Text in Afrikaans / Die basiese tese voortspruitend uit hierdie ondersoek is dat wetenskapsbeoefening binne bepaalde terreine van die regswetenskap ondemeem word ooreenkomstig 'n verswee staatlike paradigma wat deurlopend streef na die instandhouding van die politieke status quo. Die territoriale staat is die hoeksteen van die bestaande politieke orde en terselfdertyd die meester-konsep van die staatlike paradigma. Wetenskapsbeoefening volgens hierdie paradigma is gemik op die instandhouding van die territoriale staat en funksioneer dus as 'n defensief-konserwatiewe politieke projek. Uitsluitsel oor welke vrae en antwoorde as wetenskaplik ter sake kwalifiseer, word gegee aan die hand van die behoeftes van die bestaande territoriaalstaatlike orde. Antwoorde kwalifiseer as wetenskaplik houdbaar alleenlik indien dit met die belange van die bestaande territoriale staat vereenselwigbaar is en nie die staatlike status quo sal ontwrig nie. Intellektuele aktiwiteit wat nie die staatlike gebaseerde status quo ter wille is nie en dit moontlik mag ontwrig, haal in terme van hierdie paradigma moeilik die drumpel van wetenskaplikheid. In die ondersoek word die vestiging van die staatlike paradigma histories nagegaan en daama word die hoofmomente van die paradigma blootgele. Die belangrikste produkte van wetenskapsbeoefening kragtens die staatlike paradigma word daama uitgepluis. Benewens die feit dat die produkte deurlopend die staatlike orde onderskraag, vervul dit ook die strategiese funksie om uitdagers van die staatlike orde te domestiseer en in die diens van die staatlike orde te plaas. Die prominentste produkte van wetenskapsbeoefening volgens die staatlike paradigma word ontleed: - staatsbou, dikwels verkeerdelik voorgehou as nasiebou; - demokrasie wat onderhewig aan die dissipline van die staatlike paradigma tot staatlike demokrasie omvorm is; - menseregte wat burgerlike afhanklikheid van die staat bevorder en die staat sodoende teen opposisie vrywaar; - die misdaad, hoogverraad en die intemasionaalregtelike figuur van selfbeskikking wat deur die staatlike paradigma tot 'n staatsdienende staatlike selfbeskikking omvorm is. Die staatlike paradigma word egter onder toenemende spanning geplaas en daar bestaan die moontlikheid van 'n rewolusionere herwaardering van verskeie sleutel-konsepte wat deur die staatlike paradigma gevange gehou en in diens van die bestaande staatlike status quo gedomestiseer is. Die rewolusionere vrystel van hierdie konsepte kan die weg baan na 'n nuwe politokrasie anderkant die staatlike orde. / The basic thesis emanating from this research holds that scientific enterprises within certain fields of the legal science are undertaken in pursuance of a tacit statist paradigm which consistently preserve the political status quo. The territorial state is both the keystone of the existing political order and the master concept of the statist paradigm. Scientific activity according to this paradigm seeks to protect the territorial state and functions as a defensive conservative political project. The scientific relevance of questions and answers is determined by the exigencies of the existing order composed of territorial states. Answers are viewed as scientifically authentic only if they are compatible with the interests of the prevailing territorial state and when they do not pose a threat of disruption to the existing statist status quo. Intellectual activity that does not affirm the statist predicated status quo and which poses the risk of disruption of the this order would seldom qualify as scientific in terms of this paradigm. This study examines the historical establishment of the statist paradigm and debunks the main pillars of the paradigm. The foremost products of scientific activity in accordance with the statist paradigm are then analyzed. These products invariably safeguard the statist order and also succeed in domesticating the challengers of the statist order and placing them in the service of this order. The most outstanding developments of the scientific endeavour in pursuance of the statist paradigm are analyzed, which are: - state building, often inaccurately portrayed as nation building; -democracy which, subjected to the discipline of the statist paradigm, had been transformed into statist democracy; - human rights which cultivate civic dependence upon the state, thus safeguarding the state against opposition; -the crime ofhigh treason and the international law concept of self-determination which was transfigured by the statist paradigm into a state serving statist self-determination. The statist paradigm is however placed under increasing tension and there is a possibility of a revolutionary reappraisal of several key concepts which the statist paradigm has kept in captivity and which have been domesticated and placed in the service of the statist status quo. By releasing these revolutionary concepts, the way to a new politocracy, beyond the statist order, may be paved. / Jurisprudence / LL.D.

