Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Laos politics'

This work is a study in some detail of the political history and development of Laos since 1975. The contents include: Origin of the Lao Modern Political Ideology; Backgrounds of the Lao Communist Party; Development of Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP); The LPRP as a ruling party; New economic policy 'Chintanakarn Mai'; Future directions of the LPRP. Several maps, tables, charts and photographs are included in the research
Master of Arts (Hons)

This work is a study in some detail of the political history and development of Laos since 1975. The contents include: Origin of the Lao Modern Political Ideology; Backgrounds of the Lao Communist Party; Development of Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP); The LPRP as a ruling party; New economic policy 'Chintanakarn Mai'; Future directions of the LPRP. Several maps, tables, charts and photographs are included in the research

In the Introduction [Chapter 1] I first introduce the concept of 'nation' by stressing its 'fuzziness', and by reviewing Western and non-western interpretations of its definition. I then briefly review some pertinent events in Laos' recent history. I next explain the reasons for my choice of a certain terminology. In a third section, I introduce and justify my methodology. In Chapter Two, I introduce and discuss the theoretical framework and studies on Lao nationalism. I first look at the theories of nationalism put forward by Gellner, Anderson and Smith, three of the most influential thinkers on the subject, and note the limits of their theories with respect to my study. I then extend my discussion to theories of nationalism and ethnicity, and I argue that these propose a framework that is too constrained to explain the complexity of my research. I therefore suggest some other conceptual notions that may encompass the multiple outcomes of my study. Finally, I discuss studies that have dealt with the concepts of nation, nationalism and ethnicity in modern Laos, and show how my work may contribute to the fostering of research in this field. In Chapter Three, I review the historical relationships between the non-ethnic Lao people and the political authorities from the pre-modern period up to the proclamation of the Lao PDR in 1975. I focus in particular on three historical periods: pre-modern Laos (until the French colonisation), French rule (1893-1954) and the French and American Wars (1945-1974). Each period corresponds with a specific pattern of relationships between the non-ethnic Lao people and the political authority. Above all, I insist that the French and American Wars changed the role of the non-ethnic Lao populations socially, politically and historically. From the periphery where they were symbolically and administratively confined, the participation of some of their members in the wars exposed these individuals to socialisation and politicisation processes. From that point onwards, the nationalist discourse would have to include multi-ethnicity in its rhetoric. In Chapter Four, I analyse ethnic classifications in contemporary Laos, with a brief review of previous policies. I first look at the ideologies that have influenced the Lao ethnic classification, namely, those of the former Soviet Union, China and Vietnam. Through an analysis of the construction of the latest official census (August 2000), I suggest a close relationship between ethnic categorisation and the nationalist discourse. I conclude with a study of Kaysone Phomvihane's guidelines on the concept of the nation in Laos. In Chapter Five, I question the Majority's ethnicity. I first argue that the constitution of a national identity in post-socialist Laos is being conducted through a dual process of exclusion and inclusion, involving a politics of Minority/Majority representation and a dichotomy between Tradition and Modernity. I extend my discussion to the nationalist discourse's search for particularism, through a politics of cultural discipline and a new approach to the narrative of the national history. At the same time, I suggest that the new form of nation, more centred on a spiritual principle, i.e. Buddhism, also originates in popular will, namely, the ethnic Lao population's. In Chapter Six, I reverse the perspective and disclose the voices of those being represented. I focus my analysis on a few members of ethnic minorities who hold, or have held, a position of authority. More precisely, I analyse their interpretations of the past through their narratives. I point out their pattern, logic and coherence, but also their discontinuities, omissions and exaggerations. All these characteristics are constitutive of these individuals' identity. Experience, however, is never monolithic. Experience structures narratives, which, in turn, structure experience, while all interpretations and expressions are historically, politically and institutionally situated. I therefore show that narratives also can change under new historical and political conditions. In Chapter Seven, I reflect on the issues of ethnicity and identity. I first study the ambiguities of the ethnicities of the individuals discussed in Chapter Six, caught in between the official categorisation, the Majority's ethnicity and their own perception of their ethnic identity. I then analyse what I call the crisis of identity induced by social, economic, political and institutional changes during the post-socialist era. The social and political identity of these educated members of ethnic minority groups is being challenged. Finally, I conclude with a specific case of instrumentalist ethnicity, which might prefigure the awakening of new identities in post-socialist Laos.

Die Studie „Restrukturierung nationaler Institutionen: Demokratisierung und Entwicklung in Laos“ untersucht die Auswirkungen von Normensetzung in der internationalen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, wie „Sustainable Development Goals“ (SDGs), auf Institutionen und Entwicklungspolitik in Laos. Untersucht wird wie die internationalen Entwicklungsnormen die Macht der laotischen Regierung sowie ihre Fähigkeit, Ziele in der Entwicklungspolitik erfolgreich umzusetzen, beeinflussen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen erstens, dass die Umsetzung der SDGs in Laos durch die Zusammenarbeit von internationalen Entwicklungspartnern und der laotischen Regierung in vier verschiedene Dimensionen eingeteilt wird: Wirtschaftliche Entwicklung, ökologische Nachhaltigkeit, soziale Inklusion und „good governance“. Alle haben dazu beigetragen, Institutionen und Entwicklungspolitik in Laos internationalen Standards anzugleichen. Gleichwohl ist es den internationalen Entwicklungspartnern unmöglich, die politische Macht der Partei als Regierung einzuschränken, indem sie die SDGs zur Verbreitung einer eigenen politischen Agenda nutzen. Zweitens: die Partei kann ihre Macht in der Innenpolitik und ihre Kontrolle über die Gesellschaft aufrecht zu erhalten. Diese umfassen Ideologien, die eine Mischung aus marxistisch-leninistischen und nationalistischen Elementen darstellen, die Betonung von Erfolgen in der Entwicklung des Landes sowie die Unterdrückung des revolutionären Potenzials. Dies führt zu einer Konservierung der politischen Struktur, in der sich die Macht der Partei in einer Institution manifestiert. Diese wird durch Parteimitgliedschaft, Regierung, Nationalversammlung und Volksgerichtshof konstituiert - ohne Beteiligung der Bürger. Drittens: trotz der Bemühungen der internationalen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, die Kapazitäten des Staats im Bereich der Entwicklungspolitik auszubauen, dieser noch Schwierigkeiten in Bezug auf Finanzverwaltung, Personalwesen und institutionelle Leistungsfähigkeit aufweist.
The research titled “Restructuring Domestic Institutions: Democratization and Development in Laos” aims to analyze how international development norms, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), have shaped Laos’ domestic institutions and development policy. It also aims to investigate the influence of international development norms on Lao state power, as well as its capacity to achieve development goals. The research results show that: First, the development partners support the SDGs in Laos through international development assistance to the Lao government in economic development, environmental sustainability, social inclusion and good governance, all of which have helped shape Lao domestic institutions and development policy to meet international standards. However, the development partners cannot curtail the political power of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (the Party) or the Lao government in manipulating the SDGs to serve a political purpose. Second, the Party is able to maintain its power in domestic politics and control over Lao society. Second, the Party is able to maintain its power in domestic politics and control over Lao society. These include blending Marxist-Leninist and national ideologies, highlighting development achievements and suppressing the revolutionary potential. Therefore, the political structure in Laos retains the Party’s power in an institution overlapping between the Party member, the Lao government, the National Assembly and the People’s Court without the citizen’s participation. Third, even though the development partners seek to enhance the Lao state’s capacity to achieve the development goals, the Lao government has encountered difficulties in financial management, human resources, and institutional capacities.

Untold Narratives: A Refugee Experience from Laos to Richmond, California is focused on the Mien refugee experience from Laos to Richmond, California. This thesis highlights the ways Cold War politics, the Secret War, and heavy industrialization have impacted Mien communities who have been displaced from their homelands into refugee camps, and again through sponsorship into the United States. This thesis looks at political theories that discuss inequalities that exist, particularly through environmental degradation and negative health impacts that Mien refugees are experiencing in their resettlement into Richmond, California. Due to the limited scholarly articles and documented narratives that are available in regards to Mien experiences, interviews were conducted to highlight the stories and experiences of Mien refugees paired with a historical background of their journey from China, to Laos, and to Richmond. Even in the face of so much struggle and hardship, many Mien people have been resilient and been successful in building community and fighting for justice.

