This thesis aims to highlight the problems with statutory employment protection available to workers when the employer imposes new qualification requirements in connection with the reorganization. The purpose of this thesis is also that from an intersectional perspective, examine the societal implications employers for new skill requirements, in the knowledge society. The methods used to fulfill the purpose of the essay is legal dogmatic. This has been applied in order to determine what is the law in relation to the new qualification requirements at the reorganization of the business. Furthermore has a sociological analysis applied to study the social implications employers new qualification requirements may be. This analysis has assumed an intersectional perspective of power. The conclusions that emerged through the essay indicates the law of today primarily protects workers with formal qualifications as university education or vocational training. Informal qualifications in terms of experience and length of employment is not as highly valued. Furthermore, it has been concluded that the strongest protection for workers in today's labor is itself being an active part in providing themselves with the skills and knowledge their current job seems to require. The impact of the new formal proficiency requirements may in society from an intersectional perspective are that it shapes new classes in society by those who lack the required qualifications tend to be marginalized from the labor market. Hardened seems the workers suffer who established themselves in the labor market at a time when traditional production professions and other less skilled occupations did not require training. Employers new qualification requirements may thus negative effects on many older workers but also other workers who lack the education and workers with different ethnicity. Changed qualification requirements may thus be justification for structural discrimination. Partly by qualification requirements in itself makes some people do not achieve the requirements, but also to the legislation today formally fair and neutral, which means that it does not take into account substantive injustice and people's different conditions to acclimatize to the new labor market qualification requirements.

This thesis examines the reconstruction of Lebanon following the war with Israel in the summer of 2006. Based on Stehr’s notion of the contemporary global economy (1994), the thesis offers a comprehensive account of how Lebanon used a global network to rebuild its infrastructure following the war and questions if the country is able to integrate fundamental elements of a knowledge-based society to participate in a worldwide economy and ensure future prosperity. Drawing on Luhmann’s social system’s theory (2002), the importance of shared objectives in collaborative projects and the recent importance of sustainable development theory in international relations, the thesis explores the communication practices used to organize this large-scale project. The study utilizes a qualitative research design with a macroscopic conceptual approach to offer a general understanding of the different systems that cooperate to aid in the reconstruction efforts. In-depth interviews are conducted with ten key informants, combined with the analysis of governmental reports, to identify significant investments offered by the international community and the different objectives of those involved in the project. A model illustrates the dynamics of these interactions, and helps to identify the areas most important to the country’s knowledge society. The protection of the country’s democratic system is identified as the overarching and shared objective of all those who contributed to the reconstruction of Lebanon, a value that is of great significance to a knowledge-based society.

This thesis examines the reconstruction of Lebanon following the war with Israel in the summer of 2006. Based on Stehr’s notion of the contemporary global economy (1994), the thesis offers a comprehensive account of how Lebanon used a global network to rebuild its infrastructure following the war and questions if the country is able to integrate fundamental elements of a knowledge-based society to participate in a worldwide economy and ensure future prosperity. Drawing on Luhmann’s social system’s theory (2002), the importance of shared objectives in collaborative projects and the recent importance of sustainable development theory in international relations, the thesis explores the communication practices used to organize this large-scale project. The study utilizes a qualitative research design with a macroscopic conceptual approach to offer a general understanding of the different systems that cooperate to aid in the reconstruction efforts. In-depth interviews are conducted with ten key informants, combined with the analysis of governmental reports, to identify significant investments offered by the international community and the different objectives of those involved in the project. A model illustrates the dynamics of these interactions, and helps to identify the areas most important to the country’s knowledge society. The protection of the country’s democratic system is identified as the overarching and shared objective of all those who contributed to the reconstruction of Lebanon, a value that is of great significance to a knowledge-based society.

