<p>It is an unfortunate and cruel reality that both government and armed groups used child soldiers during armed conflict. Child soldiers have become an integral part of government forces as well as insurgent groups in Africa and elsewhere. Most of them are being exploited as combatants, while others perform functions, such as porters, spies who are able to enter small spaces, cooks, messengers, lookouts, and even suicide bombers. Some of the most disturbing aspects of child soldiering are that some of them are being forced to kill or are themselves killed, sexually abused and are exposed to drugs. The use of child soldiers in conflicts is not a recent phenomenon and has indeed become a common practice that characterises modern conflicts. Recruitment is usually carried out forcefully or voluntarily by both government and rebel forces. The difference between these two types of recruitment is not always clear since their decision to join is always influenced by external factors. Examples of such reasons for voluntary recruitment include the desire to revenge, adventure, peer pressure, and need for belonging and survival. Concerning the reason for survival, some argue that, the children do not actually choose freely to become combatants, but are rather forced by circumstances. There are numerous reasons for the continuous targeting of children by armed forces and armed groups. These include shortage of combatants, the fact that children are easy to train physically and psychologically, and also that children are obedient and are readily available. The recruited children are compelled to take part in brutal induction ceremonies, where they are threatened and forced to kill or witness the killing of someone they know.</p>

Notre recherche a pour but de déterminer comment les genres textuels peuvent être exploités dans le design des environnements numériques de travail afin de faciliter l’accomplissement des pratiques textuelles de cadres et de secrétaires dans une municipalité et une administration fédérale canadiennes. À cet effet, le premier objectif consiste à évaluer l’aptitude des environnements numériques de travail à supporter les pratiques textuelles (lecture, écriture et manipulation des textes) de ces employés. Le deuxième objectif est de décrire les rôles des genres textuels au cours des pratiques textuelles. Avec l’exemple du courriel, le troisième objectif vise à examiner comment le genre peut être exploité dans une perspective d’assistance à la réalisation des pratiques textuelles dans les environnements numériques de travail. Cette recherche de nature qualitative comporte une méthodologie en deux étapes. La première étape consiste en un examen minutieux des pratiques textuelles, des difficultés rencontrées au cours de celles-ci, du rôle du genre dans les environnements numériques de travail, ainsi que des indices sollicités au cours de la gestion du courriel. Trois modes de collecte des données qualitatives sont utilisés auprès de 17 cadres et de 17 secrétaires issus de deux administrations publiques : l’entrevue semi-dirigée, le journal de bord et l’enquête cognitive. Les résultats sont examinés à l’aide de stratégies d’analyse de contenu qualitative. La deuxième phase comprend la mise au point d’une chaîne de traitement du courriel, visant à étayer notre réflexion sur le genre textuel et son exploitation dans la conception des environnements numériques de travail. Un corpus de 1703 messages est élaboré à partir d’un échantillon remis par deux cadres gouvernementaux. Les résultats permettent d’abord de dresser un portrait général des pratiques de lecture, d’écriture et de manipulation des textes communes et spécifiques aux cadres et aux secrétaires. L’importance du courriel, qui constitue environ 40% des systèmes notés dans les journaux de bord, est soulignée. Les difficultés rencontrées dans les environnements numériques de travail sont également décrites. Dans un deuxième temps, les rôles du genre au cours des pratiques textuelles sont examinés en fonction d’une matrice tenant à la fois compte de ses dimensions individuelles et collectives, ainsi que de ses trois principales facettes ; la forme, le contenu et la fonction. Ensuite, nous présentons un cadre d’analyse des indices affectant la gestion du courriel qui synthétise le processus d’interprétation des messages par le destinataire. Une typologie des patrons de catégorisation des cadres est également définie, puis employée dans une expérimentation statistique visant la description et la catégorisation automatique du courriel. Au terme de ce processus, on observe des comportements linguistiques marqués en fonction des catégories du courriel. Il s’avère également que la catégorisation automatique basée sur le lexique des messages est beaucoup plus performante que la catégorisation non lexicale. À l’issue de cette recherche, nous suggérons d’enrichir le paradigme traditionnel relevant de l’interaction humain-ordinateur par une sémiotique du genre dans les environnements numériques de travail. L’étude propose également une réflexion sur l’appartenance du courriel à un genre, en ayant recours aux concepts théoriques d’hypergenre, de genre et de sous-genre. Le succès de la catégorisation automatique du courriel en fonction de facettes tributaires du genre (le contenu, la forme et la fonction) offre des perspectives intéressantes sur l’application de ce concept au design des environnements numériques de travail en vue de faciliter l’accomplissement des pratiques textuelles par les employés. / This research reveals how textual genres can be exploited in digital work environments to improve the textual practices of managers and secretaries in the context of a municipality and the Canadian federal government. The first