Recent developments in the Third World have been marked by the increased interventions of states in their respective economies. These developments raise the problem of explaining the causes for, and the dynamics of, such interventions. In the dissertation, I seek to develop a theoretical framework for explaining the economic policies of Third World States (TWS). I first argue that the TWS is a variant of the modern state, but with its structure defined by its own unique constitutive social relations. As a modern state, the TWS seeks to maintain, what I have called, its position of relative sovereignty in society, viz, its claim to being the supreme-rule making institution in society, and its claim to the monopoly of the legitimate use of force in society. But as these claims of the state are dependent on the size of, and the state's access to, the social surplus, the economic policies of states are best explained, I argue, by the TWS's need to ensure that these conditions are met. The Third World economy is constituted by different systems of production, and its dynamics is determined by their interaction. I show that this results in specific crises of production that limit the size of the social surplus. Another important determinant of state intervention is thus the political and economic conflicts generated by the unique structure of the Third World economy. I show the validity of the theoretical approach that I develop by using it to analyze and explain the agrarian policies of the Ethiopian state during the 1941-74 period. I explain the measures that the emergent modern state took during this period--measures that dissolved the pre-war tributary system of social production, and advanced both simple commodity and capitalist systems of production--not in terms of the voluntary modernizing projects of state leaders, but in terms of the imperatives that the state faced in establishing its position of relative sovereignty in society.

This dissertation tells the story of how anticommunism operated on the state and local level in Massachusetts from the depression through the 1950s. Using analytic tools from both political history and social history, it asks: what initiatives were driven by anticommunism, who were the people behind these initiatives, why did they want to suppress political dissent, and where did their ideas originate. The findings show that anticommunism on the state and local level was far more complex than has been appreciated. In Massachusetts, political ideas travel through a prism of class and ethnicity before taking shape as political actions. Neither the pluralist analysis of McCarthyism as a mass based movement from below, nor the revisionist analysis of McCarthyism as an elite rivalry over political power adequately explain what happened in Massachusetts. A more accurate picture reveals pockets of anticommunist activity throughout the state. These pockets were peopled with conservative Yankees, professional anticommunists, Catholic legislators and opportunist labor leaders. However, the ideas driving each group were quite different. What this study shows is the usefulness of anticommunism in helping Americans find common political ground across class and ethnic differences. For most people it was a lot easier to agree on what was un-American than it was to agree on what was American. Massachusetts anticommunists maintained an unbroken thread of activity throughout the period of this study, 1930 to 1960. Evidence of anticommunism and antiradicalism during the Second World War--expressed as opposition to conscientious objectors and support for the Christian Front--links the "little Red Scare" of the depression to postwar McCarthyism. The same groups of people supported anticommunist initiatives during the cold war as had during the depression and war years. The Catholic Church continued to be the single most influential source of anticommunism. Union leaders used anticommunist Catholic labor doctrine to oust rivals from power within the electrical workers union. A legislative commission dominated by socially conservative Irish Democrats investigated subversion among liberal Yankees. Cold war anticommunism on the state level was driven by ethnic conflict not party rivalry.

This dissertation examines the resurgence of Massachusetts Federalists in national politics from 1805 through 1815. During this ten-year period, Federalists were relegated to the periphery of national politics as the Democratic-Republican majority in Congress passed a string of controversial commercial policies directed at French and British violations of America’s neutral trade. However, the rejection of bipartisan solutions, along with the anti-commercialism and sectional bias in Jeffersonian political economy, precipitated a resurgence of the Federalist Party after 1805. In Congress, Federalists, led by Massachusetts’ representatives, compensated for their dwindling numbers and influence in the national arena by adopting a populist stance and opposition platform that attracted New England voters. In fact, this study suggests that national expansion, the spread of slavery, and Jefferson’s agrarian ethos, played a more significant role in the Democratic-Republican Party’s rise to national prominence after 1800, than a widespread rejection of Federalist elitism. By testing the validity of Federalist claims that New England’s ability to safeguard its interests in national government diminished in direct proportion to the nation’s growth, we gain a better understanding of the emergence of New England nationalism and the deepening sectional hostilities that threatened the survival of the Union. Finally, through its reassessment of the Federalists’ opposition to commercial restrictions and their calls for constitutional reform to abolish slave quotas, this dissertation departs from the focus of previous studies, expands the discourse surrounding early national politics, and places Federalists in their appropriate historical context.