Aquesta tesi estudia els aspectes econòmics de la interconnexió entre Ases, identifica desafiaments que amenacen el futur d'Internet i proposa solucions per resoldre'ls. Primerament vam realitzar el primer estudi analític i empíric sobre el peering remot, un tipus emergent d'interconnexió que relaxa les limitacions geogràfiques dels Ases i facilita interconnexions a un menor cost. Després vam presentar CIPT i T4P, dos nous tipus d'interconnexions que redueixen els costos d'interconnexió entre xarxes. Ja que algunes de les limitacions són inherents a la present arquitectura d'Internet, vam finalitzar la tesi proposant Route Bazaar, una nova arquitectura d'Internet que, inspirada en el mecanisme de block chain i les eines criptogràfiques típiques de les criptomonedas, proveeix un marc contractual per realitzar tipus d'interconnexions molt flexibles. / Internet es un ecosistema en continua evolución. Formado por una multitud de redes o Sistemas Autónomos (Ases), los acuerdos de interconexión son una pieza esencial de Internet, que permite que los usuarios finales disfruten de conectividad global. La vertiginosa adopción de Internet, el desmesurado crecimiento de su trafico y las crecientes demandas por una mayor calidad de servicio son un desafío que produce constantes conflictos sobre los acuerdos económicos entre las redes y cuestiona la capacidad de Internet para proveer servicios críticos. Esta tesis estudia los aspectos económicos de la interconexión entre Ases, identifica desafíos que amenazan el futuro de Internet y propone soluciones para resolverlos. Primeramente realizamos el primer estudio analítico y empírico sobre el peering remoto, un tipo emergente de interconexión que relaja las limitaciones geográficas de los Ases y facilita interconexiones a un menor coste. Después presentamos CIPT y T4P, dos nuevos tipos de interconexiones que reducen los costes de interconexión entre redes. Puesto que algunas de las limitaciones son inherentes a la presente arquitectura de Internet, finalizamos la tesis proponiendo Route Bazaar, una nueva arquitectura de Internet que, inspirada en el mecanismo de block chain y las herramientas criptográficas típicas de las criptomonedas, provee un marco contractual para realizar tipos de interconexiones muy flexibles. / The Internet is an evolving ecosystem where a multitude of interconnected networks, or Ases (Autonomous Systems), support global connectivity of end users. By providing economic incentives for routing traffic on behalf of other networks, interconnection agreements between ASes are a cornerstone of the Internet. However, rapid Internet adoption, unrelenting traffic growth, and increasing demands for quality and performance are challenging to cope with, provoke recurrent conflicts over the economic settlement of interconnections, and question the capacity of the Internet to provide critical services. This thesis studies the economic aspects of the interconnections between ASes, identifies challenges hampering the future of the Internet, and proposes solutions to resolve them. We begin by presenting the first analytical and empirical study on remote peering, an emerging type of interconnections that relaxes the geographical constraints of ASes and also facilitates interconnections at a lower cost. Then we introduce CIPT and T4P, two novel interconnection arrangements that reduce traffic delivery costs for the ASes. Because some of the limitations are inherent to the current Internet architecture we end this thesis presenting Route Bazaar, a new Internet architecture that, inspired by the use of the block chain mechanism and cryptographic tools in cryptocurrencies, provides a contractual framework for flexible interconnections with rich policies.

This thesis examines the reconstruction of Lebanon following the war with Israel in the summer of 2006. Based on Stehr’s notion of the contemporary global economy (1994), the thesis offers a comprehensive account of how Lebanon used a global network to rebuild its infrastructure following the war and questions if the country is able to integrate fundamental elements of a knowledge-based society to participate in a worldwide economy and ensure future prosperity. Drawing on Luhmann’s social system’s theory (2002), the importance of shared objectives in collaborative projects and the recent importance of sustainable development theory in international relations, the thesis explores the communication practices used to organize this large-scale project. The study utilizes a qualitative research design with a macroscopic conceptual approach to offer a general understanding of the different systems that cooperate to aid in the reconstruction efforts. In-depth interviews are conducted with ten key informants, combined with the analysis of governmental reports, to identify significant investments offered by the international community and the different objectives of those involved in the project. A model illustrates the dynamics of these interactions, and helps to identify the areas most important to the country’s knowledge society. The protection of the country’s democratic system is identified as the overarching and shared objective of all those who contributed to the reconstruction of Lebanon, a value that is of great significance to a knowledge-based society.

This thesis examines the reconstruction of Lebanon following the war with Israel in the summer of 2006. Based on Stehr’s notion of the contemporary global economy (1994), the thesis offers a comprehensive account of how Lebanon used a global network to rebuild its infrastructure following the war and questions if the country is able to integrate fundamental elements of a knowledge-based society to participate in a worldwide economy and ensure future prosperity. Drawing on Luhmann’s social system’s theory (2002), the importance of shared objectives in collaborative projects and the recent importance of sustainable development theory in international relations, the thesis explores the communication practices used to organize this large-scale project. The study utilizes a qualitative research design with a macroscopic conceptual approach to offer a general understanding of the different systems that cooperate to aid in the reconstruction efforts. In-depth interviews are conducted with ten key informants, combined with the analysis of governmental reports, to identify significant investments offered by the international community and the different objectives of those involved in the project. A model illustrates the dynamics of these interactions, and helps to identify the areas most important to the country’s knowledge society. The protection of the country’s democratic system is identified as the overarching and shared objective of all those who contributed to the reconstruction of Lebanon, a value that is of great significance to a knowledge-based society.

