| 1. |
- Albèr, Cathrine
(författare)
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Humectants and skin : effects of hydration from molecule to man
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Humectants belong to a group of hydrophilic compounds frequently used in skin care products with the aim to diminish the clinical symptom of skin dryness. The biochemical and biophysical mechanisms by which humectants interact with the skin barrier are far from fully understood. Increased understanding of such mechanisms can enhance the possibilities to tailor skin care products for various skin abnormalities.The work presented in this thesis centres on one high (hyaluronan) and two low (urea and glycerol) molecular weight humectants and their interactions with water, as well as their effect on the barrier properties of the outermost layer of the skin, i.e. the stratum corneum (SC). We explore the effect of hydration on thermodynamic properties of humectants, in particular hyaluronan, by using isothermal sorption calorimetry, differential scanning calorimetry and small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering. By combining data from several methods, a binary phase diagram of the hyaluronan - water system was constructed.We also investigate the effect of hydration and presence of humectants on the SC permeability in vitro by using an experimental set-up that allows for control of the boundary conditions in terms of water activity. In contrast to low molecular weight humectants, like urea and glycerol, it was concluded that hyaluronan (17 kDa) does not penetrate the skin barrier due to size exclusion. Addition of urea, glycerol or hyaluronan to aqueous formulations inevitably lowers the water activity of the formulation, which in tum affects the SC permeability when being applied. Moreover, it was shown that skin permeability of a model drug metronidazole decreases upon addition of hyaluronan to the formulation, while high skin permeability was maintained with addition of urea or glycerol. In addition, skin membrane electrical resistance, which normally increases at dehydrating skin conditions, remained low in presence of urea and glycerol.Excised skin hydrated at different hydration levels were examined with confocal Raman microspectroscopy. Large water inclusions were observed in fully hydrated SC after 24h exposure to a buffer solution. Addition of urea was shown to promote the formation of these inclusions. Urea and glycerol were also shown to improve the hydration capacity of isolated comeocytes.Similar approach as used in vitro was employed in vivo to explore the effect of hydration and humectants on skin permeability. It was shown that the water activity of the applied formulations have a marked effect on the barrier properties and urea and glycerol was shown to improve skin hydration even at reduced water activity of the applied formulation.
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| 2. |
- Anderberg, Andreas, 1981-
(författare)
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Straffbar oaktsamhet
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 3. |
- Cecchinato, Francesca
(författare)
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On magnesium-modified titanium coatings and magnesium alloys for oral orthopaedic applications : in vitro investigation
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In dentistry and orthopaedic surgery, research to find and developimproved biomaterials is progressing rapidly.Of specific interest is to accelerate bone formation around theimplant surface, which could improve the reliability of the implanteven in patients with compromised situations. Although the surfacemodification of the implant has been proven to certain extent topromote osseointegration, the lack of bone in the patient remains amajor issue and bone augmentation is commonly conducted priorto implant insertion. Synthetic and naturally derived resorbablematerials are commonly used. However, problems such as the lackof optimal mechanical properties or the undesirable materialresorption kinetics still exist and there still remain possibility forimprovement. Clinical approaches for orthopaedic trauma require the use ofnon-resorbable screws, plates and pins made of metallic materialssuch as titanium, cobalt-chrome and stainless steel alloys. Themajor drawback of these materials is the need of implant removalat re-entry. Therefore, the research of bioresorbable materials thatcould withstand the mechanical stresses is an ongoing topic.Based on this clinical reality, the aim of this thesis was toinvestigate the suitability of magnesium (Mg) as a biomaterial forregenerative bone applications. Namely, Mg as a doping materialfor engineered mesoporous titanium implant surfaces (Studies I, IIand III), and as a bioresorbable metal alloy for bone regenerationin bone trauma and bone defects conditions (Study IV).Study I, II, IIIMesoporous titania films produced with evaporation-induced selfassembly(EISA) technique and applied as implant surface coatingsare under investigation as a release system for the controlledadministration of several substances, such as osteoporotic drugs, toenhance early bone anchorage to the implant. Modulating the poresize of such films though the selection of EISA parameters permitsto control the adsorption of such substances into the mesoporousmatrix and their subsequent release into the peri-implant region.Studies I, II and III analysed the effect of Mg incorporation intomesoporous titania coatings towards two cellular models duringearly and later stages of cell activity.Study I characterized the morphology, chemistry, and topographyof mesoporous titania coatings and the effects of Mg-loading onsurface micro- and nano-structures. Mg release was determinedand its effect was