In the 1980s, in support of the Sanctuary Movement for Central American refugees, cities across the United States began to withdraw information and resources from the boundary making processes of the federal state. Inspired in part by a 1971 initiative in Berkeley, California to provide sanctuary to soldiers refusing to fight in Vietnam, “Cities of Refuge” issued statements of non-cooperation with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). They passed policies that prevented police and service providers from asking the immigration status of the people they came into contact with in the course of their daily duties, and limited information sharing with the federal authorities. Drawing on archival research and interviews, this dissertation maps the shifting meaning of Sanctuary as a constellation of practices and logics which has troubled the boundaries of national citizenship. Struggles to establish Cities of Refuge reveal the complex interplay between two different political trajectories in the United States: one deeply implicated with the state’s authority over migration controls and what Agamben has understood as the sovereign exception, and the other with city sanctuary, as a form of urban citizenship. The genealogy of city sanctuary reveals the multiple and sometimes contradictory threads or genealogies that have been woven into American citizenship over time, raising questions about the ostensibly hardened relationship between sovereignty, membership, and the nation state. Exploring the interactions between the daily practices of state institutions and Sanctuary reveals the performative aspects of exception: it is produced and maintained only through the constant repetition of discourses and practices that maintain the boundaries of citizenship and reproduce the state’s authority to control the movement of people across its border. Bringing the study of sovereignty into the city, and exploring alternative assertions of sovereignty reveals the exception not as an underlying logic, but a geographically specific, ongoing struggle.

Asynchronous exception handling is a useful and sometimes necessary alternative form of communication among threads. This thesis examines and classifies general concepts related to asynchrony, asynchronous propagation control, and how asynchronous exception handling affects control flow. The work covers four advanced topics affecting asynchronous exception-handling in a multi-threaded environment. The first topic is concerned with the non-determinism that asynchronous exceptions introduce into a program's control-flow because exceptions can be propagated at virtually any point during execution. The concept of asynchronous propagation control, which restricts the set of exceptions that can be propagated, is examined in depth. Combining it with a restriction of asynchrony that permits propagation of asynchronous exceptions only at certain well-defined (poll) points can re-establish sufficient determinism to verify a program's correctness, but introduces overhead, as well as a delay between the delivery of an asynchronous exception and its propagation. It also disturbs a programmer's intuition about asynchronous propagation in the program, and requires the use of programming idioms to avoid errors. The second topic demonstrates how a combined model of full and restricted asynchrony can be safely employed, and thus, allow for a more intuitive use of asynchronous propagation control, as well as potentially improve performance. The third topic focuses on the delay of propagation that is introduced when a thread is blocked, i.e., on concurrency constructs that provide mutual exclusion or synchronization. An approach is presented to transparently unblock threads so propagation of asynchronous termination and resumption exceptions can begin immediately. The approach does not require additional syntax, simplifies certain programming situations, and can improve performance. The fourth topic explores usability issues affecting the understanding of (asynchronous) exception handling as a language feature. To overcome these issues, tools and language features are presented that help in understanding exception handling code by providing additional run-time information, as well as assist in testing. For all topics, the necessary extensions to the syntax/semantics of the language are discussed; where applicable, a prototypical implementation is presented, with examples that demonstrate the benefits of the new approaches.

