Home: the foundations of belonging

To be at home means to be embedded in a dense pattern of relationships to people and place which gives rise to an inherently meaningful experience of the world. This order is neither abstract nor imposed from without, but crystallises from the shared experience of people inhabiting a concrete location. Home involves the localisation of meaning in a concrete setting and in the activities of everyday life, and this embodies an ongoing process of ‘cosmicisation’ which is vital for both social life and individual well-being. Home is not a fixed structure, static and frozen, which shuts out the external world; it is a dynamic centre which draws in experience and gives it meaning. It is a constellation of significance rather than a singular and unitary essence. It is produced by localising processes, which work to concentrate and stabilise value around a secure centre. The elaboration of seven interlinked localising processes forms the core of the thesis: The cultivation of place The accumulation of collective memory The crystallisation of life-ways and their evolution into tradition The generation of mutuality of being through sharing in fundamental biological processes which generate and preserve life Social circles of gift exchange and recognition which reinforce this mutuality of being The elaboration of symbolic boundaries The counterparts of localising processes are globalising ones. These involve the dismantling of the taken-for-granted relationships of everyday life and their reconstitution within spatially extended networks, governed by rationalised institutions, within separate spheres of economic production, commercial transactions, political administration and cultural exchange. The global market, the public arena, technological development and the bureaucratic state are all solvents of localised associations, which result in the dissipation and relativisation of value. However globalising processes never entirely displace localising ones. Even today, localising processes shape those areas of our lives which anchor our identities and provide a sense of meaning: the everyday interactions of home, family, community and intimate circles of friendship.

Le mariage forcé de femmes immigrantes au Québec

Cette thèse a pour objet de comprendre la question du mariage forcé vécu par des femmes immigrantes vivant au Québec et, les réponses politiques, législatives et sociales qu’on y apporte. De façon plus spécifique, il s’agit de mettre à jour la diversité des situations et des significations que recouvre la notion de mariage forcé pour tenter d’en dégager des éléments de définition et de compréhension. La thèse vise également à identifier les conséquences spécifiques qui découlent d’un mariage forcé pour les femmes immigrantes vivant au Québec, et enfin, d’analyser les réponses politiques, législatives et sociales visant le mariage forcé au Canada et au Québec afin de prévenir, dépister et d’en protéger ses victimes en contexte interculturel. S’appuyant sur un corpus de dix entrevues avec des femmes immigrantes vivant, ayant vécu ou menacées d’un mariage forcé et de dix-huit informateurs clés intervenant auprès d’elles et provenant de différents milieux de pratique (police, justice, santé services sociaux et communautaires), une analyse intersectionnelle a permis de révéler toute la complexité des mariages forcés due notamment aux interrelations entre des systèmes d’oppression et des vulnérabilités multiples. La recension des écrits et nos résultats indiquent que certains éléments caractérisent les mariages forcés. Premièrement, la préservation de l’honneur patriarcal qui problématise et contrôle le comportement des femmes en ce qui à trait notamment à leur vie sexuelle, mais aussi sociale. Deuxièmement, le fait que le mariage forcé soit un moyen de poursuivre des intérêts plus souvent collectifs qu’individuels. Dimension collective qui devra nécessairement être prise en considération lors des solutions à apporter à cette problématique. Troisièmement, le rôle des femmes (mères, belles-mères et autres femmes de la communauté culturelle d’appartenance) dans l’arrangement des mariages, mais également dans la surveillance et le contrôle de tous les faits et gestes des autres femmes. i Quatrièmement, le potentiel d’agresseurs multiples, y compris la communauté elle-même, dans les actes de violence commis avant, pendant et, le cas échéant, après le mariage. Une autre dimension qui devra elle aussi être prise en compte lors de l’inter- vention. Cinquièmement, le potentiel d’exploitation sexuelle (viol conjugal, grossesses forcées), physique (mauvais traitements, blessures), psychologique (pressions, manipulations) ou encore économique (travail forcé, privation d’autonomie financière). L’ensemble de ces résultats a permis de cerner certains besoins liés à l’intervention, en terme de prévention, de dépistage et de protection des victimes de mariage forcé.

