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1
Salaam, Yasmine Saad. "American educated Saudi technocrats : agents of social change? /." Thesis, Connect to Dissertations & Theses @ Tufts University, 2000.
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Thesis (Ph.D) -- Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 2000.Advisers: Andrew Hess; Sugata Bose; Jeswald W. Salacuse. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;
2
Landman, Todd. "Agents of change : the comparative impact of social movements." Thesis, University of Essex, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.310084.
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Bender-Slack, Delane Ann. "Teaching texts for social justice : English teachers as agents of change /." Cincinnati, Ohio : University of Cincinnati, 2007. http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?acc%5Fnum=ucin1183419335.
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Thesis (Dr. of Education)--University of Cincinnati, 2007.Advisor: Holly Johnson Title from electronic thesis title page (viewed Dec.10, 2007). Includes abstract. Keywords: Teaching for Social Justice; Literature; Adolescent Literacy; Texts; Teacher Beliefs Includes bibliographical references.
4
BENDER-SLACK, DELANE ANN. "TEACHING TEXTS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE: ENGLISH TEACHERS AS AGENTS OF CHANGE." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1183419335.
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Basile, Monica Reese. "Reproductive justice and childbirth reform: doulas as agents of social change." Diss., University of Iowa, 2012. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/2819.
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This dissertation is an investigation of doulas as agents of social change through the lens of feminist theory. Doulas are nonmedical health care workers who provide physical, emotional, and informational support during pregnancy, childbirth, and/or the postpartum period. Because of doulas' willingness to work within the structures of the hospital setting, some have questioned the effectiveness of doulas as change-makers. While much feminist scholarship on the politics of birth centralizes the issue of medicalization, I demonstrate that expanding this line of analysis aids in better understanding the cultural impact of doula care as part of a larger picture of reproductive health advocacy.
Through discourse analysis, participant observation, face-to-face ethnographic interviews, and online surveys, I track the goals and effects doulas ascribe to their work, both activist and professional, and on both an individual and group level. Rather than asking whether doulas can successfully challenge the medicalization of birth, I seek to understand how the doula movement contributes to social justice through challenging various overlapping axes of inequality, related to race, class, gender, and sexuality. This analysis highlights the work of doulas in marginalized communities that is, as yet, under-researched and under-appreciated, while also illuminating the multifaceted effects of the dominant medical model of birth. I observe that doulas are increasingly working to empower people in multiple facets of their lives, beyond the birthing room. Rather than being incapable of, or uninterested in, creating social change, doulas are increasingly bringing a new political consciousness into birth work, as evidenced by the emerging designations of "radical doula" and "full spectrum doula." I argue that this movement among doulas represents a new paradigm in birthing rights activism, which connects childbirth choices to a larger reproductive justice agenda and forges connections between birthworkers and activists for causes such as LGBT rights, abortion rights, prisoners' rights, and economic and racial justice. By reimagining the reach of their work, many doulas are drawing necessary connections to social justice issues that are often overlooked in the childbirth reform movement, which tends to focus on medicalization as the primary issue.
6
Westerberg, Lotta. "Social Media and Change Agents in Iran : Perspectives from Tehran and Baluchistan." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Historiska institutionen, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-225865.
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MacKay, Laura, Ann Scheerer, and Tomomi Takada. "Entrepreneurs as Change Agents to Move Communities towards Sustainability." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Avdelningen för maskinteknik, 2005. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-2676.
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This thesis argues that since the current global economic system contributes to the degradation of local economies and communities, alternative economic models based on multiple self-reliant economies led by community-based entrepreneurs could create a basis for a more sustainable global society. The research questions work to clarify how this vision of an alternate economic structure could become reality, and identify a gap in the skills base of current progressive entrepreneurs. Employing the method of backcasting and using an iterative research dynamic between the current reality of progressive entrepreneurs, as understood through case study interviews in four countries, and a vision of entrepreneurs as community-based change leaders, a new concept of entrepreneurship emerges in community sustainability entrepreneurship. The results point to four interactive skills for entrepreneurs, specifically that entrepreneurs a) hold and realize a vision of sustainable enterprise within sustainable community, b) support community needs through an ability to capitalize on community assets, c) develop competency in sustainable development and d) participate effectively in networks. Conclusions detail specific steps that can be taken by entrepreneurs, community development professionals and academics to realize the vision of entrepreneurs as community-based change leaders.
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Lahana, Lewis Isaac. "The tech cafe, a social action makerspace| Middle school students as change agents." Thesis, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10117068.
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Makerspaces are fertile grounds for students to develop innovative products infused with STEAM principles and cross disciplinary content knowledge; build technological fluency; and support positive developmental growth. Yet, rarely do Makerspaces prioritize these outcomes. Rather, they tend to revolve around the creation of novel objects using cutting-edge technology; craftwork unhinged from their historical, social, political, or academically-relevant underpinnings; and/or the hacking of so-called “black boxes”.
What happens when an educator designs and implements a research-based and content-driven in-school Makerspace? Drawing on field observations, interviews, artifact analysis, and the Developmental Assets Profile (DAP) survey, this mixed methods study explored the experiences of students from two urban middle school classes (n=51) who participated in a social action themed Makerspace called the “Tech Café.” Working from a transformative research perspective, the Tech Café also sought to address the “participation divide”— a term suggesting that higher socioeconomic status students have more opportunity to produce media creatively than students of low socioeconomic status.
Qualitative results indicated that students reported increased agency in their ability to effect positive change in their world. They engaged in powerful collaborations with diverse members of the school’s learning community as they worked toward solutions using low- and high-technology tools. Their products included a cigarette smoke detecting shirt, an edible insect bug stand, and a stationary making kit utilizing recycled paper. Student profiles incorporated their chosen social issue; steps and challenges in product creation; and outcomes pertaining to technological fluency and sense of agency to affect change. Findings showed that students may have benefited from scaffolding to deepen their understanding of important social issues through research.
Quantitative results of the DAP were statistically analyzed according to measures of Positive Identity, Positive Values, Commitment to Learning, Empowerment, and Social Competencies and indicated that no statistically significant differences existed in the pretest-posttest survey scores of participants (n=30). However, a descriptive analysis of score improvement showed that students who successfully created products in the Tech Café moved to higher DAP score ranges more often than those who did not create products. The study concludes with recommendations pertaining to the implementation of Makerspaces in schools.
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Rault, Pamela Vrana. "College Leadership Programs and Citizenship Development: Preparing Students to be Agents of Social Change." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2008. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/694.
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The purpose of this study was to explore how and to what degree student involvement in a leadership program prepares them for responsible citizenship. Specifically, this multi-case investigation explored the differences between how curricular and co-curricular leadership development programs approach citizenship development. Students' perspectives and experiences were collected through interviews. Document review and interviews with program administrators were also conducted during the data collection process. A case report for each leadership development program was compiled in order to manage all raw data collected. Interviews were audio taped and transcribed for analysis. Data analysis included cross-case analysis, partially ordered meta-matrices, and the use of taxonomies. The results of the study may provide student affairs administrators with empirical based knowledge regarding student values that will offer guidance and recommendations in altering program structure in order to prepare students be active citizens in their community.
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Diebäcker, Tarek, and Meike Sigrid Wernecke. "Moments of Transition. Transitional Spaces as Agents for Social Change in Favour of Youths." Thesis, KTH, Stadsbyggnad, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-297397.
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This design thesis is situated in Stockholm’s northernmost suburbs of the Järva area. The area was mainly developed during the era of the Million Homes Programme (1965-1974) and is today commonly considered as one of the city’s socially most challenged areas. The idea of Moments of Transitions addresses possible transitions in three aspects: generational, social and spatial. The key protagonists of this project are local youths who – by growing up and into their urban environments – have a strong stake in the future of the Järva area. As of today, they are a social group with limited influence on decision-making processes and whose needs are rarely taken into account in urban development projects. Challenging the status quo, this thesis aims to present potentials for social change in the favour of youths. This project first presents an analysis of the historic development of Järva, ongoing planning projects and local contexts. Subsequently, a framework for Moments of Transition is established and developed in three instances. Each of those centers around one decisive theme for local youths: re_mediation, motion and imaginations. Together, they shall help in building a suburb where youths want to continue to live in.
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Long, Amanda Marlene. "Agents of Change? Analyzing the Effect of Media Bias and Attitudinal Change in the Political Opinions of High School Students." NCSU, 2009. http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-03252009-225238/.
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This research is an action-research study that will analyze the effect of media on high school students' political perceptions. There are many things that influence students' political perceptions and these influences could potentially shape students' political and personal opinions. The process for how these influences actually play out is not well known. What we do know is that mass media resources can have an effect on the attitudes of students, and the degree to which this occurs can be either positive or negative. This action research study was conducted using two student groups of similar demographics and exposing them to different media materials in order to identify changes in political attitudes. This research attempts to answer the question: How does political media affect student opinions about politics and civic participation?
