Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'European federation – History'

This thesis examines the Mid Upper Palaeolithic (MUP) of Russia (ca. 30,000-20,000 14C BP). During this time, as in the rest of Europe, the principal archaeological industry is known as the Gravettian. However, in Russia two other industries, the Streletskayan and the Gorodtsovian, are also known from the beginning of the MUP. Historically, there have been significant problems integrating the Russian MUP record with that from the rest of Europe. The research described in this thesis concentrates on backed lithic assemblages (including Gravette points, microgravettes, other backed points and backed bladelets) from five Russian Gravettian sites: Kostenki 8 Layer 2, Kostenki 4, Kostenki 9, Khotylevo 2 and Kostenki 21 Layer 3. These are studied from an explicitly Western European theoretical perspective, using standard techno-typological methods to construct typological groupings and describe the variation between and within sites. Alongside this, new radiocarbon dates from several sites Kostenki 8 Layer 2, Kostenki 4 and Borshchevo 5) were obtained. These radiocarbon dates are critically analysed alongside published dates and unpublished dates made available to this research. The results of the research constitute a new culture history for the Russian MUP. Each stage of the MUP is dated and described, and the uncertainties in our knowledge outlined. One new lithic index fossil is defined and two others are re-assessed. The Russian record is compared with the contemporary archaeological record elsewhere in Europe, in order to describe large-scale synchronic variation and changes through time in the homogeneity and regionalisation of material culture. The relationship between these dynamics and climate change are discussed.

The present thesis suggests that judicial interaction can benefit constructive solutions of concrete human rights problems as a specific way of integrating European human rights protection. This affirmation is substantiated by case studies examining the interaction of the European Court of Human Rights with the UK House of Lords and Supreme Court on the one hand and with the German Federal Constitutional Court on the other. Yet, the manner in which the courts proceed in their interaction, notably in view of their potentially conflictual stances, can deflect from the concentration on constructively solving the substantive human rights problem with which the courts are confronted. Accordingly, the courts might be inclined to preserve the status quo of their initial positions and to resort to a mere compromise between the different interests involved.

This thesis identifies two major factors in the courts’ reasoning that inhibit the fruitful discussion of the substantive human rights questions brought up by the cases: the reference to “culture” and the focus on their institutional relationship with the balancing of possibly conflicting interests. By way of analysing practical cases against a legal- and political-theoretical backdrop, this work develops how these two factors contribute to the obstruction of a constructive interaction between the courts and to the shielding of controversial views from being discussed and challenged. In response, also by reference to the concrete practice of the courts, this thesis puts forward an approach to the interaction which avoids this inhibiting effect and therefore allows for a comprehensive, deep and critical discussion on how to solve the specific human rights problems raised by the cases./La présente thèse soutient que l’interaction judiciaire peut bénéficier à des solutions constructives des problèmes concrets de droits de l’homme comme une forme spécifique d’intégration de la protection européenne des droits de l’homme. Cette affirmation est corroborée par des études de cas qui examinent l’interaction de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme avec la House of Lords et la Cour suprême du Royaume-Uni d’un côté et avec la Cour constitutionnelle fédérale de l’Allemagne de l’autre. Pourtant, la manière dont les cours procèdent dans leur interaction, notamment au vu de leurs points de vue potentiellement conflictuels, peut détourner l’attention de la solution constructive des problèmes substantiels des droits de l’homme auxquels les cours font face. En conséquence, il se peut que les cours soient susceptibles de préserver le statu quo de leurs positions initiales et d’avoir recours à un simple compromis entre les différents intérêts en cause.

