutions, international funds, businesses and non-governmental organizations) and one of internal governance (Bouquin, Kuszla, 2014) which frames the various UN bodies. The articulation of those two forms of governance ensures the implementation of international policies at the national level. These policies take the form of plans or programs of action in various fields, especially in the environmental field. Although this axis is not part of the historic UN missions such as peace and international security, it gradually took on some importance in 1972 with the establishment of the United Nations Environment Programme - UNEP. Although its missions and its organizational control model have progressively changed, UNEP’s governance has never been that weak. Analysis of UNEP’s control configurations requires a sociological approach that captures the interactions between actors and structure (structuration and metaorganizations theory). The comparison of two case studies carried out in a situation of participant observation revealed three universal’s organizational control configurations and a grid of factors to be considered in order a coherent articulation of these organizations’ two forms of governance.

In order for one to understand the dramatic historic development of Taiwan, one must first gain a sense of place and time in order to appreciate how different periods in the history of Taiwan have helped shape its progress, either in a constructive or negative way. The purpose of this thesis is to describe a British presence that existed in Taiwan from 1858 to 1895. The Treaty Port era has been documented in a number of different discourses, but the role the British played in the nineteenth century economic and social transformations of Taiwan have not been studied as a subject within its own right. Attention to this overlooked aspect of British history is not only important because it was a turning point in British perception of extraterritoriality, but also in Chinese relations to foreign powers. In addition the period was also marked by a reformation in the importance Taiwan played to the Qing court. In 1858 with the signing of the Treaty of Tientsin and the Treaty of Peking in 1863, as a result of the Second Opium War, China was required to open four ports on Taiwan. The Treaty of Tientsin designated Anping as a Treaty Port in 1858 and the Treaty of Peking opened the ports of Tamsui and Keelung in 1860 and 1863 respectively. Finally, concessions of the treaty opened Takao in 1864. However, the question of Taiwan as an obvious location for trade was raised as early as 1883 and this period was mirrored by the withdrawal of the East India Trading Company for China. As a consequence, it was not the ‘Company’ that penetrated the shores of Taiwan as it had done in both India and China. Instead it was agency houses and private firms, which transformed the agrarian economy into the market mechanisms of international commerce. This thesis will confront a British community presence as a social historical process by highlighting the cause, course, and consequence of the formation and the theoretical structuration of nineteenth century treaty ports in Taiwan.

Unpredictable situations are a common phenomena in detention centres. This is because employees work in daily contact with inmates. Correctional officers must therefore manage their own emotions as well as the emotions of their inmates. The aim of the study is to highlight the correctional officers’ experiences of insecurity in detention, when working with the inmates. Furthermore, the study examines the security measures taken by the leadership of detention centres as an authority to achieve greater security among its employees. Research shows that correctional officers are one of the most insecure professionals in the workplace. There are also various emotional rules that correctional officers must follow in their work with inmates, to maintain their legitimacy. The theoretical frame of reference of the study is based on Giddens structuration theory, his concept of ontological security and trust, and Hochschild's theory of emotional work. The present study uses qualitative interviews with individuals working on the detention centres, in close contact with the inmates. The results of the study show that strong collegial relationships as well as a strong individual self-confidence of the individual contribute to an increased sense of security at work. The feeling of security also depends on how long an individual has worked in the detention centres. There are informal emotional rules that employees need to follow in their professional role, and through emotion management this can influence prisoners' perceptions of insecurity. In terms of security measures, the detention centres have introduced alarms, meetings, and education to ensure a good working environment. The interviews indicated that the correct officers regarded the education for new