Depuis quelque temps, au Japon, on utilise de plus en plus le terme « Kansaï » pour désigner la région du Kinki (littéralement « le voisinage de la capitale »). Cette thèse propose d’analyser l’émergence de cette entité régionale et de son discours culturel dans le but de pallier le manque de recherches antérieures sur la diversité socioculturelle et le régionalisme au Japon. Il y existe, d’une part, une volonté de considérer le Japon comme une entité homogène, et d’autre part, un contexte dans lequel le Japon lui-même prône l’homogénéité de son peuple. Historiquement, ces énoncés ont été réfutés à plusieurs reprises par différents chercheurs et organismes. Entre-temps, sur le plan régional, la diversité devient de moins en moins clairement observable dû à l’urbanisation, aux moyens de transport, à la migration interne et au développement des médias de masse. Cette situation à l'époque post-industrielle a engendré aujourd’hui le discours régionaliste du Kansaï. Dans ce contexte, cette étude porte spécifiquement sur le discours culturel concernant la région et la population du Kansaï, c’est-à-dire la région Kinki, où étaient situés les anciennes capitales et le berceau de l’État japonais du Yamato. On observe une modification et une transformation de cette région depuis l’époque Tokugawa. À partir de l’époque Meiji, l'intégration spatiale de l’archipel japonais est devenue indissociable de l’émergence de l’État soi-disant « moderne ». En outre, une distinction existe toujours entre le Japon de l’Ouest (Kansaï) et le Japon de l’Est (Kantō) qui repose sur des différences de coutumes et de mentalités, ainsi que sur des variations linguistiques : une dichotomie mieux représentée de nos jours par l’opposition entre les villes d’Osaka et de Tokyo. Aujourd’hui, le Japon permettre une centralisation continuelle à Tokyo et l’équilibre du pouvoir sur le plan économique s’en trouve fragilisé. Dans cette thèse, j’examine l’émergence de l’entité Kansaï dans ce contexte socio-économique, depuis l’arrivée du phénomène que les Kansaïens appellent « l’affaissement de terrain » du Kansaï, le jibanchinka, jusqu’aux revendications récentes pour l’introduction d’un système quasi-fédéraliste, le dōshū-sei, dans le contexte du développement régional déséquilibré du pays. En m'appuyant sur mon enquête effectuée sur terrain auprès des gens du Kansaï, je soutiens que leur discours régionaliste est bel et bien existant, mais ne repose pas sur l’homogénéité de la région. Il repose plutôt sur la position du Kansaï en tant qu’antithèse à la tendance centralisatrice perçue par les Kansaïens comme étant plutôt de nature tokyoïte. Leur discours met l’accent sur la diversité existant à l’intérieur même de la région tout en soulignant que celle-ci constitue l’entité kansaïenne. Mots-clés : Japon, Kinki, Kansai, Osaka, Nihonjinron, région, villes, discours culturel, État-nation, multiculturalisme, Oda Sakunosuke, Tanizaki Jun’ichiro. / In recent times, we hear more and more the word "Kansai" to designate the Japanese region of Kinki (literally ‘the neighborhood of the capital’). This thesis proposes to analyze the emergence of this regional entity and its cultural discourse to compensate for the lack of previous research on the socio-cultural variety and the regionalism of Japan. In the current situation, on one hand, some wish to consider Japan as a homogenous entity, and on the other hand, Japan it-self considers its people as homogenous. Historically, these views were refuted several times by researchers and organisms. In the meantime, the regional variation becomes less and less clearly observable because of the urbanization, the progress made in transportation systems, the internal migration and the development of mass media. It is in this post-industrial era however that the regionalist discourse of Kansaï emerged. In this context, this study focuses on the cultural discourse regarding the region and the people of Kansai, that is the Kinki region, where were situated the old capitals and the cradle of the Yamato state, and on which one observes an alteration and a transformation of its description starting at the Tokugawa era. Since Meiji era, the spatial integration of the Japanese archipelago has become inseparable from the emergence of the so-called "modern" state. In addition, a division between Western Japan (Kansai) and Eastern Japan continues to exist for their differences in customs, linguistic variations and