Cette thèse identifie deux facteurs majeurs dans le raisonnement des cours qui entravent la discussion fructueuse des questions substantielles soulevées par les cas :la référence à la « culture » et la concentration sur leur relation institutionnelle avec le balancement des intérêts possiblement conflictuels. Au moyen de l’analyse des cas pratiques sur le fond de la théorie juridique et politique, ce travail fait ressortir comment ces deux facteurs contribuent à l’obstruction d’une interaction constructive entre les cours et à la protection des opinions controversées contre leur discussion et défi. En réponse, également en se fondant sur la pratique concrète des cours, cette thèse avance une approche quant à l’interaction qui évite cet effet inhibant et, par conséquent, permet une discussion complète, profonde et critique de comment résoudre les problèmes spécifiques de droits de l’homme posés par les cas.

Doctorat en Sciences juridiques
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La consolidation des droits de l'Homme comme principe politique du processus d'intégration européenne fut articulée par les relations entre la Communauté économique européenne et les dictatures franquiste en Espagne et des colonels en Grèce. Ces deux régimes aspiraient à maintenir un statut d'États associés à la CEE :les débats politiques qui furent tenus à leur égard contribuèrent à la fixation d'une conditionnalité politique pour la participation au processus d'intégration européenne.
Doctorat en Histoire, art et archéologie
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Cette recherche a pour ambition de contribuer aux études sur l’histoire sociale de la construction européenne. En prenant pour point d’appui le cas de l’industrie charbonnière, il a été possible de mettre en évidence une tentative de préservation et de prolongement des politiques sociales d’après-guerre à l’intérieur de la Communauté. Les débats sur le logement ouvrier, les discussions paritaires et la tentative d’instauration d’un statut européen du mineur reflètent cette continuité entre les niveaux nationaux et européens. L’échec de politiques sociales d’envergure sonnait le glas d’un élan initié par quelques syndicalistes et militants européens pour un approfondissement de l’Europe sociale dont l’expression commençait à prendre consistance. La crise charbonnière de 1958 allait transformer les politiques de la Haute Autorité où la réponse aux crises régionales prenait une place majeure. En ce sens, la reconversion du Borinage était le premier test social d’envergure pour le maintien du consensus politique d’après-guerre. Malgré les mesures nationales et européennes pour la relance économique du bassin borain, aucune industrie n’est parvenue à remplacer les fosses tant du point de vue économique qu’identitaire. Les conflits sociaux apparus dans les années 1970 ont alors mis en lumière les transformations sociales et culturelles du Borinage en reconversion.
Doctorat en Histoire, art et archéologie
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In a series of landmark rulings on patient mobility and cross-border healthcare, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has made clear that Member States’ healthcare systems have to comply with the rules of the EU’s Internal Market when it comes to individual patient rights and the non-discrimination of healthcare providers. The rulings increased the possibilities for EU Member State citizens to get medical treatment in another Member State (“cross-border healthcare”), yet providing that under certain conditions the home Member State has to pay for these treatments in the other country. After a decade of negotiations, these rulings have been codified in a European Directive. Assuming that European integration has an impact on national welfare states and taking the example of European rules on access to cross-border healthcare, this thesis suggests analyzes the domestic impact of European integration in terms of Europeanization of the Austrian healthcare system within the context of the interplay between actors’ interests and practices on the one hand, and institutional effects on the other. European cross-border healthcare in forms of regional projects and privately or publicly organized healthcare arrangements has already become a reality in many European countries, especially in border regions. The main research questions which guides this thesis can be be put as follows: How does European integration in healthcare impact on the interests, practices and strategies of national actors that operate between national institutional constraints and European opportunities? And if national actors’ interests and strategies change, does this in turn have repercussions on the national institutional rules of healthcare governance? Given that European integration in healthcare delivery is a rather a “recent” phenomenon, and based on the assumption that actors’ strategies change more easily than national institutions, the following hypothesis is tested: Even if national healthcare actors use Europe – and hence their practices and strategies change – their interests remain largely determined by the national institutional set-up of the healthcare system. The institutional boundaries of the national healthcare system may have become porous, but for the time being they remain intact. The main findings of this study confirm the hypothesis and can be summarized as follows: Austrian actors responsible for the delivery of healthcare actively integrate various usages Europe into their existing practices of healthcare governance. These usages of Europe are more frequent at European level than at national level. Those actors who have important legal competencies, financial resources, and hence power in healthcare governance at national level, are also in a better position to use Europe effectively than those actors who lack such national resources. Limited usages of Europe at national level by corporate actors can best be accounted for by practices of consensually governing a typically Bismarckian healthcare system. None of the actors analysed, no matter how critical their stance vis-à-vis their own healthcare system might be, puts into question the legitimacy of the national healthcare system in the light of increased European competencies in regulating cross-border healthcare. Advancing European integration, mainly through the ECJ’s rulings on cross-border healthcare, might have rendered national institutional boundaries porous, but national institutions retain – at least for the time being – their power of channelling actors’ interests and of influencing corresponding practices of healthcare governance. These results invite us to further investigate which kind of healthcare governance structures are being developed at European level in parallel to those existing at national level, and to what extent Bismarckian welfare regimes might be showing resistance to institutional change induced by European integration.
Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales
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Throughout the history of archaeology, the Sámi (the indigenous people in northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula in the Russian Federation) have been conceptualized as the “Others” in relation to the national identity and (pre)history of the modern states. It is only in the last decades that a field of Sámi archaeology that studies Sámi (pre)history in its own right has emerged, parallel with an ethnic and cultural revival among Sámi groups. This dissertation investigates the notions of Sámi prehistory and archaeology, partly from a research historical perspective and partly from a more contemporary political perspective. It explores how the Sámi and ideas about the Sámi past have been represented in archaeological narratives from the early 19th century until today, as well as the development of an academic field of Sámi archaeology. The study consists of four main parts: 1) A critical examination of the conceptualization of ethnicity, nationalism and indigeneity in archaeological research. 2) A historical analysis of the representations and debates on Sámi prehistory, primarily in Sweden but also to some extent in Norway and Finland, focusing on four main themes: the origin of the Sámi people, South Sámi prehistory as a contested field of study, the development of reindeer herding, and Sámi pre-Christian religion. 3) An analysis of the study of the Sámi past in Russia, and a discussion on archaeological research and constructions of ethnicity and indigeneity in the Russian Federation and the Soviet Union. 4) An examination of the claims for greater Sámi self-determination concerning cultural heritage management and the debates on repatriation and reburial in the Nordic countries. In the dissertation, it is argued that there is a great need for discussions on the ethics and politics of archaeological research. A relational network approach is suggested as a way of opening up some of the black boxes and bounded, static entities in the representations of people in the past in the North.

