An analysis of company law may allow us to abandon a perception that company law is impartial to the political context in which it is applied. This paper argues that state protectionism is reflected in the design of company law. Specifically, states may confer public functions to board of directors through their duties and authorities; in turn, directors’ functions may become barriers to foreign investments. To illustrate this argument, focus is placed on the duties of Canadian corporate directors and how their functions affect foreign direct investment in Canada. It demonstrates that the public function conferred to corporate directors echoes the State’s policy and regulations governing foreign investment. As a consequence to the redundancy of the public interest rationalization and the lack of political will to affect real market openness, unnecessary barriers are being placed for market access which may ultimately render Canada less attractive for foreign investors.

An analysis of company law may allow us to abandon a perception that company law is impartial to the political context in which it is applied. This paper argues that state protectionism is reflected in the design of company law. Specifically, states may confer public functions to board of directors through their duties and authorities; in turn, directors’ functions may become barriers to foreign investments. To illustrate this argument, focus is placed on the duties of Canadian corporate directors and how their functions affect foreign direct investment in Canada. It demonstrates that the public function conferred to corporate directors echoes the State’s policy and regulations governing foreign investment. As a consequence to the redundancy of the public interest rationalization and the lack of political will to affect real market openness, unnecessary barriers are being placed for market access which may ultimately render Canada less attractive for foreign investors.

The traditional approach to corporate governance in Canada has centered on shareholders. This model of governance is commonly referred to as shareholder primacy. The shareholder primacy model has recently been rejected by the Supreme Court of Canada in Peoples v. Wise and BCE v. 1976 Debentureholders. This paper will be argued that directors should be required to focus exclusively on increasing shareholder value in the change of control context. It is within the change of control context that shareholders most require fiduciary protection. In addition, the shareholder primacy rule provides an enforceable standard for evaluating the actions of directors. As stakeholders have a variety of mechanisms to ensure that their interests are not disregarded, they are not in need of fiduciary protection. In contrast, shareholders face greater risks, which validate a need to be protected by an exclusive fiduciary duty in the change of control context.

The traditional approach to corporate governance in Canada has centered on shareholders. This model of governance is commonly referred to as shareholder primacy. The shareholder primacy model has recently been rejected by the Supreme Court of Canada in Peoples v. Wise and BCE v. 1976 Debentureholders. This paper will be argued that directors should be required to focus exclusively on increasing shareholder value in the change of control context. It is within the change of control context that shareholders most require fiduciary protection. In addition, the shareholder primacy rule provides an enforceable standard for evaluating the actions of directors. As stakeholders have a variety of mechanisms to ensure that their interests are not disregarded, they are not in need of fiduciary protection. In contrast, shareholders face greater risks, which validate a need to be protected by an exclusive fiduciary duty in the change of control context.

This thesis presents a holistic study of connections in the Altai Mountains of the eastern Eurasian Steppe, as shown by rock-art. Currently divided by four countries, pecked images (petroglyphs) and painted images from the 2^nd-1^st millennium BCE have been subjected to very separate research traditions, exacerbated by language barriers. This thesis focusses on the entire Altai Mountain range as a study area, integrating research published in Chinese and Russian, with supplementary literature in Kazakh and Mongolian consulted. To demonstrate the potential for connectivity and, consequently, movement, a map of accessibility was generated, showing that there are various optimal routes for movement throughout the Altai. The locations of rock-art sites relative to these routes indicate that movement was a key feature contributing to the creation of rock-art. Examining topographic features in the vicinity of rock-art sites of three regions (Mongolia, Russia, PRC) highlighted an association between watercourses and sites, whilst studying the micro-landscape within panels found that the creators of rock-art were not representing the tangible spatial relationship of figures to the landscape. More broadly, similarities between motifs at rock-art sites, as well as on portable art, demonstrate that the people making them, regardless of whether they were aware of it or not, were part of a wider understanding of how to depict subjects. Evidence of this understanding can be found even in regions with very different cultural backgrounds to the Steppe, such as the Chinese Central Plains, demonstrating that groups outside of the Steppe were aware of and using this way of representing. By combining analysis of motifs with that of the landscape, this thesis demonstrates that rock-art as a practice was inherently linked with to the landscape, whereas content and style are more indicative of a wide-ranging belief system amongst Steppe pastoralists, which was expressed aesthetically.