objective of this research assesses the suitability of digital work environments to support the textual practices of managers and secretaries in their reading, writing and manipulation of texts. The second objective describes the various roles of textual genre during the managerial and secretarial textual practices. Using email as a focal point, the third objective examines how genre can be exploited to advance the benefits of textual practices in the digital work environments. This qualitative research entails a two-phase methodology. By the study of 17 secretaries and 17 managers, the first phase consists of a thorough examination of the current textual practices in the Canadian federal government and municipal contexts and the difficulties encountered during these practices. This phase also considers the various roles of genre in the digital work environments along with the salient clues sought during email management. This study deployed three data collection techniques: semi-structured interviews, diary journals and cognitive inquiries. The results are examined using several qualitative content analysis techniques. The second phase of this research consists of developing an email processing sequence to further expand our understanding of textual genre and its exploitation in the design of digital work environments. The data for this phase uses a corpus of 1703 messages developed from a sample of two governmental managers. The results provide an encompassing overview of practices relating to the reading, writing and manipulation of texts that are both common and specific to managers and secretaries. With over 40% of events recorded in the diary journal relating to email, the importance of this type of system in digital work environments is clearly emphasized. The difficulties encountered in the digital work environments are also described. The role of genre during textual practices is examined according to a matrix illustrating both the individual and collective dimensions of genre in addition to its three main facets: the form, the content and the purpose. We present next an analytic framework of the prominent cues affecting email management to summarize the process of interpreting messages by the recipient. A typology of the categorization patterns of managers is also developed and used in a statistical experiment aiming to automatically describe and categorize email. Resulting from this experiment, we observe specific linguistic behaviours that characterize each email category. It is also revealed that automatic categorization based on message lexicon is more efficient than non-lexical categorization. At the conclusion of this research, we suggest to enrich the traditional human-computer interaction paradigm with a semiotics of genre in the digital work environments. The study also offers a reflection regarding email membership to a specific genre using the theoretical concepts of hypergenre, genre and sub-genre. The success of the automatic categorization of email according to genre-related facets (the content, the form and the purpose) uncovers valuable insights and perspectives in designing digital work environments with the objective of facilitating the vital performance of textual practices by employees. / Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada (CRSH), Faculté des études supérieures de l'Université de Montréal

<p>It is an unfortunate and cruel reality that both government and armed groups used child soldiers during armed conflict. Child soldiers have become an integral part of government forces as well as insurgent groups in Africa and elsewhere. Most of them are being exploited as combatants, while others perform functions, such as porters, spies who are able to enter small spaces, cooks, messengers, lookouts, and even suicide bombers. Some of the most disturbing aspects of child soldiering are that some of them are being forced to kill or are themselves killed, sexually abused and are exposed to drugs. The use of child soldiers in conflicts is not a recent phenomenon and has indeed become a common practice that characterises modern conflicts. Recruitment is usually carried out forcefully or voluntarily by both government and rebel forces. The difference between these two types of recruitment is not always clear since their decision to join is always influenced by external factors. Examples of such reasons for voluntary recruitment include the desire to revenge, adventure, peer pressure, and need for belonging and survival. Concerning the reason for survival, some argue that, the children do not actually choose freely to become combatants, but are rather forced by circumstances. There are numerous reasons for the continuous targeting of children by armed forces and armed groups. These include shortage of combatants, the fact that children are easy to train physically and psychologically, and also that children are obedient and are readily available. The recruited children are compelled to take part in brutal induction ceremonies, where they are threatened and forced to kill or witness the killing of someone they know.</p>

This thesis describes a specific church political situation in the Catholic Church in the district of Český Brod in the period 1949-1952, as we know from the available archival sources - situation reports and documents of the district church secretaries. It shows how the official church policy of the state was in reality reflected at the given period in the activities of the district church secretary, pastors, nuns, believers in the monitored region. This work describes and evaluates various tasks and activities that the district church secretaries performed to reduce the Catholic Church in the Český Brod district in the fifties.