Defence date: 7 February 2009
Examining Board: Prof. Peter Wagner, University of Trento and formerly EUI (Supervisor); Prof. Richard Bellamy, University College London; Prof. Claus Offe, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin; Prof. Neil Walker, University of Edinburgh and formerly EUI
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
This thesis proposes a new way of addressing two central questions in the study of the European Union: What is the nature of the European Union as a political entity and how does it emerge? The point of departure is the, by now widely accepted, conceptualisation of the EU as a polity and the extensive discussions, not least in normative and prescriptive terms, that this process implied. Judging that many of the debates have reached dead-ends, the thesis proposes a novel way of conceptualising the concept ‘polity’ in its application to the European Union. It argues that the European Union polity should be understood as a configuration of agreements to collectively address common problems. The thesis then offers an analysis of three such fields of agreed upon common activities over the period 1992 to 2005 which are constitutive of the European Union polity and construct its boundedness: ‘Enlargement to the East’; ‘Immigration policy’; and ‘Europe as an actor in the world.’ Under scrutiny includes: the context in which these policies emerged; the normative ideas through which the problems at stake were identified; and the agreed-upon mechanisms for addressing common problems. To understand the emergence and nature of these common activities, the thesis proposes a concept-centred approach. It argues that concepts are constitutive for the European Union polity. The concepts constitute the agreements to address problems in common and thus ‘form’ the European Union polity. Thereby, the thesis shows the ways in which five key concepts - human rights, democracy, diversity, prosperity and security - are effective (‘their power’ or ‘efficacy’) and which Gestalt (‘meaning’) they take on in these specific problem-ridden situations. Particular attention is paid to the relationship and, specifically, tensions between the different normative concepts as well as the compromises that they form and the re-configuration of the respective policy fields they bring about. The thesis concludes that these findings should be interpreted as a self-understanding of the European Union. This self-understanding encompasses the commitment to a set of ideas, the decision to take action in certain political domains and, not least, the selfidentification as a political actor and entity. Thus, focusing on the power and Gestalt of concepts without falling into an abstract idealism, the thesis combines an approach of a historical sociology, cultural sociology and the history of concepts with key concerns of European Union studies.