O objetivo desta pesquisa é examinar e compreender as concepções de corpo na Assíria do fim do século VIII e do século VII AEC, a partir da análise de fontes palacianas imagéticas e textuais. As primeiras são compostas pelos relevos dos palácios dos reis Senaqueribe (704- 681) e Assurbanipal II (669-627) em Nínive (no atual nordeste do Iraque). As segundas são Inscrições Reais, Tratados e Juramentos, Cartas e textos literários, sendo que todos esses gêneros têm como eixo de produção os palácios assírios. Os relevos são placas de pedra com esculturas em baixo relevo, que foram utilizadas nas paredes dos palácios assírios a partir do final do segundo milênio AEC. Esse uso foi continuado por todo o período denominado Neoassírio ou Tardo Assírio (934-610 AEC), expondo imagens de pessoas, animais, plantas, paisagens e arquiteturas. A configuração desses elementos figurativos expressa cenas de narrativas espaciais por meio de imagens. A disposição orquestrada dos relevos nas paredes dos palácios evidencia potenciais modos de percepção das imagens pela movimentação nos ambientes palacianos. A recorrência da expressão do corpo nos relevos suscita uma perspectiva atenta à materialidade, à relação entre as imagens do corpo e aos modos de percepção e contato com esses objetos no período. A presença constante de expressões corporais em textos neoassírios também constitui um tratamento ao corpo através da linguagem. Considerando a complementaridade entre fontes imagéticas e escritas no período e o fato de as concepções de corpo poderem estar expressas em textos e imagens, qual é o lugar e o uso do corpo neste período? Como o corpo aparece nos relevos e textos palacianos? Quais aspectos materiais dos relevos constituem os indícios da concepção de corpo? Como as imagens do corpo e as expressões corporais escritas indicam suas concepções? / The aim of this research is to examine and comprehend the conceptions of the body in Assyria at the end of the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, from the analysis of palatial images and texts. The visual sources are composed by the reliefs of the kings of Sennacherib (704-681) and Assurbanipal II (669-627) in Nineveh (present-day northern of Iraq). The written sources are Royal Inscriptions, Treaties and Oaths, Letters and literary texts. All these texts had the Assyrian royal palaces as production axis. The reliefs are stone plaques with bas-relief sculptures, which were used on the walls of the Assyrian palaces from the end of the second millennium BCE. This use was continued throughout the period called Neo-Assyrian or Late Assyrian (934-610 BCE), exposing images of people, animals, plants, landscapes and architectures. The configuration of these figurative elements expresses scenes of spatial narratives through images. The orchestrated arrangement of the reliefs on the walls of the palaces shows potential ways of perception of the images by the movement in the palatial environments. The recurrence of the body expression in the reliefs evokes an attentive threefold perspective: on the materiality, the images of the body and the modes of perception and contact with these objects in that period. The constant presence of body expressions in Neo-Assyrian texts also constitutes a way to treat body through language. Considering the complementarity between visual and written sources in the Neo-Assyrian period and the fact that body conceptions can be expressed in texts and images, what is the status and use of the body in this period? How does the body appear in the reliefs and palatial texts? What are the material aspects of the reliefs? How do body images and written body expressions indicate their conceptions?

L’intégration européenne des marchés financiers semble se heurter de manière répétée à un certain type de problèmes concernant la substance et les limites conceptuelles de ce « marché » en cours d’intégration, ainsi que le statut et le rôle qu’y revêtent la monnaie, les infrastructures et la gouvernance publique. Ces problèmes et les controverses qu’ils soulèvent présentent un parallélisme avec des débats classiques de théorie économique tels que celui qui oppose les conceptions du marché comme espace sans frottements et comme processus de concurrence. Ce parallélisme est attribué ici à une « conception concurrentielle du marché » car celle-ci implique l’idée contradictoire d’une « intégration de la fragmentation ». La thèse repère ces thèmes et ces parallèles dans un grand projet récent d’intégration des infrastructures de marché financier : la plateforme paneuropéenne de règlement-livraison de titres Target2Securities (ou T2S), censée surmonter la fragmentation des systèmes qui réalisent les transferts de monnaie et de titres lors de transactions financières. L’analyse de ce projet permet en outre d’avancer une réponse à une énigme que les approches habituelles de l’intégration européenne en sociologie et en économie politique (political economy) – principalement centrées sur les intérêts et idées des acteurs les plus puissants – sont bien en peine d’éclaircir : à savoir la raison pour laquelle T2S sera de facto un monopole de la Banque centrale européenne, alors que les institutions européennes privilégient depuis le début l’intégration par les acteurs privés. La notion foucaldienne de « formation discursive » est mise à contribution pour conceptualiser ces thèses. / European integration of financial markets appears to repeatedly encounter specific kinds of problems about the substance and limits of the notion of “the market” undergoing integration, and about the status and role of money, market infrastructures, and government within it. Moreover, these problems and the controversies around them parallel classical discussions in economic theory such as that between conceptions of the market as a frictionless space and as a process of competition. A “competitive conception of the market” is identified as producing these parallel problems and controversies in European market integration and economic theory because it implies a contradictory “integration of fragmentation.” These themes and parallels can be specifically identified in a recent major project to integrate financial market infrastructures: a pan-European settlement platform – “Target2-Securities (T2S)” – to overcome existing fragmentation between the systems that perform the actual delivery of money and securities from financial transactions. Moreover, a close analysis of T2S answers a question that existing sociological and political economy approaches to European integration – focusing primarily on the interests and ideas of powerful players – struggle with: why T2S will become de facto a monopoly for the European Central Bank when early on in the integration process EU institutions emphasized an industry-led integration. Foucault’s notion of “discursive formation” is employed to conceptualize these arguments.

