<p>The study focuses on the political and economic geographies of pharmaceutical delivery. In 1997 the South African government passed the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act, sparking outrage from both the local and international pharmaceutical industry, and resulting in court action in 2001. The industry believed that South Africa was in breach of its obligations under international intellectual property law. Those fighting for pharmaceutical security hoped the court case would be a &lsquo / landmark&rsquo / in the global campaign for equitable access to medicines. This investigation seeks to analyse the domestic and international legacy of the court action. The inquiry takes its significance from the high prevalence rates of treatable diseases and the need for pharmaceutical security in South Africa and its neighbouring African countries. The absence of a sustainable international medicines delivery system is a global political, economic and moral failure. A solution is required that balances the positive productive forces of the market with a philosophy of justice and equity.</p>

This research project explores the rise of Chinese cross-border finance. Cross-border investment programmes have been at the heart of China's financial liberalisation. Yet, we know little about what drives the expansion of these new market entry channels and the effects they have on global finance. This thesis explores the role that formal and informal institutions play in China's financial system, by addressing three main research goals: (1) to rethink analytical frameworks of global financial networks, by shifting the focus to channels of state power; (2) to investigate how such formal institutions shape competitive hierarchies in financial markets, both inside and outside of China; (3) to demonstrate that informal institutions such as a common cultural identity are equally important to explain behaviour and outcomes in Chinese cross-border finance. The thesis pursues this agenda through four substantive papers, each with its own subset of research goals and findings. The papers follow a three-fold structure. The thesis begins with an analytical focus on agents (micro-level), by examining the evolution of state-firm relations in Chinese cross-border finance. The first paper develops a politically sensitive framework of global financial networks, which conceptualises how bargaining dynamics within China's party-state shape competitive hierarchies in Chinese capital markets. Drawing on these theoretical insights, the second paper breaks new empirical ground, by explaining the asymmetrical nature of market access criteria for foreign investors. The third paper zooms out on the global consequences that Chinese state control has for money centres (macro-level). It sheds light on how state-firm relations shaped London's development as the first Western offshore trading centre for Chinese currency. The fourth paper shifts the attention to the role of informal social institutions in Chinese equity markets. It presents the first empirical study of how a common cultural identity with Mainland China governs the behaviour of different investor categories (group-level). The thesis distils the following findings: Bargaining conflicts inside the Chinese party-state have a decisive impact on competitive outcomes and behaviour in Chinese cross-border finance, both domestically and globally. Strategic state interests form an interdependent relationship with the resources supplied by foreign investors and domestic corporate players. Domestically, these resource interdependencies explain the asymmetrical nature of market access under China's cross-border investment schemes. Globally, the shift in state-firm bargaining dynamics from strategic alignment to an increasing bifurcation of interests explains the patchy integration of RMB finance into London's financial architectures. Informal social institutions equally shape competitive outcomes in China's capital markets. Whilst the literature identifies shared cultural identity as a source of local information advantage, this thesis finds the opposite: A common cultural background with national Chinese investors reduces information asymmetries for foreign investors but it does not equate to local information advantages. Overall, the four substantive papers add up to a multifaceted yet integrated perspective on the drivers, dynamics and consequences of Chinese cross-border finance. They clarify that the intersection of formal state governance and informal social forces is essential for understanding how the spread of neoliberal market forces unfolds across Chinese capital markets. This thesis thus affirms that space and place remain central to our understanding of financial market outcomes.

In sub-Saharan African countries that have made democratic transition from military rule and military-backed authoritarian regimes, state elites have embarked upon strategies aimed at demilitarising the new democratic political process. Demilitarisation of the state and politics has become an imperative because it is decisive for consolidating democratic politics and for ensuring improvements in public safety and security. Yet the process of such demilitarisation in these countries has often generated a paradox, whereby the reduction of the political influence of state institutions of violence has been associatedw ith rising civil militarism and the prevalenceo f organised violence in the wider society. In these circumstances, taking cognisance of the dangers of civil militarism and other forms of private violence is a priority for designing and implementing demilitarisation strategies and other security reforms in post-authoritarian African states. Reformminded political elites and external supporters need to be sensitive to these dangers or risk perpetuating the shell of electoral democracy that cannot deliver the goal of human security in the region. This dissertation explored how the current approach to demilitarisation is related to the problem of civil militarism by examining the case studies of Nigeria and South Africa. It explains that given the condition of the state in Africa, demilitarisation of politics after transition from military or military-backed authoritarianism contributes to the emergence of civil militarism. Based on this finding, it argues for a comprehensive approach to demilitarisation as a strategy that caters to both state and societal violence in order to mitigate the risks of civil militarism in the process.

In sub-Saharan African countries that have made democratic transition from military rule and military-backed authoritarian regimes, state elites have embarked upon strategies aimed at demilitarising the new democratic political process. Demilitarisation of the state and politics has become an imperative because it is decisive for consolidating democratic politics and for ensuring improvements in public safety and security. Yet the process of such demilitarisation in these countries has often generated a paradox, whereby the reduction of the political influence of state institutions of violence has been associatedw ith rising civil militarism and the prevalenceo f organised violence in the wider society. In these circumstances, taking cognisance of the dangers of civil militarism and other forms of private violence is a priority for designing and implementing demilitarisation strategies and other security reforms in post-authoritarian African states. Reformminded political elites and external supporters need to be sensitive to these dangers or risk perpetuating the shell of electoral democracy that cannot deliver the goal of human security in the region. This dissertation explored how the current approach to demilitarisation is related to the problem of civil militarism by examining the case studies of Nigeria and South Africa. It explains that given the condition of the state in Africa, demilitarisation of politics after transition from military or military-backed authoritarianism contributes to the emergence of civil militarism. Based on this finding, it argues for a comprehensive approach to demilitarisation as a strategy that caters to both state and societal violence in order to mitigate the risks of civil militarism in the process.