mentality: a dichotomy better represented by the current opposition between the cities of Osaka and Tokyo. Today, Japan experiences a continual centralization around Tokyo and the balance of power on the economic level is being undermined. I examine the emergence of the Kansai entity by analyzing its economic and social context, from the arrival of the phenomenon the Kansaï people call jibanchinka (the "land subsidence" of Kansaï) until the recent demands for the introduction of a quasi-federalism system called dōshū-sei in the context of unbalanced regional development of Japan. Resting on my investigation carried out in Kansai, I argue that their regionalist aspiration exists, but does not stand for the homogeneity of the region as a whole. Rather, they ground on its position as an antithesis to the centralizing approach they perceive as being rather Tokyoite in nature. Their discourse inevitably emphasizes the variety existing within the region itself, while underlining the fact that this is what constitutes the Kansai.

L’« appropriation » par les pays en développement (PED) de leurs processus de développement forme la clef de voûte de la nouvelle approche de l’aide et de la coopération au développement telle que promue par la Déclaration de Paris (2005). Si ce passage vers l’« appropriation » vise à installer les PED « dans le siège du conducteur », il reste tout de même inscrit dans une relation d’aide. Or, la Déclaration de Paris pose cette « appropriation » comme le résultat d’un consensus et comme un principe devant être mis en oeuvre sur un terrain vierge via une série de mesures techniques préoccupées par une efficacité ou plutôt une efficience de l’aide. En s’intéressant à la perspective d’acteurs sociaux nationaux quant à cette question de l’ « appropriation » à partir d’une étude de cas c’est-à-dire d’un contexte précis, ici celui du Rwanda, cette thèse vise à démontrer que l’agenda et les politiques en matière de développement, dont la question de l’ « appropriation », ne peuvent être saisis dans un vide contextuel. En effet, ce que met en évidence la perspective des acteurs sociaux nationaux au Rwanda quant à cette question de l’ « appropriation », c’est leur réinscription de cette question dans le contexte du Rwanda post-génocide et dépendant de l’aide, et leur appréhension de celle-ci à partir de ce contexte. Ce contexte informe le récit de ces acteurs qui met en sens et en forme cette « appropriation ». Leur saisie de l’ « appropriation » se bâtit autour d’un double impératif dans le contexte du Rwanda post-génocide, un impératif d’une part de reconstruction socio-économique et d’autre part d’édification d’une nation, et ce, à la lumière des tensions ‘ethniques’ qui traversent et structurent historiquement l’espace politique et social rwandais et qui ont donné lieu au génocide de 1994. / As put forward in the Paris Declaration (2005), “ownership” by developing countries of their development process forms the cornerstone of a new approach to aid and development cooperation. If the aim of “ownership” is to put developing countries “in the driver’s seat” of their development, it nonetheless remains an aid relation. Indeed, the Paris Declaration claims that “ownership” is the outcome of a consensus as well as a principle to be implemented through a series of technical measures preoccupied with concerns of effectiveness (or more accurately aid efficiency). As such, it puts forward the idea that aid is implemented as if on a blank slate. Beginning with a specific case study, in this instance Rwanda, and by focusing on the perspectives of national social actors on the issue of “ownership,” this thesis demonstrates that development agenda and policies, including the question of “ownership,” cannot be adequately grasped in a contextual vacuum. Through the narratives of national social actors, the meaning of “ownership” is reconfigured within the context of post-genocide Rwanda and aid-dependency, highlighting the significance of context in giving content and form to “ownership.” In the context of a post-genocide Rwanda, the understanding of “ownership” by national social actors is articulated around a double imperative: on the one hand, the demand for socio-economic reconstruction, on the other, the imperative of nation-building in light of the ‘ethnic’ tensions that cut across and historically structure Rwandan social and political space, and which led to the 1994 genocide.

