3,311 research outputs found

    “Men are the alphas. Men can't be hurt. Men can't be victims” - Narrative, identity, and male victims of female perpetrated intimate partner abuse.

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    This thesis details the process and analysis of the ‘Hard to Tell’ study, a qualitative, narrative study examining how male victims of female perpetrated intimate partner abuse (IPA) tell their story, and what it might mean for their identity. The study consisted of life-story interviews with 18 self-identifying male victims. Between them they described the full range of abuse, including physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, financial, controlling, coercive, and legal and administrative. The differing nature of these forms of abuse meant that some were easier to describe in narrative form, which carried significant implications for their ability to make sense of their experiences and explain it to others. Analysis was informed by a complex and dynamic understanding of identity, including key concepts from Narrative Identity Theory (McAdams, 2018; Bamberg, 2011) and Positioning Theory (Korobov, 2010; 2015). In telling their story, these male survivors were driven to defend against powerful cultural narratives of masculinity and male perpetration that contrasted with their experience as a man and as a victim. In doing so they drew upon other cultural narratives such as mental ill-health and childhood trauma to attain a valid identity position. Cultural narratives such as those of coercive controlling abuse and narcissism, enabled them to identify their abuse and sidestep gendered assumptions of perpetration. This thesis proposes a model of identity work within autobiographical narration that incorporates key components of the individual, audience, context, and culture. A prominent feature of these men’s stories was the role played by third parties, who enabled them to reframe their experience as an abuse narrative and begin a process of escape and recovery. This places professionals at the heart of this model, as audience and co-producer within a critical process of narrative sense making and identity validation

    A new global media order? : debates and policies on media and mass communication at UNESCO, 1960 to 1980

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    Defence date: 24 June 2019Examining Board: Professor Federico Romero, European University Institute (Supervisor); Professor Corinna Unger, European University Institute (Second Reader); Professor Iris Schröder, Universität Erfurt (External Advisor); Professor Sandrine Kott, Université de GenèveThe 1970s, a UNESCO report claimed, would be the “communication decade”. UNESCO had started research on new means of mass communication for development purposes in the 1960s. In the 1970s, the issue evolved into a debate on the so-called “New World Information and Communication Order” (NWICO) and the democratisation of global media. It led UNESCO itself into a major crisis in the 1980s. My project traces a dual trajectory that shaped this global debate on transnational media. The first follows communications from being seen as a tool and goal of national development in the 1960s, to communications seen as catalyst for recalibrated international political, cultural and economic relations. The second relates to the recurrent attempts, and eventual failure, of various actors to engage UNESCO as a platform to promote a new global order. I take UNESCO as an observation post to study national ambitions intersecting with internationalist claims to universality, changing understandings of the role of media in development and international affairs, and competing visions of world order. Looking at the modes of this debate, the project also sheds light on the evolving practices of internationalism. Located in the field of a new international history, this study relates to the recent rediscovery of the “new order”-discourses of the 1970s as well as to the increasingly diversified literature on internationalism. With its focus on international communications and attempts at regulating them, it also contributes to an international media history in the late twentieth century. The emphasis on the role of international organisations as well as on voices from the Global South will make contributions to our understanding of the historic macro-processes of decolonisation, globalisation and the Cold War

    Under construction: infrastructure and modern fiction

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    In this dissertation, I argue that infrastructural development, with its technological promises but widening geographic disparities and social and environmental consequences, informs both the narrative content and aesthetic forms of modernist and contemporary Anglophone fiction. Despite its prevalent material forms—roads, rails, pipes, and wires—infrastructure poses particular formal and narrative problems, often receding into the background as mere setting. To address how literary fiction theorizes the experience of infrastructure requires reading “infrastructurally”: that is, paying attention to the seemingly mundane interactions between characters and their built environments. The writers central to this project—James Joyce, William Faulkner, Karen Tei Yamashita, and Mohsin Hamid—take up the representational challenges posed by infrastructure by bringing transit networks, sanitation systems, and electrical grids and the histories of their development and use into the foreground. These writers call attention to the political dimensions of built environments, revealing the ways infrastructures produce, reinforce, and perpetuate racial and socioeconomic fault lines. They also attempt to formalize the material relations of power inscribed by and within infrastructure; the novel itself becomes an imaginary counterpart to the technologies of infrastructure, a form that shapes and constrains what types of social action and affiliation are possible

