The thesis is dealing with prorogation and arbitration clauses in international trade, focusing on Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (Brussels I bis) and on the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. In particular, the thesis aims to describe the procedure of valid negotiation and the formation of clauses, including the analysis of possible interpretation issues. The common objective of the prorogation clauses as a choice of court agreements and arbitration clauses, is to determine who and where should have the jurisdiction to resolve any dispute arising between the parties and to reinforce their legal certainty. The outcome of the work is therefore to verify the hypothesis that the conclusion of such clauses really strengthens the legal certainty of the parties. Regarding the prorogation clauses, the theoretical level is supplemented by a practical insight into the whole issue in the form of an analysis of the Court of Justice of the European Union case law. Regarding arbitration clauses, the aim is to provide a certain international overview, to outline generally applicable principles and to point...

Thesis (M.Arch. (Prof.))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Architecture and Planning, 2012. / Society is moving through the Information Age1, a period summarised by advancing information technologies, a world economy, and a global culture, where an ephemeral network has expanded to stir and captivate our everyday lives. While the seemingly unimaginable nature and spatial qualities associated with this digital age continue to captivate our imaginations, one cannot ignore that electronic space has grounding in physical place; a consequence that sees minerals, energy, technology, and people coming together in real spaces to construct the backbone upon which today’s global information networks are built. In this instantaneous era, where spatial tensions are characteristic of widespread change, one need not stretch one’s imagination to see that people and cities are increasingly pushed to find new ways to retain their grasp on and compete within the circuits of globalising space. The shifting nature of urban geographies everywhere materialise not only from the capacity of networks to disperse but also integrate increasingly complex components of productivity throughout specific regions of the world, while hollowing out spaces of marginality in others. Those cities located within developing contexts, which live so precariously along a cusp, become frontiers for unimagined resourcefulness and experimentation, where people as infrastructure assemble with remarkable reach and efficiency to oscillate between the universal and particular (Simone, 1998:173-187). These trajectories shift our perception from city to borderland, where the urban imaginary converges on themes of exclusion and incorporation, marginality and experimentation. Our incessant lifestyles and fixations with technology, consumption, and obsolesce have reproduced volatile circumstances, where mountains of discarded electronic waste are dumped near marginal communities. These wastelands are far removed from the promises once held by this machinery – instead offering opportunities only to those willing to salvage precious metals in smouldering pits. By providing an interface that operates to alleviate the collision between these phenomena; the Open Public Trade Forum, a hybrid market place where a liberalised trade in metal weaves in and out between actual and virtual space, informal and formal activities, local and global networks, could be the first to explore the intersection between these traditionally exclusive sectors. Through rethinking existing economic activities and socio-spatial environments the market is to become a lithe public realm – an arena for altering perceptions – where established notions of trade fuse with progressive concepts of exchange and production in an exploration of 1 Information Age: is a period characterised by widespread electronic access to information through the use of computer technology (Encarta English Dictionary). 3 | P a g e programmatic relations and typological inventions. This is a dynamic space to be used as much for commerce and industry as social collectives, where a myriad of citizens are brought together under the auspices of exchange: to trade in mixed metals, to visualise, debate, and shift their dreams of urban futures, to experience chance encounters and excite unique social interactions. And in so doing distinguish a new public architecture – a pioneering metal market embedded between Johannesburg’s informal, informational and industrial landscapes.

I det allt mer digitala samhället, har olika samhällsaktörer implementerat digitala verktyg i sitt arbete. Däribland socialtjänsten, som samhällets yttersta skyddsnät och en minst sagt betydelsefull välfärdsaktör. Det relateras till syftet med denna kvalitativa fallstudie, som har varit att undersöka det sociala arbetets innehåll, på det webbaserade råd- och stödforumet Soctanter på nätet. Fallstudie har använts som forskningsstrategi och analysmetoden består i en tematisk analys. Studien tar avstamp i hermeneutiken och Zygmunt Baumans teori "liquid modernity", som har använts för analys av frågor och svar. Därutöver används begreppen makt och maktutövning, vilka har förankrats i Foucaults maktanalys. Studien visar att de som ställer frågor på forumet har olika relation till socialtjänsten. Vissa har en etablerad kontakt, andra har inte det och vissa ställer frågor åt någon annan. De frågor som ställs berör olika områden inom socialtjänsten, men även sådana som faller utanför. Utvecklingstrender har också visats, när det gäller frågorna som ställs. Däribland speglar dessa det aktuella samhällstillståndet som råder. Bland frågorna har också en trend angående anonymisering kunnat spåras. Ett annat resultat är att svaren som finns många gånger är generella samt att frågeställare ofta blir upplysta om rättigheter och skyldigheter. Därtill visas det att frågeställare har en syn på socialtjänsten som sakkunniga, oförstående och i vissa fall ett emotionellt stöd. Det är tydligt att det sociala arbetet befinner sig i en digitaliserad era. Vi har i den här studien kunnat konstatera att vidare forskning om onlinebaserat socialt arbete behövs.

