This dissertation consists of three essays on various aspects of development and the political economy of developing countries. The first two chapters share a focus on issues of political economy in South Asia, the first examining the influence of politics over public goods allocations, and the second the effects of ethno-religious politics on voter behavior, violence, and policy outcomes. The third chapter shares with the first two its geographic setting, being located in South Asia, but focuses on education, employing an RCT design to evaluate the efficacy of public-private partnerships in delivering high-quality primary education to remote communities. The first chapter examines the role of political parties in India's national government in shaping public goods allocations. Party preference is often regarded as important for shaping policy outcomes, but the empirical literature has yielded mixed results, with some research finding substantial party effects, and other research little to none. The discrepancies in estimated party effects are likely due to a combination of heterogeneous party characteristics and institutional context, as well as the the nature of political competition itself, with parties facing a trade-off in the promotion of their most preferred policies against the electoral incentive to cater to the median voter. To generate random random variation in party identity, I make use of the assassination of the Congress party leader, Rajiv Gandhi, in the midst of India's 1991 national elections, which had the effect of dramatically increasing the probability of Congress victory for a subset of constituencies. Using this variation, I find that representation by the ruling Congress party leads to a substantial increase in the provision of public goods favored by the poor, consistent with the party's expressed populist agenda. Among the salient changes are increases in the availability of drinking water and declines in infrastructure such as productive electrification and paved roads. I also estimate party effects using a regression discontinuity identification strategy, which generates variation in party identity for closely contested elections. Here I find little effect of Congress representation on public goods allocations. I argue that the reason for the differences between the results estimated with the two identification strategies is the importance of both the identity of the winning party, as well as the margin of victory. The second chapter examines the role of ethno-religious propaganda in generating support for political parties espousing ideologies of ethno-religious nationalism. A significant literature has shown the effects of political campaigns and media bias in influencing voter behavior. Ethnic identity often figures prominently in campaigns of voter mobilization, particularly in developing countries, where ethnic identities tend to be more salient, and state resources more subject to capture through power over the state. A large body of research has shown the ways in which, not only does ethnic diversity create an environment conducive to the ethnicization of political competition, but political competition itself contributes to the increased salience of ethnic identity.Prior to India's 1991 national elections, the leader of the Hindu-nationalist BJP political party toured northern India on a "pilgrimage" to the city of Ayodhya, holding numerous rallies along the way to promote the construction of a Hindu temple there. Causal identification of the campaign's effects comes through the incidental exposure of localities due to their lying along the road joining the cities which were the ultimate destinations of the campaign. The main result is that the campaign increased the BJP's vote share by 5-9 percentage points in visited constituencies, which translated to a 10-20 percentage points increase in the probability of victory. I also find that the campaign significantly increased the probability of riots, which were 9 percentage points more likely to occur in constituencies through which the campaign passed; and that the riots associated with the campaign increased the party's vote share by 3.5 percentage points. There is also evidence that the campaign increased the availability of local public goods, with the sub-district through which the campaign directly passed showing a 3-6 percentage points increase in a variety of public goods, such as electrification, drinking water, and primary schools. The third chapter, which is jointly authored with Leigh Linden, Felipe Barrera-Osorio, Dhushyanth Raju, and Matthew Hoover, examines the efficacy of public-private partnerships for delivering high-quality primary education to remote, and underserved, communities. Private entrepreneurs were enlisted to establish and operate primary schools throughout rural Sindh province in Pakistan, for which they were paid a per-child subsidy, with all local children between the ages of 5 and 9 allowed tuition-free enrollment. To address potential sources of endogeneity, the intervention was designed as a randomized control trial (RCT): 263 villages were identified as qualifying for the program, of which 200 were randomly assigned a school. In addition, half of the treatment villages were assigned a subsidy scheme whereby entrepreneurs were paid slightly more for girls than boys. The program proved remarkably effective, with enrollment increasing by 30-50 percentage points. Child test scores also improved considerably, with children in treatment villages scoring 0.67 standard deviations higher on administered exams. Interestingly, there was no differential effect on female enrollment for either subsidy scheme, which we attribute to the lack of a pre-existing gender gap in enrollment.

Objective: Stavudine is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) that is used in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections. Stavudine exhibits polymorphism and various polymorphic forms of stavudine are described in the literature, however the available information on these solid states, at the start and during this study, was limited. This study was conducted in order to (1) generate supplementary and/or possibly new information on the physicochemical properties of the various polymorphs of stavudine, (2) to possibly prepare and characterise a new polymorphic form of stavudine, (3) to determine and compare the dissolution behaviour of the stavudine polymorphs and (4) to investigate the possibility of applying analytical techniques to quantify the stavudine polymorphs in solid state mixtures. Methods: Various characterisation methods were used to determine the physicochemical properties of the polymorphic forms of stavudine, including X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD); variable temperature X-ray powder diffraction (VT-XRPD); diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS); differential scanning calorimetry (DSC); thermogravimetric analysis (TGA); polarising optical microscopy; hot-stage microscopy (HSM); scanning electron microscopy (SEM); as well as Karl Fischer (KF) analysis. The dissolution behaviour of the various polymorphic forms of stavudine, that were prepared during this study, was also determined, whilst quantitative XRPD and DRIFTS methods were developed for the quantitative study. Results: Polymorphic form I and form II of stavudine were prepared by recrystallisation of stavudine raw material from various solvents, whereas form Ill (hydrate) and the N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvate of stavudine were recrystallised from water and NMP respectively. The results generated from the VT-XRPD analyses of form I and form II demonstrated that these solid states are monotropically related (supportive of the findings of Mirmehrabi et al. (2006:141)), and that form I and II do not interconvert to one another. The hydrate of stavudine was not observed to convert to polymorphic form I upon heating, as was determined by Gandhi et al. (2000:228). However, VT-XRPD analysis of form Ill and the NMP solvate showed that upon heating, both these pseudopolymorphs interconvert to form a polymorphic mixture consisting of form I and II. A glassy (amorphous) form of stavudine that was previously not described in the available literature was also prepared and characterised during this study. Dissolution testing of polymorphic form I, form II, the glassy (amorphous) stavudine and the form 1/11 mixture of stavudine revealed that a greater amount of the glassy stavudine dissolved within one minute compared to the other polymorphic forms. A comparison of the dissolution profiles, based on the requirements of the Medicines Control Council of South Africa, indicated that the profiles of form I and form II, form I and the glassy stavudine, and form I and the form 1/11 mixture are similar. Two different methods (based on the analytical techniques of XRPD and DRIFTS) were developed to quantify the amount of form I and form II of stavudine in solid state mixtures. Each method was validated, and the results indicated that the quantitative DRIFTS method showed the greatest agreement between the experimental and theoretical polymorphic content. Preferred orientation was assumed to be the reason for the deviation of the quantitative XRPD results, and it was suggested that this might be corrected by background subtraction, Ka2 stripping and smoothing of the X-ray diffraction peaks. A test sample with an unknown concentration was analysed using both methods, and the comparison between the XRPD and DRIFTS results revealed that the DRIFTS method might be more accurate when compared with the XRPD method. Conclusion: Stavudine exhibits polymorphism and this study confirmed that the physicochemical properties of the various polymorphs differ. A glassy (amorphous) form of stavudine was, according to available literature, prepared and characterised for the first time during this study. Two methods for quantifying the amount of form I and form II of stavudine in mixtures comprising these two polymorphs were successfully developed and tested. The DRIFTS method may have generated the more accurate results, since it shows the best correlation between the experimental and theoretical results. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Pharmaceutics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The aim of this study was to examine the role of distance education in providing access to quality postgraduate education in Ethiopia, using the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) as a case study. It draws on the development of distance education and it further explores the distance education programme delivery system in Ethiopia on the postgraduate level. In addition, the study explores the policy gap between conventional and distance education in relation to international postgraduate distance education. The study, specifically, focuses on the Master of Arts in Rural Development (MARD) programme offered by IGNOU in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in terms of the opportunities it provides for alternative access to postgraduate education. It also explores the quality and quality assurance strategies employed in distance education. Two instruments were used to gather relevant data, namely: interviews and document analysis. The structured interviews were conducted with MARD graduates and current students at IGNOU in 2012. Other semi-structured and structured interviews were conducted with the dean and department head, programme coordinator, tutors, the institution‘s top-level managers, the course and materials dispatching officer and administrator as well as with policy-makers at the Ministry of Education (MoE). Furthermore, interviews were conducted with higher education experts and other MoE senior officials in foreign relations and those involved in cross-border private higher institutions. Senior officials from the Higher Education Relevance and Quality Agency (HERQA) were also interviewed, such as the deputy director and senior officials who are responsible for quality audit and accreditation for both private and public higher education as well as the external quality auditors. A total sample size of thirty respondents participated in the study and the respondents were purposefully selected from diverse areas. The data gathered, using a qualitative method, was analysed. The selected relevant documents for the study were also thoroughly analysed and agreed with the interview findings. The study established that distance education has the potential to contribute significantly to the provision of higher education in Ethiopia. As the main findings of the study revealed, there is recognition of the MARD programme by the participants, especially the graduates in terms of the fulfilment of certain quality elements which is largely due to the promotion they received after the completion of the programme. The MoE participants indicated an acceptance of IGNOU in terms of it increasing access to higher education, even though it seems to be unrealistic to state that the quality of postgraduate distance education at IGNOU at this level is of the highest standard. Nevertheless, the quality indicators or elements at IGNOU regarding student support services and the quality of course materials and assessment methods are clear evidence that indicate that IGNOU is addressing the issues of quality enhancement and improvement. There are, however, a number of factors which can affect the realisation of the potential of distance education programmes in Ethiopia. These are considered in terms of the operations of international providers of postgraduate studies and their role in meeting the increasing demand for quality human resource development in the country. In view of the findings and provided that the necessary conditions are met, it is possible to provide postgraduate studies in distance education programmes in Ethiopia in an efficient and successful manner. This requires careful planning and the alignment of the policy framework with the conventional system of higher education. The study further reveals a range of strengths and weaknesses in the postgraduate level distance education programmes offered by international providers and by IGNOU, in particular. The main areas of emphasis include the national education policy and its implications for distance education development and the entire institutional and pedagogic system of the cross-border institution; the focus of which includes course material development; the provision of various student support services; as well as the integration of ICT and assessment and evaluation methods. In the light of the above factors the study also identifies some strategies that can be used to develop and increase the effectiveness of these programmes. A significant strategy identified in this study recommends the need to decentralise services into different regional administrative centres. There is, therefore, a need to have comprehensively stocked libraries and quality student support services at the regional centres with adequate facilities for distance students including services, such as ICT, access to reference materials and counselling. Frameworks for assuring quality in open and distance learning, identified by Latchem and Jung in Asian Open and Distance Learning universities (ODL) (2007) and Lockhart and Lacy (2002) and an Assessment model used in the United States‘ distance education context were adopted for the purpose of analysis in this study. Latchem and Jung (2007) examine the various quality assurance approaches employed in Asian Open and Distance Learning universities (ODL). They make suggestions on how to achieve a culture of quality in distance education which is relevant in the context of developing countries, such as Ethiopia. The following three quality indicators were used as tools of analysis: coherence, efficiency and the impact of distance education. These indicators are identified by Perraton (2000:199) and are drawn from the quality criteria specific to distance education. They were adopted as a framework that could be applied to quality distance education in responding to human resource development in Ethiopia. The study reveals that access to postgraduate studies in the conventional face-to-face system in Ethiopia is still a problem for some students and workers. Therefore, it is recommended that international postgraduate distance education providers should collaborate with local private and public contact higher education institutions in order to provide alternative access to higher education via the distance education mode. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Education Management and Policy Studies / PhD / Unrestricted

Background: Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASPs) have been promoted to optimize antimicrobial usage and patient outcomes, and to reduce the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant organisms. However, the best strategies for an ASP are not definitively established and are likely to vary based on local culture, policy, and routine clinical practice, and probably limited resources in middle-income countries. The aim of this study is to evaluate structures and resources of antimicrobial stewardship teams (ASTs) in surgical departments from different regions of the world. Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted in 2016 on 173 physicians who participated in the AGORA (Antimicrobials: A Global Alliance for Optimizing their Rational Use in Intra-Abdominal Infections) project and on 658 international experts in the fields of ASPs, infection control, and infections in surgery. Results: The response rate was 19.4%. One hundred fifty-six (98.7%) participants stated their hospital had a multidisciplinary AST. The median number of physicians working inside the team was five [interquartile range 4-6]. An infectious disease specialist, a microbiologist and an infection control specialist were, respectively, present in 80.1, 76.3, and 67.9% of the ASTs. A surgeon was a component in 59.0% of cases and was significantly more likely to be present in university hospitals (89.5%, p < 0.05) compared to community teaching (83.3%) and community hospitals (66.7%). Protocols for pre-operative prophylaxis and for antimicrobial treatment of surgical infections were respectively implemented in 96.2 and 82.3% of the hospitals. The majority of the surgical departments implemented both persuasive and restrictive interventions (72.8%). The most common types of interventions in surgical departments were dissemination of educational materials (62.5%), expert approval (61.0%), audit and feedback (55.1%), educational outreach (53.7%), and compulsory order forms (51.5%). Conclusion: The survey showed a heterogeneous organization of ASPs worldwide, demonstrating the necessity of a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach in the battle against antimicrobial resistance in surgical infections, and the importance of educational efforts towards this goal.