La pérdida del trabajo petrolero : Transformaciones laborales, materiales e identitarias

En este artículo analizamos las consecuencias que la privatización de la refinería "La Plata" de YPF (Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales) trajo consigo para sus ex trabajadores. A partir de una investigación cualitativa en la que realizamos 30 entrevistas abiertas a ex trabajadores petroleros, estudiamos la importancia que tenía la refinería en la vida laboral, familiar y social de estos obreros y las consecuencias que la privatización de la misma trajo para ellos. Así, nos preocupamos por analizar aquello que los trabajadores perdieron junto con su trabajo. Estudiamos la política de desgaste implementada por la empresa en el momento de privatización y el impacto que ella tuvo en la subjetividad de los trabajadores, el difícil proceso de reinserción laboral, el empobrecimiento familiar y la fragmentación de la identidad laboral que los obreros petroleros habían constituido a lo largo de sus años de trabajo en la empresa

La pérdida del trabajo petrolero : Transformaciones laborales, materiales e identitarias

En este artículo analizamos las consecuencias que la privatización de la refinería "La Plata" de YPF (Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales) trajo consigo para sus ex trabajadores. A partir de una investigación cualitativa en la que realizamos 30 entrevistas abiertas a ex trabajadores petroleros, estudiamos la importancia que tenía la refinería en la vida laboral, familiar y social de estos obreros y las consecuencias que la privatización de la misma trajo para ellos. Así, nos preocupamos por analizar aquello que los trabajadores perdieron junto con su trabajo. Estudiamos la política de desgaste implementada por la empresa en el momento de privatización y el impacto que ella tuvo en la subjetividad de los trabajadores, el difícil proceso de reinserción laboral, el empobrecimiento familiar y la fragmentación de la identidad laboral que los obreros petroleros habían constituido a lo largo de sus años de trabajo en la empresa

La pérdida del trabajo petrolero : Transformaciones laborales, materiales e identitarias

En este artículo analizamos las consecuencias que la privatización de la refinería "La Plata" de YPF (Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales) trajo consigo para sus ex trabajadores. A partir de una investigación cualitativa en la que realizamos 30 entrevistas abiertas a ex trabajadores petroleros, estudiamos la importancia que tenía la refinería en la vida laboral, familiar y social de estos obreros y las consecuencias que la privatización de la misma trajo para ellos. Así, nos preocupamos por analizar aquello que los trabajadores perdieron junto con su trabajo. Estudiamos la política de desgaste implementada por la empresa en el momento de privatización y el impacto que ella tuvo en la subjetividad de los trabajadores, el difícil proceso de reinserción laboral, el empobrecimiento familiar y la fragmentación de la identidad laboral que los obreros petroleros habían constituido a lo largo de sus años de trabajo en la empresa

Governmentality gone wild: How the separation of sex workers from 'communities' contributes to violence against sex workers

Sex workers are members of our communities, whether they are local or national communities. In law, mainstream media representations, and research sex workers are positioned as outside of or in opposition to communities. Even within marginalized communities sex workers are excluded when appeals to respectability politics are made. In this thesis I analyze three analytic sites from three areas of social life. The first chapter performs a textual analysis of The Bedford Decision (2013) and the resulting Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (2014) as an examination of law. The second chapter is an analysis of filmic discourse on community, sex workers, and violence in the mainstream film London Road (2015) as an examination of mainstream media. The third chapter draws upon empirical research, i.e. in-depth interviews with three current and former sex workers in Ottawa, Canada and analyzes the transcripts using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to center how sex workers’ understanding of their work, community, and the laws and policies that are supposed govern and protect them. In my preface and conclusion I discuss some of the ethical dilemmas I encountered while conducting this research. My findings suggest that sex workers are being positioned and understood as outside of communities in ways that contribute to violence against sex workers. The implications of this research suggest that people who speak in the name of communities—communities in the sense of local neighborhood communities, activist communities, and national communities—need to recognize that sex workers are part of their communities and be accountable to ensuring they are treated as members. Researchers who conduct research on sex work and sex workers need to be accountable to their participants and the impacts their research may have on laws and policies. Sex workers are an over-researched population yet their voices are largely misappropriated or silenced in popular research and policy debates.