Defence date: 10 June 2008
Examining board: Prof. Eric Bussière, université Paris-IV Sorbonne ; Prof. Michel Dumoulin, Université Catholique de Louvain ; Prof. Harold James, Institut Universitaire Européen (superviseur) ; Prof. Yves Mény , Institut Universitaire Européen
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
La thèse que nous présentons ici s’inscrit dans le cadre de trois courants historiographiques différents : l’histoire industrielle de l’après-guerre en Belgique, l’adaptation d’intérêts professionnels nationaux aux débuts du processus de construction européenne et, enfin, l’évolution des tensions entre libéralisme économique et économie mixte. À l’interface de ces trois courants, notre objectif est de montrer que la faillite des charbonnages belges et l’échec de leur intégration au marché commun de la CECA dans les années 1950 trouvent une grande part de leur explication dans l’obsession avec laquelle les patrons charbonniers belges ont prétendu défendre, envers et contre tout, les principes de la libre entreprise privée et dans l’illusion longtemps nourrie que les pouvoirs d’intervention de la Haute Autorité pourraient les y aider.

Defence date: 28 May 2007
Examining board: Prof. Friedrich Kratochwil, European University Institute (Supervisor) ; Prof. Daniel Deudney, Johns Hopkins University ; Prof. Sergio Fabbrini, Università degli Studi di Trento ; Prof. Alexander H. Trechsel, European University Institute
As a novel and complex polity, also subject to endless proposals for institutional reform, the viability of the EU is an open but under-theorized question. This thesis conceptualizes EU viability from an internal perspective, that is, the viability of the process of integration rather than Europe as a viable actor in international politics. Adopting the concept of a compound polity to understand the tensions inherent in the EU, viability is defined in relation to the -rules of the game- of this compound system. This gambit has a twofold purpose. Firstly, it permits an analogy with another historical case of a compound system, the antebellum US republic. Secondly, it enables the specification of two scenarios of viability in a compound polity: dynamic equilibrium and voluntary centralization. Four aspects of the rules of the game (institutions, expectations, competence allocation and representative functions) are analysed to determine which scenario the EU follows. The analogy with the early US and its own conflicts over these four elements of the rules of the game is then contrasted with the EU experience. Five differences in how these disputes arise and the means for trying to settle them are singled out to explain the differing problems of viability in both compound polities. The results of this analogical analysis are then used to explore the appropriateness of certain proposed changes to the rules of the game in the EU, notably in the area of political representation. In a system accustomed to dynamic equilibrium, enhancing the representation of individuals is often seen as a condition for favouring more voluntary centralization. However, the analysis of conflicts over the rules of the game in two compound systems suggests a more cautious approach is required in the interests of viability. Hence this study presents itself as a significant, if incomplete, initial step in the process of identifying what makes the EU viable.