Magister Artium - MA / The study focuses on the political and economic geographies of pharmaceutical delivery. In 1997 the South African government passed the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act, sparking outrage from both the local and international pharmaceutical industry, and resulting in court action in 2001. The industry believed that South Africa was in breach of its obligations under international intellectual property law. Those fighting for pharmaceutical security hoped the court case would be a 'landmark' in the global campaign for equitable access to medicines. This investigation seeks to analyse the domestic and international legacy of the court action. The inquiry takes its significance from the high prevalence rates of treatable diseases and the need for pharmaceutical security in South Africa and its neighbouring African countries. The absence of a sustainable international medicines delivery system is a global political, economic and moral failure. A solution is required that balances the positive productive forces of the market with a philosophy of justice and equity. / South Africa

The growing relationships that have been created through regional cooperation in the Caribbean, especially through the Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom), have produced greater economic prowess for the Caribbean basin region and overtime will demonstrate the viability of further integration within a regional organization which will in turn aid in the development of the entire region. This paper is a study of the role and scope of the Caricom, a regional integration project that was undertaken by many of the Caribbean mini-states in the early 1960s. The Caricom member states have pursued integration in order to create further independent development, especially after many of the member states achieved independence from colonialism. To create a greater understanding the integration of the Caricom states integration theory and the history of the Caribbean and Caricom will be introduced. Reasons for a need for further integration based on current issues of scarcity in Cuba as well as prospects of further integrating with the island of Cuba into Caricom are also explained. Caricom does still encounter many issues and the way to solve most of the problems will be by creating a wider and deeper organization that can more appropriately aid in the overall development of a more complete regional identity.

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No description available.

yes / International tourism is now the predominant industry driving growth in many small island developing states (SIDS). Governments of small islands in the Indian Ocean, Caribbean and Pacific have seemingly put most of their eggs into one development basket – the all-inclusive holiday in a luxury hotel, resort or cruise ship. While this industry generates employment, foreign direct investment, and income for island governments and the private sector, it also brings with it dependencies which are borne from the transnational ownership of these all-inclusive accommodations, the risks from exogenous factors – many of which are tied to the wider security of the global system – as well as the domestic economies in the source markets in Europe and North America. We reflect upon these dependencies and risks through a case study of the Seychelles based on fieldwork research conducted in 2012. Our findings highlight that the international tourism industry in the Seychelles – even in a situation of high or growing demand – creates structurally driven precarity for tourism workers who are predominantly low paid, low-skilled, and increasingly recruited from overseas. These findings provide new evidence that contributes to the growing research into tourism in IPE. Our findings highlight the precarious condition of labour in this fast growing service sector of the world economy and in so doing also adds much needed empirical insights from the South to recent debates about an emerging precariat in contemporary capitalism.

For the European Union (EU), the field of trade policy is a main field in which the EU can assert its actorness and build its identity as an international actor. This "superpower" potential arises out of the EU's extensive resource equipment in trade policy and is driven forward by the EU's significant economic interests. To what extent, however, the EU has been able to use its resources to shape the rules of the international trade regime according to its own preferences has remained questionable. This thesis investigates the question of the EU's impact on and power utilisation in the international trade regime by analysing the EU's changing involvement in World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations. Drawing from the theoretical concepts of the "international regime" and "power", the thesis proposes an approach centred on the possession, mobilisation and impact of actors' power in international regimes. In particular, the thesis proposes a framework centred on five key elements: specification of the regime, its qualities and focus; the resources or 'underlying power' that actors bring to the regime; the resources derived by actors from the operation of the regime itself, or 'organisationally dependent capabilities'; the manifestation or deployment of resources and strategies by actors in negotiations; and outcomes defined in terms of actors' power over the regime itself. After an examination of the broad context of the WTO's development and the EU's involvement in the international trade regime, this framework is then explored through a detailed study of the EU's involvement in the negotiations over trade in services that took place in the WTO between 1995 and 2005, using evidence from a wide range of documentary sources and from interviews. On the basis of this exploration of trade in services, the thesis finds that despite the EU's outstanding resources, the WTO negotiations have become too complex for the EU to decisively influence them due to a power shift in the international trade regime. The special nature of the trade in services negotiations makes these particularly unmanageable and they do not seem to present the EU with a setting for achieving its preferences. A lack of cooperation among the WTO members in favour of the negotiations has made progress in the negotiations very hard to realise for the EU. At the same time, the erosion of the EU's resources by the shifting attitude in civil society towards trade policy, and an apparent Jack of business support, has increased the challenge for the EU of managing the international trade regime. Questions are therefore raised about the extent to which the EU has responded to change, mobilised its resources effectively and had a consistent impact on the international trade regime since the mid-1990s.