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The aim of this research is to expand the framework of contemporary conflict resolution by constructing a complementary relationship between Western epistemologies and a Buddhist epistemology. Despite its evolution and development through self-reflexivity and self-critique, contemporary conflict resolution established upon Western epistemologies has confined the understanding of human mind to social/cultural orientations and left a comprehensive and qualitative analysis of the potential of individual human mind underdeveloped. Buddhist epistemology, the central theme of which is to address human suffering that is mainly psychological and subjective, makes a critical analysis of human subjectivity in terms of how it can be become a root cause of suffering including conflict and how it can be addressed by gaining an insight into the social/cultural construction of human subjectivity. The argument of the thesis is that when a socially/culturally-oriented view of human mind and a deeper and more profound view of human mind are combined together, we can engage in a qualitatively richer and deeper analysis of the psychological and subjective dynamics of conflict resolution.

Why do students choose to study particular courses and what is the impact of these choices on their later progression? Quite often the reason for the choice appears to be obvious and straightforward, and their after course trajectory is already determined. The education system has, what some may view as an easy to follow progression route when students reach the end of Key Stage 4, i.e. GCSE to A level, and then university for those who meet the criteria. With A levels considered by many to be the 'gold standard', there is probably no expectation by schools, parents and students that they will do anything else. But what about those who may not meet the criteria and A levels may not be the most appropriate progression route for them? This thesis examines the factors that influence the choices made by students who have decided to study a course other than A level. This is done through longitudinal case studies derived from the use of questionnaires, focus groups and individual interviews using BTEC L3 Science as a vehicle. Four educational establishments agreed to participate in the research to varying degrees, with one establishment providing the participants who provided the case studies. Many previous studies that have investigated student choice have often done so from either the perspective of structural factors or individual agency, but not usually both. Hemsley-Brown and Fosketts' 2001 Integrated Model of Educational Choice has been used to provide a theoretical framework as it allows consideration of both structural factors and individual agency. The model was used at two different points in the research, but in a different way at each point. The result was a series of individual stories that gave an insight into the factors that influence student choice and also how the balance of power in the decision making process shifted in favour of the student as they progressed through the course. At the start of the course structural factors such as the systems that exist within education had a significant role in the choice of course for the students, to the point where it was effectively a 'non-choice' for them. By the end of the course individual agency played a significant role and the students were able to adapt and make the systems work for them to enable them to make the best possible choices to meet their own needs.

Current political research on peace negotiations is fundamentally incomplete because it lacks the capacity to explain individual intents, choices and actions. This dissertation asks what impact individual negotiators, their approaches and choices of tactics have on peace talks and their outcomes. Individual people—be they representatives of rebel groups, non-governmental organisations or states—negotiate peace agreements. Consequently, an examination of individual motivations and actions in negotiations yields important knowledge. A fuller understanding of political negotiations, negotiators, and their tactics in Sierra Leone and Liberia is facilitated through a multidisciplinary consideration of the psychology, law and management studies literatures that consider individual motivations, biases, and behaviours. Based on extensive field research in Sierra Leone and Liberia, including numerous interviews with key players, I argue that individuals and their specific approaches and tactics influenced and altered the course of these peace negotiations, as well as their outcomes. Negotiators engaged in peace talks with underlying approaches (such as competitive, collaborative and cooperative styles) and then came to use various tactics (including shifting goalposts, hardball, silence, and bad faith), many of which were influenced by their innate biases and frames. Exploring these individuals’ conduct gives us previously unexplored insight into peace processes.

The aim of this research is to expand the framework of contemporary conflict resolution by constructing a complementary relationship between Western epistemologies and a Buddhist epistemology. Despite its evolution and development through self-reflexivity and self-critique, contemporary conflict resolution established upon Western epistemologies has confined the understanding of human mind to social/cultural orientations and left a comprehensive and qualitative analysis of the potential of individual human mind underdeveloped. Buddhist epistemology, the central theme of which is to address human suffering that is mainly psychological and subjective, makes a critical analysis of human subjectivity in terms of how it can be become a root cause of suffering including conflict and how it can be addressed by gaining an insight into the social/cultural construction of human subjectivity. The argument of the thesis is that when a socially/culturally-oriented view of human mind and a deeper and more profound view of human mind are combined together, we can engage in a qualitatively richer and deeper analysis of the psychological and subjective dynamics of conflict resolution.

