Empowerment has emerged as a key focus of development policy and practices in the contemporary era, where simultaneously a need for 'development' is ascribed due to historically determined power relations imposed through discourse and intervention. This research enquires into the contradiction inherent in assuming an intemational agenda to empower those who are continually disempowered. Through analysis of a series of case studies of development projects in Zambia, this research argues that the potential of the empowerment agenda is inherently limited by the ongoing structural conditions of development. In the cases studied, community members successfiilly achieve a form of 'subjective empowerment' which enables them to assume a more powerful role within the boundaries of action determined by their possible frameworks of opportunity. But these forms of power do not hold the potential to create communities which are relatively more powerful on the global stage. Progression to a form of 'objective empowerment' is constrained by the boundaries to power which are imposed through historically set and continually recreated power relations within the global political economy.

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The housing scene in Pakistan during past few decades has become dominated by informal settlements. A lack of low income housing gave birth to the illegal settlements all over Pakistan comprising mostly low income households. Karachi in the past has faced high migration rates due political and economic turmoils both national and international. Apart from housing, informal settlements have small manufacturing units, retail and service industries. Over the years residents of informal settlements have started to upgrade and improve their surrounding environment with approval from government in most cases. The residents are expected to fund their own development schemes, hence the existence of economic enterprises within informal settlements and their contribution towards a lasting sustainable environment is the context of this research. The aim, therefore, is to 'investigate relationships between economic activities within informal settlements in urban areas of Pakistan and their links with the sustainable development process'. An extensive literature review was carried out and three conceptual case studies discussed with emphasis on current development planning. From the literature review it was found that legal backing is a key component for sustainable development processes. Main case studies from two cities: Karachi and Faisalabad were conducted. The data from the two sets was analysed and a visible link between economic enterprises and development initiatives was found. A detailed analysis of various stakeholders was also carried out to understand the capacity and capability of each one in terms of sustainable development initiatives. This research concludes that economic activities taking place within informal settlements are vital for the environmental development and ultimately sustainable development of the informal settlements. Recommendations following this outcome have been proposed for future sustainable plans. The use of this research can be extended towards developing and formulating new housing policies for other urban areas of Pakistan and for areas that have been destroyed by natural calamities. The incorporation of economic activities and livelihood opportunities within housing settlements would help in raising the affected communities from poverty.

Early fan studies positioned fans as 'textual poachers' (Jenkins, 1992), suggesting that fans poach characters and materials from texts as an act of resistance towards commercial culture to form their own readings through fan cultural production such as fan fiction. As such, fans are often presented as a unified, communal group interacting within the context of fan communities that are considered alternative social communities with 'no established hierarchy' (Bacon-Smith, 1992, p. 41). However, Milly Williamson argued that fans do not all operate from a position of cultural marginality. Fans not only go on to collaborate with the media producers they allegedly poach from, they also "engage in elitist distinctions between themselves and other ... fans" (Williamson, 2005, p. 103). In this dissertation, I look at fan cultural production (specifically fan fiction) by appropriating Bourdieu's (1993) theory on the field of cultural production. I also suggest that the field of fan cultural production manifests the principles of a gift economy (Mauss, 1954). In circulating fan cultural production as gifts, fans are entering into a social relationship of reciprocity, where fan reputation, or fan symbolic capital, becomes tied to the gifts presented to the fan community and the social network of the fan author. The accumulation of fan social, fan cultural and fan symbolic capitals creates a subgroup of fans who are often treated like celebrities by their peers, and these fan subcultural celebrities often go on to determine the social and cultural norms of a fan community. This often results in conflict within fandom as fan status is frequently contested and challenged. By employing an ethnographic study on the fandoms of The X-Files, Angel and the re- imagined Battlestar Galactica, I argue that fan culture is not as homogenous as early fan studies proposed as the boundaries of community and fan celebrity status are frequently challenged.

