Masteropgave. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Masteropgave. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Bottom sediment is an archive of the historical changes in a lake and its catchment. This thesis is apalaeoenvironmental reconstruction of catchment processes in Bolgoda Lake situated in western SriLanka. We studied a sediment core retrieved from this lake. In our study, we focus on multiplephysical and chemical proxies: grain-size, loss-on-ignition, total organic carbon content, C:N ratio,and δ13C stored in the organic matter. The aim of this study is to contribute to a better understandingof the palaeoenvironmental conditions in the region and allow a comparison between this site andothers.In the deepest part of the core, we see an overall high sand content, which indicates a period ofhigher discharge into the lake compared to what the other core parts indicate. This is probably aresult of higher precipitation. This is followed by a decline in C:N and a rise in TOC in the second partwhich indicates an increase of primary production in the lake. In the third part we again see a shift inthe C:N indicating a source change back to more terrestrial runoff. The increase in TOC and LOIvalues together with decrease in C:N ratio and a steady increase in δ13C indicate an increase inlacustrine productivity in the upper part of the core.By reconstructing the palaeoenvironmental history in Bolgoda Lake we can conclude that it isprobable that some other factor than diagenetic change affects the lake. Our results indicate thatthese changes most likely are due to more wet periods and anthropogenic activity, mainly throughland use changes.

Aim The burden of cervical cancer in Sri Lanka is high and research is limited. The objective was to describe the knowledge of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), cervical cancer and its cytological screening, as well as worry of HPV and attitudes towards and practices of screening among undergraduate students at Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Mihintale. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in January 2015 at Rajarata University, using a self-administrated questionnaire containing socio-demographics, knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP). Male and female undergraduates, 18-30 years, were eligible. Knowledge was assessed by a numerical sum score ranging from 0 to 13, with 13 as maximum. Analyses were performed using ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results 326 students answered the questionnaire that revealed limited knowledge on cervical cancer, HPV and screening, with a mean score of 5.34 (SD 3.33). Knowledge was higher among older, medical students in the fifth year, however there was a high correlation between these variables. Knowledge was lower among management students. Most students were uncertain about the questions in the attitude section. A majority of students would be worried if they got infected with HPV. Screening practices were low (0.45 %). Approximately half of the women would consider cytological screening in the future. Conclusion The limited knowledge, low screening practices and high worry imply a need for information and awareness programs. Further research is needed in order to fully understand the delicacy of this public health threat for Sri Lankan women.

This thesis examines the implementation of Community Corporate Responsibility (CCR) practices among ten subsidiaries of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) in Sri Lanka and the different factors which influence such implementation. Within this context, it specifically focuses on examining the internal factors residing within the MNC as an organisation and those factors which exist outside in the institutional environment of the host country. The study combines three broad theoretical domains: Corporate Responsibility implementation literature, International Business Strategy literature and Neo-Institutional theory. It uses a qualitative research methodology based upon the interview method. Qualitative interview data collected through sixty-two in-depth interviews with managers of the ten subsidiaries and key institutional actors in the host country were analysed using descriptive coding, interpretive coding and conceptualisation to arrive at the findings. The findings showed that non-specialist functional departments were mainly responsible for implementing CCR practices, indicating a lack of strategic and structural integration of CCR practices. The findings reinforces the dominant role of the MNC headquarters in implementing CCR practices within subsidiaries operating in a developing country, indicating that 'power' relationships between subsidiary and parent is an important denominator in internal organisational practices implementation. Furthermore, dynamic and complex relationships were found between the subsidiaries and the Sri Lankan government and other institutional actors indicating the existence of a strategic approach towards legitimisation by iii subsidiaries, using CCR practices. Based upon these findings, this research proposes the need to conduct future studies across different MNCs and their subsidiaries located in multiple developing countries to further examine the implementation of CCR practices as it would enable public policy makers and business managers to better influence the global CSR of MNCs.

Seeking to widen the existing literature on postcolonial cities, this thesis conducts an inquiry into the multilocality of postcolonial space. Through ethnographic research in Sri Lanka’s Galle Fort, it investigates how different social groups differently use and interpret the city’s former colonial built environment. Specifically, it examines how the postcolonial city is socially produced and constructed as a place of home for local communities, a World Heritage Site, and a gentrifying neighborhood. Using interviews, observations, and spatial analyses, it teases out the local, national, and transnational socio-economic forces that drive these processes, as well as the power-dynamics and resistances that come into play. It finds that postcolonial uses of space often relate to, and sometimes recall, social struggles that characterized urban space under colonialism. Drawing on these findings, it highlights the importance of studying social relations, heritage management, and gentrification in postcolonial cities in conversation with literatures on colonial urbanisms.

My dissertation discusses refugee rights and post-repatriation integration in South Asia in the context of debates over "citizenship." Postcolonial state-formation processes in South Asia have profoundly shaped questions of belonging and membership. As a result, official citizenship has become an important marker of group inclusion and exclusion in South Asian states. Using the literature on citizenship, I discuss the "belonging" claims of non-citizens (refugees) and argue that in practice this "belonging" extends beyond the state-centric "citizenship" view of membership. In doing so, I address two sets of interrelated questions: what factors determine whether or not refugees will be repatriated in South Asia, and why do some repatriated groups re-integrate more successfully than others in "post-peace" South Asian states? I answer these questions through a study of refugees from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh who sought asylum in India and were later repatriated to their countries of origin. The politics of postcolonial state-formation and subsequent discriminatory policies on language in Sri Lanka and non-recognition of the Jumma people in Bangladesh encouraged many citizens to flee to India as refugees. I argue, first, that India's state-centric politics of non-recognition of the two refugee groups contributed to their later repatriation. In the absence of rights and status in exile, refugees turned to "home" as a place to belong. I then analyze the post-repatriation variations in accommodation in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as most refugees attempted to reclaim the lost identity and "citizenship" at "home" through the process of repatriation. However these countries pursued strategies of limited accommodation, which led to the minimal or partial re-integration of the two returnee-refugee groups.