evaluated on human foetal osteoblast populations.It was shown that mesoporous films possessed a smoothsurface with pores that faced outward. Mg adsorption did notsubstantially alter the mesoporous surface roughness both atmicro- and nano- levels. Mg was released within 24 hours ofincubation in cell culture conditions, thus its bioactive effect onlyoccurred during initial osteoblasts activity.Study II evaluated the ability of Mg-loaded mesoporous coatings tomodulate multipotent adipose-derived stromal cell differentiationtoward the osteoblast phenotype. The results demonstrated thatMg release had a strong impact on this cellular model, promotingosteoblast marker expression in standard cell culture conditions.Interestingly, Mg significantly promoted the expression of osteopontin,a protein that is essential for early biomaterial-cellosteogenic interaction.In study III, the reagents and EISA parameters in the mesoporousdeposition were varied to generate three mesoporous titaniacoatings with 2-, 6- and 7-nm average pore size, to increase Mgcontent in the interconnected porosity of the films. The effect ofvarious Mg contents released from the three mesoporous structureswas tested on human foetal osteoblasts populations with pre-designedosteogenic PCR arrays and real-time polymerase chainreaction. It was shown that Mg release affected osteogenesis andwas controlled by tuning the pore dimensions of the mesoporousfilms. Increasing pore size by 1 nm (from 6 nm to 7 nm)significantly enhanced the bioactivity of the film without alteringthe surface roughness.Study IVIn orthopaedics Mg alloys has received increasing attention asbioresorbable metals for bone regeneration. However, localizedmaterial degradation is too fast and provokes the premature loss ofmechanical properties, preventing correct cellular development andbone healing in vivo . For this reason, various alloying elements arecombined with high-purity Mg to modulate and optimize degradationbehaviour.Study IV of this thesis investigated the degradation parameters ofMg2Ag, Mg10Gd, and Mg4Y3RE alloys and how the alloysdifferently affect human umbilical cord perivascular cell adhesionand spreading. Mg4Y3RE showed the highest degradation rateand, thereby, the highest trend in increases in pH and osmolality ofthe surrounding fluid. However, both Mg4Y3RE and Mg10Gdallowed cells to better adhere and spread across their degradedsurfaces; in comparison, surface degradation of Mg2Ag was moreaggressive with weak or no visible cellular structures on it.ConclusionsIn summary, the results of the present thesis explored the potentialof Mg for its application in bone tissue regeneration. Titaniumimplant surfaces coated with mesoporous TiO2 thin films andfurther loaded with Mg enhanced bone cell activity and osteoprogenitordevelopment into mature osteoblasts. Thus, mesoporousdeposition followed by Mg loading may be a suitablealternative to existing implant surface treatments.Bioresorbable materials must degrade slowly and uniformly inorder to simulate the tissue healing process. Mg10Gd possessesreduced content of alloying element and a suitable homogenousdegradation pattern in vitro that allows proper adhesion ofundifferentiated cells. Mg10Gd thus represents a biodegradableMg-based material with promising mechanical and biologicalproperties for use in dental and orthopaedic fields.
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| 4. |
- Cory, Erin
(författare)
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Re-Membering Beirut : Performing Memory and Community Across a 'Postwar' City
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- More than 20 years after the end of Lebanon’s civil war (1975-1990), reconciliation remains elusive. A number of factors contribute to this stasis. No agreed-upon historical narrative exists by which Lebanon’s 18 ethnoreligious groups can make sense of the war, and the state has interests – both economic and political – for burying common memories and erasing common spaces. In light of these erasures, the capital Beirut, like much of the country, remains divided along spatial, ideological, and mnemonic lines.The extant literature has generally considered the perils of what Samir Khalaf (2006) calls Beirut’s “geography of fear.” By contrast, this dissertation considers the city a realm of possibility. “Re-membering Beirut: Performing Memory and Community Across a ‘Postwar’ City,” fuses ethnographic research, analysis, and performative writing to introduce the ide of “re-membering,” a term I use to describe how people engage the residual material of the city-at-war – its textures, tempos, routes, and representations – to render legible the shared pasts and current political claims of historically divided communities. Through case studies including a walking tour, a protest, and street art, I argue for considering the city’s in-between spaces as loci for emergent cross-communal politics, and for movement as both object of analysis and method. The sometimes ephemeral publics that take shape around these performances and practices reconfigure how Beirutis understand themselves in relation to their city and each other, whilc simultaneously revealing the city’s persistent ideological and spatial terrain.The project contributes to a fuller picture of how people across the Middle East and North Africa (the MENA region) are using urban space and cultural production – in the wake of the Arab revolutions and most urgently in the midst of the ongoing Syrian crisis – to communicate shared pain and dissent, and to mobilize in the face of failing or oppressive political systems. As the region once again divides itself along both old and new fault lines, the study explores the perils of occluding violent histories, as well as the critical role of culture in inter-communal postwar healing.