Pluralities of people s crossings of the Mekong Thai-Lao border occur as locals subvert, reject, ignore, and embrace the logic of the national border. From a state-centric point of view, the everyday movements of these people, who rely mainly on a subsistence economy and have their own modes of crossing, are undocumented. I argue that people s mobility co-exists with the practice of sedentary assumption. The aim of this thesis is to promote theory related to the Third Space in Borderland Studies by the presentation and analysis of people s pluralities in border-crossings. The borderland area of Khong Chiam (Thailand)-Sanasomboun (Lao PDR) is the location of an in-between state in which spatial negotiations, temporal negotiations, and negotiations of political subjectivities contribute to the nature of mobility in the Third Space. To achieve the objective of this thesis, ethnographic methodology was used over six months of fieldwork from March to September 2016, and included participant observations, interviews and essay-readings that involved 110 participants in the borderland site. People s movements across the Mekong River border occur daily without formal state approval. From the perspective of the Thai Ban, the river is a lived space in which they catch food and use for transport. However, their interpretation of the Mekong as the state boundary does not completely disappear. This thesis examines the everyday banal pluralities of the Thai Ban s border-crossings by weaving together the three concepts of space, temporality, and negotiations of political subjectivities. The spatial and temporal negotiations involved in the border-crossings shape and are shaped by this other interpretation of the Mekong as a lived space, and different political subjectivities contribute to the pluralities of the crossings. The presentation of these pluralities of border-crossings adds to Borderland Studies specifically and the social sciences in general in the development of an understanding of the Third Space. As this thesis focuses on people s mobility at quasi-state checkpoints and in areas along the Mekong Thai-Lao border with no border checkpoints, it is suggested that future research examines the everyday practices of border-crossings at land borders.

Key terms: Laos, Khmu, Development, Village Politics, Ethnography, History This thesis draws on twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork, conducted in 'Sanjing' - an ethnic Khmu and Akha hamlet in Phongsali Province, northern Laos. It provides intimate insight into the lived complexity of a hitherto unstudied upland community’s encounter with Laos’ alter-native brand of post-colonial modernity. In their amorphous sum, the ten thesis Chapters show villagers’ eclectically engaging the impacts of development, nation-building and globalization on various aspects of local life - including cosmology, history, memory, intra-village politics, land use practices, healing practices, state relations, market relations, as well as interethnic- and intergenerational dynamics. In particular, this thesis focuses on villagers' efforts to act efficaciously in a rapidly changing world through ritual means – defined here as means that defy the modernist Lao state’s insistence on scientific materialism and exclusively physical causation. The recent encounter between ‘Sert’ – erstwhile spirit lord of Sanjing's mountain ridge – and state-harnessed Chinese (hydro)power is posited as a critical juncture in this endeavour. As a contribution to Lao- and Southeast Asian Studies, this thesis offers ethnographic sustenance to long-standing enquiries into the impact of external forces on upland societies, as well as to questions of prowess, aspirations, resource-driven development, ethnicity, social memory, "animism" and the modern history of Phongsali province. As a contribution to Anthropology, this thesis offers ethnographic sustenance to the discipline's recently burgeoning interest in 'more-than-human lifeworlds', the role of 'the past' in ‘future-making', as well as to medical anthropology's long-standing concern with culturally-diverse approaches to health and well-being.

The thesis analyses the provision of "Aid for Trade" as a specific form of state building intervention (SBI) in Laos and Vietnam, two countries that have received trade-related assistance as part of their global economic integration. The thesis uncovers how global economic and institutional reform agendas related to trade integration are accepted or contested within both states, as part of a highly political process characterised by strategic agency and structural selectivities of various actors involved. The thesis employs a theoretical framework to help analyse how global trade governance programmes intervene within targeted states, and how local socio-political contestation shapes the outcomes of such programmes. Drawing on Marxist state theory, SBIs are understood as contested processes which open up strategic opportunities for social forces to shape the transformation process and thereby to stabilise or challenge existing power relations. Special attention is directed towards the state as an arena of conflict in order to understand the specific forms and varying results that these interventions take. This framework allows us to grasp how dominant social forces within the Laotian and Vietnamese forms of state are able to modify or circumvent external reform imperatives, resulting in highly selective changes in trade governance, which often departs from the intention of "Aid for Trade" project managers. The thesis thereby changes conventional technocratic assumptions that believe that aid interventions are a matter of best practice and contributes to a growing research agenda which analyses development interventions within the wider political economy of the targeted state.

The International Relations (IR) literature has been dominated by studies on great powers, often neglecting the role of small states. Moreover, the accounts on small states have generally overlooked the role of geography. This thesis proposes an analytical framework to observe the role of geography by observing the impact of Multinational Transboundary Infrastructures (MTIs) on the relational power of small states. The framework is then applied to the case study of Laos observing the impact of two selected MTIs – the Xayaburi dam and the Boten-Vientiane high-speed railway – on Laos’s relational power with respect to Vietnam and China. Data has been collected through a set of 48 semi-structured qualitative elite interviews mainly carried out during a period of fieldwork in Laos in 2015. The data generated by the interviews, triangulated with other primary and secondary sources, enabled a process tracing analysis of the two negotiation processes on the selected MTIs. The findings show that the two observed MTIs positively affected the relational power of Laos despite the asymmetry that shapes its bilateral relationships with both Vietnam and China in terms of capabilities. The case study therefore indicates that a central geographic position could reduce asymmetries of power and that relational power manifest a greater explanatory capacity than power-as-capabilities. This thesis contributes to knowledge adding empirical material on the diplomatic negotiation on the Xayaburi dam; on the Boten–Vientiane high-speed railway; on Laos’s international relations with Vietnam and China; and on China’s High-Speed Railway Diplomacy. The thesis contributes also to the theoretical literature by identifying a geographic gap in small states studies. Analytically, the thesis contributes developing the concept of MTIs and an original analytical framework to study relational power. Finally, methodologically the thesis provides new insights on how to gain access to elites in Laos.

Thesis (M.A.) (Honours) -- University of Western Sydney, Macarthur, 2001.
A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, Macarthur, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Honours), September, 2001. Bibliography : leaves 296-309.

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Departamento de Antropologia, Programa de Pós-graduação em Antropologia Social, 2000.
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Este trabalho aborda o Mercosul a partir de distintas iniciativas de políticos e diplomatas implementadas durante o período 1997-1999. Estes atores serão considerados como brokers que tem um papel estratégico na articulação de um novo nível de integração. Os rituais apresentaram-se como uma ferramenta eficaz para explicar as diversas ambiguidades e contradições inerentes ao processo de integração. Trabalharei os diferentes rituais, que estruturam-se em um continuum que vai desde os rituais de agregação aos rituais de poder; desde os mais laxos aos mais rígidos. Os mesmos estruturam as relações entre os brokers, permitem-nos mostrar a passagem da comunidade de argumentação para uma comunidade de comunicação mais ampla e para a construção do Mercosul como comunidade imaginada. Os rituais são analisados como um poderoso veículo de comunicação de conteúdos altamente abstratos, os fazem sensíveis; dão existência simbólica ao projeto político no qual combinam-se regionalização e globalização. Por meio dos rituais se re-cria um poder estrutural, que faz sentir seus efeitos na economia política da região. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT
This study analyzes Mercosur starting from different initiatives of politician and diplomats implemented during the period 1997-1999. These actors will be considered as brokers that have a strategic role in the articulation of the new level of integration. Rituals were conceived as an effective tool for explaining the diverse ambiguities and inherent contradictions of the integration process. The different rituals are structured in a continuum that goes from rituals of aggregation to rituals of power; from the very lax to the very rigid. Ritual also structure the relationships among brokers; they allow us to show the passage from a community of argumentation to a broader community of communication and for the construction of Mercosur as an imagined community. Rituals are analyzed as a powerful vehicle of communication of highly abstract content, and they give symbolic existence, make them sensitive to the political project which combines regionalization and globalization. By means of the rituals a structural power is re-created, and its effect on the political economy of the region is felt. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ RESUMEN
Este trabajo aborda el Mercosur a partir de distintas iniciativas de políticos y diplomáticos implementadas durante el periodo 1997-1999. Estos actores serán considerados como brokers que tienen un papel estratégico en la articulación del nuevo nivel de integración. Los rituales se presentaron como una herramienta eficaz para explicar las diversas ambigüedades y contradicciones inherentes al proceso de integración. Trabajaré los diferentes rituales, que se estructuran en un continum que va desde los rituales de agregación a los rituales de poder, desde los más laxos a los más rígidos. Los mismos estructuran las relaciones entre los brokers, nos permiten mostrar el pasaje de la comunidad de argumentación para la comunidad de comunicación más amplia y para la construcción del Mercosur como comunidad imaginada. Los rituales son analizados como un poderoso vehículo de comunicación de contenidos altamente abstractos, los hacen sensibles; dan existencia simbólica al proyecto político en el que se combinan regionalización y globalización. Por medio de los rituales se re-crea un poder estructural, que deja sentir sus efectos en la economía política de la región.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004.
Document formatted into pages; contains 264 p. Includes bibliographical references. Abstract available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2005 June 4.