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Roediger, Micah. "Evaluating the Impact of Training on the Effectiveness of Peer Change Agents: A Campus-wide Intervention." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/76820.
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The current study investigated the impact of a training program on a peer-to-peer intervention designed to increase the use of bicycle helmets on a large college campus. The training program was evaluated by the number of interactions a peer change agent--an individual who attempts to make a positive change in another person's behavior, had with bicyclists. The results suggest the training program may be effective in increasing change agent interactions for change agents who are already commitment to the intervention leading to more interactions per capita between committed trained change agents and bicyclists than untrained change agent and bicyclists. However, these results must be interpreted with caution due to small and unequal sample sizes.Master of Science
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Baba, Habibe Burcu. "Teacher Candidates As The Agents Of Change For A More Gender Equal Society." Master's thesis, METU, 2007. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12608851/index.pdf.
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For the purpose of achieving gender equality in education, this study analyses the transformative power of the elementary school teacher candidates on society. The theories in the field of sociology of education have been used as a starting point for the study. Based on the feminist pedagogies of different strands of feminism, feminist critical pedagogy has been presented to achieve gender equality in education. The transformation of curriculum and the hidden curriculum are elaborated to achieve a non-sexist education. After the depiction of the situation Turkey holds in the field of women&rsquos education, the research conducted in three universities using feminist methodology and interview method is presented. With a view on their gender socialization, gender perceptions of the teacher candidates are analyzed. The ways their lives both inside and outside the household are affected by patriarchal hegemony are depicted and their ideas on education and the reproduction of gender through education are analyzed. The new generation of teachers holds low transformative power to transform the inequalities in society. However, the females in the group are leading their own individual struggles that lead to changes in their close circles. The simplified notion of patriarchy they have makes them blind to the reproduction of it by women and supports the bias against feminists. The fact that they are open to change and yet detached from civil society is reason to conclude that in the short run the most influential results can be obtained through the institutional changes at teacher training programs and schools.
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Lemmen, Myrna. "An exploratory study of the experiences of young people in becoming agents of social change in Cape Town." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9998.
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Includes abstract.This is an exploratory study of the experiences of young people in becoming agents of social change in Cape Town. The study was carried out on a sample of seventeen young agents of social change from seven developing communities in Cape Town. It adopted a qualitative and exploratory research approach, using a semi-structured interview schedule for the face to face interviews with the young changemakers. The sample was purposively selected: the researcher targeted a specific group (young agents of social change) in a specific area (Cape Town region). The findings revealed mainly that being a young agent of social change stimulates personal growth, youth development, and improves future prospects for young people from developing communities. The young agents of social change in this study are mainly active within civil society and, like most South African youth, do not engage much with party politics. It suggests that young people are poorly represented politically which weakens South Africa's young democracy, can lead to social and political instability, and makes nation building more challenging. Civil society plays a key role in stimulating youth to become agents of social change. However, generally civil society does not stimulate youth directly to develop agency in social change, and does not provide youth with opportunities for leadership and ownership over projects.
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Reiger, Christopher J. "From Program Recipients to Social-Change Agents: Identifying Influential Elementary School Students for Participation in School-Improvement Efforts." Miami University / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1313068766.
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Murray-Webster, Ruth. "What does it take for organizations to change themselves? : the influences on the internal dynamics of organizational routines undergoing planned change." Thesis, Cranfield University, 2014. http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/8431.
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Accomplishing desired benefits from investments in planned change is
problematical for organizations, their leaders and the change agents charged
with delivery. This is despite a well-developed literature, replete with advice on
how change should be achieved. Examination of this literature shows the
primary focus on change agents and their practices.
This research widens the focus by observing the influence of change agents,
change recipients and line managers on organizational routines undergoing
planned change. It examines the interplay between stability and change in
organizational routines, adopting a social practice perspective, and the routine
intended to change as the unit of analysis (Feldman and Pentland, 2003, 2005).
The research builds on claims that to understand the patterns of action within
routines requires the internal dynamics – the claimed duality between ostensive
(in principle) and performative (in practice) aspects - to be examined.
A research method to operationalize the study of this claimed duality was
devised following the principles of Strong Structuration (Stones, 2005). This
method enabled a unique conceptualization of the study of routine dynamics,
focused on planned change from the perspective of multiple, interdependent
actors. Two cases of change agents following the advice in the planned change
literature were explored. In one case, stability of the routine persisted when
change was intended. In the other, change was relatively easy to achieve
irrespective of change agent actions.
The primary contribution is the demonstration of how the attitudes to change of
change recipients, line managers and change agents influence the internal
dynamics of routines undergoing planned change. Other contributions pertain to
the method of ‘unpacking’ organizational routines and its potential for shaping
future practice. This research does not offer new ‘normative’ advice but instead
sensitizes planned change practitioners to the level of analysis they need to
carry out to ensure that their interventions are suitably designed.
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Wiegand, Douglas Michael. "Exploring Personality Traits and Susceptibility to Social Influence in Student Change-Agents: Implications for Participation in a Campus-Wide Safety Initiative." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/29746.
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This study explored the impact of commitment tactics and individual differences in personality on change-agent participation in a peer-to-peer intervention. The intervention involved approaching bicyclists on campus, discussing the importance of helmet use, and rewarding them with a coupon for a discounted helmet if they signed a promise to wear one.
Change-agent volunteers (n = 82) were trained in one of three commitment conditions to explore their relative impact on approaching a set number of bicyclists. Specifically, change-agents were asked to commit to a personal goal of number of targets they would approach in private, in public to a small group of people, or in public to a large group of people. In addition, change-agents completed measures of the "Big Five" personality traits and susceptibility to social influence tactics to explore their potential influence on intervention performance variables.
No statistically significant differences were found in goal attainment between the commitment conditions. However, 10% more of the change-agents making a public, group commitment met their goal when compared to those who made an individual, private commitment. No significant relation was found between the Big Five personality traits and the number of bicyclist targets approached. However, the Big Five predicted 19% of the variance in the rate of obtaining signed promise cards from bicyclists.
Of the susceptibility to social influence variables, only the Ingratiation score was shown to be useful for predicting change-agent effort, accounting for 18% of the variance in the number of targets approached.
The peer-to-peer intervention was not successful in increasing bicycle helmet use on campus. Limitations of the intervention in comparison to a successful helmet program are discussed.Ph. D.
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Hemström, Cajsa. "Feminist movements as agents of political change : An analysis of feminist social movements’ impact onlabour rights legislation in Morocco." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Statsvetenskapliga institutionen, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-391504.
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Inspired by the contestatory debate over whether globalisation has brought more benefits or disadvantages, and feminist movements all over the world gaining more agency and leverage every day, this paper is an attempt to connect said components. Morocco is a case where both are highly present. Elements such as the country’s location with neighbouring countries on two continents, a history of a fight for independence, an economy that has undergone major reorganisation, and exceptional feminist movements, will prove paramount for the paper. The purpose is to study whether the feminist movements in Morocco have had a positive impact on the situation of female labourers, a group that has grown rapidly due to a combination of aforementioned elements. Theories of New Institutional Economics, the disproportionate effects of structural adjustment on women, and the importance of social movements to achieve change will be applied in an attempt to find connections. A frame analysis will be carried out and compared to legislative changes affecting female workers, to test whether these theories can be confirmed or dismissed. The results indicate that there is reason to believe that feminist movements have had an influence on labour rights legislation, and also that Morocco is more complex in this aspect than it might initially have seemed.
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Hendrix, Samuel B. "Daniel Boone Wilderness Therapeutic Camping Program : a restropective [sic] study of beliefs, attitudes, and values of selected innovators and change agents /." Full-text version available from OU Domain via ProQuest Digital Dissertations, 1997.
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Landry, Shawn. "Connecting Pixels to People: Management Agents and Social-ecological Determinants of Changes to Street Tree Distributions." Scholar Commons, 2013. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4715.
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Street trees are an important component of the urban forest that can provide direct and indirect benefits to social and ecological sustainability in cities. Temporal and spatial interactions between human and non-human management agents determine the distribution and health of street tree populations in urban areas. This dissertation seeks to enhance our understanding of the spatial patterns and processes affecting street trees by investigating the agents and social-ecological determinants of changes to street tree distributions in urban residential neighborhoods. The research was guided by three primary questions: (1) Are recent changes to the spatial distribution of street trees influenced by socio-demographic household and neighborhood characteristics? (2) Which management agents are the strongest predictors of recent changes to street tree distributions and does the contribution of these agents vary in relationship to social-ecological patterns within a city? (3) To what extent are household street tree management decisions related to the built and bioecological material characteristics of the public right-of-way?
These questions were investigated in a case study that examined street tree management and public right-of-way (PROW) canopy change associated with single-family residential areas in and near the City of Tampa, Florida. The methodological approach employed a multi-method design using a conceptual framework developed to capture the complexity of management within human ecosystems. Urban remote sensing and spatial analytical techniques were used to examine the geographic association between patterns of street tree change and socio-demographic characteristics. Household survey techniques were utilized to examine the determinants of street tree management; specifically planting, removal, and trimming. Interviews with key informants familiar with urban forest management provided additional insights to complement the location specific knowledge of household survey respondents.