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| 5. |
- Dimberg, Lillemor
(författare)
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Malocclusions and quality of life : cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in children
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There are few longitudinal studies of the prevalence of malocclusionsand possible self-correction of malocclusions during the developmentof the dentition. Early intervention might be unnecessary if self-correction of the malocclusion occurs during the transition from theprimary to the permanent dentition. Most studies are cross-sectionaland in those of longitudinal design, the results are inconsistent anddifficult to interpret.Malocclusions may or may not influence the quality of life inchildren and adolescents. Thus, evaluations of the influence ofdifferent malocclusions on quality of life will certainly underpin abroader understanding and knowledge about how malocclusionsaffect the daily life of young patients. This information may also beimportant when it comes to assessing the most appropriate time forstarting orthodontic treatment, not only from a professional pointof view, but also, most importantly, from the patients’ perspective.The overall aim of this thesis was therefore to evaluate theprevalence of malocclusions, and to document changes occurringduring the development of the dentition, from the primary dentitionstage at age 3, through the mixed dentition at age 7, to the earlypermanent dentition at age 11.5 years. Further aims were to reviewthe current state of knowledge about the impact of malocclusionson oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) and to investigatehow malocclusions affect the quality of life in a cohort of children,aged 11.5 years, whose dental care is provided by the Swedish PublicDental Service.
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| 6. |
- Emilson, Anders
(författare)
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Design in the space between stories : design for social innovation and sustainability–from responding to societal challenges to preparing for societal collapse
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We seem to be approaching the end of the era we know as Industrial Civilization. If this is the case, we will leave a stable period of progress and growth and enter into a long period of decline where many of our systems and support structures will collapse. From the perspective of how we are accustomed to living our lives and the narratives we live by, the future looks dark. How will this affect an optimistic, creative, and future-making discipline like design, a discipline which emerged out of the industrial revolution? What can design offer in the transition from industrial civilization to a new society where we can survive and thrive? What is the task of design if not to design for the market economy? What possible futures will designers then propose? Designers will need to learn to navigate future paths: those that will likely lead to sustainability and those that will likely lead to collapse. In this thesis, I explore the two paths, or scenario storylines, of Great Transition and Conventional Development. I consider the space between these stories—the space between sustainability and collapse—as a design space with many possible futures to explore. I propose that designers not only address societal challenges with the belief that we can solve them and live in a world that is both sustainable and resilient, but also consider what it means to fail and address the prospect of societal collapse. What kind of world will we end up in then? And what can we do to avoid a collapse or else prepare ourselves for a life in a world of societal breakdown? In the search for the answers to these questions, I explore design things and how values and frames as well as stories and design fictions can be used by constellations of concerned citizens when exploring possible futures.
