El Salvador, the smallest and the most densely populated state in the region of Central America, was gripped by a civil war in the 1980s that resulted in the exodus of more than a million people. This thesis explores the causes that led to the exodus. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part contains a historical and theoretical analysis of El Salvador from the time of conquest until the 1980s. An examination of the historical background of the socio-economic and political conflict in El Salvador during this period sets the scene for an account of the mass exodus of Salvadorans in the 1980s. The second part of the thesis involves a qualitative study of Salvadoran refugees, which concentrates on their experiences before and after arriving in Australia. The study explores both the reasons for the Salvadorans’ becoming refugees and their resettlement in Melbourne. In an effort to explain some of the reasons for the socio-economic and political conflict in El Salvador in the 1980s, some concepts and ideas from different theoretical perspectives are utilized: modernisation theory, world-systems theory, dependency theory, elite theory, Foco theory of revolution and economic rationalism. The historical account covers the period from the expansion of the European world economy in the 16th century up to the political conflict of the 1980s. When the Salvadorans began to arrive in Melbourne, the micro-economic agenda in Australia was based on economic rationalism. This shifted the focus away from the state and onto a market-based approach that emphasised vigorous competition and fore grounded a non-collective social framework. The changes to policies in the welfare and immigration areas resulting from this shift are examined for their impact on the resettlement experiences of Salvadoran refugees. The United States foreign policy is also delineated because of the impact it had on the political, economic and social situation in El Salvador. The thesis focused on the time-period from the 1823 Monroe Doctrine to the era of the Cold War of ‘containment of communism’. The Catholic Church has also played a major influence in the political, social and religious life of Salvadorans. The changes that occurred in the post-1965 renewal of the Catholic Church were influential in the political struggles in El Salvador. The second part of the thesis involves a qualitative research study of a small group of 14 Salvadoran refugees. Participants were selected from different professional, educational and socioeconomic backgrounds. The study examines their flight from El Salvador, their arrival in Australia and their long-term experiences of resettlement. Tracking the experiences of refugees over a considerable period of time has seldom been the focus of a research study in Australia. The Salvadorans have been under-researched and no longitudinal studies have been conducted. The Salvadorans who took part in the study became refugees for diverse reasons ranging from political/religious reasons to random repression but certainly not for economic reasons. Their past experiences have influenced their resettlement in Australia and their attempts to build their lives anew have been fraught with difficulties. The difficulties in acquiring a working knowledge of the English language have often led to a downgrading in their professional and employment qualifications, isolation from the mainstream community and the experience of loneliness for the older generation. In addition, many of the participants still experience fear both in Australia and in their home country when they return for a visit. The findings indicate that the provision of extra services, such as counselling, could facilitate their resettlement and integration into Australian society.

El Niño is typically viewed as an episode of destructive weather anomalies that can last from a few months to several years. The majority of research looks at the negative impacts of this event. However, not all impacts of El Niño are necessarily bad. This study outlines areas of the United States that are most highly impacted by anomalous temperature and rainfall during El Niño years and determines whether these anomalies affect energy consumption. These effects will be examined on both a national and regional scale. Areas of the northwestern and southeastern United States exhibit anomalous temperatures during El Niño years. The southern US and Great Plains area receives positive anomalous precipitation during El Niño years while an area of the east central US experiences negative anomalous precipitation. Natural gas consumption in the northwestern US is reduced by the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). During an ENSO event consumers actually save money because less is spent on natural gas for home heating purposes. Hydroelectricity may also be affected by ENSO in the southeastern US but the results at this time are inconclusive. At the national level, ENSO influences the consumption of nuclear electricity.

Las unidades económicas dedicadas a la producción de manufacturas se han incrementado principalmente en la ciudad de El Alto. La formación de talleres dedicados a la producción de muebles es resultado de la necesidad de fuentes de empleo para generar ingresos y el anhelo de superación. Los productores de muebles son sectores sociales cuyas actividades son una alternativa laboral y oportunidad que brinda el mercado. Tomando en cuenta la importancia económica de las unidades productivas, se considera necesario contar con un estudio detallado sobre ramas específicas de producción, como es la carpintería y su mercado. Mucho más cuando existe un proceso social y no solo económico para llegar a concluir con la elaboración de un producto, en este caso los muebles.

A large amount of Nile water originates in Ethiopia. However, large uncertainty arises concerning whether land degradation or climate change is the cause for the observed increase in discharge along downstream countries. Previous studies showed increases in discharge at Kessie, Bahir Dar and El Diem over the past four decades with no increase in basin-average rainfall. They cite changes in landscapes or soil coverage as a potential reason for this change. However, the study in this thesis shows that the change in discharge could also be explained in part by spatial changes in precipitation. This thesis investigates trends in rainfall within the Blue Nile River Basin f rom 1963 to 2003. For this study total monthly and daily precipitation data were collected from across the Blue Nile River Basin and analyzed statistically. The results indicate spatial variability in the rainfall observed. The general long-term trends in annual as well as in seasonal precipitation show a general decreasing trend along southwest regions of the study area. However, an increasing  trend was encountered along northeast and southeast region of the Basin (3 of 9 selected stations). Rainfall-runoff modelling was performed to estimate the required precipitation increase to produce the increase in discharge observed in the Blue Nile River Basin. Precipitation needed to increase between 10 % and 25 % to account for the increased discharge. This increase is similar to that observed for some of the precipitation stations showing that increase in discharge seen in the Blue Nile River Basin may in part be due to changes in precipitation.

