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Living with a legacy of conflict : securitisation, insurgency and the PhilippinesPeleo, Amador Cuesta January 2009 (has links)
This thesis examines the persistence of armed subversion as a security issue in the Philippines. Subversive wars have been fought in the colonial Philippines since the early 16th century, and successive Philippine governments have fought insurgent groups since the independence of the country in 1946. The foreign support received by the government and by the insurgents has not only allowed the armed conflict to continue but has also given what is essentially an internal conflict the appearance of an international security issue. The Philippine government has even attempted to show that its internal counter-insurgency programmes are consistent with the broader international discourse on the 'global war on terror' that emerged in the 'post-9/11 world'. This thesis will assess the link between the persistence of local armed conflict and the absence of strict demarcation between 'national' and 'international' security considerations. This assessment will initially utilise the 'sectors'-based approach of the `securitisation theory' developed by the 'Copenhagen School' of international security. A key argument of this thesis is that the threat-responses formulated by government primarily through 'military'-sector securitisation have not matched the primarily 'political'-sector threat posed by the insurgents. The application of a securitisation theory-based analysis in this case has led to the derivation of the 'securitisation paradox' concept. This refers to the possibility of constant internal conflict implied by the refusal or inability of government to alter its narrow security threat-perceptions and limited securitisation capabilities. The reduction of combat-related foreign aid to the government and the insurgents, and an increase in foreign support for a negotiated settlement of the conflict may reduce the intensity of the conflict. However, the final desecuritisation will ultimately depend on the willingness of the government and the insurgents to disassociate not only foreign aid but also armed violence from internal political rivalries.
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Performance in a time of terror : Critical mimesis and the age of uncertaintyHughes, Jennifer S. January 2009 (has links)
In recent years, the contexts in which performances are made have been marked by a global conflict termed a 'war on terror'. The insecurity that this conflict instituted across local and global space intensified anxieties concomitant with a historical period that Zygmunt Bauman has called an 'age of uncertainty'. This thesis draws on the work of Bauman and other political theorists, most notably Giorgio Agamben, to investigate the politics of performance in an age of uncertainty. Following a review of contemporary scholarship exploring the politics of performance, the thesis examines a series of performances that have responded to or otherwise participated in wars on terror. These include: the performed violence of a beheading, the resurgence of 'political theatre' on the London stage and antiwar protest performances during the Iraq war (2003-2008). In addition, the thesis investigates community-based counterterrorism performances in neighbourhoods in the UK targeted as hotspots of terrorist activity following the suicide attacks in London on 7th July 2005. As part of these investigations, a study of the 'war against terrorism' in Northern Ireland (1969-1998), particularly focussing on the counterinsurgency's use of performance as a strategy and tactic of war, highlights the historical continuity of coalitions of performance, crisis and wars on terror. The term 'critical mimesis' is used to generate the conceptual terrain by which the politics of these performances are examined, in particular, to explore how they mirror, reproduce and resist crisis. Motifs of 'refusal' and 'waste' are repeatedly identified as important to the aesthetics and politics of these performances, and comprise the grounds for the thesis' conceptual contribution to understanding a politics of performance in an age of uncertainty. Firstly, the thesis progresses an understanding of performance's political potential as residing in practices of waste. Secondly, this highlights a shift in the focus of politically conscious performance, which moves from concerns for the 'radical' in performance, to reclaiming a conservative ethic and aesthetic as part of performance's radical project. As such, critical mimesis in performance during an age of uncertainty might be understood by means of recourse to concepts of conservation, waste, salvage and restoration, rather than radical excess, transformation or transgression.
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Social-psychology profile of terrorist leaders in Israeli prisonsYehoshua, Sagit January 2013 (has links)
The aim of this study is to investigate the Social-psychology profile of terrorist leaders in Israeli prisons. The research was conducted with the cooperation of the Intelligence Department of the Israeli Prison System. The study is qualitative and was conducted through in-depth interviews with leaders of terrorist organisations in prisons around Israel. A total of 18 Palestinian leaders were interviewed in several prisons around the country. The participants were leaders of major terrorist organisations in Israel: Fatah, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The research focuses on five main themes: 1. Social influence factors: Adolescence, family, social surroundings, the organisation and their influence on the leader's adjustment to imprisonment. 2. Personality profile of the leaders and whether they have symptoms of a psychopathic personality based on Hare psychopathy check list (PCLSV) 3. Mindset: General perspectives such as rationalisations for committing terrorist acts, perceptions towards the victims, Israeli society and their actions in relation to the conflict. 4. Leadership profile: What kind of leaders are they? How do they perceive this position? How do they see their conduct and achievements as leaders? Would they want to continue their leadership position outside of prison? 5. Imprisonment: the effect of the prison experience and their radicalisation or de-radicalisation process. The main findings of this research suggest that the leaders of terrorist groups in Israeli prisons are going through a unique process while incarcerated, that psychopathic personality profile was found among them and their rationalisations for carrying out the terrorist acts are quite varied. Furthermore, the findings of this study highlight the importance of the aspects of social surrounding and culture on the prisoner’s mind-set and conduct, as well as on their adjustment to imprisonment and their radicalisation or deradicalisation process.