The qualifying work first talks about the political career and personal life of Karel Hermann Frank, a former state secretary and a German state minister for the territory of the Protectorate. His typical double-role of the Reich and the Autonomous autorities of the administrative system of the Czech-Moravian space is described in detail. Frank's position was also investigated outside of this state in relation to the offices of the former Czechoslovak border, the NSDAP and the leading posts in Berlin. This analysis was carried out not only on the basis of professional literature in the Czech, English and German languages, but also on the basis of the chosen official correspondence of K. H. Frank. This has led to research that has confirmed, or overturned, and has greatly enriched what historians have been researching in this historical area.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / It is an unfortunate and cruel reality that both government and armed groups used child soldiers during armed conflict. Child soldiers have become an integral part of government forces as well as insurgent groups in Africa and elsewhere. Most of them are being exploited as combatants, while others perform functions, such as porters, spies who are able to enter small spaces, cooks, messengers, lookouts, and even suicide bombers. Some of the most disturbing aspects of child soldiering are that some of them are being forced to kill or are themselves killed, sexually abused and are exposed to drugs. The use of child soldiers in conflicts is not a recent phenomenon and has indeed become a common practice that characterises modern conflicts. Recruitment is usually carried out forcefully or voluntarily by both government and rebel forces. The difference between these two types of recruitment is not always clear since their decision to join is always influenced by external factors. Examples of such reasons for voluntary recruitment include the desire to revenge, adventure, peer pressure, and need for belonging and survival. Concerning the reason for survival, some argue that, the children do not actually choose freely to become combatants, but are rather forced by circumstances. There are numerous reasons for the continuous targeting of children by armed forces and armed groups. These include shortage of combatants, the fact that children are easy to train physically and psychologically, and also that children are obedient and are readily available. The recruited children are compelled to take part in brutal induction ceremonies, where they are threatened and forced to kill or witness the killing of someone they know. / South Africa

Notre étude s’intéresse au travail des fonctionnaires internationaux du Bureau du Représentant spécial du Secrétaire général de l’ONU chargé de la question des violences sexuelles commises en période de conflit (RSSG-VSC) en République démocratique du Congo (RDC) sous le prisme de l’idéal type wébérien de la bureaucratie. À partir de six entretiens semi-directifs et de l’analyse de sources publiques onusiennes, cette étude vise à mettre en perspectives les points de vue des fonctionnaires du Bureau au regard de leurs missions et des moyens dont ils disposent pour les remplir. Ce travail s’intéresse aussi à la portée de l’action du Bureau du RSSG-VSC en RDC, du point de vue de ces fonctionnaires internationaux basé au siège. Aucune étude qualitative n’a été menée sur le travail des fonctionnaires du Bureau du RSSG-VSC par le passé. De plus, les rapports annuels du Secrétaire général disponibles au grand public ne permettent pas de comprendre l’intégralité de son action en RDC. Ainsi, ce projet de recherche cherche précisément à combler cette lacune. L’analyse des données recueillies montre que la création du mandat aurait été préméditée : en effet, malgré plusieurs résolutions du Conseil de sécurité et appels à la cessation de ces violences, la perpétration de ces crimes perdurait. Ainsi, le mandat du Représentant spécial du Secrétaire général pour les Enfants et les conflits armés aurait permis, grâce à un travail de plaidoyer combiné avec les appels de la communauté internationale, à la création du mandat du RSSG-VSC. Les objectifs du mandat, à savoir mettre fin aux violences sexuelles liées aux conflits à travers le monde en contribuant à libérer la parole des victimes, assurer leur réintégration dans les communautés, comblant les lacunes et renforçant les connaissances sur ces crimes sont partagés par tous les répondants, de manière identique. De plus, la vision de leur travail au sein du Bureau est unanimement partagée. Toutefois, les points de vue des répondants divergent davantage lorsqu'ils abordent le