    The Mogadishu Effect: America\u27s Failure-Driven Foreign Policy

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    The October 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, commonly referred to as “Black Hawk Down,” transformed American foreign policy in its wake. One of the largest special operations missions in recent history, the failures in Somalia left not only the United States government and military in shock, but also the American people. After the nation’s most elite fighting forces suffered a nearly 50 percent casualty rate at the hands of Somali warlords during what many Americans thought was a humanitarian operation, Congress and the American people erupted in anger. Although the United States has continued to be seen as an overbearing global peacekeeping force in the thirty years since Somalia, the Battle of Mogadishu served as the turning point for a generational foreign policy shift that significantly limited future global intervention because of the overt publicization of battle’s aftermath in the media, domestic and international reactions, and a fear of repeating the same mistakes elsewhere. The first major American loss of life after the Cold War, the battle and the reaction that followed, known as the “Mogadishu effect,” forced President Clinton to rethink the United States’ role internationally. Clinton and his administration struggled to convince the American people that involvement overseas, especially global peacekeeping, was vital to international order after becoming the world’s sole superpower. Congressional hearings, presidential correspondence, government documents, poll results, and numerous media releases across Clinton’s presidency mark the distinct shift in American foreign policy that took place after Mogadishu. Although he inherited involvement in the United Nations mission in Somalia from George H.W. Bush, the failures in Somalia transformed Clinton’s humanitarian involvement in Haiti, Bosnia, and Rwanda, tarnishing the remainder of his presidency and shifting expectations of significant American involvement in international peacekeeping after the Cold War

    Against all odds: the successful leadership journey of a Saudi woman in a male-dominated STEM corporation

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    Huda Al-Ghoson became the first Saudi woman in an executive leadership position at Saudi Aramco, defying gender discrimination in a male-dominated corporate. This dissertation examined Al-Ghoson\u27s groundbreaking journey and its implications for Saudi women, addressing the scarcity of information on successful Saudi female leaders\u27 strategies and experiences. The literature review explored gender-related theories, Transformational leadership theory, and Full-Range leadership theory. A qualitative exploratory single-case study design was employed, with Huda Al-Ghoson as the focal point. The research questions were: (a) as a Saudi woman in a top leadership role, how does Al-Ghoson perceive her ascension to leadership in a male-dominated corporation? (b) as a Saudi woman in a high-rank leadership role, what perceived challenges did Al-Ghoson encounter while climbing the leadership ladder in a male-dominated corporation? (c) how do Al-Ghoson and her former colleagues and co-workers perceive her leadership style? and (d) as a Saudi woman in a top leadership role, what strategies or actions does Al-Ghoson perceive as effective in acquiring leadership positions in a male-dominated business? Data collection methods included semi-structured interviews, Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) assessments, and artifacts. Qualitative thematic analysis revealed 10 primary themes: (a) Al-Ghoson’s own definition of success, (b) her self-discovery journey of leadership, (c) her late mother was her mentor and role model, (d) her core challenge was the ingrained gender discrimination w within Saudi culture, (e) unconscious bias and sexism in the workplace, (f) lack of organizational resources, (g) she is perceived as a Transformational leader, (h) her advice for female leaders, (i) her recommendations for organizations, and (j) belief in Saudi Vision 2030’s effectiveness for female leaders. The study revealed cultural change within Saudi Arabia, highlighting Al-Ghoson\u27s challenges and impact on the Saudi workforce\u27s future vision. Recommendations emphasized personal development and organizational support for Saudi female leaders, providing guidance for aspiring women and organizations committed to promoting gender equity. Future research should investigate multiple case studies, consider social and cultural factors, assess Saudi Vision 2030 and leadership development programs, and examine the influence of family, social networks, and cultural norms on women\u27s career aspirations

    Strawberry Production Guide For the Northeast, Midwest, and Eastern Canada 2nd Edition

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    This guide is intended as a comprehensive resource for both novice and experienced strawberry growers in northeastern North America. It provides information on all aspects of strawberry culture. The second edition has been updated and revised throughout, and includes expanded and new information on variety selection (Ch. 3), production systems (Ch. 4), harvesting, handling and transportation (Ch. 12), marketing (Ch. 13) and budgeting/economics (Ch. 14). In addition, a new section on diagnosing problems in strawberry plantings has been added (Ch. 15)