staff is unsuccessful in various aspects by employees, and that the safety alarm was seen as the key element when it came to security measures. The sociological perspective, including several theories from Giddens and Hochschild, is relevant to the study as it aims to study subjective experiences and emotions in unpredictable situations that arise when working with inmates. / Oförutsägbara situationer är ett vanligt förekommande fenomen inom kriminalvården. Detta då de anställda arbetar i daglig kontakt med de intagna. Kriminalvårdare måste därför hantera både sina egna och de intagnas känslor. Syftet med studien är att belysa kriminalvårdares upplevelse av otrygghet på häktet, i arbetet med de intagna. Vidare undersöks vilka säkerhetsåtgärder som vidtas från kriminalvården som myndighet, för att uppnå en ökad trygghet hos de anställda. Forskning visar att kriminalvårdare är en av de yrkesgrupper som utsätts för mest otrygghet i arbetet. Det finns även olika känsloregler kriminalvårdare måste förhålla sig till i sitt arbete med de intagna, för att behålla sin legitimitet. Studiens teoretiska referensram utgår från Giddens teori om struktureringsteori, ontologisk trygghet samt tillit. Vidare utgår studien från Hochschilds teori om känsloarbete. I den föreliggande studien används kvalitativa intervjuer med individer som arbetar inom kriminalvården, i nära kontakt med de intagna. Studiens resultat visar att starka kollegiala relationer och självförtroende hos den enskilde individen bidrar till ökad trygghet i arbetet. Känslan av trygghet beror även på hur länge en individ arbetat på kriminalvården. På kriminalvården finns det informella känsloregler som de anställda behöver följa inom sin yrkesroll och genom känslohantering kan detta påverka kriminalvårdares uppfattning av otrygghet. Vidare till säkerhetsåtgärder har kriminalvården infört säkerhetslarm, möten samt utbildning för att säkerställa en god arbetsmiljö. Det framkommer genom intervjuerna att utbildningen för nyanställda uppfattas av de anställda som bristfällig i olika aspekter, och att säkerhetslarmet betraktas som en central del gällande säkerhetsåtgärderna på kriminalvården. Det sociologiska perspektivet, innefattande teorier från Giddens och Hochschild, är relevant för studien då den avser att studera subjektiva upplevelser och känslor i oförutsägbara situationer som uppstår i arbetet med de intagna.

Cette thèse propose une analyse des transformations postcommunistes en Roumanie à partir d’une étude de la structuration de trajectoires familiales. La réflexion sur les itinéraires très variés de ces trajectoires familiales met en valeur les pratiques développées par les familles dans la construction de leur mode de vie quotidienne après la chute du communisme. L’approche utilisée privilégie deux axes d’analyse. Le premier vise les aspects socio-structurels concernant les cadres de la vie incluant les aspects matériels, alors que le deuxième, l’axe socio-symbolique, concerne les aspects subjectifs liés au vécu des acteurs en corrélation avec le contexte social en mutation. L’analyse est fondée sur des éléments issus de la théorie de la structuration qui ont contribué à la construction du cadre conceptuel. Elle s’appuie aussi sur la méthodologie qualitative qui comprend des récits de vie obtenus à partir des entretiens semi-dirigés réalisés avec les membres de 11 familles. Les thématiques retenues après l’analyse du corpus de données nous ont permis d’identifier des stratégies que les familles ont mises en place et les projets familiaux qui ont orienté leur parcours de vie durant la période de transition postcommuniste. Ces deux concepts révèlent des éléments liés à l’ordre général permettant ainsi la mise en évidence des tendances structurelles de la société postcommuniste. / This thesis presents an analysis of the process of post-communist transformation in Romania, through a study of the structure of family trajectories. An examination of the wide variety of family trajectories highlights the practices developed by families in rebuilding their way of life after the fall of communism. The approach adopts two axes of analysis. The first is the socio-structural framework for life including material aspects, while the second axis, the socio-symbolic axis addresses subjective aspects related to the experiences of actors within their changing social context. The analysis draws on the theory of structuration in its conceptual framework. It is also based on qualitative methodology which includes life stories obtained from semi-structured interviews conducted with members of 11 families. The themes selected after analysis of the data corpus allows us to identify strategies that families have put in place and family plans that have shaped their life course during the post-communist transition. These two concepts reveal elements related to the general order allowing the identification of structural trends of post-communist society in Romania.