Street tree change was examined for the period of 2003 to 2006, and information about household management actions also included recent years (i.e., 2009-2011). A citywide pattern of street tree increases was disproportionately distributed with respect to socioeconomic status; with greater increases in affluent neighborhoods. Patterns of change within local portions of the study area revealed significant and spatially variable relationships with socioeconomic status, as well as race/ethnicity variables and indicators of lifestyle differences. The findings suggest that the citywide pattern of change associated with socioeconomic status may perpetuate an inequitable outcome in the distribution of street trees at the expense of less affluent neighborhoods. The local patterns of change indicate that the processes driving street tree distributions may also reflect differences in attitudes toward trees.
The case study did not find sufficient evidence to link the actions of individual agents with street tree change. Street tree increases were more likely in areas where tree trimming had been reported and where property market values were greater, but less likely in PROW segments with overhead power lines. Households, public agencies and builders, but not neighborhoods, were the primary human street tree management agents. Past and ongoing land development and redevelopment decisions, including the configuration of PROW infrastructures, may be one of the most important factors affecting patterns of street tree change. Landscape decisions and practices influenced by household and neighborhood group dynamics also appear to be important factors affecting street tree change. Damages caused by storm event and differences in tree species lifecycle characteristics represent important non-human agents of street tree change.
The findings indicated that public agencies are not the only managers of street trees and household tree management does not stop at the boundary of private property. There was no evidence of a relationship between household management actions and the material conditions of the PROW. However, there was a relationship between the presence of either power lines or sidewalks and household survey responses about who should bear responsibility for street tree management and the liability. Household respondents expressed an increased sense of personal responsibility for street tree management when a sidewalk was in front of their home.
This dissertation addressed an important gap in understanding about the factors driving street tree change. Planting, removal, and trimming of street trees in Tampa is a shared responsibility with complex spatial patterns and multi-scalar drivers. An important conclusion is that the sustainability of street tree populations within the urban forest will require urban planners and managers to better understand how these management agents cooperate if they are to promote healthy, safe and beneficial street tree populations as a part of the urban forest.
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Kishani, Farahani Najme. "Teachers as change agents in the national curriculum reform in Iran: a social marketing approach to upscale an educational reform." Thesis, McGill University, 2012. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=110744.
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This qualitative study in part explores the beliefs, attitudes and intentions of Iranian elementary school teachers about engaging in a curriculum reform endeavour, the Systems Thinking Education (STE) curriculum, and investigates the main motivational factors for the teachers' involvement in the program. Within a social marketing framework, this study also defines and develops the strategies and policies of an Iranian education Non Governmental Organization (NGO) that is steering the STE project. Systems Thinking (ST) is a set of required skills for understanding the systematic structure of a phenomenon and the resulting behaviour of that structure, and improves problem-solving and decision-making abilities. The ST framework is a relatively new concept in the Iranian education system and could be an appropriate alternative for the current memorization based system in formal education. The findings of this study expand the application of a social marketing framework to the field of education for the first time. In this work, social marketing provides a systematic approach to clearly set the goals; define the target group; explore the main barriers and motivational factors for the target group to achieve the goals; and develop strategies, techniques, and tools to remove the barriers and reinforce the motivational factors in order to bring about the desired behavioural change in teachers to successfully implement the reform. In brief, by primary means of individual interviews and focus group conversations, the author examines how Iranian elementary teachers, as the main change agents of curriculum reform, can be motivated to engage in the STE curriculum.Cette étude qualitative explore en partie les croyances, les comportements et les intentions des maîtres iraniens du primaire à s'engager dans une reforme du curriculum, l'approche systémique, ainsi que les principaux facteurs pouvant motiver les professeurs. Dans un cadre de marketing social, cette étude définit et développe également des stratégies pour la société non gouvernementale iranienne qui s'occupe de ce projet. L'approche systémique consiste en l'acquisition d'une série de compétences nécessaires à la compréhension de la structure systématique d'un phénomène et le comportement résultant de cette structure. De plus, cette approche sert aussi à améliorer l'aptitude des élèves en résolution de problèmes et en prise de décisions. La base théorique de l'approche systémique est relativement chose nouvelle dans le système d'éducation iranien et pourrait représenter une alternative appropriée au système courant axé sur la mémorisation. Les trouvailles de cette étude étendent pour la première fois l'application du marketing social dans un contexte éducationnel.Dans ce domaine, le marketing social fournit une approche systématique dans le but de définir des objectifs clairs et une population cible, explorer les barrières principales a la réalisation des objectifs, ainsi que proposer des techniques et des outils pour éliminer ces barrières et renforcer les facteurs motivants afin d'arriver aux changements de comportements désirés. En bref, au moyen d'interview privés et de groupes de discussions, l'auteur examine comment les maîtres iraniens, comme agents principaux de ce changement de curriculum, peuvent être motivés pour s'engager dans le/la STE.
22
Faccer, Kristie. "Shifting the frame: how internal change agents contextualize and co-construct strategic responses to grand challenge issues within and beyond the firm." Doctoral thesis, Faculty of Commerce, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32613.
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In this study, I aim to understand business responses to social-ecological grand challenges. Prior research has suggested that problem identification and attribution help to foster meaning and action on societal issues. In particular, framing theory has offered significant insight into individual actors' cognitive processes, their skillful articulation of socially resonant interpretive frames, and the role of particular actor categories and repertoires in framing success. At meso and macro levels, researchers have tended to focus on social movements and the outcomes of highly charged political contests between these groups and state actors. As such, we know far less about the co-creative mechanisms and contextual ‘raw materials' that underpin meaning making activities and interaction between groups, especially in instances where the focus is on firms and the significance being attached to ambiguous societal issues for which they are not directly responsible. A key outstanding question is therefore: how do firm-internal agents interpret, signify and mobilize organizational responses to grand challenges? In an effort to address these lacunae, this study explores the proactive efforts of three firms to interpret the complexity of social-ecological grand challenges that they share with the rest of society and to address these issues through meaningful and mitigating action. My inductively derived theoretical model of ‘interactional framing for issue advancement' shows how the active engagement of external influences by internal change or ‘signifying agents' facilitates action on grand challenges within and beyond the firm. While framing activities charge grand challenge issues with meaning and help to organize actors' understanding of, experience, and action around these issues, material affordances and interaction with external actors provide the enabling environment for resonant interpretations to take hold and to facilitate enactment. Grounded in my cases, the model also depicts the progressive sequencing of signifying agent efforts across three broad stages: Introduction and Disruption, Experimentation, and Enactment. My analysis contributes to the management literature by suggesting that the signification work of firm-internal agents is a process of mediation, shaped by the distinct and emergent character of grand challenges and the interplay of social and material mechanisms. Because such issues require a greater emphasis on problem-solving and novel sources of information, my account contrasts with conventional representations of meaning-making as a relatively straightforward line of action from individual logics ‘pulled down' from institutional systems and packaged attractively to appeal to ‘outsiders' less involved in the processes of signification. It also provides an alternative to the popular view of meaning construction as a ‘contest' or essentially dispute-oriented process. Instead, I argue that grand challenge issue advancement demands a more intricate, interactional and contextual process of meaning-making by interested actors and issue proponents internal and external to the firm. The model of signification work I offer in this study thus more fully captures the perspective that actors do not simply assess and attach importance to complex issues, but construct the very nature of the issue itself, and that this construction is a precursor to collaborative action on grand challenges.
23
Ferhanoğlu, Berivan Mine, Claude Tremblay, Marine Deplante, and Paweł Porowski. "A Relational View into Sustainability : Change-Agent Experiences in Large Companies." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Institutionen för strategisk hållbar utveckling, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-2551.
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Navigating complexity for change toward sustainability in large companies is best done using a systems perspective, a principled vision of success and a step-wise planning process, as espoused for instance by the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development. Many large companies have a significant contribution to un-sustainability and stand to benefit from such a transition. However, the human factor of the undertaking is as of yet underdeveloped in extant literature. Seeking insights into experiences of sustainability change-agents in large companies, the authors conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with sustainability change- agents in large companies. Using a relational view as an analytical lens, they examined the dynamics of social interactions involving these change-agents and thereby gained a greater understanding of the place held by these individuals in the broader company system. The 11 relational categories that emerged permitted to draw links between structural, behavioural and personal facets of advancing sustainability in large companies and highlighted the human aspect of strategic planning as well as the strategic nature of building relationships, teams and coalitions. Overall, the authors believe that consideration by the change-agents of relational aspects may help foster commitment and collaboration in the transition toward sustainability
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Lindström, Leister Linn. "The voice of the young in a climate emergency - Changing the narrative from children as helpless victims to active agents of change." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-23148.
