Following a critical discussion of the theories of knowledge developed in the work of Michel Foucault, Bruno Latour and Nancy Fraser this thesis shows the spaces of 'underclass' to be produced by the workings of power/knowledge, practices by socially embedded individuals and situated within networks of relations. The contemporary configuration of those networked spaces is examined via three case studies each of which is the subject of a chapter. They are: a comparative ethnography of an international policy conference on 'Stakeholding' and a number of DSS waiting rooms in the South of England; an interview based analysis of prominent feminist speaking positions in the field of political and cultural commentary on 'underclass'; and a popular cultural cartography of 'underclass' based on two contemporary films. These three case studies are generically diverse but are shown to be connected by relations of power/knowledge in a process of contestation over contemporary notions of welfare. The delineation of new relationships between gender and economy, and between the 'independent' and the 'dependent' (primarily 'non-working' parents, children and long term benefit recipients) is argued to be central to 'underclass' discourse. This thesis shows how the discourse has partly developed through the work of the mainstream political Left on notions of 'Stakeholding' and 'Welfare to Work', and partly through prominent feminist commentaries on poor, working class masculinities and the 'needs' and 'wants' of single mothers. These knowledges are problematised specifically in terms of their class location and contested through both my own and two filmic narratives of working class poverty. In this thesis those narratives are presented as subjugated knowledges of the discourse of 'underclass' which refuse and accuse traditional theories and practices of authoritative knowledge. They are argued to challenge the power-laden binaries of fact and affect, of work and care, of public and private, of the professional and the unqualified; and to suggest a need for the strategic engagement of a socialist-feminist politics that is attuned to the classed and gendered complexities of 'underclass' discourse.

For at least the last century men have been leaving the village of Kohery in North West Frontier Province, Pakistan to look for work and better opportunities. In all that time migration has remained a temporary phenomenon with the men always returning to their home village. Migration has become a way of life and is deeply rooted in the experience and ideas of the people. In the 1970s the men of Kohery began to take part in labour migration to the Gulf states along with millions of other Asians. This thesis is about this migration in the 1990s, and the social and economic effects that it has had and continues to have. It is a cultural study of labour migration from Kohery to the Gulf and is divided into four parts. Part 1 consists of the life histories of several men from a group of eight households where the research was carried out. The aim is to describe the experiences of a group of individuals over several decades of migration. The stories illustrate the long history of migration from the area and form a background to the rest of the thesis. The stories are also used to demonstrate the ways in which individuals use their own life histories to represent themselves as honourable men. Part II examines households. The association of gender with space - women with houses and men with 'outside' - affects the sexual division of labour, so that men are the ones who participate in migration and who control household resources. Within households, the composition of the group and the position of individuals in the hierarchy give rise to tensions and conflicts which result in divisions. Despite considerable variations in the composition of households the differences between them are played down and the similarities are emphasised. In particular households are described as being unproductive in themselves and dependent on migration.

No description available.

This thesis focuses on the Palestinian refugees’ experience in Lebanon since 1948, to critically engage with Agamben’s theory of exception. Agamben conceives of the ‘camp’ as the space where the normal juridical order and the inhabitants’ rights are suspended, the hidden matrix of the modern where the sovereign confronts nothing but bare life. Refugees are framed as the ultimate embodiment of bare life, a life stripped of rights and protection and at the mercy of state authorities. This research critiques this understanding in three ways. Firstly, by disenfranchising the concept of sovereign power from statehood, I adopt a multiscalar approach to uncover the complex network of sovereigns and decisions impacting upon the Palestinian life. From the international level (UN and humanitarian organisations) to the regional level (Arab states and Lebanon), I discuss the roles and responsibility of multiple actors in the production of Palestinian bare life showing the global scope of sovereign power. Secondly, by disengaging the concept of power from political institutions, I include the Palestinian refugees’ agency in the chessboard of power relations. Focusing on lived experiences and critically engaging with state-centric and law-centric perspectives, the thesis uncovers the micropolitics on the ground constituted by multiple forms of resistance that refugees adopt in their ongoing struggles for survival and recognition. The recognition of this agency and political significance of refugees’ lives is paramount if a just solution to the Palestinian refugee question is to be found. Finally, this study interrogates and problematises the uncritical assimilation of refugee camps to spaces of exception. By looking at the evolution of Shatila refugee camp and its relation to the city of Beirut, I discuss the formation of a new spatial model that I call ‘campscape’. As social and spatial boundaries increasingly blur, the ‘campscape’, which includes the refugee camp and informal settlements around, is the space in which the refugee meets the other outcasts of the Lebanese political and economic system.

