With reference to three contexts of models and modelling practice (hydraulic models of environmental systems, model railways and miniature wargaming), this thesis asserts the importance of geography in understanding what models can be, what and how they can do, and how and why models may be made and engaged with. The thesis traces spatialities of models and modelling via conceptions of affect, emotion and feeling, alongside abstraction, the miniature and mimesis, in order to highlight how space is central to lived and embodied engagements with models and modelling. This thesis makes several contributions. Firstly, this thesis gives shape to five key interrelated ‘geographies of models and modelling’, these are; one: models and modelling can generate space-times, and in so doing, produce affective engagements with those space-times. Two: models, modelling and material and embodied affects can shape how spaces (including models) may be constituted, affected, encountered and engaged with. Three: practice can inform modelling as a representational practice and be important to models as representations. Four: modelling as a mimetic practice which, as well as model and modelling engagements, can involve embodied relations whether with places, landscapes, environments, events, people, materials, objects (including models), and temporalities of pasts, presents and futures. Finally, five: model and modelling engagements can be involved with the miniature and an ‘affirmative critique’ of abstraction. Through these geographies and the theoretical underpinnings of this thesis, the second core contribution: six broad lessons about models and modelling. These are; one: models and modelling and the absence and presence of possession. Two: modelling as a negotiated practice. Three: modelling as ‘drawing out elements of the world’. Four: models and modelling as connecting us with the world. Five: models and modelling and human and non-human relations. Finally, six: models and modelling and the more-than-representational.

The thesis discusses emergent formations of agency that are currently taking shape in relation to lesbian, gay and trans subjectivities in Brazil. It engages with the anti-homophobic politics of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movement and, simultaneously, draws on research conducted with queer people so as to extend the view beyond activist practices. During the past two decades, anti-homophobic politics have been oriented towards an engagement with the public provision of security for sexual minorities, in particular in terms of victim services, new laws and changes in policing practices. The thesis argues that a key aspect of these politics relates to a 'governmental' logic of population management that the LGBT movement has come to enact as part of a broader shift towards a politics of 'citizenship'. Michel Foucault's elaborations around liberal governmentality are discussed in relation to recent debates around sexual politics in order to address new dynamics of normalisation and subjectivation that have taken shape. Contextualising the LGBT politics within broader social struggles around a democratisation of the country after two decades of military dictatorship, it is however argued that the activist enactments open up a potential for transformation that goes beyond processes of normalisation and subjectivation. Relations between queer people, sites of activism and state institutions have started to change with the effect of granting queer people access to resources that have previously been denied, as well as instigating a change in the militarised organisation of the Brazilian security apparatus. A Deleuzian understanding of agency as an affective and relational capacity is introduced in order to bring out various aspects of this potential. This understanding is further elaborated with reference to the German notion of 'Geborgenheit', which, it is argued, is particularly useful for bringing out how emergent formations of agency take shape in concrete spatial contexts. More specifically, 'Geborgenheit' - which means something like sheltered-ness and security in an immediately positive and spatial sense - helps in addressing affective dynamics that enable subjects to open up to, stake claims or positively relate to spaces. This also enables an extension of the analysis beyond `governmental' practices of the LGBT movement to a range of further sites. Gebogenheit, in this sense, provides a productive counterpoint to the notion of `security' which has been dominating the political debate around queer politics in Brazil, opening up possibilities for rethinking the relevance of both activist and everyday enactments and the affective dynamics that are at play. The metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro provides a focus for the analysis, which is related to the fact that LGBT security activism has started out and continues to be strongly articulated there. Moreover, this spatial focus helps in bringing out some challenges involved in engaging with security politics and Geborgenheit in a context that has created new agentic possibilities for queer people, yet has simultaneously been marked by profound social inequalities, intense spatial segregation, and multiple forms of violence. Formations of agency are profoundly conditioned by the paradoxical dynamics unfolding in this context. The empirical research used involves participant observations at activist conferences and interviews with activists as well as two participatory workshop series conducted with lesbian, gay and trans people in- two different parts of Rio's metropolitan region - the Centre and Nova Iguacu, in the Baixada Fluminense region adjacent to the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. An investigation of emergent formations of agency within and across sites of activism and the everyday is used for a discussion of problems and potentials of security politics and for a reconsideration of politics of citizenship more broadly.

No description available.