This study attempts to assess the dynamics of British policy towards the Chinese community in Malaya during a period of thirteen years which witnessed the Japanese Occupation of Malaya, the reestablishment of British colonial rule, and the efforts towards self government. A key factor in the British policy towards the Chinese community is based on an awareness of the community's potentiality to become a " Fifth Column", threatening the security of British Malaya. The problem facing the colonial authorities, therefore, was how to neutralize this potential "Fifth Column". Influenced by the contemporary situation, the British eventually adopted a policy of socio-political reorganization of the Chinese community as a means of solving the problem. During the period of this study British policy towards the Chinese political role covers four stages: first, the pre-war period with the so-called "pro-Malay policy"; second, the 1942-1947 period with the new Chinese policy and the Malayan Union scheme; third, the period of Federation and the revival of a pro-Malay policy; and finally, the Malayanization of the Chinese aiming at building a united Malayan nation. Simultaneously with this stage, was the British undertaking of decolonization.In retrospect, the study in the main confirms the success of British policy towards the Malayan Chinese particularly in cultivating a sense of Malayan national consciousness. At least the majority of the Chinese in Malaya willingly chose this land as their home.

<p> Examines early attempts to formalize congressional oversight of intelligence, and details what level of congressional oversight existed for the Bay of Pigs operation.</p>

<p> Using performance and cultural study lenses, this dissertation employs a case study methodology to explore how embodied Black male political voice was used during the 1968 Summer Olympic medal stand protest in Mexico City, Mexico. Creative moral protest is a "hallmark of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience" <i>The art of moral protest</i>, (Jasper, 1997). By the late 1960s, several innovative expressions of political activism, involving Black men, had been set forth in the United States. However, on October 16, 1968 in Mexico City, the world witnessed one of history's most memorable and iconic protests. Using a brazen and unprecedented style, two Black US college athletes expanded socio/economic discourse relating to Black Americans. Epitomizing innovation in moral protest and cultural representation, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, with raised Black-gloved fists, furthered international awareness to the struggle for equal rights in America. Collectively, the track stars fashioned an unprecedented cultural discourse using imagery and symbolism as their political voice during the 1968 Olympic medal stand awards ceremony. </p><p> Grappling with political forces of White supremacy and institutional racism, the two Olympians combined social aptitude with academic and political consciousness. In doing so, the San Jose State University students used a visual protest language that aided in how the world defined politically conscious Black masculinity. Their display during the 1968 Summer Olympic medal stand ceremony helped to introduce many to the disenfranchised voice of Black America, still echoing against the backdrop of the ideology of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Following the deaths of King and Malcolm X. The two Olympians sought to expand upon the successful use of symbolic boycotts and protest marches to challenge an American meta-narrative about Black citizenship and identity. Black males, in particular, were involved in highly visible groups such as: <i> The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense</i> and, <i>SNCC</i>. The two met Professor Harry Edwards, leader of <i>the Olympic Project for Human Rights</i> (<i>OPHR</i>), while students at San Jose State University. They later joined <i>OPHR</i>. According to Edwards, author of the book <i>The Struggle That Must Be</i>, (Edwards, 1980), an Olympic boycott protest was intended to "set forth the imagery of intelligent Black men who were socially conscious" (Edwards, 1980,p.28).</p><p>

This project uses convention documents to explore the relationship between a progressive religious movement and America’s progressive political party. The Social Gospel Movement rose in the early twentieth century as a response to modern industrial realities. It sought the Kingdom of Heaven on earth through progressive policy and church action. It supported the national progressive party of its era, the Republican Party. As the Democratic Party became America’s national progressive party, following the New Deal era, it failed to integrate the Social Gospel into its midst and has since experienced difficulty mobilizing religious voters and defining the sacred. Contemporary Democrats, religious scholars, and clergymen call on the Democratic Party to connect either with a revitalized Social Gospel or some similar religious tradition. These calls make sense in the context of the competing Republican Party’s successes relating to traditional and conservative Protestant voters. However, through an examination of convention speeches, party platforms, and politician-clergy relations, this project attempts to explain the historical inability of the Democratic Party to connect meaningfully with a religious movement- even one seemingly tailor-made like the Social Gospel Movement.

