Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Political activists – Psychology'

Interest in youth civic engagement continues to increase and a small but growing group of organizations are seeking to get young people involved in political activism. At the same time, researchers are giving more attention to the features of adolescent settings and how they relate to the overall development of young people. What remains to be absent is a contextual understanding of how the characteristics of adolescent settings contribute specifically to political development. The purpose of this study is to identify organizational level characteristics of youth organizations that promote the political development of adolescents. Semi-structured interviews and grounded theory analysis with 15 young activists revealed a “Big Six” of organizational characteristics and properties that influence participation in societal involvement behaviors. Post hoc analyses also revealed potential relationships between political development and the Big Six. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed and directions for future research are delineated.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2007
Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Social Work. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-132).

Orientador: Silvio Yasui
Coorientador: Flávio Fernandes Fontes
Banca: Ricardo Rodrigues Teixeira
Banca: Danilo Saretta Verissimo
Banca: Eduardo Vianna
Banca: Elizabeth Maria Freire de Araujo Lima
Resumo: O ciclo de protestos iniciado no Brasil em Junho de 2013 trouxe à cena pública o debate sobre movimentos sociais e ações coletivas. A perda da relevância dos sindicatos e partidos políticos na articulação e condução dos eventos chamou atenção de cidadãos e pesquisadores. Esta pesquisa endereça essa, e outras perguntas, partindo das disputas de sentido envolvendo os termos 'militância' e 'ativismo'. Através de uma revisão narrativa de literatura sobre os sentidos da palavra militância nos artigos científicos publicados no Brasil entre 1980 e 2015, definiu-se o termo como metodologia para interferir/intervir nas normas sociais. Essa definição ressalta o que há de comum entre os fenômenos agrupados sob os dois termos e possibilita propor investigações sobre aquilo que há de diferente entre eles. Os conceitos de repertório, estratégia e instituição são sugeridos para escrutinar os sentidos presentes nas palavras. Esse último é usado para explicitar as relações entre mudanças macrossociais e a subjetividade de militantes e ativistas. A tese responde a seguinte questão: como as diretrizes que ancoram e organizam as estratégias militante e ativista modulam os processos de subjetivação de militantes e ativistas? A investigação foi realizada através dos seguintes procedimentos: a) estudo orientado das principais teorias sobre ação coletiva na literatura sociológica brasileira, europeia e norte-americana; b) proposição de modelo teórico para explorar as diferenças de sentido entre os... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo)
Abstract: The Brazilian protest cycle triggered in 2013 brought the debate about social movement and collective action to the center of the public scene. The decreasing relevance of trade unions and political parties in this process made researchers and citizens aware that something had changed in Brazilian civil society. This research addresses these issues using as a starting point the symbolic disputes connected to the words militância and ativismo. Having revised the scientific articles published from 1980 and 2015, with the aim of understanding how Brazilian researchers used the word militância, it was possible to define theterm as a methodology to intervene in the current social norms. This definition highlights the shared meanings of militância and ativismo and sets the path to scrutinize the differences between them. Three concepts are suggested with which to critically examine these differences: repertoire, strategy and institution. The last notion allows one to explore the relations between macro social changes and the militant and activist subjectivities. The question guiding this dissertation is: how do the guidelines anchoring and organizing the militant and activist strategies modulate militant and activists subjectivity? The research was conducted. through the following procedures: a) literature review of main psychological and sociological theories about social movement and protest in the Brazilian, European and North American traditions; b) construction... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)
Doutor

This study examines the relative influence of value priorities, ethnicity and 'worries' in the determination of political party affiliation amongst Ugandan university students. Schwartz's values questionnaire was administered to 309 male and 176 female first year students from the faculties of engineering, medicine, law, commerce, social sciences, sciences, education and mass communication at Makerere University Uganda. The sample included respondents from all of the six sub-ethnic groups in Uganda. Respondents also covered the major religious groups in the country and were also representative of the major political parties. Results from the statistical analysis on the data show that ethnicity and certain values playa role in the determination of these students' affiliation to a political party. Chi-square results show that achievement, benevolence, universalism, security, tradition and conformity values are given differing importance across political parties. And, Anova results show that the tradition value has a significant mean difference across parties. Other factors such as religion and course of study are also found to have significant influence on these student's affiliation to political parties. Although 'worries' are found not to have a significant influence on student's political party affiliation, findings show that students from different political parties differ in their ratings of the different types of ' worries'. Therefore results show that ethnicity and value priorities do infl4ence these students' affiliation to a political party but ' worries' do not. The discussion section explores these findings in the context of contemporary Ugandan politics.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Education, 2008.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Oct. 5, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-02, Section: A, page: 0494. Adviser: Vasti Torres.

