Cette thèse s’intéresse aux dynamiques d’appropriation de l’espace en lien avec les mobilités touristiques Nord-Sud dans les médinas inscrites au patrimoine mondial. Elle engage la réflexion sur les conflits de voisinage entre les touristes-résidents occidentaux et les habitants dans la médina de Marrakech au Maroc classée patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO en 1985. L’étude vise spécifiquement à analyser comment les usages renouvelés de l'espace en particulier les recompositions des modes d'habiter induits par les migrations touristiques influencent les rapports sociaux entres les touristes-résidents étrangers et des habitants de longue date. Un accent particulier sera porté sur le phénomène de « la riyadisation » par référence à l'achat et la reconversion des Riads (anciennes belles demeures) par les acteurs privés étrangers et ses effets sur la transformation des modes d’appropriation de l’espace et des liens de voisinage sur ce territoire spécifique et de haute valeur patrimoniale. La thèse mobilise le concept de la gentrification touristique comme clé de lecture de ce processus considéré comme une forme d'embourgeoisement des quartiers historiques centraux de la médina. En étudiant une ville touristique et patrimoniale du Sud remodelée par des mobilités migratoires transnationales, la thèse développe une thématique relativement récente en géographie du tourisme, en lien avec les conflits touristes-résidents comme nouvel enjeu des centres historiques inscrits au patrimoine mondial en général et des villes arabo-musulmanes en particulier. L'originalité de cette recherche découle de son approche théorique inspirée des écrits urbains critiques et de la néolibéralisation de la ville afin de saisir la complexité des interactions touristes-résidents dans le contexte touristique notamment par le courant postcolonial de la géographie sociale. A travers une méthode qualitative croisée basée sur l’observation participante, les parcours commentés, les entretiens semi-directifs, les groupes focus et l’inventaire cartographique, les plaintes de voisinage, les conflits touristes-résidents/habitants sont saisis à une échelle fine, celle de la mitoyenneté résidentielle, dans des milieux de vie marqués par la coprésence des usages de l'espace locaux et globalisées, lucratifs et résidentiels, populaires et élitistes impliquant des frictions socioculturelles traduites par diverses formes de conflits de voisinage. / This thesis focuses on the dynamics of space appropriation in connection with North-South tourist mobility in the medinas listed as World Heritage. It engages reflection on neighborhood conflicts between Western tourist-residents and inhabitants in the medina of Marrakech in Morocco, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. The study specifically aims to analyze how the renewed uses of space in particular, ways of living transformation induced by tourist migrations influence social relations between foreign tourist-residents and long-term residents. Particular emphasis will be placed on the phenomenon of “riyadisation” by reference to the purchase and conversion of Riads (historic residences) by foreign private actors and its effects on the transformation of space appropriation modes and neighborhood in this specific territory of high heritage value. The thesis mobilizes the concept of “tourism gentrification” as a key to understanding this process considered as a form of gentrification of the central historic districts of the medina. By studying a tourist and heritage city in the South remodeled by transnational mobilities, the thesis develops a relatively recent theme in the geography of tourism, in connection with tourist-resident conflicts as a new challenge for historic centers listed as World Heritage in general and for Arab-Muslim cities (medinas) in particular. The originality of this research lied on its theoretical approach inspired by critical urban writings and the neoliberalization of the city in order to understand the complexity of tourist-resident interactions in the tourist context, in particular by the postcolonial lens of social geography. Through a cross-qualitative method based on participant observation, walking interviews, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, cartographic inventory and neighborhood complaints, tourist-resident conflicts are analyzed on a fine scale, in living environments marked by the co-presence of local and globalized, lucrative and residential, popular and elitist uses of space involving socio-cultural frictions expressed in various forms of neighborhood conflicts.

This thesis examines the convergence of neoliberal rhetoric across popular media, academic, and institutional discourses, and draws connections between contemporary women's travel literature and common scripts in study abroad promotion. Finding such narratives to be freighted with ethnocentric constructs and tacit endorsements of market-based globalization, I critique the mainstreaming of neoliberal attitudes that depict travel as a commodity primarily valuable for its role in increasing the worth of U.S. American personhood. I question both the prevailing definitions of "global citizenship" and the ubiquitous claims that study abroad prepares students for "success in the global economy" as ideological signifiers of a higher education system that is increasingly corporatized. Utilizing a postcolonial and transnational feminist theoretical framework, the thesis offers a literary analysis of contemporary women's travel memoirs, examining patterns of narcissism and "othering" in their depictions of cross-cultural encounter, and connects these neoliberal trends to consumerism in higher education, study abroad, and post-second wave feminism. Shared themes in the representation of privileged U.S./Western women abroad and the student-consumer model in higher education bespeak a movement toward individual international engagements that reinforce corporate motives for travel and endorse the commodification of global environments, cultures, and people. In hopes of contesting this paradigm, I argue for the reassertion of a social justice-oriented definition of global citizenship and for educational models that foster self-criticism and the decolonization of knowledge. / Graduation date: 2012

