This study is an exploration of an institutionalised world that refugees inhabit in today’s Europe. It argues that the institutional system that organises the reception of refugees and their settlement in a receiving country is based on historically and politically contingent constructions of “a refugee”. The research was conducted in the Czech Republic – an emerging country of immigration and asylum at the semiperiphery of the European Union. It draws on qualitative empirical data generated in interviews and participant observations among state officials, intergovernmental and nongovernmental workers, asylum seekers and refugees from Armenia, Belarus and Chechnya. The thesis brings together the key actors that shape the construction of “a refugee” and examines the key sites of the refugee system where this construction takes place: asylum and immigration legislation, refugee determination process, refugee camps and nongovernmental spaces of assistance and public representation of refugees. “A refugee” is analysed as an idealised concept that underlies asylum policymaking; as an object of governance that shapes institutional practices; and as a lived and performed gendered experience that forms and transforms identities. The dominant view of refugees as people of little or no choice is challenged by presenting them as knowledgeable actors who act strategically in an unevenly contoured terrain of the refugee system. Also the view of institutions as operating in a consistent and unified manner is questioned. Their actions are described as often contradictory and dissenting voices are incorporated into the analysis. Moreover, the institutions of the refugee system are presented as tied together by mutually constitutive relationships in the context of unequal power relations.

This thesis is a rigorous academic study of a museum which has previously not been subject to theoretical examination: that is, the Galicia Jewish Museum in Kraków, Poland. It analyses the relationship between the museum’s permanent exhibition, Traces of Memory, and the broader museum from its establishment in 2004 until the end of the research period for the thesis, 2011. Through a case study methodology and detailed analysis of the resulting observations, conducted by the ultimate participant observer – a former director of the museum – and informed by extensive bibliographic research, the thesis provides a unique contribution to knowledge in the fields of museum studies, Polish-Jewish relations and Jewish cultural studies. Through a close, micro-level reading of Traces of Memory and the Galicia Jewish Museum, and with a concluding that chapter draws together the threads of the thesis – considering them in relation to the broader contexts of the Kazimierz Jewish quarter in Kraków and the European Jewish Space – the thesis provides a Jewish museum contribution to the discipline of ‘new museology’, and finds that the Galicia Jewish Museum can be seen as the embodiment of what a ‘new museum’ might be within the defined context of an east European, Jewish framework.

This thesis examines daily life in the city of Prague during the First World War and in its immediate aftermath. Its aim is twofold: to explore the impact of the war on urban space and to analyse the relationship of Prague’s inhabitants to the Austro-Hungarian and then Czechoslovak state. To this end, both the mobilization for the war effort and the crisis of legitimacy experienced by the state are investigated. The two elements are connected: it is precisely because of the great sacrifices made by Praguers during the conflict that the Empire lost the trust of its citizens. Food shortages also constitute a major feature of the war experience and the inappropriate management of supply by the state played a large role in its final collapse. The study goes beyond Czechoslovak independence on 28 October 1918 to fully grasp the continuities between the two polities and the consequences of the war on this transitional period. Beyond the official national revolution, the revolutionary spirit in Prague around the time of regime change reveals the interplay between national and social motives, making it part of a broader European revolutionary movement at the time.

The post-war evolution of the constitution of Poland as well as several other Central and East European countries is characterised by a marked departure from the national traditions towards a form of Government known as the "People's Democracy". This state of affairs resulted from the interplay of alliances during the last war and the political expansion of Soviet Russia. Notwithstanding the treaty obligations and declarations such as the celebrated Atlantic Charter, the Western Allies, in face of protests by the Polish Government in Exile, agreed on an arbitrary fixing of the Polish-Russian frontier along the lines of Soviet demands, and the abrogation of the existing Polish constitution. Parallel to this reversal of the international situation developed the Soviet-sponsored nucleus of the post-war Polish political regime. Upon the advance of the Red Army this body established itself on Polish soil and was recognised by the "Grand Alliance" as the basis of the Polish Provisional Government. Before achieving this position the Soviet-sponsored regime effected a considerable amount of "legislation", which purported to preclude any other body from attaining power, and determined the future constitution to be based on Marxism-Leninism- Stalinism. General Elections were delayed for two years, but they did not bring any change in the regime. In such conditions the Constitution of 1947 was. nothing else but an interim measure designed to serve as a device to facilitate transition from the parliamentary "capitalist" state into the "socialist" state as understood in Soviet Russia. For this purpose the whole authority of the state became concentrated in an unprecedented body - the Council of State, Parliament declined and the position of the individual became circumscribed by the ideas of the so-called "dictatorship of the proletariat". The Constitution of 1952,modelled on the pattern of the Soviet Constitution of 1936, transferred the point of gravity from the Council of State onto the Government and proclaimed a "State of People's Democracy governed by the working people of towns and villages". The Polish People’s Democracy only during its infancy showed signs of originality, the later development faithfully following the pattern of the Soviet state evolved during the Stalinist era. The doctrine of the People's Democracy as well as its practical features represent, therefore, an application of the Stalinist Marxism on the institutions of the former Republic of Poland.