Gender equality is part of the public policy agenda in Latin America. During the last twenty years, there have been several discussions on the scope of equality policies between women and men, their content and possibilities of action. In Latin America, important progresses have been made, mainly in the legal field but also in different government areas. Many subnational levels of government have their own gender offices and have developed local experiences in promoting equality measures. Argentina registers some outstanding experiences in incorporating the gender perspective at the local level. The decentralization processes reconfigured the capacities and responsibilities of subnational governments and presented potential elements for gender mainstreaming. In addition, the closeness to citizenship and the possibility of articulating demands offered by this scale are important for the promotion of gender policies.

Morón is one of the 135 Municipalities of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Between 1999 and 2015 the political party Nuevo Encuentro ran the Municipality. The administration encouraged citizen participation and transparency in management, proposing new forms of linkage between the State and society. In this context, more horizontal management structures were framed and they opened up the possibility of promoting equal opportunities and gender equality in Morón. This thesis examines the evolution of the gender equality policy under the management of Nuevo Encuentro in the Municipality of Morón. It aimed at characterizing gender policy and its sustainability over time. Also, it seeks to analyze the role of social and political actors in the implementation of this policy, as well as in its development and expansion. For these purposes, a case study was conducted and the research involved fieldwork based on interviews with different government agents and civil society’s members.

The results obtained demonstrate that gender equality policies in Morón have progressively evolved from the rise of the issue in the public agenda in 1999 to the end of Nuevo Encuentro’s administration in 2015. The increasing maturation of the gender equality policy in Morón’s local government and its sustainability was due to the convergence of the four key elements: political commitment, presence of a network of women politicians sensitized with gender issues, articulation of local government with social organizations committed to women’s rights and international cooperation with resources and interests in supporting local initiatives on gender policies.

This dissertation identifies and explains four major contributions of the Laws and related late dialogues to Plato's moral and political philosophy. Chapter 1. I argue that Plato thinks the purpose of laws and other social institutions is the happiness of the city (polis). A happy city is one in which the city's parts, i.e. the citizens, are unified under the rule of intelligence (nous). Unlike the citizens of the Republic, the citizens of the Laws can all share the same true judgments of value, and this unanimity explains the city's unity. Plato thinks that aiming at the city's happiness is justified, moreover, because a unified city contributes to the universe's order. Chapter 2. In the Laws Plato holds that the sick, poor, ugly, weak, but virtuous are happy, and that health, wealth, beauty, and strength benefit the virtuous but harm the vicious. Only in the Laws does Plato commit himself to all these claims simultaneously, and I explain how the ethical psychology of the Laws permits Plato to maintain them coherently. Chapter 3. I argue that, in the Laws, becoming virtuous is the same as becoming like God. Becoming like God does not require escape from the world of change as it does in the Theaetetus, however. Rather, becoming like God requires bringing "measure" or appropriate order to the world of change, especially to those entities over which we have the most control--our own souls. In the Laws, citizens achieve this order as they learn to be just and to understand the nature of reality. Chapter 4. Unlike the Republic and Statesman, the Laws holds that obedience of the citizens to their laws should be effected, if possible, with rational persuasion. I argue that Plato wishes such persuasion to educate the citizens of the reasons for the laws. Understanding the laws' justification is the principal way in which citizens acquire the good judgment necessary for virtue. The city becomes more happy as the citizens progress in virtue, so rational persuasion is a necessary means to the lawgiver's overall aim.

This thesis uses a political ecology framework to critically analyse how development and environmental orthodoxies influence the use, management and development of living aquatic resources in an information poor developing country context. The research focuses specifically on Lao PDR, the only landlocked country of the Mekong River Basin, to question how knowledge over living aquatic resources is framed by a range of stakeholders. Specific attention is given to how aquaculture has gained ascendancy over capture fisheries in the rhetoric of resources users as well as government and nongovernment organisations. The empirical research focuses on the role of broad scale economic, social and environmental influences over resource use, the practical and perceived importance of both aquaculture and capture fisheries in rural Lao livelihoods and finally, how living aquatic resources are represented within the dominant development agendas of conservation, poverty alleviation and rural development. Field work was conducted in Savannakhet province in Southern Lao PDR over 18 months from 2001 to 2002. The thesis has a strong empirical research base divided into activities carried out over multiple scales ranging from household to the Mekong River Basin. The thesis begins by establishing the historical context of resource use as well as the major orthodoxies on which development is based. Attention then turns to the extensive empirical research conducted over three districts of Savannakhet province. The results of the empirical research report two macro scale studies at the district level. The first is a survey of fish ponds across three districts focusing on the spatial distribution of investment and resource use. The second is a survey of fish trade focusing on the differential trade between culture and capture fish species. The results of both studies highlight the disjuncture between complex patterns of aquaculture and capture fishery use and the major assumptions made about the use of these two resources by policy makers and management. Analysis then moves to the local level focusing on the role and importance of aquaculture and capture fisheries to the livelihoods of rural Lao communities. The results show the instrumental and hermeneutic importance of fish and other aquatic resources in the livelihoods of households and the community. In particular it is shown that capture fisheries are more important to rural livelihoods in terms of income and nutrition, while aquaculture is perceived as a more important activity in the development of community and household economies. ii The final section then compares the empirical findings of the thesis with the policy and planning agendas of government and non-government organisations. The analysis focuses on the role of ideas and agency creating a highly politicised policy environment concluding that aquaculture based policy is more compatible with both government and non government agendas of poverty alleviation and rural development than capture fisheries. Furthermore, capture fisheries are marginalised within conservation as a resource that cannot contribute to the improvement of livelihoods or alleviate poverty. The thesis concludes that living aquatic resources provide an imperative source of food and income to rural communities through diverse and complex human-environment interactions. In contrast government and non-government organisations operating at regional, national and local scales of policy and planning simplify these relationships drawing on wider orthodoxies of aquaculture and capture fisheries development. These simplifications do not reflect the problems and needs of the predominantly rural population. Furthermore, in the absence of a strong empirical base of information, living aquatic resources management and development has become highly politicised. Instead of responding to the realities of resource users, policy and planning reflect the interests and beliefs of development organisations, government and non-government. The thesis provides an important, grounded account of the importance of living aquatic resources to rural livelihoods in Lao PDR and how these resources are understood and translated into national development and management agendas. In doing so the thesis contributes to an understanding of how complex human-environmental systems are perceived and represented in development policy and wider knowledge systems. The thesis also makes an important theoretical contribution to the growing body of literature on critical political ecology by arguing for the revitalisation of ecology as an integrated approach within political ecology and more widely within the study of humanenvironment interaction.

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD)
This thesis uses a political ecology framework to critically analyse how development and environmental orthodoxies influence the use, management and development of living aquatic resources in an information poor developing country context. The research focuses specifically on Lao PDR, the only landlocked country of the Mekong River Basin, to question how knowledge over living aquatic resources is framed by a range of stakeholders. Specific attention is given to how aquaculture has gained ascendancy over capture fisheries in the rhetoric of resources users as well as government and nongovernment organisations. The empirical research focuses on the role of broad scale economic, social and environmental influences over resource use, the practical and perceived importance of both aquaculture and capture fisheries in rural Lao livelihoods and finally, how living aquatic resources are represented within the dominant development agendas of conservation, poverty alleviation and rural development. Field work was conducted in Savannakhet province in Southern Lao PDR over 18 months from 2001 to 2002. The thesis has a strong empirical research base divided into activities carried out over multiple scales ranging from household to the Mekong River Basin. The thesis begins by establishing the historical context of resource use as well as the major orthodoxies on which development is based. Attention then turns to the extensive empirical research conducted over three districts of Savannakhet province. The results of the empirical research report two macro scale studies at the district level. The first is a survey of fish ponds across three districts focusing on the spatial distribution of investment and resource use. The second is a survey of fish trade focusing on the differential trade between culture and capture fish species. The results of both studies highlight the disjuncture between complex patterns of aquaculture and capture fishery use and the major assumptions made about the use of these two resources by policy makers and management. Analysis then moves to the local level focusing on the role and importance of aquaculture and capture fisheries to the livelihoods of rural Lao communities. The results show the instrumental and hermeneutic importance of fish and other aquatic resources in the livelihoods of households and the community. In particular it is shown that capture fisheries are more important to rural livelihoods in terms of income and nutrition, while aquaculture is perceived as a more important activity in the development of community and household economies. ii The final section then compares the empirical findings of the thesis with the policy and planning agendas of government and non-government organisations. The analysis focuses on the role of ideas and agency creating a highly politicised policy environment concluding that aquaculture based policy is more compatible with both government and non government agendas of poverty alleviation and rural development than capture fisheries. Furthermore, capture fisheries are marginalised within conservation as a resource that cannot contribute to the improvement of livelihoods or alleviate poverty. The thesis concludes that living aquatic resources provide an imperative source of food and income to rural communities through diverse and complex human-environment interactions. In contrast government and non-government organisations operating at regional, national and local scales of policy and planning simplify these relationships drawing on wider orthodoxies of aquaculture and capture fisheries development. These simplifications do not reflect the problems and needs of the predominantly rural population. Furthermore, in the absence of a strong empirical base of information, living aquatic resources management and development has become highly politicised. Instead of responding to the realities of resource users, policy and planning reflect the interests and beliefs of development organisations, government and non-government. The thesis provides an important, grounded account of the importance of living aquatic resources to rural livelihoods in Lao PDR and how these resources are understood and translated into national development and management agendas. In doing so the thesis contributes to an understanding of how complex human-environmental systems are perceived and represented in development policy and wider knowledge systems. The thesis also makes an important theoretical contribution to the growing body of literature on critical political ecology by arguing for the revitalisation of ecology as an integrated approach within political ecology and more widely within the study of humanenvironment interaction.

