Since 2000, Glasgow has received thousands of asylum seekers, forcibly dispersed to the city through the implementation of the 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act. Over the years, many of those individuals have organised into what have gone on to become formally constituted voluntary associations. This thesis explores the social meanings and lived realities of association life, and the nature of associational practices, as they emerge and develop over time amongst dispersed African asylum seekers and refugees in Glasgow. Based upon fieldwork undertaken over a twenty-six month period involving participant-observation, the thesis locates members’ micro-level understandings, experiences, and definitions of associational life within the wider macro context of broader political, social and cultural change. In so doing, the thesis analyses the complex and differentiated ways in which associational lives are experienced, and explores their intersection with a wide range of collective and individual identities beyond those connected to migrant status and ‘refugeeness’. The thesis thus seeks to challenge dominant definitions of associational forms as ‘refugee community organisations’, arguing that these contribute to constraining groups within fixed boundaries, and to perpetuating their position as an ‘unsettled’ population. Moreover, it is argued that the focus on ‘refugeeness’ fails to attend to the combination of internal and external factors affecting association emergence and continuity. Combining perspectives from social theory on migrant and minority associations and social movements with an anthropological approach that integrates internal processes with external forces, the thesis presents nuanced accounts of solidarity and struggle within groups. In contrast to representations that construct asylum seeker and refugee-led associations as fixed in time and space and defined by migrant status, this thesis argues for an understanding of group life that is sensitive to the fluidity of social relations in multiple social contexts which change and evolve over time. This requires an analysis of both the conditions that encourage the founding of groups and of the factors which support or inhibit their continued existence, and is crucial to ‘moving beyond refugeeness’.

This thesis explores the possibility of a modern consumption distinct from discussions of the ‘consumer,’ ‘consumption,’ ‘consumerism’ and the ‘consumer society’ and rejects the possibility of a universal or ‘human’ consumption-activity rooted in use that merely varies with space and time. This is done by exploring the roots of these terms in the philosophical anthropology of economic theory, specifically the concept of homo oeconomicus. The economic inheritance within contemporary accounts of the capitalist consumption-relation is then pursued through a review of the disciplinary approaches to the topic made by historical accounts of ‘consumer culture,’ the study of patterns of use across the social sciences, from psychology, through geography to marketing and anthropology. Finally, the contemporary sociological investigation of ‘consumption’ is critiqued and its broad reliance upon a utilitarian-derived cost/benefit model adapted to incorporate ‘sign-value’ and discussions of postmodernism are rejected. This prompts the proposal of a ‘postphenomenological’ approach to the study of modern consumption and the ‘terrain’ upon which it is available to experience. The bulk of the thesis, chapters three, four and five, are taken up with a review of the contemporary commodity-form using the phenomenological categories of space, time and causality, respectively. This allows a historical perspective to be employed in the analysis of the role of material factors in the constitution of subjective experience and its role within the emergence of modern consumption. The theory of modern consumption and the sociospatial terrain upon which it unfolds is developed through the concept of ‘affordance,’ adapted from environmental psychology and a re-definition of ‘possession’ that arises from the inter-relation of being and having. This allows the rejection of the orthodox models and theories of ‘consumption’ outlined in chapter two. The thesis concludes by advocating an engagement in a ‘playful’ modern consumption that engages with the commodity-form as the medium within which contemporary ‘experience’ is transmitted and, which, consequently, forms the of the phenomenal forms of subjective experience derived from the capitalist consumption-relation.

