AFRIKAANS : Heelwat artikels in dagblaaie, kerkkoerante en ander publikasies in verband met die NG Kerk skep die indruk dat die NG Kerk ‘n krisistyd beleef. Die krisisse wat aan die orde gestel word, hou onder andere verband met die volgende:<ul> <li>‘n identiteitskrisis omtrent spiritualiteit;</li> <li>onduidelikheid oor etiese kwessies;</li> <li>spanning ten opsigte van die kultuur-politieke rol van die NG Kerk en gepaardgaande konflik oor kerkhereniging; </li> <li>die neo-liberale verbruikerskultuur se uitdagings aan die NG Kerk waarop dit nie noodwendig voorbereid is nie. </li></ul> Dit is egter opmerklik dat die NG Kerk tog ook die nuwe millennium met nuwe visie en ywer benader in ‘n soeke na kontekstuele en religieuse relevansie. Daar is min twyfel dat die resente stand van die NG Kerk kompleks is. Dit kan moontlik toegeskryf word aan ‘n verskeidenheid historiese vormingsagente wat die veelvuldige en uiteenlopende kerklike fenomene ten grondslag lê. Deur die geskiedenis van die NG Kerk binne die groter konteks van die Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis te bestudeer, is dit moontlik om die oorsaaklike verbande en die samehang van gebeure en verskynsels te bepaal. Op hierdie wyse kan daar aan die resente situasie en konteks van die NG Kerk betekenis verleen word. Die polities-kulturele situasie in Suid-Afrika het sedert 1990 radikaal verander. Hierdie verandering het ook verskillende reaksies tot gevolg gehad. Vir sommiges is die verandering die langverwagte uitkoms van jare se politieke stryd. Vir ander het dit ‘n belewenis van onsekerheid en wanhoop gebring. Die polities-kulturele situasie is egter nie al wat verander het nie. Die verandering in Suid-Afrika word ook omvat deur veranderende sosiale denke en -gedrag. Hierdie nuwe manier van dink en doen verteenwoordig die postmoderne paradigma. Toenemende sekularisasie is ook waarneembaar. Die NG Kerk staan binne die invloedsfeer van hierdie gebeure. Die nuwe politieke en kulturele situasie het implikasies vir die identiteit van die NG Kerk. Die verandering van wêreldbeskouings bring ook uitdagings wat vormend inwerk op die selfverstaan van die NG Kerk. Die begrip wat die kerk vir die betekenis van hierdie gebeure toon, sal bepaal waartoe die NG Kerk in toekoms verander. / ENGLISH : Many newspapers, church newspapers and other publications report that a crisis is immanent in the Dutch Reformed Church today. The crisis is seen in the incidence of the following: <ul> <li>an identity crisis concerning spirituality; </li> <li>ambiguity about ethical matters;</li> <li>tension over the DR Church’s cultural and political role in South Africa as well as conflict over church unity with the members of the DRC family;</li> <li>the fact that the DR Church is caught offhanded by the challenges of the neo-liberal consumer culture. </li></ul> It must be said that despite this crisis, there are signs of the DR Church seeking contextual and religious relevance in the new millennium. There is little doubt that the recent state of affairs in the DR Church is complicated. The reason can be ascribed to a variety of historical incidents that underlie the numerous and diverse phenomena in the church. Against the background of the South African history, the history of the DR Church should be studied. This way it is possible to identify the causality and cohesion of historical events and phenomena. This process could help to give meaning to the recent situation and context of the DR Church. Since 1990 the political and cultural situation in South Africa has changed radically. People reacted differently to this change. For some it was the long-anticipated outcome of years of political struggle. For others it has brought uncertainty and despair. But this was not the only change since 1990. The change in South Africa is encompassed by a new way of social thinking and behaviour, which represents what is known as the postmodern paradigm. Secularisation of everyday life and institutions is also escalating. The DR Church stands within the sphere of influence of these phenomena. The new political and cultural situation has implications for the identity of the DR Church. The postmodern paradigm brings challenges for the way in which the DR Church understands itself as a church and its mission within the South African context. What the church in future will become, depends on the church’s comprehension of the meaning of these phenomena. / Dissertation (MA(Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Church History and Church Policy / unrestricted

No description available.