    Ageing with Smartphones in Urban China: From the cultural to the digital revolution in Shanghai

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    If we want to understand contemporary China, the key is through understanding the older generation. This is the generation in China whose life courses almost perfectly synchronised with the emergence and growth of the ‘New China’ under the rule of the Communist Party (1949). People in their 70s and 80s have double the life expectancy of their parents’ generation. The current oldest generation in Shanghai was born in a time when the average household could not afford electric lights, but today they can turn their lights off via their smartphone apps. Based on 16-month ethnographic fieldwork in Shanghai, Ageing with Smartphones in Urban China tackles the intersection between the ‘two revolutions’ experienced by the older generation in Shanghai: the contemporary smartphone-based digital revolution and the earlier communist revolutions. We find that we can only explain the smartphone revolution if we first appreciate the long-term consequences of these people’s experiences during the communist revolutions. The context of this book is a wide range of dramatic social transformations in China, from the Cultural Revolution to the individualism and Confucianism in Digital China. Supported by detailed ethnographic material, the observations and analyses provide a panoramic view of the social landscape of contemporary China, including topics such as the digital and everyday life, ageing and healthcare, intergenerational relations and family development, community building and grassroots organizations, collective memories and political attitudes among ordinary Chinese people

    Interdisciplinarity in the Age of the Triple Helix: a Film Practitioner's Perspective

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    This integrative chapter contextualises my research including articles I have published as well as one of the creative artefacts developed from it, the feature film The Knife That Killed Me. I review my work considering the ways in which technology, industry methods and academic practice have evolved as well as how attitudes to interdisciplinarity have changed, linking these to Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff’s ‘Triple Helix’ model (1995). I explore my own experiences and observations of opportunities and challenges that have been posed by the intersection of different stakeholder needs and expectations, both from industry and academic perspectives, and argue that my work provides novel examples of the applicability of the ‘Triple Helix’ to the creative industries. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the evolution and direction of my work, the relevance of the ‘Triple Helix’ to creative practice, and ways in which this relationship could be investigated further

    Migrating Integration from SOAP to REST : Can the Advantages of Migration Justify the Project?

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    This thesis investigates the functional and conceptual differences between SOAP-based and RESTful web services and their implications in the context of a real-world migration project. The primary research questions addressed are: • What are the key functional and conceptual differences between SOAP-based and RESTful web services? • How can SOAP-based and RESTful service clients be implemented into a general client? • Can developing a client to work with REST and SOAP be justified based on differences in performance and maintainability? The thesis begins with a literature review of the core principles and features of SOAP and REST, highlighting their strengths, weaknesses, and suitability for different use cases. A detailed comparison table is provided to summarize the key differences between the two web services. The thesis presents a case study of a migration project from Lemonsoft's web team, which involved adapting an existing integration to support SOAP-based and RESTful services. The project utilized design patterns and a general client implementation to achieve a unified solution compatible with both protocols. In terms of performance, the evaluation showed that the general client led to faster execution times and reduced memory usage, enhancing the overall system efficiency. Additionally, improvements in maintainability were achieved by simplifying the codebase, using design patterns and object factories, adopting an interface-driven design, and promoting collaborative code reviews. These enhancements have not only resulted in a better user experience but also minimized future resource demands and maintenance costs. In conclusion, this thesis provides valuable insights into the functional and conceptual differences between SOAP-based and RESTful web services, the challenges and best practices for implementing a general client, and the justification for resource usage in such a solution based on performance and maintainability improvements

    The African Marine Litter Outlook

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    This open access book provides a cross-sectoral, multi-scale assessment of marine litter in Africa with a focus on plastics. From distribution, to impacts on environmental and human health, this book looks at what is known scientifically. It includes a policy analysis of the instruments that currently exist, and what is needed to help Africa tackle marine litter—including local and transboundary sources. Across 5 chapters, experts from Africa and beyond have put together a summary of the scientific knowledge currently known about marine litter in Africa. The context of the African continent and future projections form a backdrop on which the scientific knowledge is built. This scientific knowledge incorporates quantities, distributions, and pathways of litter into the marine environment, highlighting where the impacts of marine litter are most felt in Africa. These impacts have widespread effects, with ecological, social, economic, and human health repercussions. While containing detailed scientific information, this book provides a sound knowledge base for policymakers, NGOs and the broader public
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