Despite existing literature that demonstrates the relation between an attitude of social responsibility and activism; few studies have examined the underlying factor structure of social responsibility. The current study had two goals. The first goal was to examine the structure of a measure of social responsibility attitude for urban adolescents. The second goal was to examine the associations of social responsibility with civic and political activism. The participants were 221 adolescents from schools and youth serving organizations in metropolitan Atlanta, GA. Confirmatory factor analysis of social responsibility items revealed that a model with a single latent factor explained the data better than a two-factor model with one latent factor representing neighborhood social responsibility and the other representing global social responsibility. There were significant positive relations between social responsibility and civic activism and political activism when controlling for parental activism and peer activism. This study suggests that a social responsibility attitude may exist as a single factor amongst urban adolescents and it has added empirical support to show that higher levels of social responsibility are associated with greater depth of involvement in civic and political activism. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed.

Although more women are successfully breaching the social, economic and political barriers that can prevent them from participating as electoral candidates, few women campaign for elected office. A dearth of female candidates may be understandable, given research demonstrating that women tend to avoid competition and competitive environments. Thus, elections – competitive by design – may attract fewer women than men. This thesis posits that the inherent competitiveness of electoral politics may deter women from campaigning for office. However, this work also forwards that competitive sport socialization during adolescence may prepare women for electoral competition. This paper examines the results of a self-administered survey mailed to 449 female candidates for municipal office. The survey investigated candidates’ adolescent experiences in competitive sports and attitudes relating to internal political efficacy. The results appear to demonstrate a strong correlation between competitive sport socialization and either positive or neutral evaluations of political competition.
x, 163 leaves ; 29 cm

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2004.
Rod Watts, committee chair; Gabriel Kuperminc, Roger Bakema, committee members. 119 p. [numbered vi, 113]. Description based on contents viewed Feb. 28, 2007; title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-109).

Si les partis politiques sont des institutions bien souvent qualifiées aujourd'hui de « traditionnelles » et donc de « dépassées », elles continuent malgré tout à participer au vivre-ensemble et sont, aujourd'hui encore, les principales institutions qui concourent aux élections locales et nationales, leur objectif principal étant la conquête et l'exercice du pouvoir à différents échelons. Malgré la défiance que ces institutions provoquent, notamment chez les adolescents et jeunes adultes, certains d'entre eux continuent à s'engager et à militer, parfois avec intensité, dans les organisations de jeunesse des partis politiques. Notre thèse vise ainsi à mettre en lumière les enjeux psychiques de l'engagement dans un parti politique et du militantisme à l'adolescence et au début de l'âge adulte. Pour tenter de rendre compte de ces enjeux, deux questionnements ont guidé notre investigation. Premièrement : quelles sont les modalités du fonctionnement psychique d'adolescents et de jeunes adultes qui militent aujourd'hui en France dans un parti politique et quelles seraient les éventuelles caractéristiques psychiques communes à cette population ? Deuxièmement : quels serait le rôle et l'effet de l'engagement et du militantisme dans un parti politique vis-à-vis des processus psychiques mobilisés à l'adolescence et au début de l'âge adulte chez ces sujets ? Trente-six jeunes militants, âgés de 18 à 26 ans, ont ainsi accepté sur la période allant de janvier 2015 à juin 2016, de participer à cette étude. Les organisations politiques auxquelles ces jeunes militants ont adhéré représentent l'échiquier politique dans son entier, de l'extrême gauche à l'extrême droite. Pour tenter de répondre aux questions soulevées, une méthodologie composée à la fois d'entretiens individuels semi-directifs et de tests projectifs (Rorschach et TAT) a été mise en place. Alors que les tests projectifs permettent d'appréhender avec finesse les caractéristiques du fonctionnement psychique individuel des jeunes militants, les entretiens individuels apportent des indications précieuses sur leur histoire singulière et leur parcours militant. Les résultats montrent tout d'abord une hétérogénéité des ressources et des fragilités psychiques selon les militants, ce qui nous conduit à penser qu'il n'existe pas de profil(s) psychologique(s) spécifique(s) chez ces sujets. Cependant, nous retrouvons tout de même des caractéristiques communes chez des militants appartenant au Front National, ce qui nous a permis de faire l'hypothèse qu'il existe une résonance entre ces caractéristiques psychiques et les idées et idéaux prônés par ce parti politique. La question reste de savoir pourquoi nous ne retrouvons pas le même phénomène dans les autres partis politiques et chez les militants qui s'y engagent ; une piste de réflexion est proposée dans la thèse à ce propos. De plus, à l'issue de ce travail, nous pouvons dire que le parti politique peut constituer un support plus ou moins efficace pour aménager les conflits psychiques propres à l'adolescence et au devenir adulte. L'efficacité de ce support dépend-elle alors exclusivement des ressources et des fragilités psychiques qui préexistent chez les jeunes militants ? Il semblerait que non. Cette recherche nous a en effet appris que le cadre de l'organisation politique est loin d'être contingent par rapport au fonctionnement psychique individuel des militants. Il est ainsi important de tenir compte à la fois du fonctionnement psychique tel qu'il s'est construit dans l'histoire individuelle des militants et des contraintes organisationnelles auxquelles il se confrontent, pour évaluer dans quelle mesure cet engagement a un effet mutatif ou non, d'un point de vue psychique
If political parties are often referred as "traditional" and therefore "outdated" institutions, they continue anyhow to participate in "living together" and are still the main institutions that compete in local and national elections. Their main target is the conquest and the exercise of power at all steps. Despite the mistrust in these institutions, especially among adolescents and young adults, some of them are still engaging and militating, sometimes intensely, in the party-political youth organizations of political parties. Our thesis aims to highlight psychic issues of the adolescents and young adults' involvement in political parties. In an attempt to take those stakes into account, two questions guided our research. Firstly, In France today, what are the psychic functioning modalities of adolescents and young adults who militate in a political party, what are their eventual common psychic characteristics? Secondly, regarding the psychic processes mobilized in adolescence and early adulthood for these subjects, what would be the function and effect of the engagement and militancy in a political party? Between January 2015 and June 2016, thirty-six young activists, aged between 18 and 26, agreed to participate in the research. Political organizations in which these young activists committed themselves represent the entire political spectrum, from the extreme left to the far right. In order to address the questions raised a methodology including both individual semi-structured interviews and projective tests (Rorschach and TAT) has been set up. While the projective tests enable us to apprehend shrewdly the characteristics of the young militants individual psychic functioning, individual interviews provide valuable insights of their personal story and their militant journey. First of all, the results show the heterogeneity of the psychic resources and fragilities according each militant, which leads us to believe that there is no specific psychological profile for this population. However, we find common characteristics among National Front activist, which conduct us to make the hypothesis of a resonance between these psychic characteristics and this political party's advocated ideas and ideals. A question remains: why don't we find the same phenomenon amongst the other political parties and related activists; in that regard, a reflection path is proposed in this thesis. Moreover, the findings of this study, allow us to state that a political party can provide a more or less effective support for the management of the psychic conflicts peculiar to the adolescence and to the adulthood. Does the effectiveness of this support exclusively depend the resources and psychic weaknesses preexisting in young activists? It would seem not. This research shows that the framework of political organization is far from contingent to the activists' individual psychic functioning. Thus, it is important to consider both the psychic functioning has been built through the individual history of the militants, and the organizational constraints they confront, in order to evaluate, from a psychic point of view, the extent to which this commitment has a mutative effect