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| 7. |
- Glaser, Joakim
(författare)
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Från Mielke till Merkel. Kontinuitet, brott och förändring i supporterkultur i östra Tyskland
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Det övergripande syftet med avhandlingen är att undersöka det dialektiska förhållandet mellan å ena sidan identitetsskapande processer kring fotbollsklubbar och å andra sidan samhällsförändringar. Ytterst handlar det sålunda om hur fotbollssupportrars identitetsformeringar påverkats av och påverkat historiska, politiska och sociala förändringar i östra Tyskland mellan 1965 och 2015. Avhandlingen bygger på två fundament. Det första är den historiska och sociala kontext som supporterkulturen är en del av. Det handlar om DDR och den så kallade återföreningen av Tyskland och dess historiska och sociala konsekvenser, och, vilket är nog så viktig, min egen förförståelse för och kunskap om dessa företeelser. Det andra fundamentet, vilket kanske är det viktigaste, är de intervjuade östtyska fotbollssupportrarna och deras narrativ om fotbollens roll i detta sammanhang. Avhandlingen är baserad på intervjuer och deltagande observationer genomförda med supportrar till BFC Dynamo, FC Erzgebirge Aue, 1. FC Magdeburg och 1. FC Union Berlin. I avhandlingen utgår jag från tre narrativa nivåer. För det första en narrativ nivå som utgår från de intervjuades personliga erfarenheter och berättelser. För det andra en narrativ nivå som framför allt kopplas till klubbarna, men också till region eller stad och andra fenomen som förknippas med klubben, och därigenom skapar en gemensam identifikation. Slutligen en tredje narrativ nivå som utgår från det hegemoniska, och där dominerande diskurser, makt, ekonomiska och sociala strukturer och förhållanden mellan östra och västra Tyskland är viktiga. Det är framför allt på denna tredje nivå som begreppet diskurs används och knyts till det hegemoniska. Genom att studera hur dessa tre nivåer förhåller sig till varandra i de olika berättelserna synliggörs växelverkan mellan identitetsskapande och olika narrativ. Studien visar att supporterkulturen i DDR kännetecknades av en viss frihet som till en början både uppmuntrades och accepterades av statsmakten i DDR. Med tiden kom emellertid supporterkulturen att uppfattas som ett tilltagande problem. Det är en förklaring till att fotbollen och supporterkulturen i DDR av vissa forskare har tolkats som fora för politiska protester vilka banade väg för DDR:s kollaps och den tyska återföreningen. De intervjuade supportrarnas narrativ bekräftar också att åskådare vid tillfällen artikulerade ett missnöje med situationen i DDR, men att fotbollen och supporterkulturen inte spelade samma politiska roll som den evangeliska kyrkan eller Neues Forum. I avhandlingen visar jag vidare att de intervjuades narrativ ger vid handen att fotbollen och supporterkulturen förlorade i betydelse under die Wende. Nya strukturer och hegemoniska diskurser utmanade etablerade sociala och kulturella praktiker i östra Tyskland. Sammanslagningen av de två tyska fotbollsförbunden resulterade i en underordnad position för de före detta DDR-klubbarna och deras supportrar. En konsekvens av detta var att nation och makt kom att bli viktiga inslag i identitetsskapandet kring fotbollsklubbarna och supporterkulturen efter den tyska återföreningen. Jag åskådliggör i avhandlingen också hur identifikationen med östra Tyskland till viss del har vuxit sig starkare än vad som var fallet under DDR-tiden. Det ojämlika maktförhållandet inom fotbollen mellan östra och västra Tyskland och reaktioner på västtyska fördomar om östtyska fotbollssupportrar är några exempel på situationer som har konstruerat östtyska identiteter efter 1990. Även om supportrarnas narrativ ger uttryck för olika situerade östtyska identiteter är attityderna till den tyska återföreningen överlag positiva. Supporterkulturen i östra Tyskland är ett ovanligt kulturellt fenomen som konstruerar sammanhängande narrativ, vilka binder samman DDR med Förbundsrepubliken. Genom att studera hur dessa narrativ konstrueras har jag undvikit att tolka DDR som en anomali i den tyska historien. På detta sätt bidrar avhandlingen med ny kunskap om och ny förståelse både för supporterkulturen i östra Tyskland och för den tyska återföreningen.
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| 8. |
- Halldin, Anders
(författare)
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On a biomechanical approach to analysis of stability and load bearing capacity of oral implants
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- IntroductionWhen an implant is placed in the bone the body responds to thetrauma by encapsulating the implant and its survival depends onthe ability for hard tissue encapsulation. The stability of the implantduring the healing phase is essential to achieve a good result[1]. Biological, physiological and mechanical phenomena affectimplant stability. To achieve sufficient stability during the initialhealing phase the implant has to provide sufficient static interactionwith the bone. The static interaction might affect the biologicalprocesses that in turn affect implant stability. Although, numerousstudies on the effect of dynamic interaction on implant stabilityand bone remodeling exist, the effect of static strain has yetto be clarified.As the healing progresses it may result in bone formation in closecontact with the