text: DSpace Collection: http://hdl.handle.net/2381/397 2015-10-07T02:31:28Z Bio-spheres of Risk-Aversion and Equitable Health. An Ethnography of Neoliberal Area-Based Public Health Policy Intervention and Physical Activity in a Deprived English Neighbourhood http://hdl.handle.net/2381/32904 Title: Bio-spheres of Risk-Aversion and Equitable Health. An Ethnography of Neoliberal Area-Based Public Health Policy Intervention and Physical Activity in a Deprived English Neighbourhood Authors: Williams, Oliver Stephen Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to explore the relationships between health, place and inequality. The research focuses on area-based public health policy in a deprived neighbourhood - 'Kingsland' - in central England. Kingsland attracted a number of area-based initiatives (ABIs) with the overarching aim of reducing national inequality. Between 2000-2010, significant resources were invested in local projects to promote 'healthy' living: most notably through physical activity (PA). Kingsland became a relatively novel place: a deprived area with numerous PA facilities and services. A central research concern is how far these services, particularly a new local leisure centre, impact the lives of people of low-SES. Localities transformed in ways designed to promote 'healthy' living are conceptualised as 'bio-spheres of risk-aversion' and assessed for their potential to address health inequalities. This research took place two years after the ABIs were implemented. Data primarily come from sixteen months of ethnographic observation, but also includes interviews, a survey, and document analysis. Relationships between health, place and inequality are considered within the wider context of neoliberal dominance. The example of the global obesity 'epidemic' illustrates the ways in which neoliberal ideology promotes individual responsibility. The 'oppressive' and 'emancipatory' potentials of neoliberal health policy are explored in relation to the 'choices' and embodied experiences of people of low-SES. This research demonstrates that neoliberal policies not only have harmful individual consequences, they also exacerbate structural inequalities. Specifically, analysis indicates the potential for ABIs to exacerbate health inequalities. Findings reveal some direct, detrimental impacts on people of low-SES and highlight the importance of equitable health provision. This thesis makes an original contribution by revealing the paradoxical effects that health policy can have on relationships between health, place and inequality. It offers a set of novel theoretical concepts to better understand this paradox and to guard against it. 2015-08-05T15:13:29Z A fine romance? : tourist women and local men's sexual economic exchanges in the Caribbean http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30737 Title: A fine romance? : tourist women and local men's sexual economic exchanges in the Caribbean Authors: Sánchez Taylor, Jacqueline. Abstract: Existing research on the phenomenon of 'sex tourism' has focused on the practices of Western heterosexual male tourists who pursue sexual contact with local females in South East Asia. These men's behaviour is widely understood as a form of prostitute use which rests upon global inequalities and racist fantasies, as well as gender inequalities. A number of studies have shown that female tourists also enter into sexual liaisons with local men in poor and developing countries, but these women's behaviour is not interpreted in the same way as that of their male counterparts. Although researchers generally acknowledge that sexual relationships between local men and tourist women involve an exchange of money or goods and gifts, there is a tendency to view sexual encounters between tourist women and local men as a Tine romance', rather than as a form of sexual exploitation. This thesis is based upon ethnographic and survey research that explored sexual economic relationships between tourist women and local men in Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. It explores the complexity of power relations which shape these relationships and shows how both parties draw upon dominant discourses on prostitution, sexuality to obscure the commercial basis of their relationships and to downplay the significance of the economic and other inequalities which exist between them. Above all they interpret their relations through a lens of gender essentialism and popular beliefs about racial difference. This tendency to essentialise gender and oversimplify questions about race can also be found in many feminist theoretical accounts of sexuality, prostitution and sex tourism. The thesis argues that there is a need for more complicated and nuanced theoretical models of prostitution, sex tourism, sexual exploitation, victimization and consent, and the kind of power that is exercised within heterosexual relationships. 2014-12-15T10:41:48Z A study of motivation and job satisfaction in the Brunei Civil Service http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30736 Title: A study of motivation and job satisfaction in the Brunei Civil Service Authors: Basir, Naemah Haji. Abstract: This thesis examines the inadequacies of the theories of motivation and job satisfaction. It argues that the current motivation and job satisfaction theories are culturally biased and more suitable for individualist that collectivist cultures. In addition, they tend to downplay the effects of organisational structure on motivation and job satisfaction. Through a literature review, the author illustrates how and why the application of the need, process, intrinsic and extrinsic theories of motivation in the collectivist cultures is problematic. In addition, she examines the roles of organisational structure and design in influencing motivation and job satisfaction and argues that the way an organisation is structured can have an impact on employee's motivation and job satisfaction. To strengthen her arguments, she has used empirical evidence from the study of motivation and job satisfaction among the Brunei Civil Servants. The thesis also assesses the suitability of Western measurements of motivation and job satisfaction more specifically the Job Diagnostic Survey and Job Design Index, and their possible applicability in Brunei. The findings suggest that the applicability of these instruments in the Bruneian cultural context is very limited. 2014-12-15T10:41:47Z Philosophies, ideologies and the practice of physical education : making sense of the everyday 'philosophies' of physical education teachers from a sociological perspective http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30735 Title: Philosophies, ideologies and the practice of physical education : making sense of the everyday 'philosophies' of physical education teachers from a sociological perspective Authors: Green, Ken. Abstract: This thesis examines what are referred to as the 'philosophies' of physical education (PE) teachers from a sociological perspective. It is primarily concerned with the ideas about PE held by teachers who have the practical task of teaching PE within schools. The study deploys a qualitative methodology grounded in a figurational perspective on the sociology of knowledge. It analyses data from semi-structured interviews conducted with 35 PE teachers at various occupational levels within PE departments in 17 secondary schools in the north-west of England, during June and July, 1998.;In the main, teachers' 'philosophies' revolved around a number of recognisable categories of meaning in terms of the ideological themes of 'sport', 'health', 'academic value' and, albeit to a lesser extent, 'education for leisure'. One leitmotif, in particular, emerged from the interview data and that was an overriding concern, on the part of the teachers in the study, with pupils' 'enjoyment' of PE.;In order to understand the socio-genesis of PE teachers' everyday of aphoristic 'philosophies' and, to a lesser extent, their professed practices, the study focused upon the personal, local and national dimensions of the figurations in which PE teachers were involved in an attempt to identify the more salient influence on the development of their 'philosophies' of PE. These feature included the biographical experiences that provide the foundation for teachers' habituses, the day-to-day constraints of classroom management, the expectations of significant others (such as headteachers and parents) as well as the socio-political climate and developments internal (e.g. the desire for professional status) and external (government legislation and policy developments) to the profession. It was apparent that the teachers had a distinctive view of their subject. They brought to their teaching a passion for sport, combined with a range of pragmatic concerns (e.g. regarding class management and the requirements of the National Curriculum for Physical Education); the former led them to place considerable emphasis, in particular, upon enjoyment (particularly of sport) as a central plank of their 'philosophies'. In addition, it was noticeable that, notwithstanding the emergence of a variety of more or less prominent ideologies within the subject-community over the last decade or so (and particularly an ideology of health), PE teachers' 'philosophies' continued to be dominated by a sporting ideology.;By exploring the social relationship in which PE teachers are involved the study takes tentative steps towards a more adequate understanding of the socio-genesis of PE teachers' 'philosophies'. It is argued that if we wish to understand teachers' perceptions regarding the nature and purposes of PE, as well as their preferred practices, then we must study them not as abstract philosophical systems of ideas, but rather as practical, everyday 'philosophies' which provide practical guides to action as well as a justification for those actions. 2014-12-15T10:41:46Z The Americanization of Israeli basketball (1978-1996) - a figurational analysis http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30734 Title: The Americanization of Israeli basketball (1978-1996) - a figurational analysis Authors: Galily, Yair. Abstract: By adopting a developmental approach, this thesis studied the case of Israeli basketball and documented the process by which Israeli basketball, as part of Israeli culture, was Americanized.;Recognizing that Americanization needs to be viewed as part of broader globalization, processes, this study examined how far developments in Israeli basketball can be explained as aspects of an Americanization process.;Using Israeli professional basketball as the prism to identify the Americanization process occurring within Israeli society as a whole, this thesis illustrates how basketball in Israel became involved in the network of overlapping social and global forces. The thesis discusses the power relations and balances among various groups and people involved in the development of Israeli basketball such as Israeli, American and naturalized players, coaches, Israel Basketball Association leaders and administrators, sponsors and entrepreneurs, mayors, lawyers, parliament members, reporters, journalists and commentators. All these actors were implicated to a greater or lesser extent in influencing the developmental trajectory of Israeli basketball and were caught up in, and helped contribute to, the process of Americanization.;Going beyond the search for a single cause for the process of Americanization, this thesis also discusses the power relations among various groups that constitute Israel society, based on the analysis of processes such as 'professionalization', 'secularization', 'urbanization', and 'militarization', that gathered momentum parallel to the Americanization process.;In the case of Israeli basketball, and in a much broader context, the suggestion is that Israel society is being 'overshadowed', maybe more than ever before, by the more powerful American state. However, as this thesis indicates and as process-sociologists would argue, assimilation, at least in any simple sense, is not a sufficient explanation for the observed events. 