Un nouveau cadre théorique pour concevoir le processus de production du savoir dans la pratique infirmière s’avère nécessaire pour tenir compte du processus sur les plans individuel et collectif et de l’influence du contexte dans cette production. Pour cette démarche, c’est la théorie de la réflexivité de Giddens qui nous a semblé être la plus pertinente pour guider la présente étude qui visait à décrire et à comprendre le processus de production du savoir dans la pratique infirmière au moyen de la réflexivité. Plus concrètement, l’étude s’est intéressée à découvrir les conditions et dynamiques des contextes institutionnel, pratique et professionnel qui peuvent influencer le processus de production du savoir dans la pratique infirmière ainsi qu’identifier les étapes de ce processus. Le constructivisme projectif fut le paradigme qui a guidé l’étude. Le devis de recherche ce fut l’analyse secondaire de données qualitatives. Le contexte de l’étude était une unité de soins intensifs d’un hôpital général et universitaire à Barcelone. La collecte de données avait été réalisée à l’aide de l’observation systématique, de six entrevues structurées, de sept réunions de groupe et d’une analyse documentaire. L’analyse des données a été effectuée selon des critères provenant de l’approche mixte de Miles et Huberman, du processus d’analyse des données qualitatives de Morse ainsi que des recommandations faites par des auteurs clés par rapport à l’analyse secondaire. Les critères de rigueur ont été utilisés et les aspects éthiques ont été assurés. Les résultats de cette étude démontrent que les conditions et dynamiques des contextes institutionnel, pratique et professionnel influencent profondément l’action infirmière et le développement du savoir. Ces conditions et dynamiques sont intériorisées dans la vie professionnelle des infirmières et constituent des façons «normales» d’aborder la pratique. Toutefois, bien qu’il existe une acceptation du statu quo, les sentiments contradictoires et la souffrance ressortent facilement. Ces conditions et dynamiques provoquent chez les infirmières une incapacité à agir de façon juste, éthique et responsable ainsi qu’une limitation face à l’exploration de nouvelles possibilités, formulations et manifestations de pratique. Les résultats mettent également en évidence les étapes du processus de production du savoir au moyen de quatre grands thèmes: la reconnaissance de la réflexivité quotidienne, l’examen systématique des pratiques, la construction d’un nouveau savoir et la reconstruction émancipatrice du savoir. Finalement, cette thèse met en relief l’importance de la théorie de Giddens pour l’étude de la production du savoir et de la relation entre l’infirmière et le contexte ainsi que l’utilisation du devis d’analyse secondaire des données qualitatives pour la discipline infirmière. / A new theoretical framework for designing the process of knowledge production within nursing practice is necessary to take into account the individual and the collective process of knowledge production as well as the influence of the context on this production. The theory of reflexivity of Giddens seems to be most relevant. This study aimed to describe and understand the process of knowledge production within nursing practice through reflexivity. More specifically, it was important to uncover the conditions and dynamics of the institutional, professional and practice context which influence the process of knowledge production within nursing practice and to identify the steps of this process. Projective constructivism was the paradigm that has guided the study. The research design was a secondary analysis of qualitative data. The study context was a critical care unit of a general and university hospital in Barcelona. Data were collected through systematic observation, six structured interviews, seven focus groups, and documents analysis. Data were analysed according to the mixed approach of Miles and Huberman, the qualitative analysis of Morse, and recommendations from various authors on secondary analysis. The rigor criteria were used and the ethical aspects were covered. The study results suggest that the conditions and dynamics of institutional, practical and professional contexts impact profoundly the nursing action and knowledge production. These conditions and dynamics are internalized in the working lives of nurses and provide “normal” ways of nursing practice. However, although there is an acceptance of the status quo, the conflicting feelings and suffering emerge easily. These conditions and dynamics cause incapacity among nurses to act fairly, ethically and responsibly and limit their exploration of new possibilities, formulations and demonstrations of practice. The results propose also the stages of knowledge production through four major themes: the recognition of daily reflexivity, systematic review of practices, the construction of new knowledge and the re-construction of emancipatory knowledge. Finally, this thesis suggests the importance of Giddens' theory for the study of knowledge production and the relationship between the nurse and the context, as well as the use of secondary analysis of qualitative data for the nursing discipline.