Recent studies of the development of Indian politics in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have contested the notion of a giant clash between imperialism and nationalism in the sub-continent. Increasingly, these studies have focused on the regional variations of the Indian national movement, and high-lighted the contradictions within it. Not only has the earlier vision of the unity of the movement tended to break down as a result. The very continuity and indeed existence of the movement has apparently been brought into question. Yet the strength of something perceived as a nationalist movement by large numbers of contemporary observers, official and non-official, has been undoubted. To meet this difficulty, historians have sought to re-introduce by new methods some element of continuity and permanence into their concept of the Indian nationalist movement. An important suggestion has been that the links between different levels of politics, different regions and different interests were provided by the formal political structure imposed on the country by the British. Constitutional development, then, accounts for an on-going national movement, and changes in the constitutional set-up explain changes in the intensity, scale and form of the nationalist struggle. One problem with these studies has been the almost invariable concentration on 'elites' and the leadership. Differences among nationalist leaders have been taken as indicative of the contradictions within the nationalist movement. Links between leaders have appeared as nationalist links. 'Followers', it has generally been assumed, acted simply in accordance with the wishes of their leaders. The present thesis concentrates much more on the relationship between leaders and followers in the national movement. It investigates the means of communication between them, the barriers and the contradictions, and tries to assess the way in which leaders and followers influenced one another and 'followers' occasionally became leaders in their own right. An attempt is also made to explain the continuity of the national movement, in terms not only of the changing constitutional structure, but also of the permanent organisational base of the movement and the independent power that nationalist propaganda, symbols and slogans - broadly speaking, the nationalist 'ideology' - came to have. Finally, the thesis examines how the method and manner of nationalist propaganda, as well as the institutions and style of British rule, tended to divide sections of the Indian 'nation' from one another, and how the Congress leadership responded when these divisions assumed dangerous proportions. The striking fact is that as the Congress-led movement for freedom advanced to a position of enormous strength, its weaknesses also became more obvious. The Introduction sets out this problem in the case of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, (U.P.), an area noted for its prominence in the national movement after the First World War. It shows how by the early 1930's the Congress was recognised as the strongest and most organised party in the province, and one that constituted a real threat to the position of the Government. Yet this party had the active support neither of the Muslim community in general nor of the mass of the poor in town and country. The chapters that follow seek to explain the genesis of this apparently paradoxical position. Chapter 2 examines the organisational base of the Congress movement in the 192O's and early 193O's. It is suggested that in the years immediately after World War I a sound base was secured, through the presence of a hard core of permanent workers in the organisation, financial support from business, industrial and other sympathetic groups, and the work of 'national' educational and other institutions which provided new recruits for nationalist activity. The weakness of the organisation is seen in its failure to make any direct provision for the poorer sections of Indian society. Some attempt was made to remedy this situation in the last years of the period under study, but it is argued that these were piecemeal and limited efforts which did not go very far. Chapter 3 elaborates the very broad, nationalist appeal made by the Congress, the agencies it used and the effects of its endeavours. It is shown that personal contact, acts of 'revolutionary terrorism' and the press, all performed valuable propaganda for the nationalist cause. Racial and religious elements in the Congress' propaganda had widespread influence. There was room also for appeals on specific economic issues within the general, nationalist approach of the Congress. Where the Congress approach confronted major problems was at points where parts of its appeal brought different sections of the society into clash with one another. The remaining chapters examine the limitations that this, and the Congress' refusal to face the problem squarely, imposed on the movement as a whole. Chapter 4 makes a case-study of pppular agitation during the civil disobedience campaign in two very different U.P. districts, one in Agra and the other in Oudh. This indicates how the Congress encouraged popular agitation and yet tried to keep it under strict control. The chapter argues that the Congress attempt to maintain the broadest possible front in its anti-imperialist struggle misfired at this point. Large numbers of peasants, extremely distressed on account of the conditions created by the Depression and agitated at the relentless efforts of the Government and the landlords to extract their dues, strained at the leash that Congress leaders had tied on them regarding the manner of their protest. Friction between the two was especially marked when the Congress withdrew the 'no-tax'/'no-rent' campaign after the Gandhi-Irwin agreement of March 1931. Ultimately, the chapter suggests, the obvious distress of large sections of the peasantry and the independent actions of angry tenants led the Congress to adopt a more militant position, but before then the hesitations of the leadership had caused a substantial loss of support for civil disobedience. Chapter 5 turns to the problem of the alienation of the Muslims from the national movement, a fact that was clear at least in the U.P. by the time of the civil disobedience movement, fhe importance of the style of British rule, and of the nature of electoral arrangements, is noted. But the chapter is concerned more with the manner in which sectional appeals, adopted for short-term electoral or agitational purposes, contributed to the growth of communal antagonism. The importance of communal tension on the ground in the development of a separate Muslim politics is emphasized. By the end of the 192O's, it is suggested, general communal suspicion had made it difficult for Hindu and Muslim leaders to work together, and subsequent attempts by Congress (Hindu) leaders to appeal to the Muslim 'masses' over the heads of Muslim leaders only tended to close Muslim ranks further. A central theme of the thesis is that the general nationalist appeal of the Congress proved a source both of strength and of weakness for the movement. Aggressive anti- British propaganda gave rise to the widespread view of the Raj as enemy and oppressor. Racial clashes between Government forces and nationalist deroonstrators proved particularly important in arousing anti-British feeling among very diverse groups and people. In addition, the Congress after 192O acquired the image of the 'poor man's party'. It is seen, however, that nationalist symbols and slogans, which were widely accepted, had vary different meanings for different people. The extension of a 'national', or at least an anti-British consciousness to social groups which had been unaffected earlier led to Increasing conflicts of interest within the nationalist camp.

碩士 / 玄奘大學 / 法律學系碩士班 / 100 / Many of today's social movements make use of the argument of the supremacy of human rights, without asking whether the assumption of the supremacy of human rights is right or wrong. This problem is the starting point of the entire thesis and its subsequent research. When we look at legal academic community and its discourse, we find the concept of the supremacy of human rights hardly ever mentioned. So we have to reflect upon the question, whether this is a dormant legal concept or whether it is just an emotional mass slogan. First, the thesis reflects upon the question where any supremacy of human rights might come from. In order to do so, we first have to characterize and understand the notion of human rights. When analyzing the definition of human rights, we find two rather distinct characteristics: first, human rights are understood as being unconditional. They hold regardless of an individual's life situation and circumstances. This is the understanding of human rights as “natural rights”. Second, because they are an unconditional “gift”, everybody should be treated in line with human rights. So general validity and moral obligation are to others are the most basic characteristics of human rights. In a next step, historical sources of human rights are discussed. Until the enlightenment, it was assumed that human rights are granted by heaven or – in a more secular version - by nature. Therefore they are called natural rights. So when we further deplore, what people mean when they say rights are granted by heaven, it becomes obvious that human rights have to do something with religion. So we arrive at the relationship between religion and the law: (1) from a secular point of view, a common belief will result in common values of a given group; (2) regardless of regional or particular religious beliefs, it is widely believed that there is a divine world order; (3) if there is a word of God(s), it ought to be more authoritative than any secular discourse. Natural law, although having religious roots, discusses matters of justice, not a religious truth or eternal life; therefore it does not teach people to become saints, but merely asks for a kind of ‘good human’. Since this moral level is applicable to the general public, it possesses common features and universal validity. Natural law is defined as natural justice, which is supposed to be an order that is inherent in nature like any physical law. In such a notion, morality and law sometimes have no distinct border. Religion puts forward moral ethics, with the ultimate goal of morality being ultimate perfection. However, in order to achieve that, natural law just asks for justice that arises when a person is trying to be a good person, not a saint. Therefore justice is part of a process of perfection, with natural law becoming a minimum standard of morality. The first documented natural law is the Ten Commandments. Long time later, Thomas Aquinas established a system of law, based upon a Christian understanding of religion. His system includes categories such as eternal law, natural law, divine law, and human law. After having discussed the notions of “heaven” and of rights bestowed by heaven, the thesis introduces important representatives of the natural law school and explains the development of the notion of natural rights. In the line of thought that runs from Hobbes, Rousseau, Locke, Burke, to Fichte, we see how natural rights evolve from a subsidiary concept and turn out to be an independent concept. In the concept of natural law, justice is created by God, therefore people must comply with it, national legislation has to realize it. If justice is man-made, national legislation is the source of human rights, resulting in the possibility that human rights can be revoked by the state at any time. When looking at the relationship between natural law and positive law, positive law is supposed to realize natural law. So when positive law turns against natural law and becomes evil, it loses its quality of being law, therefore people have the right to deny it. So the supremacy of human rights stems from their quality as natural rights; because their source is natural law, they can be characterized as supra-national legal values. On a secular level we see a similar line of argument, since it is the people that form a state, not the state forming a people, sovereignty belongs to the people and the state depends on that. Within the realm of religion and morality, we find the notion of men being God's creatures, therefore they cannot resist their creator, but are obliged to live in accordance with divine moral ethics. Natural rights are a concept subordinate to natural law, therefore justice ranks above human rights. Since evil laws do not possess the quality of law, they are illegal, i.e. German Basic Law expressly bestows the right to resist illegal laws to the people. It thus reformulates as positive law, what natural law doctrine says. Similarly can we perceive of revolution as a right to abolish an oppressive and unjust regime. According to Mencius, King Zhou of Wu overturned the oppressive government of Shang. Although in institutional terms, this was a minister rebelling against his feudal lord, Mencius believed that King Zhou destroyed Shang in a move of justice, therefore setting a precedent for justification of people abolishing an unjust regime. However, the social costs of resistance and revolution are immense, even when they resort to forms of non-violent, non-cooperation resistance like Gandhi in India. It is therefore crucial, that in order to establish the goodness of the social order, positive law must apply self-discipline and restrict itself i.e. via constitutional review. By utilizing the concepts of human dignity and the supremacy of human rights, constitutional review can correct positive law that gets into conflict with natural law and natural rights.