2014-12-15T10:41:46Z Racism and the Scottish press : tracing the continuities and discontinuities of racialised discoures in Scotland http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30732 Title: Racism and the Scottish press : tracing the continuities and discontinuities of racialised discoures in Scotland Authors: Singh, Gurchand. Abstract: This is a claim, articulated by sections of the members of the Scottish press and the political elite, that racism does not exist in Scotland. The aim of this thesis is to draw on documentary evidence and secondary sources in order to demonstrate the myth of 'racial' tolerance in Scotland. Through developing a materialist and empirical method of investigation, which recognises how racialised discourses can articulate with discourses of the nation, a historical and comparative analysis was carried out. Secondary sources and existing research were used to examine the history of racialised discourses during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The examination of the substance of postwar racialised discourses involved the content analysis for Scottish newspapers and their coverage of several key events was examined (the 1958 'race riots', the 1968 Kenyan Asian crisis, and the 1980s 'race riots'). The results were compared with existing research on the English press.;Overall, this demonstrated that there were continuities and discontinuities in the substance of racialised discourses. Continuities in the sense that the substance of racialised discourses in Scotland and England are very similar. This stems from the fact that both Scotland and England are bound together within the common space of the nation-state. By discontinuities, I refer to the fact that there are subtle differences in the expression of racialised discourses. In Scotland's case, the major discontinuity is the myth of 'racial' tolerance. This discontinuity stems from the fact that the British nation state still contains a distinct Scottish national identity as well as a broader English/British identity. Racialised discourses have articulated with different national identities, leading to subtle differences in the expression of racism. In the Scottish case, it includes the myth of 'racial' tolerance. However, through drawing on secondary sources, evidence will be provided that contradicts this myth. 2014-12-15T10:41:45Z Professions, legitimacy and change : the impact of political and economic forces on a large city library system in Britain http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30733 Title: Professions, legitimacy and change : the impact of political and economic forces on a large city library system in Britain Authors: Chiarenza, Antonio. Abstract: The aim of this research is to investigate developments in public librarianship in a period of fundamental change which took place in the first half of the nineties. Within the framework of the sociological approach to the study of occupations, an attempt is made to understand how the profession responded to changed circumstances due to external political and economic pressures. The general hypothesis is that the librarian's process of adaptation to new cultural and technological conditions has, in the last decade, undergone rapid acceleration because of political reforms and economic constraints which seemed to have the potential to undermine the distinctive identity of the profession. Financial pressure, government reforms, emphasis on accountability, competition, cost-effectiveness and consumer choice reshaped the internal organisations of library work and questioned the principle governing quality of library service. The conflict between the economic criteria for the established of the aims and objectives of the library service and the statutory duty to provide a "comprehensive and effective" service to the public created a feeling of uncertainty and lack of confidence in those who had to carry out those tasks. The librarians' traditional orientation to service, their qualifications and competence seemed no longer sufficient to ensure either user satisfaction or public benefit. The purpose of this research is to draw a picture, from the testimonies of professional librarians, manager librarians, politicians and administrators, of how public librarianship has changed its internal organisation, its relationship with the public and its professional practice and culture. The focus of analysis can be grouped into the following areas of investigation: the organisational context, the working context and finally the institutional context where the legitimacy of the librarian's status and competence is brought into question. 2014-12-15T10:41:45Z Popular music in the city : an examination of local music scenes, popular music practice and cultural policy in the city of Leicester http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30731 Title: Popular music in the city : an examination of local music scenes, popular music practice and cultural policy in the city of Leicester Authors: Gilmore, Abigail. Abstract: This thesis examines popular music in the city of Leicester. It looks at local popular music practice through the activities, values and structures of support associated with local music scenes and music industry. It explores the ways in which popular music contributes to city life through the activities of particular groups involved in the production and distribution of music in Leicester. It also considers how local governance structures influence and shape music practice through cultural policy and municipal government and regulation. Using the concepts 'music scene' and 'music community' I consider how participation in popular music in the city is organised around particular sites, activities, coalitions and alliances. The production and localisation of identities, values and economies through popular music practice are considered via case study and through examination of the relationship between public sector supported initiatives and different social and music communities. In particular, I focus on the ways in which popular music is thought to represent different social groups and how this representation is an important element of local cultural policy. The social function of popular music in marking and contributing to social and cultural identity (Frith 1987) is examined in the context of urban communities and identities, and in terms of its propensity to facilitate public celebration and display of diverse ethnicities in a multicultural city. I consider the history of provision for popular music and recent policy initiatives in Leicester in comparison to other examples of urban cultural policy, which are offered as a framework for considering different strategies for urban regeneration and animation through the popular music sector. In doing so, I question the relationship between cultural value and cultural policy and discuss issues associated with local music scenes and identities and the influences on local music policy and practice. 2014-12-15T10:41:45Z Charitable provision for the rural poor : a case study of policies and attitudes in Northamptonshire in the first half of the nineteenth century http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30730 Title: Charitable provision for the rural poor : a case study of policies and attitudes in Northamptonshire in the first half of the nineteenth century Authors: Lewis, Bridget Abstract: This thesis examines the role of private charity in the 'mixed economy of welfare' available to the rural poor in Northamptonshire in the first half of the nineteenth century. It is the first major study of this kind, as hitherto, historians of welfare have largely concentrated on the public charity of poor relief. It covers the basic needs of the poor, food, money, clothing, housing and access to land for fuel and cultivation and examines the various sources of private charity that addressed those needs. These were the endowed charities, the benevolence of individuals, mainly the major landowners and the clergy, and the establishment of the self-help charitable initiatives of allotment schemes, clothing societies and coal clubs. For each source, this thesis explores the key questions of how valuable the resource was to the poor, who were the main recipients and what factors affected the choice of recipients. Thus, it examines the gender, the stage in the life cycle and the respectability of the recipients. It also analyses the importance of residency in an 'open' or a 'close' parish in terms of the amount and quality of assistance given to the poor. This thesis also examines the extent of changes in national attitudes to private charitable provision with an emphasis on self-help and on more discrimination in the choice of recipients, mirroring the changes in poor relief in the period. Although these changes were in their infancy in the early decades of the nineteenth century, they became prominent in rural parishes in the second half. Thus this thesis shows that the years up to 1850 were critical in that the changes in charitable provision which arose out of the pressures encountered by rural society in that period came to be widely adopted by the end of the century. 2014-12-15T10:41:45Z Helping at home and informal care : an examination of children's contribution to family life http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30729 Title: Helping at home and informal care : an examination of children's contribution to family life Authors: Chambers, Val. Abstract: Using a questionnaire sample of 980 eleven to sixteen year olds and a small number of interviews, this study explores what young people do to help at home. Research carried out over the last decade has provided considerable insight into the lives of children and young people involved in caring for family members who are ill or who experience disabilities. What is less well understood are the pathways for young people's involvement into caring and the nature of the links between routine helping out at home and caring for a parent with a serious illness or disability.;Young people's involvement in informal care causes concern, as such young people often carry a significant burden of both work and responsibility. This study seeks to identify the extent to which young people may be involved in different kinds of responsibilities and to assess the impact this has on their lives.;The theoretical foundation for the research draws upon current social theory, focusing especially on the sociology of childhood and the sociology of social problems.;The data gathered indicates that the family situation has little effect upon patterns of routine helping out, but significantly influences whether or not young people will become involved in greater levels of home responsibility. The key findings suggest that young people assume responsibility for others in a variety of circumstances and that it is useful to use the concept of a home responsibility continuum when considering young people's helping behaviour in the home. 2014-12-15T10:41:44Z Her Majesty's inspectorates in the education and police services of England and Wales : comparative patterns of conflict and accommodation http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30727 Title: Her Majesty's inspectorates in the education and police services of England and Wales : comparative patterns of conflict and accommodation Authors: Wilson, Bryan B. Abstract: This research is an empirically based, comparative study of the inspectorates in two high profile areas of public concern, the education and police services and explores the realities and complexities of an increasingly politically favoured instrument, inspection, in regulation regimes. It uses case study methodology and data collected by semi-structured interviews and textual analysis of literature, and reports and other documents published by the two inspectorates and associated organisations. The study has the aims of contextualising the role and place of the inspectorates and of establishing if they are an aid to the achievement of accountability; whether they are independent assessors; and whether any aid given could be extended to a wider population of "stakeholders". It seeks to identify ways that any benefits given could be increased and to relate the findings to other scholarship and draw out new insights, particularly those relating to the factors which determine the nature of the regime. Considerably more conflict was revealed than might be expected within and between organisations commonly funded by the public purse. Four methods of resolving this were detected, "co-operation", "constraint", "collaboration" and "compromise". The inspectorates give definite assistance to the accountable parties by the information they provide but this is restricted by their being agents of Central Government control rather than independent assessors. Greater assistance would be given (including that offered to a wider population of stakeholders) if they were made truly independent. Multiple factors were found to determine the punitive nature of regimes, by far the most important being Central Government's attitude and wishes. Intensive, rigorous inspection is seen as the favoured way ahead in the short term but its extensive use in the longer term is challenged, given an improvement in the line management of public services and the establishment and extension of the use and influence of credible Performance Indicators. 