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The fugitive identity of mediation : negotiations, shift changes and allusionary actionDe Girolamo, Debbie January 2009 (has links)
Despite much having been written about what mediation is, direct observations of commercial mediations are limited. This doctoral thesis provides an opportunity to observe mediation in action and to provide external commentary about the actions observed. Mediation is approached ethnographically as a social process that is informed by structures, rules and norms that colour the environment within which it operates. As Malinowski observed, one had to live among a society one was studying in order to really learn about the society. Ethnography permits us to see beyond the act. to understand how and why people behave as they do, and to make clear that which is obscure. Through the ethnographic method, a process leading to negotiated order is examined, baring its elements, identifying its influences and studying the movement to order. The result is the reconceptualization of mediation. Mediation is a process inextricably linked to negotiation, providing a contextual layer to bi-lateral negotiation while retaining the processual shape of negotiation. The mediator is invited into the negotiation as third party intervener. He creates the process of mediation, defining the process by his actions, which ultimately merges mediator with process. The mediator becomes part of the negotiation process, at times separate from the parties, aligned with the parties or in opposition to the parties. She takes on their identity in addition to her own. The mediator is mediator; she is party; she is party adviser. She takes on the mantle of these personas during mediation: the mediation becomes her negotiation; the party becomes her client. For the parties, however, the mediator remains the non-aligned third party intervener suggested by the literature. The negotiation remains their negotiation and the mediation remains a process ancillary to their negotiation, views aided in their formulation bv mediators' statements regarding mediator role and mediation process.
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European integration and international politics : Commission-member state relations in the World Trade Organisation and selected multilateral environmental agreementsBilliet, Stijn January 2007 (has links)
Traditionally, theories of European integration have focussed on the internal dynamics of this unique form of international cooperation. This also holds for the principal-agent approach, a newer and more sophisticated methodology. This thesis argues that this approach's frame of reference needs to be broadened in order to offer a more coherent framework since the European Community is becoming an increasingly active player on the international stage. Consequently, the inward-looking bias in integration theory needs to be overcome to come to a better understanding of the development of the external role and position of the Commission. Through the analysis of case studies, the study of primary and secondary sources and interviews with policy-makers, this thesis shows that the external institutional framework impacts on Commission-Member States relations, and thus on the process of European integration. Within the strong institutional framework of the World Trade Organisation, the Commission has more leeway vis-a-vis the Member States to gain influence and competences. Through its central role in the WTO's dispute settlement system, the Commission has managed to gain broader competences concerning trade- related aspects of intellectual property rights. Furthermore, the Commission is a firm proponent of the strengthening of the dispute settlement system. It is actively trying to incorporate new issues of mixed competence, like investment, within this strong institutional framework in the hope of improving its position. This is not restricted to trade-issues either. Also in international environmental agreements, the Commission tries to strengthen its position by pushing for stronger institutional provisions and for the incorporation of environmental concerns within the WTO framework. The interaction between the European and the international level, and its impact on Commission-Member State relations necessitate complementing the principal-agent approach to make it more outward-looking so that it can also be used to study the external aspects of European integration.
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Bayard Rustin and the historical geographies of radical pacifismHodder, Jake January 2014 (has links)
The thesis examines the work of American radical pacifists in various international . and domestic contexts in the mid~twentieth century. From the early 1940s a group of pacifists developed an understanding of war as embedded in the racial, national and grossly unequal socio~economic system. Drawing on Gandhism, Marxism and anarchism, they argued that pacifists could no longer refuse to participate in war alone but needed a repertoire of nonviolent, interventionist and obstructionist techniques which could act as a functional substitute for violence in securing social and political· change. The thesis uses episodes from the biography of civil rights and peace activist Bayard Rustin to map the historical geography of radical pacifism across three continents. I argue that radical pacifism was a profoundly racialized and geographical undertaking which helped forge a particular American relationship with the post~war world. At the dawn of the atomic age, radical pacifists became key exponents of a form of 'One Worldism' which sought to emphasize global forms of citizenship and affiliation. By examining radical pacifism within wider geographical literature on internationalism, cosmopolitanism and the global, this thesis enhances our understanding of peace as a spatially constituted process. Moreover, radical pacifists' global vision coalesced with a historical period in which race relations were being transformed on a planetary scale. In adapting an explicitly Gandhian campaign in the American South and exporting it to liberation movements in sub ~Saharan Africa, radical pacifists promoted a global sense of the shared struggle against racial exploitation. By pulling together struggles from Montgomery to Accra experiments in 'revolutionary nonviolence' were always more than a tactical persuasion alone, but also a means to embed and (re )shape racial solidarity itself, often across vast political and geographical distances. Working with the likes of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Kenneth Kaunda, Martin Luther KingJr., Jawaharlal Nehru and K wame Nkrumah, radical pacifists like Rustin had remarkable access to some of the leading figures of the twentieth century. Yet, rooted between their tactics and their aspiration lay the spatial paradox of pacifism: the universalism of its One World vision stood in direct opposition to their strategic access to anti~ colonial nationalist movements. The thesis shows how the fortunes of radical pacifists waxed and waned as they came to terms with the disorderliness of politics, place, and the problem of geography.