<p>Combining insights from critical discourse analysis (CDA) and neo-Gramscian IPE theory, this paper puts forth a cultural political economy (CPE) perspective to analyse the discursive articulation of ‘European subjects’ in the context of the EU’s Lisbon Agenda modernisation strategy. It is suggested here that the transformation proposed in Lisbon to the new economic imaginary of the knowledge based economy (KBE), depends on ‘new subjects’ and thus new discursive constructions of identities to reflect the new economic and social formations it envisions. The citizenship discourses of two of the Lisbon Agenda’s main supporters, specifically European business lobbies (represented by the ERT and LCEC) and the EU Commission, are examined in order to explore the relationship between citizenship rights and responsibilities and the two main goals of the Agenda, namely economic competitiveness/growth and social inclusion/social welfare protection modernisation. The argument is made that the discursive articulation of a ‘neoliberal communitarian’ variant of citizenship, especially evident in the discourses of the EU’s business lobbies and the EU Commission since the ‘shift’ to jobs and growth in early 2005, represents an attempt to further the commodification of the EU polity, and as a result, subordinate the more social goals of the Lisbon Agenda to the perceived imperatives of economic growth and competition. The Lisbon Agenda does not therefore mark a dramatic ‘turning point’ in favour of a more ‘social Europe’ as was speculated early on, but instead works to consolidate the dominance of ‘embedded neoliberalism’ as the socio-economic governance model for the EU. The paper ends with a discussion of the possible counter-hegemonic movements challenging the orthodoxy of embedded neoliberalism and neoliberal communitarian conceptions of citizenship.</p>

This doctoral thesis examines the challenges to co-management in the Tanzania part of Lake Victoria. The study mainly addresses the Nile perch fishery and uses the fishing communities of Bukoba Rural district, Tanzania as a case study. Co-management in Lake Victoria is defined as the sharing of the management responsibilities between the state and the fishing communities. Co-management was adopted in the Lake Victoria fisheries on the understanding that it has the capacity to provide space in which the poor resource users could be empowered to sustainably manage their resource base. The assumption was that the sharing of the management responsibilities between the state and the community of users would have led to equity in resource access, poverty reduction and resource sustainability. Thus, reducing the role of the state and enhancing that of the communities was seen as a solution to the problems of poverty and illegal fishing that are threatening the sustainability of the fishery and the fishers dependent on it. However, in spite of these proclaimed efforts, illegal fishing and poverty in Lake Victoria remain major threats to the long-term sustainability of the fishery, a fact that is raising questions on the efficacy of co-management in Lake Victoria. These questions have particularly focused on the co-management model and the neo-liberal ideals that underlie it, namely decentralization, participation and accountability. The central argument in this thesis, however, is that co-management performance in Lake Victoria is to a large extent shaped by the complex international, national, and local context in which it is implemented and which in turn shapes the problems of poverty and illegal fishing that co-management is supposed to address. The study concludes that the international and national politics behind the Nile perch fishery intersect with the cultural and social context in which the fishery is embedded to shape co-management performance at the local level. For analysis, the study applies a multi-level approach and draws insights from the common pool resources theory, the actor-oriented approach, the entitlement framework, and the theory of the state. Detailed interviews across scale, secondary data, policy documents, and laws, supported by quantitative data are the methods applied.