2014-12-15T10:41:43Z Young girls in the countryside : growing up in South Northamptonshire http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30728 Title: Young girls in the countryside : growing up in South Northamptonshire Authors: Tucker, Faith J. Abstract: Although there has been a surge of interest in a geographical approach to the study of children, there is a pro-urban bias in much childhood research. Childhood is seemingly assumed to be an entirely metropolitan experience; there is a paucity of research on rural childhoods. Few studies have investigated girls' use of outdoor environments, particularly those beyond urban settings. The dominance of pro-urban and 'malestream' research tends to hide the experiences of girls living in rural areas.;This thesis explores difference and diversity in the lifestyles of 10-15 year olds growing up in South Northamptonshire, employing a multi-stranded methodology including: a questionnaire survey of children; in-depth discussion work with girls centred on child-taken photographs and videos; and interviews with mothers. To try to get close to the lifeworlds of young people, wherever possible their voices are included in the text. The study area represents one type of rural experience - that of an affluent, commuter-dependent area. The theoretical constructs of liminality and habitus are used to help make sense of the use and social ownership of space.;A series of factors is shown to interact in various ways to produce complex geographies. Contingency effects of gender, age and location create a multitude of rural lifestyles; there is no universal 'country childhood'. Girls use and value recreational space in a myriad of ways. Young people often have to share their play spaces, and anxiety, tension and conflict between rival groups is commonplace. Girls and their mothers express concern about stranger-danger, gangs and traffic hazards, and this limits the spatial freedom of some girls. Mothers, deeming the private car the only safe form of transport, determine the spaces in which their daughters spend their leisure time. Rather than providing greater spatial freedom, the rural offers parents more control over their children's use of public space. 2014-12-15T10:41:43Z Gender, crime and discretion in the English criminal justice system, 1780s to 1830s http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30725 Title: Gender, crime and discretion in the English criminal justice system, 1780s to 1830s Authors: Palk, Deirdre E. P. Abstract: Historians of English crime and criminal justice agree that females are more leniently treated by the criminal justice system. Fewer females are prosecuted for unlawful activities, and, when they are, they are more readily acquitted, or receive lighter sentences than males. However, reasons for this remain elusive. References to the paternalism of those involved in the system, together with notions about masculinity and femininity in a patriarchally ordered society, have been offered in the absence of other more focused and systematic evidence.;This thesis follows a systematic enquiry about three crimes which attributed the death sentence - shoplifting, pickpocketing, and uttering forged Bank of England notes. The period of the study covers the 1780s to the 1830s, and is centred on London and Middlesex. It considers involvement in each crime by gender. The approach seeks to avoid the over-generalisation resulting from synthesis of statistics for a wide variety of offences, and to allow a clearer view of how men and women operated in committing offences. This systematic approach follows the offenders involved in the three crimes through the criminal justice system, so far as it is possible to do so, since the public trial and sentencing at the Old Bailey were not the end of the decision-making story. Previous studies have largely neglected to follow-through to the stage of commutation of sentences and pardons where influences on the decision-makers differed from those on decision-makers at earlier stages of the system.;In particular, this thesis focuses on the gendered context of the specific behaviour of male and female offenders in the selected offences, on the effects of a patriarchal system of justice, and on the needs of the State to make political decisions about the disposal of offenders. 2014-12-15T10:41:42Z Community participation and the village appraisal process in rural England : a case study of Northamptonshire http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30724 Title: Community participation and the village appraisal process in rural England : a case study of Northamptonshire Authors: Bradley, Victoria Jane. Abstract: A realist approach is developed to enable a detailed interpretation of the process of village appraisals at the national and local level, focusing upon the wider national structures and the ways these are shaped by the distinctive characteristics of individual localities and the people and groups who live there. This study focuses on the county of Northamptonshire, which has a long history of self-help and where village appraisals have been taken up with particular enthusiasm.;Given the shift towards local governance in the past two decades, and a growing emphasis on individual and community responsibility and procedures such as the village appraisal which mobilize local skills and resources and empower rural communities from the structures of government, the study involves a detailed investigation of the relationships which currently exist between the statutory authorities and local communities with specific reference to the village appraisal. Further research using participant observation of over 30 steering group meetings in three case-study villages, supported by a survey of over 300 households and 40 interviews with parish councillors and steering group members, gave detailed insights into the means by which local people were availed of the opportunity to participate in the village appraisal process and to shape its content and structure.;The key conclusions indicate that significant tensions are evident in the attitudes of local government agencies, particularly in how they might participate in the village appraisal process and what forms that participation should take. At the local level, the notion of participation, seen as an integral part of rural life, is shown as illusory with most villages and villagers choosing not to become involved. As a result most appraisals are conducted by small elites within the village, often with the token involvement of the population through a questionnaire survey. 2014-12-15T10:41:42Z The analysis of representations of disability in Western culture within a feminist framework http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30726 Title: The analysis of representations of disability in Western culture within a feminist framework Authors: Pedersen, Josephine. Abstract: This thesis examines the representation of disabled people in Western culture within the context of feminist theoretical analyses to compare images of disabled people with the representations of women's bodies that are found in cultural representations. The body of the thesis is comprised of six chapters which explore images of disability in six major cultural sites for such images: charitable advertising, popular women's magazines, literature for children, film, biblical narratives and pornography. My analysis of these sites suggests that there are parallels between the ways in which women's bodies and the bodies of disabled people are represented.;In Chapter 1 I analyse the discourse of charity advertising and the ways in which it presents disabled people in feminised scenarios. In Chapter 2 I examine the ways in which disability is allied to gender in popular women's magazines where certain bodily specificities and disabilities are associated with female characters. I consider in Chapter 3 the ways in which disabled characters in literature for children are presented as morally inadequate and lacking in self-control, exactly as female characters are depicted in Western Culture. In Chapter 4 I address the identity of disability in film as a construction and in some respects as an illusion, as well as the role of disabled characters in the Freudian narrative of psycho-sexual development, and equate this with the role of the female in cultural expressions. In Chapter 5 I examine the cures of the New Testament and the ritual purifications of the Old Testament as a means to eradicate difference from the ideal of the male body. I argue that biblical narrative establishes women and disabled people as a violation of the ideal male body through their categorisation as unclean. In Chapter 6 I analyse pornographic representations of disabled women to investigate the ways in which disabled characters are positioned, like female characters, as the object of the gaze and as such as castrated and fetishised figures. 2014-12-15T10:41:42Z Patterns of caring for older people : an ethnic dimension http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30723 Title: Patterns of caring for older people : an ethnic dimension Authors: Gibson, Patricia. Abstract: Care in the community increasingly means care by the community, i.e. the family. The present focus on informal carers by policy makers reflects their importance to the success of community care legislation (NHS and Community Care Act, 1990 Carers (Recognition and Services) Act, 1995). Much of the published information on the impact of caring has neglected the circumstances of carers from minority ethnic groups. Hence, this research explores the caring situations and experiences of informal carers of older people from Gujarati, Punjabi and white indigenous communities. Semi-structured interview schedules were used to elicit both quantitative and qualitative information from each of the three groups. Overall, the data confirmed some universal features of caring in that it is the family, and in particular women, who care for older people. However, the motivation for caring differed between the three cultural groups. Findings also showed that many of the socio-demographic characteristics in the Gujarati and Punjabi groups were similar in that they tended to be co-resident, were younger and cared for a younger age group than white indigenous carers. However, a closer look at the data on the psychosocial aspects of caring revealed some distinct differences between the two South Asian groups. Gujarati and white indigenous carers reported higher levels of morale, significantly lower levels of stress and significantly higher perceived coping abilities than the Punjabi group of carers. This latter group reported using a proportionately lower number of active coping strategies and more avoidance coping techniques than Gujarati and white indigenous carers. Punjabi carers were also significantly less satisfied with any help received from formal and informal sources than the other two groups. In light of these findings, which emphasize some distinct differences in caring circumstances, a number of recommendations are made for both policy makers and future research. 2014-12-15T10:41:41Z The resale of Local Authority dwellings in rural England : a case study of South Northamptonshire http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30722 Title: The resale of Local Authority dwellings in rural England : a case study of South Northamptonshire Authors: Chaney, Paul. Abstract: Patterns and processes of migration and housing market restructuring in the English countryside have attracted considerable attention over recent years. In contrast to many earlier studies which have failed to examine the way in which these processes are interrelated, this research focuses upon the former local authority sector of the rural housing market in order to explore the key connections between housing market restructuring, migration and rural social change.;A realist approach is developed to explore the relationship between households moving through this increasingly important sector of the housing market and wider social and economic structures. This study focuses on the District of South Northamptonshire, an accessible rural district located between principal metropolitan centres where the housing market has been transformed by rapid population growth and high rates of council house sales over recent decades.;Analysis is undertaken of the way in which local responses to national housing policy over earlier decades produced a stock of over 4,500 local authority dwellings in the District. Sale of these dwellings under the Right To Buy clauses within the Housing Act (1980) and subsequent resale by tenant-purchasers is a key aspect of the post-1980 restructuring of the housing market and is presenting a unique housing opportunity to increasing numbers of homebuyers and a highly constrained supply of owner-occupied housing. Analysis is based on detailed information relating to 800 households derived from interviews with purchasers of resold dwellings and local authority housing records.;The impact of these changes is examined at a variety of spatial scales from the national context, to the impact on individual settlements. Throughout the research findings are related to contemporary debates about rural housing policy and 'social' housing provision; social theory and the study of housing, migration and social change in the countryside; and the implications for future related studies. 