This thesis addresses, from a comparative perspective, an important lacuna in the research devoted to German and English revolutionary literature in the period from 1819 up to the European revolutions of 1848/49. It illustrates that a major shift from a concept of political revolution to one of social revolution took place within these years which is reflected in radical literature between the ‘Peterloo Massacre’ (1819) and the failure of the bourgeois political revolution of 1848/49. Theoretically based on selected writings of the early Marx and Engels on ideology, consciousness and political and social revolution as well as on more recent Marxist theories of cultural studies, this study shows how the contemporary philosophical, socio-political, socio-economic and literary discourse on revolution must be regarded as closely interlinked. This interconnection is not limited to an ideological, but also extends to a rhetorical and even metaphorical level. However, although it foregrounds these shared textual elements, the purpose of this thesis is not to add yet another philological analysis of literary works, but rather to flesh out the shared ideological involvement of the fictional and non-fictional revolutionary discourse. Texts and authors include in the British context of 1819 Percy Bysshe Shelley and British radical journalists such as Richard Carlile. In order to analyse the shift in revolutionary discourse in the years between the French bourgeois July Revolution of 1830 and the early 1840s, texts by the literary revolutionary writers Ludwig Börne, Heinrich Heine, Thomas Lovell Beddoes and Georg Büchner are contextualised with the pamphlets and writings by the most radically socio-revolutionary among the French early socialists, Louis Auguste Blanqui, by rebellious weavers, by the Parisian German early proletarian movement as well as Marx’s earliest socio-philosophical justification of a proletarian social revolution, the “Einleitung Zur Kritik der Hegel’schen Rechts-Philosophie” (1844).

As a consequence of economic change and urban decline, stigma has become a feature of many neighbourhoods in western industrialised cities. Based upon the experiences of two housing estates located on the periphery of the Scottish city of Dundee, this thesis investigates the processes involved in the creation of poor neighbourhood reputation and examines the ways in which stigma influences residents. The study uses qualitative data from a large number of in-depth interviews and focus groups with residents, non-residents and professional stakeholders to illuminate how stigma was understood and experienced from different perspectives. The thesis argues that although the activity of labelling represents a pervasive social enterprise that is generally carried out with no intention to cause harm, it can have inadvertent consequences of negative discrimination and disadvantage. This assertion is demonstrated in the context of neighbourhood stigma and its ability to exert a powerful influence on the material and psychological well being of residents, which contributes towards their experience of disadvantage and exclusion from important aspects of economic, social and cultural life. The thesis also proposes that neighbourhood stigma is more harmful where disadvantage already exists, thereby perpetuating stigma and intensifying social exclusion. The thesis concludes by offering suggestions for tackling the problem of poor neighbourhood reputation and stigma in regeneration initiatives.

The present study analyses Roman-native interaction from a landscape perspective in a core territory of both Iron Age and Roman Dacia. The study are includes the royal Dacian heartland (the Orastie Mountains) and its surrounding lowlands, and also the hinterlands of Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa and Apulum, the two most important Roman towns in the province. The research considers the nature and distribution of lower-order settlements in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, human impact on the local landscape and the changes which occurred as a result of the Roman occupation. Also, it addresses previous biases of interpretation through re-evaluation of earlier data and consideration of new datasets provided by the interpretation and mapping of recent oblique aerial photographs. New detailed plans of the sites discovered through aerial photography have been integrated within a significant amount of scattered published data (excavation and field walking reports; gazetteers) and relevant information from historical maps. Al the material has been analysed utilising a relational database linked to a GIS. The results provide a complex reconsideration on a more realistic and up-to-date basis of previous theories regarding the native settlement pattern and the impact of Roman colonisation in the chronological and geographical context specified. Also, through the resulting database and GIS, it provides a methodological framework and a customised tool for further analysis of the landscape and of the evolution of the settlement pattern which can be extended throughout the province of Dacia and into the neighbouring areas. Finally, it creates a useful source of analogy or contrast for Empire-wide studies of Romanisation and Roman-native interaction.