Peacebuilding has become increasing important as a means of preventing continuing hostilities among previously warring factions. Traditional peacebuilding strategies to date have included activities that strive to address challenges related to security, governance, relief, development, and reconciliation with the goal of curbing potential volatile situations from once again becoming full-fledged conflicts. However, peacebuilding strategies or designs have not fully recognized the particular needs of women and have not acknowledged the significance of womens contributions to peacebuilding in war torn communities. In Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala women responded to this marginalization by initiating unique peacebuilding mechanisms and making space for themselves during the process of rebuilding.<p> This analysis therefore begins with an analysis of traditional peacebuilding, introducing four areas that have been identified as important during peacebuilding, and outlining some of the concerns, problems and limitations that plague the peacebuilding process in the post-war setting. It then turns to an examination of womens role in peacebuilding in three case studies, namely Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala.<p> This study is significant because it demonstrates that women have played an integral role in the peacebuilding process in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. While marginalized from traditional peacebuilding processes, womens experiences and knowledge building peace post-conflict have the potential to contribute to an improve and more inclusive peacebuilding design that may result in increased effectiveness for future operations.

This inquiry examines the ruptures and continuities in local democratic practices in opposition and in government. I conducted research in seven rural municipalities in Chalatenango, El Salvador where leaders of oppositional community-based organizations entered municipal politics 15 years ago. This new generation of municipal officials established forums for citizen participation that incorporate patterns of citizenship learning and participation developed in oppositional civil society. The democratic outcomes of these municipal spaces for citizen engagement are mixed, however: they improved the quality of citizen participation in municipal governance, but circumscribed autonomous forms of citizen participation. The influence of partisan political and institutional state interests are the principal factors that account for this outcome. At the same time, civil society and local government in Chalatenango exist in a relationship of mutual influence. This suggests that efforts to foster democratic citizen participation should complement support to institutional innovation with efforts to strengthen civil society.

This inquiry examines the ruptures and continuities in local democratic practices in opposition and in government. I conducted research in seven rural municipalities in Chalatenango, El Salvador where leaders of oppositional community-based organizations entered municipal politics 15 years ago. This new generation of municipal officials established forums for citizen participation that incorporate patterns of citizenship learning and participation developed in oppositional civil society. The democratic outcomes of these municipal spaces for citizen engagement are mixed, however: they improved the quality of citizen participation in municipal governance, but circumscribed autonomous forms of citizen participation. The influence of partisan political and institutional state interests are the principal factors that account for this outcome. At the same time, civil society and local government in Chalatenango exist in a relationship of mutual influence. This suggests that efforts to foster democratic citizen participation should complement support to institutional innovation with efforts to strengthen civil society.

This study of the Spanish expression “hacerse el sueco” shows that there are several theories about the origin. Which of the theories is the most correct is not known but it is popularly thought that the expression “hacerse el sueco” makes references to Swedish tourists who act dumb and pretend not to understand. The analysis of this study is made of the corpus CORDE and CREA and shows that the meaning of the term “hacerse el sueco” no has changed over time, but has the same meaning today as before. This study is also made of surveys that indicate that the term is used today with the same meaning but also shows that Spanish speakers use the phrase rarely and the Swedish speakers with knowledge of Spanish never use the expression. The study also shows that the Swedes who know the expression “hacerse el sueco” perceived the phrase more negatively than Spanish speakers.

På elmarknaden har man utvecklat fenomenet mikroproduktion av elenergi vilket innbär att slutkunden själv ska producera sin el främst genom att utnyttja sol och vind kraft. I Sverige finns det ett växande  intresset för mikroproduktion. De flesta som producerar sin egen el gör det främst genom solpaneler och mindre vindkraftverk som sätts upp vid deras egendom. I den här studien har vi gjort en djupare analys kring olika typer av anläggningar för att producera småskalig elkraft. Men även tittat på den ekonomiska aspekten genom att beskriva ekonomisk vinning och kostnader samt ställt upp en kostnadskalkyl för att beskriva detta i siffror. Slutligen gjordes en teknisk analys för att se ifall en mikroproduktionsanläggning ger några störningar på elnätet. Utifrån våra mätningar ute på fältet kan vi konstatera att anläggningen inte bidrog till någon störning.

El objeto de este estudio ha sido examinar el papel de la mujer y más concretamente los personajes femeninos en las obras cinematográficas Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios, (1988) y Todo sobre mi madre, (1999) del cineasta Pedro Almodóvar. Además de profundizar en el tema de la mujer, hemos estudiado la evolución de los papeles femeninos entre ambas obras y el fenómeno social llamado la Movida y su influencia en las películas elegidas. La conclusión de nuestro estudio, señala que los personajes femeninos, a pesar de mostrarse en el papel de víctima, son fuertes y tienen fuerza para cambiar su destino. Sobre todo en cuanto a las protagonistas se refiere. La Movida tiene un rol importante especialmente en Todo sobre mi madre.