Au-delà du débat entre méthode intergouvernementale et méthode communautaire, le positionnement des Etats-nations par rapport à la construction européenne demeure une variable essentielle pour comprendre comment s’opère cette construction et à quels compromis elle parvient. Traditionnellement abordé sous l’angle de la puissance et de la géopolitique, le rapport entre les Etats de l’Union européenne, désormais réglé par la coopération institutionnelle, doit faire appel à d’autres grilles d’analyse issues de l’histoire et des différences culturelles, sociologiques, économiques, politiques entre les nations. Cette thèse, fondée à la fois sur une expérience diplomatique et sur des travaux de recherche et de réflexion, met en exergue le rôle central et systémique de la relation franco-allemande, à la lumière notamment de la rédaction du projet de Constitution européenne en 2002-2003, des positions actuelles de l’Union sur la politique d’élargissement et la relation avec la Russie, ou de la résolution des problèmes de l’union monétaire depuis 2010. La négociation du cadre financier pluriannuel de l’Union européenne montre comment les Etats-nations s’orientent à partir de la question des « soldes nets » qui oppose pays bénéficiaires et pays contributeurs. Une plus grande équité dans les dépenses et la répartition de la charge contributive pourrait être un moyen de dépasser ces négociations d’apothicaires. La politique étrangère européenne est encore plus l’exemple d’une politique contrainte par les différents intérêts nationaux, ce qui n’a pas empêché le développement de l’Europe de la défense dès lors que celle-ci restait adossée aux Etats-Unis et à l’OTAN. Revisitant la construction européenne en fonction des préférences nationales, cette thèse se conclut en posant l’articulation géopolitique entre Union européenne, « Europe espace » et « Europe puissance ». / Beyond the debate on intergovernmentalism and the “communautarian method”, the positioning of the “Nation States” in Europe is a key factor determining the European construction and its compromises. Traditionnally analysed through geopolitics and power politics, the relationship between the States of the European Union is nowadays ruled by institutional cooperation and must be addressed by new analytical schemes such as cultural, sociological, economical and political differences between the nations. This thesis, based on diplomatic experience and academic works, emphasizes the role of the franco-german relationship regarding in particular the negociation of the European constitution in 2002-2003, the EU positions on enlargement and the relationship to Russia, or the solution to the Eurozone crisis since 2010. In the negociation of the financial perspectives, the positions of Member States is determined by the question of budgetary balances in which contributors and beneficiaries of the EU budget face eachother. More equity in the sharing of expenditures and resources could be a mean to get out of these tough negociations. EU foreign policy is another example of a policy determined by national interests, which didn’t prevent the EU to develop a common defence policy as far as it remains compatible with NATO and the US Strategy. Having revisited the European integration through these national preferences, this thesis questions in conclusion the links between the EU, the European space and the European power.