On the night of April 20, 2010, a group of students from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), Río Piedras campus, met to organize an indefinite strike that quickly broadened into a defense of accessible public higher education of excellence as a fundamental right and not a privilege. Although the history of student activism in the UPR can be traced back to the early 1900s, the 2010-2011 strike will be remembered for the student activists’ use of new media technologies as resources that rapidly prompted and aided the numerous protests. This activist research entailed a critical ethnography and a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of traditional and alternative media coverage and treatment during the 2010 -2011 UPR student strike. I examined the use of the 2010-2011 UPR student activists’ resistance performances in constructing local, corporeal, and virtual spaces of resistance and contention during their movement. In particular, I analyzed the different tactics and strategies of resistance or repertoire of collective actions that student activists used (e.g. new media technologies) to frame their collective identities via alternative news media’s (re)presentation of the strike, while juxtaposing the university administration’s counter-resistance performances in counter-framing the student activists’ collective identity via traditional news media representations of the strike. I illustrated how both traditional and alternative media (re)presentations of student activism developed, maintained, and/or modified students activists’ collective identities. As such, the UPR student activism’s success should not be measured by the sum of demands granted, but by the sense of community achieved and the establishment of networks that continue to create resistance and change. These networks add to the debate surrounding Internet activism and its impact on student activism. Ultimately, the results of this study highlight the important role student movements have had in challenging different types of government policies and raising awareness of the importance of an accessible public higher education of excellence.