This thesis evaluates David Hume&rsquo
s notion of justice by examining the coherence in his legal, moral, and political philosophy. It is argued that on the whole, Hume&rsquo
s use of the concept justice is coherent in his theories of law, ethics, and politics. To this end, firstly, Hume&rsquo
s moral thought is examined in detail. Secondly, his legal theory and his position in legal philosophy are considered with references to its moral aspects. Next, Hume&rsquo
s notion of justice is examined in its relation with the state. It is observed that Hume&rsquo
s conception of justice has moral, legal, and political foundations, and that all of these subjects depend on the same principles. It is shown that the laws of justice constitute an ethical, legal, and political issue in Hume&rsquo
s philosophy. According to Hume, although obeying the rules of justice is a moral topic, the laws of justice are guaranteed by the state in large societies.

Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2006.
Thesis research directed by: Dept. of Sociology. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

Orientador: José Alves de Freitas Neto
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
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Resumo: Este trabalho procura levantar e mapear discussões e debates político-culturais da segunda metade do século XX em Cuba, nas primeiras décadas da Revolução Cubana. A difusão de periódicos e impressos contribuiu para uma circulação diferenciada de ideias e discursos, envolvendo sujeitos históricos em diferentes dinâmicas entre o político e o cultural. Os intelectuais encontraram nesse tipo de meio de comunicação um espaço de expressão e engajamento com o processo revolucionário. A revista cubana Casa de las Américas se constituiu como centro de uma rede intelectual, a partir da qual se construiu e se difundiu um discurso revolucionário. Nossa proposta é partir desta revista, como objeto e fonte histórica, para aproximarmo-nos das ideias e noções conformadas entre intelectuais relacionados com o imaginário esquerdista da América Latina nos anos 1960 e 1970. Um dos nossos temas principais é a conformação de discursos identitários na revista. Defendemos que as identidades construídas discursivamente por Casa fazem parte da concepção que a própria revista tinha sobre sua atuação no processo revolucionário. Também, a questão em torno do papel do letrado é aqui analisada por nós. A publicação deu suporte para a formação de um discurso que valorizou e favoreceu uma estética e uma concepção de intelectual específicas para cumprir o que era visto como revolucionário. Devido à importância e à vigência que Casa estabelece para José Martí (1853-1895), as formas de discussão e apropriação da vida e obra deste letrado cubano figuram também em nossa argumentação, destacando mecanismos discursivos e formas de apropriação da história de Cuba. Dessa forma, passando por alguns temas político-culturais da revista, pretendemos abordar a história da esquerda latino-americana e da conformação de seu imaginário
Abstract: This work discusses and analyses the political and cultural debates during the first decades of the Cuban Revolution in the second half of the 20th century. In this context the dissemination of printed journals had contributed for the exchange of ideas and discourses, allowing the historical subjects to be immersed in a variety of political and cultural dynamics. Intellectuals found a space for expression and engagement with the revolutionary process in this type of media. The Cuban cultural journal Casa de las Américas was the center of an intellectual network from which the revolutionary discourse was built and spread. With the analysis of this journal we intend to get closer to the ideas and concepts that were being created and used by the Latin American leftist intellectuals of the 1960s and 1970s. One of our main themes is the conformation of identity discourses in the journal Casa de las Américas. The importance of the figure of the intellectual is another focused subject. We argue that the identities constructed discursively by this cultural journal are part of the design that the magazine itself had on its performance in the revolutionary process. The publication gave support to the formation of a discourse that valued and promoted a specific aesthetic and conception of intellectual which would fulfill what was seen as revolutionary. The important role that was reserved for José Martí (1853-1895) in Casa justifies our analysis of how his life and works were discussed and presented in the journal, emphasizing the discursive mechanisms and the different forms of appropriation of Cuban history. Thus, with the analysis of some political and cultural themes from Casa we intend to study the history of Latin-American left and the conformation of its imaginary
Mestrado
Politica, Memoria e Cidade
Mestre em História

The overall purpose of this thesis is to analyze the impact of the Palestinian refugees on Lebanese politics. The role of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is discussed within the framework of explaining the political character of the Lebanese state. In this context the Lebanese state&rsquo
s perception concerning the Palestinians refugees in Lebanon is analyzed through explaining the living conditions of the refugees and the Palestinian military and political activities in Lebanon as well as the restrictions of the Lebanese laws and regulations on the Palestinian refugees. It is argued that the Lebanese state follows discriminitary policies against the existence of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

El propósito de este trabajo es dar cuenta si el discurso de la Conferencia Mundial sobre Educación para Todos, llevada a cabo en 1990 en Jomtien, Tailandia, está relacionado con políticas que actualmente se llevan a cabo, en el caso particular de México, tomando en cuenta que algunos objetivos tendrían que haberse cumplido en el año 2000. Así mismo se plantean algunas interrogantes; ¿El discurso de las organizaciones internacionales (UNESCO) se encuentra relacionado con las políticas públicas?, ¿Cuál es el sentido de las políticas públicas nacionales y qué tanto se cumplen en los hechos? La investigación se realizó con fundamento en la postura Critico-Dialéctica ya que esta busca “ser critica de los presupuestos que el científico empírico no cuestiona: el carácter contradictorio racional-irracional de la sociedad” es decir, busca conocer cuál es el impacto de lo que sucede en la sociedad.
El interés de estudiar las políticas educativas surge del cuestionamiento acerca de donde nacen o como se construyen y si en la realidad se llevan a cabo, porque estas son un fundamento de como en la práctica se realizan para cada nivel e institución educativa, y se formalizan en todo el sistema de los países en vías de desarrollo, como es el caso de México; pero también es cierto que dichas políticas, a pesar de ser planteadas por los encargados de la educación en cada país, existen organismos que recomiendan cuál es el camino u objetivo que estas deben seguir.
Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México

This thesis seeks to explain the lax enforcement of tax laws in Egypt. While I acknowledge that existing explanations emphasising amongst other things the importance of low administrative capacity, neopatrimonialism, or rentseeking may discern some of the drivers of tax collection performance, I claim that other factors have been neglected. Based on a combination of historical and ethnographic research, I show how historical legacies and contemporary political dynamics intertwine and shape taxation at the three levels of microlevel tax relations, intra-bureaucratic relations, and the administrative and political leadership. I argue that deep-seated distrust on the one hand, and the consequences of a persistent but broken social contract on the other, contribute to the lax enforcement of tax laws. I show how repressive statebuilding resulted in a legacy of distrust that became institutionalised over time and that permeates tax relations to this day. I also explain how post-colonial populist state-building has led to the formation of moral economies of a “caretaker state”, widely-held norms, expectations and beliefs with respect to what the state should do for its citizens and its employees. The persistence of core aspects of this social contract until this day, in combination with its breaking by the state, shapes state and bureaucratic politics in important ways. On the one hand, tax collectors are in many different ways less inclined to do their jobs effectively and to strictly enforce the law against their fellow citizens. On the other hand, lenient enforcement is influenced by regime fears that the strict application of tax laws could provide a trigger for regimethreatening popular mobilisation. These findings make a number of different contributions to the literatures on taxation in developing countries, everyday governance and the enforcement of laws, as well as Middle East political science. Most crucially however, my research shows that both distrust and normative-ideational factors have to be taken seriously not only when it comes to explaining the willingness of taxpayer to pay, but also the willingness of tax collectors to collect.