Cette thèse propose une analyse des transformations postcommunistes en Roumanie à partir d’une étude de la structuration de trajectoires familiales. La réflexion sur les itinéraires très variés de ces trajectoires familiales met en valeur les pratiques développées par les familles dans la construction de leur mode de vie quotidienne après la chute du communisme. L’approche utilisée privilégie deux axes d’analyse. Le premier vise les aspects socio-structurels concernant les cadres de la vie incluant les aspects matériels, alors que le deuxième, l’axe socio-symbolique, concerne les aspects subjectifs liés au vécu des acteurs en corrélation avec le contexte social en mutation. L’analyse est fondée sur des éléments issus de la théorie de la structuration qui ont contribué à la construction du cadre conceptuel. Elle s’appuie aussi sur la méthodologie qualitative qui comprend des récits de vie obtenus à partir des entretiens semi-dirigés réalisés avec les membres de 11 familles. Les thématiques retenues après l’analyse du corpus de données nous ont permis d’identifier des stratégies que les familles ont mises en place et les projets familiaux qui ont orienté leur parcours de vie durant la période de transition postcommuniste. Ces deux concepts révèlent des éléments liés à l’ordre général permettant ainsi la mise en évidence des tendances structurelles de la société postcommuniste. / This thesis presents an analysis of the process of post-communist transformation in Romania, through a study of the structure of family trajectories. An examination of the wide variety of family trajectories highlights the practices developed by families in rebuilding their way of life after the fall of communism. The approach adopts two axes of analysis. The first is the socio-structural framework for life including material aspects, while the second axis, the socio-symbolic axis addresses subjective aspects related to the experiences of actors within their changing social context. The analysis draws on the theory of structuration in its conceptual framework. It is also based on qualitative methodology which includes life stories obtained from semi-structured interviews conducted with members of 11 families. The themes selected after analysis of the data corpus allows us to identify strategies that families have put in place and family plans that have shaped their life course during the post-communist transition. These two concepts reveal elements related to the general order allowing the identification of structural trends of post-communist society in Romania.

The multiliteracies pedagogy of the New London Group is a response to the emergence of new literacies and changing forms of meaning-making in contemporary contexts of increased cultural and linguistic diversity. This critical ethnographic research investigates the interactions between pedagogy, power, discourses, and differential access to multiliteracies, among a group of culturally and linguistically diverse learners in a mainstream Australian classroom. The study documents the way in which a teacher enacted the multiliteracies pedagogy through a series of mediabased lessons with her year six (aged 11-12 years) class. The reporting of this research is timely because the multiliteracies pedagogy has become a key feature of Australian educational policy initiatives and syllabus requirements. The methodology of this study was based on Carspecken's critical ethnography. This method includes five stages: Stage One involved eighteen days of observational data collection over the course of ten weeks in the classroom. The multiliteracies lessons aimed to enable learners to collaboratively design a claymation movie. Stage Two was the initial analysis of data, including verbatim transcribing, coding, and applying analytic tools to the data. Stage Three involved semi-structured, forty-five minute interviews with the principal, teacher, and four culturally and linguistically diverse students. In Stages Four and Five, the results of micro-level data analysis were compared with macro-level phenomena using structuration theory and extant literature about access to multiliteracies. The key finding was that students' access to multiliteracies differed among the culturally and linguistically diverse group. Existing degrees of access were reproduced, based on the learners' relation to the dominant culture. In the context of the media-based lessons in which students designed claymation movies, students from Anglo-Australian, middle-class backgrounds had greater access to transformed designing than those who were culturally marginalised. These experiences were mediated by pedagogy, power, and discourses in the classroom, which were in turn influenced by the agency of individuals. The individuals were both enabled and constrained by structures of power within the school and the wider educational and social systems. Recommendations arising from the study were provided for teachers, principals, policy makers and researchers who seek to monitor and facilitate the success of the multiliteracies pedagogy in culturally and linguistically diverse educational contexts.