2014-12-15T10:41:41Z Managing the body? : the experience of Prader-Willi syndrome within families http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30719 Title: Managing the body? : the experience of Prader-Willi syndrome within families Authors: Allen, Kerry Jane Abstract: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare chromosome disorder, which has among its clinical sequela an intense interest in food, which may develop into an insatiable obsession, likened to addiction. The level of control over diet and the body required within PWS is very hard for people to achieve alone, since the majority of sufferers experience various forms of learning disability, autistic-spectrum disorders, developmental delay and behavioural problems. The thesis is particularly concerned with developing an understanding of the management of diet and food within the household and other everyday practices affecting the body or the child with PWS. The research is based on data from twenty qualitative case studies of English families which incorporate a child with PWS between the ages of eleven and fifteen years. The twenty families are purposively sampled to reflect difference in socio-economic status and family structure. Analysis of management strategies highlights the centrality of embodied agency in directing everyday practices and actions, this being particularly apparent in children with PWS as their experience of embodiment and emotion differs significantly from other family members. Focusing on the multi-dimensional nature of processes surrounding body management, the research identifies management practices and values of family members which guide these. The thesis also addresses the patterning of management strategies by social factors of family structure and socio-economic status. The work relates to contemporary sociological studies of the experience of chronic illness and disability in childhood, food, the body and the family, and contributes to current debates about embodiment, agency and health inequalities. Located in the intersections of the sociology of health and illness, disability studies and social theory, the study represents the first UK empirical sociological study of PWS. 2014-12-15T10:41:40Z Understanding organizational brand equity : a case study of the Ontario Hockey League http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30721 Title: Understanding organizational brand equity : a case study of the Ontario Hockey League Authors: Chard, Christopher R. Abstract: The traditional focus, in the area of sport management, for researchers studying consumers' perspectives on organizational brand equity has been on spectators and/or fans. This study expands the traditional view of the sport consumer to include those involved in the production of the product, the hockey players who may be viewed as a form of employee providing a service. However, prior to becoming an employee these players are consumers facing a consumption decision between competing brands.;This qualitative study is based on data obtained via semi-structured interviews with 54 elite young Canadian hockey players and documentary evidence. The central purpose of this thesis is to increase understanding of the brand equity of the Ontario [ice] Hockey League (OHL) from the player perspective. The players were asked about antecedent influences that help shape their perceptions of the OHL and therefore influence brand equity of the league. The players were further asked how these perceptions might influence their consumption decision of playing in the OHL or pursuing the major competitive path through the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014-12-15T10:41:40Z Women managers in Britain and Hong Kong : the importance of culture for career paths and the experience of work http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30720 Title: Women managers in Britain and Hong Kong : the importance of culture for career paths and the experience of work Authors: Hills, Katharine Margaret. Abstract: This thesis examines the lives and careers of women managers in Britain and Hong Kong in order to establish the role that culture plays in shaping the particular configurations that emerge. Through both quantitative and qualitative research career path patterns are observed that reflect different orientations and experiences of the career between women in Britain and women in Hong Kong.;The particular organisation and perception of the family, and women's role within it, has fundamental implications for the manner in which women engage in the labour market. In addition the cultural organisation of relationships between men and women, and their perceived role in relation to each other, play a key role in explaining the different interpretations of experiences which at times are on the surface similar. As a result of the different careers, work orientations, perception of family and perception of gender relations it is argued that assertions about women's position, discrimination and gender (in)equality can make sense of the cultural setting from which they were generated but cannot necessarily be applied universally. 2014-12-15T10:41:40Z The Jordanian women's movement : a historical analysis focusing on legislative change http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30717 Title: The Jordanian women's movement : a historical analysis focusing on legislative change Authors: Dababneh, Abeer Bashier Abstract: This thesis examines historically the obstacles that have hindered and the resources that have facilitated the movement's efforts towards achieving women's liberation. A case study of Article 340 of the Jordanian Penal Code, concerned with the so-called phenomenon of honour killing highlights the influence of the Jordanian women's movement on the legal reform process. The methodology used to achieve these objectives was face-to-face interviews with key informants and analysis of documentary resources. My theoretical project is to contribute to the understanding of women's agency Gidden's structuration theory with its focus on the dialectical relations between agency and structure provides the theoretical framework for the research. Furthermore, an examination of selected social movement theories, such as resources mobilisation theory reveals the significance of resources on the emergence and efficacy of the movement. In addition, the theory of political opportunity structure efficiently captures the role that third world states play in determining the changes of third world women's movements. The study identifies two main categories of obstacles facing the movement. The first is obstacles internal to patriarchy, subdivided as structural obstacles and attitudinal obstacles. The second type of obstacles are those internal to the structure of the movement itself. Both external factors, such as UN resolutions, and internal factors, such as the particular history of Jordan were found to be crucial in determining the main historical characteristics of the movement's history from its beginnings as a charitable nationalist movement, through to its revival stage when it began to adopt a more determined feminist agenda. I will argue that women in Jordan posed a significant challenge to their most obvious target of disrupting dominant gender relations. In this respect, the role of religion, social traditions, tribalism, family, economy, and education are examined alongside perceptions of women's reproductive role. 2014-12-15T10:41:39Z The development of sport in Portugal with particular reference to women's participation in sport from the Salazar regime to the democratic period http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30718 Title: The development of sport in Portugal with particular reference to women's participation in sport from the Salazar regime to the democratic period Authors: Pinheiro, Maria Claudia Brandao. Abstract: This study draws on a figurational sociological framework to examine the organisation and structure of sport in Portugal from the period of the dictatorship of the New State (1930-1974) to the current situation, with particular reference to the participation of women in sport. The study is based mainly on data obtained through the analysis of primary historical documents, including newspapers, sports magazines and government and other publications. These data are complemented by data obtained via semi-structured interviews with eight individuals who were/are involved at the present time and/or in the past in sport as leading athletes and/or as sports administrators. The analysis of the data focuses on the broader political, economic and ideological processes during the New State and democratic periods, and on their impact upon sport in general and on women's involvement in sport in particular. The thesis examines and places within the wider social context the ideologies disseminated by the government, by the Catholic Church and by other organisations to limit women's involvement in sport. It also examines the social sources of resistance to these traditional views, and the arguments used by advocates of women's sport. The financial support for sport and the gender images conveyed by media coverage of men's and women's sport during the New State period and during the democratic period are also examined. The study also highlights the unplanned outcomes of government policies in a number of areas and the ways in which these unplanned outcomes have impacted upon the position of women in Portuguese society in general and their participation in sport in particular. 2014-12-15T10:41:39Z An Eliasian or process sociological analysis of cricket : violence, nationalism, 'race' and imperial relations http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30716 Title: An Eliasian or process sociological analysis of cricket : violence, nationalism, 'race' and imperial relations Authors: Malcolm, Dominic Abstract: The abstract is not available. 2014-12-15T10:41:38Z Deviant bodies : understanding trans becoming from the perspectives of medico-psychiatry and trans-subjectivity http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30715 Title: Deviant bodies : understanding trans becoming from the perspectives of medico-psychiatry and trans-subjectivity Authors: Flannery, Joanne May Abstract: Taking as its theoretical premise the assumption that the world is 'storied', the thesis aims to understand the narrative processes through which both the medico-psychiatric profession, and 'trans' women make sense of transsexualism. In order to Understand the ways in which stories are told about transsexualism it is important to recognize the ways in which a complex set of power dynamics work in order to hierarchialize story-telling, whereby authority is given to the stories of some, whilst the stories of 'Others' remain silenced.;Drawing upon a range of documentary sources, as well as questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with GPs and 'gender specialists', the initial aim of the thesis is to explore those stories produced within the medico-psychiatric domain, which attempt to make sense of transsexualism and trans becoming, at different historical moments. Imbued with this is an analysis of the extent to which medico-psychiatric discourses inform clinical practice.;As a necessary juxtaposition, the thesis seeks to complement the analysis of those stories produced within medico-psychiatry with an analysis of the stories told by 'trans' women, in order to account for the ways in which transsexualism is subjectively experienced and understood. Here, the aim is to become the ways in which 'trans' women understand and makes sense of their becoming as well as how they position themselves in relation to medico-psychiatric discourses. Moreover, by suggesting that 'trans' women were active agents in the construction of a trans identity from around the turn of the nineteenth century, the thesis suggests new ways of thinking about the relationship between medico-psychiatry and trans-subjectivity. Finally, it is through an analysis of the ways in which 'trans' women negotiate their own becoming, as well as their position within the sex/gender binary, the thesis problematizes the assumption of a grand 'turn to Transgender. 2014-12-15T10:41:38Z The globalization of baseball? : a figurational analysis http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30714 Title: The globalization of baseball? : a figurational analysis Authors: Bloyce, Daniel Abstract: This thesis examines the extent of the diffusion of baseball across the world. Tracing the diffusion of baseball, and the diverse receptions the game has encountered on foreign soils, holds out the prospect of offering many insights into the global spread of sport and our understanding of the processes of globalization in general. By examining different responses to baseball, and developing our empirical knowledge on the extent of its diffusion, we will be in a position to draw more reliable and valid conclusions than have, thus far, been offered in relation to the global diffusion of baseball, specifically, and globalization processes, more generally. As such, this thesis will endeavour to determine the extent to which baseball can be regarded as a global sport. This objective will involve charting the development of baseball in America, its diffusion to other countries and the different receptions the game has received on foreign soil, via a series of national 'case studies'.;On the basis of this thesis it is concluded that the argument that baseball is a 'global sport', is a highly exaggerated view of baseball's global profile. The fact of the matter is baseball has only enjoyed sustained periods of success in a handful of countries in Asia and Latin America. Furthermore, it is argued that the theoretical premises of figurational sociology are both sensitising and illuminating; and provide a more object-adequate analysis of the global baseball figuration than other theoretical approaches allow. In this respect, the central figurational concept of dynamic and differential power relationships is key in developing our understanding of the global baseball figuration, and globalization more generally. The concept of lengthening chains of interdependency is a far more illuminating, and, therefore, more useful way of conceptualising the process by which baseball has undergone diffusion, than Americanization, American cultural hegemony, imperialism or, even, globalization. 