With the world's fourth-largest Muslim population, Bangladesh is an important case study in the exploration of what it means to be a 'secular' country with Islam as a state religion. One important mechanism through which to analyse the relationship between religion and the state is through the country's laws, and family laws are especially significant in that they represent the state's determination of which long-standing social and religious practices find their way into legislation as a representation of societal values. As with many other countries with significant Muslim populations, personal status legislation has remained relatively static in the years following independence, despite attempts at change. Inspired by studies of negotiations between state and civil society actors in bringing about changes in law, this study analyses the evolution of family laws for Muslims in Bangladesh, revealing a range of voices using such laws in their negotiations between competing notions of 'Islam' and 'secularism' and their role in governance. Using parliamentary and Supreme Court records, newspaper archives, expert interviews, and secondary literature, I show that there has been little change in personal status legislation beyond procedural simplification, and that the judiciary and policymakers have had a tendency to support freedom of religious practice except in family laws. This study explores why this is the case, and focuses on the discourse around the National Women Development Policy and its clause on property and inheritance as the greatest point of contention in enhancing women's rights in family laws.

Thesis advisor: Robert C. Bartlett
Thesis advisor: Nasser Behnegar
This dissertation presents the different accounts of the origin of law in Plato’s Laws and I seek to show how the question of the law’s origin relates to Plato’s political philosophy as a whole. For the early modern political philosophers, the concept of a pre-political “state of nature” plays a central role in their attempt to describe the sources and limits of legitimate political authority. The question of the origin and development of the city is given much less emphasis by the ancient philosophers and it is not clear how their opinions about this question relate to their understanding of politics. In Plato’s Laws, however, the question of whether law has a divine, natural, or conventional origin is at the center of the Athenian Stranger’s inquiry. I begin by arguing that the conventionalist view of law, religion, and morality as it is presented in Book X depends on a materialist natural science that the Athenian knows to be deficient. At the same time, the Athenian also knows that he does not possess demonstrative knowledge of the existence of providential gods. Because of his knowledge of his ignorance about these matters, he is compelled to consider the claim that certain laws have a divine origin. In order to evaluate these claims he turns the conversation toward the question of the purpose of law and shows that a divine law must be understood to perfect human beings by making them virtuous. I argue that the core of the Athenian’s confrontation with the claim that law has a divine origin is a dialectical inquiry into virtue and happiness. Although the Athenian does not carry out this inquiry in the conversation in the Laws itself, I argue that the results of such an inquiry are shown by his new beginning in Book III, which begins with the question of the origin of the regime. In Book III he breaks with the traditional claims about law’s divine origin and he offers his own account of the human origin of the city and its laws. Although the Athenian’s account is in some respects similar to that of the conventionalists, I argue that he departs from them in important respects due to his deeper understanding of the roots of our ignorance about the human good
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Political Science

The critique of the laws of war (and international law in general) coming out of America as the war on terror began seemed to have emerged as a response to the horror of 9/11 and the belief that the US was now engaged in a 'new paradigm' of warfare. However, the Bush administration's argument needs to be situated in a wider historical context. The source of the arguments against the post-Vietnam US military legal regime emerged well before 9/11 and can be traced to the end of the Cold War. These doctrines emerged out of the work of the 'new sovereigntists' and out of the frustrations guided by coalition warfare. The implications of the Bush administration's arguments are very significant for America's relationship with the laws of war, challenging the traditional division between jus ad bellum and jus in bello associated with the rise of the Westphalian system. As the world's most powerful army, and the most active army in the West, America's stance will have important implications as to how the laws of war are applied to future conflicts. Additionally, as the war on terror has generated new ethical dilemmas for the American military, the rebalancing of the priority between international law and the need for security has proved very problematic. Legal uncertainties and inconsistent policies have arguably resulted in several scandals, most notably the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The thesis will trace US thinking on the laws of war since 1945, noting in particular the impact of Vietnam, the 1991 Gulf War, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Sub-Saharan Africa entered the 1980s faced with a crisis of unprecedented proportions. The economies of the region which were already in decline by the late 1970s, were in danger of collapse. The severity of the crisis was also reflected in rising indebtedness, social decay and political instability. To tackle it, African leaders met at an extraordinary economic summit in Lagos in 1980 and adopted a common strategy which became known as the Lagos Plan of Action. The crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa is part of a general world-wide economic recession stemming from a period of economic decline in the leading industrial economies. As a result, the leading industrialised countries and international institutions designed strategies to tackle the crisis both at the global level and in the developing countries such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa. For Africa, the strategy adopted by the World Bank and the IMF was that of structural adjustment. The orthodox approach of the World Bank generated controversy as to its suitability to the African situation. This disagreement was a reflection of conflicting political interests as well as power relations both internationally, and within African states. This thesis analyses the impact of the politics of structural adjustment programmes in Africa, with special reference to Ghana and Nigeria between 1983-1990. The arguement is that orthodox structural adjustment has failed to reverse the decline in Africa largely because of continuing disagreement between African governments and international institutions over the content and direction of adjustment. The study is presented over eight chapters. The introductory chapter sets the agenda. Chapter one covers the international dimension of the African crisis, while chapter two looks at the internal dimension. Chapter three contains a detailed analysis of the international politics of structural adjustment. Chapters four and five discuss the adjustment programme in Ghana and its impact on the country's political economy. The Nigerian experience is similarly examined in chapters six and seven. The conclusion, chapter eight, addresses the issues behind the failure of orthodox adjustment in Africa and makes recommendations.

El presente trabajo de investigación realiza un análisis de la cobertura periodística de los diarios La República y El Comercio durante las elecciones municipales de Lima en el mes de septiembre del año 2018. Se ha considerado como parte de este análisis 10 notas informativas de ambos diarios, algunas a favor o en contra de determinado candidato, otras pretenden ser neutrales sin expresar su postura dominante. Asimismo, el motivo por el cual se realiza el presente trabajo es para que los jóvenes puedan informarse y conocer más a profundidad cómo es una campaña electoral municipal en Lima- Perú, mientras que el objetivo de la investigación, tal y como se ha mencionado, es analizar en qué consistió la cobertura periodística de los diarios La República y El Comercio durante las elecciones municipales de Lima en el mes de setiembre del año 2018. Asimismo, el fin de este trabajo periodístico también es que lo dicho a lo largo del trabajo pueda servir como contexto y guía a todo estudiante perdido en el mundo político. La metodología que se emplea en esta investigación es cualitativa, ya que describe y analiza los elementos expuestos en ambos medios escritos. Uno de los resultados es que Renzo Reggiardo y Jorge Muñoz, dos de los candidatos a la alcaldía de Lima, fueron más cubiertos y privilegiados por La República y El Comercio respectivamente. La conclusión principal es que el diario nacional El Comercio cubrió en mayor magnitud la campaña del candidato Jorge Muñoz en el mes de setiembre, mientras que el diario La República lo hizo con mayor notoriedad al postulante Renzo Reggiardo.
This research makes an analysis of media coverage of the daily La Republica and El Comercio during the municipal elections in Lima in September 2018. It has been considered as part of this analysis 10 briefing notes of both newspapers, some in favor or against a particular candidate, others pretend to be neutral without expressing its dominant position. Also, the reason why this work is done is for young people to learn and know more deeply what a municipal election campaign in Lima, Peru, while the target of the investigation, as mentioned, it is to analyze how media coverage consisted of the daily La Republica and El Comercio during the municipal elections in Lima in the month of September 2018. Likewise, the purpose of this journalistic work is also that what has been said throughout the work can serve as a context and guide for every student lost in the political world. The methodology used in this research is qualitative, since it describes and analyzes the elements outlined in both print media. One of the results is that Renzo Reggiardo and Jorge Muñoz, two of the candidates for mayor of Lima, were more covered and privileged by La Republica and El Comercio respectively. The main conclusion is that the national newspaper El Comercio covered in greater magnitude campaign candidate Jorge Muñoz in the month of September, while the daily La Republica did more notoriety to the applicant Renzo Reggiardo.
Trabajo de investigación