CERAMICS IN BRITAIN (1840-90): MEANINGS AND METAPHORS

The intention of this thesis, “Ceramics in Britain (1840–90): Meanings and Metaphors” is to present new approaches for interpreting ceramics in nineteenth-century Britain by situating, problematizing, and contextualizing pottery and porcelain in the popular debates of the day within the methodologies of material culture, design, cultural and art histories. I ask how did ceramics—portable, functional, and often decorative objects—contribute to shaping modes of experiences? Crockery, tableware and blue-white-porcelain, admittedly largely mediated in texts and paintings, are at the centre of this research to examine how they imposed symbolism and influenced the engagement of their subjects beyond their intended meanings and functions. This thesis tracks a common rhetoric shared by writers and artists across genres and understood by readers and viewers: crockery in the cupboard, on the mantel, the table or the floor were popular motifs exemplifying class, gender, character, etiquette, and taste. This thesis also seeks to map ceramics’ relations with other objects and people depicted. Their meanings and metaphors changed, depending on their exchange with other objects in the room and who uses them. The conventions of representing ceramics dictated a particular grammar that writers and artists used, critiqued, discarded or personalized. The examination of ceramics mediated in text and image especially in comparison with extant objects invites a deeper probing of both material culture and artistic practice, which helps to situate the agency of the ceramic objects themselves. Also this thesis, in attempt to explore new methodological approaches for ceramic studies, examines the social life of the mid-Victorian relief-moulded “Minster” Jug in the Gardiner Museum in Toronto. The product originating in Staffordshire in 1843 and exported to the colonies holds significance due to its multiple life histories. Viewing the “Minster” through the lenses of curator, collector, consumer, and critic its layered lives unfold to reveal the protocols of museum praxis as well as important aspects of mid-nineteenth-century British society related to design reform, gender, imperialism and consumption patterns. This thesis contends that the British experienced ceramics in sometimes unexpected ways, unrelated to their original purpose, such as tools of violence or containers of solace, and transformative fantasy.

Meniere’s, Migraine & Motion Sickness

CONCLUSION Elevated MSS in MD is likely to be a consequence of the onset of MD and not migraine per se. OBJECTIVES Pathologies of the vestibular system influence motion sickness susceptibility (MSS). Bilateral vestibular deficits lower MSS, vestibular neuritis or benign paroxysmal positional vertigo have little overall effect, whereas vestibular migraine elevates MSS. However, less is known about MSS in Meniere’s disease (MD), a condition in which many patients experience vestibular loss and migraine symptoms. METHODS We conducted an online survey that posed diagnostic and disease questions before addressing frequency of headaches, migraines, visual display dizziness (VDD), syncope, social life and work impact of dizziness (SWID4) and motion sickness susceptibility (MSSQ). The two groups were: diagnosed MD individuals with hearing loss (n=751) and non-MD individuals in the control group (n=400). RESULTS The MD group showed significantly elevated MSS, more headache and migraine, increased VDD, higher SWID4 scores, and increased syncope. MSS was higher in MD than controls only after the development of MD but not before, nor in childhood. Although elevated in MD compared with controls, MSS was lower than migraine patients from past data. Multivariate analysis revealed VDD, SWID4 and MSS in adulthood as the strongest predictors of MD, but not headache nor migraine.

