This thesis argues that landscapes are products of language, that the meaning of a landscape depends upon how it is presented and interpreted in the course of human communication. It is also argued that the field of rhetoric—as a body of theory, ideas, and methods for interpreting the persuasive use of language—can assist human geographers in their attempts to interpret landscapes. These positions are put to work in a study of the promotion of tourist landscapes by the British Columbia government. Two time periods are examined: first, presentations of landscape during the 1920s and 1930s, and second the 1970s and 1980s. These periods are similar in that they are periods of transition—periods in which the tourism industry underwent significant change. The first period is associated with the development of mass tourism, and specifically with the emergence of the state as a major player in the tourist industry. The second period concerns the recent development of postmodern (alternative environmental and cultural) tourism. Postmodern tourism is characterized by the rejection of mass tourism and by the quest for real places and experiences. The thesis uses both qualitative and quantitative (computer-assisted content analysis) methods to examine how the state has rhetorically responded to these changes in its presentations of landscape. Changes are found in both periods, but they are gradual and incomplete. It is consequently argued that the state’s character as an author limits its audience and the strategies it may use for presenting tourist landscapes. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

M.A. (Political Science) / Although an effective cure for tuberculosis exists, the incidence and mortality rate for TB in South Africa remain exceptionally high. The reason for this is both medical as well as sociopolitical. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the inter-action of various differential variables which influence the control of TB in this country. TB whilst caused by a germ, is adversely affected by socioeconomic deprivation, which in turn has distinct political connotations in South Africa. The dissertation therefore examines the inter-play of the historical and present influences of sociopolitical factors on the TB situation at present. Another important aspect of TB control is the State's efforts to control TB through the TB Control Programme (TBCP). This dissertation discusses the objectives of the TBCP and meaSures its effectivity against the socio-political context in which it functions. This is followed by a series of suggestions including an examination of the financial implications of these. A non-governmental organisation (NGO), SANTA ( The South African National TB Association) is a further actor in the control of TB. As specified delegates of the State for TB health education, it is essential that their role be examined both in terms of the TBCP as well as in terms of their own stated objectives for TB control. This includes an examination of the role of NGOs in complimenting the activities of the State and their believability in the community they claim to serve. Further proposals are put forward with regard to ways in which SANTA can improve their believability, relevance and effectivity within TB control in South Africa. Further influencing factors are the impact of AIDS and political violence on TB and the ability of the various actors to control TB. These two aspects are discussed briefly and constitute areas for further research. In addition it would be relevant for some form of cost-benefit analysis to be conducted, in order to extend the scope of the policy analysis conducted here.

How does respect for human rights affect the disbursement of food aid by US foreign policymakers? Scholars analyzing foreign aid generally look at only total economic aid, military aid or a combination of both. However, for a more nuanced understanding of human rights as a determinant of foreign aid, the discrete foreign aid programs must be examined. By disentangling component-programs from total aid, this analysis demonstrates how human rights influence policymakers by allowing them to distribute food aid to human rights abusing countries. Consequently, policymakers can promote strategic objectives with food aid, while legally restricted from distributing other aid. The primary theoretical argument, which links increasing human rights abuse with increasing food aid, is supported by results from a Heckman model. This procedure models the two-stage decision-making process where foreign policymakers first, select countries for aid and then, distribute aid to those selected.

Magister Economicae - MEcon / Land ownership, control and reform have been some of the most contentious issues in contemporary Zimbabwe. The land question has generated a lot of emotional debate and there is a general consensus that it represents a critical dimension to the crisis the country is going through. This thesis intended to offer some insights into the modus operandi and outcomes of land reform in the country. / South Africa

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / Public-private partnerships to provide services are a relatively new policy initiative in Mexico, and have shown contrasting results. This research has endeavored to analyze the possible determinants behind the failure, or the success, of the choice of a specific mode of service provision. By using contracting literature based on transaction costs, and looking specifically at the case of AGSAL, a joint venture established between Saltillo, a northern Mexican city, and INTERAGBAR, a private investor, for the provision of water, this study showed that characteristics of the transaction at stake. More specifically, it showed that specificity of the investments that support a given transaction, the unanticipated changes in circumstances surrounding an exchange, either from physical assets or its ownership rights, and the frequency and duration with which parties engage in the transaction. / South Africa