This thesis critically investigates patent protection of medicines in light of the threats posed by HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis epidemics to the citizens of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (hereinafter SSA or Africa). The thesis begins by outlining the systemic problems associated with the prevailing globalized patent regime and the regime's inability to promote access to life-saving medicines at affordable prices in poor regions such as SSA. The thesis then goes on to argue that for pharmaceutical patents to retain their relevance in SSA countries human development concepts must be integrated into global patent law- and policy-making. An integrative approach here implies developing additional public health and human development exceptions/limitations to the exercise of patent rights with the goal of scaling up access to medicines to treat epidemics in SSA. The interplay of the sub-themes of laws, institutions, practices, and politics as chief instruments in the planning and design of international norms on patents will bring to the fore the urgent quest for pharmaceutical patent reforms to accommodate the need for human development in countries in SSA.Further, I suggest that SSA countries adopt an evidenced-based approach to implementing the newly reconfigured global patent standards in domestic jurisdictions. This evidence-based approach would include mechanisms like local needs assessments and the use of empirical data to shape domestic patent law making endeavors. The approach also implies revising patent rules and policies with a pro-poor and pro-health emphasis so that medicines will be more affordable and accessible to the citizens of SSA countries. It also suggests considering the opinions of individuals and pro-access institutions in enacting crucial pieces of health-related statutes in SSA countries. The approach I propose in this thesis is sensitive to the public health needs of the citizens affected by epidemics, and to the imperative of building local manufacturing capabilities in pharmaceutical research and development in SSA.
Cette thèse examine de manière critique la protection des brevets médicamenteux à la lumière des menaces que représentent les épidémies du SIDA, de la malaria et de la tuberculose pour les citoyens des pays d'Afrique subsaharienne (ci-dessous, ASS). Tout d'abord, cette thèse souligne les problèmes systémiques associés au régime global de brevets actuel et à l'inaptitude de ce régime à promouvoir l'accès aux médicaments vitaux à des prix abordables dans les régions pauvres telles que l'ASS. Ensuite, la thèse défend que pour que les brevets pharmaceutiques conservent leur pertinence dans les pays de l'ASS, des concepts de développement humain doivent être intégrés au droit global des brevets – et à la prise de décision afférente. Une approche intégrée implique en ce cas de développer des exceptions/des limites additionnelles à l'exercice des droits liés aux brevets relatives à la sante publique et au développement humain, dans le but de maximiser l'accès aux médicaments afin de traiter les épidémies dans les pays de l'ASS. L'interaction des sous-thèmes du droit, des institutions, de la pratique et de la politique comme instruments de choix dans la planification et la conception des normes internationales sur les brevets mettra en valeur l'urgence de la quête de reformes des brevets pharmaceutiques afin d'accommoder le besoin de développement dans les pays de l'ASS. De plus, je suggère que les pays de l'ASS adoptent une approche de la mise en œuvre des standards de brevets internationaux nouvellement reconfigurés au sein de leurs juridictions domestiques fondée sur des données probantes. Cette approche fondée sur des données probantes inclurait des mécanismes tels que des évaluations des besoins locaux et l'utilisation de données empiriques afin de structurer les projets de loi sur les brevets domestiques. L'approche implique aussi de réviser les règles et les politiques liées aux brevets en mettant l'accent sur la défense des pauvres et de la santé afin que les médicaments soient plus abordables et accessibles pour les citoyens des pays de l'ASS. Elle suggère aussi de prendre en compte les opinions des individus et des institutions pro-accès lors de l'établissement de normes liées à la santé dans les pays de l'ASS. L'approche que je propose dans cette thèse est sensible aux besoins en santé publique des citoyens affectés par les épidémies, et à l'impératif de développer des capacités de fabrication locale dans le secteur de la recherche pharmaceutique et du développement dans l'ASS.

The findings in this case study are mainly based on material collected during a field trip with a fellow student to Laos in February-March 2005, which was sponsored by Sida through a Minor Field Study scholarship. The original interest was to study a political aid project (Governance and Administrative Reform Project Luang Prabang, GPAR LP) in a country like Laos with very complex preconditions such as one-party polity. In Laos my interest in evaluation of political aid grew mainly because I found out that the two donors in the project, Sida and the UNDP, had reached different conclusions in their respective evaluations of the project.

The main interest in this thesis has been to study how donors have evaluated a political aid project. The study shows that Sida and UNDP used, what in the literature usually is referred to as, Conventional evaluation as methodology when they conducted their evaluations of GPAR LP. The study also shows that the main reason for the different points of view that are expressed in the evaluations depend on a lack of dialogue and consensus, regarding for the project crucial concepts, rather than choice of evaluation methodology. This lack of mutual understanding between the agencies also has implications for the possibilities of the receiving part to create a better understanding and ownership of the project. If Sida and UNDP had chosen to do a mutual evaluation a lot could have been won in the form of time, money and less irritation between the involved parties.

The study finally shows that a different choice of evaluation methodology, in this case Participatory evaluation, could have had some positive effects mostly due to its supposedly democratic methods which are in line with the goals of the GPAR LP- project. One example here is the use of studies of the political context which would have been useful in this case. Another example is that the methodology could be useful to create a better understanding and ownership of the project through its participatory methods.

Uno de los ámbitos en los que es más evidente la desigualdad estructural entre hombres y mujeres es la política institucional, es decir, el gobierno colectivo. Las decisiones acerca de la conducción de las sociedades, de manera general, siguen estando en manos de un círculo muy cerrado de varones con una asignación racial, de clase y origen familiar particular. Este trabajono se sitúa en la pregunta de cómo una sociedad ubica a las mujeres en las posiciones más vulnerables y de mayor desventaja, ni tampoco de mostrar la exclusión sexista, racista y clasista que tiene lugar como una experiencia universal para todas las mujeres. La investigación se ubica en una veta mucho menos estudiada en la que se pueden encontrar personajes que la sociedad ha catalogado como mujeres que rompieron todas las expectativas sobre su clase y posición social y han llegado a ocupar algunos de los cargos más importantes y representativos de la política colombiana. Este trabajo indaga sobre las experiencias y los discursos de mujeres que han hecho carrera política y han ocupado cargos en el Congreso Nacional (en alguna de las dos Cámaras que lo componen) o que, por lo menos, han adelantado campañas políticas para ocupar una de esas curules. Este estudio profundiza en lo que algunas analistas han denominado “las élites discriminadas”, grupos conformados por individuos que llegan a ocupar posiciones que socialmente son reconocidas, valoradas y los principales medios de ascenso social, pero cuya llegada modifica poco una estructura general marcada por la exclusión y la opresión de sus congéneres. De acuerdo a trabajos realizados que sirven como antecedente de esta tesis, lo estudios interesados en constatar los mínimos porcentajes de mujeres electas para el Congreso tienen poco que decir o, por lo menos, aportan una mínima innovación en el argumento de la escasa presencia de mujeres en las élites políticas, por lo que la línea argumentativa tiende a limitarse a la estadística y los balances numéricos. Es una obviedad encontrar que pocas se candidatizan y, por supuesto, muy pocas son electas, por ello, este esfuerzo se enfoca en establecer qué pasa con aquellas mujeres que logran superar el margen de exclusión, que logran romper las barreras y entrar a ser parte de esa élite política. Este análisis desde la filosofía política se guio por el deseo de mostrar a las mujeres como actoras, como sujetas políticas que hacen parte de un régimen que no se puede explicar desde los comportamientos, acciones, cualidades o defectos de las mujeres a título individual sino a partir de desentrañar las lógicas que subyacen a un orden político, social y económico que deja fuera de la esfera de la toma de decisiones a más de la mitad de la población. Las mujeres sujetos de esta investigación participaron con sus relatos, sus voces y sus trayectorias como medios para poner de presente un régimen de poder que estructura la manera en que ellas se identifican como sujetos, como mujeres, como políticas.
The structural inequality between men and women is mostly evident in institutional policy, ie, the collective government. Decisions about rules societies, in general, remain in hands of males with a closed racial assignment, and a particular class and family background. This work does not lie in the question of how a society places women in vulnerable positions and most disadvantaged, nor to show the sexist, racist and classist exclusion occur as a universal experience for all women. The research is located in a field less studied in which you can find subjects that society has labeled as women who broke all expectations about their class and social position and have come to occupy some of the most important and representative offices of the Colombian politics. This paper explores the experiences and discourses of women who have made a political career and have held positions in Congress (in one of the two chambers) or, at least, have advanced political campaigns to fill one of those seats. This study focuses on what some analysts have called "elites discriminated" groups formed by individuals who come to occupy positions that are socially recognized, valued and the main means of social mobility, but whose arrival changed little of the overall structure, marked by exclusion and oppression of their peers. According to previous works that serve as background to this thesis, studies analyzing the percentages of women elected to Congress tend to be limited to the presentation of statistical and numerical balances. It is obvious that few women run for election and, of course, very few are elected, therefore this effort focuses on establishing what about those women who manage to overcome the current margin of exclusion, to break down barriers and to become part of the political elite. This analysis uses political philosophy in order to show women as political subjects, part of a regime that cannot be explained from the behaviors, actions, qualities or defects of individual women but from unraveling the logic underlying a political, social and economic order that keeps more than half the Colombian population outside from the sphere of political decision-making. Women`s stories, their voices and trajectories are used to expose a power`s scheme that stablishes the way that they identify themselves as individuals, as women, as politicians.