Thesis (PhD (Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Unless Africans and their leaders make a concerted effort to rid themselves of the harmful legacy of colonial spirituality by adopting new motives for living, entering into new relationships with themselves on the plane of beneficial values, Africa will not be able to escape the social, environmental, political and economic afflictions that currently beset her. The colonial forces that burst into Africa with violence from minds bent on foreign conquest were primarily driven by an ethos of covetousness that has come to characterize the existing international order. Stealing, not only of natural resources has continued side by side with the denuding of the very souls of people – as has happened so successfully in Africa – of their humanity. There is evidence that human existence has been beleaguered and governed by an unviable microphysical framework (mindset and spirituality). In the midst of what appears to be a bewilderingly dynamic, turbulent and complex world, this spirituality looms large, gaining a stronghold resulting in disconnectedness among self-worshipping humans and their environment. We now live in a world governed by a distructive innate iniquity that produces overwhelming inequity among humans and unprecedented damage in the natural environment that sustains us. This study draws from and connects the evidence provided by ancient history with current macro-physical endeavours to demonstrate that this micro-physicality still holds sway, albeit under various manifestations. Having been in a state of war with itself and its living environment, humanity has reached what observers have acknowledged as a crossroads. In the violence that has engulfed all humans since time immemorial, as evidenced in the co-existence of poverty and affluence, pandemics driven by a wide variety of illnesses, huge disparities in wealth within and between national economies, energy and environmental depletion and degradation that have earned us the unprecedented crisis of global warming, this crossroads has made itself very present. A particular kind of mentality and spirituality has taken us to this point. It is a spirituality that is obviously devoid and incapable of producing beauty of harmony and communion among us irrespective of our diversity, whether in race, culture, knowledge discipline or geographic space. The macro-physical condition we are experiencing cannot be viewed in isolation from the spirituality that produced it. We are now in an unsustainable world that must have been the fruit of an unsustainable spirituality. The answers to our global dilemma must fundamentally be sought not in any new technologies that emanate from the same mindset, but in a renewed mind and in a different pattern of spirituality. This study probes the dominant world mindest that directed the globally pervasive Western civilization and reviews some major historical and cultural trends that, it argues, have brought humanity to the zenith of its “world-hunt”-culture. This is a “world- hunt” of self-mutilation that manifested itself in Europe, the near-east, Asia and Africa over more than four millennia ago. The deforestation, land degradation, oppression of the poor, hunger, hatred that drives terrorist attacks, climate changes that drive natural disasters and the loss of species, are all the unmistakable bitter fruit of such a culture. It is a culture characterized and propelled by the absence of what this study coins as “aesthetic relational values”. This dominant mindset has strewn all over our globe various rule-based governance institutions characterized by an ethos of central control, manipulating people’s lives for self-centred gain. Though many of these institutions come in various garbs of apparent benevolence, faith-based, trade-based, knowledge/science-based and political governance bodies, all are adherents of the same worldview that is firmly grounded in a merciless and destructive pantheistic, and nature-worship belief system traceable to ancient Egypt. Many of these institutions, today, publicly claim to be proponents of sustainable development, the eradication of poverty and peace among the nations of the world, yet they are still clinging, esoterically, to a cosmological perspective of nature-worship that glorifies self-worship and disregards the well-being of others. The study contrasts this dominant spirituality with the Afrocentric one based on a knowledge system that propounds a belief in a compassionate and merciful Creator-God who is the source of all nature, including the human family, as illustrated in the daily lives of amaMbo peoples whose geographic origins are traced to ancient Ethiopia. As the former continues to make a nonentity of the Creator-God, Africans, realizing the spiritual bankruptcy of a self-glorification ethic that has polarised the people and ravaged their continent through rule-based institutions, are returning, in large numbers, to this knowledge system of their ancient fathers on which their social institutions of shared and consensus-based decision-making and governance, from the basic social unit as the family, to national political relations, were founded. In several encounters these patterns of spiritualities have produced unsavoury outcomes. In the Cape’s more-than-a-century long, bitter and protracted encounter between a branch of amaMbo called amaXhosa, that began with the seventeenth century arrival of the Western “world-hunt” culture through the Calvinist Dutch East India Company traders, Africa and the entire world have been provided, simultaneously, with indisputable evidence of the destructiveness of self-indulgent living on the one hand and the efficacy, on the other, of a relational aesthetic as a viable alternative out of the humanitarian and environmental crises that confront our globe. Views and principles regarding the harmonious living of life on earth have been advocated by many a great leader since antiquity. They have been vindicated in the lives of ancient Israelite patriarchs such as Abraham and Moses, who led his kinsmen out of the Egyptian bondage that lasted over four centuries; in the life of Tolstoy, who chose to be excommunicated from a society that regarded these principles with disdain; to that of Gandhi, on whom Tolstoy was a tremendous influence, and effectively applied them to unshackle a whole nation from British subjugation; and Dostoevsky, Tolstoy’s compatriot, who first referred to these as “aesthetic views”. These relational principles were embedded in the lifestyle of ancient Israel, lived and advocated later by the Jewish Rabbi called Jesus, whose very own people chose to shamefully murder Him rather that accept His teachings. These principles were taught, practised and handed down to His followers to influence humanity as never before. In their ancient setting these principles clashed with those of the pagan lifestyle of Egypt, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, which culturally shaped the Western civilization that pervades our globe. The results were centuries of enslavements, dispossessions and persecutions. In the course of history pagan beliefs crept in and mingled with orthodox Jewish rites and worship, producing an adulterated Christianity and a plethora of what are known today as nature-based religions, which still uphold and advocate the individual gods to whom honour and worship is due rather than the Creator