This thesis studies the ecclesiological development of Romanian Pentecostalism from its inception until after the fall of communism as well as analysing the contemporary situation and practice of the Romanian Pentecostal churches in context, both to diagnose the most important problems and to draw attention to and explain promising experiments and signs of hope. It reveals that due to external factors such as socio-political and economic constraints and internal factors such as lack of resources, lack of vision, past traditional theological inheritances, Romanian Pentecostal Churches have not always been able to engage with their context in a missionary way, and their missiological praxis has not always been contextual. The thesis aims to suggest that Romanian Pentecostal Churches produce a contextual theology that, in addition to being rooted in the Scriptures, is sensitive to the needs, struggles, and aspirations of the churches and the peoples of Romania today. The thesis concludes by affirming that the churches need to be themselves missionary alternative communities embodying the values of God's Kingdom in their essence, structures and outlook.

Nuclear power is currently receiving a great deal of attention in the international arena as nations seek to tackle the joint energy challenges of supply security and sustainability. Discussions have focused on questions of efficiency, cost, waste disposal and the safety profile of the technology. Within the social sciences attention has been given to the decision making processes surrounding nuclear technologies, and to themes of dialogue and participatory decision making. This body of research conceptualises nuclear industries as products of social and political processes. In this thesis, I have conceptualised the Polish nuclear industry as the product of social, political, but also material forces which together co-shape dialogue surrounding the pursuit of nuclear development. The thesis presents a case study of nuclear development in Pomerania, northern Poland. During the 1980s, the Communist government of the People’s Republic of Poland began to construct the first of a series of nuclear power plants beside Lake Żarnowiec in the north of the Province. However, following protests and political upheaval in the region, construction work was abandoned and the site left empty for nearly twenty years. Since 2009, Lake Żarnowiec has once again taken centre stage as Poland seeks to construct a nuclear facility in Pomerania. This thesis examines the agency of the infrastructural assets of the original development, landscape changes, notions of identity, and the social and political processes which underpin decision making surrounding the pursuit of nuclear development within the region. It demonstrates the presence of a complex entanglement of social, material and conceptual elements present in dialogue surrounding contemporary nuclear development. The research calls attention to the forces and pressures, both seen and unseen which together shape political and social attitudes towards nuclear development.

When compared to the other candidate states of Central and Eastern Europe, Romania emerged as a laggard of transition. Its integration into the European Union has been marked by much uncertainty and setbacks, as well as profound delays in fulfilling the EU's entry conditions. As a difficult case, the dynamics of Romania's EU accession provide insight into the potential and limits of the EU's leverage, revealing how domestic factors can be decisive in constraining external influence. Focusing on the reform trajectory in the fields of judiciary reforms, anti-corruption and external border policies between 1989 and 2007, this study assesses the interaction between EU politics and domestic politics and the role of domestic factors in slowing down internal reforms. By identifying the domestic conditions under which conditionality is likely to more, or less, successful, this study contributes to the Europeanization and enlargement literature. By assessing the preparations for accession in the field of Justice and Home Affairs, this research also fills a major lacuna in the existing specialised literature.

This thesis comprises an empirical study of the British role in Yugoslavia and its successor states between 1991 and 1995, and demonstrates that the British government led the international 'consensus' during that time, through what may be considered a doctrine of assertive appeasement while, at the same time, misleading parliament on issues crucial to an understanding of the situation. It also demonstrates that British policy was consistent, unlike that of its western allies, in obstructing initiatives aimed at effective international military intervention, which resulted in a prolongation of the war, and advanced the agenda of the Belgrade regime. The motives which may have guided British policy in this instance are discussed briefly in the introductory chapter which offers an outline of the global framework within which British policy was formulated in the wake of the Cold War, with particular reference to Britain's place in the New European order, following the downing of the Berlin Wall, and in the lead-up to the Maastricht Treaty. A chronological approach has been adopted as the most appropriate in demonstrating some of the intricate manoeuvres which characterised British diplomacy in the region at crucial junctures of the war.