Esta pesquisa tem o objetivo de compreender o processo de atribuição de sentido pessoal à atividade pedagógica dos professores da escola pública de ensino fundamental por meio do levantamento dos motivos dessa atividade. Ao enfocarmos a atividade pedagógica, pretendemos, também, localizar a função e a importância do projeto político pedagógico na organização das ações pedagógicas. Para tanto, este trabalho tem como embasamento teórico a psicologia histórico-cultural (Vigotski, Leontiev, Luria e outros), mais especificamente a contribuição dos autores que se dedicaram ao estudo da atividade humana como unidade central da vida do sujeito concreto, ou seja, a teoria psicológica geral da atividade (Leontiev, Davidov e outros). Nosso estudo centrou-se na observação do cotidiano escolar de uma escola pública municipal de ensino fundamental que almejava construir seu projeto político pedagógico e articulá-lo com as ações pedagógicas desenvolvidas. Inspirados no estudo de caso do tipo etnográfico, foram usados os seguintes procedimentos de investigação: observação participante, análise de documentos e realização de entrevistas com professores. No processo de análise dos dados, organizamos as informações obtidas em três grandes contextos: "Organização escolar", "Em busca do projeto político pedagógico" e "Atribuição de sentido pessoal à atividade pedagógica". Nos dois primeiros contextos, apresentamos as formas como os profissionais da escola organizam suas atividades e ações pedagógicas e apontamos as dificuldades na construção de um projeto político pedagógico, a produção da fragmentação do trabalho pedagógico e as possibilidades de superação da alienação. No último contexto, a partir da trajetória profissional de dois professores, analisamos o processo de atribuição de sentido pessoal à atividade pedagógica. Os professores entrevistados denunciam as rupturas entre o significado e o sentido pessoal, entre os motivos da atividade e os fins das ações e expressam essas cisões não só verbalmente, como física e emocionalmente. Contraditoriamente, indicam, também, elementos no seu trabalho e na organização escolar reveladores das possibilidades do estabelecimento de relações conscientes com a universalidade dos homens, para além da relação singular-particular. Assim, a análise ressalta a construção do projeto político pedagógico entendido como atividade enquanto um dos elementos possíveis de humanização docente, ou seja, como espaço de resistência à desintegração entre o significado e o sentido pessoal atribuído à atividade pedagógica.
This research aims to study the process of sense attribution to the public elementary school teacher's pedagogical activity through the study of this activity motives. By focusing the pedagogical activity we also intend to find the political pedagogical project function and importance in the organization of pedagogical actions. For doing so, this work has as theoretical basis on the cultural-historical psychology (Vigotski, Leontiev, Luria et al.), more specifically, the contribution of authors who were dedicated to the study human activity as the central unity of the concrete individual's life, or else, the general psychological theory of activity (Leontiev, Davidov et al). Our study has been centered on scholar daily routine observation of a public elementary school that aimed to build its political pedagogical project and link it with the developed pedagogical actions. Inspired in the case study of the ethnographic perspective, there were used the following investigation procedures: participant observation, documents analysis and interviews with teachers. During the process of data analysis we have organized the obtained information in three major contexts: "Scholar Organization", "In search of the political pedagogical project" and "Attribution of sense to the pedagogical activity". In the first two contexts we have presented the ways that school professionals organize their activities and pedagogical actions and have pointed out the difficulties in the construction of a political pedagogical project, the fragmentation production of pedagogical work and the possibilities of alienation overcoming. In the last context, as from two teachers professional trajectory, we have analysed the process of sense attribution to the pedagogical activity. Interviewed teachers reveal the ruptures between the social meaning and the sense, between the activity motives and the actions objectives and express these scission not only orally but also physically and emotionally. In a contradiction, they also indicate elements in their work and in scholar organization that reveal possibilities of relationships establishment conscious with men universality, for beyond the singular-particular relation. Thus, the analysis reinforces the construction of the political pedagogical project understood as activity, as one of the possible elements of teaching humanization, or else, as an area of resistance to the disintegration between social meaning and sense given to the pedagogical activity.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:31:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alessandro de Oliveira Campos.pdf: 629690 bytes, checksum: 410b71a9f2c7db8d4139976a07b62b83 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-02-02
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
This dissertation investigates the identity of autonomous activists in the Global Resistance movement. We begin with a central category of Social Psychology, the conceptual use of identity-metamorphosis-emancipation sintagma. The proposal arose in the inquiry for the political Identity of the autonomous activist as a transformation process for the emancipation of the subject in a dominated world. This transformation occurs on the path to what we call Post-Conventional Identity. For this observation an analysis was performed of the history of the life of a member of the São Paulo Independent Media Center, as well as field work including participation in meetings and acts of autonomous nature. We perceive that nobody is born an activist, but passes through a process that leads him to this place. To think of the autonomous activist as a role is a contradiction, but to consider the activist identity as an I who searches for autonomy and recognizes the diverse actions for another political and social reality, which with new forms of existence come to gain legitimacy for the struggles in search of emancipation. The history of life of the autonomous activist passes through different processes that can take it to an amplification of given values and recognitions being more cooperation than competition. This work searches to weave reflections on the different possibilities to be political beyond the institutions and traditional parties
Esta dissertação busca investigar a identidade do ativista autonomista envolvido no Movimento de Resistência Global. Partimos da Psicologia Social tendo como categoria central o uso conceitual do sintagma identidade-metamorfose-emancipação. A proposta se deu na investigação da Identidade política do ativista autonomista como processo de transformação para a emancipação do sujeito em um mundo dominado. Essa transformação acontece em direção ao que denominamos de Identidade Pós-Convencional. Para essa observação foi realizada uma análise da história de vida de um membro do Centro de Mídia Independente de São Paulo, assim como um trabalho de campo participando de reuniões e atos de natureza autonomista. Percebemos que ninguém nasce ativista, mas passa por um processo que o conduz até este lugar. Pensar o ativista autonomista como um papel é uma contradição, mas considerar a Identidade ativista como um Eu que busca autonomia e reconhece a diversidade de atuações para outra realidade política e social, faz com que novas formas de existência venham a ganhar legitimidade para as lutas que buscam emancipação. A história de vida do ativista autonomista passa por diferentes processos que podem levá-lo a uma ampliação de valores e reconhecimentos dados mais pela cooperação que pela competição. Esse trabalho busca tecer reflexões sobre as diferentes possibilidades de fazer política além das instituições e partidos tradicionais