Orientador: Fernando Sarti / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-26T23:44:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JesusJunior_LeonardoBispo_D.pdf: 2689214 bytes, checksum: 8ff2e015c730c9cb454ff4a9b768ecd9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: A Petrobras é, indiscutivelmente, o grupo empresarial de maior relevância no Brasil em termos de investimentos diretos e indiretos. Porém, nos últimos anos, a delicada situação econômico-financeira da companhia, evidenciada na forte perda de valor no mercado acionário e na reduzida lucratividade, vem se acentuando e determinando o rebaixamento e a previsão de deterioração de suas métricas de crédito pelas agências de rating. Estas agências têm apontado como fatores determinantes para a referida situação o agressivo programa de investimentos da empresa e sua exposição à interferência política local, evidenciada no represamento dos preços dos produtos refinados e na exigência de cumprimento de metas de conteúdo local. As metas de conteúdo local nos critérios para seleção dos leilões de áreas de exploração e produção de petróleo e gás natural foram incorporadas devido à preocupação da ANP com o destino da indústria e dos fornecedores locais, após o fim do monopólio da Petrobras. Esses critérios se fizeram presentes desde o processo de licitação dos primeiros blocos exploratórios, na Rodada 1, em 1999, porém, é apenas na Rodada 4, em 2003, que a ANP fixa um nível mínimo de conteúdo local a ser observado pelo concessionário, na Fase de Exploração e na Etapa de Desenvolvimento. Considerando esse pano de fundo, o objetivo geral da tese é analisar por que a intervenção governamental, especificamente a política de conteúdo local implementada para o desenvolvimento da Indústria Para-Petrolífera brasileira, está na contramão da perspectiva de maximização de valor para os acionistas da Petrobras, mas não do escopo de atuação de uma empresa com a sua natureza jurídica. A principal conclusão é que a ineficiência gerada pelo direcionamento das aquisições da Petrobras, com a política de conteúdo local, é inconsistente com a dinâmica de acumulação das grandes corporações, num contexto de forte globalização financeira e produtiva em que impera a lógica curto prazista da maximização do valor para o acionista. Mas, não é inconsistente com o escopo de atuação de uma empresa com a natureza jurídica da Petrobras, cuja criação se justifica, apenas, pela necessidade de atender aos imperativos de segurança nacional ou a relevante interesse coletivo / Abstract: Petrobras is arguably the most relevant business group in Brazil in terms of direct and indirect investments. However, in recent years, the delicate financial position of the company, evidenced in the strong loss of value in the stock market and reduced profitability has been increasing and determining relegation and the prediction of deterioration of credit metrics for the rating agencies. These agencies have identified as crucial to the situation the aggressive investment program of the company and its exposure to local political interference, evidenced in damming the price of refined products and the requirement of targeted local content. The goals of local content on the criteria for selection of auctions areas of exploration and production of oil and gas is incorporated due to concern of the ANP about the fate of industry and local suppliers, with the end of Petrobras' monopoly. These criteria were present from the bidding process of the first exploratory blocks in Round 1, 1999, however, is only in Round 4, in 2003, the ANP sets a minimum level of local content to be noticed by the dealer in Exploration Phase and Development Phase. Considering this background, the overall aim of the thesis is to analyze why the government intervention, specifically the local content policy implemented for the development of national suppliers of goods and services to the oil and gas industry, is counter to the perspective of maximization shareholder value Petrobras, but not of the scope of operations of a company with its legal nature. The main conclusion is that the inefficiency generated by directing of the acquisitions of Petrobras, with local content policy is inconsistent with the dynamics of accumulation of large corporations in a context of strong productive and financial globalization, in which prevailing the short-term logic of maximization of shareholder value. But, is not inconsistent with the scope of activity of a company with the legal nature of Petrobras, whose creation is only justified by the need to meet the imperatives of national security or the relevant collective interest / Doutorado / Teoria Economica / Doutor em Ciências Econômicas

Bibliography: p. 273-293.