abstract: This dissertation focused on the links among micro-enterprise development (MD), social capital building, and the accompanying social lives of Chinese female entrepreneurs in two China's urban areas—Nanjing and Haikou. It engaged with a few important discussions concerning China’s liberal politics during the reform era, the global trend of neo-liberal capitalism, and the social construction of a new worker-subject—the Chinese urban female entrepreneur shaped by the hybrid marriage of state politics and global capital. The research findings from this research project contributed to the tradition of feminist theories, which endeavors to explore the relationship between neo-liberalism and gender. In particular, gender was found to concretize the ways in which neo-liberal ideological forces have attempted to capture and exploit the productivity of women’s labor Drawing upon the data from in-depth interviews, participatory observations, and secondary data gathering, I examined the diffusion of the Western-centric concept and phenomena of social capital building in order to answer the question how Chinese women's life was inscribed in the larger context of China's relationship to global capitalism. My research findings manifested that the respondents considered affections (e.g., inter-dependence, obligation, and mutual trust) to be the foundation of establishing and maintaining their social networks regardless of the government's emphasis on market principles and the utility-based social capital conception. This opened up a new way of re-theorizing social capital. This dissertation also focused on how China’s integration with the global economy has affected women’s social identity construction. It emphasized the interaction between gender and class as one of the most salient sites where ideal citizens of China are imagined. Drawing from the perspectives of the respondents, I found that femininity has never been eliminated by the Chinese government. It has existed in China’s MD to challenge the government’s attempt of promoting the agendered (gender-neutral), universal model of women’s participation in self-employment. Moreover, I asserted that class was individualized while penetrating into other dimensions of identity (especially gender). The transformed dimensions of identity constituted a set of stratification schemes that constantly reshuffled social stratifications for maximizing the state’s profits from the control of citizens. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Justice Studies 2015

南中國海內有零星島群，其中以南沙群島為最，乃是世上最多國家涉及主權爭端的海域，其背後有當年殖民主義所遺留下來的歷史因素、現代海洋法公約所造成的曖昧不清的劃界以及主權權利劃分的問題，以及海洋資源的爭奪與政治上戰略地位的考量。上述因素相互關連並交織成南沙群島的主權爭議，中華民國、中華人民共和國、越南、菲律賓、馬來西亞與汶萊六方各執一詞，從法理、歷史甚至是國土安全等論點來宣示主權，不過各爭端國在論點上各有利弊，所以南沙群島的主權劃歸至今仍無解。但是即便各方在主權議題上互不相讓，然而就南沙群島主權爭議而言，這些理性的行為者在幾番考量下仍願意共同合作。就目前的情況來看，先行暫時擱置主權，再進行共同開發似乎是唯一可行的方法，特別是合作的目標物為海上石油與油氣資源，因為能源資源乃是具有高度價值的不可再生性資源，而據相關單位估計，目前全球已開發的石油資源即將面臨耗竭狀態，因此潛在的石油存量才更加吸引各國的目光。 / 依照各方的合作意願與態度，本論文將以新自由制度主義中理性選擇下的合作精神與建制概念分析南海共同開發的可適用性與限制性。先論述共同開發的意涵，再闡述新自由制度主義與共同開發的關連性。接者為了配合南海的共同開發，筆者先介紹學者針對南海合作的觀點，再針對一九九零年馬來西亞與泰國暹邏灣大陸架資源共同開發案、二零零二年中國與越南北部灣劃界與漁業協定、二零零五年中、菲、越三國南海聯合海洋地震工作協議與二零零八年中國與菲律賓所發表的有關共同捕魚區的合作建議等四項案例作分析，從實際合作中探討未來針對南沙群島水域的共同開發可行性，並從新自由制度主義探討合作的展望與限制。 / Of all the islands in the South China sea, the island groups of the Spratlys is one of the most keenly disputed territories in Southeast Asia, where overlapping claims for sovereignty and territorial jurisdiction are hotly debated. There are a lot of reasons giving rise to the debate. First some scholars view the problem over the Spratlys as part of the historical legacies left behind by the former Western colonial powers. Second, other scholars place greater emphasis on ambiguous legal aspects of territorial jurisdiction. Third still other scholars emphasize political and geo-strategic considerations to explain the complex situation. Lastly nowadays a lot of studies focus on the possibilities of the discovery of major gas and oil field. Those perspectives above can explain why there is no concrete agreement among the six parties including the Republic of China, the People’s Republic of China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. Although the issue of sovereignty and territorial jurisdiction is too complicate to deal with now, those rational actors still may cooperate and jointly explore and exploit. At present the only possible way to joint development is to first put sovereignty aside and then collaborate. / In this thesis, the objective is to analyze the feasibility and limitation of joint development from Neo-liberal Institutionalism which is mainly about cooperation and regime. First I explain what joint development is and then analyze the linkage between Neo-liberal Institutionalism and joint development. And the next part focuses on the Spratly islands and I analyze four cases including the agreement between Malaysia and Thailand on the constitution and other matters relating to the establishment of the joint authority, the agreement between China and Vietnam on Beibu gulf, the joint authority agreement on joint seismic survey of the South China Sea among the oil companies of China, Vietnam and the Philippines, and the recommendation of common fishing zone. I analyze and predict whether the joint development is feasible in the future through the analysis of practical cooperation.