in the Hebrew and Afrocentric cosmologies. This study traces the effect of the absence of these relational values on the quality of the life of nations and their leaders. A remarkable trend and pattern characterized by self-mutilative living emerged among all such nations and people. Their efficacy and mutual beneficence, on the other hand, was unmistakable in societies such as that of amaXhosa, in their pre-colonial state in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa. As all of nature “groans” under the human self-mutilation caused by the impoverished spirituality in aesthetic relational values, this study argues that salvation lies in ibuyambo, the recalling of these under-appreciated relational values, and in ensuring the re-education of ourselves and our future leaders in them. The focus of the study is what these values are, the effect of their absence, how different they are to what are known as “social capital”, how they have been manifested and preserved in ancient African institutions such as the weekly memorial day of rest – the Sabbath in the creation narrative – in the lives of some individuals and people on our planet, particularly Africans and amaMbo, and the benefits they derived from respecting them. A vital observation in this study is that social systems that are driven by the motive of individual, corporate or national self-exaltation are invariably rooted in strife and discention. The conclusion is drawn that these under-appreciated relational values, aesthetic relational values, are not only a vital ingredient to the quest for and in all known facets of sustainability in development efforts, they hold the key to unlock the door to the mystery of “harmony” that has proven so elusive to individuals, families, communities, societies, nations and their governance systems. The study concludes, with Dostoevsky, that aesthetic relational values contain “a guarantee of tranquility” for all humanity and the natural environment that sustains them. The restoration, not only by all of Africa, of the lost spirituality of aesthetic relational values cherished by their ancient forebears, is key to the renewal of our world. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: under-appreciated relational values, and in ensuring the re-education of ourselves and our future leaders in them. The focus of the study is what these values are, the effect of their absence, how different they are to what are known as “social capital”, how they have been manifested and preserved in ancient African institutions such as the weekly memorial day of rest – the Sabbath in the creation narrative – in the lives of some individuals and people on our planet, particularly Africans and amaMbo, and the benefits they derived from respecting them. A vital observation in this study is that social systems that are driven by the motive of individual, corporate or national self-exaltation are invariably rooted in strife and discention. The conclusion is drawn that these under-appreciated relational values, aesthetic relational values, are not only a vital ingredient to the quest for and in all known facets of sustainability in development efforts, they hold the key to unlock the door to the mystery of “harmony” that has proven so elusive to individuals, families, communities, societies, nations and their governance systems. The study concludes, with Dostoevsky, that aesthetic relational values contain “a guarantee of tranquility” for all humanity and the natural environment that sustains them. The restoration, not only by all of Africa, of the lost spirituality of aesthetic relational values cherished by their ancient forebears, is key to the renewal of our world. op ons globale dilemma moet fundamenteel nie in enige nuwe tegnologieë gesoek word wat uit hierdie selfde geestesingesteldheid voortvloei nie, maar in ’n hernude sienswyse en in ’n ander spiritualiteitspatroon. Hierdie studie ondersoek die dominante wêreldingesteldheid wat die globaal omvattende Westerse beskawing gerig het en hersien ’n aantal belangrike historiese en kulturele neigings wat, volgens die argument, die mensdom tot by die toppunt van sy “wêreld-jag”-kultuur gebring het. Dit is ’n “wêreld-jag” van selfverminking wat sigself meer as vier millennia gelede in Europa, die Nabye Ooste, Asië en Afrika gemanifesteer het. Die ontbossing, grondagteruitgang, onderdrukking van die armes, hongersnood, haat wat terroriste-aanvalle aangedryf het en klimaatsveranderings, wat natuurrampe en die verlies van spesies laat toeneem het, is almal die onmiskenbare bitter vrugte van so ’n kultuur. Dit is ’n kultuur wat gekenmerk en voortgestu is deur die afwesigheid van wat hierdie studie “estetiese relasionele waardes” noem. Hierdie dominante ingesteldheid het verskeie reëlgebaseerde regeringsinstellings wat gekenmerk word deur ’n etos van sentrale beheer en die manipulering van mense se lewens vir selfgesentreerde gewin oor ons hele wêreld versprei. Hoewel baie van hierdie instellings in verskeie gewade van skynbare welwillendheid - geloofgebaseerde, handelsgebaseerde, kennis/wetenskapgebaseerde en politieke bestuursliggame - voordoen, is almal aanhangers van dieselfde wêreldbeskouing wat stewig in ’n genadelose en destruktiewe panteïstiese en natuuraanbidding-geloofstelsel gevestig is wat na antieke Egipte terugvoerbaar is. Baie van hierdie instellings maak vandag in die openbaar daarop aanspraak om voorstanders van volhoubare ontwikkeling, die uitwissing van armoede en vrede onder die nasies van die wêreld te wees, terwyl hulle nog, esoteries, vasklou aan ’n kosmologiese perspektief van natuuraanbidding wat selfverheerliking aanprys en die welsyn van ander verontagsaam. Die studie kontrasteer hierdie dominante spiritualiteit met die Afrosentriese siening wat op ’n kennissisteem gebaseer is, wat ’n geloof in ’n barmhartige en genadige Skeppergod voorstel wat die bron van alle natuur, met inbegrip van die menseras, is, soos blyk uit die daaglikse lewens van amaMbo-mense wie se geografiese oorsprong na antieke Ethiopië teruggevoer kan word. Terwyl die eersvdermelde steeds die niebestaan van die Skeppergod voorstaan, keer Afrikane – met die besef van die spirituele bankrotskap van ’n selfverheerlikende etiek wat mense gepolariseer het en hulle kontinent deur reëlgebaseerde instellings verniel het - in groot getalle terug na hierdie kennissisteem van hul voorvaders waarop hul sosiale instellings van gedeelde en konsensusgebaseerde besluitneming en regering, vanaf die basiese sosiale eenheid as die familie tot by nasionale politieke verhoudings¸ gevestig is. Hierdie patrone van spiritualiteite het in verskeie gevalle tot onaangename uitkomste gelei. In die Kaap se meer as ’n eeu lange, bittere en langdurige botsing tussen ’n tak van amaMbo bekend as amaXhosa, wat met die 17de-eeuse aankoms van die Westerse “wêreld-jag”-kultuur deur die Calvinistiese Nederlandse Oos-Indiese Kompanjie-handelaars begin het, is Afrika en die hele wêreld terselfdertyd voorsien van onbetwisbare bewys van die vernielsug van gemaksugtige lewe aan die een kant en, aan die ander kant, die doeltreffendheid van relasionele estetika as ’n lewensvatbare alternatief uit die humanitêre en omgewingskrisisse wat ons wêreld in die gesig staar. Sienswyses en beginsels omtrent ’n harmonieuse lewenswyse op aarde is al sedert die vroegste tyd deur vele groot leiers bepleit. Dit is gehandhaaf in die lewens van antieke Israelitiese patriage soos Abraham en Moses, wat