implant (i.e osseointegration) that stabilizes theimplant. It has been found that implant surface modifications atthe micro level promote osseointegration and that moderatelyroughened implants provide rapid and strong bone response [2, 3].In addition, the application of nanostructures to an implant surfacehas been shown to elicit an initial complex gene response that mayresult in further enhancement in bone formation around the implant[4]. Furthermore the implant surface structure interlocks mechanicallywith the bone that affects the stability of the implant.The implant surface design has to take into account both biologicaland mechanical behavior of the tissues.Materials and methodsTo investigate how implant stability and the biological responseare affected by an induced static load to the bone an in vivo studywas performed. Two types of controlled static loads, excessive andmoderate, were induced by specially designed implants. Two typesof surface structure, turned and blasted, were applied on the implants.The implants were inserted in rabbits and healed for 3-84days before the stability was measured by removal torque.To simulate how the pressure changes, due to biological and mechanicalphenomena, on an implant surface that was subjected toan initial pressure, a constitutive model was developed that wascomprised of visco-elastic, visco-plastic and remodeling components.The pressure on the surface in turn affects the implant stability.To investigate how the biomechanical and the biological responsesare affected by the surface structure an in vivo study and a finiteelement analysis of the theoretical interfacial shear strength wereperformed. In the pre-clinical study, three groups of implants withdifferent nano- and microstructures were compared to an implantwith a control surface structure.The theoretical interfacial strength at different healing times wasestimated by simulating the surface structure interlocking capacityto bone using an explicit finite element method. Simulations wereperformed for different surface structures and for different pressures,simulating visco-elastic and remodeling phenomena.ResultsImplants that induced a moderate bone condensation in the bonehad a significantly higher removal torque value at the implantationtimes of 3-24 days compared to implants that did not induce condensation.The effect the induced moderate bone condensation hadon implant stability decreases over time until the pressure has vanished,which approximately occurred after 28-30 days. Turned implants,placed in tibia, that induced excessive bone condensationresulted in significant increased implant stability at implantationtimes of 3-24 days compared to implants that induced no condensation.However, when they were placed in femur it provided nosignificant difference in removal torque at an implantation time of24 days compared to implants that induced no condensation.The developed constitutive model is able to capture visco-elasticmaterial behavior and remodeling phenomena of cortical bonewhich can be used to simulate how the pressure changes on an implantsurface that is subjected to an initial pressure caused by condensation.The implant nano- and microsurface structure affects the magnitudeof the removal torque value. It was found that implants, withno significant difference in surface roughness parameters (Sa, Ssk,Sdr) on micro level, can present a significant difference in removaltorque value at 4 weeks of implantation time. In addition, it wasalso found that implants with a significant difference in surfaceroughness parameters (Sa, Ssk, Sdr) can present no significant differencein removal torque value at 4 weeks of implantation times. Thedifference may be due to various biological responses from thenano- and microstructure surfaces.The simulated interfacial strength for the different surfaces did notreach the interfacial strength that corresponds to the removaltorque obtained in the in vivo study. Comparing the two surfaces in respect of removal torque ratio, suggests that during the earlyhealing phase the difference is caused by different bone formationrates from biological processes. As the healing progresses the effectof structural interlocking capacity is more pronounced.ConclusionsThe results suggest that increased static strain in the bone not onlycreates higher implant stability at the time of insertion, but alsogenerates increased implant stability throughout the observationperiod of 3-24 days. The proposed constitutive material model consists of three differentcomponents: a visco-elastic component, a visco-plastic componentand a remodeling component. The model captures with goodagreement the experimental behavior of cortical bone during differentlongitudinal loading situations i.e. in vitro stress-strain relationship,in vivo relaxation, in vitro creep and in vivo remodeling.The results of the present study suggest that nano- and microstructurealteration on a blasted implant might enhance the initial biomechanicalperformance, while for longer healing times, the surfaceinterlocking capacity seems to be more important.Simulation of the interfacial shear strength by means of finite elementanalysis seems to be a promising method to estimate the loadbearing capacity of the bone-to-implant interface for different surfacestructures at stable healing conditions i.e. longer healing times.Furthermore, it is a promising method to estimate the implant stabilityfor different magnitudes of condensation.