Modern parliaments are mostly compared to the top echelon of the society.The unfairness of the representation still holds true even where free, fair and periodic democratic elections are held. PWDs constitue the largest minority group accounting for 15.6% of the world's population. In Ethiopia approximately the same percentage of the population is disabled though nor fairly represented in the political system.
Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2011.
http://www.chr.up.ac.za/
nf2012
Centre for Human Rights
LLM

Orientador: Silvia Hunold Lara
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas
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Doutorado

This thesis attempts to examine the news coverage of South Africa’s legislative laws passed by the Parliament, by looking at the coverage of print media using qualitative content analysis. The thesis aims to understand the dominant messages being conveyed within the news texts and reader comments, specifically whose voice was represented, who was the intended audience and what the overall tone was. The researcher argues that taking editorial positions, the control of content and toning down of the issues is determined by journalists which they consider doing such as national interest. In this geo-political context of South Africa, the engagement of media in covering the issue of legislative laws places an important area of study. It is the media that reports events, responses, criticisms etc. in relation to the legislative laws, on the basis of which various actors and concerned people make their views about the event. As well, how reporting is done, shaped, framed; what sources have been used in news; what roles journalists play in the news coverage; and how ownership of media differs in news reporting and coverage very much reflects on whether or not and to what extent the newspapers respects legislative laws are interesting questions to be answered. This study is based on the case study of the coverage of New Age and The Times. Despite journalists being expected to serve the national interest of the state, differences can be observed in coverage, reporting and providing spaces to news and articles related to New Age and The Times. This hypothesis also supports the argument projected in the thesis that there are real ideological reasons why the media do not oppose the status quo, based on ideological lens grounded by the state and reporting system could rarely go against the establishments implying to the commitment to patriotism and to the nation which the government represents (Wicker, p. 19 cited in Malek and Wiegand).

This thesis examines Plato's Laws, offering a fresh consideration of the important differences between its three characters. These differences point to a key tension between the singular voice of law proper, and the multiple voices of Plato's philosophical project within the law. In turn, this tension provides both the opportunity and quandaries for that project, whose principle aim is the development of authentic human responsibility. This emerges especially in the penal law outlined in Book 9, which must provide for the punishment of criminals despite being grounded in the Athenian Stranger's maxim, that "no one is willingly unjust."
Cette thèse examine Les Lois de Platon, offrant une nouvelle perspective sur l'importance des différences entre les trois personnages. Ces différences pointent à une tension clé entre la voix singulière de la loi à proprement parler, et les voix multiples du projet philosophique de Platon à l'intérieur de la loi. À son tour, cette tension fournit non seulement l'opportunité mais aussi les dilemmes pour ce projet, qui a pour but principal le développement de la responsabilité humaine authentique. Ceci se dégage particulièrement dans le droit pénal délinéé au Livre 9, qui doit prévoir la punition des criminels malgré le fait d'être ancré dans la maxime de l'Athénien, que « personne n'est volontairement injuste ».

This thesis examines the politics of privacy protection, focusing on how privacy advocates contest a moral equivalence at the core of the 'problem of going dark' – a claim that privacy-enhancing technologies enable the evasion of criminal investigations. Using the analytical constructs of signification, subjectivation, and identification, the thesis argues that Australian privacy advocates contest this claim via the articulation of a civic duty to disrupt the relations of domination that enable 'morally arbitrary' surveillance powers. Overall, the thesis argues this property of 'moral arbitrariness' is important for clarifying the distinction between advocating privacy protection and enabling methods of criminal evasion.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006.
Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 176-185). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

This empirical study analyzes the political implications for presidential election outcomes that stem from varying felon disenfranchisement laws within the United States. In the past decade incarceration rates have drastically increased, consequently augmenting the disenfranchised population. This paper focuses on presidential election outcomes and state political party majorities in the election years 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012. I use demographic characteristics to calibrate assumptions for voter turnout and political party choice among the disenfranchised populations within each state. I then apply these voting populations to historical election outcomes and find that three state political party outcomes change, as well as the potential for a reversal in the 2000 presidential election. I also apply the estimated voting populations by state to an entirely Republican turnout and then to an entirely Democratic turnout to analyze the scope of the disenfranchised population and find that under these assumptions several states’ political party majorities and several election outcomes are reversed.

This thesis focuses on subnational corruption law enforcement in a new democracy: Indonesia. It seeks to understand temporal and spatial variation in corruption prosecutions in the post-Suharto era, and answer three core research questions: Why has the number of corruption cases steadily increased over the past twenty years? Why is there significant subnational variation in the investigation and prosecution of corruption? And why are some cases of local corruption investigated and prosecuted while others are ignored? The argument developed in the thesis consists of three inter-linked components: that corruption generates complex collective action problems for law enforcement; that ostensibly public law enforcement regimes in Indonesia are informally privatised public law enforcement regimes; and that, in the context of these hybrid regimes, the availability of resources and the formation of coalitions is critical to understanding when individuals and groups mobilise corruption laws at the subnational level. The project uses a mixed methods research strategy—combining qualitative case studies, formal game theoretic modelling, and quantitative regression analysis—to develop and provide evidence for the argument. The research strategy required twelve months of fieldwork in Indonesia. In total over one hundred interviews in Jakarta and Central Java were conducted, and a unique dataset of local corruption cases was coded for two additional provinces. The thesis's argument and methodological approach has implications for literature that spans the field of law and politics: the political economy of prosecution, theories of legal mobilisation, socio-legal studies, and studies of politics and power in contemporary Indonesia.

The recent financial crisis triggered an increasing demand for financial regulation to counteract the potential negative economic effects of the evermore complex operations and instruments available on financial markets. As a result, insider trading regulation counts amongst the relatively recent but particularly active regulation battles in Europe and overseas. Claims for more transparency and equitable securities markets proliferate, ranging from concerns about investor protection to global market stability. The internationalization of the world’s securities market has challenged traditional notions of regulation and enforcement. Considering that insider trading is currently forbidden all over Europe, this study follows a law and economics approach in identifying how this prohibition should be enforced. More precisely, the study investigates first whether criminal law is necessary under all circumstances to enforce insider trading; second, if it should be introduced at EU level. This study provides evidence of law and economics theoretical logic underlying the legal mechanisms that guide sanctioning and public enforcement of the insider trading prohibition by identifying optimal forms, natures and types of sanctions that effectively induce insider trading deterrence. The analysis further aims to reveal the economic rationality that drives the potential need for harmonization of criminal enforcement of insider trading laws within the European environment by proceeding to a comparative analysis of the current legislations of height selected Member States. This work also assesses the European Union’s most recent initiative through a critical analysis of the proposal for a Directive on criminal sanctions for Market Abuse. Based on the conclusions drawn from its close analysis, the study takes on the challenge of analyzing whether or not the actual European public enforcement of the laws prohibiting insider trading is coherent with the theoretical law and economics recommendations, and how these enforcement practices could be improved.