L’objectif de cette étude est de rechercher les facteurs qui sous-tendent les comportements politiques chez les étudiants. L’approche développée est cognitive et conative. À ce titre, les connaissances, les représentations et les mécanismes de raisonnement sont invoqués comme éléments explicatifs des comportements. Ces processus sont appréhendés à l’aide d’outils linguistiques. L’analyse des résultats suggère l’existence de représentations politiques plutôt négatives, au sein de la population. Ces représentions génèrent des raisonnements qui induisent des d’attitudes critiques, méfiantes, à l’égard de la sphère politique, avec en toile de fond l’expression de nombreuses attentes. Pour autant, ces représentations, globalement négatives, ne doivent pas occulter la présence de perceptions positives à l’égard de l’univers politique, développées par les sujets experts qui envisagent la politique dans ses liens avec des domaines connexes. En outre, l’analyse des choix politiques fait ressortir deux formes de raisonnement sous-jacentes : des raisonnements motivés, davantage utilisés par les sujets sans proximité partisane, et des raisonnements plus heuristiques, fondés sur un savoir mémorisé adoptés par les répondants plus politisés
. The objective of this study to seek the factors which underlie the political behaviors in the students. The developed approach is cognitive. For this reason knowledge, representations, and the mechanisms of reasoning are called upon like explanatory elements of the behaviors. These cognitive processes are apprehended using linguistic tools. The analysis of the results suggests the existence within the population of the political representations rather negative. These represented generate reasoning which induces of critical attitudes, being wary with regard to the political sphere within background the expression of many waiting. For as much, these overall negative representations should not occult the presence of positive perceptions of the political universe developed by the expert subjects which consider the policy in its bonds with related fields. Moreover, the analysis of the political choices emphasizes two subjacent forms of reasoning: the reasoning justified, more used by the subjects without proximity partisan, and the more heuristic reasoning founded on a memorized knowledge adopted by the more politicized guarantors

L'agressivite des souches de colletotrichum manihotis varie d'une souche a une autre et les cultivars de manioc inocules sont plus ou moins sensibles au champignon. La temperature et la lumiere exercent une action sur l'infection des tiges. In vitro la lumiere stimule ou inhibe, selon les temperatures la croissance en longeur des hyphes et la conidiogenese. Les radiations bleues, vertes et jaunes inhibent la croissance a 32 non=c. , les radiations rouges stimulent la croissance a des temperatures comprises entre 20 et 28 non=c. La conidiogenese est inhibee a 20 non=c. Et stimulee a partir de 24 non=c, par des radiations bleues et jaunes. Les radiations rouges stimulent la condiogenese a partir de 24 non=c jusqu'a 28 non=c. Le vert est toujours stimulateur quelle que soit la temperature

Defence date: 13 June 1996
Examining Board: Prof. Stefano Bartolini (EUI) ; Prof. Jean Blondel (EUI, supervisor) ; Prof. Geraint Parry (University of Manchester) ; Prof. Antonio Schizzerotto (Università di Trento) ; Prof. Yossi Shavit (EUI, co-supervisor)
First made available online: 26 September 2016

Given the growing population of undocumented Latina/o/x immigrants who came to the United States as children, there is a need for research that explores the risk and protective factors of their experiences growing up in the United States. As they transition through adolescence, they emerge as adults in a very different world. No longer protected from deportation, they must take more serious risks with employment. Without access to federal financial aid, they face the reality that they may never be able to utilize their college education in the United States. Against these odds, and with the temporary protection of DACA, an increasing number of undocumented childhood arrivals are civically engaged in the immigrant rights movement. Employing a qualitative method based on constructivist and feminist frameworks called Consensual Qualitative Research, this study sought to explore the impact of activism in Latina/o/x DACAmented immigrants’ thwarted transition to adulthood, highlighting the ways in which Latina/o/x cultural values mitigate the impact of activism. The sample consisted of 12 Latina/o/x DACAmented activists, eight women and four men, ages 18-32, from Mexico (n = 10), Guatemala (n = 1), and Dominican Republic (n = 1). The findings in this study not only suggested that protective migration factors, DACA-related privileges, and strong coping skills contributed to Latina/o/x DACAmented immigrants’ decision to become activists, but they also noted that activism has been a protective factor in and of itself. The results also showed the ways in which Latina/o/x cultural values helped them make sense of their unique experiences and were consistent with the values within their activist communities. Existing clinical recommendations, resources, and research methods were highlighted as ways in which mental health providers can apply these findings in their clinical, training, and research practice.