This thesis analyses how normative behaviour is negotiated within Murmurs, an online community for fans of rock band R.E.M. Undertaken as a cyber-ethnography, I examine the manner in which normative identity is constructed in Murmurs through masculinised Liberal intelligentsia "central values" of the R.E.M. fan's subcultural homology, such as tolerance, good will and equality, the rejection of which works to define the Other in the community. I demonstrate how the object of fandom as the "thinking fan's rock band" works to reflect and reinforce these "central values" and the processes through which they are explicitly enforced by the community hierarchy through strategies of power. My findings therefore show that normative behaviour in Murmurs is not a given, but requires continuous maintenance and governance. In conjunction with compliance to the homologous values, I identify in Murmurs how normativity can be achieved by strict adherence to four other key practices: reading in the "right way," assuming the correct gendered discourse, participating in the exchange of knowledge with other fans and maintaining a focus on the object of fandom. To analyse the processes of negotiation further, and in an effort to redress the inadequacies in the field of literature surrounding online communities and fan cultural norms regarding oppositional intra-communal fan identities, I examine through case studies the activities of three non-normative groups within Murmurs (Trobes, Droolers and Pointless Posters), determining how the community negotiates different types of fan behaviour that are seemingly a threat to normative conduct. However, quite notably, my analysis is conducted from a unique "insider" position in that, in addition to being an ethnographic researcher in the virtual field, I am both an R.E.M. fan and member of Murmurs' subcultural police, an official role which involves my active participation in the enforcement and governance of this non-normative Other in Murmurs. By doing this, I challenge the assumed existence of a consistently singular, or cohesive, identity in an online fan community. My conclusion in the thesis therefore rests upon a recommendation that future studies in this field should move away from assumptions of singularity and instead attempt to understand oppositional fan identities by examining the power relations surrounding them, and the processes through which fans negotiate normative identity within a community.

This thesis is concerned with attempting to understand the contemporary motivation and conditions for collective community action. This study is based on interviews with 20 people who are active in their local community in the North East of England. It explores the rationale behind their commitment to the 'common good' and identifies the circumstances and conditions that support, shape and develop that commitment. The study is of particular current interest and also highlights contemporary tensions. On the one hand current government policy, especially in the areas of renewal and regeneration, relies heavily on the active involvement of local people, both in the areas of decision making at strategic level and through an increase in community and voluntary sector activity. On the other hand however, society is generally described as displaying features of what some may term the 'post-modern' condition, that is a mind-set defined primarily through an increase in individualism, an absence of collective values and a tendency 'to bowl alone' (Putnam 2000). This tendency is reflected in the changes to adult education, which has been increasingly individualised and therefore no longer provides the pathways to collective involvement that used to be part of its radical tradition. The findings from this study challenge the prevailing assumptions of apathy, inactivity and individualism and show the very broad range of reasons that motivate people of different ages and backgrounds to become and remain active with others. Furthermore, this study outlines the conditions that are likely for this engagement to flourish, to take it beyond a remedial, temporary 'life style' option and instead to allow it to take root as a sustainable and transformative contribution to local neighbourhoods.

This thesis brings together the themes of ethnicity, inequalities, locality and community interactions. Through an exploration of the processes of residential segregation it demonstrates the complexity of narratives in English local authorities. The research addresses the policy concerns of community cohesion and regeneration and the role of neighbourhood within these. Using quantitative and qualitative research methods, it offers a thematic analysis of the factors affecting residential segregation. A quantitative analysis of the factors leading to variation in the residential arrangements of ethnic groups is conducted at the local authority level using multivariate techniques. The is followed by a qualitative exploration of these processes that reveals the complexity of the relationships between housing patterns, deprivation, ethnicity, culture and community relations. This is set in a critical realist discourse and in the context of a critique of New Labour discourse on community cohesion.

The focus of this study is with the experiences of volunteers engaged in peace building activities in the contested society of Northern Ireland. It takes a qualitative approach utilising semi-structured in-depth interviews to consider their participation and learning. Fourteen volunteers were individually interviewed. As such, the approach adopted in this thesis is one in which the volunteer is placed at the centre of the analysis utilising grounded theory methods which stress discovery and emerging theory development (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1997). Narratives about volunteering arise largely from the accounts filed by researchers, practitioners and journalists. They depict a rosy tinted picture of volunteering. This study contends that a fuller account needs the voices of volunteers to be front of stage. Volunteer accounts provide a rich repository of knowledge, experience and understanding concerning areas such as peace building, volunteer participation and learning. These three areas are seen as emblematic to the study. In order to illustrate participation a framework is promoted to explore the complexities of contextual or relational influence and modes of participation. Collectively they point to different experiences and outcomes that stress belonging, radical learning and collectivity. Unlike formal learning about peace building which is framed systematically volunteering highlights a more informal and organic curriculum. A significant absence is due to the dominant discourse that volunteer learning is a by-product. Emerging themes, volunteer descriptions and current research are synthesised to define the importance of informal learning, a greater understanding of peace building and clearer modes of participation.