This thesis seeks to explain the organisational, programmatic and ideological renewal of the French Parti Socialiste (PS), employed as a test case to examine the veracity of the 'crisis of social democracy' literature. Chapter I reviews the crisis of social democracy literature, introducing a framework for the analysis of social democracy in general, and the PS in particular. Chapter 2 establishes the historical and institutional context of PS development. Chapter 3 demonstrates how organisational changes have altered the opportunity structures of the key actors, crucially affecting how the party articulates its electoral and policy strategy. Chapter 4 explores PS electoral strategists' attempts to resolve problems posed by the fragmentation of homogenous electoral blocs of support, increasing electoral volatility, and the competitive challenge of new parties. Chapter 5 analyses PS ideological evolution in the 1990s in the context of the collapse of 'actual existing socialism', the exhaustion of traditional social democratic means, the enforced peaceful co-existence with the new market orthodoxy, and the increasing relevance of supra-national co-ordination for social democracy. In Chapter 6 we will explore the implications of globalisation for social democracy. The thesis rejects the 'hyperglobal' interpretation of the relationship between social democracy and globalisation, which asserts that national economies are now subsumed into a 'borderless world', within which social democracy is an historically exhausted project. Analysis of the development and implementation of the PS's macro-economic policy, job creation policy, labour market policies, and 'structural adjustment' policies, such as the shift towards a 35 hour week, demonstrate enduring social democratic policy activism. Chapter 7 presents a comparative political economic analysis of the economic strategies of the PS and the British Labour Party which further illustrates the potential for social democratic policy activism. Finally, the conclusion summarises and draws together the arguments.

This thesis consists of three essays on fi…rm behaviour in international markets. Abstracts can be found at the beginning of their respective chapters. The fi…rst chapter, titled "Trading Tasks and Quality", presents a tractable trade model that combines vertical product differentiation at the firm-level with international fragmentation of production to explain some recently unearthed stylised facts about exporters in developing countries. In line with the recent empirical evidence, it suggests that there is a close link between exports and imports at the …firm-level, and it is quality that establishes the link between the two. The second and third chapters revisit the debate on globalisation and wage inequality. The second chapter, titled "The Trade and Wages Debate Revisited: A new explanation for an old mystery", develops a general equilibrium model where trade liberalisation between two identical countries increases wage inequality in favour of white-collar workers. It shows that country characteristics, such as the relative endowment of white-collar workers and the degree of competition, matter for the equilibrium level of wage inequality after trade liberalisation. The endowment of white-collar labour also affects the level of openness; an increase in the worldwide supply of white-collar labour expands the range of traded goods and increases the volume of trade in already-traded goods. Furthermore, it improves global welfare. The third chapter, titled "Cross-border Mergers and Wage Inequality", focuses on another aspect of globalisation and its effect on wage inequality. It suggests a two-way relationship between cross-border mergers and wage inequality: on the one hand, wage inequality in favour of white-collar workers increases the pro…tability of cross-border mergers; on the other hand, at any level of openness, wage inequality is lower in the presence of cross-border mergers than in their absence. Therefore, participation of a country in global business raises wage inequality, but its level is lower under trade and investment integration compared to trade integration only.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Presenting an authoritative one-party rule since fifty years, the case of Singapore does not concord with the various theories of democratization. After proving that Singapore is not a Liberal-Democracy, we argue that the country manages to create a model of stability both in terms of politics and economy, that act as trade- offs to liberal characteristics. The approach uses a qualitative analysis of the electoral framework, a cultural comprehension of contemporary elements and data on its economic success. Ultimately, this thesis aims at studying the idea that Liberal-Democracy is not a model that necessarily needs to be implemented for the functioning of all nations.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / In the South African employment context, temporary employment service (hereinafter referred as TES), also known as labour broking, is regulated by the Labour Relations Act.1 Under the previous LRA (prior 2014 legislative amendments), employees of TES have been challenged in respect of exercising their labour law rights and that subjected them to exploitation. Such exploitation called for the government of South Africa to effect some amendments on the LRA with a view to protect TES employees. This was done through Labour Relations amendment Act no 06 of 2014, which came into force in August 2014. The relationship in TES involved three parties, such as, client, labour broker and an employee. A labour broker entered into a commercial contract with a client, in terms of which the former would provide employees to the client. An employment contract will then be entered into between labour broker and an employee. The duration of employment contract would mostly be determined by as long as the client requires services of a placed employee. No employment contract was entered into between an employee and the client. This is despite the fact that a client had directly enjoyed services of the employee.