This thesis examines the Vienna Convention on succession of States in respect of State Property, Archives and Debts, which was adopted in 1983 but subsequently failed to enter into force as too few states ratified it. Attention is given to the section of the Convention concerned specifically with the fate of archives in state succession, and the reasons why most of the major western nations, in particular those who had formerly or still possessed colonies, voted against the text. Given that this thesis analyses the failure of the Convention largely in terms of the political and historical circumstances surrounding it, particular attention is given to the context of decolonisation and Third World activism which sought to combat the neocolonial order which followed decolonisation, as well as the relative decline in power of the Third World during the debt crises of the 1980s. The context of historical efforts to resolve archival disputes and create legal frameworks in which to do so is also examined, before considering some of the most irreconcilable points of contention at the conference itself in part three. The concluding section considers some of the criticism leveled at the conference in its aftermath, in particular claims from those western nations which voted against it, while looking at both the subsequent consequences of this failure and the prospects for future agreements. This is a two years master's thesis in Archival Science. / Denna uppsats granskar Wienkonventionen om statssuccession med avseende på statlig egendom, arkiv och skulder, som antogs 1983 men därefter inte trädde i kraft eftersom alltför få stater ratificerade den. Fokus läggs på den del av konventionen som berör statsarkiv specifikt, och skälen till varför de flesta av de stora länderna i väst, särskilt de som tidigare eller fortfarande hade kolonier, röstade emot avtalet. Med tanke på att denna uppsats analyserar misslyckandet av konventionen till stor del med avseende på de politiska och historiska omständigheterna kring den, ägnas särskild uppmärksamhet åt kontexten av avkolonisering och tredje världsaktivismen som försökte bekämpa den neokoloniala ordningen som följde avkoloniseringen, såväl som den relativa maktminskningen i tredje världen under skuldkrisen på 1980-talet. Kontexten för historiska försök att lösa arkivtvister och skapa rättsliga ramar för att göra det undersöks också. Sedan diskuteras några av de mest oförenliga ståndpunkterna vid själva konferensen i del tre. I den avslutande delen granskas en del av den kritik som riktades mot konferensen i dess efterdyningar, särskilt påståenden från de västländer som röstade emot den, samtidigt som man tittar på de efterföljande konsekvenserna av detta misslyckande och utsikterna för framtida avtal.

L’opposition entre sociétés humaines et nature, qui pose les fondements ontologiques de la modernité, a provoqué l’insertion de tous les êtres – humains et non-humains – dans une nouvelle phase de l’histoire de la planète : l’Anthropocène. Alors même que l’origine anthropique du défi climatique rend impérative une réflexion sur notre rapport asymétrique à la nature, la culture a déjà commencé à développer une pensée écologique féconde. Dans l’œuvre dystopique de l’écrivain et activiste environnemental mexicain Homero Aridjis, qui nous propulse dans un paysage urbain immonde, infect et encrassé qui rend tangible et visible la crise écologique, l’apocalypse est pensée comme l’aboutissement d’un monde inscrit dans la matrice ravageuse de l’utopie moderne. À travers l’étude des différentes déclinaisons des dichotomies cultivées dans la pensée moderne – ontologique (culture/nature), géographique (Europe/Amérique) et de genre (masculin/féminin) –, le mémoire mettra en relief le changement paradigmatique auquel nous convie l’auteur des dystopies La leyenda de los soles (1993) et ¿En quién piensas cuando haces el amor? (1995). Contrairement à ce qui se traduit dans la cosmologie moderne, au sein de ce diptyque littéraire, culture et nature sont comprises comme des entités complémentaires. Ainsi, notre recherche propose non seulement une étude approfondie des motifs de la crise environnementale dans le roman, mais également des pistes pour réfléchir, via la fiction littéraire, à la réhabilitation des liens intrinsèques qui unissent culture et nature. / La oposición entre sociedades humanas y naturaleza, que sienta las bases ontológicas de la modernidad, condujo a la inserción de todos los seres – humanos y no-humanos – en una nueva fase de la historia del planeta: el Antropoceno. Si el origen antrópico del desafío climático nos obliga a reflexionar sobre la relación asimétrica del ser humano con la naturaleza, la cultura ya ha empezado a desarrollar un fecundo pensamiento ecológico. En la obra distópica del escritor y medioambientalista mexicano Homero Aridjis, quien nos convoca en un paisaje urbano inmundo, repugnante y contaminado que vuelve tangible y visible la crisis ecológica, el apocalipsis se concibe como el acabamiento de un mundo inscrito en la matriz destructora de la utopía moderna. A través del estudio de las distintas declinaciones de las dicotomías cultivadas en el pensamiento moderno – ontológica (cultura/naturaleza), geográfica (Europa/América) y genérica (masculino/femenino) –, esta memoria pondrá de relieve el cambio paradigmático que instila el autor de las distopías La leyenda de los soles (1993) y ¿En quién piensas cuando haces el amor? (1995). Al contrario de lo que promueve la cosmología moderna, en este díptico literario, cultura y naturaleza están entendidos como entes complementarios. Así, nuestra indagación propone no solamente un análisis profundo de los motivos de la crisis medioambiental en la novelística, sino también pistas para reflexionar vía la ficción literaria sobre la rehabilitación de los lazos intrínsecos que unen cultura y naturaleza. / The opposition between human societies and nature, which constitutes the ontological bases of modernity, has led to the insertion of all beings – humans and non-humans – in a new phase of the history of our planet: the Anthropocene. As the anthropic origin of the climate challenge obligates us to reflect upon the asymmetric relation of humankind with nature, culture has already started to develop a productive ecological thinking. In Mexican writer and ecological activist Homero Aridjis’s dystopic work, which propels us into a filthy, repulsive and polluted urban landscape that makes the ecological crisis tangible and visible, the apocalypse is thought of as the result of a world trapped in the destructive matrix of the modern utopia. Through analyzing different expressions of the dichotomies cultivated in modern thinking – ontological (culture/nature), geographic (Europe/América) and gender-related (masculine/feminine) –, this research underscores the paradigmatic changes that Aridjis promotes in his dystopic works La leyenda de los soles (1993) and ¿En quién piensas cuando haces el amor? (1995). Counter to the modern cosmology, in this literary diptych, culture and nature are understood as complementary entities. Therefore, our thesis offers not only a complete analysis of the ecological crisis motives in the novel, but also guidelines to reflect on the intrinsic bonds that link culture and nature through literary fiction.

