The objective of this research is to address the need for empirical evidence on how and why British and Indian SMEs engage in and sustain mutual business relationships, and to contribute to theory development. It focuses on their internationalization strategies, and the potential relevance of psychic distance, social capital and learning. A mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology is employed to study the internationalization of British companies to India and vice-versa. The views of both British and Indian SME entrepreneurs were obtained for this purpose. The empirical investigation proceeded through two stages. The first stage consisted of qualitative exploratory research among the managers of 30 British companies and their partners in India. The second stage of the study involved a survey of 100 British SMEs and 100 Indian SMEs. The findings show that SMEs entrepreneurs tend to rely heavily on network support. However, despite their personal networks and use of advanced communication technologies, some entrepreneurs could not cope with the complex institutional features of foreign markets. We also observed that national differences are of considerable relevance for SME internationalization. We conclude that a distinct theory of SME internationalization is required and offer some suggestions to that end based on the research findings.

This thesis situates the issue of representing minority groups in the debate over the role of museum spaces in the contemporary society. In particular, the thesis explores the shifting relationships between the indigenous peoples and the wider Taiwanese society which is considered to be influential in forming indigenous representations. I conducted fieldwork in case-study museums, which are considered to be leading museums that are more resourceful and influential, and places beyond museum spaces, such as local cultural centres, indigenous communities and public occasions. In this thesis, I suggest that indigenous representations cannot be understood without considering the power relationships between the represented subjects and their surrounding parties, for example, colonial history and political changes. Because of the nature of museums, this thesis has shown that although there are limitations of museum representations, museums still play a symbolic role in Taiwanese society. I also expanded my examination of indigenous representations beyond museum spaces. I discovered that compared to museum representations, these representations are more responsive to the needs of both indigenous peoples and their audience. I also argued that although indigenous peoples obtain a greater autonomy in self-representing, internal power relationships and hierarchy also play a critical role in these self-representations.

This study seeks to develop a more practical and praxis-driven approach to Dalit Theology and its engagement with grassroots Dalit Christians. Dalit Theology is contextual and liberative. It emerged as a counter to Indian Christian theology, which ignored the caste affected life experience of Dalits, who form the majority in the Indian church. It aims to go beyond the merely spiritual in seeking to empower Dalit people and transform society. However, the well reflected and articulated liberational theological themes of Dalit Theology seem to remain mostly within academia and the ecclesia. They have not adequately engaged with grass roots Dalit Christians who face severe discrimination and constant struggle against caste oppression. Therefore, this study is an attempt to analyse the status and potentials of Dalit Theology among grass roots Dalit Christians as a motivational force and to offer a methodological framework to enlarge Dalit Theology as a Practical theology of liberation. The construction of Dalit Theology as a Practical theology of praxis among the grass roots hopes to facilitate the process of bringing about change in their personal life and the formation of a transformed society for both Dalits and non-Dalits to lead a caste-free life.

The study explores the practicability and usefulness of the Carpe Vitam Concept of Leadership for Learning (LfL) for schools in Pakistan, placing this project amongst the pioneering work that might bring a new insight for practitioners, policy makers and researchers in the South East Asian region and particularly in Pakistan. Data was collected from six public and private secondary schools with a case study approach through interviews, questionnaires and documentary analysis from six headteachers, thirty teachers, three hundred and sixty parents and three hundred and sixty students. Data was analysed with a constant comparison approach that looked for meanings through emerging themes. The study construes how leadership and learning are conceptualized and experienced differently by different stakeholders in public and private schools in Pakistan. The research highlights the importance of dialogue between all stakeholders to establish shared vision for effective learning outcomes where knowledge of self, others, organization and community supplement the entire process at all levels. The study places emphasis on an on-going process of reflection for better resilience, resourcefulness and reciprocity amongst stakeholders for effective outcomes.

This dissertation analyses the process of de-secularization of the Malaysian state. It identifies the political role of Islam as an important element in explaining how the Malaysian state sustains the language of special ethnic ‘rights’ to negate the ideal of common citizenship in Malaysia. The historical dominance and constant politicization of Islam reinvents the notion of special citizenship ‘rights’ for the majority Malay citizens, which has serious impacts upon equal opportunities and fundamental liberties of minority citizens. This process is further buttressed by legal apparatus that separates Syariah jurisdiction from civil courts, leading to unequal public access to justice and public deliberation in favour of reasons grounded in religious doctrine. Drawing on Rawlsian-informed critique of power, the thesis advances previous work on Malaysian democracy to critically assess the role of religion in politics that defends state-sanctioned differential citizenship rights. The condition of pluralism in Malaysia is an important case study for a robust understanding of the value of secularism as a principle of state practices. In doing so the thesis makes the normative claim that religion should not reside within the state where it can be politicized with the cost of justifying differential citizenship in a multi-cultural democratic society.