This research investigated the conflicts that existed between the theory and policies of tourism as a tool for sustainable development, and the reality of their implementation in the Ghorepani and Tatopani areas of Annapurna, Nepal. It studied the attitudes, values, and practices (with reference to tourism and sustainable development) of the various actors in tourism in the area, and the environmental contexts and processes at work. The current theory and policy underpinning measures to implement tourism and sustainable development in the area was examined. Conclusions were subsequently drawn about the impact of present policies and theory on sustainable development and sustainable tourism on the area. An interpretivist paradigm provided the basis for this study, with elements of a critical social science approach included. An emic approach enabled the researcher to uncover the specific understandings and actualities of stakeholders, along with the underlying environmental structures and conditions of sustainable development through tourism in the area. These factors, along with the interrelationships between them, formed the basis of a fieldwork period whereby data was gained from key stakeholders through the utilisation of a variety of interviewing and observational techniques. This study contributes further to the debate surrounding the use of tourism as a tool for sustainable development. It finds that the traditional but naïve western dualist assumptions of tourism impacts as propounded by research, policy, and management do not account for the processes in which tourism is working on and through actors and their communities in the Tatopani and Ghorepani areas of Nepal (and vice versa). It consequently finds that sustainable development, when interpreted as a western construct, can be seen to be occurring to a limited and beneficial degree in the areas, but also at a cost to the communities involved which is not being recognised.

This thesis examines the migration trajectories of members of a community of Bolivian ex-miners with the aim of analysing gender and social change in migration. It starts by making the case for a holistic approach to the study of migration, one which pays attention to migrants’ agency without losing sight of the social structures within which migrants are embedded, thereby arguing for a structuration approach. Gender relations are identified as crucial for understanding migration patterns as well as the consequences of migration processes; however, gender should not be used in isolation. Rather, it is here argued that gender analysis needs to include race, class and ethnicity issues to have relevance for migrants’ lives and migration theories. Fieldwork was multi-sited. Migrants’ life stories recorded in Bolivia and Argentina are in this study combined with a community survey applied to one of the intermediary points of the various livelihood trajectories followed by the migrant ex-miners – a neighbourhood situated on the outskirts of Cochabamba, Bolivia. The application of this methodology reveals the need for including migrants’ priorities and concerns within the analysis as well as the need for finding analytic concepts which help bridge the actor-structure spheres. Empirical chapters therefore focus on migrants’ life stories, social networks and social capital, situating women and men migrants’ choices and decisions within the wider framework of historic migration trends, economic crises and social power relations in Argentina and Bolivia. The analysis traces women migrants’ increasing participation in the Bolivian and then Argentine labour market, suggesting that migration creates opportunities for a radical change in gender relations within this particular community by increasing their choices. However, the data here presented also identifies critical points of contention – such as their access to social networks and gender labour market segregation – which frustrate women’s ability to negotiate more equal gender relations.

This thesis is an 'alternative format thesis', and thus the body of this work takes the form of a number of research papers. Its fundamental achievement is to significantly develop our understanding of the characteristics, practices, role/ significance, challenges and regulation of two contemporary and innovate forms of ecotourism which have rapidly expanded in recent years. They are international conservation tourism and private wildlife ranching in South Africa. Although quite separate entities, these sectors have a great deal in common. Both commodify wildlife and wild places for sale. Both have become increasingly commercialised and profit driven enterprises. Both have rapidly evolved in a rather piecemeal or organic fashion ahead of government regulation, and both have the potential to contribute to biodiversity conservation, community development and public education. These two types of ecotourism are directly linked through the huge popularity of South Africa's private wildlife ranches as a destination for international conservation tourism holidays. The intense coupling of nature and society created by these two forms of tourism required an interdisciplinary approach and research methods combining both qualitative and quantitative techniques. This thesis takes a political ecology approach to show how historical factors, ways of viewing the environment and power relations are shaping this emerging form of conservation. The thesis concludes with an overview of the substantive findings and suggestions for future research.

The development of sustainable tourism has recently emerged as a key factor for the Northern Cyprus tourism industry. Discourses and practices of sustainable tourism have become central to the development of the Karpaz region because of its relatively unspoilt nature and wellpreserved traditional lifestyle. On the other hand, since sustainable tourism is a quite new concept in Northern Cyprus, it has attracted limited research attention. In this vein, my research will be the first that explores the sustainable tourism development practices in the Karpaz region from a political ecology perspective. Furthermore, my research will make an important contribution to knowledge in tourism studies by specifically addressing the relationship between significant actors in order to understand the relationship between tourism development, society and environment by taking into consideration unequal power relations and conflicting interests of key actors/stakeholders. Finally, reviewing the literature demonstrates that tourism literature lacks studies in the field of investigating sustainability of tourism development policies at destinations by taking into consideration socio-cultural issues; thus my research will make a significant contribution to knowledge by addressing cultural issues while investigating the ways in which society uses its power to shape development. A qualitative research approach was employed and fieldwork was undertaken primarily in Buyukkonuk and Dipkarpaz villages of the Karpaz region due to the incteasingpopularity of these villages with sustainable tourism discourses and practices. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather information from over thirty respondents from the public, private and education sectors and from NGOs. Furthermore, focus groups and informal conversations were used in order to gather information from community members of the region. These interview data were supported by participant observation and published documentary data in newspapers, magazines and on internet sites. The study found out that sustainable tourism development policies have changed with changes at the governmental level since sustainability has different meanings for different stakeholders. Moreover, conflicting attitudes between different community residents towards tourism development were found due to the cultural differences between the immigrant and Turkish Cypriot residents. Finally, the research also found that the loss of `Cypriotness' in the face of immigrant culture and the issue of cultural and environmental commoditisation in light of capitalist mentalities have increasingly challenged the sustainability of tourism development in the Karpaz region. Keywords: sustainable tourism, Northern Cyprus, the Karpaz region, political ecology, community development, festivals, culture, social identity