thème de la portée des actions du Bureau. Les défis à relever par le mandat sont encore nombreux afin d’éradiquer de la surface de la planète les violences sexuelles liées aux conflits. / Our study focuses on the work achieved by international civil servants at the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC), regarding the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) through the prism of the Weberian bureaucracy. Based on six semi-directive interviews and the analysis of United Nations public sources, this study aims to providing perspectives on the views of the Office’s officials in relation to their missions and the means at their disposal to carry them out. This academic work also focuses on the scope of the work of the RSSG-VSC Office in the DRC, from the point of view of these international officials based in headquarters. So far, no qualitative studies had been conducted on the topic of the work of these civil servants. In addition to that, the Secretary-General’s annual reports drafted by this Office do not provide an understanding of the full scope of the work done in the DRC. Thus, this research project seeks to fill this gap. The analysis of the data collected shows that the creation of the mandate would have been premeditated: indeed, despite several Security Council resolutions and call for the end to conflict-related sexual violence, these crimes continue to be perpetrated. Thus, the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict would have enabled the creation of the mandate of the SRSG-SVC, through advocacy work combined with multiple calls from the international community. The mandate’s goals which are ending conflict-related sexual violence around the world by helping to free victims’ voices, ensuring their reintegration into communities, filling gaps and strengthening knowledge about these crimes are shared by all respondents. In addition, the vision of their work within the Office is unanimously shared. However, respondents’ views differ when addressing the scope of the Office’s actions. The mandate still faces many challenges to end rape in war.

La présente étude a pour objectif de vérifier si le Canada respecte les prescriptions internationales en matière de droits de l’homme et d’entreprises vis-à-vis de l’encadrement qu’il exerce sur les sociétés minières canadiennes évoluant à l’étranger. En 2011, le Conseil des droits de l’homme de l’ONU a adopté des «Principes directeurs» afin de mettre en oeuvre le cadre de référence « Protéger, Respecter, Réparer » du Représentant spécial chargé de la question des droits de l’homme et des sociétés transnationales et autres entreprises. Selon ce cadre de référence, les États ont des obligations de protection et de réparation alors que les entreprises ont seulement la responsabilité de respecter les droits humains. Après six années de travail, le Représentant spécial John Ruggie, a fait le choix de formuler dans ses «Principes directeurs» des directives non contraignantes à l’égard des États et des entreprises afin de les aider à remplir leurs obligations et responsabilités vis-à-vis des droits de l’homme. Selon, l’ONU, cet instrument de portée universelle est le plus élaboré en la matière, si bien qu’il est recommandé aux entreprises et plus particulièrement aux États de s’y conformer lors de l’élaboration de leurs politiques respectives en matière d'activité économique et de droits humains. Il convient donc de vérifier d’une part si l’encadrement exercé par l’appareil législatif et gouvernemental vis-à-vis des sociétés minières canadiennes évoluant à l’étranger est conforme au principe directeur «Protéger». D’autres part, il convient de vérifier si les recours judiciaires et extrajudiciaires disponibles au Canada remplissent les exigences du principe directeur «Réparer». Cette double analyse permettra de conclure que le Canada respecte dans les grandes lignes ces «Principes directeurs» mais qu’il pourrait faire bien plus notamment en terme d’accès à des réparations effectives pour les victimes étrangères de minières canadiennes. / This study propose to assess whether Canada meets the international requirements of business and human rights in relation to the supervision it has on Canadian mining companies operating abroad. In 2011, the Human rights Council adopted the Special Representative’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in order to implement the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework. According to this framework, States have obligations to protect and remedy while companies only have responsibilities to respect human rights. After six years of work, the Special Representative on Business