The documentary letters of credit transaction is the most common method of payment for goods in international trade. Its use has been considered so important that it is referred to as the �lifeblood� of international commerce. The purpose of this thesis is, through analysing the present regime of documentary credit established under the The Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits, 1993 Revision (�UCP�), to identify the rights and duties of all parties in such transactions and the reasons for the frequent occurrence of fraudulent activities associated with the documents required under the credits. It identifies that the present system fails to either encourage or implement substantial realisation of �reasonable care� or �good faith� on the part of the banks, or realisation of the requirement of �good faith� from beneficiaries. As a result, the independence principle has been left without substance, with resulting huge opportunities for fraudsters to cheat on the documents and obtain payment without the need to actually perform their duties to banks and buyers. Such issues have become more acute against the background of an underlying shift in the allocation of risk between the respective parties to letters of credit. There has been a depreciation in the value of the primary document of title and security held by the issue, the bill of lading, with the advent of container shipping. As the letter of credit system is wholly dependent on the integrity of the documents, it is being undermined by these developments. This has represented a shift in the traditional scheme of risk allocation from the seller to the bank. In practice, banks have taken countermeasures by insisting that applicants provide other types of collateral, and by subjecting applicants to rigorous credit checks. Thus, applicants ultimately have had to bear the brunt of costs associated with this reallocation of risk. It will be demonstrated that the UCP does not incorporate adequate or clear enough duties to be exercised on the part of issuers toward applicants, and severely restricts the applicant�s right to sue if the issuer has wrongfully honoured. Ultimately, a balance must be struck between the desirability of protecting the applicant from the beneficiary�s fraud against the benefits gained by maintaining the letter of credit as a commercial instrument and business device. Obviously, there is public interest in protecting both of these commercial values. This thesis advocates that a mechanism in addition to the fraud exception must be introduced to safeguard the system against the ramifications of these changes � increased fraud. The thesis is structured into five chapters. Chapter 1 sets out to demonstrate the circumstances under which the respective risks are borne by each participant in the letter of credit transaction, and how developments in trade practice have caused the burden of certain of these risks among the parties to a letter of credit transaction to shift. Chapter 2, after briefly visiting the historical origins of the letter of credit and the birth of the UCP, explores the implications of the dominance of banking interests over the drafting and interpretation of the UCP, how the UCP has in practice excluded the intrusion of other sources of law and the general reluctance of courts to intervene by applying non-letter of credit principles, the implication of the UCP�s assumption of the law in practice, the resulting marginalisation of local laws, and the inequality in bargaining power between banks and applicants that precludes a choice of law other than the UCP. Chapter 3 explores the independence principle and question of documentary compliance, why the system is ridden with non-compliant documents and the lack of incentive and meaningful duty for the banks to check for �red flags� that may indicate fraud on the documents or in the transaction. It will be emphasised that documentary validity, rather than mere documentary compliance, should be the focus under the letter of credit. Chapter 4 examines the fraud exception to the independence principle, the typical high thresholds of proof that applicants had to overcome to estopp payment, and explores recent trends towards the gradual lowering of such thresholds. Finally, Chapter 5 considers practical measures and proposals for reform that would help to redress the imbalance in the allocation of risk identified in the thesis.

nÃo hà / O objetivo central desta pesquisa foi desenvolver um processo de anÃlise da experiÃncia da comunidade do Pinheirinho a partir do acontecimento traumÃtico que representou a invasÃo e a aÃÃo repressora das forÃas policiais na reintegraÃÃo de posse que desalojou mais de oito mil pessoas no municÃpio de SÃo Josà dos Campos/SP, em janeiro de 2012. A aÃÃo pÃs fim à ocupaÃÃo que hà 8 anos acontecia no local. Mediante resgate da histÃria e memÃrias da ocupaÃÃo, busquei compreender os novos contornos da violÃncia do Estado sobre populaÃÃes em condiÃÃo precÃria de vida, considerando elementos que permeiam as barbÃries sociais que se alastram em nosso cotidiano. Desse modo, a partir dos acontecimentos que marcaram a histÃria do Pinheirinho, seus sujeitos e tragicidades, a pesquisa seguiu os seguintes rastros: 1) as memÃrias daqueles que viveram a ocupaÃÃo e as consequÃncias dos conflitos no Pinheirinho; 2) a atual geografia da reproduÃÃo espacial do capital, que se objetiva por meio da especulaÃÃo imobiliÃria e da acumulaÃÃo por espoliaÃÃo, inaugurando um momento de ativaÃÃo do imobiliÃrio-financeiro complexo; 3) a convergÃncia de mecanismos e aparatos jurÃdicos que buscam legitimar