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This thesis aims to examine the role of children as agents of change in an urgent climate context. This thesis uses a normative method with an argumentative structure. The material is mainly based on secondary sources, with predominantly emphasis on the interests, concerns and rights of the child, their agency and intergenerational justice. This thesis argues for a shift in the perception of the child from helpless victims of climate change to active agents. With the use of intergenerational justice theory and children’s agency into the discourse of childhood studies and environmental studies, this thesis suggests that a updated perception on the role of children in the climate change context is needed to account for children’s right to participation and for the survival of the environment and the future of mankind. The thesis concludes that this issue is a matter of rights, future life, and justice.
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Glad, Felicia, and Paulsson Karl Steinbach. "Vad är CSR för oss? : En studie om utmaningar vid CSR-implementering i en människorättsorganisation." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Avdelningen för ekonomi, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-23641.
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Syfte: Syftet med arbetet är att söka förståelse för de utmaningar organisationer står inför vid CSR-implementering, och hur de utmaningarna kan mötas med förändringsagenter. Metod: Uppsatsen baseras kring en kvalitativ metod där tematisk analys appliceras. Via relevant teoretiskt material identifieras de tre övergripande temana Tolkning, Förändringsagent och Implementering, vilka agerar strukturell grund vid redovisning samt analys av insamlad empirisk data. Empirisk data har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer utförda på en svensk människorättsorganisation. Resultat & slutsats: Uppsatsens resultat indikerar att skapandet av organisationsbreda förståelser av begreppet CSR underlättas då konceptet knyts till organisationens egen kontext. Uppsatsen visar hur den egna kontexten i form av faktorer som värdegrund, organisationsklimat och historik agerar vägledande drivkrafter då en specifik begreppstolkning ska formeras. Vidare belyses förändringsagentens roll i processen med speciell betoning kring informella förändringsagenters betydelse vid tolkning av CSR. Uppsatsen visar då hur engagerade personer inom organisationen med naturlig passion och kompetens effektivt kan förmedla en gemensam uppfattning om begreppets innebörd i den egna kontexten. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Uppsatsens begränsning utgörs av valet av studieobjekt. Den studerade människorättsorganisationen omges av faktorer som kan anses vara unika i ett bredare organisationsperspektiv, varför generalisering av forskningsresultaten kan anses problematisk. Därför bör framtida forskning riktas mot att vidare utforska uppsatsens framkomna insikter i ett sammanhang av privata företag. Uppsatsens bidrag: Uppsatsens bidrag består dels i en ökad förståelse kring betydelsen av informella förändringsagenter och hur organisationer som första steg i orienteringen mot CSR bör vända blicken mot den egna organisationen. Vidare framkommer att personer samt faktorer som redan existerar inom organisationen, exempelvis värdegrund, historik eller organisationsklimat, redan kan utgöra en solid grund mot förståelse av den egna kontexten vid tolkning av CSR.Aim: The purpose of this thesis is to gain insight into the challenges that faces organisations when implementing CSR, and how those challenges can be met with change agents. Method: This thesis is based around a qualitative method wherein a thematic analysis is applied. Through relevant theoretic ground the three overall themes of Interpretation, Change agents and Implementation is identified, further acting as a structural basis for the account as well as analysis of the empirical data. The empirical information has in turn been collected through semistructured interviews conducted at a Swedish human rights organisation. Result & Conclusions: The findings of this thesis indicate that the creation of an organisation-wide understanding of CSR is facilitated by attaching the concept to the individual context of the organisation. The context in the form of factors such as basic values, organisational climate and overall history is then acting as a guiding force towards forming a specific conceptual interpretation. The procedural role of the change agent is further highlighted, with an emphasis on the importance of raising awareness around informal change agents through the process of interpreting CSR. The findings then demonstrate how dedicated persons within the organisation through natural passion and competence, effectively can convey unified understandings of the concept within the own context. Suggestions for future research: The limitations of the thesis consist of the chosen study example. The human rights organisation studied is surrounded by factors that can be viewed as rather unique in a wider organisational perspective. Generalising the results can therefore prove to be problematic. Future research should in that sense be aimed towards exploring the insights of this thesis in the context of private corporations. Contribution of the thesis: The contribution of this thesis consist in part of the increased understanding around the importance of informal change agents and how organisations as a first step in the orientation to CSR should direct focus towards the own organisation. The thesis further suggests that several factors already existing within the organisation, such as basic values, history and organisational climate, can provide a solid framework upon building heightened understandings of the own context in terms of interpreting CSR.
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Olofsson, Linda. "Women’s role in Peace Processes : A comparative study of women’s participation in the peace processes in Africa and Western Asia." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för samhällsstudier (SS), 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-70392.
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With the implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325 the role women play for peace and security was affirmed. Since the implementation of the resolution, almost two decades ago, more than 400 peace agreements has been signed. Since then one can assume much has happened regarding women and their role in the peace process. It can thus be valuable to explore if the implementation of the resolution has created a larger acknowledgement of women in the peace agreements and to see if women are limited to and by the roles they are assigned to in the peace agreements in their peace work. The focus of this study is a comparative case study that examines five cases where women’s role in peacebuilding were mentioned more extensively. This will be done in two sections. First, the roles women are assigned in peace agreements and second, what the women actually work with. This will create a basis for the thesis to investigate the presumed supposition that women are victims of conflict rather than agents of change and also look into if women are engaged in work that follow societal roles or if they act outside of these gender norms. The findings of the study showed that women engage in all types of peacebuilding work and even though women suffer and are victims of war they are also agents of change and when they are limited by the gender roles that exist, they use what agency they have within the frame of their roles as women to implement change.
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Browning, Carolyn L. "The Educational Needs of Welfare Recipients and the Role of the Community College As an Agent of Social Change." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 1998. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2884.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate two underlying questions related to welfare reform and its impact on participants in the Cumberland Plateau Region: (1) What are the training and other noneducational needs of the participants in the VIEW program? and (2) What is the projected success of the impact of the training on the lives of the participants? The research study included 47 interviews with four distinct groups of individuals--VIEW participants, case managers, administrators, and trainers. Three focus group interviews were conducted with individuals who were participants in the VIEW program or professionals actively involved in the administration and implementation of the program. All the individuals interviewed in the study identified four difficulties to the successful implementation of the VIEW program: (1) the lack of economic development in the region, (2) the abbreviated time frame for the implementation of VIEW, (3) an excessive amount of paperwork, and (4) the lack of transportation. The participants cited the following difficulties: (1) child care, (2) inappropriate dress for interviews, (3) attitudes and busyness of case worker, (4) penalties associated with securing employment, and (5) limited opportunities for training. The training personnel identified three areas posing difficulties for participants: (1) motivation, (2) attitudes of the participants, and (3) leadership development. In summarizing the responses of all the individuals interviewed in this study, the two viable remedies emerged as options available to assist participants: (1) seeking additional help from family members or friends, and (2) taking the initiative to investigate other avenues of assistance outside the scope of the Departments of Social Services. The training component of the VIEW program was considered the most favorable among all the individuals interviewed in this study. The-proposed outcome of the training received for all participants in the VIEW program was the attainment of full-time or part-time employment. All the interviewees felt to varying degrees that the VIEW program would assist participants in securing employment. The administrators and case managers ultimately viewed the employment as the measure of success of the training. However, most of the participants were very unsure if they would secure employment in the Cumberland Plateau Region.
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Andersson, Jonas. "Pop-culture icons as agents of change? : The roles and fucntions of celebrity activists in peace- and development related global issues." Thesis, Växjö University, School of Social Sciences, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-1710.
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The purpose of this study is to examine the possible theoretic and (f)actual role(s) of pop-culture icons in peace and evelopment-related global issues, using the qualitative research methods of text- and discourse analysis. Do pop-culture icons have a role to play at all in this field? If so, what is that role? What are these celebrity activists currently saying and doing on the international development scene and what are their analyses like? What are their current and historical functions? There is support in the academic literature suggesting that celebrity activists can possess vast power resources (scope of influence), (soft) power and (charismatic) authority, which in turn enables them to influence the attitudes and values of (especially young, receptive) people. The findings also show that the most successful celebrity activists have a global reach, as well as access to the international arenas of political power (e. g. the G8 and the World Economic Forum). Celebrity activists seem to be able to "sell" messages in a way that the politicians and officials of today cannot. When they speak, people listen. They further employ a two-level outreach, as they connect with political and economical elite groups as well as with the masses of world citizens in a way that politicians and officials, whose influence is more often limited by traditional nation state boundaries, cannot. I argue that the celebrity activists should be seen as a complement to the civil society and the work of NGO's and INGO's, since it is by further enhancing their work and strengthening their agendas that most of them act.Celebrity activists offer an alternative to the political establishment, which is viewed by suspicion by large groups of citizens, and can play a role in empowerment, inspiration, education, information, awareness raising, fundraising, opinion building and lobbying and function as diplomats, spokespersons, ambassadors, entrepreneurs, convenors and heroic voices.