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| 9. |
- Harvard Maare, Åsa
(författare)
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Designing for Peer Learning : Mathematics, Games and Peer Groups in Leisure-time Centers
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Constrained by national tests and the mathematics curriculum, teachers have problems finding time for exploratory and hands-on mathematical activities, especially so in classes with a reduced pace of progression, for example because of a large proportion of second-language learners. Could the leisure-time center, where time is not earmarked, provide such opportunities? The conclusion of this thesis is that this can be done, on the condition that designed activities build on the central premise of the leisure-time center: children have the right to choose which activities to engage with. The thesis is interdisciplinary, combining design research, situated cognition/embodied interaction, and pedagogy. The empirical material comes from a design project conducted in collaboration with the Rook, a multicultural school with an integrated leisure-time center. The participating children were 7-9 years old. The games studied were card and board games, especially combinatorial mathematics games (Set and Nim). The situated and embodied approach towards design is reflected in the analysis, which approaches visual artifacts as parts of multimodal communicative scenes with many co-present participants engaged in playing games or solving problems. It is shown that children learn the game through observation and participation, either as players or in non-playing roles. For many games, rules are written in a format that is inaccessible to children. One of the design tasks in the project has been to develop secondary artifacts related to games: graphic guides, conceptual maps, and paper-based exercises that can be used by children without adult support. The premise of the learners’ right to choose has many consequences for the design of learning activities. One is that motivation changes from being a property of the learner to a property of the activity. In order to highlight this difference, this thesis proposes the notions of learnability and learnworthiness to describe those aspects of an activity and its context which make it motivating from the learner’s perspective. The thesis concludes with a discussion of how design can increase the learnability and learnworthiness of a learning activity. Watching the activity being practiced is the most important resource for potential participants to determine its learnability and learnworthiness. The qualities determining the learnworthiness of an activity are reciprocity, mastery, and the potential for closure. Watching a peer successfully solving a task increases the learnability for the observers as well. If problem-solvers think aloud and use their hands to move or point at cards, collaboration and learning by observers is facilitated. Providing games with non-competitive side activities creates opportunities for deliberate practice, and offers a safe entry for children who are reluctant to engage as players.
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| 10. |
- Hasslöf, Helen
(författare)
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The educational challenge in "education for sustainable development" : qualification, social change and the political
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis explores how Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as an overarching perspective makes meaningof educational aims and purposes. Sustainable development, as a concept, is by necessity complex, and deals withintegrated dimensions of environmental, social-cultural and economic sustainability. It involves a diverse range ofembedded values and ideologies and calls for engagement in value-related and political issues relating to environment,equality and lifestyle. In my thesis, I have turned to the actors in social practice who are set to realise the educationalperspectives of ESD – the teachers. Accordingly, the analyses departure from secondary and upper secondary schoolteachers’ reciprocal meaning-making when discussing the desirable aims of teaching and ESD. Building upon previouseducational research, the thesis has three purposes, and the results are presented in four articles. The results of thestudies bring new empirical knowledge and perspectives to educational research and practice, by adding furtherunderstanding of the political and democratic dimensions of ESD.The first purpose is to investigate and describe the complexity of the concept of sustainable development from a conflictperspective and to analyse meaning-making discussions of sustainability in an educational context. This is elaborated inthe first study (Article I). To achieve this, a Conflict Reflection Tool (CRT) has been developed, by combining theconflicting dynamics of sustainable development with dialogic and univocal functions of speech. In the included casestudy, the CRT analysis of teachers’ discussions shows how fact-based, univocal science utterances closed thediscussion for conflicting perspectives to emerge. However, conflicting views did emerge and were re-valued in adialogic genre through the interplay of different dimensions of sustainability and different societal levels of conflicts.The second purpose is to investigate how the desired aims of ESD are (re)articulated in areas of educational tension inorder to make particular meaning by teachers with experience in ESD practice. Three complex ESD areas are in focus,namely, the development of students as political subjects (Article II), qualification in relation to ESD (Article III), andeducation for social change in relation to ‘sustainable’ living (Article IV). In each of these areas, the functions ofqualification, socialisation and subjectification (c.f. Biesta) are relationally analysed to further problematise educationalpurposes. Through analyses with inpiration from discourse theory, the results show in Article II the emerging discourse ofcritical thinking as room for subjectification where students were invited to be adressed as political subjects. This discoursewas articulated in struggle with the aims of qualification and socialisation, i.e. challenged by elements articulating a morescientific and rational worldview. Article III shows three discourses of qualification. Of these three, scientific reasoningand awareness of complexity are articulated as contrasting epistemological discourses of qualification. However, in thethird discourse, qualification as critical thinking, these different epistemological views are articulated as intertwined asdifferent ways to view sustainability. Article IV shows how the teachers struggle between three positions: the rationalsubject, as a neutral conductor; the responsible subject, as a role model, or the reconstructing subject, as a reconstructor.The overlapping positions depend upon how socialisation towards sustainable lifestyles, political and ethical perspectivesare identified in relation to the educational aims and the emerging myths of social change.The third purpose is to develop analytical methods where conflicting articulations of environmental issues andsustainability are taken into account based on language and discourse theory for conducting empirical investigations ofmeaning-making.
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