Wong, Ho Yin. / Thesis submitted in: October 2008. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 265-275). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.ii / 緒論 --- p.iii / Acknowledgement --- p.iv / Abbreviations --- p.ix / List of Tables --- p.ix / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introductory Chapter --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- The Two Research Questions --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3 --- Significance of Studying the DPJ --- p.6 / Chapter 1.4 --- Dissertation Framework --- p.7 / Chapter 1.5 --- Chapter Conclusion --- p.12 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Background of Japanese Politics --- p.14 / Chapter 2.1 --- Opposition Failure in Japan --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2 --- External Constraints Faced by Opposition Parties --- p.17 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Electoral System --- p.17 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Electoral Campaign Law --- p.21 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Clientelism and Centralized Government Financial Structure --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Party Organization of the LDP --- p.23 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- Voting Behavior --- p.27 / Chapter 2.2.6 --- Press Club System --- p.28 / Chapter 2.2.7 --- Conclusion --- p.31 / Chapter 2.3 --- Opposition Fragmentation in Japanese Politics --- p.32 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Opposition Fragmentation under the 55´ة System --- p.32 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Opposition Cooperation and the Break Down of the 55´ة System --- p.37 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- The New Party System and Opposition Coalition Failure --- p.39 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- The NFP Internal Fragmentation --- p.43 / Chapter 2.4 --- Opposition Failure and the DPJ --- p.48 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- The Emergence of the DPJ --- p.49 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- The Expansion of the DPJ --- p.52 / Chapter 2.5 --- Chapter Conclusion --- p.54 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Theory and Methodology --- p.57 / Chapter 3.1 --- Party System --- p.58 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Four Attributes of a Party System --- p.58 / Chapter 3.1.1.1 --- Number of Parties --- p.59 / Chapter 3.1.1.2 --- Relative Strength and Size --- p.59 / Chapter 3.1.1.3 --- Structure of Competition --- p.60 / Chapter 3.1.1.4 --- Cleavage System --- p.61 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Two Propositions of Party System Change --- p.62 / Chapter 3.1.2.1 --- Cleavage System as a Determinant of Party System --- p.62 / Chapter 3.1.2.2 --- Party System as a System of Interaction --- p.65 / Chapter 3.2 --- Party Organization --- p.68 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Electoral Competition Perspective --- p.69 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Sociological Perspective --- p.72 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Institutional Perspective --- p.75 / Chapter 3.2.3.1 --- Genetic Model --- p.76 / Chapter 3.2.3.2 --- Institutionalization --- p.77 / Chapter 3.2.3.3 --- Implication of the Institutional Perspective --- p.78 / Chapter 3.2.3.4 --- Conclusion --- p.80 / Chapter 3.3 --- Media --- p.81 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Role of Media --- p.81 / Chapter 3.3.1.1 --- Media as Neutral Transmitter --- p.82 / Chapter 3.3.1.2 --- Media as Watchdog --- p.83 / Chapter 3.3.1.3 --- Media as Servant --- p.84 / Chapter 3.3.1.4 --- "Media as “Trickster""" --- p.86 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Media Effect --- p.87 / Chapter 3.3.2.1 --- Short-term Effect --- p.88 / Chapter 3.3.2.1.1 --- Agenda-Setting --- p.88 / Chapter 3.3.2.1.2 --- Framing --- p.88 / Chapter 3.3.2.1.3 --- Promote Image Campaign --- p.90 / Chapter 3.3.2.2 --- Long-term Effect --- p.91 / Chapter 3.3.2.2.1 --- Political Involvement --- p.91 / Chapter 3.4 --- Methodology --- p.93 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Assessing Party Organization --- p.93 / Chapter 3.4.1.1 --- First-hand and Second-hand Interview --- p.94 / Chapter 3.4.1.2 --- Documentary Research --- p.94 / Chapter 3.4.1.3 --- Content Analysis on Politicians´ة Statements --- p.95 / Chapter 3.4.1.4 --- Counting on Distribution of Posts --- p.95 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Assessing Media Strategy of the DPJ --- p.96 / Chapter 3.4.2.1 --- Documentary Research --- p.96 / Chapter 3.5 --- Chapter Conclusion --- p.97 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Internal Coherence of the DPJ --- p.99 / Chapter 4.1 --- Factionalism in the DPJ --- p.100 / Chapter 4.2 --- Three Dimensions of Conflict --- p.104 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Traditional Ideological Conflict --- p.105 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Former Party Affiliation Conflict --- p.106 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Generation Conflict --- p.107 / Chapter 4.3 --- Leadership of the DPJ --- p.108 / Chapter 4.4 --- Existing Literatures Explaining the DPJ Unification --- p.112 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Electoral System --- p.113 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Internal Balance of Selective Incentives --- p.114 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Criticism towards Existing Explanations --- p.115 / Chapter 4.5 --- Three Factors Unifying the DPJ --- p.119 / Chapter 4.5.1 --- Leadership Manipulation in Party Organization --- p.122 / Chapter 4.5.1.1 --- Bottom-up Policy Making Process --- p.123 / Chapter 4.5.1.2 --- Balanced Leadership System --- p.127 / Chapter 4.5.1.3 --- Arrangement in the Merger with LP --- p.130 / Chapter 4.5.1.4 --- Conclusion --- p.133 / Chapter 4.5.2 --- Collective Incentive of the DPJ --- p.134 / Chapter 4.5.2.1 --- Role of Leadership in Collective Incentive --- p.136 / Chapter 4.5.2.2 --- Differentiation with the LDP --- p.140 / Chapter 4.5.2.3 --- Politicians´ة Conformity --- p.142 / Chapter 4.5.2.3.1 --- The Analysis --- p.144 / Chapter 4.5.2.3.2 --- Analysis Result --- p.146 / Chapter 4.5.2.3.3 --- Conclusion --- p.148 / Chapter 4.5.2.4 --- Conclusion --- p.150 / Chapter 4.5.3 --- Selective Incentive of the DPJ --- p.151 / Chapter 4.5.3.1 --- The Analysis on Party Post --- p.155 / Chapter 4.5.3.1.1 --- Standing Officers Council Post --- p.155 / Chapter 4.5.3.1.2 --- Next Cabinet --- p.163 / Chapter 4.5.3.2 --- The Analysis on Diet Post --- p.169 / Chapter 4.5.3.2.1 --- HR Post --- p.172 / Chapter 4.5.3.2.2 --- HC Post --- p.174 / Chapter 4.5.3.3 --- Conclusion --- p.176 / Chapter 4.6 --- Chapter Conclusion --- p.178 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Media Strategy and Electoral Support of the DPJ --- p.181 / Chapter 5.1 --- Electoral Performance of the DPJ --- p.181 / Chapter 5.2 --- Explanations towards the DPJ Electoral Performance --- p.186 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Structural Perspective --- p.186 / Chapter 5.2.1.1 --- Electoral System --- p.187 / Chapter 5.2.1.2 --- Changing Societal Ideology --- p.190 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Party Organization Perspective --- p.192 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Voting Behavior Perspective --- p.194 / Chapter 5.2.4 --- Criticism towards these Explanations --- p.196 / Chapter 5.3 --- Support Base of the DPJ --- p.197 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Unaffiliated Voters and DPJ Support --- p.200 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Characteristics of Unaffiliated Voters --- p.202 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- Mobilization of Unaffiliated Voters --- p.205 / Chapter 5.3.4 --- Media and Unaffiliated Voters --- p.208 / Chapter 5.3.5 --- Conclusion --- p.212 / Chapter 5.4 --- Media Strategies of the DPJ --- p.213 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Image and Popularity Promotion of the DPJ before 2001 --- p.215 / Chapter 5.4.1.1 --- Popularity Promotion Campaign --- p.215 / Chapter 5.4.1.2 --- Image Promotion Campaign --- p.217 / Chapter 5.4.1.3 --- Clarify Party Vision Campaign --- p.218 / Chapter 5.4.1.4 --- Development of New Media Channels --- p.219 / Chapter 5.4.1.5 --- Conclusion --- p.221 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Policy Oriented Strategy and the Manifesto --- p.222 / Chapter 5.4.2.1 --- Adjustment in Party Organization --- p.223 / Chapter 5.4.2.2 --- Publications in Promoting Policy --- p.224 / Chapter 5.4.2.3 --- Policy-Oriented Electoral Campaign and Manifesto --- p.225 / Chapter 5.4.2.4 --- New Media in Policy-Oriented Campaign --- p.227 / Chapter 5.4.2.5 --- Conclusion --- p.229 / Chapter 5.4.3 --- The 2005 HR Election Defeat and Strategic Campaign --- p.229 / Chapter 5.4.3.1 --- Koizumi´ةs Success in Media Campaign --- p.230 / Chapter 5.4.3.2 --- The DPJ Failure in Media Campaign --- p.232 / Chapter 5.4.3.3 --- Party Organization Adjustment in Strategic Promotion Campaign --- p.235 / Chapter 5.4.3.4 --- Focuses in Strategic Promotion Campaign --- p.236 / Chapter 5.4.3.5 --- New Media in Strategic Promotion Campaign --- p.238 / Chapter 5.4.3.6 --- Strategic Promotion Campaign and the 2007 HC Election --- p.238 / Chapter 5.4.3.7 --- Conclusion --- p.239 / Chapter 5.5 --- Chapter Conclusion --- p.240 / Chapter Chapter 6: --- Conclusion Chapter --- p.242 / Chapter 6.1 --- Summary --- p.243 / Chapter 6.2 --- Theoretical Reflection --- p.246 / Chapter 6.3 --- Current Issues of the DPJ --- p.250 / Chapter 6.4 --- Further Works --- p.254 / Appendix I: Interview Record with a DPJ Officer --- p.257 / Appendix II: Interview Record with Professor Kabashima Ikuo --- p.262 / Bibliography --- p.265