Hospital admissions for patients close to the end of life are considered ‘inappropriate’ in contemporary English health policy. Hospitals are supposedly unable to offer a ‘good’ death for patients, and dying there is thought to contradict patient choice, since patients are assumed to want to die at home. However, almost half of all deaths in England in 2015 occurred in hospital, and of these, nearly a third died within three days of admission. This thesis seeks to explore why these admissions are considered to be a problem and how they occur. Through a systematic review of UK literature I found that it cannot be stated that most patients want to die at home, because of the extent of missing data (preferences not asked, expressed, reported or absent). This finding challenges the justification that admissions are inappropriate because they contravene patient choice. Similarly inconclusive evidence about the undesirability, cost, and lack of need for patients to be in hospital were also found in a review of policy. Together with analysis of historical trends in hospital and hospice provision, it is apparent that attitudes towards end-of-life admissions reflect existing tensions about the role of hospital as an acute provider, and as a place of death. An analysis of interviews conducted with healthcare staff and next-of-kin involved in the admission of patients (case-patients) who died shortly after being admitted to Meadowbridge, a large English hospital explored these tensions further. I found that whilst hospital was not recognised as a place where ‘good’ deaths typically occurred, it was acknowledged as an emergency place of care. In this context, patients without obvious need for hospital care were nevertheless admitted to the hospital and the environment was subsequently recognised to offer distinct benefits. The need for emergency care reflected the difficulties of providing end-of-life care in the community. For dying to occur appropriately, home had to be adapted and care organised by healthcare staff. Both tasks were complicated by the unpredictability of dying, and family carers helped to absorb much of the uncertainty and support patients to die at home. Ambulance staff became involved when patients had care needs that exceeded care quickly and easily available in the community. When called to the case-patients, ambulance staff instituted familiar practices in transferring them to hospital. Hospital was recognised as a default place of care because ambulance staff struggled to facilitate alternative care and lacked sufficient professional authority to keep patients at home. The admissions of the case-patients represent the best attempts of staff to navigate the tangled practices of end-of-life care. These practices are the result of the actions of the staff, which in turn both constrained and enabled their action in providing care to patients. The term ‘inappropriate’ to describe admissions does not encompass these attempts, and moreover, devalued the significant care provided by healthcare staff in the community and hospital.

“We provide a solution that allows saving 15 to 20 euros per invoice.It is very important in a strategy of service and cost reductions for our customers and for us.”<p><p>“For us, it is very important as we generally reduce our inventories by 30%, thus we recover cash flow. It is not negligible.”<p><p>These quotes out of my case studies show that the primary goal of the implementation of Web-based applications is the achievement of transaction cost efficiencies: cost cutting, time saving, and information integration. But do they achieve such results? Sometimes they do sometime they don’t. In order to understand why, I consider it is necessary to take a different perspective from the one taken until now. <p><p>Indeed, existing studies on interorganizational information systems focus on economical and strategic issues and consider organizations as opaque entities. First, issues at hand may not be economic or strategic but social or legal. Next, they neglect that inter-organizational relationships imply a number of long-standing social interactions between individuals of each organization. Moreover, these individuals interpret the mediation project and act taking decision, implementing, or using the mediating technology – that these individuals make sense of the IT mediation project. In the present research, I propose to open the black box of organizations and explore how people sensemaking conditions the achievement of transaction cost benefits and is conditioned by the interorganizational context. My overarching research question is: How do people make sense of the Internet mediation of long-standing interorganizational relationships?<p> / Doctorat en sciences de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished