The relationship of language to the study and practice of political theory is the subject of the following analysis. Though by no means a "new" or even overlooked topic, it has experienced keen and lively debate. This was especially the case in the 1960s and 1970s, when advocates of political theory's "demise" and/or "rebirth" as a field of inquiry both took recourse in what they deemed to be the "lessons" of language. Today, however, debate has focused on the question of whether or not a more directly linguistic approach to the study and practice of political theory (as is exhibited, for example, in the works of, among others, Habermas, Flathman, and Shapiro) is in fact "political." Increasingly, the position is today that it is not. Some (Baumgold, 1981; Gunnell, 1979) even claim language a threat to theory's properly political foundations (Chapter One). I argue the contrary. Building from both the Wittgensteinian and Habermasian schools of thought (Chapters Two and Three) and, even more importantly, from the linguistic practices of Hobbes and Tocqueville (Chapter Four), study reveals language not only relevant but central to the discipline as even Baumgold and Gunnell understand it. As will be shown below, language's significance is grounded in its value as both a unit for political analysis and as a medium for political participation.

M.A. (Politics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

University of Macau / Faculty of Arts and Humanities. / Department of English

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In recent years, scholars have called for studies that explore framing effects in the context of the real world. A growing amount of research is devoted to the question of which real-world factors enhance, limit, or obliterate framing effects. However, the important question whether framing effects vary depending on the level of attitudinal ambivalence – a prevalent psychological phenomenon that is shown to have significance influence on media effects and attitude change – has not been addressed. Based on a web-based between-subject experimental study (total N=177), this research investigates whether and how attitudinal ambivalence affects framing effects. The study shows that both the effects of the positive framed message (i.e., the message emphasizing a favorable consideration to the issue selected) and negative framed message (i.e., the message which emphasize unfavorable consideration) are affected by the level of attitudinal ambivalence. In particular, the positive framing effect is enhanced by the higher level of attitudinal ambivalence, while the negative framing effect gets weakened. These opposite results could be explained by the hypothetical mechanism of interaction, which holds that attitudinal ambivalence affects framing effects via affecting the role of predisposition in moderating framing effects. This hypothetical mechanism is supported by the experimental evidence. In addition, the theoretical and practical implications of this research will be discussed. / 近年來，不少學者均呼籲要在現實世界的情境中探索框架效應。而近年亦有越來越多的研究，專注於去探討有什麼現實世界的因素，會加強、削弱甚或是消除框架效應。然而，在這研究範疇中，還有一條重要卻尚未被處理過的問題 - 框架效應的影響，會不會因矛盾心態程度上的不同而有所變化？矛盾心態是世實世界中的一個常見心理現象。已有證據顯示，它會對其他的媒體效應、及態度轉變有來顯著的影響。 / 本文會以網上組間實驗的證據為基礎，探討矛盾心態會否及會如何影響框架效應。實驗結果顯示，矛盾心態分別影響了正面的框架化訊息 (正面訊息強調利好於事件的考慮)及反面的框架化訊息(反面訊息強調不利於事件的考慮)的影響。具體來說，矛盾心態加強了正面框架化訊息的影響，卻削弱了負面訊息的影響。這樣相反結果，可以被本文假設的相互作用機制所解釋。這機制假定，矛盾心態對框架效應的影響，是在個人回應框架訊息的過程中，通過改變個人傾向的影響力而產生的。實際的實驗結果，亦支持了這個假設的機制。 / 本文亦會探討這項研究的學術意義及實用意義。 / Lee, Po Chiu Ivan. / Thesis M.Phil. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 206-223). / Abstracts also in Chinese; appendixes includes Chinese. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on 18, October, 2016). / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only.