What does socialism mean? This word carries many implications and in this thesis I consider how the concept of socialism was constructed within the discourses of classical Marxian economic and social theory. Socialism is understood to refer both to a general theory of historical and economic development as well as a particular post capitalist political economic system. One of the chief aims of this thesis is to examine the relationship between these two different levels of meaning of the word socialism. The classical Marxian discourse I analyze has three important levels or aspects which are combined in various ways to produce complex, though ultimately reductive, understandings of socialism. These are discourses of economic determinism, relative autonomy, and class analysis. How these modes of thought serve as the basis for policy, historical analysis and the construction of socialism as a political economic system is the principle topic of this thesis. I develop this thesis by examining three "moments" in the classical tradition: the work of the latter Engels, the period of the Second International, and Russian Marxism. Engels' work provides a basis for what follows as he subtly articulates the discourses of determinism, relative autonomy and class to produce a teleological vision of socialism. Later writers reproduce the tension created by the simultaneous use of the discourses of determinism and relative autonomy. The Second International, chiefly represented here by Karl Kautsky, use this classical conception to produce particular notions of socialist policy which I argue ultimately rely on a teleological notion of historical development. Later the Russian Marxists both extend and challenge the teleology and determinism of classical Marxian theory as they think about the nature of stages and the revolutionary transformation of societies. However, they frame what is innovative in their work within the boundaries bequeathed by Engels. In the final portion of this thesis I examine the consequences of the threads of the classical discourse on the construction of early "actually existing socialism" in the Soviet Union.

<p> The United States national strategy for Countering Violent Extremism is broadly written and currently does not provide the framework necessary to combat homegrown violent extremism and the foreign fighter phenomenon. The threat of foreign terrorist organizations targeting the United States through a 9/11-style attack has become overshadowed by the threat of homegrown violent extremists and lone-wolf attacks. The purpose of this thesis is to gain a comprehensive insight into how intervention is used within the context of a counter-terrorism preventative strategy. How can intervention be used to disengage radicalizing individuals whose expression of extremist ideology involves committing violent acts? Furthermore, it is anticipated that the most appropriate methods for applying such an intervention program, in the pre-criminal space, can be most successful through interagency collaboration and a Whole Community approach. Such a system leverages partnerships between local, state, and federal government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and community-driven initiatives. This paper analyzes specific case studies of socio-political landscapes, individuals who have radicalized to violent extremism, and intervention programs from Denmark, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The results of the analysis provide recommendations for implementing a nation-wide intervention program in the United States. </p>

<p> This dissertation examines two radically different political projects in Argentina as moments in a dynamic of revolution and counterrevolution. The short-lived, progressive Peronist government of 1973 sought to construct a more egalitarian and democratic society, addressing social inequalities while fomenting political mobilization. In response, the last and most violent military dictatorship (1976&ndash;1983) aimed at suppressing social antagonisms and the perceived excesses of mass democracy. In each case, education was a means to form citizens suitable to a specific conception of society. Therefore, each political project can be understood with special clarity through an examination of civic education and pedagogic reforms. The progressive Peronist government encouraged students to participate in exploring and addressing social inequalities to bring about social justice. The dictatorship was counterrevolutionary insofar as it put forth an ideological project without precedent in previous military regimes that aimed not simply at preserving the status quo ante but at founding a new society. In order to do so, it sought to eradicate &ldquo;subversion&rdquo; and to form spiritually minded, obedient, and individualistic citizens through a broad schooling reform. Based on both archival research and oral history, this dissertation sheds light on the political uses of education, on the Cold War dynamic of revolution and counterrevolution in Latin America, and on the centrality of social antagonisms for our understanding of authoritarianism. </p>