This thesis explores the political use of branding in international relations by focusing on the branding exercises of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the State of Qatar over the last two decades. In most of the existing literature, branding is theorised as a representational and instrumental practice that is strategically used to increase a country's competitive edge. Adopting a critical constructivist lens to the study of International Relations (IR), this thesis challenges this reading and argues instead that branding is a productive and inherently political practice that (re)produces dominant interpretations of state-identity rather than merely describing them. Based on the core constructivist claim that much of politics revolves around the competition to give meaning to the world, this thesis argues that the version of the state promoted through branding is neither neutral nor brand new, but inherently politicised and tied to the conversation and legitimation of the incumbent political regime. Inspired by the ongoing practice turn in IR, the starting point for the analysis is a focus on the display of the state through a range of everyday practices long ignored by IR scholars. In particular, it focuses on how the political leadership in both Kazakhstan and Qatar has used the urban development of their capital cities, the hosting of international sports events, and the construction of 'world-class' universities to present new ideas about their state to various inter/national audiences. Using an original data corpus of multimodal primary and secondary material, the analysis traces how branding practices produce and normalise a certain interpretation of Kazakhstani and Qatari statehood, and then interrogates how we can understand this interpretation as politicised and tied to the interests of the regime. The goal of the analysis is twofold. First, this thesis aims to elucidate how relevant instances of state- branding unfold and travel across different empirical contexts (Kazakhstan and Qatar) and cases (urban development, sports and education). Second, it aims to push current scholarly understandings by (re)conceptualising branding as a genre of contemporary identity politics, and produce broader insights about the characteristics and mechanisms of this increasingly normalised - yet often as politically non-salient dismissed - practice of international relations.

Este trabalho visou analisar as transformações relativas ao setor de bem-estar social dos Estados nacionais, responsável pelos direitos sociais e econômicos, inseridos na Era da Informação. Para tanto, fez-se um apanhado histórico das razões político-filosóficas que deram causa à construção do Estado Social, desde seus primórdios até sua consolidação como fundamento da cidadania inerente à um Estado Democrático de Direito, momento em que se analisou o conteúdo desse modelo estatal para a formulação de um conceito que propiciasse melhor entendimento do objeto. Posteriormente, tendo Manuel Castells por marco teórico, os esforços se focaram em uma análise ampla das transformações política, econômica e culturais ocorridas a partir da Terceira Revolução Industrial com o advento das novas tecnologias de informação e comunicação, e que criaram a sociedade em rede. Nesse contexto, verificou-se que os Estados-Nação contemporâneos passam por uma crise, em que parte de sua soberania é abalada (sobretudo sua autonomia econômica) pelo poder dos fluxos das redes - é o processo de disfonia estatal - levando-os à condição de Estado Virtual, um estágio em que o Estado deverá optar por um caminho a ser seguido (atualização), o que implicará em grandes modificações para seu setor de bem-estar. Ao final, fez-se uma análise das consequências de uma atualização voltada para a desconstrução do Estado do Bem-Estar Social, a partir dos estudos de Loïc Wacquant sobre os Estados Unidos da América, local considerado, ao mesmo tempo, berço da revolução informacional e das políticas de retração do Estado Social, cujos deslindes terminaram na construção de um outro paradigma: o Estado Penal, caracterizado pela punição dos pobres, abandonados pelo recuo do Estado Social e abraçados pela malha punitiva, em que as novas tecnologias típicas da Era da Informação assumem um novo propósito - as funções de vigiar e punir. / This work aimed to analyze the transformations related to the welfare sector of national states, responsible for social and economic rights, inserted in the Information Age. In order to do so, it was made a historical survey of the political-philosophical reasons that gave rise to the construction of the Social State, from its beginnings until its consolidation as a foundation of citizenship inherent to the Democratic Rule of Law, at which point the content of this state model was analyzed for the formulation of a concept that provided a better understanding of the object. Later, with Manuel Castells as a theoretical framework, the efforts focused on a broad analysis of the political, economic and cultural transformations that occurred since the Third Industrial Revolution started with the advent of new information and communication technologies, and which created the networked society. In this context, it was found that the contemporary nation-states go through a crisis, in which part of their sovereignty is shaken (mainly their economic autonomy) by the power of the networks flows - it\'s the state dysphonia process - leading them to the condition of a Virtual State, a stage in which the State must choose a path to be followed (update), which will result in major changes to its welfare sector. At the end, it was analyzed the consequences of an update turned to the dismantlement of the welfare state, up from the studies from Loïc Wacquant about the United States of America, a place considered at the same time as the cradle of the informational revolution and of the retraction policies of the Welfare State, whose delineations ended in the construction of another paradigm: the Penal State, characterized by the punishment of the poor, abandoned by the retreat of the Welfare State and embraced by the punitive network, in which the typical technologies of the information age take on a new purpose - the functions of discipline and punish.