A conceptual framework, 'accountable bureaucratic capacity' is utilised to investigate the ability of local government to institutionalise collaborative urban upgrading measures in partnership with civil society organisations. The main argument is that the latter cannot contribute to sustainable development, democratisation or to protect citizens' rights in low-income neighbourhood without accountable representation from their side, a reciprocal and active representation from the citizens concerned, and an accountable public sector. The capacity of urban governance and the extent to which participatory initiatives can exploit the potential within existing structures and systems are examined. This examination allows an evaluation of how far a participatory project rated as 'good-practice' can enhance citizens' awareness of opportunities, political participation and local government performance, while building collaborative and institutionalised planning capacity. The research concludes that the sustainability of urban upgrading depends on the form of citizens' participation and the management styles of cities. Successful participation during an upgrading project may have 'transformative' potential to encourage citizens' political participation. If the citizens are not active, even though they reject the government's development agenda, or have to depend on 'informal' networks to provide their needs, they may be characterised as 'free-riders', who withdraw from urban governance and its collaborative decision-making processes. Legal recognition of squatter settlements is the first step required to institutionalise upgrading policies, particularly for indigenous or customary groups trying to survive in a world characterised by increasing interdependence and escalating threats to local ties. However, although this recognition strengthens a group's ability to negotiate and interact with non-group members, it may also have detrimental effects if it is not supported by additional legislation. Local government needs institutional reform and a strategic capacity-building programme to forge partnerships and the joint responsibility of the public and private sectors, as well as of civil society.

This thesis explores emergent knowledge dynamics in innovation in the context of ebusiness entrepreneurship. Based on a critique of the dialectic interpretation of knowledge dynamics, it forwards a perspective that stresses the creative force of emergence that disrupts existent meanings and produces new potentialities for innovation. It suggests ways of using such a perspective in policy-targeted research. The first part elaborates on the traditional uses of concepts of knowledge in explanations of entrepreneurial innovation and on the need to account for a dynamic perspective on emergent knowledge. The thesis employs work by Deleuze and Guattari as meta-theoretical vehicle to expand the conceptual potential of social representations theory beyond its traditional focus on a dialectic ontology of becoming. It highlights a dynamic which does not exclusively assume conceptual difference as the source of the novel and which allows for patterns of becoming other than the triadic continuity of dialectics. Together, this provides new possibilities for an understanding of knowledge dynamics taking into account both adaptive and creative dynamics of emergence. The empirical part combines thematic analysis of interviews and a focus group with Deleuzian analysis of participant observation to facilitate an exploration of emergent conditions for innovation in a particular milieu of e-business entrepreneurship. The exploration shows how changes in shared evaluative dimensions guided – and constrained – the creation of new concepts. Simultaneously, distinct assemblages arising from novel connections of affect and technology in networks created the conditions of fluidity and ambiguity required for new knowledge: in the aftermath of the dotcom crash, new concepts of network leadership and trust in business interaction were emerging. This study forwards new insights on the study of emergent knowledge dynamics as oscillating between rhizomic opening and dialectic closure. It is in the disruptive encounters between the two that new conditions for innovation can assemble.

The Social Geography of Britain's 19th century towns and cities has tended to find its focus, with a few notable exceptions, in the larger English industrial towns. Residential differentiation and population mobility have been favourite them In contrast, this study is a broad based one highlighting smaller Scottish settlements over the 1861 to 1891 period. Residential differentiation and population mobility, at the mezo - rather than the micro-scale, are considered but so are the Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven were chosen as subjects, being spatially close and yet historically and industrially very different. Dumbarton, a Royal Burgh since 1222, industrialized very rapidly in the period considered here, in the second an The main primary source for this study has been the census enumerators books for the years 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891. The total sample consisting of 3,800 census families (400 from Dumbarton, 400 from the Vale of Leven for 1861; 500 from either After a consideration of previous work on 19th century towns, particularly that on residential differentiation and on migration (Chapters 2 and 3) local context is provided through use of the printed census reports for Dumbarton and the Vale of L Industrial and occupational structures are the subjects of Chapters 8, 9 and 10. A major contrast being the differing role of the sexes in the employed sector of each community. The changing social structure, through time and at either locationn In the industrializing West of Scotland population was very mobile. Migration was vital to the growth of industrial towns and it is a major theme here. Net inflows and outflows of `local' and `non-local' born adults are discussed in paral The Irish were the most distinct ethnic group from outwith the study area and its regional setting. Their reception, assimilation, migrational trends and their occupational and social structures are contrasted with those of the `nearby Scot Finally Chapters 16 and 17 examine residential differentiation by occupation, social status and ethnic group. Both within these chapters and in the concluding chapter (Chapter 18) attempts are made to separate the particular from the general