The following thesis is an analysis of the place-names of the townlands contained within the parishes of the Barony of Coleraine. It seeks to collate and record all the available historical forms of the place-names in question, and to record the phonetic pronunciation of these names, in order to fully explain their derivation and, where appropriate, to suggest a suitable, modem, Irish language equivalent. This research will contribute to the work undertaken by both the Northern Ireland Place-Name Project and by An Coiste Logainmneacha which is attempting to provide authoritative, research based forms for all the townland names in Ireland. This research will also seek to explore the historical and religious influences which shaped the nomenclature of the area, and in particular will show how the presence of different ethnic and religious groups has been reflected in the naming process. The research will also attempt to redefine the meanings of some place-name elements, and will examine how the geography of an area can influence the naming process.

This thesis is a study of the ways In Which different types of land utters perceives end operate In, the Scottish Highland environment and of their relationships with one another in apace end time. The work attempts a systematic analysis of the patterns of activity on the land existing within ten districts of the Scottish Highlands selected on account of their widely recognised scenic and recreational attraction for a growing number of visitors each year. Particular attention Is given to the nature and extent of harmony or conflict between various forms of public recreation and agriculture, forestry and field sports which was revealed In each study district through extensive field work. In conclusion an effort is made to guage the extent to which various forms of public leisure activity can be given access within each of the ten selected areas In a way which will continue to be compatible with the conservation of the ecology, visual amenity and rhythm of activity of the Highland Countryside as the resource base for the local economy in the future, including public recreation and tourism. The main part of the thesis is followed by a series of recommendations which arose spontaneously out of field work investigations in the context of planning for the multiple use of the Highland countryside in the future within a framework of rural conservation. After an introduction outlining the current trends in outdoor leisure manifest in Britain and the United States, Chapter Two proceeds to examine the origins, character and attitudes of the main groups using the British Countryside for recreation today - with particular reference to the extension of these into the Highland environment. Emphasis is firmly placed upon the divorce In outlook trttlch evidently exists between town and country In Britain today concerning the role of the countryside - resulting In a widespread ignorance of the real character and vulnerability of rural areas which threatens to have serious consequences for the future use of the countryside unless combatted by a comprehensive scheme for mass rural education and conservation, channelling and zoning in the landscape. Following a chapter outlining the development of the modern patterns of rural management and public recreation In the Highland countryside, Chapter Four develops the ideas introduced in the preceding sections through studying the relationships between different types of estate management and public recreation by means of ten case studies of landed properties located in various parts of the Highlands. This Is followed, in Chapter Five, by an analysis of the nature and extent of the main landowning attitudes found in the region, from which it was evident that the great majority of estate owners, private and public, are prepared to accommodate various forms of zoned or channelled public access over their lands on the basis of mutual respect. In chapter Six, a closer study is made of the attitudes and patterns of activity of various kinds of holiday visitors to the Highlands front which it appears that two major groups of holidaymakers can be distinguished regarding their average lengths of stay, patterns of recreation and degrees of appreciation of the Highland countryside and Indigenous way of life. Chapter Seven, in the ;light of the discussion within previous sections, attempts a systematic analysis of the various degrees of accessibility Which are possible for different types of public recreation within the ten selected study districts, mentioned above, having special regard to the considerations of conflict or compatibility introduced earlier In Chapters Four and Five. In conclustion, it is emphasised that the degree of access possible in a given situation for public recreation depends upon a variety of interconnected factors and never simply upon the attitudes or idiosyncrasies of individual landowners. The need for a much more thorough assessment of the carrying capacities of different types of countryside in the Highlands for public outdoor leisure is also stressed, particularly in existing or incipient pressure areas of visitor activity alongside popular touring routes. Chapter Eight considers the general situation regarding the extent of access for various types of public recreation at present available in the region and underlines the need to adopt a regional strategy and local tactic of zoning an! channelling public outdoor leisure in the countryside in order to accommodate growing recreational pressures within a long terra policy of rural management involving conservation. To be really effective, however, such a programme requires a willing and informed response from every individual using the countryside - in marked contrast to the current lack of true appreciation and respect which seems widespread amongst the British public.