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Cann, Jenichka Sarah Elizabeth. "Sentimental Literature as Social Criticism:Susan Warner, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Emma D.E.N. Southworth as Active Agents, Negotiating Change in the United States in the Mid-Nineteenth Century." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Humanities, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/7951.
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Detractors of sentimental literature argue that such novels are unoriginal and concerned primarily with emotions. Feminist scholars redeem the reputation of sentimental literature to an extent. At present, a multitude of approaches present sentimental authors as active agents, engaging with public issues. Building upon the scholarship of prominent feminist historians and literary critics, this thesis provides direct evidence that three female authors embrace the responsibilities of being a social critic. The Wide, Wide World (1850) by Susan Warner, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1851) by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and The Hidden Hand (1859) by Emma D.E.N. Southworth provide unique commentaries on the separation of the private and public spheres, market revolution, and religion. Decisive differences between the authors’ opinions reveal a high degree of engagement with the public issues.
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Lagneau-Ymonet, Paul. "Entre le marché et l'Etat, les agents de change : une socio-histoire économique de l'intermédiation officielle à la bourse de Paris." Paris, EHESS, 2009. http://www.theses.fr/2009EHES0110.
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Cette socio-histoire économique de la bourse de Paris et de ses intermédiaires officiels, les agents de change expose une analyse des rapports entre l'État et le marché: au coeur des affaires. Là où l'État a encore trop d'intérêt pour ne pas exercer un contrôle sous la forme d'une position privilégiée qu'il reconnaît de fait ou octroie de droit ; là où, déjà, des agents privés peuvent en obtenir l'avantageuse exploitation. La première partie. Analyse la logique de constitution du groupe des agents de change en corporation, au dix-neuvième siècle. La deuxième partie examine les effets de cette organisation corporative sur les façons de travailler des agents de change dans les années 1960-1970 pour repérer les conditions permissives de l'innovation. La troisième partie restitue les dynamiques internationales et macroéconomiques qui contribuent au regain des activités financières transnationales dès les années 1960 et à la restauration de la bourse comme l'une des institutions cardinales de l'économie française à l'aube des années 1980. La quatrième partie décrit les effets de la dérégulation financière sur les agents de change et leur organisation corporative au cours de cette décennie. La dernière partie documente la disparition de l'organisation corporative des agents de change. Au terme de cette thèse, il apparaît que l'économie de marchés financiers dérégulés qui émerge, en France, dans les années 1980 ne résout pas les ambiguïtés constitutives des activités boursières. Elles affectent trop l'intérêt général pour que l'État les abandonne tout à fait à des agents privés, mais la dérégulation financière et les privatisations sapent ses moyens de contrôleBetween the Market and the State: the Agents de Change. A Historical Economic-Sociology of the Official Stockbrokers at the Paris Stock Exchange. The doctoral dissertation offers a historical economic-sociology of the official stockbrokers at the Paris stock exchange -the agents de change, until their disappearance in 1988. This study gives us a revealing insight of the relations between the State and the market. Where the State still has major interests in monitoring financial intermediation, through legal or informal delegation of powers ; where private actors already thrive in exploiting de jure or de facto monopolistic positions. The first part of the dissertation analyses the constitution into a guild ("une corporation") of the official stockbrokers' group during the nineteenth century. The second part examines the results of this corporative organisation on the way the agents de change ran their businesses in the nineteen-sixties and nineteen-seventies. In so doing, the study reveals the prerequisite for entrepreneurship. The third part describes the international and macroeconomic dynamics which contributed in the new rise of transnational financial activities as early as the nineteen-sixties. At the dawn of the nineteen-eighties, in France, this combination of international as well as national trends lead, to the renewal of the Paris stock exchange as a crucial institution of French capitalism. The fourth part shows the effects of the financial deregulation on the agents de change and their guild. The fifth and last part documents the disappearance of the agents'guild 10 the late runeteen-eighties. By the end of the dissertation, it appears that deregulated financial markets have not reduced the very ambiguities of financial activities. Indeed financial activities still involve general interest too much for the State to abandon them to private agents. But deregulation and privatizations have dispossessed the State from its traditional means to monitor financial activities and their professionals
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Cabeza-Erikson, Isabel, Kimberly Edwards, and Theo Van Brabant. "Development of leadership capacities as a strategic factor for sustainability." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Avdelningen för maskinteknik, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-5686.
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Building capacities of sustainability change agents is primordial to increase the effectiveness and to accelerate the process towards a sustainable society. This research investigates the current challenges and practices of sustainability change agents and analyses current research in the field of leadership development. A Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development is described as a means to overcome and address the complex challenges that society faces today. Furthermore the development of leadership capacities of sustainability change agents is suggested as a strategic factor for the process of sustainable development. A literature study highlights the new dimension to leadership development and defines its characteristics. Interviews and focus groups with sustainability practitioners and students are analysed. From this analysis a set of methods and approaches to professional and personal development is derived. The research points to the need of developing leadership capacities, of sustaining them and of having the ability to be self-aware. It is mentioned that the development of these capacities will depend on the supporting environment, the methods employed and on the candidate itself in order to achieve best results.
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Gurkan, Inanc. "Tourism As An Agent Of Change Izmir." Master's thesis, METU, 2008. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12610262/index.pdf.
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This thesis investigates the dynamics behind the urbanisation processes in ex-rural areas
where agricultural economy had collapsed. Being aware of local values marketable in
tourism, applying tourism as an agent of change is a pervasive vision. This approach relies
on strategies that highlight local resources to compete in the tourism market by making use
of technical means of globalisation. It is expected that the process diversifies local
economies in order to bring welfare to the entire local community. To this end, a great
functional role is attributed to local NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and local
governments on behalf of local democracy. Thus, a power process begins in the place
subjected to tourism development. The actors in this power process can be effective at
different scales like local, national and supra-national. This thesis maintains that the
transformation in rural areas cannot be kept distinct from the political processes that result in
the transformation of cities. Both transformations endeavour to solve system crises. The
transformation in rural areas should be accepted as a process of class strategy that has both
winners and losers itself. For this purpose, this thesis investigated the local agents of this
class strategy, whereas it initiates the capital accumulation process in cities by the agents of
either state apparatuses or market mechanisms. This investigation aims at the role of local
non-governmental organisations and local governments in this process. An Aegean town
which faced a rapid transformation along with tourism development is selected for the case
study because the development was known as an autonomous local movement that was not
based on a tourism development plan. The case study was based on qualitative data from
deep-interviews with local community members and the actors of tourism development.
According to the findings of the study, entrepreneurs that belong to mid-classes of big cities
initiated and conducted the development process. These actors, who had more financial
means and cultural capital than the local community, represented themselves and acted
through local NGOsthen, they examined power in order to construct rationalities of the development in their own favour. These rationalities which were beyond capacities of local people did not result in participation of local people in the development process. Local people only affected the process of decision-making through property holdings. Consequently, capital accumulation process of this mid-class, the main actors of the development, was accelerated because local people sold or rented out their properties in the real estate market developed by the tourism. On the other hand, the local government formed a counter power striving to attract both national and supra-national big capital to the town in the process.
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Kuoch, Phong. "Laughing for a change : Racism, humour, identity and social agency /." Burnaby, B.C. : Simon Fraser University, 2005. http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/handle/1892/670.
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Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005.Theses (Faculty of Education) / Simon Fraser University. Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in digital format and available on the World Wide Web.
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Meckelburg, Rebecca. "Subaltern agency and the political economy of rural social change." Thesis, Meckelburg, Rebecca (2019) Subaltern agency and the political economy of rural social change. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2019. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/57177/.
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Twenty years after the fall of Suharto in Indonesia, most political studies of Indonesia’s post-New Order democratic ‘transition’ have left the ideas, forms of organisation, strategies and impacts of lower class struggles largely unexamined. Scholarly works that address the dynamics of social and political change have largely focussed on the mixed outcomes of decentralisation and democratisation of state power for elite actors since Reformasi, providing little or no framework for conceptualising popular political action in the context of this institutional restructuring. Drawing on propositions from Marxist political economy, Gramsci’s concept of hegemony and social reproduction theory, this thesis develops analytical approaches for investigating the dynamics of rural subaltern agency in post-New Order Indonesia, focussing on how rural subaltern actors ‘do politics’. The approach applied here extends the analysis of political studies beyond the state, its institutions and hegemonic practices by focussing on the persistent, albeit often fragmented, popular struggles to secure control of resources and shift social relations of power in favour of subaltern and other non-elite classes. It considers the connections between everyday popular encroachments on hegemonic power, social movement struggles and moments of social and political crisis with the potential for transformative social and political change.
Using qualitative data from extensive fieldwork in Central Java, the thesis demonstrates that legacies of subaltern struggles over power and land as a resource are reflected in villagers’ contemporary relations with state institutions and other forms of social organisation. They organise across multiple scales, and employ diverse tactics including shifting alliances with other social actors to further their interests. Their political claims are strongly informed by cultures and ideologies that have their roots in previous periods of collective action, which are reproduced or transformed though their experiences in contemporary social struggles. Finally, the thesis considers how these diverse expressions of subaltern social struggles might contribute to progressive forms of agrarian development and the broadening and deepening of pro-poor democratic struggles in Indonesia.