acase@tulane.edu / Scholarship on premodern ruling elites tends to minimize the complexity of ancient politics and to focus on the decisions of individual kings and their charismatic swaying of entire populations. This dissertation departs from this tendency by investigating the exercise of power by the governments of premodern complex societies, or how ancient politicians organized their institutions. I argue the politics of ancient civilizations may best be studied by focussing on their regime: the political community which coalesced when rulers assembled their allies within the seat of government. This approach emphasizes practices of communication between a ruling body and its political network, as reflected by the exchange of information and goods. Among premodern complex societies ruled by divine kingship, the regime is best described as a royal court, whose architectural institution corresponds to a regal palace. In order to address this anthropological political model, I examine the multi-dimensional archaeological record of the regal palace of La Corona, a small polity of northwest Guatemala that emerged during the Classic Period of Maya civilization (AD 250-950). I rely on an assemblage of complementary datasets – architecture, macro-artifacts, hieroglyphic monuments, micro-artifacts, geochemical elements, and macro-botanical remains – to study how the La Corona royal court exercised political power. I study the last three construction phases of the north section of the La Corona regal palace and their two-century-long occupation to address a set of pragmatic questions. By examining residences, political stages, passageways, administrative space, ancillary buildings, and middens, I seek to understand how Classic Maya politicians relied on economic and ritualized exchanges to effectively manage their regime. In addition, thanks to the rich historical record of La Corona and to a fine-tuned architectural sequence, I explore how the changing historical and geopolitical contexts of this polity transformed its government. Through this rich diachronic empirical case-study, I build upon and contribute to an anthropological archaeology of politics, to ancient political economy, and to Classic Maya historical archaeology. In addition, I wish to highlight why the study of ancient politics may be relevant for us today, and perhaps, our near future. / 1 / Maxime Lamoureux-St-Hilaire

This dissertation examines the mindset of establishment Louisiana during Huey Long"'s domination of state politics from 1928-1935. As such, it engages the period using a tool other than the Huey Long biography. It utilizes especially manuscript collections, including the T. Harry Williams oral interviews of anti-Longs, the newspaper record, and the secondary literature of the Long period. The character, rhetoric, and actions of several of the most articulate and important establishment anti-Longs are treated, including J.Y. Sanders, Sr. & Jr., Cecil Morgan, Mason Spencer, Hodding and Betty Carter, Hilda Phelps Hammond, and W.D. Robinson. The work makes the following major arguments. Firstly, that anti-Longs intensely although ineffectively opposed the Long program from 1928 and that their touted alternative program of reform was a smokescreen to make deficit-spending to fund infrastructure development institutionally impossible. Secondly, that the 1929 impeachment of Huey Long was caused by establishment opposition to a Long proposed oil tax and that although it shifted establishment rhetoric from a criticism of Long"'s ends to a criticism of his means, the shift was marked by moral and ethical hypocrisy. Thirdly, that the attacks on Long"'s personality which characterized anti-Long rhetoric were rooted in class contempt and alienated the balance of the electorate from anti-Longism. Fourthly, that the comparisons of Long to Hitler and to Mussolini do not stand up to scrutiny but did reflect a deep-seated establishment feeling of entitlement to power and of being bullied and much-abused by Long. Fifthly, that examining the establishment"'s historical memory of the events of the late nineteenth century, especially Reconstruction and Redemption, offers a productive line of enquiry into understanding their mentality, the meaning they attached to the term democracy, and their willingness to consider the legitimacy of political violence. / Alex J McManus

This thesis uses a reading of Deleuze and Guattarian philosophies, drawn in the main from their companion texts Anti-Oediuus and A Thousand Plateaus, to explore ways in which popular cultural events and texts construct the way we think. The thesis explores how popular narrative produces the conditions of thinking in terms of a state model of subject-identity, and the manner in which this thinking constructs desire in terms of a desire for its own repression. Of particular concern is the danger this thinking has in constructing a populace conductive to the formation of social conditions marked by fascistic political practices. In considering this kind of thinking and its modes of construction, Deleuze and Guattari make a significant shift away from dominant theoretical analysis of power to argue that desire and the capture of desire are the primary agents of state control.The thesis draws on a number of popular cultural mediums and events, working towards a particular exemplary focus on the social conditions in contemporary Australian society. Integrating dialogues with several other key theorists across a broad spectrum of cultural studies concerns, it concludes that the state model reproduces itself throughout history and within different historical and cultural formations as a repetition of minority desires controlling the majority populous through refrains that appropriate plurality and difference. Further, while collective social revolutionary movements have ultimately failed in the past to overcome this repetition, the thesis suggests that Deleuze and Guattaris concepts of becoming through a molecular revolution, aimed at re-constructing the way we think, remains as a positive hope for liberation.