Est-il possible ou même souhaitable d’empêcher qu’un justiciable choisisse un cadre juridique le plus favorable possible à ses intérêts ? Le droit encadre et limite la volonté individuelle dans des domaines où des intérêts collectifs doivent primer ; l’internationalité d’un rapport relativise, toutefois, ces limites, et ouvre aux justiciables une multitude de possibilités pour le développement d’un cadre juridique sur mesure. Le droit international privé répond aux difficultés propres à l’internationalité du rapport, mais la complexité de certaines situations défie les limites des mécanismes mis à disposition par cette discipline. En effet, le contrôle du choix individuel est rendu plus difficile par l’exploitation, par les acteurs privés, non seulement du contenu variable des règles applicables à un certain rapport, mais des corps de règles accessoires au rapport principal, dans un monde juridiquement hétérogène. L’exercice stratégique de la volonté consiste dans la manipulation du cadre juridique par un justiciable en vue d’écarter l’application d’une loi moins favorable à ses intérêts que celle qu’il est en mesure de lui substituer. En soumettant sa situation à un cadre juridique de son choix, le justiciable l’écarte du champ de vision de l’ordre juridique de départ, qui ne reverra la situation qu’au moment de décider sur ses effets. La nouvelle solution développée par le justiciable risque également de n’avoir pas été anticipée et réglementée par l’ordre juridique d’accueil, ou par un quelconque ordre juridique appelé à émettre une décision en rapport avec la situation. Les intérêts en présence ne sont ainsi pas complètement considérés et mis en balance. Comme un espace qui échappe à la vision d’un observateur, certains aspects de la situation se trouveront donc dans un angle mort, phénomène que cette thèse aura pour objectif de décrire pour ensuite envisager le traitement. / It is practically impossible to prevent individuals from choosing the legal framework that would best fit their expectations. Law regulates and limits individual will in contexts in which collective interests, as it understands them, should prevail; the international aspect of a situation relativizes, however, these limits, and offers multiple possibilities for individuals to develop a tailor-made framework for their own relationship. Private international law addresses the difficulties arising from the international aspects of a situation, but the complexity of some cases challenges the limits of the discipline’s mechanisms. Controlling the effects of individual choices becomes more difficult when not only the different content of rules from a country to another is explored, but individual strategy extends also to neighbouring regimes, in a normatively heterogeneous world. The strategic exercise of will consists in the manipulation of the regulatory framework by an individual aiming at excluding the application of a norm which does not satisfy their purpose. The submission of the situation to a chosen legal framework diverts it from the field of vision of the initial legal order, which will not see the situation again unless it is called to decide upon its effects. The new solution developed by the individual risks being not fully anticipated and regulated by the receiving legal order, or by any legal order that will have to decide on matters related to the main situation. Thus, in these conditions, the different interests at stake are not fully considered and balanced. As a space that escapes from an observer’s eyesight, some aspects of the situations are in a blind spot, phenomenon whose description and treatment are at the centre of this thesis.

This research project sought to find out more about how clergy experience preparing to move jobs in the Church of England. This is important and timely for several reasons. First, there has been limited theoretical and empirical attention paid to the process and tasks of preparing for a career transition. Second, clergy are contemplating job moves in a dynamic institutional context which is affecting how they perceive and construct their future career trajectory. Third, I set out to investigate clergy as members of a workforce facing some of the same issues and concerns as those in other occupations rather than viewing them as being in any way special by virtue of their ordained status. The study is framed by career theories which attend to transition, turnover and the determinants and antecedents of career and job mobility. A total of 31 clergy from three Church of England dioceses were interviewed as part of a qualitative study. A social constructivist method was adopted and thematic analysis applied to the data with attention being paid to the reflexive research process. The findings indicate that a religious context is an important site for enhancing our understanding of the complex relationship between individual agency, structural constraints and the antecedents to preparing to move jobs. Following structural changes to how clergy are recruited, selected and appointed to posts participants are found to be experiencing cognitive dissonance as they anticipate a move. This is explained by a shift in the delegation of authority to individual clergy and the erosion of strategic ambiguity as a mode of communication between different parties. These are changes which undermine value systems rooted in history, tradition, custom and practice and calling which clergy rate highly. The study identifies facets of calling and vocation which clergy correlate with preparing to move jobs rather than an original call to ministry.

This case study examines the factors that shaped the identity and landscape of a small island-urban-village between the north and south forks of the Middle River and north of an urban area in Broward County, Florida. The purpose of the study is to understand how Wilton Manors was transformed from a “whites only” enclave to the contemporary upscale, diverse, and third gayest city in the U.S. by positing that a dichotomy for urban places exists between their exchange value as seen by Logan and Molotch and the use value produced through everyday activity according to Lefebvre. Qualitative methods were used to gather evidence for reaching conclusions about the relationship among the worldview of residents, the tension between exchange value and use value in the restructuration of the city, and the transformation of Wilton Manors at the end of the 1990s. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 contemporary participants. In addition, thirteen taped CDs of selected members of founding families, previously taped in the 1970s, were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. My findings indicate that Wilton Manors’ residents share a common worldview which incorporates social inclusion as a use value, and individual agency in the community. This shared worldview can be traced to selected city pioneers whose civic mindedness helped shape city identity and laid the foundation for future restructuration. Currently, residents’ quality of life reflected in the city’s use value is more significant than exchange value as a primary force in the decisions that are made about the city’s development. With innovative ideas, buildings emulating the new urban mixed-use design, and a reputation as the third gayest city in the United States, Wilton Manors reflects a worldview where residents protect use value as primary over market value in the decisions they make that shape their city but not without contestation.

The higher education system has undergone considerable change in the past fifty years. Increasing the number of students enrolled in university has been a focus of these changes. Despite the governments’ attempts in reducing the social class gap, there exist very large differences in those applying for r higher education. It seems despite the large socio-economic gap and the elitist image of attending university, UK government policies have not provided suitable support to reduce this gap. The level of concern over this subject has varied across different governments which could possibly have effects on young people’s transition from school across the different social classes. This thesis will address the difference between the New Labour and the Coalition governments’ level of attention to the issue of working class under-representation in universities and the policies they have developed to tackle it. It then investigates the effects of selected schemes designed to widen participation and explains how and why they are assumed to contribute to the reduction of the class gap in higher education participation. This study uses the dataset Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) to explore the relationship between attending widening access schemes and the likelihood of attending university during the New Labour office term. In doing so, and due to the shortage of direct measurements of state-funded widening participation programs, the analysis in this research uses school engagement activities as proxies. Additionally to provide an intergenerational comparison, given the differences in both data and policy environment, this research analyses the British Cohort Study 1970 data in order to provide further insights regarding the effectiveness of the then school engagement activities on university attendance. In other words, can the activities used to widen participation then provide greater insight into the kinds of programmes that might be effective in raising working class university participation? In turn this analysis provides the basis for an in-depth policy discussion of the issue.