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This comparative study of the corporate public relations strategies of the nuclear industry in the U.S. and Britain, specifically of Florida Power & Light (FP&L) in Florida and Scottish Nuclear Limited (SNL) in Scotland, examines the use of visitor centres and environmental messages as key components of advocational campaigns designed to influence public opinion and shape public policy in favour of a pro-nuclear agenda. The study would seem to confirm other research that draws a direct relationship between the function of public relations in an organisation and the degree of input by public relations into corporate policy-making. Moreover, the data also suggest that, given a prominent role within an organisation, public relations can and does develop strategies and programmes to pro-actively manage emerging strategic public policy issues in direct support of organisational objectives Such programmes, as the study reveals, have been designed specifically around visitor centres as communication vehicles for corporate pronuclear messages, carried directly to key publics without gatekeeping by the mass media. Moreover, it would appear that the nuclear industry has been intentionally 'greening' its corporate messages so as to capitalise upon the public's growing concern about the environment. The study also suggests that the nuclear industry is using such centres, as well as newer, emerging advocational initiatives, in a fully promotional sense to circulate and thereby enhance the reputation of the industry. A comparative analysis of corporate nuclear public relations in the U.S. and Britain suggests a 'cross-national' exchange of intelligence, and in some respects, an outright collusion of efforts. Moreover, it would seem that there exists a further government-industry alliance both within the U.S. and Britain as well as trans-Atlantically. This alliance represents a convergence of government and industry interests in the development of nuclear energy for military and civilian purposes, and further illustrates earlier research of collusion among politicaleconomic elites and the over representation of corporate interests at the expense of unorganised public interests in the government decision-making process. Finally, the study argues that upcoming public policy decisions on the future of nuclear power in each country will be a measure of the effectiveness of pro-nuclear campaigning in achieving its objectives. The public debate on nuclear power will represent a genuine test of the relative health of democracy in both the U.S. and Britain, nation-states in which, military-industry-government interests mostly have had their way as it has concerned nuclear energy.

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published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

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There is a growing library of literature on the relationship between self and culture. Most studies (Cousins, 1989; Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Sampson, 1989) in this area are quantitative and approach culture as a concept that is "intemally homogenous and externally distinctive" (Hennans & Kempen, 1998, p.1113). Such studies have found cross-cultural differences in how people define their sense of self. This has led to a classificatory approach to self and culture such that the western and non-western self have been defined as distinct from one another. This thesis explores the appropriateness of such cultural dichotomies from a novel, dialogical perspective of self (Hennans, Rijks & Kempen, 1993) which allows for the special investigation of self and culture A qualitative methodology was adopted for this investigation, within the narrative paradigm. Narrative interviews were conducted with a sample of twelve women between the ages of 35 and 50 years and these women were varied by ethnicity as one measure of culture. A voicecentred relational method (Mauthner & Doucet, 1998) was used to analyse the interviews. Both investigative and methodological aims were forn1Ulated during the analysis. Investigative aims explore the appropriateness of the dichotomisation of the self as western and non-western. The results of the analysis question such cultural dichotomies criticised by Spiro (1993) and yet so prevalent in self and cultural studies (Cousins, 1989; Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Sampson, 1989). Frequently in the narratives there is an interweaving of individualistic and collectivist characteristics. Such a co-existence of traits is accommodated by the dialogical view of self, which provides a large enough framework to account for both interdependent and independent characteristics in the same self. The methodological aims directed the researcher to investigate the appropriateness of the measurements of self and culture adopted by traditional approaches (Cousins, 1989; Markus & Kitayama, 1991 ; Sampson, 1989). The results of the thesis suggest that as intercultural connections are becoming increasingly common, culture needs to be recognised as a complex concept that is no longer homogenous. Cross-cultural approaches to this area are questioned by this investigation because of their tendency to simplify and categorise the self and culture. It is proposed that future research should approach this area of self and culture as an intersection or interface of complex factors that are not easily homogenised or dichotomised. The findings point to the value of qualitative research, and in particular the framework of the dialogical self, for exploring this interface. / Thesis (M.A.)- University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

South Africa is currently revitalising the role of Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs) in the country's healthcare provision. This undertaking is guided by Chinese Traditional Medicine which is said to be one of the most highly developed traditional healthcare systems in the world. Programmes developed by the National Department of Health and other stake holders in the development of indigenous medicine often need to be accommodated architecturally. Collaboration with biomedicine is one of the main programmes aimed at empowering Traditional Health Practitioners of the country. Accordingly, this dissertation is divided into two sections, both based on the current undertakings of collaboration between biomedicine and indigenous medicine in South Africa. Due to the fact that traditional healing systems are less commonly described than biomedicine, the main focus of this study is indigenous medicine and how architecture could be influenced by alternative healthcare practices. The first section (A) is theoretical. It investigates and compares the current architecture that accommodates THPs in rural and urban areas of KwaZulu-Natal. This unveils social, cultural, economic and political factors affecting this architectural genre. The aim thereof is to establish architectural elements to be considered when designing a health care facility for THPs. Section A also explores the current state of healthcare architecture in the country and abroad so as to establish the latest challenges to be addressed by the proposed collaborative healthcare model. Design principles for collaborative architecture accommodating THPs and biomedical practitioners in an urban context of South Africa are then be put forward. Section B incorporates the theories derived from section A, towards the design of a joint indigenous and biomedical healthcare centre for Durban. It gives specific spatial requirements for a collaboration between biomedical practitioners and izinyanga. / Thesis (M.Arch.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

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