Depuis quelque temps, au Japon, on utilise de plus en plus le terme « Kansaï » pour désigner la région du Kinki (littéralement « le voisinage de la capitale »). Cette thèse propose d’analyser l’émergence de cette entité régionale et de son discours culturel dans le but de pallier le manque de recherches antérieures sur la diversité socioculturelle et le régionalisme au Japon. Il y existe, d’une part, une volonté de considérer le Japon comme une entité homogène, et d’autre part, un contexte dans lequel le Japon lui-même prône l’homogénéité de son peuple. Historiquement, ces énoncés ont été réfutés à plusieurs reprises par différents chercheurs et organismes. Entre-temps, sur le plan régional, la diversité devient de moins en moins clairement observable dû à l’urbanisation, aux moyens de transport, à la migration interne et au développement des médias de masse. Cette situation à l'époque post-industrielle a engendré aujourd’hui le discours régionaliste du Kansaï. Dans ce contexte, cette étude porte spécifiquement sur le discours culturel concernant la région et la population du Kansaï, c’est-à-dire la région Kinki, où étaient situés les anciennes capitales et le berceau de l’État japonais du Yamato. On observe une modification et une transformation de cette région depuis l’époque Tokugawa. À partir de l’époque Meiji, l'intégration spatiale de l’archipel japonais est devenue indissociable de l’émergence de l’État soi-disant « moderne ». En outre, une distinction existe toujours entre le Japon de l’Ouest (Kansaï) et le Japon de l’Est (Kantō) qui repose sur des différences de coutumes et de mentalités, ainsi que sur des variations linguistiques : une dichotomie mieux représentée de nos jours par l’opposition entre les villes d’Osaka et de Tokyo. Aujourd’hui, le Japon permettre une centralisation continuelle à Tokyo et l’équilibre du pouvoir sur le plan économique s’en trouve fragilisé. Dans cette thèse, j’examine l’émergence de l’entité Kansaï dans ce contexte socio-économique, depuis l’arrivée du phénomène que les Kansaïens appellent « l’affaissement de terrain » du Kansaï, le jibanchinka, jusqu’aux revendications récentes pour l’introduction d’un système quasi-fédéraliste, le dōshū-sei, dans le contexte du développement régional déséquilibré du pays. En m'appuyant sur mon enquête effectuée sur terrain auprès des gens du Kansaï, je soutiens que leur discours régionaliste est bel et bien existant, mais ne repose pas sur l’homogénéité de la région. Il repose plutôt sur la position du Kansaï en tant qu’antithèse à la tendance centralisatrice perçue par les Kansaïens comme étant plutôt de nature tokyoïte. Leur discours met l’accent sur la diversité existant à l’intérieur même de la région tout en soulignant que celle-ci constitue l’entité kansaïenne. Mots-clés : Japon, Kinki, Kansai, Osaka, Nihonjinron, région, villes, discours culturel, État-nation, multiculturalisme, Oda Sakunosuke, Tanizaki Jun’ichiro. / In recent times, we hear more and more the word "Kansai" to designate the Japanese region of Kinki (literally ‘the neighborhood of the capital’). This thesis proposes to analyze the emergence of this regional entity and its cultural discourse to compensate for the lack of previous research on the socio-cultural variety and the regionalism of Japan. In the current situation, on one hand, some wish to consider Japan as a homogenous entity, and on the other hand, Japan it-self considers its people as homogenous. Historically, these views were refuted several times by researchers and organisms. In the meantime, the regional variation becomes less and less clearly observable because of the urbanization, the progress made in transportation systems, the internal migration and the development of mass media. It is in this post-industrial era however that the regionalist discourse of Kansaï emerged. In this context, this study focuses on the cultural discourse regarding the region and the people of Kansai, that is the Kinki region, where were situated the old capitals and the cradle of the Yamato state, and on which one observes an alteration and a transformation of its description starting at the Tokugawa era. Since Meiji era, the spatial integration of the Japanese archipelago has become inseparable from the emergence of