Despite the election of a Black President and media assertions at the time heralding a “post racial” America in which racial divides no longer exist, health disparities, poverty rates, incarceration rates, discrimination and educational inequality still are a daily reality for African Americans. African Americans still have the burden of having to cope with racism making the explorations of coping strategies for African Americans dealing with racism vitally important. The present study explored religious orientation, spirituality, race-related stress, mental health outcomes and activism for African Americans. In particular, race -related stress was predicted to be significantly predictive of activism, such that the more one has experienced race related stressors the more likely they would be activated to engage in social justice related activities (H1). The study predicted that higher levels of quest religious orientation and intrinsic spirituality would be related to higher levels of African American activism (H2a). It was also predicted that higher levels of religious fundamentalism would be related to lower levels of activism (H2b). Regarding the relationship of spirituality and activism to mental health, it was predicted that quest religious orientation and intrinsic spirituality and activism would be related to greater mental health outcomes (H3a), while a fundamentalist spiritual orientation and race-related stress would be related of poorer mental health (H3b). It was also predicted that African American activism would be related to greater mental health outcomes (H4a) and that racism-related stress would be negatively related to mental health (H4b) The results indicated that for this sample, none of the spirituality variables (Quest Orientation, Fundamentalism Orientation, and Intrinsic Spirituality), nor the experience of racism (race-related stress), nor African American Activism, was related to mental health. However, the variables examined were significantly related to African American Activism. Quest Religious Orientation, Intrinsic spirituality, and race-related stress were all positively related to engagement in action for racial justice. Fundamentalist religious orientation was negatively related to action for social justice.

This thesis traces the economic and socio-political changes in Australia over the final three decades of the twentieth century from the perspective of 25 women engaged in social work and welfare education. A period of significant change in its social, economic and political history, Australia moved from Keynesian inspired trends to social democracy under Whitlam, through the corporatist experiment of the Hawke/Keating regime to an embrace of free market economics under the current Howard coalition government. Utilising a narrative approach and framing the research within feminist historical materialist standpoint, after Smith (1991) and Naples (2003), I explore the ways in which this group of women experienced changes to the policy context, theories as they informed their education and practice and, of particular interest, changes to feminist theory and the impact of the women's movement on social policy, service delivery and in each woman's personal lives. Participants reported general feelings of frustration at the erosion of hard won gains, especially for women and living the adage 'the personal is political ', and increased pressures in their work and private lives over time. There was a sense of distancing of social work from social policy alongside increasing alienation from a women's movement that they saw as largely out of touch with an increasingly diverse and globalised world. In this context however, the women generally remained positive for the future, providing clear strategies as to the contribution a reinvigorated feminism and women's movement could make to social work and social policy of the future.

The formation of the Austrahan Peace Council (APC) in July 1949 was a direct challenge to the Cold War ideology that was dominant in Australia at this time. Its advocacy of peace and its support for international agreements between the major powers drew a hostile reaction from almost every sector of Australian society. This thesis will examine the political and historical context for the formation of the APC and the holding of its first National Peace Congress, in Melbourne, in 1950. In particular, it will focus on the involvement of the three key groups that were involved in the APC: the religious activists, the independent activists, and the communist intellectuals. It will argue that those involved in the APC were motivated by idealistic views, were not Stalin's 'stooges', and were genuinely committed to ending the very real threat of a nuclear war.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2009.
Title from title screen (site viewed September 08, 2009). PDF text: vii, 174 p. : ill. ; 652 K. UMI publication number: AAT 3354832. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

The rise of the Monash University Labor Club to the most prominent radical student group in Australia by 1967 was the result of those radicalising events and ideologies that had been emerging internationally, nationally and locally during 1965-67. Events such as the escalation of the Vietnam War and the emergence of the Cultural Revolution in China were particularly influential upon the student movement in Australia during this period. Arguably the most influential ideological force upon the Monash Labor Club during this period was the idea of Marxism-Leninism, or Maoism, articulated by the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao TseTung. It is this radicalising role of Maoism upon the 1960's student movement in Melbourne that will be the core concern of this thesis. Past studies concerned with the Monash Labor Club in 1965-67 have tended to downplay the role of Maoist ideas at Monash during this period. However, this thesis will attempt to show that it was the Maoist ideas of Labor Club leaders like Albert Langer that allowed the club to rise to such prominence in 1967. Furthermore this thesis will show how the connections achieved by Langer with the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist), and certain Maoist-led Unions in Melbourne, played a significant role in the successful aims, actions and campaigns carried out by the Labor Club in 1967.