In the seventeenth century Scottish merchants were effectively barred from trade with the English colonies; first by lack of capital and suitable exports and secondly, by the exclusion of Scotland from colonial trade following the passing of the English Navigation Acts in 1663. Because of the demand for Scottish servants, however, whose martial qualities were considered a good off-set against the threat of slave insurrection and foreign invasion, the English government allowed the import of Scottish servants - though Scottish ships were not allowed to carry colonial products back home. Nevertheless, this demand reinforced by the large supply of conventiclers, vagabonds, and petty criminals which the Scottish authorities were willing to see transported, allowed a thriving though small and partially illegal trade to be established between Scotland and the colonies . After the Union of Parliaments in 1707, when Scotland was given legal access to the colonial market, servants continued to be a regular, though not as vital outward cargo to the colonies. All transatlantic merchants had some contact with the trade, but east-coast merchants or small firms seem to have had the most frequent or large-scale involvement. Unlike the previous century, the majority of Scots indenting went as volunteers, with an increase in numbers seen after times of famine, high prices or following a war when the military no longer served as an outlet for the unemployed or redundant population. The Scottish authorities, however, continued to allow the transportation of criminals, rebels, and in a few cases, vagabonds, even before Parliament gave legal sanction to this in 1766, when the English transportation was extended to Scotland. The importance of the entrepreneurial element upon the trade should not be ignored for many Scots, although dissatisfied with their condition and willing to migrate within the country, would not have considered emigration unless persuaded by recruitment agents to indent. The influence of this element was especially strong in the 1770s when mass emigration was seen from both the Highlands and Lowlands. A large percentage of those departing were financially solvent, particularly in the first waves, but after a series of bad harvests and the 1772 depression a large number of the poorer classes were irretrievably hurt. The willingness of transatlantic merchants to carry cargoes, partially because of difficulties in the colonial sector but also because of the inordinate supply of potential servants, allowed many impoverished Scots to accompany their relatives, neighbours or clansmen. Without the indenture system many Scots would have been forced to remain in Scotland. In fact, during both the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the majority of emigrants leaving Scotland probably arrived in the colonies as servants. Except during the 1770s when a number of families indented, most servants were young, single males (though women servants always proved profitable investments). There were several categories of servants and the treatment and expectations of those within each group varied. Many Scots, such as those apprenticed to Virginia tobacco stores or West Indian surgeons, were servants in name only. Skilled tradesmen, often specifically recruited in Scotland, were also in practice contracted employees who agreed to work for a certain period in exchange for a salary and upkeep. Unskilled servants, and convicts of course, had the hardest service time, receiving only bed and board in return for performing whatever tasks their masters required of them. Yet the unskilled labourer, master craftsman and middle-class tobacco storekeeper were all legally considered bond servants and subject to the same penalties if they broke their contracts.

This thesis considers a conflict between 'colonos' and conservation in mid-twentieth Colombia. A model of frontier processes is used in an historical perspective to illuminate the geography of a socio-ecological invasion process. The documentary evidence is combined with evidence from personal fieldwork, catastral survey, census material and unpublished data from quasi-governmental organizations, to produce an interpretation of the current situation that differs greatly from that held by the bodies directly involved at the time.

This thesis describes and interprets the effects of recreational trampling in Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve in the Western Highlands of Scotland. Intensive recreational use of view points, picnic areas and trails has created conditions of excessive soil compaction, damage to vegetation and accelerated erosion. From seasonal measurements of trail microtopography, it was determined that trampling reduces and removes vegetation cover and initiates the processes of advanced gully development, leaving deepened trail trenches on slopes. On level sites, soil compaction levels are increased, but the lack of gradient reduces the effects of rain wash and mass movement. Once recreational trampling has created conditions conducive to accelerated change, either by natural or human processes, an on-going cycle continues until a measure of stabilisation is achieved, which may not, however, be consistent with the continuing recreational use of the area. Soil compaction and biomass reduction were prevalent at trail heads, cairn sites and picnic areas, becoming less so with increased distance away from congregation points. Examination of the effects of trampling throughout the trail system revealed that the degree of damage is dependent upon site gradient and soil moisture content. Damage was greatest on those sites which were both steep and wet. Seasonal changes in site characteristics showed that heavy summer recreational trampling produced greater environmental change than natural processes of rainfall and mass movement during the winter months. This study identifies a number of constraints which might be considered in the design of future recreational areas in comparable situations.

No description available.