From the outset global cities have been primarily seen as outcomes of changes in global economic capitalism. This has led to critical responses arguing for the need to consider more centrally the role of politics in global city formation, and in particular the need to critically analyse city-state relations in varying geographical contexts. Three dominant strands of critique have emerged: a literature on state rescaling (primarily based on experiences of North American and Western European cities), a literature on developmental states (on East Asian cities) and a literature on postcolonial urban theory (primarily on cities in the Global South). Although these approaches all argue for a re-focusing on the role of the political in global city formation, they do not easily fit other geographical and geopolitical contexts. This thesis aims to contribute to the debate by focusing on the case of Istanbul as Turkey s emerging global city. Based on semi-structured interviews, this research challenges some key assumptions of global cities research, state rescaling approach, developmental approach and postcolonial urban theory through the case of Istanbul. It also provides a critical conceptual understanding of Istanbul s globalisation, argues the role of actors in global city making and will demonstrate that contrary to what is generally claimed in the literature, the relationship between Istanbul (city) and Turkey (state) could be assessed as more harmonious rather than tension-filled. Furthermore, the research goes beyond revealing the points where Istanbul conforms or does not conform to the existing approaches, and addresses the very recent academic debates between those who believe that we need new theories to understand the dynamics and impacts of the actual global urbanisation and those who suggest that instead of calling for new theories there is a need to examine and improve the existing approaches. To do that, my research develops an alternative conceptualisation -- the in-between city - that might cover the cities located in the region spreading from Eastern Europe to Central Asia. The argument behind this concept is that owing to their intersectional positions between East and West, and the continual links between their imperial and global periods, cities such as Istanbul, Vienna, Budapest, St. Petersburg or Moscow, present more hybrid characteristics in comparison to the cities categorised by the existing approaches.

Globalization increases the integration and interdependence of international, national and local business and stakeholder communities across economic, political and cultural spheres. Communication technology and the international role for English suggest the integrating global communication reality is simplifying. Experience indicates integration produces complex heterogeneous dialogue and asymmetrical relationships with no shared interpretative systems. The global/national/local nexus presents management with universal and particular paradoxes mediated through diverse contextual micro communication practices and behaviours. This thesis derives from a professional service (environmental engineering) TNC request for help to address the business communication and performance concerns implicated in the production of professional bi-lingual English and Indonesian reports for clients. At the heart of this corporate concern lie the multicultural nature of interactions between the individuals, organizations and wider stakeholders involved in the Jakarta, Indonesian branch office operations. A developing nation adds further complexity. This thesis contends that these micro organizational concerns link to critical macro economic, political, and cultural societal concerns for the development of more responsive ethical and sustainable management and governance. This thesis argues for an elevated notion of the role of communication management to enable business to pursue more sustainable goals, improve business performance, and address the issue of risk. The thesis reviews multidisciplinary literature to develop a multifaceted theoretical framework that links macro management issues to this micro contextual concern. / This framework guides a qualitative research strategy to apply an ethnographic-oriented case study-based methodology to map the diverse worldviews of a sample of the Indonesian professional staff, their local senior expatriate management, and Headquarters. The case study assesses the impact of diverse worldviews on the interactions, relationships and performances involved in a specific project involving the international investment sector, a national proponent developer, the national regulatory agency, local and indigenous stakeholder communities and the consulting TNC. The findings have implications for the management of international business, the higher education sector and civil society organizations.

How are people in a global society reconstructing their sense of place? This key question is addressed in this thesis. Australian society has emerged from the period of industrialisation and entered the period of globalisation, a modern to a postmodern world. Sense of place is a vital source of both individual and cultural identity and security, a point of departure from which we orient ourselves in the world. The use of a place, its terrain (landscape), connectedness to that place and its inherent meaning are identified here as the 4 key elements in the construction of a sense of place. The case study approach adopted in this thesis examines a former industrial site in Pyrmont currently being redeveloped as a waterfront residential community, known as Jacksons Landing. The site is reviewed at the moment in time it transcends the industrial era and enters the global era. The mixture of research methods examining the transition includes observation; key informant interviews; structured interviews; and document analysis. The study document the shift of the site from 'space' to 'place' through personal presence and association. It catches a glimpse of how individual experience of place is formed from a unique moment in space-time, which is interlinked with memories, emotions and identity. The findings indicate that communities of the future, in the era of globalisation, will be markedly different to those of the industrial era. Results suggest lifestyle and economic factors will shape future communities, which have the potential to be gated and homogenous, representing a microcosm of segmentation and secularisation. Security, income and occupation will be increasingly valued, forming the basis of identity and the shaping of place. / Master of Science (Hons)