Thesis (M. A. ( Sociology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2014. / Land reform is one of the heavily contested issues the world over as reflected in the literature discussion. It is an indisputable fact that land is crucial for human survival across cultures, races, gender, and beliefs. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of land reform on poverty alleviation in Zimbabwe, Mwenezi district in Chikomati and Dungwe villages. The problem which was under investigation was, ‘why is poverty seemed not to be alleviated/reduced despite the era of land reform?’ The impact of land reform on poverty alleviation was pointed out. The respondents were selected through snowballing (one potential respondent leads to the other respondent) and the data was collected through focus group discussions. The analysis was done through thematic analysis. The research found out that land reform alone cannot alleviate the expected fraction of poverty in any country in general and Zimbabwe in particular. There is need for all sectors of the economy to join hands in order to alleviate poverty, for example, education, health, agriculture, finance, and many more. Swathes of land alone had proved that it is not enough to reduce poverty unless underpinned with other sectors. Rapid reforms are needed in social, economic, and political spheres in order for land reform programme to deliver positive results to the beneficiaries and the whole economy at large. Facts on the ground in Zimbabwe are that mere distribution of land cannot on its own alleviate poverty, but the fact remains that land reform is an irreplaceable arrow in poverty reduction.

What do people talk about when they talk about climate change? This dissertation sets out to answer this question by focusing on local understandings of climate change and the policy priorities that result from them in Miami. Through a historical study that spans from the 1920s to today and 88 hourlong interviews, I demonstrate that climate change is a historically contingent, contested, and localized concept defined by power relationships. Through a historical investigation of the narratives that connect environmental policies with segregation and efforts to displace Miami’s Black residents over more than 80 years, I show how historic understandings of race and the environment inform debates about what climate change means and what to do about it today. This investigation shows how Miami’s current response to climate change has been shaped by its history as a colonial city built on the maximization of land value and exclusionary planning and policies. I find that dominant understandings of climate change in Miami have been rooted in concern for the effects of sea level rise on property prices, directing policy money toward shoreline areas while continuing to encourage a building boom that is accelerating gentrification. This set of responses is not haphazard. As my research shows, it represents a continuation of local and international patterns of exploitation. In recent years, however, a coalition of activist groups mounted an unprecedented campaign to force the city to include social and environmental justice concerns in its policy agenda. This coalition mobilized Miami’s history of environmentally-justified urban removal as a key counternarrative to policies that have historically ignored the problems of low-income areas, especially in Miami’s historically Black neighborhoods, to demand a coordinated response to environmental and social vulnerability.

China is a leading producer of alternative energy in the present day, while much of its economic rise under the CCP in the late 20th century was driven by the successful development of domestic coal and gas resources in the 1960s and 70s. But the drive to secure autonomous sources of energy to propel economic development and protect national security well predates China’s transition to socialism at midcentury. This dissertation explores the emergence of technocratic state rule in 20th century China by investigating the development of a biofuel industry designed to ensure energy security during war with imperial Japan. During the early to mid-1930s, Chiang Kai-Shek’s KMT government began supporting scientific research on ethanol-based biofuel production as a means of preserving fuel supplies should Japanese forces successfully blockade supply routes into the country during wartime. As exactly this scenario came to pass in the late 1930s, a network of more than 100 private and state-run ethanol plants were constructed along new roadways spanning the country’s southwestern interior. By 1945, millions of gallons a year of ethanol-based “dongli jiujing” fueled the logistical chains of both Chinese and US troops stationed throughout the China theater. The fusion of statecraft and science manifested in the dongli jiujing program both points forward to state-led energy and heavy industrial development in the 1950s and 1960s under Mao’s CCP, and represents one of the top accomplishments of KMT agencies like the National Resources Commission, a powerful technocratic agency which held up the wartime biofuel industry as a paradigmatic example of successful state-led economic development. While scholarship on heavy industry in China often focuses on the latter half of the 20th century, this dissertation demonstrates that by the mid 1930s, the development of the biofuel industry welded political visions for a sovereign, industrially powerful China with the technical expertise of chemists and microbiologists at the National Bureau of Industrial Research (NBIR), a state funded institution for applied science research oriented at developing heavy industries. And it points out that many of the scientists involved in the dongli jiujing program would continue development work in fields like agricultural chemistry and the biochemical industry under the CCP. Engaging with and contributing to recent scholarship on the history of science and technology in Asia, “Mobilizing Microbes” also traces the global circulation of fermentation-related knowledge that informed NBIR attempts to harness microbial life for the industrial production of alcohol. And finally, it explores connections that brought together in unexpected ways the craft knowledge and practices of China’s domestic brewing industry with modernizing visions for a powerful, fully sovereign China propounded by scientists and statesmen as the midpoint of the 20th century drew near.