“Work of Kinship” done by Families in Santiago de Chile

This paper reports the progress achieved in an anthropological investigation based on which there is now a more in depth understanding of some dimensions of the “kinship work” carried out by families in Chile. The main objective is to analyze the work of maintaining family links performed primarily by women within families and show how this work reproduces gender inequalities within them. On the basis of a longitudinal methodology based on semi-structured interviews, it is concluded that the work of maintaining family links performed by women is crucial but goes unnoticed because kinship obligations are seen as a naturally being part of women’s role in the family.

Nuevo marco para la producción de textos académicos

Este trabajo presenta la reelaboración de un modelo de producción de textos escritos, publicado por el Grupo Didactext en 2003. Se sitúa en un marco sociocognitivo, lingüístico y didáctico, y está concebido desde la interacción de tres dimensiones simbolizadas por círculos concéntricos recurrentes. El primer círculo corresponde al ámbito cultural: las diversas esferas de la praxis humana en las que está inmersa toda actividad de composición escrita. El segundo se refiere a los contextos de producción, de los que forman parte el contexto social, el situacional, el físico, la audiencia y el medio de composición. El tercer círculo corresponde al individuo, en el que se tiene en cuenta el papel de la memoria en la producción de un texto desde el enfoque sociocultural, la motivación, las emociones y las estrategias cognitivas y metacognitivas, dentro de las cuales se conciben seis unidades funcionales que actúan en concurrencia: acceso al conocimiento, planificación, redacción, revisión y reescritura, edición, y presentación oral. La orientación didáctica se interesa por la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la escritura académica en las aulas, así como por la investigación de la escritura en contextos de educación.

Human Rights, Local Plights: The Implications of Rights Discourses in the Struggle over Arab-Palestinian Bedouin Land in Israel

A widely diffused, engaged approach understands human rights as an opportunity to enhance moral progress. Less visible has a critical realm of research that reveals the often ambiguous social life of human rights discourses. This article draws on a specific case study from the intricate issue of how activism for Arab-Palestinian Bedouin citizens in Southern Israel engages with the global human rights discourse. It follows the implications of mobilization, focusing on events related to a campaign against house demolitions in informal,unrecognised settlements. The case shows how human rights discourses tend to silence the agency of political subjects, victimizing and patronizing those who seek emancipation. The ethnographic insights emphasize the role of a range of carnivalesque and spontaneous acts ofresistance, which subvert the patronizing implications of the human rights language.

Medborgarmönstringen inom högern 1915–1936 : En begreppshistorisk och diskursorienterad undersökning av medborgarbegreppets utbredning, mening och funktion inom Allmänna valmansförbundet

During the 1920s and 1930s, the Swedish right-wing party Allmänna valmansförbundet (AVF) made citizen into a key concept within their political vocabulary and practice. This thesis examines the distribution, meaning and function of the concept of citizen within the AVF between 1915 and 1936. By using theoretical and methodological perspectives from both the English (Skinner) and German (Koselleck) side of conceptual history vis-à-vis Begriffsgeschischte, this study illuminates how a discursive framework took place within the AVF and expanded throughout the organisation. The constitutional reforms 1918/1921 and the organisational strength from opposite parties, stressed the importance for the AVF to assemble the citizens around conservative value laden concepts: responsibility, ansvar, and public participation, offentlighet. This new situation in political and social life, pushed the AVF towards a reorganisation. The aim was to educate the masses, women and youth into conservative citizens. Citizen became the sole tool in (i) upholding the traditional heritage between folk–state, and (ii) enabling the AVF citizen discourse to spread throughout the society. This study shows the multiple meaning and functions of the citizen concept within the AVF.  It provides a new understanding of how collective concepts became an important part of the struggle for power during the democratization process in Swedish political history and must in that respect be seen as an antithesis to the collective concepts of the Social Democratic Party during this period.  