2014-12-15T10:41:37Z Racisms and anti-racist strategies in English football http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30713 Title: Racisms and anti-racist strategies in English football Authors: Bradbury, Steven Abstract: This thesis examines racisms and anti-racist strategies in English football, with particular focus on the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries. The analysis begins by considering the roots of racisms in British society and British sport. The thesis then moves on to examine in more detail the development both of racisms in English football and of campaigns to limit their effects among fans, clubs and professional bodies. A central theme of this analysis concerns the heterogeneity of racisms, and the range of sites and local contexts in which they operate, in sport and elsewhere. The main body of the thesis is devoted to an investigation of racism in English football during the 1980s, 1990s and early 21st century. Special attention is focused on three themes. First, the development of national campaigns designed to confront racism in football. These include major political initiatives, such as the Labour government's Football Task Force, but also non-governmental campaigns such as AGARI and Kick It Out. Second, the responses of professional clubs to such nationally-driven campaigns and agendas. This issue is explored by drawing on original survey data. Third, the aims and activities of two contrasting local anti-racism football projects in the North and Midlands of England. A lengthy critical analysis of these projects is provided, utilising data generated by observational and interview techniques. The thesis concludes by assessing the efficacy of local, national and political anti-racist campaigns. The discussion considers their conceptualisation of racism and its effects, as well as their support, or otherwise, within English football at both the local and national levels. The thesis also seeks to consider the extent to which such initiatives can effect real change at the local level whilst addressing some of the wider sources of racisms in English football and beyond. 2014-12-15T10:41:37Z Managing teleworkers : exploring the methods of control in three Italian case studies http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30712 Title: Managing teleworkers : exploring the methods of control in three Italian case studies Authors: Valsecchi, Raffaella Abstract: The subject of this thesis is employees who work mainly at home and who utilise technological tools, in this case the telephone and PC, to carry out their job. In distancing the workers from the conventional workplace, teleworking raises a number of important sociological and managerial issues about the conduct of work, especially as it relates to control, which is the focus of this thesis. The development of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) led to the diffusion of popular images, such as 'the electronic cottage', which emphasised teleworkers' autonomy and freedom. These ideas give unrealistic pictures of the control exercised over teleworkers. This thesis aims to provide a more complex and realistic account of managerial control. Although research suggested control by results is the main problem for managers, other structural and social factors affect control exercised from a distance. Examples include: the organisational and hierarchical structure of the work organisation, the lack of appropriate technological equipment, legal restrictions, the lack of a 'teleworking culture' and the 'eternal' employers' importance of workers' physical presence in workplaces. A series of management strategies, practices and policies have been re-shaped and deployed for controlling teleworkers. Other important factors for teleworking are self-discipline and self-management, and these are also explored. Three Italian case studies were compared: a highly bureaucratic public body, a virtual call centre and a small-medium sized enterprise. The theoretical framework of the 'Social Dimensions of Control' was used. This analyses control along four dichotomised social dimensions, which are: vertical/horizontal control; central/decentred control; external/internal control; visible/invisible control. These proved to be extremely important for exploring the new and complex methods through which teleworkers are managed. 2014-12-15T10:41:37Z Work, self and the transformation of identity : a sociological study of the careers of professional footballers http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30710 Title: Work, self and the transformation of identity : a sociological study of the careers of professional footballers Authors: Roderick, Martin Abstract: The traditional focus for sociologists studying occupations has been on manual workers in the main as their work is assumed to be laborious and unimaginative, yet footballers are almost never considered in this way despite the immensely physical nature of their work. Far from tedious, their job, by contrast, is thought of as a labour of love. This study is an interactionist analysis of the careers of male professional footballers in England, which provides sociological insights into the realities of their working lives. Professional football is a contingent and highly physical form of employment. Players' careers may be terminated involuntarily as a result of a severe injury. It is a short-term vocation in which ageing inevitably reduces physical capital. Professional football is characterised by an extremely competitive labour market, for there is an oversupply of aspirants 'chasing the big-time'. This qualitative study is based on data obtained via semi-structured interviews with forty-seven present and former professional footballers. The central theme of this thesis concerns an understanding of the ways in which the orientations of players to their work change over the course of their careers. The players were asked about turning points in their work histories, such as long-term injuries, transfers from one club to another, and other key moments in which they felt uncertain about what their futures may hold. In part, the focus of the interviews concerned the subjective meanings the players impute to their experiences. An examination of the drama of work is undertaken. The ways in which players deal with the workplace insecurities that are an inbuilt characteristic of their occupation are examined and an explanation of why they continue to pursue a career in the professional game, despite developing cynical attitudes towards their work and their employers, is attempted. 2014-12-15T10:41:36Z Towards a sociological framework for understanding the roots of violence and aggression http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30711 Title: Towards a sociological framework for understanding the roots of violence and aggression Authors: Statham, Gary Abstract: Abstract not available. 2014-12-15T10:41:36Z Men's work and male lives : exploring men and employment in the national child development study http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30709 Title: Men's work and male lives : exploring men and employment in the national child development study Authors: Goodwin, John Abstract: The thesis begins by arguing that there is a real absence of an empirical understanding of men in British 'gender based sociology'. This is established by exploring current debate within gender based sociology and by examining the extent to which the feminist critique of sociology has marginalised men in gender based research.;The thesis then explores how men's lives and work are linked by examining gender theory and feminism. It is argued and concluded that men's identification with work has become a function of a social sex-ordered division resulting from both capitalist and patriarchal relationships. Such relationships are established and supported by men (actively as well as passively) and socialising agents such as family, church, state, professions, guilds and unions develop to protect men's position in paid public work.;Men's recent experiences of the British labour market are then considered. It is concluded that two main trends are important in male employment. They are the general decline in male labour market participation and the overall decline in male full-time employment; and second, the growth in male non-standard employment forms such as part-time working.;Finally, an empirical account of men's employment is provided by offering a secondary analysis of the National Child Development Study (1991). The data suggest that men's lives are far more complex (and less homogeneous) than originally thought. For example, men do experience different working forms, they do experience differing levels of education and training, men do have varied attitudes towards work and home, and experience health differently when compared to other men.;The thesis concludes that men's experiences of work and employment need to be documented and brought back to the attention of the sociological researchers. What sociologists need to do now is further document the change in men's lives and the impact changes in working life has on men. 2014-12-15T10:41:35Z The factors involved in shaping the attitudes of student nurses toward illicit drug use : a mixed method study http://hdl.handle.net/2381/29246 Title: The factors involved in shaping the attitudes of student nurses toward illicit drug use : a mixed method study Authors: Harling, Martyn Richard Abstract: Previous research has indicated that nurses may hold moralistic or stereotypical views of illicit drug users, suggesting that such views may influence the care provided to a potentially large number of patients. The current study aimed to identify the factors influencing the pre-existing attitudes of student nurses toward illicit drug use, ascertain if these attitudes changed over the first year of training, and discover if any changes were specific to nurse education. No previous studies could be found which measured the impact of a range of variables on attitudes toward illicit drugs or longitudinal changes in attitude during nurse education. A mixed methods design was employed, with student nurses and comparison groups of clinical psychology trainees, health and social care, social work and midwifery students completing an anonymous questionnaire at the start of their course (N=311). This questionnaire measured the students' attitudes and collected data on a range of variables identified as significant in terms of attitudes to illicit drugs. The questionnaire was reissued to the same students at the end of their first year (N=267). Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with volunteers, from the students who had completed the questionnaires (n=25). Results found that students who self-reported personal use of illicit drugs or were aware of use by family/friends expressed more positive attitudes. Student nurses indicated less tolerant attitudes than the other groups of students and minimal changes in attitudes were detected over the first year of training for all student groups. However, the student nurses' attitudes increased, whereas the comparison groups all decreased. The study highlights the need for a specific educational focus on illicit drug use, as simply entering nurse education appears insufficient in addressing negative attitudes. However, any educational approach aimed at improving attitudes needs to take into account the students' previous experiences around illicit drugs. 