This thesis examines the state-supported system for elite-level sport in Scotland and considers whether or not that system is effective in terms of delivery to athletes and coaches and assesses the extent to which it was fair and equitable in terms of outcomes. The study is set within a feminist cultural studies framework that is enriched by qualitative study and based on the distinctively Scottish cultural and historical experience of the nature of sport. The thesis comprises of two major studies and the findings are based on original material collected from three main research methodologies: documentary evidence, quantitative and qualitative analyses. Study one sets the historical and policy context in which the main focus of the research can be understood. An historical account of state involvement in the elite sport sector is followed by a critical evaluation of elite sport policy agenda during the first session of the Scottish Parliament (1999-2003). The aim of this study was to identify and review the institutional and financial frameworks set up to guide the decision-making process for the delivery of the Scottish elite sport agenda. Study two was designed to gather demographic and socio-economic information on Scotland’s elite athletes and to measure the level of athlete satisfaction with the administration, effectiveness and equity of the Lottery-funded Talented Athlete Programme (TAP). The first, predominately quantitative, phase of the study, was conducted by means of a postal questionnaire. Significant issues raised during this phase were followed-up and explored in more depth in the second, qualitative phase. Information from athletes was enhanced by the data gathered from interviews with officials, coaches and administrators who are vital to the implementation and success of the elite sport programmes currently in place in Scotland and at the UK level. Where appropriate, interview data is put into some context by with data collected by the researcher from various sources, including TAP press releases, annual reports and official documents. The key findings of this research suggest that there are too many gaps in the present system of support for talented and elite athletes to be able to claim that Scotland is “a country where sporting talent is recognised and nurtured” (Scottish Sports Council, 1998b, pp.7). Clearly, there is much still to be done it this vision is to be realised for all Scotland’s talented athletes, irrespective of their gender, cultural or socio-economic background. Only then, can Scottish sport genuinely claim that “nothing is left to chance” and Scotland can be considered “a country achieving and sustaining world class performances in sport” (Scottish Sports Council, 1998b, pp.7).