National identity can be expressed in many ways by individuals, groups and states. Since the nineteenth century, Central Europe has been undergoing rapid changes in the political, social and cultural spheres, which was reflected in the self-definition of the nations living in this region, and in their definition by others. The Czech people, who until 1918 were a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, gave birth to a national revival movement in the nineteenth century and eventually emancipated themselves to create an independent Czechoslovakia. The idea of „national identity“ was, therefore, crucial and this was enhanced in many areas of human activity, including the construction of a historical legitimacy for the nation. The struggle for recognition of the historical existence of the Czech nation was also projected into the discourse adopted for historical and contemporary art writing and exhibition practice. In this thesis, I focus on the ways in which Czech national identity was constructed in the historiography of art. I shall argue that the various ideologies which influenced the writers led to an understanding of Czech art as epitomising certain qualities of the Czech nation. At the same time, the Czech nation was presented as highly advanced because of its artistic achievements. I shall explore how art historians, historians, artists, archaeologists and philosophers created their notion of a Czech national art on the basis of either negotiating a compromise with the various ethnic groups, methodologies and political affiliations, or by emphasising their opposition to the same. Another contested area was the concept and political uses of artistic quality. It will be my aim to examine broader circumstances of these contestations in the Introduction and more specific ideological motivations behind Czech art history in the subsequent chapters. In Chapter One, I shall outline the main places where art history was practiced in Bohemia and Moravia which were crucial for constructing the discourse on national art. Chapter Two examines the texts of the first Czech art historians in the second half of the nineteenth century who became interested in the national aspects of Czech art because of the political and cultural climate. In Chapter Three, I shall examine the nineteenth century debates between Czech and German authors on the origins of mediaeval art, confirming Czech or German national identity 3 respectively. Chapter Four studies the rise of Czech art history as a “scientific” discipline in Prague and the attempts of Czech art historians at its professionalisation, which – nevertheless – did not abandon a nationalistic discourse. The main focus of Chapter Five is the co-existence of nationalistic views of Czech art with the attempts of artists and art critics to bring Czech art into a dialogue with Western art. In the following chapter, Chapter Six, this practice is explored in the context of the Viennese university and the so-called Vienna School of art history, particularly the work and legacy of Max Dvořák. The influence of the School on Czech art history is the topic of Chapter Seven, which again brings up the question of the divide between international and national perspectives of Czech art. Criticism of the Czech Vienna School followers from various groups of art historians is examined in Chapter Eight. Finally, in Chapter Nine, I conclude with the exploration of the rise of a new concept of art historical identity, the concept of Czechoslovak identity.

The thesis analyses Czechoslovak-Jewish relations in the twentieth century using the case study of the Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile in London and its activities during the Second World War. In order to present the research in a wider perspective, it covers the period between the Munich Agreement, when the first politicians left Czechoslovakia, and the Communist Coup in February 1948. Hence the thesis evaluates the political activities and plans of the Czechoslovak exiles, as well as the implementation of the plans in liberated Czechoslovakia after 1945. In comparison with previous contributions to the theme, this thesis is based on extensive archival research. It examines how the Czechoslovak treatment of the Jews was shaped by resurgent Czech and Slovak nationalism/s caused by the war and the experience of the occupation by the German army. Simultaneously, the thesis enquires into the role played in the Czechoslovak exiles’ decision making by their efforts to maintain the image of a democratic country in the heart of Europe. An adherence to western liberal democracies was a key political asset used by Czechoslovakia since her creation in 1918. Fair treatment of minorities, in particular the Jews, became part of this ‘myth’. However, the Second World War brought to the fore Czechoslovak efforts to nationally homogenize the post-war Republic and rid it of its ‘disloyal’ minorities. Consequently, the thesis evaluates how the Jews as a minority were perceived and constructed. The thesis is divided into five chapters, following the developments in chronological, as well as thematic order. The first chapter analyses the influence of people in occupied Czechoslovakia on the exiles’ policy towards the Jews. Chapter two and three document the exiles’ policy towards the Jews during the war, including the government’s responses to the Holocaust. Chapter four enquires into the wartime origins of the post-war Czechoslovak policy towards the Jews. Finally, the last chapter analyses the influence of public opinion abroad on the Czechoslovak policy towards the Jews during and after the war.