This study examines the Biafran secession of 1967-1970 and how the secessionist government constructed a Biafran identity in its campaign to gain international support for Biafra’s permanent separation from Nigeria. The introductory chapter outlines the role of identity in Nigeria’s twentieth-century political history and discusses the scholarly literature addressing questions of national and ethnic identity and on the Biafran secession. The thesis then provides a historical framework for discussing the evolution of Nigerian political identities and the failures of Nigerian leaders to build a Nigerian nationalism among the region’s numerous identifiable groups in the colonial and early independence eras. Subsequent chapters analyse the Biafran government’s attempts to elide the inherent instability of identity and overcome the dynamic process of identity formation in Nigeria by constructing and promoting a fixed Biafran identity based on cultural characteristics and historical experiences that allegedly distinguished and united the diverse peoples of the secessionist region.

The purpose of my thesis was to counter Samuel Huntington’s argument that the world’s conflict is over differing civilizations, religions, or cultures. Whether or not religion is declining or growing, it cannot be used to portray the world in a 'cosmic war,' or a battle between 'good and evil'. Natural resources, not religions, rest at the basis for the Islamic fundamentalist and militant movement due to its response to the Western structural pressures that are modernizing Muslim societies. Oil and water become vital tools for exercising power and authority of one nation over another, and are identified as the true culprits for a conflict that is often furtively concealed.

This study examines the Biafran secession of 1967-1970 and how the secessionist government constructed a Biafran identity in its campaign to gain international support for Biafra’s permanent separation from Nigeria. The introductory chapter outlines the role of identity in Nigeria’s twentieth-century political history and discusses the scholarly literature addressing questions of national and ethnic identity and on the Biafran secession. The thesis then provides a historical framework for discussing the evolution of Nigerian political identities and the failures of Nigerian leaders to build a Nigerian nationalism among the region’s numerous identifiable groups in the colonial and early independence eras. Subsequent chapters analyse the Biafran government’s attempts to elide the inherent instability of identity and overcome the dynamic process of identity formation in Nigeria by constructing and promoting a fixed Biafran identity based on cultural characteristics and historical experiences that allegedly distinguished and united the diverse peoples of the secessionist region.

This thesis seeks to examine why the Lavalas elite faction and its oppositions have failed to make and implement mutual agreements, to resolve regime crises and to create an environment conducive to democratic norms. The study derives explanations stemming from three alternative models: modernization, rational choice and misperception. Three periods of consensus-building attempt between the Lavalas elite and its oppositions (1991-1995: Consensus-Building attempt I; 1996-2000: Consensus-Building attempt II; 2000-2004: Consensus-Building attempt III) are considered. By using interpreted models a la Graham Allison, the thesis applies the criteria produced by each model to help interpret the failure of consensus-building in these three historical periods. The thesis' conclusion then assesses the models' strengths and weaknesses, prompting interesting questions for further research in the near future.

This essay deals with the political upheavals which occurred in Japan with the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and its impact on the Samurai Class. This transitional period in Japanese history is portrayed in the film The Last Samurai from 2003, and it's the comparison between this Hollywood production and the current research on the subject on which this essay focuses. Two key figures who are portrayed in the film are Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), an American soldier from the Indian Wars of the 1860/70s who travels to Japan to quell the Samurai rebellion but ends up in captivity; only to learn their codex of honor and way of life and eventually become a Samurai himself. The other character calls himself Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe) and becomes the representative of the Samurai's struggle for their existence. Their friendship and cultural exchanges will remain a cornerstone throughout the film. Katsumoto has his historical counterpart in Saigō Takamori – also known as The Last Samurai during the times of the Meiji Restoration and its aftermath. Closely intertwined with the Samurai come ideals in which the warrior must follow specific precepts and behavior patterns both on the battlefield and in civilian life. Bushidō (“the way of the warrior”) and the ritual suicide that is seppuku (“stomach-cutting”) therefore play a significant role in the film and become a symbol of the clash between the old values of the Samurai and the inevitable process of modernization according to Western standards. The film explores both the theoretical and practical dimension of bushidō and is a tribute to the Samurai; their ideals, living and learning philosophy and to their codex of honor. It also depicts the unexpected and forbidden friendship between a Samurai and a soldier with their separate Western and Eastern values – which ultimately results in their common defeat before the new age in Japan.