One of the more recent forms of tourism to emerge from the continuing fragmentation of tourism into many different forms is what has become known as Volunteer Tourism. Although itself taking on a number of variations, it is essentially the practice of individuals going on a working holiday and volunteering their labour for worthy causes. The concept of volunteer work has existed for several decades since its origins immediately following the First World War, but the idea of combining this activity with tourism is relatively new and has already changed considerably over a very short period. This thesis reviews the process by which volunteer tourism has developed, focusing on its transformation from an individual altruistic endeavour to a more commercial form of conventional tourism. As such, volunteer tourism has mirrored in many ways the development and commercialisation of opportunities for individuals to engage in ecotourism, another form of tourism which also began on a small scale with compassionate and non-economic priorities. This thesis provides a twin pronged approach to the study of volunteer tourism focusing both on the demand and the supply of volunteer tourism. The demand is investigated through an observation of a group of volunteer tourists in Mexico over a three week period and a new conceptualization of participation in volunteer tourism as a balancing act between commitment and hedonistic pursuits is developed. This thesis also reviews the growth in number of websites devoted to the various forms of volunteer tourism that now exist, and discusses the changes that have taken place in the content and focus of these websites and the organisations they represent over the last two decades. In relation to this analysis, it also examines the location of destinations which are being made available to volunteer tourists and providing the opportunity to engage in this activity. As a part of this analysis, the thesis examines the changes in the distribution of these locations and the relationship between location and the relative need of the respective destinations for assistance. The current distribution pattern of volunteer tourist opportunities now bears little similarity to the acute need for assistance that one might expect if the real motivation for providing this assistance was altruistic rather than commercial. In proposing a new approach of viewing volunteer tourism participation as a balancing act, but also by showing that the organizations involved vary in terms of their commitment and expectations, this study presents clarification on the role, expectations and motivations of the main players in volunteer tourism.

No description available.

This study is designed to explore and examine the various aspects of West Bank couples attitudes, beliefs and childbearing behaviour with regard to family size formation. Within the general framework, the study aims to investigate the various aspects such as household characteristics, marriage issues, determinants of childbearing behaviour, desired family size, ideal family size, gender preference, couples communication with regard to decision making process, and the relation between desired and actual family size. Moreover, this study aims to investigate and examine the effect of socio-economic, cultural and demographic variables on couples preferences and attitudes. It is believed that in order to understand the couples attitudes, beliefs and behaviour, one should first understand the background which created such attitudes and beliefs. As a result, this study begins with a general overview of the West Bank population. Moreover, this study will shed light on the political situation which has a significant effect on demographic change in the region. In addition, it will examine the influence of Arab culture, being an Islamic one, on the role of women in the family and society) family structure and social system child-parental relationships) couples interpersonal relationships) couples relations within their family) preferred number and gender of children) extent of contraceptive use and family planning. The data for the research were gathered by interviewing a sample of 999 couples (husbands and wives) using a questionnaire method. The data were gathered from different environments so as to include urban and rural areas and refugee camps within the district of Nablus. As for the statistical techniques used for analysing the data, the Statistical Package for Social sciences (SPSSX) was employed. Various statistical measures such as means, correlations, chi-square tests, probabilities and multivariate discriminant analysis were performed in order to examine associations between the various variables. Some of the outcomes emerging from the analysis include:1) The political factor has played a major role in shaping the West Bank population from the beginning of this century.2) On average, West Bank families prefer an early age at marriage for females, while age at marriage for males has increased gradually as a direct result of eduction.3) Children's economic contribution to their families is very meagre. Thus, the costs and benefits of having children are not considered to be crucial factors in determining West Bank couples childbearing behaviour.4) On average, husbands have more traditional attitudes towards the number and gender of children than their wives. On the other hand, wives are more willing to use contraceptives.5) West Bank couples, especially husbands, have a strong male preference, especially for the first child.6) In general, the average ideal family size is less than the average desired family size and total fertility rate.7) With respect to desired family size, an `after the event' rationalism effect is evident, especially among couples who have completed their family size.8) A couples relationship and level of communication with each other have a significant effect on decision making with regard to family size preference and contraceptive use.9) The findings reveal significant differences in couples attitudes towards fertility preference. Variables such as place of residence, age, educational level and women's employment appeared to have the largest discriminant power in explaining couples attitudes to fertility preferences. Apart from these major findings, the study also includes suggestions and recommendations for future research.