This research project explored how young women involved in political organizations make sense of apartheid history and how they appropriate that history into their identities. Nine black women students who were involved in political organizations were interviewed from the University of Witswatersrand. The women that were chosen participated in a narrative style interview about their lives and the history of apartheid. The data were then analyzed using narrative thematic analysis and organised in the temporal zones of past, present and future. The analysis revealed the complexities of race, class and gender and how these are embodied, enacted and made sense of in the construction and reconstruction of the identities of these young women. In imagining and reflecting on the apartheid past, race was understood through both distant, public narratives and through personal and intimate family narratives. Gendered roles or positions were talked about in reference to three thematic symbols of women as nurturers, iconic wives and heroes. In progression from the apartheid past and its particular, separated and structured understanding of race and gender, the journey into the present and future, reflects increasingly complex, dynamic and multilayered understandings. In particular, the conflation of race and class under apartheid is beginning to fragment and these young women are thinking through their positionality in terms of personal class mobility and simultaneous identification as black and committed to the continuation of race struggles. It is also very clear that the question of gender equality is now very prominent for these young women as they navigate their roles in political leadership in the present and envisage themselves in the future.

This thesis is on exploration of the anti-globalisation, or as it is more accurately called by participants, the global justice movement. It explores the relationship between activists in the North and South. The project uses extensive interviews and participant observation techniques as a method of exploring the lived experiences of global justice activists and how they have interpreted and resisted neoliberal forms of globalisation. The thesis is organised around and argues against the following dominant representations of the global justice movement: that it purportedly locks a theoretical base; that it is devoid of vision and strategy; that the movement is 'new'; that it is primarily a 'white middle class student constituency; and finally that the movement collapsed after September 11, 2001.

This thesis focuses on a generation of Timorese who were educated during the Indonesian occupation. Conceptual frameworks of community development, participation, civil society and citizenship, are drawn upon to analyse the processes of development taking place in the first years of nationhood of Timor Leste. Within this context, three themes are developed. First, a generational divide related to education and the language policy which leaves the Indonesian educated young people marginalised within the new national development framework; second, the limitations that customary practices place upon the ability of young women to participate in political and social activities; third, an analysis of the centralised processes of development that have resulted in young men leaving the rural areas for opportunities in the urban areas and consequent implications for social organisation. These three themes are analysed in the context of a civil society largely run by young Timorese. I investigate the roles of power holders in contemporary Timor Leste – the government, the traditional leaders and international development agencies and analyse the place that civil society has in this new nation. I argue that Timorese activists are able to bridge the traditional Timorese world with international values of development and human rights, but their roles and contributions have to date been inadequately supported.

Summaries in English and Afrikaans
The second fully democratic election in South Africa is scheduled to take place in May 1999. In the five years since the first election, it appears that very little attention has been paid to the political literacy of the electorate in general, and the youth in particular. The purpose of this study was to establish adolescents' level of political knowledge and whether they are able to think critically about political issues or not. The first part of the literature study which was concerned with critical thinking revealed that the major aspects of critical thinking are: deductive reasoning, inductive inference, recognition of assumptions, credibility, and problem solving. The second part of the literature study was an analysis of which factors may play a role in the development of critical thinking of an adolescent. with particular reference to a political context. The third part was an examination of important current political and social issues. These were: the new Constitution. Truth and Reconciliation Commission, housing, land redistribution, education, labour, health, crime, political violence, environment, and the next election. A reliable measuring instrument was developed in order to measure adolescents' knowledge of political issues, and their ability to think critically about these issues. The results of the empirical study revealed that intellectual potential and academic achievement were significantly related to critical thinking ability, while gender, environment, and personality appeared not to play a role. There was a significant correlation between political knowledge and critical thinking in a political context, implying that critical thinking is subject-specific. Cultural background also played a significant role in critical thinking in a political context. In terms of political knowledge, boys were found to be at a significantly higher level than girls. The subjects from urban areas were also at a significantly higher level than those from rural areas. There was also a positive correlation between intellectual potential, academic achievement, and political knowledge. Finally, some recommendations for improving the levels of political knowledge and critical thinking abilities with regard to political issues of South African adolescents were given.
Die tweede ten valle demokratiese verkiesing in Suid-Afrika is geskeduleer om in Mei 1999 plaas te vind. In die vyf jaar sedert die vorige verkiesing is baie min aandag gegee aan die politieke geletterdheid van die verkiesingspubliek in die algemeen en die jeug in besonder. Die doel van hierdie studie was om adolessente se vlak van politieke kennis te bepaal en om vas te stel of hulle in staat is om krities oar politieke kwessies na te dink. Die eerste deel van die literatuurstudie wat verband hou met kritiese denke het uitgewys dat die hoofaspekte van kritiese denke die volgende is: deduktiewe redenering, induktiewe inferensies, herkenning van aannames, geloofwaardigheid en probleemoplossing. Die tweede deel van die literatuurstudie behels 'n analise van die faktore wat 'n rol kan speel in die ontwikkeling van die kritiese denke van die adolessent, met spesifieke verwysing na 'n politieke konteks. Die derde deel is 'n ondersoek na belangrike teenswoordige politieke en sosiale kwessies. Hierdie kwessies sluit in: die nuwe Grondwet, die Waarheids- en Versoeningskommissie, behuising, herverdeling van grand, opvoeding, arbeid, gesondheid, misdaad, politieke geweld, die omgewing en die volgende verkiesing. 'n Betroubare meetinstrument om adolessente se kennis van politieke kwessies asook hul vermoe om krities daaroor na te dink, is ontwikkel. Die resultate van die empiriese ondersoek het aangetoon dat intellektuele potensiaal en akademiese prestasie betekenisvol verband hou met kritiese denkvermoe, terwyl geslag, omgewing en persoonlikheid klaarblyklik nie 'n rol speel nie. Daar is ook 'n betekenisvolle korrelasie tussen politieke kennis en kritiese denke in 'n politieke konteks wat impliseer dat kritiese denke vakspesifiek is. Kulturele agtergrond speel ook 'n betekenisvolle rol in kritiese denke in 'n politieke konteks. Ten opsigte van politieke kennis is daar bevind dat seuns op 'n betekenisvolle hoer vlak is as dogters. Respondente uit stedelike gebiede is oak op 'n betekenisvolle hoer vlak as diegene uit plattelandse gebiede. Oaar is oak 'n betekenisvolle korrelasie tussen intellektuele potensiaal, akademiese prestasie en politieke kennis. Ten slotte is aanbevelings gemaak om die vlakke van politieke kennis en kritiese denkvermoens met betrekking tot politieke aangeleenthede by Suid-Afrikaanse adolessente te verbeter.
Psychology of Education
D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