The Civil-Religious hierarchy, or fiesta complex, which is found in indigenous communities in Mesoamerica and the Andean countries, has been central to anthropological studies in the area lavish expenditure of the religious cargo holders, the mayordomos, on fiesta celebrations, which has attracted most theories, as, ethnocentrically and materialistically, it is held to be both irrational and because, as the administrative complex of the villages, it is the pivot of village life. However, it is the lavish expenditure of the religious cargo holders, the mayordomos, on fiesta celebrations, which has attracted most theories, as, ethnocentrically and materialistically, it is held to be both irrational and uneconomic. However both views, I would argue, ignore the religious motivation of those who serve the saints. It is not uncommon for theorists to make backward projections into the colonial era in an attempt to account for the fiesta system as it exists now, and one model that has had some influence is the extractive one of Marvin Harris, which contends that, its ritual system having been proved to be almost wholly 16th century in origin, the complex was imposed by the Church in the early colonial era in order to draw off resources from the Indians - a role which has been sustained ever since. This neo - Marxist contention is both supremely materialistic and simplistic. However, it is the fact that this and other historical projections seemed to lack rigorous research and analysis, which led me to undertake a diachronic study of the colonial forerunners of the mayordomías, the cofradías, and the reason for their erection. I also wished to ascertain how far the civil-religious hierarchies of the colonial era resembled the ideal model of the modern complex; that is, a series of ranked civil and religious cargos held by all at the lowest level, and then undertaken alternatively, with heavy expenditure in time and economic resources, by those with sufficient economic means. Further to this, I wished to explore the transformation from colonial cofradía to modern mayordomía. Thus, the thesis divides into three parts, and, although anthropological in concept, is based principally upon historical research, and so is an ethno-historical study. The area chosen for this research was the Valles Centrales de Oaxaca, in the State and See of Oaxaca, which was a Dominican province from 1529 and whose doctrinas were not fully secularised until the 1760s. Unfortunately, the Dominican archive as such no longer exists, having been largely destroyed, although a part has been widely dispersed. In view of this, I have had recourse to the Dominican histories of the colonial era, which are based both upon their archives and the personal experiences of the authors, as well as the 16th century chronicles of the Franciscans - a rich source for descriptions of the earliest cofradías, their processions, and the reasons for their erection. These I have used in marshalling my arguments vis-á-vis the introduction of the cofradías, whilst detailed analysis of the role of the later cofradías and cargo holders has been based upon specific parochial archives in the Valleys. I shall introduce this thesis with a description of mayordomía in the Valleys today. I shall then discuss the civil, religious and social structures of the valley before and at the time of the Spanish Conquest in an attempt to isolate those aspects of fiesta celebrations, which are preCortesian in origin. This I shall base largely upon archaeological evidence. I shall then demonstrate that cofradía was a tool for attracting and maintaining religious converts by its several functions of ensuring a sumptuous cult, proselytising the faithful, and giving them succour. I shall isolate certain cofradías, which had the specific function of proselytisation, which I shall designate "cofradías proselitistas", and consider the austere and exemplary lives of those who introduced them. However, I shall also show that the Conquest and its aftermath was the occasion of much trauma for the indigenous peoples, in a way which was not always, perhaps, fully appreciated even by those who had their best interests at heart. Next I shall discuss the economic dilemma of the 16th century Church, which, lacking substantial tithes, could not increase the small ratio of priests to converts, nor properly train sufficient secular priests to secularise the parishes. I shall consider the post-Tridentine attempts to do this, and also to ensure that the seculars had reasonable stipends so that the scandal of their dependence upon their parishioners for sustenance, and their neglect of their duties for commercial concerns could be avoided. I shall also demonstrate that this economic crisis placed an economic burden upon the Indians, which Church legislation endeavoured to lessen, and that, whilst the existence of the cofradías increased the income of the priests through payments for Masses, and church furnishings, the Church enacted laws which limited excessive expenditure on these, as well as others preventing the erection of cofradías with illthought out statutes, and the exploitation of the people by unscrupulous priests. Thus, I am arguing that the Church was aware of the failings of those most in contact with the Indians, and, at least, endeavoured to mitigate them. Although much of this material is specific to Oaxaca, it is, of necessity, set in the wider context of the Church in New Spain. The second part of the thesis, based principally upon archival material from the Archivo General del Estado de Oaxaca, the Archivo General de la Nación in Mexico City, and the Archivos Parroquiales de Zaachila, in the Valley of Zimatlán, and Etla, in the Valle of Etla, is concerned with the hierarchies at village level. In this I shall discuss the traumatic background against which the 17th and 18th inhabitants of the Valleys lived, particularly as a result of the pro-secularisation policies of the Church and suggest that the conflict between the Bishops of Oaxaca and the Dominicans was a major cause of the Zapotecs retaining much of their prehispanic religious costumbres (traditions) and beliefs. I shall then consider the roles of the various officers in both the civil and religious hierarchies in the Indian towns, and demonstrate that only members of the nobility were eligible for such cargos. I shall suggest the possibility that the cargo of mayordomo of a cofradía was sufficiently prestigious for some men merely to serve this. I shall also demonstrate, from the Zaachilan material, that there was apparently no hierarchy of saints to serve, and that the ideal model of an achievement ladder of alternatively served prestigious civil and religious cargos did not exist in the colonial era. Further to this, I shall consider other variables which negate the ideal model: specifically the existence of female "mayordomos" throughout the colonial period and the early post-Independence decades; mayordomos who served the same saint for two, and even as many as six or more consecutive years; and the intervention of the priest in cofradía affairs. An analysis of the Libros de Cofradía will show how the mayordomos managed or mismanaged the Bienes de Cofradía, whilst the Libros de Cordillera of the 18th century Bishops of Oaxaca will show how they attempted to influence and change every sphere of Zapotec life. The Libros de Cofradía are the official record of the mayordomos' stewardship of the cofradías, but the Libros de Cordillera of the 18th century and 19th Bishops of Oaxaca give some idea of the celebration of fiesta, and the strictures upon it.