The problem being investigated is the historical situation relating to two independent MPs holding the balance of power in the Australian House of Representatives in 1940 and 1941. The two MPs, Arthur Coles and Alex Wilson, supported the conservative Menzies and Fadden governments before shifting their support (on October 3 1941) to the Labor Party led by Curtin. The procedure followed is the examination, in the form of a historical narrative, of primary evidence in private papers (such as Coles???s), analysis of Hansard (CPD), local and metropolitan newspapers. Also examined are references to the two independents in secondary literature. The key focus of interest will be the idea that chance or serendipity played a major role in achieving all the key outcomes which many Australians (and historians like Hasluck) often otherwise depict as the triumph of good sense within a supposedly non-problematic twoparty political system which self-selected the best possible leadership during time of war. Coles took over the seat of a popular Cabinet minister who had died in an air disaster. Coles???s and Wilson???s holding the balance of power was another extreme aberration, as no House of Representatives from 1906 to 1940, and none since, has not had either of the two party blocs (Labor and anti-Labor) without a majority. Hasluck, the most influential historian of Australian politics during the 1939-1945 war, viewed the fact of Coles???s and Wilson???s serendipity as evidence, in itself, of their wider historical, ideological and political irrelevance. The general results obtained by pursuing a critical historical narrative approach is that a strong counter-argument has been developed that suggests that Hasluck (and wider historical memory) has insufficiently valued as historical factors Coles???s and Wilson???s ideological aims. Coles was a representative of business progressivism and Wilson of agrarian socialism. The major conclusion reached is that Coles???s and Wilson???s wider aims led them to adopt the tactic of timing their shift to Labor so as to maximize their ideological influence on the Labor administration that would result whenever they decided to exercise their entirely serendipitously attained balance of power.

The development of information systems and information management continue to present considerable challenges for many organizations, and more often than not for reason other than technological ones. Politically sensitive issues that are frequently raised by and bound up in such matters are an important cause of difficulties. This thesis proposes that perceptions of ownership of business processes and data by various groups within an organization can be a potent contributing factor in the occurrence of such political troubles. The thesis uses the new concept of information wards to develop a graphical model that links the scope of system development or organizational change and ownership perceptions to the likelihood of political difficulties. It then explores the links to organizational theory. The applicability and usefulness of the model is then argued through its application to a variety of case drawn from the information systems literature as well as case study project that provided the initial stimulus for the model???s development. It is shown that the model is capable of providing a variable explanation of the occurrence or absence of political troubles in the cases investigated. A prototype specialized group support system called Info*Warder based on the model has been built and is described in some detail. The software allows representative of organizational stakeholders to stake claims to business processes and data that are within the scope of systems development or change proposals, with the intention of permitting early detection of differences of opinion and potential conflicts. The thesis describes a research study in which the Info*Warder software was trialled within three Australia State Government departments. These departments were undergoing significant change both in their roles and information systems support arrangements and provided a useful test for the model and software. While the test was an indicative one only, it nevertheless showed that the software and its underlying theoretical model have the potential to assist in clarifying ownership issues related to information management and systems development in organizations, thereby helping to resolve them. Lastly, the thesis assesses how the developed model and software might fit into representative existing techniques and methodologies.