Depuis la fin de la Guerre froide, la pratique de l’aide humanitaire est principalement devenue l’apanage des Occidentaux et de ses alliés, contribuant à l’émergence d’une norme d’intervention (néo)libérale. Cette recherche vise à déterminer s’il existe une pratique alternative; dans cette optique, le cas de l’humanitarisme cubain sera analysé. À partir d’une revue de la littérature et d’un travail de terrain conduit à Cuba auprès de coopérants ayant servi dans le cadre de « missions internationalistes », cette recherche se déroule selon trois étapes principales. Dans un premier temps, il s’agira, à partir des études réalisées par les auteurs post-foucaldiens tels que Duffield, Pupavac, McFalls et Pandolfi, de déterminer la nouvelle tendance de l’aide humanitaire apparue au sortir de la Guerre froide. Cette dernière a été représentée sous une forme idéal-typique par Laurence McFalls qui a identifié l’exercice de la gouvernementalité (thérapeutique) (néo)libérale sur les terrains d’intervention. Dans un deuxième temps, le coeur du travail consistera à élaborer l’idéal-type du modèle d’intervention cubain à partir des entrevues réalisées à Cuba. Dans cette seconde étape, il conviendra de caractériser la logique de l’action de l’humanitarisme cubain n’ayant pas encore été établie par les chercheurs. La troisième étape reposera sur la comparaison critique entre les deux idéauxtypes ayant été présentés, dans le but, ultimement, de déterminer si l’humanitarisme cubain s’inscrit dans la norme (néo)libérale ou si, au contraire, il présente une alternative à celle-ci. Ceci permettra d’élaborer une réflexion sur l’hégémonie, la domination légitime et la place de l’humanitaire dans les relations internationales. / Since the end of the Cold War, humanitarian aid has mainly been a Western practice, contributing to the emergence of a neo-liberal norm of intervention. In order to determine if there is an alternative practice, this research aims at analyzing the Cuban’s humanitarian aid. Based on a literature review and a fieldwork led in Cuba with those “internationalist missions” volunteers, this study follows three main steps. The first part, relying on studies carried out by post-foucaldiens authors such as Duffield, Pupavac, McFalls and Pandolfi, will determine the new trend of the humanitarian aid which appeared at the end of the Cold War. Laurence McFalls has presented it as an ideal-type as he identified the exercise of a (therapeutic) neo-liberal governementality on the humanitarian intervention’s field. Second, the logic of the Cuban international aid action, which has not yet been investigated by the researchers, will be characterized. Third, the previously presented ideal-types will be critically compared in order to determine if the Cuban humanitarian aid corresponds to the neo-liberal norm or if it, in fact, represents an alternative. This will allow us to think about key concepts such as hegemony, therapeutic domination and the place of humanitarian aid in international relations.

No description available.