Den här uppsatsen syftar till att undersöka hur företag kan arbeta med konceptet hållbar utveckling samt att analysera hur begreppet upplevs från ett företags perspektiv. Undersökningen baseras på en fallstudie som genomförts på företaget Kinnarps. Det empiriska material som analysen bygger på har samlats in via användning av fokusgrupps-intervjuer på Kinnarps, och materialet har analyserats vidare genom användning av metoden grundad teori. Under analysen har det synliggjorts vissa paralleller mellan materialet och ekologisk modernisering. Analysen tyder på att företag tenderar att agera i enlighet med ekologisk modernisering då teknisk utveckling ofta upplevs som lösningar på miljörelaterade problem. Samtidigt visar analysen att det finns utrymme för företag att agera på annat sätt än vad ekologisk modernisering innebär och ur det hänseendet har företagets tradition och grundläggande värderingar visat sig vara avgörande. Analysen tyder på att företags förhållningssätt gentemot marknaden kan upplevas som ett fall av pragmatiskt accepterande, då marknaden verkar betraktas som en för företag extern faktor som är svår att påverka.   Att som företag arbeta med hållbar utveckling innebär, enligt analysens resultat, både möjligheter och begränsningar. Arbetet kan resultera i marknadsfördelar genom ekonomisk vinst och konkurrensfördelar. Enligt analysen kan dock inte företag uppnå en fullständigt jämn fördelning mellan sin sociala, ekologiska och ekonomiska utveckling då de är beroende av att generera ekonomisk vinst, vilket gör att den ekonomiska utvecklingen prioriteras högst. Detta tyder på att ett företag inte har möjlighet att uppnå en helt hållbar produktion, därför kan begreppet upplevas som en utopi i företags sammanhang. Samtidigt visar analysen att en strävan mot en så hållbar produktion som möjligt, där en jämn balans mellan ekologisk social och ekonomisk utveckling eftersträvas, kan vara gynnsam för företags varumärke, produktion och profilering.

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This study makes an analysis on the modernization process across the Taiwan Straits by taking the garment industry as an example and probes into the background factors of modernization, key points of economic development at different stages, and the non-government exchange as well as economic and trade interaction between both sides of the Straits after Taiwan announced the policy of open-up to allow its citizens to visit their relatives in Mainland China. This article focuses on the analysis of the effects of investments made by the Taiwanese garment businessmen in Mainland China, which promote the transit trade and export of textile materials from Taiwan to Mainland China. After the garment industry of Mainland China becomes prosperous, the production of textile materials is insufficient to meet the demand of the garment industry. Consequently, a huge market is formed to attract the investments of Taiwanese textile industry in China, which not only benefits the textile industry of Taiwan, but also promotes the economic cooperation of both sides of the Taiwan Straits. It is possible that economic cooperation between Taiwan and Mainland China in manufacturing industries such as garment industry, etc. may ¡§spill-over¡¨ to direct ¡§three-links¡¨ between both sides of the Taiwan Straits. This in turn promotes the division of labor in the garment industry across the Straits and expand the bilateral trade and possible political interaction.

This thesis aims an analysis of early Republican state factory settlements, in terms of their concern for workers&amp / #8217 / health and welfare, within Turkish modernization in the largest extent. State factory settlements are evaluated in terms of their architectural program(s), in terms of concern about the physical and mental health requirements of their future workers at the stage of their foundation. Different types of buildings, like workers&amp / #8217 / houses, cafeterias, health centers and clubs, with respect to their organization and architectural function and also areas spared for sports and recreation are examined in EskiSehir Sugar Factory, as an exemplary case of the state factories. The aim has been to reveal and evaluate the role of the social and architectural construction of state factories on workers&amp / #8217 / (and their families) health, as a part of the modernization project of Turkey.

This thesis tries to provide a modest contribution to the critical studies on the history of development by exploring Cold War development practices. It questions the role of these practices in constructing a new regime that was conducive to govern the relationship between the West and the Third World after the Second World War. It suggests that development practices were composed of techniques and rationalities that were designed to solve the urgent problem of governing populations without using sheer force and sovereign power tools where these methods were not practical in the context of decolonization and Cold War. For this kind of inquiry, this thesis takes into account power relations embedded in the development practices and, by utilizing Michel Foucault&rsquo / s theories, perceives these practices as an essential way of disseminating biopolitical methods to the Third World. Role of the development discourse in governing populations is analyzed with relation to the notion of governmentality, which refers to modes of thought and the techniques of accomplishing rule in a discourse. In line with this theoretical framework, the first part of this thesis explores three schools of thought -modernization, dependency and world system- in order to explain the ways of producing thought and knowledge pertaining to development and the involvement of power relations in this process. Additionally, analyzing development aid and development planning which were the techniques to institutionalize development practices in the Third World countries and to render them technical that were managed only by experts without muddling with politics constitute the second part of this thesis .