This thesis summons a contemporary reading of George Orwell, evaluating his current role and function as novelist, essayist, and twentieth century cultural icon. The year 2003 marked the centenary of Eric Blair’s birth and proved a productive year for Blair (and Orwell) enthusiasts. After nearly three years of research, my journey through Orwell’s words and world(s) has undergone significant re-evaluation, taking me far beyond such an appropriate commemoration. In the tragic aftermath of 9/11 ¯ through Afghanistan and Iraq, Bali, Madrid, and London ¯ Orwell’s grimly dystopian vision acquires renewed significance for a new generation. Few writers (living or dead) are as enduringly newsworthy and malleable as George Orwell. The scope and diversity of his work ¯ the sheer volume of his letters, essays, and assorted journalism ¯ elicits a response from academics, journalists, critics and readers. My research, tempered by a ‘War’ on terror and a televisual Big Brother, shapes these responses at a time when 24-hour surveillance is viewed as the path to instant celebrity. Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four provides unique insights into a highly pervasive and secretive regime, which in light of post 9/11 political trajectories is highly admonitory. These pathways and connections are produced in my research. I do not make easy links between past and present ¯ Eric and Tony Blair ¯ at the level of metaphor or simile. Indeed, the pages that follow traverse the digital archives and probe the rationale for mobilising Orwell in this time and place. I am focussed on writing a history and establishing a context calibrated to the fictional Oceania. This doctorate commenced as an investigation of George Orwell’s journalism and fiction one hundred years after his birth. At the outset of the candidature, the Twin Towers fell and new implications and interpretations of Orwell arose. My research demonstrates that the Oceania of Orwell’s imagining presents an evocative insight into the contemporary alliance forged by the Bush, Blair, and Howard triumvirate in its quest for world peace. Using Orwell as a guide, I move through theories of writing and politics, in the process uncovering capitalism’s inherently hostile and negligent attitude towards those who are materially less fortunate. I began my work convinced of Orwell’s relevance to cultural studies, particularly in understanding popular cultural writing and the need for social intervention. I concluded this process even more persuaded of my original intent, but shaped, sharpened and compensated by new events, insights, tragedies and Big Brothers. It is imperative for the future directives of cultural studies that critical, political, pedagogic and intellectual links with Orwell are (re-)formed, (re-)established and maintained. My text works in the spaces between cultural studies and cultural journalism, pondering the role and significance of the critical ¯ and dissenting ¯ intellectual. Memory, History, and Identity all circulate in Orwell’s prose. These concerns and questions have provided impetus and direction for this thesis. They have also shaped the research. Few expect Orwell’s totalitarian dystopia to materialise unchallenged from the pages of a book. The wielders of power are more capable and more subtle. Yet it is impossible to deny that the litany of lies and contempt central to Big Brother’s Oceania is reproducible by any administration assisted by a complicit media and a malleable citizenry. The emergence of such a phenomenon has been well documented in the post 9/11 United States. This thesis has arisen out of the miasma of hubris, lies and contempt framing and surrounding Mr. Bush’s war on terror. My purpose ¯ not unlike Orwell’s in Nineteen Eighty-Four ¯ is to warn, not judge or berate. Orwell understood political rhetoric. He was not a prophet but a journalist who interpreted the nuances and temptations of excessive power. He had witnessed the extraordinary ‘death’ of history in Spain, and thereafter he raised his pen to combat intellectual hypocrisy and dishonesty wherever he found it. Under Orwell’s tutelage, plain words pierce, probe and unsettle. They are sharp cutting instruments, fully capable of transcending time. How else are we to explain his enduring popularity as a writer? This thesis offers a critical and interpretative homage to George Orwell, a man who recognised the beauty of well chosen words, who loved and appreciated their enduring complexity and power. A framing structure has been chosen that places Orwell in close relation to poverty, class and politics, war and journalism. Individual chapter headings (and their contents) exploit Orwell’s unique response to the significant talking points of his era. After resolving to write professionally, Orwell starved and struggled in Paris, and frequented ‘doss houses’ in and around London. I track these wanderings in chapter one. He studied the effects of the Depression and unemployment in Yorkshire and Lancashire (chapter two), and fought and was wounded in Spain (chapter three). Thereafter he turned to political writing and