2014-11-05T11:00:13Z The post war development of football for females in England : a cross cultural and comparative study with the United States of America and Norway http://hdl.handle.net/2381/29107 Title: The post war development of football for females in England : a cross cultural and comparative study with the United States of America and Norway Authors: Woodhouse, Donna Louise Abstract: This thesis charts, for the first time in any detail, the post Second World War history of football for females in England, examining the causes of the uneven growth of the female game. It also analyses the role of the media in gendering discourses around sport, especially football, and sets its discoveries against the histories of the female game in the USA and Norway. A raft of methods was used to generate data, including interviews with people involved in the female game from the 1940s, to the present day, and surveys of players, administrators and fans, in order for the thesis to arrive at its conclusions. The major finding of the thesis is that there is a lack of synergy between the national policy for female football and its local implementation in England, which stands in sharp contrast to the situations in the USA and Norway. Whilst the game has made unprecedented progress over the past decade, its continued growth in England is by no means guaranteed, as long as the structures of the governing body of the sport, the Football Association, remain as they are currently. The research has also discovered that press coverage of the sport operates within a framework of assumptions about what audiences wish to see and of what constitutes 'female appropriate' behaviour. It also demonstrates that the press invariably portrays the female sport in relation to the male professional game. 2014-09-23T15:13:52Z Topic organisation in Japanese conversation http://hdl.handle.net/2381/29030 Title: Topic organisation in Japanese conversation Authors: Kino, Midori Abstract: This study investigates the organisation of topic in Japanese conversation. Using the framework of conversation analysis (CA), it aims to identify the mechanisms of the organisation of topic initiation, maintenance, and shift by investigating the environments where these actions occur and the devices participants use in order to achieve their actions at a particular place. Through the examination of questions and repair initiation, the organisation of topic initiation is shown as a boundaried topical movement in which the closing of one topic is followed by the initiation of another. It is crucially characterised as the recipient design, thereby, participants thoroughly attend to the co-participants' events/experiences. The topic negotiation is illustrated through the examination of devices such as discourse marker dakara ('so') and figurative expressions pursuing the recipients' response by means of the upshot and summary assessments. While orienting to the topic closing, participants monitor whether they can move to a next topic or they have something mentionable. The practice of reformulation and the reformulation questions reveal the organisation of topic shift which may enable the participants to manage or control the topical movement by organising their utterances through the initiation of repair. While keeping some connection with the prior or earlier turn(s), participants introduce a new topic. Participants effectively use repair initiation in implementing topic initiation/topic shift in order to develop the topical talk when they face troubles or fail to make their projections. Participants' management elicits the co-participant's coordination, which is an important social action. The study shows that the ways participants organise their conversation are overwhelmingly similar between Japanese and English, which indicates that conversational structures are in fact somehow primordial and they transcend linguistic and cultural differences. 2014-08-08T13:59:24Z Boundary strategy : a new sociological model http://hdl.handle.net/2381/29010 Title: Boundary strategy : a new sociological model Authors: Harrison, Jonathan Abstract: This thesis is a work of historical sociology, presenting a developmental model of the British State that tracks its growth as a strategic system since 1066. It is comparable with the work of Mann (1986) and Tilly (1992) in arguing for a long-term model of state development that focusses on elite strategies. Boundary strategy is defined as a field of strategic action, with the state at its centre, which helps to produce a national population that imagines its internal boundaries of 'race', ethnicity, class and location in ways that conceal the objective structure of political and class relations. The thesis demonstrates how this field has developed in Britain over the centuries into six key strategies, defined as Blood, Pollution, Property, Civilisation, Nation and Race. The study achieves this by dividing British history since 1066 into four phases. The first is the Feudal State, 1066-1529. The second is the Protestant State, 1530-1829. The third is the Incorporation State, 1830 to the present day, and the fourth is the Fortress State, 1903 to the present day. It is argued that the Incorporation and Fortress phases of the state's development have unfolded concurrently since 1903, forming two distinct but interdependent functional dimensions. The thesis devotes one case study chapter to each phase. The final case study chapter then examines how the incorporation and fortress dimensions have been synthesised in the policy of asylum seeker dispersal since 1997. Each study is structured around the strategies and investigates how the strategies have responded to conflicts between elite interests and popular pressures 'from below'. The case studies also examine how popular violence against minorities has resulted from the unintended consequences of boundary strategies. 2014-08-01T10:04:40Z "Just like one of the family"? : migrant domestic workers in the European Union http://hdl.handle.net/2381/28795 Title: "Just like one of the family"? : migrant domestic workers in the European Union Authors: Anderson, Bridget Abstract: Domestic work in private households is, together with prostitution, the most significant employer of newly arrived female migrants. This thesis examines the phenomenon of the racialisation of paid domestic labour in the European Union, and begins to outline the challenges this poses to feminism, political theory and community organisations. At an empirical level it begins to map the employment of migrant women in domestic work in Europe, to describe the work they perform, their living and working conditions and their employment relations. At a theoretical level it is necessarily concerned with the inadequacy of conceptual tools designed to describe more "traditional" forms of employment (i.e. traditionally of concern to white male sociologists) or to describe the experience of "women" within the domestic sphere (i.e. the experience of white middle class women). The paid domestic worker, even when she does the same task as the wife/daughter/mother, is differently constructed, for she is expressing and reproducing the female employer's status by serving as her "foil". I argue that it is the worker's "personhood" rather than their labour power, which the employer is attempting to "buy". As well as labour cost and supply, racist stereotypes and the reproduction of such stereotypes are important in determining demand for domestic workers, and this results in a racist hierarchy which constructs some women as being particularly "suitable" for domestic work. Migrant domestic workers' relation to the state encourages and reinforces the racialisation of domestic work and personal dependence on employers. While the applying of employment contracts to domestic workers may seem to offer some way forward there are many difficulties associated with applying employment contracts to the private domain, both theoretically and in workers' real experiences. 2014-05-06T09:43:17Z The identity of two generations of Muslim women living in Leicester, UK http://hdl.handle.net/2381/28778 Title: The identity of two generations of Muslim women living in Leicester, UK Authors: Murji, Salima Walji Abstract: The aim of this study was to consider the identity construction of two generations of Muslim women living in a British context. The study considered the relationship between mothers and daughters living in Leicester, and the ways in which they utilized the same resources such of family, religion, education and Britishness for developing a sense of identity. There was a need for such a research endeavour, because there is limited study on Muslim mother-daughter relationships in the British context that considered each group in equal measure. Thus, the study contributes to a better understanding of generational differences within Muslim women's identities. The objectives of the study involved allowing Muslim women the opportunity to discuss themselves how they develop a sense of identity through how they negotiate private and public domains in order to maintain these identities. In looking at the two generations equally, the study was able to demonstrate differences between the level of religious attachment mothers and daughters had to Islam, the importance of the family in their lives; how educational aspirations are not always aligned with familial expectations; and finally attachment to a British society is generationally experienced. Through the use of semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and vignettes, the study shows that generational differences exist between the women in the study, demonstrated through the implementation of a researcher designed typology of identity. 2014-04-25T10:21:51Z The Anorexic Stereotype: A Sociological Analysis of the Medical Construction of Anorexia http://hdl.handle.net/2381/28036 Title: The Anorexic Stereotype: A Sociological Analysis of the Medical Construction of Anorexia Authors: Dignon, Andrée Abstract: This thesis analyses clinical knowledge surrounding anorexia. What clinicians say and write about anorexia constitutes a key area of clinical knowledge. This knowledge is complex and has many dimensions. It identifies typical "manifestations" of the illness, such as "fear of fatness". It also identifies the type of woman (e.g. her age or social class) likely to suffer from the disorder. Most importantly, clinical knowledge suggests that anorexia has specific "causes". Anorexia, clinicians inform us, represents a flight from adulthood on the part of girls who are intensely afraid of becoming fat. This thesis analyses this complex psychiatric model, using a number of different methods. The study argues that psychiatry constructs a stereotype of the anorexic. This stereotype is visible in two areas. Firstly an archetype of the sufferer's cognitive symptoms is visible. This suggests that anorexics fear fatness and are afraid to grow up. Secondly a stereotype of the anorexic's demographic profile is apparent. This constitutes the sufferer as young, middle class, educated, and urban. The study examines the accuracy of this stereotype among a sample of 104 anorexics. Using open and closed ended-data the study suggests that the "anorexic stereotype" may have limited empirical support. In the current study, patients suggested that anorexia was a strategy of control. The concept of control, while validly describing patients' experiences may partly have been acquired by patients from clinicians. The thesis appraises patients' testimonies to examine the extent to which patients have acquired such "medicalised" language. It also analyses 24 doctor-patient interviews and concludes that doctors may encourage patients to view their disorder in clinical terms. Using feminist theory, and theory from the sociology of chronic illness, the findings of the thesis are analysed from a sociological perspective. 2013-06-27T15:24:28Z Management, Engineering and Accountancy as Determinants of Change in Manufacturing Industry; A Case Study of Railway Mechanical Engineering http://hdl.handle.net/2381/27613 Title: Management, Engineering and Accountancy as Determinants of Change in Manufacturing Industry; A Case Study of Railway Mechanical Engineering Authors: Lawrenson, David Mark Abstract: This thesis examines themes from the labour process debate by analysing the history of railway owned mechanical engineering factories in Great Britain. The general history and background of the industry is described. It is then shown that within the industry there has been a development from methods of simple control toward increasing managerial control over the coordination of the labour process. It is shown that the developments identified in other theories of the transition from simple control, for example, Taylorism in the case of Braverman's theory, are partial effects of this deeper trend toward managerial control over co-ordination. A range of policies are shown to contribute to increasing managerial control over coordination. Variation within the workshop labour process is shown to be a complex phenomenon that is in part explicable by managerial rivalries. Rivalry is shown to be based on different approaches to the reproduction of the labour process; rivalry between engineering and accountancy is seen as particularly important. It is shown that engineers dominated the management of the workshops but that many of their policies were stimulated by threats to their dominance by the rise of management accountancy, the latter becoming hegemonic in the 1960s. The role of the workforce is discussed and is shown to have an impact on changes in the labour process but that this influence is heavily determined by the organization of work. 2012-12-07T09:35:10Z Race, Ethnicity and Sex Therapy: Sex Therapy Discourses on the Nature of Race and Ethnicity, and on their Implications for Sexuality, Sexual Problems and Sex Therapy http://hdl.handle.net/2381/11076 Title: Race, Ethnicity and Sex Therapy: Sex Therapy Discourses on the Nature of Race and Ethnicity, and on their Implications for Sexuality, Sexual Problems and Sex Therapy Authors: Mulholland, Jon Abstract: Contemporary sex therapy, as a social location within which interventions are made in the field of human sexuality, constitutes a terminal point through which discourses of race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality interface and become meditated. It is also a site in which the particular outcomes of this mediation can be expected to have a significant bearing upon clients who, as social and sexual subjects, carry diverse racialised and ethnicised identities. Though a substantial literature exists pertaining to classical sexology, relatively little is sociologically known about contemporary sex therapy within the UK, and nothing is known of the manner in which discourses of race and ethnicity operate within the field. This exploratory research examines the discourses produced by sex therapists (both in talk and text) regarding the nature and significance of race and ethnicity, and the substantive qualities, significance and effects attributed to these in shaping patterns of human sexuality, sexual dysfunction and sex therapy. The aim is to analyse and account for these discourses as the products of underlying cognitive models of race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality, as these have evolved within the particular social location of sex therapy (as a deposit of a broader racialised and ethnicised social consciousness), and formed the basis of an active utilisation by therapists in the pursuit of `preferred renditions' of sex therapy practice. The thesis also aims to explore sex therapists' accounts of the necessary and sufficient conditions for the achievement of effective, equitable and non-oppressive therapeutic intervention in a context of racial and ethnic diversity. The research supports a rendition of sex therapy as a complex constituency, struggling to make sense of the nature and significance of race and ethnicity as sources of difference, and as dimensions of the social subject. Liberal-humanistic, biological-essentialist and versions of ethnic essentialism compete and coalesce as the primary elements of sex therapists' constructions of race and ethnicity as dimensions of the gendered sexual subject, informing their accounts of the necessary and sufficient conditions for the delivery of appropriate, sensitive and non-oppressive praxis. 2012-10-18T12:27:25Z Philosophies, Ideologies and the Practice of Physical Education: Making Sense of the Everyday 'Philosophies' of Physical Education Teachers from a Sociological Perspective http://hdl.handle.net/2381/10967 Title: Philosophies, Ideologies and the Practice of Physical Education: Making Sense of the Everyday 'Philosophies' of Physical Education Teachers from a Sociological Perspective Authors: Green, Ken Abstract: This thesis examines what are referred to as the 'philosophies' of physical education (PE) teachers from a sociological perspective. It is primarily concerned with the ideas about PE held by teachers who have the practical task of teaching PE within schools. The study deploys a qualitative methodology grounded in a figurational perspective on the sociology of knowledge. It analyses data from semi-structured interviews conducted with 35 PE teachers at various occupational levels within PE departments in 17 secondary schools in the northwest of England, during June and July, 1998. In the main, teachers' 'philosophies' revolved around a number of recognisable categories of meaning in terms of the ideological themes of 'sport', 'health', 'academic value' and, albeit to a lesser extent, 'education for leisure'. One leitmotif, in particular, emerged from the interview data and that was an overriding concern, on the part of the teachers in the study, with pupils' 'enjoyment' of PE. In order to understand the socio-genesis of PE teachers' everyday or aphoristic `philosophies' and, to a lesser extent, their professed practices, the study focused upon the personal, local and national dimensions of the figurations in which PE teachers were involved in an attempt to identify the more salient influences on the development of their 'philosophies' of PE. These features included the biographical experiences that provide the foundation for teachers' habituses, the day-to-day constraints of classroom management, the expectations of significant others (such as headteachers and parents) as well as the socio-political climate and developments internal (e. g. the desire for professional status) and external (government legislation and policy developments) to the profession. It was apparent that the teachers had a distinctive view of their subject. They brought to their teaching a passion for sport, combined with a range of pragmatic concerns (e. g. regarding class management and the requirements of the National Curriculum for Physical Education); the former led them to place considerable emphasis, in particular, upon enjoyment (particularly of sport) as a central plank of their 'philosophies'. In addition, it was noticeable that, notwithstanding the emergence of a variety of more or less prominent ideologies within the subject-community over the last decade or so (and particularly an ideology of health), PE teachers' 'philosophies' continued to be dominated by a sporting ideology. By exploring the social relationships in which PE teachers are involved the study takes tentative steps towards a more adequate understanding of the socio-genesis of PE teachers' 'philosophies'. It is argued that if we wish to understand teachers' perceptions regarding the nature and purposes of PE, as well as their preferred practices, then we must study them not as abstract philosophical systems of ideas, but rather as practical, everyday 'philosophies' which provide practical guides to action as well as a justification for those actions. 2012-08-29T12:43:49Z The Educational and Occupational Choice Process: The Case of Agriculture Students in Pakistan http://hdl.handle.net/2381/10936 Title: The Educational and Occupational Choice Process: The Case of Agriculture Students in Pakistan Authors: Masood, Sameen Abstract: The development of the agriculture sector is crucial to the socio-economic prosperity of Pakistan. Despite its significance, the enrolment trends in agriculture sciences and research and development in this sector have not gained substantial attention. The specific objective of this research is to draw conclusions and make recommendations through which enrolment in agriculture sciences can be facilitated, retention of agriculture graduates can be ensured and barriers in the choice process can be removed. This has been achieved through investigating the choice process of agriculture students by answering the first research questions that seek to identify stages of the choice process. Expanding the understating of the choices and the choice process, the study answers the second research question exploring the influence of various factors on the choices as well as the choice process of agriculture students in Pakistan. This qualitative study was conducted in two different cities of Pakistan where various cohorts of students at different stages of their academic and professional life were interviewed. The thematic analysis of the interview data presents a 'multi-stage' educational and occupational choice process detailing the definitions, characteristics, sequences and components of the stages. The outcome of the process is postulated based on the experiences of the earlier stages. The significance of practising 'choice' intensifies as unplanned choosers are more likely to drift away from the agriculture profession as compared to planned choosers. Furthermore, the role of locality, gender, social prestige associated with various professions and nature of parental support emerged as choice facilitators or barriers in the choice process of agriculture students. Thus, key recommendations arise for the policy makers in the education sector and in agriculture universities and establishments. Particular focus is required for establishing career guidance facilities, disseminating information at different levels, making small changes in the structure of the education system and addressing misconceptions about agriculture sciences and professions in this field. 2012-08-15T14:50:58Z A Sociological Analysis of Welsh Nationalism http://hdl.handle.net/2381/9810 Title: A Sociological Analysis of Welsh Nationalism Authors: Mears, Robert Abstract: This study deals with the nature, development and consequences of nationalist movements in Wales. In 1973, a Royal Commission on the Constitution recommended the establishment of legislative assemblies in Cardiff and Edinburgh. The study begins with an analysis of the maintenance of a sense of national distinctiveness in Wales and Scotland, despite centuries of political incorporation into the United Kingdom. The thesis shows how the different stages of development of Welsh and Scottish societies at the time of unification with England was crucial in terms of the maintenance of national institutions. Whereas Scotland maintained a series of significant national institutions, in Wales the Welsh language became a major prop of national identity. Part of this work analyses the fate of the Welsh language since unification and its role in religion, education and the formation of political identity. The enduring link between language and nationality is examined, as is the role of the language in the development of Welsh nationalist ideology in the twentieth century. The thesis also examines-the changing social, economic and occupational structure of Wales since 1945 in an attempt to explain the growth in support of Plaid Cymru in the nineteen sixties. The proposals to create legislative assemblies were the subject of a referendum in 1979, and the debate over the devolution proposals is also analysed. The thesis concludes with a review of the relevant literature, a discussion of the relative neglect by sociologists of nationalism and nationalist movements and an assessment of the future prospects for the Welsh nationalist movement. 2011-11-04T09:16:14Z Conversion to Islam: The case of the Dusun ethnic group in Brunei Darussalam http://hdl.handle.net/2381/9804 Title: Conversion to Islam: The case of the Dusun ethnic group in Brunei Darussalam Authors: Ahmad Kumpoh, Asiyah az-Zahra Abstract: A literature review on the conversion studies reveals that most models of religious conversion postulate Christian-centric and western-centric perspectives. One of these models is the seven-stage Rambo Model. This study's main objective is to critically engage the Rambo Model in exploring the conversion process of the Dusun Muslim converts in Brunei Darussalam and to answer the first research question that seeks to find out the actual definitions of the conversion stages as how they had been typically experienced by the converts. The model's framework is further tested by the second research question which aims to identify the determinant that explains the variations and similarities found in the stage sequence of the conversion process of the Dusun Muslim converts in comparison to those occurring in different religious settings. Drawing on the qualitative data obtained through interviews and the utilisation of relevant literature, the case study of the Dusun Muslim converts confirms the cultural specificity issue inherent in the Rambo Model. Some theoretical changes were suggested where a new concept of contextual components and of culture-free definitions of the stages were added to the model's framework. This modified version of the Rambo Model was found to be effective in demonstrating that the actual definitions of the conversion stages of the Dusun Muslim converts are unique and distinctly specific, principally due to the effects of Brunei's majority-religion context. The theoretical changes of the model were also useful in explaining the variations and similarities in the stage order of conversion process occurring in different religious settings. Thus, by presenting a non-Christian and non-western case study of religious conversion, this study concludes that a more generic version of the Rambo Model can actually be formulated and be utilised by future research undertakings. 2011-11-01T16:28:01Z A Sociological Analysis of the Scottish Highland Games http://hdl.handle.net/2381/9473 Title: A Sociological Analysis of the Scottish Highland Games Authors: Jarvie, Grant Abstract: Over the last two decades, or more, there has been a considerable interest in the sociological analysis of sport. While a number of Canadian, American and English sociologists and cultural critics have attempted to locate the development of various indigenous sporting forms within an analysis of their own culture, very few sociological accounts of Scottish sporting forms exist. This study deals with the development of the Scottish Highland Games. This study contends that, while an explanation of the complex ways in which this sporting form has developed provides a worthwhile area of sociological investigation, it is also capable of raising questions about Highland and Scottish dependency, development and cultural identity. An initial synthesis of some of the strengths and weaknesses within the sociological writings on sport provides the basis for developing an analysis of the Scottish Highland Games. This draws upon the concepts of dependency, culture and figurational development as providing axial principles for explaining the complex ways in which this Highland tradition has developed. 