sy stamverwante uit die Egiptiese slawerny van meer as vier eeue gelei het; in die lewe van Tolstoi, wat verkies het om verban te word uit ’n gemeenskap wat hierdie beginsels met minagting bejeën het; in dié van Gandhi, op wie Tolstoi ’n geweldige invloed gehad het, wat hierdie beginsels effektief toegepas het om ’n hele nasie van Britse onderwerping te bevry; en Dostojewski, Tolstoi se landgenoot, wat die eerste keer daarna as “estetiese sienswyses” verwys het. Hierdie relasionele beginsels is vasgelê in die lewenstyl van antieke Israel, en later uitgeleef en verkondig deur die Joodse Rabbi genaamd Jesus, wie se eie mense verkies het om Hom skandelik te vermoor eerder as om sy leringe te aanvaar. Hierdie beginsels is onderrig, beoefen en aan Sy volgelinge oorgedra om die mensdom te beïnvloed soos nog nooit tevore nie. Hierdie beginsels het in hulle antieke opset gebots met dié van die heidense lewenstyl van Egipte, Babilon, Medo-Persië, Griekeland en Rome, wat die Westerse beskawing wat oor die wêreld versprei is kultureel gevorm het. Die resultate was eeue van slawerny, onteienings en vervolgings. Met verloop van die geskiedenis het heidense gelowe ingesypel en met die Joodse rites en aanbidding vermeng, wat gelei het tot ’n verknoeide Christendom en ’n oorvloed van wat vandag as natuurgebaseerde gelowe bekend staan, wat steeds die individuele gode aanhang en verkondig aan wie eer en aanbidding toekom, eerder as die Skepper in die Hebreeuse en Afrosentriese kosmologieë. Hierdie studie belig die afwesigheid van hierdie relasionele waardes in die gehalte van die lewe van nasies en hulle leiers. ’n Merkwaardige verloop en patroon wat gekenmerk word deur ’n selfverminkende lewenswyse het by al hierdie nasies en mense te voorskyn getree. Hulle doeltreffendheid en wedersydse liefdadigheid is, aan die ander kant, onmiskenbaar in gemeenskappe soos dié van die amaXhosa, in hul voorkoloniale staat in die Oos-Kaapse streek van Suid-Afrika. Terwyl die hele natuur “kreun” onder die menslike selfverminking wat deur die verarmde spiritualiteit in estetiese relasionele waardes veroorsaak word, argumenteer hierdie studie dat die redding lê in ibuyambo, die herroeping van hierdie onderwaardeerde relasionele waardes, en deur seker te maak dat ons onsself en ons toekomstige leiers daarin heropvoed. Die studie konsentreer op wat hierdie waardes is, die uitwerking van die afwesigheid daarvan, hoe dit verskil van wat as “sosiale kapitaal” bekend staan, hoe dit in antieke Afrika-instellings soos die weeklikse gedenkdag van rus – die Sabbat in die skeppingsverhaal - gemanifesteer en bewaar is in die lewens van party individue en mense op ons planeet, veral Afrikane en amaMbo, en die voordele wat hulle trek uit die nakoming daarvan. ’n Belangrike waarneming in hierdie studie is dat sosiale stelsels wat deur die motief van individuele, korporatiewe of nasionale selfverheffing aangedryf word, sonder uitsondering aan onenigheid en verdeeldheid gekoppel is. Die gevolgtrekking word gemaak dat hierdie onderwaardeerde relasionele waardes, estetiese relasionele waardes, nie slegs ’n noodsaaklike onderdeel in die soeke na en in alle bekende fasette van volhoubaarheid in ontwikkelingspogings is nie, maar dat hulle die sleutel is tot die ontsluiting van die misterie van “harmonie” wat so ontwykend vir individue, families, gemeenskappe, samelewings, nasies en hul regeringstelsels geblyk het. Die studie kom, saam met Dostojewski, tot die gevolgtrekking dat estetiese relasionele waardes ’n “waarborg van kalmte” bevat vir die hele mensdom en die natuurlike omgewing wat ons onderhou. Die herstel deur meer as net die hele Afrika van die verlore spiritualiteit van estetiese relasionele waardes wat deur hulle antieke voorgeslagte gekoester is, is die sleutel tot die vernuwing van ons wêreld.

Many researchers have pointed out that the accumulation of strain energy in the Penninsular Indian Shield region may lead to earthquakes of significant magnitude(Srinivasan and Sreenivas, 1977; Valdiya, 1998; Purnachandra Rao, 1999; Seeber et al., 1999; Ramalingeswara Rao, 2000; Gangrade and Arora, 2000). However very few studies have been carried out to quantify the seismic hazard of the entire Pennisular Indian region. In the present study the seismic hazard evaluation of South Indian region (8.0° N - 20° N; 72° E - 88° E) was done using the deterministic and probabilistic seismic hazard approaches. Effects of two of the important geotechnical aspects of seismic hazard, site response and liquefaction, have also been evaluated and the results are presented in this work. The peak ground acceleration (PGA) at ground surface level was evaluated by considering the local site effects. The liquefaction potential index (LPI) and factor of safety against liquefaction wee evaluated based on performance based liquefaction potential evaluation method. The first step in the seismic hazard analysis is to compile the earthquake catalogue. Since a comprehensive catalogue was not available for the region, it was complied by collecting data from different national (Guaribidanur Array, Indian Meterorological Department (IMD), National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) Hyderabad and Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) Kalpakkam etc.) and international agencies (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), International Seismological Centre (ISC), United States Geological Survey (USGS) etc.). The collected data was in different magnitude scales and hence they were converted to a single magnitude scale. The magnitude scale which is chosen in this study is the moment magnitude scale, since it the most widely used and the most advanced scientific magnitude scale. The declustering of earthquake catalogue was due to remove the related events and the completeness of the catalogue was analysed using the method suggested by Stepp (1972). Based on the complete part of the catalogue the seismicity parameters were evaluated for the study area. Another important step in the seismic hazard analysis is the identification of vulnerable seismic sources. The different types of seismic sources considered are (i) linear sources (ii) point sources (ii) areal sources. The linear seismic sources were identified based on the seismotectonic atlas published by geological survey of India (SEISAT, 2000). The required pages of SEISAT (2000) were scanned and georeferenced. The declustered earthquake data was superimposed on this and the sources which were associated with earthquake magnitude of 4 and above were selected for further analysis. The point sources were selected using a method similar to the one adopted by Costa et.al. (1993) and Panza et al. (1999) and the areal sources were identified based on the method proposed by Frankel et al. (1995). In order to map the attenuation properties of the region more precisely, three attenuation relations, viz. Toto et al. (1997), Atkinson and Boore (2006) and Raghu Kanth and Iyengar (2007) were used in this study. The two types of uncertainties encountered in seismic hazard analysis are aleatory and epistemic. The uncertainty of the data is the cause of aleatory variability and it accounts for the randomness associated with the results given by a particular model. The incomplete knowledge in the predictive models causes the epistemic uncertainty (modeling uncertainty). The aleatory variability of the attenuation relations are taken into account in