Celem rozprawy „Problem aktualności federalistycznych koncepcji integracji europejskiej na początku XXI wieku” było znalezienie odpowiedzi na pytanie o miejsce federalnych koncepcji integracji europejskiej we współczesnej debacie o przyszłości Unii Europejskiej. Zrealizowane szczegółowe cele badawcze obejmują: 1) analizę współczesnych konceptów teoretycznych należących do nurtu federalistycznego w odniesieniu do treści koncepcji pojawiających się w początkach procesu integracji; 2) analizę formalno-prawnych elementów konstrukcji europejskiej pod kątem realizacji przez te elementy zasad federalnych; 3) analizę praktycznego funkcjonowania Unii Europejskiej pod kątem realizacji przez nie zasad federalnych; 4) analizę debaty politycznej nad przyszłością integracji europejskiej pod kątem obecności w niej postulatów federalnych; 5) wskazanie możliwych scenariuszy dalszego przyjmowania lub odrzucania rozwiązań federalnych w rozwoju Unii Europejskiej w przyszłości – szanse i ograniczenia dla zdolności oddziaływania koncepcji federalnych na decyzje polityczne. Ich realizacja była możliwa dzięki zastosowaniu trzech metod badawczych: metody historycznej, metody komparatywnej, metody instytucjonalnej w ujęciu historycznym, oraz elementów analizy systemowej.W pierwszej części pracy zbadano federalizm jako model integracji, teorię decentralizacji, model społeczny oraz jako nurt filozoficzny. Celem tego etapu badań było przedstawienie swoistej konceptualizacji pojęcia federalizm i określenia jak może być on definiowany i jakie niesie to konsekwencje dla używania tej koncepcji do wyjaśniania procesów integracyjnych. Tym samym została zdefiniowana treść „zasady federalnej” czyli istoty federalizmu. W etapie drugim została dokonana analiza głównych federalnych koncepcji integracji od początku procesów integracyjnych do czasów współczesnych (1918-2016). Miało to na celu usystematyzowanie założeń tych koncepcji oraz przedstawienie generalnych trendów w ich rozwoju. W trzeciej części pracy przebadano zarówno podstawy prawne UE, jak i praktykę funkcjonowania systemu politycznego pod kątem obecności w nich elementów zgodnych z „zasadą federalną”. Ostatni etap badań to analiza aktualnej debaty publicznej w celu określenia szans i ograniczeń zdolności oddziaływania federalnych koncepcji integracji europejskiej na przyszły kształt Unii Europejskiej, rozumianego jako zahamowanie lub postęp dalszej federalizacji UE. W pracy pozytywnie zweryfikowana została następująca hipoteza: federalistyczne koncepcje integracji europejskiej, dzięki trwałej obecności w debacie oraz ciągłej modernizacji przez ich propagatorów, zachowują aktualność jako jedna z kluczowych propozycji rozwoju projektu integracyjnego, jednak w obecnym momencie jego ewolucji, nie można uznać, że federacja europejska stanowi finalité politique procesu integracji. Wynika to przede wszystkim z niesprzyjającej atmosfery niepokoju i nieufności związanej z kryzysem Unii Europejskiej i sytuacją międzynarodową oraz negatywnego nastawienia do federalizmu, który w debacie publicznej albo pojmowany jest stereotypowo (postulat dążenia do superpaństwa), albo brak jest wiedzy o jego faktycznym znaczeniu i postulatach.
The aim of this dissertation titled ‘The relevance of federal concepts of the European integration at the beginning of the 21st century’ is to find an answer to the question about the place of the federal concept of the European integration in the modern debate on the future of the European Union. The specific objectives of the research include: 1) an analysis of the modern theoretical concepts that are a part of the federal trend in relation to the concepts that appeared at the beginning of the integration process; 2) an analysis of the formal and legal elements of the European construction in terms of their implementation of federal rules; 3) analysis of the practical functioning of the European Union in terms of the implementation of federal rules; 4) an analysis of the political debate on the future of the European integration for the presence of federal demands; 5) indicating possible scenarios of further accepting or rejecting federal solutions in the subsequent development of the European Union - opportunities and threats for the ability of federal concepts to influence the policy-making. Realisation of these objectives was possible due to three research methods: the historical method, the comparative approach and the neo-institutional approach, and also some elements of the system analysis.First part of the dissertation includes the examination of the federalism as a model of integration, the theory of the decentralisation, the social model and the philosophical current. The purpose of this stage of research was to present specific conceptualization of the notion of federalism (‘federal principle’), to determine how it can be defined and what are the consequences of using this concept to explain the integration processes. Second part centres around the analysis of the main concepts of federal integration from the beginning of the integration processes to the present times (1918-2016). The analysis aims to systemise the guidelines of these concepts and to present the general trends in their development. In the third part of the thesis the legal basis of the EU as well as the practical functioning of the political system are examined for the presence of the elements which are compliance with ‘federal rule’. The last part of the research is an analysis of the current public debate and the future scenarios - it is an attempt to determinate the chances and threats to the federal European integration concepts ability to influence on the future shape of the European Union, understood as an inhibition or progress of the federalization of the EU.The following hypothesis was positively verified in the dissertation: due to their permanent presence in the debate and continuous modernisation made by their promoters, the federalist concepts of the European integration remain valid as one of the key proposals for the development of an integration project. However, at the present stage of this project evolution, it can not be stated that the European Federation is finalité politique of the integration process. This is a result of an unfavourable atmosphere of anxiety and distrust linked to the crisis in the European Union and to the international situation as well as an effect of some negative attitude to the federalism which is either understood stereotypically in a public debate (as a postulate of the creation of a superstate) or suffers from the lack of knowledge of its true meaning and postulates.