esses processos; 4) a estruturaÃÃo de discursos ideolÃgicos [cÃnicos] oficiais dos agentes do Estado (Executivo, JudiciÃrio etc.) que visam conferir legitimidade frente à opiniÃo pÃblica, reafirmando princÃpios liberais como: a defesa da legalidade, da propriedade privada e do Estado de Direito, mesmo que esta postura implique em ―torÃÃes‖ nos princÃpios norteadores e balizamentos normativos que estruturam este mesmo estado de direito reivindicado, a despeito da garantia dos direitos humanos; e, por fim, 5) os significados do direito de resistÃncia das populaÃÃes enredadas em conflitos sociais na conformaÃÃo de novas subjetividades e sociabilidades nas lutas anticapitalistas. / The central objective of this research was to develop a process of analysis of the experience of the community of Pinheirinho, starting from the traumatic event that represents an invasion and repressive action of the police forces in the reintegration of possession that displaced more than eight thousand people in the municipality of SÃo Josà Dos Campos / SP, in January 2012. The action put an end to the occupancy going on in the area for 8 years. Through the rescue of the history and the memories of the occupancy, I have tried to understand the new outlines of the State violence against populations in precarious conditions of life, considering elements that pervade the social barbarisms that spread in our daily lives. Thus, from these events that marked the history of Pinheirinho, its citizens and tragic matters, the research followed the following steps: 1) the memories of those who lived the occupancy and the consequence of the conflicts in Pinheirinho; 2) a current geography of the spatial reproduction of capital which is objectified by real estate speculation and accumulation by spoliation, inaugurating a moment of activation of the real estate complex; 3) a convergence of mechanisms and legal support that seek to legitimize these processes; 4) the structuring of ideological discourses [cynical] of the State agents (executive, judiciary, etc.) that aimed at conferring legitimacy to public opinion, reaffirming liberal principles such as: defense of legality, private property and the Rule of Law. Even if this posture implies in "Deviations" of the guiding and normative principles which structure the same clamed rule of law , in concern to the garantee of the human right. And, finally, 5) the meanings of the right of resistance of the populations entangled in the social conflicts in the conformation of new subjectivities and sociabilities in the anticapitalist struggles.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2016-07-18T13:40:00Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) DISSERTAÇÃO FINAL.pdf: 860515 bytes, checksum: b4902855fef6c0843356a80a7ddb43d9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-18T13:40:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) DISSERTAÇÃO FINAL.pdf: 860515 bytes, checksum: b4902855fef6c0843356a80a7ddb43d9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-16 / Possui como escopo o presente trabalho analisar de que maneira o pensamento do filósofo italiano Giorgio Agamben pode contribuir para as discussões acerca dos direitos humanos, propondo, ao término, uma nova maneira de concebê-los. Isso porque, mesmo sendo uma categoria aceita, se não por todos, mas pela maioria de países e organismos, tanto nacionais quanto internacionais, suas violações continuam a recrudescer, pois o fato de ser humano resta insuficiente para garanti-los, além da circunstância peculiar de que mesmo quem os viola o faz em seu nome. Ao apontar as suas incongruências, pretende-se inquirir o porquê dessa sua flexibilidade. Para indagar a razão desse fato, faz-se necessária uma tentativa de radiografar algumas características formadoras da sociedade atual, a qual para ele é marcada pelos conceitos de biopolítica e de estado de exceção. Assim, verificar-se-á alguns atributos até então negligenciados, descobrindo, ao cabo, uma série de paradoxos que constituem tais direitos. Nesse diapasão, eles precisam urgentemente de uma nova maneira de compreender a vida humana, seu objeto de proteção por excelência, de modo a afastar as exclusões que lhes são adjacentes para, através disso, abrir outra possibilidade de entendimento. / The present work aims to analyze how the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben might contribute for the discussions concerning human rights, proposing at its end, a new way of conceiving them. That is because even being a category which is accepted, if not by all, however by most organizations, both national and international, its violations continue to increase, because the fact of being human presents itself insufficient to secure such rights, apart from the peculiar circumstance that even the ones who perpetrate violations of human rights, do it on their behalf. By pointing out these inconsistencies, it is intended to investigate the reason of such flexibility. In order to question the main reason of such fact, it is necessary an attempt to examine some characteristics of the formation of the present society, which in his view, it is marked by the concepts of Biopolitics and state of exception. By doing this, it will be possible to verify some attributes which, so far, have been neglected, and at the end, finding out a series of paradoxes, which constitute such rights. In this scenario, human rights are in urgent need of a new way of understanding human life, par excellence, the object of its protection, in order to remove its related exclusions, and by doing so, open another possibility of understanding.