O objetivo desta pesquisa é examinar e compreender as concepções de corpo na Assíria do fim do século VIII e do século VII AEC, a partir da análise de fontes palacianas imagéticas e textuais. As primeiras são compostas pelos relevos dos palácios dos reis Senaqueribe (704- 681) e Assurbanipal II (669-627) em Nínive (no atual nordeste do Iraque). As segundas são Inscrições Reais, Tratados e Juramentos, Cartas e textos literários, sendo que todos esses gêneros têm como eixo de produção os palácios assírios. Os relevos são placas de pedra com esculturas em baixo relevo, que foram utilizadas nas paredes dos palácios assírios a partir do final do segundo milênio AEC. Esse uso foi continuado por todo o período denominado Neoassírio ou Tardo Assírio (934-610 AEC), expondo imagens de pessoas, animais, plantas, paisagens e arquiteturas. A configuração desses elementos figurativos expressa cenas de narrativas espaciais por meio de imagens. A disposição orquestrada dos relevos nas paredes dos palácios evidencia potenciais modos de percepção das imagens pela movimentação nos ambientes palacianos. A recorrência da expressão do corpo nos relevos suscita uma perspectiva atenta à materialidade, à relação entre as imagens do corpo e aos modos de percepção e contato com esses objetos no período. A presença constante de expressões corporais em textos neoassírios também constitui um tratamento ao corpo através da linguagem. Considerando a complementaridade entre fontes imagéticas e escritas no período e o fato de as concepções de corpo poderem estar expressas em textos e imagens, qual é o lugar e o uso do corpo neste período? Como o corpo aparece nos relevos e textos palacianos? Quais aspectos materiais dos relevos constituem os indícios da concepção de corpo? Como as imagens do corpo e as expressões corporais escritas indicam suas concepções? / The aim of this research is to examine and comprehend the conceptions of the body in Assyria at the end of the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, from the analysis of palatial images and texts. The visual sources are composed by the reliefs of the kings of Sennacherib (704-681) and Assurbanipal II (669-627) in Nineveh (present-day northern of Iraq). The written sources are Royal Inscriptions, Treaties and Oaths, Letters and literary texts. All these texts had the Assyrian royal palaces as production axis. The reliefs are stone plaques with bas-relief sculptures, which were used on the walls of the Assyrian palaces from the end of the second millennium BCE. This use was continued throughout the period called Neo-Assyrian or Late Assyrian (934-610 BCE), exposing images of people, animals, plants, landscapes and architectures. The configuration of these figurative elements expresses scenes of spatial narratives through images. The orchestrated arrangement of the reliefs on the walls of the palaces shows potential ways of perception of the images by the movement in the palatial environments. The recurrence of the body expression in the reliefs evokes an attentive threefold perspective: on the materiality, the images of the body and the modes of perception and contact with these objects in that period. The constant presence of body expressions in Neo-Assyrian texts also constitutes a way to treat body through language. Considering the complementarity between visual and written sources in the Neo-Assyrian period and the fact that body conceptions can be expressed in texts and images, what is the status and use of the body in this period? How does the body appear in the reliefs and palatial texts? What are the material aspects of the reliefs? How do body images and written body expressions indicate their conceptions?