The emergence of a South African womanist (Black) consciousness was investigated. More specifically, the present study examined how the politics of survival gives rise to a feminist consciousness. A meta-analysis of 8 case studies was conducted on how (South) African women's daily struggle for survival in three socio-political and historical contexts translated into a womanist consciousness. Of the 8 case studies examined. 2 pertained to (South) African women's involvement in the national liberation struggle, 3 pertained to the migrant labor system, and the remaining three pertained to the struggie against poverty as a context for the emergence of a womanist consciousness. It was found that women's involvement in the national liberation struggle, the migrant labor system, and the struggle against poverty provided a context in which (South) African women learned about their feminism. The results suggest that the new Black feminism that is slowly emerging on the African continent is rooted in the politics of survival. Also, the findings from the study suggest that the current state of African women's engagement with feminism is one of two extremes. On the one hand, women are individually advancing themselves and on the other women are collectively/politically organizing for the good of all women. The implication of the findings are that (poor) African women's daily struggle for survival leads them (through their actions) to engage with feminism. This in turn sets the stage for an emerging African womanist consciousness. Furthennore, the results of this study imply that in order for the newly emerging Black feminism to grow and make a meaningful contribution in the lives of all, African women need to engage with feminism at a collective, and not just individual level.
Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

This thesis examines the banning of a communist speaker. Lieutenant E.A.H. Laurie, at Melbourne Teachers' College in July, 1944 and argues that the decision to ban Laurie was unwarranted and politically motivated. The banning, which was enforced by the Minister for Public Instruction, Thomas Tuke Hollway, appears to have been based on Hollway's firm anti-communist views and political opportunism. A. J. Law, Principal of the Teachers' College, was also responsible for banning Laurie. However, Law's decision to ban Laurie was probably directed by Hollway and supported by J. Seitz, Director of Education.

This thesis examines the political activity of the Communist party of Australia (CPA) in the trade union movement between 1945 and 1960. It represents the first systematic scholarly analysis of this activity. The historiography of the CPA has generally focused on the industrial activity of CPA trade union members and has neglected this dimension. The thesis draws on CPA newspapers and journals, Congress resolutions, the publications of Communist-led unions and numerous secondary sources to argue that explicit political activity in the unions was often central to CPA activity in this period. The approach was consistent with orthodox Marxism, which regarded trade unions as a preparatory school for increasing the political consciousness of workers as a prelude to an anti-capitalist revolution. This political trade unionism distinguished the CPA from other political currents in the labour movement which may have accepted its militant unionism, but not its advocacy of political trade unionism. This thesis examines three areas of this political unionism: the attempt to build trade union support for the peace movement, the attitudes towards the post-war mass immigration programme and the emerging Aboriginal civil rights movement.

This qualitative study uses narrative inquiry (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988, 1990, 2001) and self-study to investigate ways to further understand and facilitate the integration of holistic philosophies of education with media literacy pedagogies. As founder and director of the Youth Media Literacy Project and a self-titled Imagitator (one who agitates imagination), I have spent over 10 years teaching media literacy in various high schools, universities, and community centres across North America. This study will focus on my own personal practical knowledge (Connelly & Clandinin, 1982) as a culture jammer, educator and cancer survivor to illustrate my original vision of a ‘holistic media literacy pedagogy’. This research reflects on the emergence and impact of holistic media literacy in my personal and professional life and also draws from relevant interdisciplinary literature to challenge and synthesize current insights and theories of media literacy, holistic education and culture jamming.