Orientador: Vera Maria Chalmers / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-09T03:03:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RibeiroNeto_Joao_M.pdf: 644441 bytes, checksum: ba9534f069d1229de1ee5e1b24d7467b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Este trabalho faz uma investigação da construção da identidade narrativa, como formulada por Paul Ricoeur (1988), nas Memórias do Cárcere de Graciliano Ramos. Reflete sobre as condições históricas dos fatos narrados, especialmente sobre as condições de seu encarceramento na constituição da sua identidade. Analisa as características do texto de memórias e da sua relação com a autobiografia, a confissão e a ficção. Verifica a relação entre a obra de ficção de Graciliano e a obra memorialística pela forte presença daquela no texto desta, e analisa o processo de criação da identidade na elaboração do texto das memórias. Palavras-chave: memórias, identidade narrativa, estado de exceção, ipseidade, cárcere / Abstract: This paper explores the construction of the narrative identity developed by Paul Ricoeur (1988) in Memories of Prision by Graciliano Ramos. It aims to reflect on the historical conditions of the reported facts, especially about his imprisonment in his identity formation. An analysis was carried out to verify the characteristics of the memoirs text and to identify its relation to the autobiography, the confession and the fiction. It establishes the relationship between Graciliano Ramos¿s work of fiction and the literary production of memoirs. Key-words: memories, narrative identity, state of exception, ipséité, prision / Mestrado / Teoria e Critica Literaria / Mestre em Teoria e História Literária

With the ascendency of neoliberal ideology, mega-events have been increasingly used by ruling elites as part of a narrative of competitive progress in order to attract investment capital. Unfortunately, the dark side of mega-events has not received enough attention in existing literature, especially the critically important question of displacement and forced eviction because of such events. This thesis contributes to the literature by debunking the myths of mega-events and examining the domicide effects through an in-depth case study of the Shanghai World Expo. Theoretically, the thesis develops the notion of domicide by incorporating the literature on domination and subordination. It attempts to negotiate the tension between the subjective experience of victimhood and the objective process of victimisation in domcide. In analysing the domicide experiences, this thesis proposes to look into both the temporalities and spatialities of domicide, and to examine the variegated ways the displaced appropriate them. It questions how the morally, legally and politically problematic act of domicide is committed without effective forms of resistance. Empirically, this thesis offers a post hoc impact assessment of the ‘best ever’ World Expo and voices the suppressed outcries from those on the receiving end. It supplies a detailed account of the social production of domicide with a case from the Global South, and in doing so; it explores ‘actually existing neoliberalism’ in the Chinese context, expanding the geographical horizon in existing literature and enhancing our understanding of the articulation of neoliberalism in different localities. Although contextualised through the lens of mega-events, the conditions, mechanisms, process and tactics that provide the fertile soil for domicide as identified in this thesis can teach us a great deal about urban spatial practices elsewhere. The thesis draws upon the data collected through site-intensive ethnographic fieldwork, mixing the use of interviews, (non-)participatory observation, survey, unorthodox focus groups and media content. It argues that the exceptionality of the World Expo revokes political, moral and legal boundaries in causing pain to affected citizens in order to facilitate the accumulation of capital. Such exceptionality is constructed through various normative discourses. Those discourses and values naturalise and legitimatise the process of domicide, produce symbolic violence, and undermine the solidarity of the powerlessness. The submission of the displaced to the dominant power enables the production and reproduction of a repressive social and spatial structure. These are vitally important questions given the international focus on China’s economic growth and urbanisation.