It is well established that rural regional Australians have borne the brunt of globalization in terms of the adverse impacts caused by social and economic restructuring resulting from global, national and local forces. In response governments and communities have embraced sustainability and civil society for promoting local community action and responsibility for social, economic and environmental issues. This research focuses on community narratives about the social change processes as they engage the forces of neo-liberal policies. Applying a qualitative, grounded theoretical approach to data collection and analysis this study also adopts a multi-perspective, multi-disciplinary framework to gain more holistic, contextual understandings of community functioning and change. In echoing the principles of community psychology, the foundational, multidisciplinary concepts of sense of community, social capital, civil society, empowerment and conscientization have informed understandings of this communitys process and outcome towards transformational change. This study offers a critical reflection of transformational change in an effort to promote more peaceful, collaborate relationships between dominant and oppressed groups in expanding our understandings and solutions for community change. Identified by Newbrough (1992, 1995) as the Third Force Position, the ideals of political community are visibly expressed as they attempt to pursue transformational change towards a just and sustainable future for the community. However, while civil society has made a positive contribution, also apparent are the processes and outcomes which affect those most vulnerable. Those most powerless continue to suffer from exclusion, marginalization and as a result are denied access to vital resources to meet their needs.

冷戰結束後的第一個十年，國際關係當中的最主要特徵就是族群衝突的出現，不過卻顯然缺乏適當的理論可以解釋此一現象，更遑論其解決。雖然族群衝突並非嶄新現象，但是其發生頻率在整個90年代當中卻是最高，也因此衝擊到整個國際安全議程的設定，國際安全機構甚至主動介入其中，為族群衝突的解決找到了可能的方案。傳統國際關係當中的主流理論並無法適當地解釋這一現象，其他研究者所嘗試建構的族群衝突理論也多半將重心集中在分析衝突的起源，對於族群衝突的解決同樣無法提供有力的解釋。 有關族群衝突的起因或過程，已經存在許多的解釋，但是對於族群衝突解決的研究卻缺乏系統性的研究。本文主張，國際安全機構乃是可以用來解決族群衝突的一項良好的制度性工具。原因一方面在於國際安全機構本身就是國際社會成員為追求共同利益、降低交易成本所建構出來的制度產物，在其中必然涵蓋了解決衝突的規範和程序，特別是當族群衝突的發生已經影響到國際社會的共同利益，國際安全機構勢將依據制度啟動衝突解決。另一方面，族群衝突過程當中的暴力程度和缺乏互信狀態，也使得衝突各造難以自行尋找出可行的解決方案。根據衝突解決研究途徑來看，由擁有強制力量的國際安全機構出面改變衝突的結構，將因此為族群衝突的解決創造機會。換言之，以制度主義理論為經，解釋國際安全機構的動機；以衝突解決架構為緯，分析國際安全機構在解決族群衝突過程中的角色和功能，將能夠充分解釋國際安全機構介入並干預族群衝突這一現象。本文也將以發生在非洲和東歐的幾次重大族群衝突案例來進一步驗證此一論點。 / The main feature of international relations in the first decade after the Cold War is the burgeoning of ethnic conflicts. IR theorists soon find themselves uncomfortable while trying to explain the phenomenon, not even close to the ‘resolution’. Ethnic conflicts are apparently not new to this globe, but they happened everywhere and thereby dominated international security agenda-setting, especially in the 1990s. In the meantime, international security institutions actively intervened in those conflicts and settled some of them. This could not be explained by the traditional IR theories either. Those ethnic conflict theories focus most of the origins, are also incapable of offering good analysis. There is still in lack of systematic research about the resolution of ethnic conflicts. The thesis claim international security institutions are well-designed and institutionalized to settle ethnic conflicts for two reasons. Firstly, international security institutions are the product of international cooperation for common good and transaction-cost cutting. Conflict regulating mechanisms are always embedded in these institutions. These mechanisms will be automatically activated while regional (or international) security is seriously endangered. Secondly, bloody violence and antagonism makes the conflicting parties hard to find feasible solutions to end these conflicts. According to the conflict resolution approach, the ethnic conflicts could be settled when international security institutions taking initiative to change the structure of conflict. By taking both institutionalism theory and conflict resolution approach as an analytical scheme, the thesis will not only explain the motives for international security institutions’ intervention, but also analyze the roles that international security institutions can play during the conflict process. Four case studies followed will be further explored to testify this hypothesis.