DIY queer feminist (sub)cultural resistance in the UK

This thesis examines the role of music, power and DIY (sub)culture involved in resistance to hegemonic discourses of gender, sexuality and feminism (re)circulated within dominant society and culture. In particular, attention is focused upon young peoples' experiences within riot gml and contemporary queer feminist music (sub )cultures situated within the fabric of social change and protest cultures of contemporary Britain. A critical interdisciplinary approach and set of qualitative methodologies were employed to understand music as collective social action that incorporated (i) oral histories of British riot gml, (ii) an auto/ethnography of DIY queer feminist (sub)culturallife, and (iii) case studies of queer and feminist amateur music-makers. I argue that music provides participants with a set of vital spatial, emotional and sonic resources to provoke radical political imaginaries, identities, communities and life-courses into being. In the context of a neo-liberal post-feminist consumer society, the creation of DIY queer feminist music (sub )culture attempts to resist the disarticulation of feminism and the dominant regulation of gender and sexual diversities. These social practices offer critical insights into the continuities of the (sub)cultural resistance of girls, young women and queers throughout modem history and demands the recognition of (sub)cultural resistance as crucial to British feminism within the wider transformations of protest and activism in contemporary society.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceESRCGBUnited Kingdo

Male smokers' experiences of an appearance-focused facial-ageing intervention.

This study investigated 30 male smokers' experiences of an appearance-focused, facial-ageing intervention. Individual interviews (n = 21) and three focus groups (n = 9) were conducted. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Male smokers explained that viewing the impacts of smoking on their own faces was the most effective part of the intervention and 22 men (73%) said that they intended quitting smoking or reducing number of cigarettes smoked post-intervention. It is recommended that designers of appearance-focused interventions target men in the future as the current findings demonstrated that the majority of men engaged well with the intervention

Marginalisation of men in family planning texts: An analysis of training manuals

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Objective: Men’s engagement in family planning has become part of the global health agenda; however, little is known about the training manuals health practitioners’ use and how these manuals describe and explain men’s roles within a family planning context. Design:To further understand engagement, this paper examines how training manuals written for health practitioners describe and define men’s participation within family planning. Setting:The training manuals were written for UK health practitioners and covered men’s contributions to family planning. Method:Discourse analysis was used to examine the three training manuals focused upon. Results:Three main discourses were identified: ‘contraception is a woman’s responsibility’, ‘men disengage with health practitioners’ and ‘men are biologically predisposed to avoid sexual responsibility’. Conclusion:Together, these three discourses function to marginalise men in family planning, constructing them as detached accessories that lack the ability to engage

Men’s reflections on their body image at different life stages: a thematic analysis of interview accounts from middle-aged men

This study investigates how men’s body image develops over time. 14 men aged between 45 and 67 years completed in-depth interviews where they discussed their body image since childhood, prompted in some cases by photographs of themselves at different ages that they brought to the interviews. Transcripts were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. From the participants’ accounts it was evident that body concerns did not steadily improve or worsen, but waxed and waned over time. Results are discussed in relation to understanding changing body concerns in men’s lives, and the implications of these for future research and practice

Searching for help online: An analysis of peer-to-peer posts on a male-only infertility forum.

Men’s experiences of infertility help seeking are under-researched and thus less widely understood than women’s experiences, with men’s needs for support often missing from reproductive research knowledge. This article presents a thematic analysis of peer-to-peer posts within the context of a UK men-only online infertility forum. The key themes demonstrate that men value male support from those with experience, and that masculinity influences help-seeking requests and men’s accounts more broadly. We highlight the value of such online communities in offering support to men in need while recognising the importance of further research across other online settings in order to inform practice around supporting men in the reproductive realm

The invisible paradox of inflammatory bowel disease: An analysis of men's blogs.

Inflammatory bowel disease is associated with stigmatising symptoms. Online support platforms eschew stigma, thus may appeal more to men who avoid traditional forms of health support. Using a critical realist netnographic approach and inductive thematic analysis, this study examined six blogs written by UK-based men to explore how inflammatory bowel disease was narrated. Three subthemes and one overarching theme - The (in)visible paradox of IBD - were developed. Findings suggest private aspects of inflammatory bowel disease risk experiential erasure, whereas public aspects lack control. Blogging facilitates the regaining of control, leading to important support connections and a re-imagining of the male inflammatory bowel disease body

Challenges to the use of BECCS as a keystone technology in pursuit of 1.5⁰C

Biomass energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is represented in many integrated assessment models as a keystone technology in delivering the Paris Agreement on climate change. This paper explores six key challenges in relation to large scale BECCS deployment and considers ways to address these challenges. Research needs to consider how BECCS fits in the context of other mitigation approaches, how it can be accommodated within existing policy drivers and goals, identify where it fits within the wider socioeconomic landscape, and ensure that genuine net negative emissions can be delivered on a global scale

Integration of a clinical pharmacist workforce into newly forming primary care networks: a qualitatively driven, complex systems analysis

Objective: The introduction of a new clinical pharmacist workforce via Primary Care Networks (PCNs) is a recent national policy development in the National Health Service in England. This study elicits the perspectives of people with responsibility for local implementation of this national policy package. Attention to local delivery is necessary to understand the contextual factors shaping the integration of the new clinical pharmacy workforce, and thus can be expected to influence future role development. Design: A qualitative, interview study. Setting and participants: PCN Clinical Directors and senior pharmacists across 17 PCNs in England (n=28). Analysis: Interviews were transcribed, coded and organised using the framework method. Thematic analysis and complex systems modelling were then undertaken iteratively to develop the themes. Results: Findings were organised into two overarching themes: (1) local organisational innovations of a national policy under conditions of uncertainty; and (2) local multiprofessional decision-making on clinical pharmacy workforce integration and initial task assignment. Although a phased implementation of the PCN package was planned, the findings suggest that processes of PCN formation and clinical pharmacist workforce integration were closely intertwined, with underpinning decisions taking place under conditions of considerable uncertainty and workforce pressures. Conclusions: National policy decisions that required General Practitioners to form PCNs at the same time as they integrated a new workforce risked undermining the potential of both PCNs and the new workforce. PCNs require time and support to fully form and integrate clinical pharmacists if successful role development is to occur. Efforts to incentivise delivery of PCN pharmacy services in future must be responsive to local capacity