Emergency regimes as a legacy of French colonialism in Cameroon remain a key instrument to legalising strategies of control and subjugation of people. Officials in the country have been relying on these regimes not to save the state from a potential threat of war or invasion but to deny a fair democratic game, eliminate political opponents and keep control of power, people and resources. The core arguments of the present study devoted to emergency regimes in contemporary democracies with strong emphasis on Cameroon lies in its conceptual framing which is a clear contextualisation of the problem of the exception in the colonial period. In elucidating the situation in Cameroon, the study hilights how the permanent recourse to emergency regimes within the colony was central to Europeans’ tactics in their strategies of control and domination of colonised people. Starting with detailed historical analysis grounded on colonial and postcolonial experiences in Cameroon (and even Algeria), the study attempts to shift the understanding of the theories on the exception and sovereign violence by placing contemporary legal and philosophical debates on the exception in the context in which they originally emerged, a means of legitimating the subjugation of colonised peoples. More specifically, the thesis shows how the country’s colonial past strongly influences the current state’s structures through a basic reliance on emergency measures which became normalised to a point where law’s force has been reduced to the zero point of its own content. The draconian measures have been routinised and have successfully moved from the exceptional sphere to that of the normality. Additionally, patterns of rule by ordinance and decree were put in place in the early ‘post-independence’ period, and have now become the norm in Cameroon. As consequences, the process matters of justice are reduced to bare legal force, and in that process the legitimacy of both state and law are compromised, rendering subjects politically jaundiced and demoralised. The net effect of such developments appears to be detrimental to the very foundation of the state which is then subject to a process of disintegration. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Jurisprudence / LLD / Unrestricted

The World Trade Organization’s agreements contain a national security exception, that allows WTO members to circumvent their international trade obligations under the organization if they find it necessary to protect their essential security interests. The exception embodies the complex and difficultly navigated line between national security and free trade. National sovereignty is a matter that is widely considered to go beyond the interests of trade, a notion from which the need of a security exception spawns, while circumvention of the WTO obligations for any other reason than honest and real intent to uphold security clearly undermines the system.  To date, two WTO panels have interpreted a subparagraph of the national security exception, namely the case where a member may adopt measures they find necessary for the protection of their essential security interests in times of war or other emergency in international relations. To satisfy the requirements under this provision, a member must adhere to the principle of good faith by articulating its essential security interest, and elucidate the link between these interests and the trade restrictive measures adopted. However, the panels failed to properly scrutinize the existence of good faith. Instead, fulfillment of these requirements was determined by how close the emergency in international relation lied to the hard core of armed conflict. In this essay, it is argued that the failure to properly review good faith leaves a legal loophole that enables abuse of the exception for purely economic reasons. Previously, the atmosphere of the trading system allowed security and economic matters to more easily be kept apart. However, recent developments of national trade policies and the rise of new economic powers have changed the balance of the geoeconomic order.  Because uncodified powers no longer efficiently suppress security disputes from entering the WTO, this essay concludes that the security exception might have to be clarified to prevent abuse. Considering the changes to the trading regime’s state of play, the main discussion held is on whether an evolutionary interpretation of the term “emergency in international relations” could help remedy the loophole in the national security exception. As the multilateral trading system is facing challenges much different from the post-war environment in which the exception was drafted, the security exception must be interpreted in a dynamic manner to ensure compliance with the intention of its drafting parties.

Le contrat de travail fonde la relation de travail et institue le rapport de subordination qui se concrétise par la concession d’un pouvoir à l’employeur. C’est donc aux parties qu’il revient de définir l’étendue, le domaine et les limites du pouvoir patronal. Le salarié ne consent qu’à une subordination strictement définie et encadrée par le contrat. Une analyse objective de la volonté implicite des contractants, au regard de leurs attentes légitimes et de la finalité du pouvoir institué, et à la lumière des exigences du droit commun des contrats (notamment l’exigence de détermination de l’objet des obligations) et des droits fondamentaux (en premier lieu le droit à la protection de la santé) permet d’identifier leurs droits et obligations réciproques : quelles sont les prérogatives que l’employeur est habilité à exercer ? Quelles sont les données du rapport d’emploi qui ne peuvent être remises en cause unilatéralement ? Par ailleurs, le salarié tire du contrat plusieurs pouvoirs d’initiative (exception d’inexécution, prise d’acte) lui permettant de réagir à un manquement de l’employeur. Ceux-ci concourent à l’effectivité des prévisions contractuelles et témoignent d’une réhabilitation du salarié en tant que contractant : contractant subordonné, certes, mais contractant à part entière avant tout. / The employment agreement establishes the work relationship and institutes the relation of subordination which is reflected by a grant of power to the employer. It is thus up to the parties to define the extent, scope and limits of the employer’s authority. The employee only consents to a subordination strictly defined and controlled by the contract. An objective analysis of the implicit will of the contracting parties, with regard to their legitimate expectations and the finality of the authority instituted, and in light of requirements of contract law (notably the requirement to determine the object of obligations) and fundamental rights (primarily the right to health protection) enables to identify their mutual rights and obligations: which prerogatives the employer is entitled to exercise ? Which elements of the employment relationship cannot be altered unilaterally ? Besides, there are several powers of initiatives which the employee derives from the contract (exception of non-performance, constructive dismissal) allowing the employee to react to a breach by the employer. These contribute to the effectiveness of the contractual provisions and reflect a reinstatement of the employee as contractor : a subordinate contracting party, certainly, but a contracting party in its own right first and foremost.