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Contextual violence and migration, family structure and adolescents' behaviour : the case of Colombian armed conflictSanchez-Cespedes, Lina Maria January 2014 (has links)
The objective of this thesis is to determine the effects of the contextual violence caused by armed conflict on people's and households' behaviour. This study defines contextual violence as the exposure to acts of violence committed by the armed groups in Colombia. Thus, it is not only direct victims (e.g. victims of kidnapping, rape, etc.) of these groups who are considered victims of the contextual violence generated by them. Each person that has been exposed to or has lived in areas where armed groups frequently commit violent acts is also · considered a victim of contextual violence. This study contributes to the literature exploring the effects of the exposure to armed conflict on three aspects: 1) the effectiveness of the push effect of contextual violence on municipal out-migration and destination choice, 2) the reorganisation of family structure after migration or displacement, and 3) the change of adolescents' behaviour regarding prematurely assuming adult roles. This study shows that contextual violence because of armed conflict differently affects municipalities, households inside of a municipality and even individuals inside of a household. The third chapter shows / that the push role of contextual violence depends on the wealth of a municipality, and the attractiveness of some municipalities might be attenuated by contextual violence but it does not disappear. The fourth chapter concludes that the effects of household features on the changes in family structure of migrants are moderated by contextual violence and they are different between mothers and children. The fifth chapter shows that the effect of contextual violence on the probability of assuming an adult role depends on adolescent's age, gender, level of poverty and degree of urbanicity at origin; while the sixth chapter concludes that the adaptation after migrating to peaceful environments differs between genders and degrees of urbanicity at origin.
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Women's civil society organisations and the gender dynamics of peacebuilding : collective agency, practice, and strategy in Colombia and Northern IrelandDe La Torre, Alexandra January 2015 (has links)
This thesis investigates the complex dynamics embedded in the intersection of gender, peacebuilding, and collective agency. The central purpose of this thesis is to expand the overall analysis and understanding of women's roles in peacebuilding. This research analyses WCSOs' practices and strategies to achieve an inclusive peace. It interrogates the specificity of women's collective actions and agency and assesses WCSOs strategies to generate inclusive gender outcomes within the social, structural, and political dimensions of peacebuilding. By looking at peacebuilding as an ongoing process that can happen before, during, and after the outbreak of an armed conflict and peace process, this research highlights the importance of considering the diffuse and unclear boundaries between conflict and post-conflict. In doing so, this study brings to the fore and 'uncovers WCSOs' bottom-up practices and collective actions aimed at creating infrastructures for conflict transformation and the achievement of an inclusive peace that is meaningful for women. By focusing on the context of armed conflict in Colombia and relative peace in Northern Ireland, this research examines the circumstances in which WCSOs' peacebuilding practices in both regions have taken place since the 1990s, a period during which political processes made significant progress towards ending armed conflict and social unrest that escalated during what was termed as "La Violencia" in one region, and "The Troubles" in the other. The empirical analysis of this thesis is primarily based on women's accounts of the gender dynamics that shape women's organizing, collective actions, and agency. These were collected through a series of semi-structured interviews undertaken with women leaders of WCSOs in various regions of Colombia and locations in Northern Ireland. Drawing on these accounts, the thesis aims to reveal what constitutes the specificity of WCSOs' collective action and agency in peacebuilding
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The other minority : disability policy in the post-civil conflict environmentIrvine, Rebecca Shea January 2015 (has links)
The aim of this thesis is to gain a better understanding of disability's place amongst the competing priorities of the post-civil conflict policy agenda. In the redevelopment of political, economic, and social structures, conflict transformation presents opportunities for developing inclusive communities. Despite the development of policies aimed at building an inclusive post-civil conflict society, people with disabilities have largely been invisible in literature about the process. This project set out to review the evidence of prevalence of disability as a direct result of conflict, identify whether this group was recognized during the process of conflict transformation, and determine what advancements had been made to facilitate the inclusion of people with disabilities based on the implementation of post-conflict policies. The study has taken a comparative approach and focused on the experiences of Mozambique, South Africa, and Northern Ireland. Although the three case studies were selected for their different levels of human development (as determined by the United Nations Development Program's Human Development Index), they have resulted in similar findings. The prolonged civil conflicts (lasting over fifteen years) have all employed strategies of warfare that are likely to result in an increased incident rate of disability, though disability has not always been considered an issue that is directly linked to the conflict. In addition, they have all undergone conflict transformation since the mid-1990s and developed policies based on international guidance on the inclusion of people with disabilities, however; despite the presence of these policies, they have largely remained unimplemented due to a lack of political will, a failure by the governments to commit the necessary resources, or a weak collection of disability organizations and activists that have not been able to hold the government accountable.
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Mythic commons : a perspective on law’s violent societyNayar, R. Jayakumar January 1997 (has links)
No description available.
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