Following López, I claim that although any sound can be music, not all sound is music. Soundscape composition begins when a soundscape prompts the composer to engage musically with it. How this engagement manifests is influenced by composers’ differing philosophical, practical and aesthetic positions. These are explained in Part I and provide the basis to my analysis of soundscape composition. Part II focuses on how my soundscape composition manifests (in ways prescriptive, spontaneous and retrospective), how it is explored both temporally and spatially and how the listening subject and the acoustic agent are inextricably linked. Within the developmental phases of context, field work and editing, my first compositional approach, through which my works can be identified, is defined in three ways: as hyper-real (in which particular acoustic elements are exaggerated, distorted or re-combined); as soundwalks (in which the microphone is moved through space) and as improvisational intervention (using musical instruments to acoustically illuminate the space being recorded). My second compositional approach presents the perception of sound as micro, macro and ambient. My third approach, which is at the heart of all my soundscape composition, uses the microphone as a musical instrument in its own right. In all approaches, serendipity and my own acoustic presence are embraced. Diffusion of my work is intended to engage the listener in creative contemplation of soundscapes, any other perceived agendas such as documentation being incidental.

ICT4D, here defined as the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in developing regions, can be seen as one of the most powerful and cost efficient ways to improve the standard of living in the developing world. Many regions in Asia have shown a rapid but heterogeneous development where information technology had a drastic impact on development but often with the problems related to ICT4D 1.0: lack of sustainability and lack of scalability. This study analysed the Sri Lankan infrastructure for region-wide dissemination of blended learning in the 21st century based on the exploration of some selected ICT4D hubs and educational initiatives. The overall aim of the research was to observe, describe and analyse how the selected ICT4D initiatives and the creation of ICT4D hubs in Sri Lanka might support region-wide dissemination of blended learning and local development. A longitudinal case study has been the overall approach where a number of embedded thematic units were explored in long-term fieldwork conducted between 2006 and 2012. Data has been collected from a combination of observations, interviews, group discussions, surveys and document analysis. Findings showed that several of the studied ICT4D hubs have contributed to the general development but the country’s internal digital divide has in fact grown, as urban growth has been so much faster than the growth in rural areas, leaving the country with geographic as well as socio-economic gaps. Some of the former war zones have definitely been left behind and there is a need for further support of the Eastern and Northern regions of the island. Sri Lanka has had an outcome that must be classified as better than average compared to other developing regions with increased opportunities for education and with some ICT4D hubs as multipurpose meeting points. Contributing factors to the successful development are the high literacy rate, the chain of ICT4D projects rolled out in the right order and a committed implementation of educational eServices. On the other hand there were other, more negative findings indicating that sustainability, knowledge sharing and inter-project cooperation and coordination have often failed. The identified strength in the Sri Lankan model, which can be recommended for other parts of the world as well, is the way top-down management of infrastructure sometimes is combined with bottom-up grass-root activities. Other recommendations, that also are global, are to extend existing ICT4D hubs and upgrade them to more intelligent, autonomous and multi-service ICT4D routers that could also handle the future need for eServices in the fields of eHealth, eFarming and eGovernance.

The development of educational policies in colonial Ceylon has hitherto been examined from the perspective of either the government or missionary agencies. The role of the indigenous elite in this process has not received the attention it deserves, but merely treated as a peripheral theme. This thesis attempts to redress the imbalance by focusing on the interaction between elite initiatives and the growth of cultural nationalism as key factors in the formulation of educational policy. The many dimensions of the elite's concern with educational policy are explored. The nature of their involvement and their contribution over time are the central themes of the present study. Newspapers, contemporary journals, various school magazines, the writings of the elite themselves and transcripts of debates in the Legislative and State Councils provide an insight into the public and private opinion of the English educated Ceylonese. Chapter one sketches the social background of colonial Ceylon. It describes the plural composition of the population and highlights the importance of language and religion as components of plurality. It also identifies the economic and educational opportunities through which elite status could be acquired. The form and content of education are similarly discussed. Chapter two describes the formulation of government policy and the early contributions of the indigenous leaders. Particular attention is paid to two issues - language and the administration of schools - which emerged as problems crucial to Ceylon's educational structure under colonial rule. Chapter three traces the organizational and individual responses of the upper strata in local society to education as shaped by growing cultural nationalism. The issues of language and religion now assumed a greater degree of political significance. New techniques of opposition, including the establishment of schools and cultural associations on Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim denominational lines, are analyzed in this chapter. In chapter four the repercussions of universal franchise in the educational field are assessed. The increasing political and social aspirations of the masses became the catalyst for action on the part of the leaders, as did the ethnic and caste antagonisms that had surfaced as potentially powerful factors. In chapter five, further political developments that induced the leadership to take a bold step forward - the construction of a free and egalitarian system of education - are examined. How elite competition emerged as a determinant of policy implementation is also discussed. This thesis concludes that while knowledge of English remained the sine qua non for the acquisition and preservation of status, the response of the privileged social group to educational problems in the face of increasing political challenges was to ensure that the availability to the masses of an education, albeit a vernacular education remained secure.