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This paper has used a netnographic data collection and content analysis to analyze a thread on climate change on the Swedish debate forum Flashback Forum. Using theories on different forms of confirmation bias, mis- and disinformation, propaganda, and different kinds of climate debaters. The paper aimed to find out what kind of climate debaters where identified, what arguments were used, what sources they used and if there is any possibility to identify confirmation bias. Results showed that there were different kinds of climate debaters and in this paper two more groups have been identified. There is also a low use of sources, and they are of poor quality. There is also evidence of confirmation bias in the source material, mainly in the of the kind described as trench ware fare dynamics.

Yes / Liberia’s 2017 elections represented a watershed moment in the country’s political history. In addition to completing the first democratic transfer of power from one president to another since 1944, it resulted in wide representation across many different parties and independents as well as high levels of legislative turn-overs. Additionally, these polls brought forward unprecedented numbers of party reconfigurations, increased levels of defections, and politicians/parties losing abysmally in presumed ethno-regional bases. In this article, we argue that Liberia currently exists in a post-war arena of “post-party” politics where a profound disregard for parties is the norm, and in which the electorate and politicians alike forum shop for candidates and/or political configurations they presume will deliver the best results at national, sub-national and local levels. Although literature exploring electoral trends in Africa tends to over-emphasize ethno-regionalism as a driver and constraint in the choices of voters and politicians, we demonstrate instead that Liberians make relatively informed, strategic decisions about political alliances and ballot casting thereby subverting allegiances to ethnicity and region. By further eschewing party loyalties, Liberians have gradually become astute forum shoppers in a political marketplace that makes running for office and voting complex undertakings.

This qualitative thematic analysis study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of how the work of social services with children and youths is presented on the internet forum Flashback. The debated topic of social services kidnapping children is a subject that arouses concern and fear among many families, something that can lead to families not daring to turn to social services for help. The empirically guided method resulted in seven different themes. The results indicated a clear negative portrayal of social services work with children and youths. This presentation is based on factors such as social workers low competence, arbitrariness and belief that the children in care of social services are exposed to neglect. Furthermore, it is stated that the social services lack transparency and needs to be controlled by other authorities. Despite a largely negative portrayal, some users shared positive experiences argued with educational commentary against other users. This study also intends to understand the users’ discussions about trust or distrust of the social service. The prominent emotion on the internet forum is mistrust but also ambivalence. Users express that the social work will never be good enough as social services do too much on the one hand, and too little on the other. In conclusion, this study gained an understanding of how the portrayal, together with the users ́ arguments, is the basis for trust and mistrust. I summary, the understanding of trust is an important component in the complex social work. This insight can possibly contribute to authorities and social workers being able to discover strategies of how individuals trust in social work can increase.

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This thesis explores three important issues in financial distress and corporate bankruptcy: bankruptcy venue choice and creditor recovery, the efficiency of Chapter 11 corporate bankruptcy and distressed exchanges, and the bankruptcy ripple effect on peer firms’ investment policy. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis explores three important issues in financial distress and corporate bankruptcy: bankruptcy venue choice and creditor recovery, the efficiency of Chapter 11 corporate bankruptcy and distressed exchanges, and the bankruptcy ripple effect on peer firms’ investment policy.

Yes / Liberia’s 2017 elections represented a watershed moment in the country’s political history. In addition to completing the first democratic transfer of power from one president to another since 1944, it resulted in wide representation across many different parties and independents as well as high levels of legislative turn-overs. Additionally, these polls brought forward unprecedented numbers of party reconfigurations, increased levels of defections, and politicians/parties losing abysmally in presumed ethno-regional bases. In this article, we argue that Liberia currently exists in a post-war arena of “post-party” politics where a profound disregard for parties is the norm, and in which the electorate and politicians alike forum shop for candidates and/or political configurations they presume will deliver the best results at national, sub-national and local levels. Although literature exploring electoral trends in Africa tends to over-emphasize ethno-regionalism as a driver and constraint in the choices of voters and politicians, we demonstrate instead that Liberians make relatively informed, strategic decisions about political alliances and ballot casting thereby subverting allegiances to ethnicity and region. By further eschewing party loyalties, Liberians have gradually become astute forum shoppers in a political marketplace that makes running for office and voting complex undertakings.