This thesis is an investigation into fundamental questions concerning the aims, purpose and goals of the university within the emerging 21st Century post-industrial, Knowledge Society (KS). Inquiries of this nature are often referred to as the 'idea' of the university and whilst a growing academic literature questions what an 'idea' for the institution may look like in light of the arguably unique context of the Knowledge Society, it has yet to be fully addressed. In order to do so, this thesis is methodologically framed by the sociological school of neo-institutionalism. This is a perspective within institutional theory which views institutions as not passive recipients of social values but able to dictate their own ideals upon society. The university in this view becomes a 'primary institution' capable to imprint its values upon the KS and thus giving it a prominent role in that society. In order to articulate an 'idea' of the university, the thesis begins with a critical review of the literature, specifically the manner in which university-KS relations are conceived. This concludes with a summative statement about such relations in the form of the 'problem of knowledge' i.e. an attitude which increasingly reduces knowledge in the university to means-end and economic propositions. An alternative conceptualisation is proposed which offers an optimistic approach to the university in the KS, one conceived through presumptions by the neo-institutionalist school and coined 'Knowledge Plasticity'. As there are no formal methods for creating an 'idea', the second part of the thesis undertakes an extensive review of seminal works in the field revealing three conditions to which such proposals generally conform. Taken together, these conditions serve as the methodological frame for creating an 'idea' for the university. The first of these, contextual clarity, having been achieved through the literature review, moves to the second condition, theoretical development, and entails an exploration of Knowledge Plasticity. This investigation reveals a 'tension of imbalance' within this concept which the 'idea' of the university must resolve, this being the final condition of the 'idea'. In order to do this, the 'University of Imagination' is identified as the 'idea' whose purpose is to bring about dynamic balance within the institution. Finally, the proposed University of Imagination is compared with the classical Liberal university suggesting a more effective means for the liberal 'idea' to become realised in the KS namely, through engaging with the former. As a philosophical contribution to the literature, the University of Imagination encourages us to be optimistic and emboldened by the project of education and offers a path to navigate the challenges and uncertainties facing the university in the 21st Century.

This research project investigates the implementation of a learning community approach in two rural Australian communities with a particular focus on the initiatives of a primary school in each community. Case study research describes and analyses the developments in each community and a cross case analysis examines similarities and differences in approach and outcomes.

La tesi sosté que les empreses privades que presten serveis de connectivitat constitueixen actors cada vegada més influents en la migració contemporània. Per això analitza els discursos comercials dels proveïdors de telefonia mòbil i serveis de transferència de diners a Espanya, i els contrasta amb les experiències d'equatorians i marroquins que viuen a Catalunya i usen aquests serveis per mantenir-se en contacte amb les seves xarxes personals, tant en les societats d'origen com de destinació. El disseny de la recerca combina els Estudis Culturals i els Estudis Crítics del Discurs per analitzar els testimoniatges dels migrants així com els discursos comercials a través de la publicitat i d'entrevistes amb responsables de les empreses. D'una banda, les conclusions van mostrar els mecanismes mitjançant els quals els discursos corporatius han mercantilizat i estetizat les experiències de connectivitat dels migrants. D'altra banda, es va evidenciar un paper actiu dels migrants com a agents de les seves estratègies de connectivitat, apropiant-se dels serveis oferts i creant estratègies de baix cost per convertir limitacions en oportunitats, en moments de creixent mobilitat, connectivitat digital i la consolidació d'una economia de serveis. / La tesis sostiene que las empresas privadas que prestan servicios de conectividad constituyen actores cada vez más influyentes en la migración contemporánea. Por ello analiza los discursos comerciales de los proveedores de telefonía móvil y servicios de transferencia de dinero en España, y los contrasta con las experiencias de ecuatorianos y marroquíes que viven en Cataluña y usan estos servicios para mantenerse en contacto con sus redes personales, tanto en las sociedades de origen como de destino. El diseño de la investigación combina los Estudios Culturales y los Estudios Críticos del Discurso para analizar los testimonios de los migrantes así como los discursos comerciales a través de la publicidad y de entrevistas con responsables de las empresas. Por un lado, las conclusiones mostraron los mecanismos mediante los cuales los discursos corporativos han mercantilizado y estetizado las experiencias de conectividad de los migrantes. Por otro lado, se evidenció un papel activo de los migrantes como agentes de sus estrategias de conectividad, apropiándose de los servicios ofrecidos y creando estrategias de bajo costo para convertir limitaciones en oportunidades, en momentos de creciente movilidad, conectividad digital y la consolidación de una economía de servicios. / The thesis argues that private enterprises providing connectivity services are increasingly becoming influential actors in contemporary migration. It focuses on the commercial discourses of providers of mobile phone and money transfer services in Spain, contrasting them with Ecuadorian and Moroccan migrant users’ experiences of connectivity to keep in touch with their personal networks in both origin and destination societies. The research design combined Cultural Studies and Critical Discourse Studies to look at migrants’ accounts as well as service providers’ first-hand accounts and commercial advertising texts. On the one hand, the conclusions showed the mechanisms through which corporate discourses have commodified and aestheticized migrants’ experiences of connectivity. On the other hand, they evidenced migrants’ active roles as agents of their connectivity strategies, appropriating the services offered, creating low-cost strategies that turn constraints into opportunities, in times of increasing mobility, digital connectivity and the consolidation of a service based economy.