journalism (chapter four). What he failed to anticipate was a post war Britain overwhelmed by despondency and dissolved by internal devolution (chapter five). His concluding apocalyptic discharge, the dystopian Nineteen Eighty-Four, was directed at the higher echelons of institutional power and corporate corruption in Britain, America, and Europe, which I explore in chapter six. The world has changed significantly since Orwell (and J. B. Priestley) went in search of England’s faltering ‘pulse’ in the 1930s. Englishness and traditional working class values have distorted and shifted in unexpected ways. These transformations are partly the result of war and the loss of empire. They are also a response to American cultural and economic hegemony, the privatisation of industry, offshore investments, the emergence of the European Economic Community, and the burgeoning global economy. George Orwell matters, even after this scale of change because he faced his own prejudices on the page and developed a writing style that enabled him to challenge the accepted orthodoxies and hypocrisies of his era. This is evident when returning to his essays and journalism, fifty-five years after his death. He possessed the ability to make readers feel uncomfortable, raising topics and concerns that we would rather not discuss. Denounced as a traitor by the pre-1956 unreconstructed left and feted as a hero by the self-congratulatory right, Orwell resists labelling and easy categorization. We owe him a considerable debt for exposing the likely directions of unchecked political ambition, and this insight should not be treated lightly. As I read him, Orwell was the last man in Europe, ‘the canary in the mine.’ He is a literary world heritage site of considerable iconic appeal and international significance. He is an outsider’s ‘outsider’ perpetually facing inwards, and we need him now.

"July 2004" / Bibliography: leaves 291-330. / vi, 330 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Using Michel Foucault's discourse of governmentality as the theoretical foundation of the thesis, the author offers a strategic approach towards the rethinking of culture and politics in the modern, technologically sophisticated hybrid city-state of Singapore. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics, Discipline of Politics, 2004

The purpose of this dissertation is to establish the meaning and definition of postfeminism along with an assessment of whether it accurately represents the current era of thinking. It is an historical, descriptive, qualitative analysis of the feminist movement from its inception with the central focus on the newest strand of feminist thought, postfeminism. The progression toward these conclusions entails an outlining of the waves of feminism and the strands of thought within these eras as well as a discussion of third wave feminism, modern feminism and generational differences between the waves. The focus on postfeminism begins with an exploration of the meaning of “post” as well as a look at postfeminism’s strong ties to popular culture and the theoretical underpinnings of this concept. The postfeminist issues of victimhood, work, femininity, sexuality, marriage, men, family and generational collaboration are reviewed in order to determine the definition of postfeminism, assess whether the current era is postfeminist, consider if postfeminism is anti-feminism and measure postfeminism as it relates to the third wave. Finally, the implications of postfeminism and a review of its politics conclude the project.

This work is an attempt to define a comprehensive contemporary model of the causes of wars of secession, state and illustrate its gaps, and develop new theories to accentuate and improve that model, and through comparative case studies perform some elementary tests of their validity. My theoretical paradigm is dependent on an assumption that the ultimate causes, as captured under the rubric of institutions and structures, of an event involving rational but free-willed human beings are inadequate to explaining the onset of radical, extraordinary politics in general and wars of secession in particular. On the contrary, proximate causes, in the form of environmental factors that cannot be classified structural or institutional and which are either deeply influenced by elite decisions or deeply influence elite decisions must be brought into the theoretical chain. Specifically I examine the case of Namibia, focusing on the East Caprivi region where in 1999 a substantial portion of the Lozi population attempted to secede, comparing it to the case of Botswana and another minority, the Kalanga people who dominate the North East District. I find that the two states are (1) structurally and institutionally similar, to the point that were these the only causal factors involved one would assume they would suffer similar behavioral outcomes, (2) divergent in terms of minority political identities and degrees of mobilization, and (3) divergent in terms of a series of internal and external environmental decision that cannot be described as structural or institutional.