the so-called "modern" state. In addition, a division between Western Japan (Kansai) and Eastern Japan continues to exist for their differences in customs, linguistic variations and mentality: a dichotomy better represented by the current opposition between the cities of Osaka and Tokyo. Today, Japan experiences a continual centralization around Tokyo and the balance of power on the economic level is being undermined. I examine the emergence of the Kansai entity by analyzing its economic and social context, from the arrival of the phenomenon the Kansaï people call jibanchinka (the "land subsidence" of Kansaï) until the recent demands for the introduction of a quasi-federalism system called dōshū-sei in the context of unbalanced regional development of Japan. Resting on my investigation carried out in Kansai, I argue that their regionalist aspiration exists, but does not stand for the homogeneity of the region as a whole. Rather, they ground on its position as an antithesis to the centralizing approach they perceive as being rather Tokyoite in nature. Their discourse inevitably emphasizes the variety existing within the region itself, while underlining the fact that this is what constitutes the Kansai.

This thesis examines elements of the conceptualization of literature within literary studies and literary production in a UK context, considering the concept of exclusionary practices based on the negligence of intersectional categories of identity such as race, gender, class, sexuality, etc., in the practice of understanding and interpreting literature. The methodologies I employ are close reading of various narratives, such as literary texts, as well as a narrative analysis aimed at a holistic understanding of my material. The second part of this thesis envisions a decolonised approach to literature in which we situate our positionalities when we read and interpret literary works. I demonstrate this through the analysis of several poems, informed by decolonial concepts and sensibilities. The results show that the maintenance of these exclusionary practices advances a grand-narrative of Western civilisation, ignoring the multiple sites people inhabit both from within, and outside, the West and that these practices are effectively harmful. I argue that through the project of decolonising literature there is a possibility of disrupting the perpetual macro-narrative of Western domination and universality.

This dissertation argues that Gyekye, in his idea of communitarianism, has a contribution to make towards the understanding of the socio-political structures of multicultural communities in Africa. Gyekye's construct of metanationality, in relation to his communitarian ethics, addresses the socio-political and cultural problems confronting multicultural communities, with particular reference to Nigeria. In an attempt to achieve his idea of a "metanational state", Gyekye claims that: (1) "personhood" is partially defined by a communal structure; (2) equal moral attention should be given both to individual interests and community interests; (3) it is necessary to integrate the "ethic of responsibility" with "rights"; (4) members of the nation-state should be considered equal; (5) in order to achieve nationhood in a multicultural community, it is essential to move beyond "ethnicity" and (6) in an attempt to form a national culture, attention should be drawn to "the elegant" aspects of cultures of various ethno-cultural communities. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.A. (Philosophy)

Text in Afrikaans / Die basiese tese voortspruitend uit hierdie ondersoek is dat wetenskapsbeoefening binne bepaalde terreine van die regswetenskap ondemeem word ooreenkomstig 'n verswee staatlike paradigma wat deurlopend streef na die instandhouding van die politieke status quo. Die territoriale staat is die hoeksteen van die bestaande politieke orde en terselfdertyd die meester-konsep van die staatlike paradigma. Wetenskapsbeoefening volgens hierdie paradigma is gemik op die instandhouding van die territoriale staat en funksioneer dus as 'n defensief-konserwatiewe politieke projek. Uitsluitsel oor welke vrae en antwoorde as wetenskaplik ter sake kwalifiseer, word gegee aan die hand van die behoeftes van die bestaande