Title: Canoeing in the Czech Republic 2004 - 2013. Objectives: The aim of the thesis has been to draw up the history of the Czech canoeing between 2004 and 2013. Methods: Standard methods have been used in the thesis, especially the chronological method. The actual gaining of materials has been achieved through a combination of the direct, indirect and progressive methods. Results: The content of this work deals with the organizational and competition activities of canoeists in the Czech Republic in the given period. Keywords: Kayak, canoe, canoe sprint,canoe slalom, wildwatercanoeing, Czech Canoe Union, International Canoe Federation, European Canoe Association, history.

This thesis is comprised of two parts: a Studio Research component with accompanying Exegesis (66%), and a Dissertation (33%). The Dissertation provides the historical theoretical component that informs the Studio Research and Exegesis, entitled The Dingo in the Colonial Imagination.This body of work investigates the tensions between humans and animals that share boundaries. It focuses on the terse relations between humans, dingoes and wild dogs in southeastern Australia. Ideological and practical themes emerged through the studio-based and theoretical research, which spans a range of disciplines including art, science, culture and history. At its core is how humans and undomesticated animals share arbitrary boundaries and suffer the transgression of these boundaries. Primary field research informed the studio and theoretical aspects of the project. It involved consultation with individuals and agencies affected by dingoes and wild dogs in interface zones where private and government managed lands intersect. The 30,000 word dissertation traces colonial visual representations of the Australian native dog during the century that spans early European settlement to Federation. It follows perceptions of the dingo as it is imagined and encountered by European settlers. The dingo's guise ranges from scientific curiosity, object of desire, symbol of wilderness, metaphor for a dying race and as an enemy that threatens the social and economic fabric of the colonial project. The studio work amplifies the influence of these colonial perceptions on contemporary attitudes to dingoes. It follows a trajectory of the disappearing dingo in its representational form, to its implied remnant presence within the farmers' psyche. Early studio work explored a range of materials and practices, encompassing sculptural and drawing strategies, and took its cue from a macabre ritual of animal shaming in remote regional Australia, the so-called 'dog trees', that display the carcasses of one or multiple dingoes and wild dogs. The studio work has culminated in a large-scale sculptural installation, designed to pare back the visual language to its essential elements. This work incorporates the dissolution of the dingo form, which becomes absorbed into the personal objects embedded into the farmers' private territory. The poetic objects that form the final sculptural work presented for examination, Lines of desire, become metaphors for the dingo's capacity to survive and unsettle the rural subconscious.