the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis by considering the standard deviation of the model error. The epistemic uncertainty is considered by multiple models for the evaluation of seismic hazard and combining them using a logic tree. Two different methodologies were used in the evaluation of seismic hazard, based on deterministic and probabilistic analysis. For the evaluation of peak horizontal acceleration (PHA) and spectral acceleration (Sa) values, a new set of programs were developed in MATLAB and the entire analysis was done using these programs. In the deterministic seismic hazard analysis (DSHA) two types of seismic sources, viz. linear and point sources, were considered and three attenuation relations were used. The study area was divided into small grids of size 0.1° x 0.1° (about 12000 grid points) and the PHA and Sa values were evaluated for the mean and 84th percentile values at the centre of each of the grid points. A logic tree approach, using two types of sources and three attenuation relations, was adopted for the evaluation of PHA and Sa values. Logic tree permits the use of alternative models in the hazard evaluation and appropriate weightages can be assigned to each model. By evaluating the 84th percentile values, the uncertainty in spectral acceleration values can also be considered (Krinitzky, 2002). The spatial variations of PHA and Sa values for entire South India are presented in this work. The DSHA method will not consider the uncertainties involved in the earthquake recurrence process, hypocentral distance and the attenuation properties. Hence the seismic hazard analysis was done based on the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA), and the evaluation of PHA and Sa values were done by considering the uncertainties involved in the earthquake occurrence process. The uncertainties in earthquake recurrence rate, hypocentral location and attenuation characteristic were considered in this study. For evaluating the seismicity parameters and the maximum expected earthquake magnitude (mmax) the study area was divided into different source zones. The division of study area was done based on the spatial variation of the seismicity parameters ‘a’ and ‘b’ and the mmax values were evaluated for each of these zones and these values were used in the analysis. Logic tree approach was adopted in the analysis and this permits the use of multiple models. Twelve different models (2 sources x 2 zones x 3 attenuation) were used in the analysis and based on the weightage for each of them; the final PHA and Sa values at bed rock level were evaluated. These values were evaluated for a grid size of 0.1° x 0.1° and the spatial variation of these values for return periods of 475 and 2500 years (10% and 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years) are presented in this work. Both the deterministic and probabilistic analyses highlighted that the seismic hazard is high at Koyna region. The PHA values obtained for Koyna, Bangalore and Ongole regions are higher than the values given by BIS-1893(2002). The values obtained for south western part of the study area, especially for parts of kerala are showing the PHA values less than what is provided in BIS-1893(2002). The 84th percentile values given DSHA can be taken as the upper bound PHA and Sa values for South India. The main geotechnical aspects of earthquake hazard are site response and seismic soil liquefaction. When the seismic waves travel from the bed rock through the overlying soil to the ground surface the PHA and Sa values will get changed. This amplification or de-amplification of the seismic waves depends on the type of the overlying soil. The assessment of site class can be done based on different site classification schemes. In the present work, the surface level peak ground acceleration (PGA) values were evaluated based on four different site classes suggested by NEHRP (BSSC, 2003) and the PGA values were developed for all the four site classes based on non-linear site amplification technique. Based on the geotechnical site investigation data, the site class can be determined and then the appropriate PGA and Sa values can be taken from the respective PGA maps. Response spectra were developed for the entire study area and the results obtained for three major cities are discussed here. Different methods are suggested by various codes to Smooth the response spectra. The smoothed design response spectra were developed for these cities based on the smoothing techniques given by NEHRP (BSSC, 2003), IS code (BIS-1893,2002) and Eurocode-8 (2003). A Comparison of the results obtained from these studies is also presented in this work. If the site class at any location in the study area is known, then the peak ground acceleration (PGA) values can be obtained from the respective map. This provides a simplified methodology for evaluating the PGA values for a vast area like South India. Since the surface level PGA values were evaluated for different site classes, the effects of surface topography and basin effects were not taken into account. The analysis of response spectra clearly indicates the variation of peak spectral acceleration values for different site classes and the variation of period of oscillation corresponding to maximum Sa values. The comparison of the smoothed design response spectra obtained using different codal provisions suggest the use of NEHRP(BSSC, 2003) provisions. The conventional liquefaction analysis method takes into account only one earthquake magnitude and ground acceleration values. In order to overcome this shortfall, a performance based probabilistic approach (Kramer and Mayfield, 2007) was adopted for the liquefaction potential evaluation in the present work. Based on this method, the factor of safety against liquefaction and the SPT values required to prevent liquefaction for return periods of 475 and 2500 years were evaluated for Bangalore city. This analysis was done based on the SPT data obtained from 450 boreholes across Bangalore. A new method to evaluate the liquefaction return period based on CPT values is proposed in this work. To validate the new method, an analysis was done for Bangalore by converting the SPT values to CPT values and then the results obtained were compared with the results obtained using SPT values. The factor of safety against liquefaction at different depths were integrated using liquefaction potential index (LPI) method for Bangalore. This was done by calculating the factor of safety values at different depths based on a performance based method and then the LPI values were evaluated. The entire liquefaction potential analysis and the evaluation of LPI values were done using a set of newly developed programs in MATLAB. Based on the above approaches it is possible to evaluate the SPT and CPT values required to prevent liquefaction for any given return period. An analysis was done to evaluate the SPT and CPT values required to prevent liquefaction for entire South India for return periods of 475 and 2500 years. The spatial variations of these values are presented in this work. The liquefaction potential analysis of Bangalore clearly indicates that majority of the area is safe against liquefaction. The liquefaction potential map developed for South India, based on both SPT and CPT values, will help hazard mitigation authorities to identify the liquefaction vulnerable area. This in turn will help in reducing the liquefaction hazard.