Research of process of forming of party system of Russia at the present stage acquires special relevance that is caused by changes of a political regime. Change of nature of a political regime, sharpening of personalistic, unicentric lines has caused search of a new format of party system which would minimize possibility of instability of a political regime and became the effective mechanism of maintenance of the status quo. Main goal of dissertation research is studying of forming of a tendency to a monotsentrichnost in development of party system of the modern Russian Federation. Hypotheses which have proved to be true have been formulated: forming of unicentric party system when using strategy of a party creation of the power and its positioning in political space I became reaction of political elite of Russia to a situation of democratic transit and manifestation of its pragmatical interests.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Marriage is regarded as one of the most important and universal cultural symbols of belonging, and incorporates a range of privileges that can be acquired in no other way. It is where relationships of desire, politics and economics are fused into personal and public rituals of socially sanctioned connection and inclusion. Yet it draws new boundaries of social inclusion and exclusion or stigmatisation. In this thesis I use narrative inquiry to investigate how seventeen Capetonian queer couples in committed relationships perceive and experience same-sex marriage, and ask whether the Civil Union Act has given them a greater sense of belonging. Sexuality is deeply politicised through gendered disciplinary regimes that impinge on people’s emotional and intimate lives. Sexual politics in South Africa today emerge from a complex history of the sycretisation of widely varying cultural and political discourses, beliefs and practices wrought through colonialism and post-colonial recuperation. The formal protection of lgbti-q identities in the post-apartheid South African Constitution is the outcome of strategic struggles for lgbti-q recognition as human rights. However, formal rights do not necessarily lead to social inclusion as they may not reflect extant cultural values, hence I use the thicker concept of ‘belonging’ as developed by Yuval-Davis to analyse everyday inclusion—a concept which enables me to understand ‘privatised’ and affective dimensions of citizenship shaped by contexts of care and interpersonal intimacy. Worldwide, marriage has long been a central institution in how societies regulate their social and physical reproduction; but marriage also confers privileges which can be accessed in no other way. As in the West, marriage equality was a key aim for lgbti-q struggles in South Africa. But feminists have critiqued marriage as an institution of gendered hierarchy and a site of profound oppression for women. It is at the centre of the private|public dichotomy, and symbolic of women’s differentiated citizenship through, inter alia, the ideology of ‘women as property’. Hence same-sex marriage is deeply politicised in how it upholds or challenges heteropatriarchy. By looking at how a diverse range of same-sex couples in committed relationships perceive and experience same-sex marriage in South Africa, I unravel the ambiguities and contradictions of marriage as a project of belonging for lesbians and gays. Marriage as a sexual politics of belonging is about how lesbian and gay citizens experience equality and dignity in their everyday lives—recognition of them as citizen-subjects, protection of their intimate relationships as well as their struggles for belonging. I engage with the complex outcomes of colonial conquest and post-colonial recuperation on African sexual identities, before turning to an understanding of queer citizenship. I show how belonging is a much thicker concept than citizenship because it accesses our affective relationships. I proceed to use Nira Yuval-Davis’s framework for analysing belonging. She divides belonging into two streams: facets of belonging relating to identities, social locations and political and ethical values; and a politics of belonging. Struggles for belonging are waged around boundaries of inclusions and exclusions, and only become visible when belonging is contested. Projects for belonging are complex and multi-layered negotiations around the boundaries of belonging. Using narrative inquiry, I present the stories of seventeen couples and six key informants to fashion a narrative about same-sex marriage as a project of belonging. I asked them about coming out, and how they met their partners. They also told me about their relationships with children and significant others. We talked about their perceptions and experiences of same-sex marriage, and their views of the Constitution and Civil Union Act. I also asked about their sense of safety as queers and what they thought needed to be done to help queers belong (more). The participants’ most significant sense of belonging derived from having their rights protected in the Constitution. Their sense of entitlement to be who they are, was the outcome of powerful struggles for recognition. The various couples had been in committed relationships for between 8 and 52 years. Some had made use of the immigration status of same-sex partners to be together, which meant they were instantly thrown into ‘marriage’-like situations. Some didn’t want to get married, but 10 couples were married. Except for two couples, all the couples who got married did it primarily for the tangible benefits associated with marriage: through marriage they established formal kinship relationships linked to property and commitment to care. They were generally not interested in the cultural trappings of ‘weddings’, and had modest and quiet ceremonies. All the married couples affirmed that the Act had given them a greater sense of belonging. While all the participants valued formal recognition through the Constitution, the lack of substantive equality needed to be addressed to ensure future belonging for lgbti-q. I concluded that same-sex marriages are powerful social institutions, capable of either upholding heteropatriarchies through homonormative performances, but also capable of subversions. A foundational challenge comes through disrupting the ‘women as property’ exchange embedded in most marital traditions.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die huwelik word beskou as een van die belangrikste en algemeenste kulturele simbole van samesyn, en behels ’n reeks voordele wat op geen ander manier toeganklik is nie. Die huwelik is die kern waar begeerte, politiek en ekonomie verenig in persoonlike en openbare instellings van gemeenskaplike aanvaarding en verbinding. Terselfdertyd teken dit ook nuwe grense van sosiale insluiting, uitsluiting of stigmatisering. In hierdie tesis ondersoek ek wat sewentien Kaapse queer paartjies in vaste verhoudings dink van gay huwelike en hoe hulle dit ondervind, en ek vra of die Civil Union Act hulle meer samesyn (belonging) laat voel. Seksualiteit is uiters polities omdat dissiplinêre sisteme mense se emosionele en intieme lewes reguleer. Seksuele politiek in die huidige Suid-Afrika spruit uit ’n gekompliseerde geskiedenis van ’n samevloeiing van verkillende kulturele en politiese diskoerse, gelowe en praktyke van kolonialisme en post-kolonialistiese herstel. Die formele beskerming van lgbti-q identiteite in die post-apartheid Grondwet van Suid-Afrika, is die uitkomste van strategiese stryde vir lgbti-q herkenning as menseregte. Nogtans het formele regte nie noodwendig gelei tot sosiale insluiting omdat hulle nie die bestaande kulturele waardes weerspieël nie, daarom gebruik ek die konsep van ‘samesyn’ soos ontwikkel deur Yuval-Davis om alledaagse insluiting te ontleed—’n konsep wat my in staat stel om die ‘private’ en emosionele dimensies van burgerskap, die kontekste van sorg en interpersoonlike intimiteit, te verstaan. Wêreldswyd is die huwelik ’n kerninstelling in die regulering van sosiale en fisiese voortplanting in gemeenskappe. Maar die huwelik verleen ook voorregte wat op geen ander manier verkrygbaar is nie. Soos in die Weste, is huweliks-gelykheid ’n sleutelpunt in stryde vir lgbti-q erkenning in Suid-Afrika. Maar feministe het kritiek gelewer teen die huwelik omdat hulle glo dis ’n terrein vir die instelling van geslagshiërargie en diepgaande onderdrukking van vroue. Dit is die spilpunt waarom die verdeling tussen privaat | openbaar draai, en is simbolies van vroue se gedifferensieerde burgerskap deur, onder andere, die ideologie van ‘vroue as besittings’. Dus is gay huwelike polities ingewortel in hoe hulle heteropatriargie onderskraag of aanvat. Deur te kyk hoe etlike Suid-Afrikaanse paartjies van dieselfde geslag hulle toegewyde verhoudings beskou en ondervind, ontrafel ek die raaisels en dubbelsinnighede van gay huwelike as ’n projek van samesyn vir lesbiërs en gays. Die huwelik as seksuele politiek van samesyn is hoe lesbiese en gay burgers in die alledaagse lewe hulle gelykheid en menswaardigheid beleef—dat hulle as burgers erken word, en dat hulle intieme verhoudings sowel as hulle stryde vir samesyn gekoester word. Ek ontrafel die kompleksiteit van Afrikane se seksualiteite deur die gevolge van koloniale verowering en post-koloniale herwinning aan te pak, voor ek na queer burgerskap kyk. Ek bewys dat samesyn ’n meer betekenisvolle begrip is as burgerskap omdat dit ook ons emosionele verhoudings kan aanspreek. Ek gebruik Nira Yuval-Davis se raamwerk vir die ontleding van samesyn. Sy deel dit in twee strome: fasette van samesyn verbonde aan identiteite, sosiale stand en politieke en etiese waardes; en die politiek van samesyn. Stryde oor samesyn word rondom grense van insluiting en uitsluiting gevoer, en word slegs sigbaar wanneer samesyn bevraagteken word. Projekte vir samesyn is ingewikkeld met veelvoudige onderhandelings rondom grense van in— of uitsluiting. Ek gebruik verhaalontleding om die stories van sewentien paartjies en ses sleutelinformante te omskep in ’n vertelling omtrent gay huwelike as ’n projek van samesyn. Ek het hulle gevra oor hoe hulle “uit die kas geklim” het, en hoe hulle hulle minnaars ontmoet het. Hulle het my ook vertel van hulle verhoudings met hulle kinders en belangrike mense in hulle lewens. Ons het gepraat oor hulle sienswyses oor, en ondervindings van, gay huwelike, en hulle sienings oor die Grondwet en Civil Union Act. Ek het ook uitgevra omtrent hoe veilig hulle voel as queers, en wat hulle dink gedoen moet word sodat queers (meer) samesyn kan ondervind. Die deelnemers se grootse gevoel van samesyn was as gevolg van hulle regte wat gekoester word deur die Grondwet. Hulle gevoel van geregtigheid om te wees wie hulle is, het gespruit uit ’n kragtige stryd vir erkenning. Die verskillende paartjies was tussen 8 en 52 jaar lank in vaste verhoudings. Party het gebruik gemaak van die immigrasie wetgewing vir gay minnaars om saam te bly, wat beteken het dat hulle hulle summier in ‘huwelik’-soortige verhoudings bevind het. Party wou nie trou nie, maar 10 paartjies het getrou. Behalwe twee paartjies, het al die paartjies gesê hulle het hoofsaaklik getrou om die tasbare voordele van huwelike te geniet: deur huwelike kon hulle formele verwantskappe skep met besittings en verpligtings tot sorg. Hulle was oor die algemeen nie geïnteresseerd in die kulturele vertoon van troues nie, en het beskeie en stil seremonies gehou. Al die getroude paartjies het gesê dat die Civil Union Act hulle ’n groter gevoel van samesyn gebring het. Alhoewel al die deelnemers die amptelike erkenning van die Grondwet waardeer het, het hulle gesê dat die gebrekkigheid aan substantiewe gelykheid aangespreek moet word om toekomstige samesyn vir gays te verseker. Ek het tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat gay huwelike kragtige gemeenskaplike instellings is wat heteropatriargieë kan onderskraag deur homonormatiewe gedrag, maar dat hulle ook ondermynend kan wees. ’n Fundamentele uitdaging is die moontlike ontwrigting van ‘vroue as besittings’ onderhandelings wat in meeste huwelikstradisies vasgelê is.

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of identifying and assessing degrees of influence of environmental conditions and actors which influenced the passage of House Bill 72 by the Texas legislature. The two methods used to collect this data were personal interviews of key actors in the legislative process and a questionnaire administered to all members of the 68th Texas legislature.