This case study is the first comprehensive analysis of the German Democratic Republic’s activities in South Yemen, the only Marxist state in the Arab World and at times the closest and most loyal ally to the Soviet Union in the Middle East during the Cold War. The dissertation analyzes East German Foreign Policy as a case of Socialist state- and nation-building and in doing so produces one major hypotheses: The case of South Yemen may be considered both, an ‘exceptional case’ and the possible ‘ideal type’ of the ‘general’ of East German foreign policy and thus points to what the GDR’s foreign policy could have been, if it hadn’t been for the numerous restraints of East German foreign-policy-making. The author critically engages with the normative and empirical dimensions of the ‘Limits of Foreign Policy’ by including a constructivist perspective of foreign policy. Apart from the case study itself, the dissertation provides the reader with a thorough overview of forty years of East German foreign policy with a focus on the interests and influence of The Soviet Union as well as the first introduction and methodological approach to East Germany's foreign policy in the Middle East. The empirical side of the analysis rests on archival documents of the German Foreign Office, the German National Archive and the former Ministry of State Security of the GDR. These documents are reviewed and published for the first time and are complemented by personal interviews with contemporary witnesses. The interdisciplinary approach integrates and expands methods of both History and Political Science, applicable to other cases. Conducted research is intended to contribute to academic discourse on South Yemen’s unique history, divided Germany’s role in the Cold War, East German foreign policy, but also the long-term impact of Socialist foreign-policy-making in the Global South which so far has been neglected almost completely in academia. / Graduate / miriam.mueller@fu-berlin.de

An analysis of Soviet history and political thought in the context of imperialism and colonialism This study attempts to clarify problems with dominant liberal narratives and historiography relating to the Soviet Union, particularly relating to questions of empire and colonialism, and instead platforms Third World Marxists and other anti-imperialist scholars and revolutionaries whose views have been effectively sidelined and stifled. By tracing the history of political thought around these questions from pre-revolutionary Marxists through to Cold War era anti-colonial and pan-African scholars and revolutionaries alongside developments in the dynamic and forms of imperialism, and by situating anti-colonial nationalisms in the context of worldmaking rather than state building, this text aims to contribute to analyses of Soviet policy and its relationship to the global history of decolonisation in the 20th Century. This work identifies serious theoretical and ideological deficiencies in existing literature and concludes that concise definitions of imperialism and empire such as those used by V.I. Lenin and Kwame Nkrumah are not consistent with commonly held beliefs about the role played by the Soviet Union in the history of anti-colonial and national liberation movements. Western liberal literature on this subject has suffered significantly as a result of political and ideological prejudices stemming directly from the US Cold War victory and psychological warfare campaigns targeting communist and anti-colonial movements to this end. My research indicates that misidentification and misuse of terms relating to empire and colonialism pose serious obstacles and risks to present and future efforts geared towards global peace and equality which add urgency to the correction of mistakes both in scholarly and popular historical, political, and cultural approaches to interpretations of Soviet history. / Graduate