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Hunt, Janey. "Conversations : the socially engaged artist as environmental change agent." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/817.
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I use my art practice in conjunction with environmental behaviour research and Michel de Certeau’s practice of the everyday, to enable a re-examination of socially engaged art and through art to activate environmental behaviour change. Questions Clarify contemporary debate about demonstrable and desirable aspects and issues of socially engaged art practice and through my own practice identify its key characteristics. Examine the claim for change offered by many socially engaged practitioners. Context The socially engaged artist operates outside of the gallery, in everyday lives and real situations, often engaging in issues of meaning to society at large, where participation and facilitation of dialogue are the common characteristics. I identify participation, the ambition of social change, aesthetic representation and a failure to communicate beyond the participative event as key considerations. (Bishop 2004; Bourriaud 2002; Kester 2004; Kwon 2004) I propose an aesthetic of presence, to recognise community as a creative vernacular and as pooled knowledge. Drawn from Michel de Certeau’s research into everyday life (Michel de Certeau 1985; Michel de Certeau et al. 1998a) this also provides a refocusing on participation through conversation and describes rupture events, which signify change occurring. Method This thesis compares research in an alternative field, environmental behaviour, which investigates the impediments to change (the value-action gap), how change happens and identifies the change agent, as essential to encourage change at a personal level. (Ballard and Associates 2005b; Darnton et al. 2006) I use the value-action gap, the tension point between knowing about climate change and failing to make changes in our own behaviour, (Blake 1999; Darnton 2004b; Kollmus and Agyeman 2002) as a direct impetus to make participative artwork that examines the idea of a sustainable lifestyle. My art practice recognises a three-stage process: an admission of my own environmental behaviour; encouraging reciprocal participation and conversation and enabling personal reflection; representing conversation offering shared vernacular knowledge and enabling others’ engagement with the artwork and behaviour change. Equating the socially engaged artist with the environmental change agent, I synthesised the Model for Change Agents (S. Ballard and Ballard 2005a; Ballard and Associates 2005b) with research on participation in the arts (Matarasso 1997), as a basis for understanding how participation occurs and how change could happen in socially engaged artworks. An analysis of pilot artworks extends this model to identify the conditions for change, which also equate to the aesthetic aspects of the artwork, in a new model for Practice, Participation and Progression. Outcomes I propose key characteristics for socially engaged practice based on analysis of contemporary commentators and the model for practice, participation and progression. The role of the socially engaged artist is identified as comparable to the change agent. Representing conversation, addresses an issue of socially engaged practice to communicate beyond documentation of the event’s provocation and participation. I develop discussion of the discursive site beyond participation itself to a community of common sensibility and pooled knowledge as a demonstration of personal agency that is able to redefine the public ideal and challenge dominant culture. Re-presenting conversation is a means of sharing knowledge, stimulating change and expanding community. Contributing to environmental behaviour research my art practice reveals our ability to abstract behaviour, identifies our main areas of concern within lifestyle, our motivations for making change and the importance of the preservation of personal agency. I also comment on de Certeau, identifying the problems with individual resistance through the everyday, exploring mini-rupture events signaling change and proposing a reversal of the aesthetic of absence to an aesthetic of presence creating a new narrative that utilises personal agency.
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Au-Yeung, Shing. "Hong Kong's Alternative Film and Video movement as an agent for social change." Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2006. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B36243693.
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Sadian, Samuel. "Consumer agency and social change: Experiences from post-World War South Africa." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/463070.
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This study proposes a novel approach to understanding the contribution that consumer action makes to social change, both at the level of conceptual generalisation and when applied to institutionalised practices in particular historical settings. Conceptually, I develop an anthropologically generalisable account of consumption, drawing especially on Marshall Sahlins’ pioneering Culture and practical reason (1976). Against economistic understandings of consumer agency, we do better to defend a more culturally self-aware and ethically articulate mode of explanation. From this perspective, I argue, it is the expressive potential of consumer practices that most fundamentally sets them apart from productive practices. In making this argument I nonetheless avoid the excessive culturalism that arises when ignoring both the effect of economic variables on consumer agency and the manner in which consumption is tied up with relationships of power.
When analysing the institutional dimension of consumption, most existing literature approaches it as a form of action limited to the market, while taking the market to be synonymous with the economic domain as such. This way of approaching the subject draws attention to significant forms of consumption but obfuscates the historically specific and contingent complexity of human livelihoods even in societies in which market exchange and capitalist forms of market-oriented production are firmly established. In particular, such approaches tell us very little about how those poor in financial resources consume, both within societies characterised by comparatively high average income and beyond.
Consumption is better approached as a form of action exercised within all three institutional spheres of the “human economy” discussed in Karl Polanyi’s later work: not only the market, but also redistribution and reciprocity. Prima facie significant fields of consumption can then be analysed in terms of their ability to create, alter or destroy widespread forms of social integration and political mobilisation, but such analysis must proceed in a manner that is fully alive to the peculiarities of given social formations. Drawing on both political-economic and ethnographic literature, I illustrate this approach by examining three fields of consumption in South Africa from 1948 to the present: clothing, housing and faith healing. These consumer practices have been dynamically bound up with both class and racial power dynamics, while leading to the formation of novel forms of solidarity of the sort commonly discussed in terms of sub-cultures, new social movements and sects or kinship groups.
In light of these case studies, it is necessary to challenge three misleading but pervasive claims about consumption that continue to inform contemporary critical social theory. Firstly, the economistic dogma that the market form of integration, and market-oriented production in particular, has the capacity to systematically structure consumer practices offers little purchase on how people really behave when consuming. Secondly, conceptualising consumption as a form of reproduction of an entire social order is a functionalist canard that critical social theory still needs to disown. We encounter this tenet even in the sophisticated work of Pierre Bourdieu, which remains enormously influential throughout the contemporary social sciences and which is invoked in all major studies of consumption. A third problem, also perpetuated by Bourdieu’s thinking on the subject, is the critical tendency to reduce all consumer agency to a form of instrumental domination. This can only be sustained as a valid generalisation by offering a flattened account of consumer
motivation that ultimately negates agency and that collapses qualitatively distinct ethical modes of evaluation and action into one another. While such an approach is of some limited use for unmasking the domination that reciprocity can entrench, the price one pays for generalising such claims is, ultimately, an inability to recognise the gift when one sees it.
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Kasper, Eric Calvin. "Nurturing emergent agency : networks and dynamics of complex social change processes in Raipur, India." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2017. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/66943/.
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This thesis takes up the question, how can agency for people living in informal settlements be strengthened? To address this question, I carried out systemic action research with two NGO partners and residents from seven informal settlements in Raipur, India. This involved organizing ‘slum improvement committees' (SICs) in each of the seven settlements and carrying out joint actions in support of housing rights and implementation of the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) housing policy. The data on which my analysis is based includes over one hundred conversations between myself and the project participants (both from the settlements as well as the partner NGOs), records of two public events, a social network survey of 46 people living in the participating settlements, a separate set of 9 participatory social network maps (NetMaps), and over two hundred pages of my own field notes based on my observations and participation in the research activities. My thesis makes an original contribution to the study of community agency by analysing it through the lens of complex systems theories and utilising the tools of social network analysis. My thesis also makes an original contribution to research methodology by making the technical analysis participatory, accessible, and useful for the participants. This allowed me to combine analysis of relational structures (social networks) with relational dynamics to show how significant social change happened over the course of the project. My thesis suggests that agency can be strengthened through an organizing practice that brings NGOs, academic researchers, and residents of informal settlements together to build relational power, take collective action, and create social change.
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Tulle, Emmanuelle. "'Running is my life' : embodied agency, social change and identity amongst veteran elite runners." Thesis, Glasgow Caledonian University, 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.415439.
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The work presented in this thesis examines experiences of ageing amongst 21 male and female Veteran elite runners. Experiences of ageing continue to be understood within a discourse of decline. The body plays a central role in this process but primarily in its biological manifestations. Sociology has neglected ageing bodies and little is as yet known about the phenomenological dimension of growing older. The ageing literature is beginning to give some attention to the place of the body in experiences of ageing and some theoretical development has been in progress since the pioneering conceptualisation of the modern experience of bodily ageing within the Mask of Ageing perspective. However we need to specify the interaction between bodily experiences and the social location of people as they age. I am proposing to bring to light the complexity of ageing experiences by reconceptualising it within a theoretical framework influenced by the sociology of Pierre Bourdieu. This requires paying heed to the phenomenological dimension of bodily use and bodily change but also to the wider cultural and structural landscape of late modernity in which bodily use is embedded. To this end I have chosen to locate my investigation amongst a group of people whose everyday experiences take place in the context of athletics and who thus appear to challenge traditional age-appropriate expectations about appropriate bodily use and dispositions. The findings will reveal the claims for bodily competence made by agers themselves and the self-conscious engagements with the struggle for social and symbolic distinction which this involves. I will propose broadening the concept of habitus proposed by Bourdieu to include age, in order to access the changing nature of embodiment but also the potential for social change made possible by modalities of embodiment which are based on the reconstruction of ageing as ambiguity.