and Human rights, John Ruggie, has chosen to give in its Guiding Principles non- binding recommendations in order to help States and businesses to encounter their obligations and responsibilities towards human rights. According to the UN, this universal instrument is the most developed in the field. Thus, it is strongly recommended that companies and especially States, comply those «guiding principles» when they elaborate their respective policies on economic activity and human rights. It is therefore necessary to check first if the supervision exercised by the legislature and the government on Canadian mining companies operating abroad succeeds to comply with the "Protect" principles. On the other hand, it must be checked whether the judicial and extrajudicial remedies available in Canada meet the requirements of the «Remedy" principles. This dual analysis will led to conclude that Canada meets broadly the "Guiding Principles" but could do much more, especially in terms of access to effective remedies for foreign victims of Canadian mining companies.

La présente étude a pour objectif de vérifier si le Canada respecte les prescriptions internationales en matière de droits de l’homme et d’entreprises vis-à-vis de l’encadrement qu’il exerce sur les sociétés minières canadiennes évoluant à l’étranger. En 2011, le Conseil des droits de l’homme de l’ONU a adopté des «Principes directeurs» afin de mettre en oeuvre le cadre de référence « Protéger, Respecter, Réparer » du Représentant spécial chargé de la question des droits de l’homme et des sociétés transnationales et autres entreprises. Selon ce cadre de référence, les États ont des obligations de protection et de réparation alors que les entreprises ont seulement la responsabilité de respecter les droits humains. Après six années de travail, le Représentant spécial John Ruggie, a fait le choix de formuler dans ses «Principes directeurs» des directives non contraignantes à l’égard des États et des entreprises afin de les aider à remplir leurs obligations et responsabilités vis-à-vis des droits de l’homme. Selon, l’ONU, cet instrument de portée universelle est le plus élaboré en la matière, si bien qu’il est recommandé aux entreprises et plus particulièrement aux États de s’y conformer lors de l’élaboration de leurs politiques respectives en matière d'activité économique et de droits humains. Il convient donc de vérifier d’une part si l’encadrement exercé par l’appareil législatif et gouvernemental vis-à-vis des sociétés minières canadiennes évoluant à l’étranger est conforme au principe directeur «Protéger». D’autres part, il convient de vérifier si les recours judiciaires et extrajudiciaires disponibles au Canada remplissent les exigences du principe directeur «Réparer». Cette double analyse permettra de conclure que le Canada respecte dans les grandes lignes ces «Principes directeurs» mais qu’il pourrait faire bien plus notamment en terme d’accès à des réparations effectives pour les victimes étrangères de minières canadiennes. / This study propose to assess whether Canada meets the international requirements of business and human rights in relation to the supervision it has on Canadian mining companies operating abroad. In 2011, the Human rights Council adopted the Special Representative’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in order to implement the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework. According to this framework, States have obligations to protect and remedy while companies only have responsibilities to respect human rights. After six years of work, the Special Representative on Business and Human rights, John Ruggie, has chosen to give in its Guiding Principles non- binding recommendations in order to help States and businesses to encounter their obligations and responsibilities towards human rights. According to the UN, this universal instrument is the most developed in the field. Thus, it is strongly recommended that companies and especially States, comply those «guiding principles» when they elaborate their respective policies on economic activity and human rights. It is therefore necessary to check first if the supervision exercised by the legislature and the government on Canadian mining companies operating abroad succeeds to comply with the "Protect" principles. On the other hand, it must be checked whether the judicial and extrajudicial remedies available in Canada meet the requirements of the «Remedy" principles. This dual analysis will led to conclude that Canada meets broadly the "Guiding Principles" but could do much more, especially in terms of access to effective remedies for foreign victims of Canadian mining companies.