ABSTRACT This thesis constitutes a social history of Krugersdorp that examines how the town was made during a formative period of profound and rapid change from 1887 to 1923. This thesis will argue that the making of Krugersdorp was a complex process where society shaped the built environment and where changes in the built environment, in turn, influenced society. Ideological, political and economic rivalries caused changes in Krugersdorp’s urban society and these changes were, in turn, reflected in the built environment. The consequent changes in the town’s architecture, the layout and the distribution of buildings, influenced, in turn, how social groups interacted with one another. Thus, the residents and the built environment, the ‘flesh’ and the ‘stone’, were mutually influential. In the course of competing and co-operating with one another, certain interest groups, during specific periods, obtained the upper hand over the town and used this domination to shape Krugersdorp in their own interests. During the late 1880s and early 1890s, the town was made largely by white, English-speaking ‘pioneer’ miners who hailed from places as diverse as Cornwall and Australia as well as various South African mining towns such as Kimberley and Pilgrim’s Rest. These men formed part of a ‘crew culture’ of itinerant workers moving between mining centres across the British Empire, Southern Africa and United States. They were transient roughnecks who made Krugersdorp a fragile, temporary structure one-step ahead of a ghost town as well as a ‘Devil’s Dorp’ which was one of the most violent places in the Transvaal. The late 1890s were increasingly dominated by a white, English-speaking middle class whose members were determined to impose order and morality on the disorderly and immoral miners. A professional and commercial elite fraction from within this class dominated local political bodies, societies, sports clubs, charity organisations and the business community of Krugersdorp. They used their leadership positions in the local churches to build large stone structures in order to inspire the transient white miners to settle and raise families. They also employed their political and social dominance over the town, as well as their control over the local media, shortly after the turn of the century, to shape Krugersdorp, slowly but surely, into a stable town that was safe and pleasant to live in. During the 1890s, this same group became increasingly patriotic as expatriate Britons who openly clashed with the local Dutch-speaking white elite, that, in turn, became national chauvinist Transvaal Republicans. As ideological tensions increased after the Jameson Raid of 1896 and in the months leading up to the South African War of 1899-1902, this ideological tension between the white political elites was reflected semiotically in the built environment. These changes, in turn, influenced its residents by increasing the levels of hostility among them. After the War, the expatriate ‘British’ elite turned Krugersdorp into a ‘British Imperial’ town where Union Jacks, bunting and evergreens decorated the town on patriotic holidays and ‘jingo’ structures like the ‘Coronation Park’ were established. Within a few years, however, the town settled into a state of relative social harmony and co-operation that was reflected in the built environment in the form of new buildings that ‘spoke’ of co-operation such as the Wanderers Sports Grounds. These Sports Grounds - where people from both cultural groups would join the same sports teams - were laid out between the ‘jingoistic’ Coronation Park and the ‘Transvaal Republican’ Paardekraal Monument. As the white population settled down after the South African War and as ideological tensions lessened, so many miners settled down with their families or married and raised children. Large numbers of children changed the town’s demographical profile and began to shape the town in new ways. The presence of children required many changes in the built environment, especially in the form of new schools. Under Milner’s Anglicisation policy, Krugersdorp’s children were supposed to be indoctrinated into loyal British subjects by the schooling system and associated activities like the Boys’ Cadets and the Scouts. Over time, however, this ‘imperial project’ was challenged by a variety of interest groups, not least by parents and the children themselves. By the period 1905-6, a nascent ‘South Africanism’ arose instead and was reflected in changes in the school curriculum and the relative failure of the cadet and scouting movements. Indian residents who had made their way to the town as traders and hawkers since the late 1880s, also began to exercise an influence over the town by the turn of the century. White, English-speaking shopkeepers from the commercial elite attempted to isolate or ‘quarantine’ Indian shopkeepers and hawkers by associating them with disease. This tactic failed and a scheme to remove Indians to an ‘Asiatic Bazaar’ was thwarted by the determined resistance of the Indian residents. This was led by Mohandas Gandhi, who defied the Town Council that was dominated by their white commercial rivals. So effective was Indian resistance that by 1914 Indian businesses were entrenched in the central business district of the town. Krugersdorp during the period 1910 to 1920 was also shaped by African and Coloured residents, particularly women, who resisted attempts by the white Town Council to close down the Old Location and move them to a distant New Location or ‘Munsieville’, established in 1912. They did so because this would make it difficult for them to earn a living by working for white residents as domestic workers or by taking in laundry. Many of these women also made money by brewing and selling liquor illicitly to black miners and they would have found it difficult to do so in the New Location. The white elite built a ‘Model Location’ at Munsieville in order to attract black middle-class allies in their struggle against an increasingly radicalized black working class and lumpenproletariat. This plan was thwarted as most residents refused to move out of the Old Location. Apparently vengeful, the Town Council abandoned these plans and, in 1914, designed a new location at Randfontein that was meant to be a harsh, fenced-in ‘ghetto’. Surprisingly, many Old Location residents moved there despite its harsh features and continued to avoid the supposedly more attractive New Location. They apparently did so because the Randfontein Location was close to a railway station that linked the location residents to white residents and the black miners on nearby mines. The Town Council clashed with black women in the location throughout the year 1917, leading to the appointment of an Inquiry. At this Inquiry, the local black middle class openly sided with black working class women who tried to make a living selling liquor illicitly to black miners. Apparently learning from its mistakes, the Town Council then adopted a new form of location at Lewisham in 1920 that was less harsh than the Randfontein Location ‘ghetto’ but which also avoided the features of the ‘Model Location’ at Munsieville. This concession can be interpreted as a victory of African women who resisted the municipality’s plans for them and forced these changes. White female social reformers and activists also shaped Krugersdorp in the period after 1905 and particularly during the First World War. Their reformist activities reached a peak in 1916 where they dominated life in the town to the point where it was fast developing into a ‘gynopia’ or ‘women’s town’. These relatively young, mostly English-speaking, white females achieved reforms that promoted ‘social purity’ and temperance. They transformed the social life of the town in important ways by restricting white male expressions of sexuality and access to liquor. They also fought and won a struggle for the female municipal franchise and the right of women to stand as municipal candidates. All these reforms had important implications for Krugersdorp and influenced its built environment in certain ways. For example, female activists ensured that no liquor outlets were established in Burghershoop during the First World War. After 1916, however, a conservative backlash inspired by the need for a ‘War Effort’ had driven most of these women literally back into their homes and female social activism rapidly faded from public view. Their failure to sustain their reforms also had an influence upon Krugersdorp, for example, many new liquor outlets were established throughout Krugersdorp after 1916 and many reforms envisaged by female municipal candidates were not carried out until much later. White labourite political mobilization followed a remarkably similar trajectory and shaped the town of Krugersdorp in important ways, particularly during the First World War, reaching a peak in the years 1914-1916. Local white trade union and labourite leaders, particularly those from the South African Labour Party which was formed in 1909, began to shape Krugersdorp in terms of a vision of a white, working-class town. These changes included municipal socialist schemes that employed substantial numbers of white workers and policies such as site value taxation, Saturday Half-Holiday and free, secondary education. These policies were, however, never fully realized during the period under study. By 1917-8,labourite local politicians were on the retreat as the white commercial and professional elite, who organised themselves politically into a pro-business coterie of ‘Independents’, regained ascendancy. While labourites fought a vigorous rearguard action, their vision of a white, working-class town was never fully realized. Finally the white commercial and professional elite attempted to impose their vision of a legal town on the residents, particularly over the Indian residents and, in the process, isolate or drive out Indian shopkeepers from the town. A number of court cases were fought vigorously by the white and Indian commercial rivals which the latter won in most instances, including the famous Dadoo Limited v Krugersdorp Municipal Council, 1920. The white Town Council, dominated by white commercial and professional interests, nonetheless, regained some degree of control by the late 1920s and, after the 1922 Rand Revolt, had largely achieved their vision of a legal town, leading to a period of political quiescence and economic prosperity. Each of these struggles were ‘inscribed’, in turn, into the built environment, shaping its architecture, town planning, the position of its buildings and the nature of its monuments. Thus, this thesis contends that the making of Krugersdorp can be illuminated through an exploration of spatiality, an examination of the meaning of place and an investigation of the local, regional, national and the international influences on urban spaces. Krugersdorp was, in the end, made by all of its residents, through their interaction with one another, and with their built environment.

The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) is a mission concept which was proposed to ESA as M3 and M4 candidate in the framework of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument and the uniquely large field of view of its wide field monitor, LOFT will be able to study the behaviour of matter in extreme conditions such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions close to black holes and neutron stars and the supra-nuclear densities in the interiors of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, > 8m(2) effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolution, 1 degree collimated field of view) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM, 2-50 keV, 4 steradian field of view, 1 arcmin source location accuracy, 300 eV spectral resolution). The WFM is equipped with an on-board system for bright events (e. g., GRB) localization. The trigger time and position of these events are broadcast to the ground within 30 s from discovery. In this paper we present the current technical and programmatic status of the mission.