In recent years, industrial relations scholars have begun to discuss the �revitalisation strategies� unions are using to rebuild lost density, power, and political leverage. This thesis studies the role international activities play in the revitalisation of Australian unions. Rather than assert the importance of international activity, or emphasise the value of certain forms of international activity, the thesis seeks to understand why unions choose to engage in particular forms of international activity. International activity in Australian unions takes on a remarkable diversity of forms. The analysis of international activity therefore requires a theory that is capable of describing these different forms of international activity and then explaining why they exist. However most scholars have not examined the role of union agency in choosing international activity. Within industrial relations, there is very little existing theory or research on which to base the kind of analysis proposed for the thesis. Most theories are ideologically driven, prescriptive accounts that either promote or challenge particular institutions or ideas about international activity. The problem is that they deal with international activity as an abstract kind of response to universal pressures of globalisation. These kinds of arguments serve well to articulate the need for unions to �think globally�, but are ill suited to the task of the thesis, which is to explain particular forms of international activity in particular unions. The questions about international activity that the thesis intends to answer form a point of connection between industrial relations and the related discipline of labour geography. In making the connections between labour geography theory and the analysis of union international strategy, the thesis argues for labour geography as a political economic foundation for industrial relations in the tradition of Hyman�s Marxist theory of industrial relations. This provides a critical theoretical perspective and conceptual vocabulary with which to criticise and extend industrial relations research on international activity. The result is a spatialised theory organised according to topics of interest in industrial relations research that can be applied to the study of Australian international activity. The thesis is evenly divided between developing this theory and research on international activity in the Australian union movement. Empirical analysis begins with a study of the international activities and policy of the ACTU, distinguishing different kinds of international activity. By treating the international activities of theACTU as representative of the Australian union movement as a whole, the thesis identifies three functional levels of international activity: strategy-sharing, regional solidarity, and global regulation. The chapter also examines the material and discursive construction of the international scale within the ACTU. The thesis also analyses the international activities of three Australian unions,the TWU, LHMU and CFMEU. While all three unions engage in each level of international activity, the review of their activities shows differences in the focus of each union. The thesis suggests that the explanation for these different ratios depends in part on the spatial structure of the industries that the different unions organise. The kind of research undertaken in this thesis has little precedent. The work of the labour geographers on international activity does not deal with union revitalisation strategy, and the research from industrial relations on the strategic aspects of international activity have not latched on to labour geography. This thesis argues that unions scale their activities internationally for particular reasons, some of which are structural and can be specified up front, and others that are historically contingent and can only be explored on a case-by-case basis. In examining this �politics of scale� the thesis redefines many of the issues in the discussion of international activity and proposes a new conceptual background for industrial relations generally.

Since China's accession to the WTO in 2001, China has reformed its higher education system in order to meet the challenges of globalisation. In the era of WTO, China needs more and better English, which facilitates access to modern knowledge and technology and the possibility of communication with the outside world in the process of globalisation. To correspond with this trend, the Chinese government has prioritised reforms in the teaching of English at various levels of the education system. In this context, the change of policy in the foreign language education sector becomes an issue of concern. This research, with a view to informing the ongoing reform of English language teaching (ELT), investigates learners' perspectives of ELT in Chinese universities in the context of current process of globalisation. This thesis argues that the adoption of various ELT curricula in various periods is heavily influenced by broader social and political policies that shape Chinese responses to the process of globalisation. The promulgation in 2004 of the College English Curriculum Requirements (For Trial Implementation) represented an immediate response in the ELT field to China's economic globalisation. It further argues that the Global English model, with its stress on communicative competence and performance should be the ELT priority in Chinese universities to meet the new communication demands of contemporary globalisation. These arguments are advanced based on a study focusing on College English education, which represents ELT in China at the tertiary level, the final as well as most important part in the hierarchy of language education. To investigate the research problem in this project, a multi-faceted methodology was applied, including surveys, classroom observation and document analysis. The following conclusions can be drawn based on the data collected. First, English remains a priority in China's education system and globalisation of English in WTO era is to the benefit of Chinese learners. Second, there has been evident shift of the goal of ELT in China from mastery of pure linguistic knowledge to development of communicative competence and the pedagogy from single skill training, i.e. reading, to integrated development of the four macro skills. Computer-aided and competence-led curricula in English language education are recent trends that contribute to the increasing awareness of both the professionals and students that productive abilities should be the priority. From the perspective of learners, this means a switch to a learner-centred model that allows more autonomy by making the teaching and learning a computer-based process of individualized learning, collaborative learning and hyper-textual learning. Third, the 1999 Curriculum failed to address the emerging issues regarding ELT in the process of China's globalisation. This led to strong dissatisfaction from the learners and strong appeal for ELT reformation in College English education in China. Finally, the College English Curriculum Requirements (For Trial Implementation), while pinpointing the trend and model of future English education development, is confronted with serious challenges in its implementation.