territoriaalstaatlike orde. Antwoorde kwalifiseer as wetenskaplik houdbaar alleenlik indien dit met die belange van die bestaande territoriale staat vereenselwigbaar is en nie die staatlike status quo sal ontwrig nie. Intellektuele aktiwiteit wat nie die staatlike gebaseerde status quo ter wille is nie en dit moontlik mag ontwrig, haal in terme van hierdie paradigma moeilik die drumpel van wetenskaplikheid. In die ondersoek word die vestiging van die staatlike paradigma histories nagegaan en daama word die hoofmomente van die paradigma blootgele. Die belangrikste produkte van wetenskapsbeoefening kragtens die staatlike paradigma word daama uitgepluis. Benewens die feit dat die produkte deurlopend die staatlike orde onderskraag, vervul dit ook die strategiese funksie om uitdagers van die staatlike orde te domestiseer en in die diens van die staatlike orde te plaas. Die prominentste produkte van wetenskapsbeoefening volgens die staatlike paradigma word ontleed: - staatsbou, dikwels verkeerdelik voorgehou as nasiebou; - demokrasie wat onderhewig aan die dissipline van die staatlike paradigma tot staatlike demokrasie omvorm is; - menseregte wat burgerlike afhanklikheid van die staat bevorder en die staat sodoende teen opposisie vrywaar; - die misdaad, hoogverraad en die intemasionaalregtelike figuur van selfbeskikking wat deur die staatlike paradigma tot 'n staatsdienende staatlike selfbeskikking omvorm is. Die staatlike paradigma word egter onder toenemende spanning geplaas en daar bestaan die moontlikheid van 'n rewolusionere herwaardering van verskeie sleutel-konsepte wat deur die staatlike paradigma gevange gehou en in diens van die bestaande staatlike status quo gedomestiseer is. Die rewolusionere vrystel van hierdie konsepte kan die weg baan na 'n nuwe politokrasie anderkant die staatlike orde. / The basic thesis emanating from this research holds that scientific enterprises within certain fields of the legal science are undertaken in pursuance of a tacit statist paradigm which consistently preserve the political status quo. The territorial state is both the keystone of the existing political order and the master concept of the statist paradigm. Scientific activity according to this paradigm seeks to protect the territorial state and functions as a defensive conservative political project. The scientific relevance of questions and answers is determined by the exigencies of the existing order composed of territorial states. Answers are viewed as scientifically authentic only if they are compatible with the interests of the prevailing territorial state and when they do not pose a threat of disruption to the existing statist status quo. Intellectual activity that does not affirm the statist predicated status quo and which poses the risk of disruption of the this order would seldom qualify as scientific in terms of this paradigm. This study examines the historical establishment of the statist paradigm and debunks the main pillars of the paradigm. The foremost products of scientific activity in accordance with the statist paradigm are then analyzed. These products invariably safeguard the statist order and also succeed in domesticating the challengers of the statist order and placing them in the service of this order. The most outstanding developments of the scientific endeavour in pursuance of the statist paradigm are analyzed, which are: - state building, often inaccurately portrayed as nation building; -democracy which, subjected to the discipline of the statist paradigm, had been transformed into statist democracy; - human rights which cultivate civic dependence upon the state, thus safeguarding the state against opposition; -the crime ofhigh treason and the international law concept of self-determination which was transfigured by the statist paradigm into a state serving statist self-determination. The statist paradigm is however placed under increasing tension and there is a possibility of a revolutionary reappraisal of several key concepts which the statist paradigm has kept in captivity and which have been domesticated and placed in the service of the statist status quo. By releasing these revolutionary concepts, the way to a new politocracy, beyond the statist order, may be paved. / Jurisprudence / LL.D.