The coordination between the socio-economic institutions which constituted the post-war model of Japanese capitalism has been continuously undermined from the 1990s onward. This include the move by firms to focus on their own individual goals and by the state to support individualistic behaviour by introducing deregulation and liberalization and by enabling firms to compete freely in the market. There is a lack of coordination between the government and unions, and between corporations and unions. The coordinated model of Japanese capitalism has therefore transformed into a more disorganized model. Event data analysis adopted in this study demonstrates that this transformation was also accompanied by heightening social tension and class antagonism, which were expressed through increasingly non-institutionalized acts of contestations and by newly emerging agents such as community unions, NPOs and non-regular workers. Adopting a class-conflict version of Regulation Theory, this thesis argues that the disorganized model of Japanese capitalism is characterised by a contradictory accumulation regime which consists of low economic growth and corporate profit, led by increasing level of public and household debt, declining wage shares and declining union density, and accompanied by the emergence of new forms of labour activism.

This study looks at the welfare implications of the minimum wage in China, and covers three topics: the minimum wage and wage inequality, the minimum wage and employment, and the minimum wage and the gender wage gap. The main finding is that the welfare implications of the minimum wage in China are mixed, with both positive and negative welfare effects. Four main conclusions are reached. Firstly, minimum wages can effectively reduce overall wage inequality at the municipal level (despite non-compliance) through raising individual wages at the lower end of the wage distribution. Secondly, minimum wages generally have significantly negative effects on urban employment with some indication of more marked effects for traditionally disadvantaged groups such as youth, older workers, and women. Thirdly, minimum wages significantly raise women’s wages relative to men’s at the lower quantiles of wage distribution, thus reducing the gender wage gap. Together with the second result, this means that the minimum raises women’s relative wages, while lowering their employment. Fourthly, these three results are especially robust during 2004-2007, when the minimum wage system was reinforced.

The documentary evidence used in this dissertation has been drawn from the Ottoman court records and it is complemented by the data derıved from the fiscal registers. This dissertation adopted a case-study approach to allow a deeper insight into the complexities of the rural history of Ottoman Anatolia in the first half of the seventeenth century. These complexities are more related to the methodological approaches which are based on the adaptation of the purported theories about ‘the general crisis of the seventeenth century’ to Ottoman history. Such misinterpretations put the contention that a set of social, economic and ecological challenges associated with the Little Ice Age put a lot of serious strains on the Ottoman state and society during the seventeenth century. By adopting a critical approach to the arguments of such crisis-based theories that revolve around the Celali rebellions and the phenomenon of the Little Ice Age, this dissertation aims to show through the cases of Aintab, Urfa and Ankara that the countryside of Anatolia was more resilient to the so-called challenges than it seems. This dissertation examines the economic, demographic and ecological dynamics in rural Anatolia in the period following the Celali rebellions from a regional perspective that takes into consideration the local geographic and climatic characteristics. It focuses on a wide range of topics that include types of farming, rural settlement patterns, change in rural settlements, and agrarian and pastoral trends in the land use forms. It explores the pastoral and agricultural activities of the nomadic people with the aim of highlighting their constructive in the rural economies of Anatolia.

Background: Childhood obesity is increasing rapidly in China. However, research into environmental contributors to the problem is limited. Formative research that informs theoretically based prevention interventions is also lacking. Objectives and Methods: To inform the development of obesity prevention interventions among urban Chinese primary school students by: 1.exploring perceived factors contributing to obesogenic behaviours (17 focus groups and 4 interviews, n=99 including 42 males), 2. exploring preferred components and delivery strategies for future preventive interventions (17 focus groups), 3. examining the relationship of family and neighbourhood environmental factors, to child weight status as well as related dietary and physical activity behaviours (cross-sectional study, n=497). Results: Inter-related social, historical, regulatory, policy, knowledge and economic factors emerged as factors influencing attitudes, social norms and perceptions of control in relation to obesogenic behaviours. Among those, grandparents emerged as a dominant but relatively easy- to- modify theme. In parallel, the presence and role of grandparents were significantly correlated with child weight status and snacking behaviour. Conclusions: The family environment has important influences on childhood obesity and obesegenic behaviours. Drawing on the overall findings, potential targets, components and delivery strategies are discussed using a Social Marketing framework for future prevention intervention.

In recent years, the Korean government has sought to encourage rural young people to enter farming and older farmers to leave it. The government‟s tool for promoting this intergenerational change has been agricultural structural adjustment policy, which includes farm entry policy, farm exit policy, competitiveness policy, and rural development policy. However, the number of young farmers has decreased and number of old farmers has increased. This research investigates why agricultural structural adjustment policy has failed, analyzing survey data on farm entry and exit using regression analysis, and with procedures enhanced by bootstrapping. The conclusions of the research are as follows. Agricultural structural adjustment policy does not induce young people to enter farming mainly because: 1) Rural young people have as little enthusiasm for farming as their urban counterparts; and 2) Competitiveness policy cancels the effects of farm entry policy. Meanwhile, agricultural structural adjustment policy has not induced old farmers to retire mainly because: 1) Older farmers are as reluctant to leave farming as younger ones; 2) Farm exit policy does not promote farm exit; and 3) Competitiveness policy and rural development policy, as well as farming conditions and farm exit barriers, cancel the effects of farm exit policy.