Diese Arbeit versucht, die techno-epistemologischen Grundlagen des Projekts Cybersyn zu entschlüsseln. Durch die Rekonstruktion des technologischen Archivs wird zum ersten Mal ein detaillierter Bericht über die technologischen Ereignisse vorgelegt, die dieses Projekt in Gang setzten. Als Versuch, die chilenische Industriewirtschaft nach den Theorien der Management-Kybernetik zu steuern, gilt das Projekt Cybersyn als eines der innovativsten technologischen Unternehmungen der frühen 1970er Jahre. Da es im Kontext der Regierung Allende und der sozialistischen Revolution in Chile entwickelt wurde, ist das Projekt in der Regel als ein Produkt eines solchen Prozesses interpretiert worden. Diese Arbeit fragt jedoch, ob ein solches Verständnis nicht eine umfassendere Bewertung des Projekts und seiner Tragweite behindert. Daher wird in dieser Dissertation das technologische Archiv von Project Cybersyn untersucht, um zu klären, ob dieser Fall möglicherweise eine frühe Konkretisierung einer Techno-Episteme war, die wiederum einen epochalen Wandel signalisierte, in den unsere Gegenwart noch immer eingeschrieben ist. Mit Blick auf Wolfgang Ernsts Begriff der Agentur der Maschine zeigt diese Arbeit, dass sich in der operativen Konfiguration des Project Cybersyn klare technologische Prinzipien erkennen lassen, die nicht nur neue Modi für die Konfiguration und Zirkulation von Informationen vorschreiben, sondern auch für die Organisation und Interaktion zwischen maschinellen und menschlichen Agenturen. In diesem Sinne zeigt diese Dissertation, dass das technologische Archiv des Project Cybersyn das Entstehen einer Techno-Episteme und einer Techno-Politik signalisiert. Schließlich zeigt diese Arbeit, dass bei der Umsetzung von Project Cybersyn eine Reihe von technologischen Ereignissen einem allgemeinen Prozess des kollektiven Werdens weichen musste. Mit anderen Worten, diese Studie über das Projekt Cybersyn zeigt, dass dieser Fall als eine Vorhersage der Gegenwart funktioniert. / This research seeks to unravel the techno-epistemological principles underlying Project Cybersyn. By reconstructing its technological archive, this study presents for the first time a detailed account of the technological events that set this project in motion. As an effort to control Chile's industrial economy under the theories of management cybernetics, Project Cybersyn is considered one of the most innovative technological undertakings of the early 1970s. Developed in the context of the Allende government and the socialist revolution in Chile, the project has usually been understood as a product of such a process. This research asks, however, whether such an understanding may hinder a more comprehensive assessment of the project and its scope. Accordingly, this dissertation examines the technological archive of Project Cybersyn in order to elucidate whether this case may have been an early concretization of a techno-episteme that, in turn, signaled an epochal shift in which our present is still inscribed. With attention to Wolfgang Ernst’s notion of the agency of the machine, this research shows that in the operational configuration of Project Cybersyn, clear technological principles can be discerned; principles that prescribe not only new modes for the configuration and circulation of information, but also for the organization and interaction between machine and human agencies. In this sense, this dissertation demonstrates that the technological archive of Project Cybersyn signals the emergence of both a techno-episteme and a techno-politics. Finally, this research shows that in the implementation of Project Cybersyn, a series of technological events gave way to a general process of collective becoming. In other words, this study of Project Cybersyn shows that this case operates as a forecast of the present.