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Cook, Christopher Joseph. "Agency, Consolidation, and Consequence: Evaluating Social and Political Change in New Orleans, 1868-1900." PDXScholar, 2012. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/535.
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In the last twenty years, recent scholarship has opened up fresh inquiry into several aspects of New Orleans society during the late nineteenth century. Much work has been done to reassess the political and cultural involvement, as well as perspective of, the black Creoles of the city; the successful reordering of society under the direction of the Anglo-Protestant elite; and the evolution of New Orleans's social conditions and cultural institutions during the period initiating Jim Crow segregation. Further exploration, however, is necessary to make connections between each of these avenues of study. This thesis relies on a variety of secondary sources, primary legal documents, and contemporary newspaper articles and publications, to provide connections between the above topics, giving each greater context and allowing for the exploration of several themes. These include the direction of black Creole public ambition after the end of that community's last civil rights crusade, the effects of Democratic Party strategy and the Lost Cause of the Confederacy movement on younger generations of white residents, and the effects of changing social expectations and increasing segregation on the city's diverse ethnic immigrant community. In doing so, this thesis will contribute to enhancing the current understanding of New Orleans's complex and changing social order, as well as provide future researchers with a broad based work which will effectively introduce the exploration of a variety of key topics and serve as a bridge to connect them with specific lines of inquiry while highlighting the above themes in order to make new connections between various facets of the city's troubled racial history.
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Castillo, Willis Sergio Renato, Roca Hugo Cifuentes, Rengifo Dafna Fernanda Flores, Torpoco Paul Bryan Porras, and Fortes Susana Victoria Quispe. "NotOkay: Camisetas con impacto social." Bachelor's thesis, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10757/654710.
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El Perú es un país con muchas características positivas, sin embargo, la mala gestión de los gobiernos y la propia falta de empatía y conciencia del pueblo hacen que se generen actos de violencia entre los ciudadanos. No obstante, las personas, sobre todo los jóvenes, tienen el deseo de cambiar esta realidad y lo hacen mediante la divulgación y transmisión de información, apoyo a organizaciones que realizan actividades con fines sociales y tomando acción con respecto a su círculo cercano en su día a día. Es por esto que NotOkay brinda una propuesta que busca potenciar el apoyo en el proceso de concientizar a los peruanos sobre estos problemas sociales. En esta, se convierte al usuario en un agente de cambio. Ya que, además de generar conciencia a través de la visibilización de un problema social, brindará apoyo económico a un artista y a una organización sin fines de lucro que vele por una problemática social específica. Todo esto a través de la compra de una camiseta con algodón de calidad y un estampado nítido, el cual refleja un problema social de una manera creativa y que sea entendible a primera vista.Peru is a country with many positive characteristics, however, the mismanagement of governments and the people's own lack of empathy and awareness cause acts of violence to be generated among citizens. However, people, especially young people, have the desire to change this reality and they do so by disseminating and transmitting information, supporting organizations that carry out activities with social purposes and taking action with respect to their close circle in their day a day. This is why NotOkay offers a proposal that seeks to enhance support in the process of raising awareness among Peruvians about these social problems. In this, the user becomes an agent of change. Since, in addition to generating awareness through the visibility of a social problem, it will provide financial support to an artist and a non-profit organization that looks after a specific social problem. All this through the purchase of a t-shirt with quality cotton and a clear print, which reflects a social problem in a creative way and that is understandable at first glance.
Trabajo de investigación
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Vogel, Robert J. "To Teach and to Please: Reality TV as an Agent of Societal Change." Thesis, Boston College, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/2653.
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Thesis advisor: William StanwoodThis analysis examined the effects of reality television on its audiences. The purpose of the research was twofold: to uncover the effects that reality television has upon its audiences, and to determine whether or not these effects indicate that reality TV acts as an agent of societal change. The genre was divided into two distinct programming types: documentary as diversion and lifestyle programs. The findings suggested that reality TV has many audience effects. Discussion centered around the investigation of the second research question. It was concluded that lifestyle programs are agents of societal change, while documentary as diversion programs are not. Limitations and suggestions for further research were put forth
Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2012
Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Communication Honors Program
Discipline: Communication
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Morel, Olivier. "Les agents des services hospitaliers : vécu du travail, charge physique, sante : enquête par questionnaire auprès des agents des services hospitaliers des établissements hospitaliers publics de Nancy." Nancy 1, 1993. http://www.theses.fr/1993NAN10064.
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Les agents des services hospitaliers (A. S. H. ) composent l'une des catégories du personnel des services hospitaliers. Une enquête par questionnaire réalisée en 1990 auprès de 557 A. S. H. Des établissements hospitaliers publics de Nancy a permis de décrire l'activité de travail et d'apprécier la charge physique, le vecu du travail et la sante perçue. Les A. S. H. Exercent une activité diversifiée qui les met tout autant au service des malades qu'a la disposition de l'équipe. La charge physique est due à la manipulation des matériels et a la mobilisation des malades. Les douleurs ressenties, en particulier au dos, sont atténuées par des pratiques différant selon l'âge. Le vecu du travail varie, en sens et en intensité, selon le service d'origine et l'ancienneté. Parmi leurs activités, les A. S. H. Privilégient la restauration des malades car elle est l'occasion de relations et d'écoute. L'amélioration des conditions de travail passe par une action en faveur du cadre matériel, une politique de formation adaptée à leur activité et une reconnaissance de leur fonction par les équipes de travail. L'ergomotricité est aujourd'hui un champ théorique et pratique susceptible de répondre aux difficultés de la relation corps-travail, notamment à l'hôpital ou l'activité requiert, pour le personnel des unités de soins, une qualité des actes moteurs et plus généralement du comportement dans la relation d'aide aux personnes soignées
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Griffith, G. "Village women cooperators : An Indian women's village producer co-operative as educator and agent of social change." Thesis, University of Sussex, 1987. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.380520.
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Hansen, Carla Grace. "Advancing a Community's Conversations About and Engagement with Climate Change." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2018. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248405/.
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The goal of this project completed for the Greater Northfield Sustainability Collaborative (GNSC) was to understand how Northfield, Minnesota citizens are experiencing climate change. Thirty individuals were interviewed to find out what they know about climate change, what actions they are taking, what they think the solutions are to the problems, and what barriers they have to more fully engaging with climate change issues. The interview results are intended to promote and advance the community's discussion on climate change via social learning and community engagement activities such as town hall forums and community surveys. These activities encourage citizens in the community to have direct input into the development of the community's climate action plan (CAP). Analysis of the interviews showed that the interviewees are witnessing climate change, that most are taking at least some action such as recycling or lowering thermostats, that they can name barriers to their own inaction, that they say communication about climate change remains confusing and is not widespread in Northfield, and that they are able to provide numerous suggestions for what the local and broader leadership should be doing. The analysis also showed wide individual variation within the group. Interviewees who were less knowledgeable about climate were less likely to be taking action and do not participate in social groups where climate change is discussed. Conclusions are that the whole group would like more and better communication and education from our leaders, that they also expect our leaders to be part of creating solutions to climate change, and that the solutions the interviewees suggested provide a very thorough initial list of mitigation and adaptation strategies for the city's future CAP.
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Rees, Dianne Patricia. "Plus ca change ...? : Structure and agency in health and social care pre-qualifying interprofessional education." Thesis, University of the West of England, Bristol, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.589387.
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Major National Health Service policies in the United Kingdom (UK) have promoted the development of shared learning as part of pre-qualifying education for health and social care (H&SC) professionals, to foster effective collaborative working for the benefit of patient/client care. Subsequently, the wide-spread introduction of interprofessional education (IPE) initiatives has been accompanied by numerous research studies and evaluations. IPE delivery is diverse; initiatives are frequently located in academic settings and thereby attract criticism for being too remote from the realities of professional practice, whereas practice-based IPE is generally well- evaluated but can be fraught with logistical issues. Initially criticized for lacking a sound theoretical basis for either its development or research, the number of I PE papers drawing on theories from different fields such as psychology and education continues to grow. However, the contribution of the theories of Pierre Bourdieu as a meaningful framework for examining the complexities of IPE has received little attention. This study explores a range of factors influencing the development and delivery of IPE initiatives in three universities in England. It is an original enquiry into a particular form of practice: of people who occupy different positions within the same social space, and in relation to those in other institutions with similar responsibilities. In-depth interviews were conducted with nineteen academic staff associated with IPE curriculum development - an under-investigated area to date. In addition, the extent and nature of IPE in the UK was scoped utilizing publicly available, on-line data, as part of the contextualization of the study and to further an understanding of the broader field of H&SC professional education within which IPE is located. Related learning, teaching and strategy documentation in the participating institutions was also analysed. A rigorously reflexive approach was maintained, with Bourdieu's concepts employed as methodological strategies (influencing study design, contextualization and interview schedules) and as analytical devices. Issues of power are explored using Bourdieu's concepts of field, habitus and capital, shedding light on what facilitates or hinders pre-qualifying IPE from the staff perspective. The study shows that Bourdieu's concepts provide a robust framework for underpinning the development of, and research into, H&SC IPE, thereby contributing to an on-going important debate in relation to IPE theory.