The mysterious Sea Peoples are groups thought to have entered the Orient towards the end of the Late Bronze Age time period. Their impact on the region was seemingly influential and one of the contributing factors leading to the decline of the societal status quo in the region leading up to 1200 BCE. Their origins, cultural identity and long term impact on the area are all factors which have been difficult and complex to research. The challenges with regard to these peoples and any research concentrated upon them include a definitive lack of physical evidence of their material culture, specifically in the northern regions thought to have been inhabited by them. Further south the situation differs slightly as the Philistines (thought to be a Sea Peoples group) did settle into a sophisticated society with material remains to prove it. In the north however, Sea Peoples are known to have settled but their impact is less clear but not necessarily non-existent in all regards. The Phoenicians as an Iron Age civilisation date back to the transitional period of 1200 BCE (Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age) and have often been regarded as simply the cultural descendants of the Late Bronze Age Canaanites. This is true in many ways but in certain instances the Phoenicians achieved feats and undertook cultural practices that may diverge from this idea of complete continuity. In terms of maritime activity, the Phoenicians were able to accomplish feats never before seen in the region. The time period in which these maritime activities started to take place on such an expansive level corresponds with the settlement of northern Sea Peoples in Phoenicia and just outside its southern borders. Although the physical evidence regarding these Sea Peoples is by no means available in abundance, perhaps one can find their impact in the cultural makeup and actions of the Phoenicians. It may be plausible that groups of people that had such a significant influence on an area through their migrations, as the Sea Peoples did, could have had more long term influences on the occupants of the area than has been credited to them before. One possible manifestation of this influence may be the unique maritime character of the Phoenicians which can be compared with the Sea Peoples, who have not been given their name coincidentally. Their affinity to the sea is well known through textual and pictographic records and can in some instances be favourably paralleled with the Phoenicians. Ship design alterations going into the Phoenician age is possibly, at least in part, due to Sea Peoples influence. Furthermore the actual undertaking of Phoenician expansion across the sea and following early forms of maritime expansion which was, to a degree, unknown in the area before seems to have started in a time period contemporaneous with Sea Peoples settling in Canaan. Apart from the settlement in itself, these peoples did so after migrating en masse across the Mediterranean and this must surely be worthy of additional attention. The Sea Peoples’ constant affiliation with all things ship and sea orientated must add some impetus 9 to this argument. Any other similarities between the Sea Peoples and Phoenicians can also be used as an indicator of cultural mergence. Cultural and societal divergences uncovered between the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age inhabitants also may illuminate ideas of decisive outside influences after 1200 BCE. The primary thread of this research is dedicated to dealing with the possibilities mentioned and perhaps presenting alternative theories to those currently accepted. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Ancient Languages / unrestricted

L’espace provençal du 3ème millénaire av. n. è. laisse entrevoir un certain nombre d’éléments qui mettent en scène la complexité archéologique de la transition Néolithique final / Âge du Bronze ancien. En Provence, si le travail de J. Cauliez a ouvert la voie à un cadre chrono-culturel plus robuste et tissé une trame plus diversifiée des composantes céramiques de la fin du Néolithique, il n’en demeure pas moins que l’imbrication de l’évènement Campaniforme avec les différentes traditions locales se pose toujours comme un problème majeur, notamment en termes stratigraphiques, dans la compréhension des gisements domestiques de cette période. L’analyse des différents types de vestiges archéologiques liés à ces contextes requiert à notre sens une étude complémentaire fondée sur les logiques d’implantation des sites d’habitat dans le paysage afin de mieux saisir l’ensemble des mécanismes socio-culturels émergeants à l’aube de l’Âge du Bronze. Grâce à la mise en place d’une base de données relationnelle couplée à un Système d’Information Géographique, il a été possible de générer de nouvelles informations spatiales sur les sites géo-référencés de notre corpus. Ainsi, après des analyses statistiques multivariées exploratoires sur les données archéologiques issues de la littérature et les nouvelles données spatiales, il a été possible de caractériser finement les implantations de chacun des gisements étudiés à l’échelle de la Provence (426 sites) puis à l’échelle du Luberon (analyse territoriale basée sur 70 sites) et de dégager des tendances principales dans les choix d’installation de ces populations au cours du 3ème millénaire av. n. è. / The archaeological complexity of the transition between Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age can be characterized by a certain amount of elements found in the Provence area in the 3rd millennium BCE. Despite the fact that the work done by J. Cauliez in Provence provided a more structured chrono-cultural framework and a more diversified background concerning ceramic components in the Late Neolithic, the Bell Beaker event overlapping the various local traditions still appears as a crucial issue. It specifically relates to the understanding of domestic deposits in this period in terms of stratigraphic studies. Following the analysis of these different types of archaeological remains in these dwellings, we believed that an in-depth study on settlement patterns in the landscape must be carried out to better comprehend the emerging social and cultural mechanisms at the dawn of Bronze Age. Due to the set up of a relational database integrated with a Geographic Information System (GIS), new spatial items were generated on the georeferenced sites listed in our corpus. Finally, after the use of statistical multivariate and exploratory analysis based on archaeological data from bibliographic references and on new spatial data, a precise implantation’s characterization of each investigated deposits has been possible, first in Provence (426 establishments), then in Luberon (territorial analysis involving 70 sites) as well as an identification of significant trends regarding dwelling choices by the populations living in the 3rd millennium BCE.