The thesis investigates the political wing of the Occitan ethnoregionalist movement in the south of France from 1974, a point when it had a comparatively high profile, to 2000, and analyses the reasons for its marginalisation over time. Unlike other ethnoregionalist movements in France, it has been subject to little academic research. A study was made of documentary sources, including the internal bulletins of the political organizations and their published journals, which made possible a micro-level perspective on the movement, and revealed some inaccuracies of interpretation by previous researchers. An overview of the evolution of the political wing is established. An evaluation of the functioning and effectiveness of the organizations, which identifies their internal problems, is followed by an investigation of the external factors which contributed to the marginalisation of the Occitan movement. These include the geographical, historical, demographic and socio-linguistic factors which have differentiated the Occitan movement from other French ethnoregionalist movements, and made mobilization of the target audience difficult. By taking a global view of Occitania, rather than focussing, like previous researchers, on Languedoc, the study highlights the extent to which such factors made the movement's aims for political autonomy for the whole of the territory unrealistic. The relative success of the movement in the mid 1970s resulted from the fact that for a period its aims were congruent with the wave of social movement activity in post-1968 France, but the association was not deep-seated. In the 1980s and 1990s the effects of the decentralization reforms and the growth of the Front National had a negative effect on the movement's mobilizational potential. The issue of leadership, referred to briefly in previous studies, is subjected here to more detailed analysis, and is revealed as a significant factor in the weakness of political Occitanism.

This thesis is to study the political role of the People's Liberation Army from the approach of structure and function. The framework of the thesis consists of three major parts, first, the influence of Chinese traditional political culture on, and the formation of, the political role of the PL A; second, the influence of domestic political struggles and external military conflicts on the development of the political role of the PLA; and the third, the analysis of the transition of the PLA's political role from the structure and personnel arrangements of the CCPCC Within the above-mentioned three scopes, this thesis make a thorough discussion on the following: (1) The relationship between the structure of the PRC and the formation of the PLA's political role; (2) How has ideology influenced the army's political role; (3) What is Mao's viewpoint and his influence on the development of the army's political role; (4) What is the link between the army and the party, and how has this developed; (6) What accounts for the expansion of the PLA's political functions; (7) What is the influence of political factional struggles on the PLA's political role; (8) Is it political institution or military institution that controls the recruitment of the military elite; (9) What are the disparities between the military elite in handling international conflicts and what are their political considerations; (10) What is the Party's position in the army; (11) How have the Party’s important meetings and personnel arrangements influenced the rise and fall of the PLA's political role?

Four short stories that depict aspects of Seattle not often found in popular culture. Stories that focus on men in tenuous moments of their lives.

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This thesis focuses on a sphere of contemporary anarchism in which the ideas of the Situationists have found influence. It foregrounds the oppositional impulse underpinning the lived worlds of these milieux, and the symbolic representations used in their aims, ideals and responses to the realities they confront. One of the key sources of primary evidence will therefore be independently published texts. Writing and publishing are important interventions in the activities which constitute the broader anarchist movement, forming an essential background to the post-Situationist interventions, mainly periodicals, which are the main focus of the thesis. The Situationists, a group of radicals active, in the 1950s and 1960s, who developed a critique of everyday life, of commodity culture and of hierarchy and power, form the central theme connecting the range of interventions explored. The discussion includes a consideration of May 68, in which the Situationists participated, and the wall writing of May 68, which reflects the Situationist influence and which expresses an alternative reality and reclaimed public space. The Situationists, and May 68, form the focus of two other themes. Firstly, the past as a repository of ideas, transmitting the means of an oppositional impulse over time. Secondly, the way in which a sense of community is constituted not just synchronically but diachronically. Another key argument is that the 'oppositional impulse' arises not only through rational, intellectual and cognitive thought, but also on an emotional level - as a response to and reaction against the system. Situationist texts are analysed for their power, through lyrical poetic writing, in evoking a critical response to everyday life. The thesis selects post-Situationist periodicals and interventions, 1980s-1990s, and explores their histories, those involved in their production, the use of the past as a repository of ideas, inspirations and influences, and the debates that emerge through such interventions. The thesis aims to evoke and convey, with richness and texture, the ideas and critical perspectives of the milieux and interventions explored. It aims, through an explication of Situationist and post-Situationist anarchistic ideas, combined with ethnographic descriptions derived through 'observant participation', to capture something of the ethos of the lived worlds of the spheres discussed It is argued that these elements tend to be overlooked in 'new social movement' (NSM) accounts of oppositional currents. A range of anthropological literature is also evaluated to clarify the perspectives informing this thesis, which aims for an egalitarian research method.

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