Att leva med kroniska sår En litteraturöversikt

Bakgrund: Kroniska sår innefattas av bensår, fotsår, trycksår, diabetessår, sårskada, tumörer, reumatiska sår och vårdskador vid komplikationer efter kirurgiska ingrepp, som inte har läkt inom 6 veckor. Forskning visar att trots att förebyggande strategier används, utvecklas det sår som kräver behandling. I mötet med vården är en god omvårdnad och en god vårdrelation viktig. Bristen på dessa leder ofta till ett lidande som individen måste kämpa emot med copingstrategier. Syfte: Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att belysa personers erfarenhet av att leva med kroniska sår. Metod: En litteraturöversikt gjordes i denna studie med 15 vetenskapliga artiklar, som bestod av både kvantitativ och kvalitativ metod. Resultat: 3 huvudkategorier identifierades: begränsningar, lidande samt coping. Deltagarna ansåg att en brist på information samt begränsningar i vardagen påverkade individens sociala umgänge och fysiska aktivitet. Smärta, skam och rädsla ledde till depression. För att hantera detta använde individerna sig av familjen och stöd av vårdpersonalen Slutsats: Det framkom att individernas dagliga liv påverkades av det kroniska såret. Den konstanta smärtan orsakade sömnsvårigheter hos individen, vilket ytterligare försvårade hanteringen av smärtan och vardagen. Kontinuitet hos vårdpersonal och i behandlingen gav personerna en trygghet och en ökad förståelse för sitt tillstånd. Det belystes att det var viktigt att vårdpersonalen ser individen bakom såret, och inte bara lägger sitt fokus på sårläkningen och behandlingen.

Competência Emocional no Ensino Superior Psicologia Positiva

A psicologia positiva é uma nova abordagem científica detentora de vastos recursos que permitem desenvolver competência emocional no individuo facilitando a sua adaptação aos mais diversos contextos. O presente estudo teve como objetivos: conhecer as características sociodemográficas, avaliar o nível de competência emocional (“perceção emocional”, “expressão emocional” e “capacidade para lidar com a emoção”) e relacionar a competência emocional, bem como as suas dimensões com algumas variáveis sociodemográficas num grupo de 103 jovens estudantes (m = 17, f = 86), com idades compreendidas entre os 18 e os 22 anos de idade que frequentavam o 1º ano do ensino superior da Escola Superior de Saúde do Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, nos cursos de Enfermagem, Terapia Ocupacional e Fisioterapia. Este estudo é transversal, de cariz quantitativo e do tipo descritivo e correlacional. O instrumento utilizado na recolha de dados foi um questionário constituído por duas partes: a primeira parte por um Questionário Sociodemográfico e a segunda parte pelo Questionário de Competência Emocional. Os resultados apontam para a existência de evidências estatisticamente significativas em relação ao género, à vida social. No que se refere ao género, as jovens revelam uma aptidão maior para lidar com a emoção comparativamente aos jovens. Observa-se ainda que, uma vida social ativa é um bom preditor para uma maior competência emocional. Concluímos que, de uma forma geral, a maioria dos jovens estudantes que integraram esta amostra revelam possuir bons níveis de competência emocional. / Positive psychology is a new scientific approach that has many features that allow you to develop emotional competence in the individual helping them to adapt to many different contexts. The present study aimed to: to know the sociodemographic characteristics, assess the level of emotional competence ("emotional perception", "emotional expression" and "ability to deal with the emotion") and relate to emotional competence, as well as their dimensions to sociodemographic variables in a group of 103 young students (M = 17, F = 86), aged between 18 and 22 years old, attending the 1st year of university, in School of Health, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, in Nursing, Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy. This study is cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive and correlational. The instrument used for collect data was a questionnaire consisting of two parts: the first part by a sociodemographic questionnaire and the second part of emotional competence questionnaire. The results point to the existence of statistically significant evidence in relation to gender, social life. With respect to gender, young show a higher capacity to cope with the emotion compared to young people. It is also observed that an active social life is a good predictor for greater emotional competence. We conclude that, in general, the majority of young students who have integrated this sample show good levels of emotional competence.