A presente tese tem como objetivo específico a análise do atual discurso de legitimação da educação a distância via internet. Ante a expansão dos cursos on-line em nosso país, frequentemente esse fenômeno é caracterizado como um processo de democratização do ensino. No entanto, a imputação do adjetivo democratizante envolve não apenas a constatação do aumento de acesso proporcionado por esse meio, mas também lhe atribui uma qualidade moral. Ou seja, a proposição que afirma que o aumento de oferta de vagas promovido por essa modalidade constitui-se como um processo de democratização não se limita à expressão de um juízo factual, mas se apresenta como um juízo moral positivo, porquanto ser democrático constitua-se como um valor em nossa atualidade. Assim, mais do que adjudicar se esse processo é ou não um tipo de democratização posto que, para isso, fosse necessária certa concepção anterior de democracia que possibilitasse essa adjudicação , investigam-se, nesta tese, os elementos que sustentam essa proposição. Para tanto, verifica-se o que pode ser entendido como democratizante em dois sentidos: o quantitativo e o qualitativo. Com relação a este último, é analisado o contexto histórico e social a partir do qual a educação a distância via internet vem sendo considerada, em documentos oficiais brasileiros, como o novo paradigma educacional. Hoje, tal contexto recebe o nome genérico de Sociedade do Conhecimento, um construto conceitual que cada vez mais se expande e cria normatividades para os processos educativos quando o aprender por toda a vida converte-se no imperativo de um tempo em que o conhecimento é elevado à categoria de principal força produtiva. Porém, por seu turno, a denominada Sociedade do Conhecimento, que tem a educação a distância via internet como sua mais concreta manifestação, apresenta-se como a promessa de um futuro mundo melhor, onde os homens esclarecidos e criativos poderão conviver democraticamente na ágora tecnológica constituída a partir do desenvolvimento das novas tecnologias telemáticas. Dessa maneira, a Sociedade do Conhecimento apresenta-se como a nova utopia de nossos tempos. A partir da análise da afirmação de que o fenômeno da educação a distância via internet seja uma forma de democratização, são investigadas as relações entre educação, democracia e tecnologia na atualidade. / This study specifically aims to analyze the current efforts for the legitimization of elearning. Given the expansion of online learning programs in our country, this phenomenon is often characterized as a process of democratization of education. However, the imputation of the adjective \"democratizing\" involves not only an indication of the increased access provided by this means of learning, but also assigns it a moral quality. In other words, the proposition that states the increase in vacancies promoted by this learning method was established as a process of democratization is not restricted to the expression of a factual judgment, but is presented as a positive moral judgment, since \"being democratic\" is constituted as a value in our present time. Thus, in addition to adjudicating whether or not this process is a type of democratization - since that would require some previous conception of democracy that would enable such adjudication - this study investigates which elements support this proposition. For this purpose, we investigated what can be understood as democratizing in two senses: quantitatively and qualitatively. With regard to the latter, we considered the historical and social context from which e-learning has been considered in Brazilian official documents as \"a new educational paradigm\". Today, such context is generally known as \"Knowledge Society\" - a conceptual construct that increasingly expands and creates standards to educational processes whereas the \"learning for life\" concept is converted into the imperative of an age where knowledge is regarded as the major productive force. However, in turn, the so-called Knowledge Society, which has as its most concrete manifestation the e-learning, presents itself as the promise of a better world in the future, where instructed and creative men will be able to live democratically in the technological agora , raised from the development of new telematics technologies. Thus, the Knowledge Society presents itself as the new utopia of our times. Based on the analysis of the claim that the phenomenon of e-learning is a form of democratization, this study investigates the relationship between education, democracy and technology at the present time.