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Haughton, Pippa. "Women’s climate change advocacy in Kiribati: vulnerability, agency and storytelling." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-22287.
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Climate change has hit the Pacific Island nation of Kiribati hard over the past decade, with unreliable weather patterns, drought, flooding and king tides all affecting the homes, health and livelihoods of residents. As the effects of climate change increase, women are rising up as advocates, fighting for action on mitigation and adaptation strategies locally and internationally. Through in-depth interviews with five I-Kiribati women, this study explores the strategies and impacts of their climate change advocacy. It addresses the questions: ‘How are I-Kiribati women advocating for climate action?’, and ‘What impact do the I-Kiribati women mobilized for climate action hope their voices and stories will have locally and transnationally?’.The qualitative study draws on feminist theory and discourses on vulnerability and women in development, with a view to breaking away from the rhetoric of women as ‘victims’ and focusing on women’s agency in climate change advocacy. It explores the nuances of gender and climate change in Kiribati and the effects of shifting gender roles in local communities. Findings highlight the role of narratives and storytelling in Kiribati and internationally to translate science-based arguments into easily understandable messages for the public.
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Freer, Elaine Abigail Odette. "Professional associations, agency, motivation and capacity for change : the case of social mobility and the Bar." Thesis, Keele University, 2016. http://eprints.keele.ac.uk/3233/.
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This thesis uses a mixed methods approach utilising questionnaires, focus groups and interviews to explore how and why an embedded professional association may act to alter a longstanding trait of its profession. Focussing on the trait of social closure at the English Bar, it uses an access programme (Pegasus Access and Support Scheme - PASS) created by a professional association of the Bar (The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple) as a case study. Social closure occurs through mechanisms controlling access to the profession. Whilst formal and explicit exclusionary strategies existed historically, more informal exclusionary barriers still operate. These indirectly disadvantage those from lower socio-economic backgrounds as they emphasise aspirant entrants’ social capital and habituation to the social norms of the Bar. One way in which these attributes can be assimilated or increased is through mini-pupillage; work experience in barristers’ chambers. PASS provides mini-pupillage opportunities to non-traditional aspirant entrants. More widely, it could be construed as a challenge to exclusionary recruitment practices. However, such a challenge requires that the conceptions of merit underlying exclusionary recruitment practices, as well as the practices themselves, are altered. By maintaining the privilege attached to mini-pupillage, PASS was not as radical as sometimes portrayed. The educational and social contexts of students participating in the programme also influenced its efficacy. A challenge to patterns of social closure requires a collaboration between the professional association’s elite, and salaried staff with specialist knowledge of access and education from other professional backgrounds. This emphasises the role of individuals and agency in such action. Despite the general diminished power of professional associations, there remains potential for innovative action. This is realised when the attributes of the professional association combine with acts of agency by individuals which cause elite influence and alternative institutional logics to mutually reinforce one another.
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Klein, Elise Jane. "Psychological agency in a neighbourhood on the urban fringe of Bamako." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:de625392-bbc9-4f36-b99f-02681578066c.
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This thesis is about psychological constructions underpinning intentional action to improve well-being by people in a neighbourhood on the urban fringe of Bamako, Mali. There is a large deficit in the theorisation of psychological elements of agency and empowerment in the development literature. Instead empowerment is generally defined as a favourable opportunity structure, as choice or as the distribution of power. Further still, the examination of the psychological literature reveals a lack of empirical research related to non-Western contexts and development policy. In view of this, I present the results of an empirical study using the inductive mixed methods to examine the central factors contributing to initiatives people undertake to improve personal and collective well-being. Informants articulated that the psychological concepts of dusu (internal motivation) and ka da I yèrè la (self-efficacy) were most important to their purposeful agency. The empirical analysis is divided into three parts and based primarily on qualitative data, enriched by quantitative analysis. Firstly I will examine the concepts of dusu and ka da I yèrè la, which are characterised as having an instrumental and intrinsic significance to people’s purposeful agency. They were also characterised as important factors in supporting local social development initiatives. Secondly, I will show how these psychological concepts were not related to the agent’s socio-economic characteristics or decision making ability, rendering both variables weak proxies for measuring psychological agency. Instead I found that measures of intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy are more viable for evaluating psychological agency. Thirdly, however, whilst dusu and ka da I yèrè la are important to people’s agency and the social development of the neighbourhood, they cannot be viewed as a silver bullet to social development in Kalabankoro Nerekoro. Specifically, in the examination of collective purposeful agency in group work (associations), the functioning of groups is impacted by the internal dynamics within the group, causing sometimes breakdown of the group. Further still, gender and age norms as well as capability deprivation and conflicting world views all thwart the ability of associations to achieve their goals. I underline that agents cannot always succeed in the pursuit of their well-being goals, even though they demonstrate high levels of psychological agency unless structural inequality at the micro, meso and macro levels of Malian society are addressed. Through this empirical study, this thesis will contribute the closing of the gap between psychological and development literatures as well as work towards developing measures of psychological agency.
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Sjölin, Paulina, and Martin Forsberg. "How to make car-addicts become proud cyclists." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-22839.
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Trots att vetskapen om klimatförändringar är utbredd bland människor, verkar individer sällan fundera över att deras egna handlingar bidrar till klimatförändringar när de väljer hur de ska transportera sig, detta märks ¨tydligt när det kommer till det utbredda användandet av bil. För att minska andelen ”onödig” bilism drivs arbeten, inom Malmö stad, med fokus på information, kommunikation och kampanjer som ämnar öka andelen gång-, cykel- och kollektivtrafikresenärer. Detta arbete kan sammanfattas med ett ord: beteendepåverkan. Målet med beteendeförändringar är en del i arbetet mot att göra Malmö till en mer attraktiv och hållbar stad. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur förändringsagenter på kommunal nivå i Malmö uppfattar sitt yrke och sin yrkesroll, vilket innefattar hur de uppfattar de ramar inom vilka de arbetar, hur de uppfattar kompetens, vilken uppfattning de har av framgång i arbetet samt hur framgång kan och bör mätas. Det empiriska materialet i denna studie är en kvalitativ analys av sex intervjuer med förändringsagenter på Trafikmiljöenheten inom Malmö Stad. Resultatet visar att de intervjuade förändringsagenterna ser både möjligheter och hinder med att jobba inom offentlig sektor. Fördelarna menar de, är att de känner en viss frihet då de inte skall ”sälja en produkt”, att de har möjlighet att påverka hur arbetet skall genomföras och att de har möjlighet att komma med egna idéer. Nackdelarna är att det professionella spelrummet i hög grad är beroende av det politiska spelrummet, där det finns en spänning mellan att jobba långsiktigt samtidigt som effekter på kort sikt skall kunna presenteras. Det är viktigt för förändringsagenter att ha social och interpersonell kompetens, snarare än teknisk och praktisk kompetens för att göra ett bra arbete. Intervjupersonerna uppfattar att det skett en allmän förändring av den allmänna attityden till miljö- och trafikfrågor de senaste 10 till 15 åren, vilket har gjort det lättare för förändringsagenterna att nå ut med sina budskap.Although knowledge about the complex of problems with climate change is widespread, individuals often do not consider their own actions as contributors to climate change when they make their own choice of how to transport themselves, especially with the widespread use of cars. To reduce unnecessary car use, work is taking place at the public sector level in the city of Malmö. Through information, communication and campaigns, the city aims to raise the amount of pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users; this job can be summarized as: behavioral change. This job is part of the aim to make Malmö a more attractive and more sustainable city. The purpose of this study is to investigate how agents of change at the public sector level understand their profession and their professional role. This involves how they understand the boundaries in which they can operate, their understanding of competencies, how they understand success in their work, and how success can be and should be measured. The study took place through a qualitative study in the form of interviews where six agents of change at the Trafikmiljöenheten in Malmö Stad make up the empirical population for the study. The results show that the interviewed agents of change see opportunities and hindrances with working in the public sector. The advantages are that they feel a level of freedom, as they are not a company aiming to sell a product and that they feel they have the opportunity to affect how the work should go about through the opportunity to bring forward their own ideas. The disadvantages are the political arena that they are a part of, where the policies of the ruling politicians form the boundaries in which the agents of change can perform their work. There is tension between working with effects that only become evident in the long-term and the demands of showing short- term effects. The agents of change say that competencies of social and interpersonal character rather than technical and practical competencies are important for doing a good job. The interviewees outlined that the general attitude towards environmental questions and choice of transport modes has changed over the past 10-15 years which makes it easier for the agents of change to reach out with their messages.