2011-06-20T10:44:01Z Managing Ambiguity. A Study of the Introduction of General Management in the NHS http://hdl.handle.net/2381/9097 Title: Managing Ambiguity. A Study of the Introduction of General Management in the NHS Authors: Dopson, Susan Elizabeth Abstract: The central focus of this thesis is managing change in the National Health Service (NHS). In particular it considers the introduction of general management into the NHS - its third major reorganization and one based on the recommendations of a team of businessmen led by Sir Roy Griffiths, then managing director and deputy chairman of Sainsburys foodstores. More than previous reorganizations of the NHS in 1974 and 1982, the Griffiths changes were a conscious attempt to move away from a "boxes and charts" approach to organizational change to one which sought to disturb organizational processes and ultimately to change the beliefs and values of NHS actors. The thesis attempts to illuminate the implications of what was viewed as a significant change in the way the NHS was managed, in three ways. Firstly it reviews the existing empirical work on health service management and considers what can be learnt about the difficulties of introducing change in the NHS. Secondly it reports fieldwork data from twenty NHS districts which explores the actions and priorities of twenty newly appointed DGMs with a variety of different occupational backgrounds as they sought to implement the agenda for change spelt out in the Griffiths Report. The thesis reports a significant gap between the aspirations of the Griffiths Report and what the introduction of general management was able to deliver and a number of unintended consequences. Thirdly the thesis draws on the work of Norbert Elias known as figurational or process sociology in an attempt to illuminate the fieldwork data further. Elias is not a sociologist one associates with the study of the NHS, or indeed the management of change, yet it is argued that his writings offer much to those wishing to explore organizational and management issues in the NHS. 2011-02-23T11:21:30Z 'You've gotta love the plastic!' An ethnographic study of Ultimate Frisbee in the UK http://hdl.handle.net/2381/9075 Title: 'You've gotta love the plastic!' An ethnographic study of Ultimate Frisbee in the UK Authors: Griggs, Gerald Michael Abstract: Over the last decade a body of academic literature has emerged concerning the phenomena of what have been termed 'alternative' or 'lifestyle' sports (Wheaton, 2004). This thesis makes a contribution to knowledge produced by recent studies by examining the sport of Ultimate Frisbee within the UK. Ultimate Frisbee (commonly known as 'Ultimate') is a fast paced, non-contact, mixed sex team sport played with a flying disc or 'Frisbee', which marries features of a number of so-called 'invasion' games, such as American Football and netball. The data were collected within the Ultimate Frisbee community of the UK from 2004 – 2007 across a range of sites and as an established and active member of that community an 'insider' role was adopted (Fetterman, 1998). Data were collected using three methods, namely participant observations, interviews and list mining. In keeping with previous studies on sporting subcultures, foundation chapters are concerned with key questions concerning participation and looking at the social construction of identity via participation in Ultimate. Closer scrutiny served to highlight a number of emergent themes which provide ideal jumping off points to explore highly pertinent aspects for more detailed discussion later in the study. Beyond the micro detail of the study, key findings indicate that Ultimate in the UK represents something of an 'anti sport' sport embedded within an alternative counter cultural value system. Furthermore it is also suggested that Ultimate in the UK is a sport at the point of fracture, caught between its 'alternative' roots and the modernisation agenda of its governing body. 2011-02-16T09:38:47Z Women and Social Change in Socialist Societies, with Special Reference to the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia http://hdl.handle.net/2381/8854 Title: Women and Social Change in Socialist Societies, with Special Reference to the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia Authors: Heitlinger, Alena Abstract: The thesis examines and evaluates the effects of socialist transformation in the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia on the position of women. The changes which had taken place are examined historically, i.e. from 1917 for the Soviet Union and from 1945 for Czechoslovakia, to the present time. The main explanatory variables are the spheres of economics (productivity and the need for women's labour); ideology (Marxist commitment to women's emancipation); politics (upbringing of children in line with the objectives of the Communist Party and the need for political support of women as a social group); socialist feminism (its auxilliary character within the over-all working class movement and the implication of this for the role of women and the Party strategy towards women) and demography (the need to enhance the population growth). The ways in which these spheres mutually correspond to or conflict with each other, as well as a specific Party objective at a particular time, is seen as explaining much of the making of the socialist policy towards women and the family. This policy is then contrasted with the objective daily reality of Soviet and Czech women. The role of women is explained in terms of mutual reinforcement of the private sphere of the family and the reproduction of labour power; the social sphere of production, and the pre-industrial sexual division of labour. It is argued that these forces form the 'root' causes of persisting women's inequality within the family and in society at large. 2010-12-09T11:38:31Z A Comparative Study of Class Relationships and Institutional Orders in Birmingham and Sheffield between 1830 and 1895 with Particular Reference to the Spheres of Education, Industry and Politics http://hdl.handle.net/2381/8810 Title: A Comparative Study of Class Relationships and Institutional Orders in Birmingham and Sheffield between 1830 and 1895 with Particular Reference to the Spheres of Education, Industry and Politics Authors: Smith, Dennis Abstract: Birmingham and Sheffield had strategic significance — demographically, politically and technologically — in English society during this period. Although their local industries had many similarities, particularly before 1850, structures of social differentiation and integration differed greatly between the two cities. These structures are examined in terms of two considerations: the processes of conflict and accommodation between a weakening commercialised agrarian order focused upon the county and the parish and a strengthening urban industrial order centred upon the large manufacturing city; and the shift of social and political initiative away from lower levels of integration (such as the neighbourhood and the parish) towards higher levels of integration, especially national networks of status and influence focused upon the metropolis. Birmingham had a very complex division of labour in which commercial and professional occupations were better represented than in Sheffield, the latter city supporting a narrower range of occupations and having a highly specialised position within the national division of labour. The balance of power between town and countryside was skewed more heavily towards the latter in the case of Sheffield for much of the period. Birmingham occupied a much more central position in the national network of communications. Strong neighbourhood-based movements (political, industrial, religious) in Sheffield were swamped by the development of heavy steel industry oriented to regional and national networks. Municipal solidarity remained very weak and class divisions very pronounced. Sheffield's largest manufacturers resisted arbitration, neglected civic involvements and sought to use education as a cheap but efficient way of subordinating their workforce. In education, industry and local government at Birmingham norms and practices oriented to the old agrarian and parochial order and the new constraints of industrial capitalism were interwoven, tending to diffuse conflict. Birmingham's bourgeoisie achieved greater solidarity and dominance within the city and great influence regionally and nationally. 2010-11-25T16:35:53Z 'Caesarism' in the politics and sociology of Max Weber http://hdl.handle.net/2381/8605 Title: 'Caesarism' in the politics and sociology of Max Weber Authors: Baehr, Peter Abstract: This thesis attempts to describe the meanings, chart the development and evaluate the cogency of 'Caesarism', with particular reference to that concept's place and significance in the thought of Max Weber. It begins (Chapter 2) by investigating the genesis and historical trajectory of the term, concentrating on French and German usage between the period 1850-1880. My concern here is to determine the social causes of the word's emergence, the social problems and issues that it articulated and the reasons that account for its decline as a vernacular expression among the educated political public. With the term's original intellectual milieu established the next task is to proceed (Chapters 3 and 4) to the centrepiece of this study, an exposition and critique of Caesarism as both word and concept in Weber's political and sociological writings. Four primary contexts in which Weber employed 'Caesarism' are discussed: Bismarck's governance; 'plebiscitary leadership' in modern liberal-democratic states; the military 'dictatorships' of the likes of Cromwell and Napoleon; and the constitutional position of the Weimar Reich President. In the process of the discussion, 'Caesarism' 's relationship to the more famous 'charisma' is explored. Following on from this I assess the view of the 'irrational masses' that underlies Weber's theory of leadership, and seek to demonstrate that view's empirical implausibility and logical incoherence while, at the same time, defending Weber from the charge of 'irrationalism' and defending also the value of the notion of 'irrationality' itself. Finally (Chapter 5) surveys a selection of recent attempts to apply the concept of 'Caesarism' to specific institutions, epochs and types of leadership. Though locating problems with these attempts, my suggestion is that 'Caesarism' can indeed do some sociological work for us, provided that our ambitions for the concept are modest and our approach historically informed. 2010-10-14T09:16:06Z Mountains suspended by a hair: Eruv, a symbolical act by which the legal fiction of community is established http://hdl.handle.net/2381/8548 Title: Mountains suspended by a hair: Eruv, a symbolical act by which the legal fiction of community is established Authors: Ash, Robert Charles Abstract: In 1991 a group of orthodox Jews applied to the London Borough of Barnet for permission to erect small groups of structures resembling telephone poles, connected - at a height of about twenty feet - by fine nylon filament, at thirty nine locations in the borough. Overall, the number of such structures was to be about eighty. Given that such structures closely resemble common 'street furniture', it was argued by those supporting the proposal that these items would be virtually unseen among the tens of thousands of lamp posts, telephone poles, and the like already in the area. Yet, far from remaining a routine matter for Barnet's Planning Officers, the application became an issue of heated public controversy, engaging the attention of the national and international media. The nature of that opposition is the major focus of this thesis. The religious driving force which lay behind the application relates to the laws of the Jewish shabbat. In order to overcome specific restrictions arising from those laws, Jewish sages long ago devised legal 'solutions'. Among these solutions is one which requires the creation of the physical structures which were the subject of the planning application. In everyday usage the legal solution is referred to by the Hebrew word eruv. It might be argued that this faintly absurd controversy represented in symbolic form the basic dilemma of Jewish life in liberal societies in the late twentieth century. This thesis analyses the eruv conflict in terms of space and place, modernity and post-modernity, and contemporary identities and concludes that the eruv proposal was greeted with hostility because it was seen as a disordering of space which threatened identities within a context of the operation of 'banal nationalism'. 2010-10-01T09:45:10Z