香港主權移交中國以後，傳媒雖維持獨立自主和商業運作的模式，但過往的研究發現，政治力量對新聞的影響越來越大。例如新聞機構對新聞內容施行政治審查和媒體機構老闆及高層接受政治任命。這是否意味香港新聞界正衰失它的獨立性？本文研究香港新聞界的獨立性在1997 年後的政治融合中如何被構成。 / 政治經濟學派和美國組織研究著重新聞界如何抗衡外部對新聞獨立性的影響，但究竟新聞獨立性是什麼？新聞獨立性與專業性之間有何關係？這方面的討論十分缺乏。本文提出以布迪爾〈Pierre Bourdieu〉理論補充對新聞獨立性的理解，並以布迪爾理論為基礎，整理出一個場域理論框架以分析新聞界的獨立性。布迪爾的理論認為新聞獨立性是一個相對的理念，而且會隨著社會變遷而改變。場域理論框架幫助理解外界壓力如何影響新聞獨立性，和解答為何某些記者有較大新聞獨立性。本研究組合了布迪爾的慣習〈habitus〉慨念和根據布廸爾理論而建構的決意〈commitment〉概念來分析不同記者行使不同新聞獨立性的狀況。 / 本研究顯示，由於政治環境的變化，香港新聞界自八十年代起由政黨新聞範式轉換為客觀新聞範式。在1997 年前後，新聞界面臨需要融入新政體的壓力。本文以香港的中國新聞記者為分析個案，檢視政治融合壓力下的新聞報導工作和記者的獨立性有何轉變。本文的研究對象─中國新聞記者〈或稱中國組記者〉是指在香港媒體工作、專職報導中國新聞的香港記者。本研究選擇他們作研究個案是因為他們位處中港融合的前線。本研究共訪問了二十二名記者，另外亦從中國組記者的著作及演講中搜集研究材料。 / 研究發現，香港的中國新聞報導正在「去政治化」。雖然記者察覺到新聞的製作過程存在政治審查，但他們在採訪時選擇配合官方─包括參加由官方安排的採訪團、使用內地媒體的內容和以官方發言作平衡報導。當記者認為自己正在客觀地報導，他們不覺察在政治力量對新聞製作的影響。本文分析記者的工作流程和新聞內容，發現中國新聞的去政治化正侵蝕新聞獨立性。此外，根據記者個人的文化資本和對報導中國的決意程度，本研究將中國組記者分成三類：局外記者、局內記者及共融記者。局外記者抗拒融入中國內地，但不察覺客觀報導包括的政治性。局內記者受他們的文化資本限制，不察覺資料來源和工作流程中存在的政治影響。擁有高文化資本和對聞工作高度投入的共融記者，由於對新聞工作有所反思，建立了一套對抗政治限制的報導策略，亦令他們能維持較高獨立性。 / Studies show that there has been an increase in political influence on the news media in Hong Kong during national reintegration. Although Hong Kong media has appeared to retain much of its autonomy and seems to continue to exercise control over its commercial media system to a large extent, the Chinese State has been active in co-opting media owners and senior management, and there have been some instances of political censorship within media organizations. Does this imply the loss of professional autonomy in the Hong Kong journalistic field? This study sets out to examine the constitution of journalistic autonomy during the period of national reintegration in Hong Kong. / Theoretically, this study enriches the understandings on journalistic autonomy by bringing in Bourdieu’s theory of field. Political economists and American organizational studies both place stress on resisting the influences of political and economic forces on journalistic autonomy. But is autonomy only defined by resistance? Journalists commonly believe that journalistic professionalism can help them to retain autonomy. But professionalism does not necessarily bring autonomy. This study incorporates Bourdieu’s field theory to understand journalistic autonomy as it helps to understand autonomy as a relative concept. Also, Bourdieu’s concept of field and habitus can help us to understand not only the interaction between the journalistic field and other fields and how that constitutes the degree of autonomy, but also to consider autonomy on an individual level ─ the autonomy that individual journalists can achieve. Based on Bourdieu’s theory of field, a field-analytic model of journalistic autonomy is constructed. Especially, this study integrates Bourdieu’s concept of habitus and the concept of commitment developed from Bourdieu’ theory to understand the degree of autonomy that journalists can achieve in their work. With these ideas, a new entry point into the study of journalistic autonomy in social change is opened. / This study finds that since the 1980s, Hong Kong’s journalistic field has shifted from partisan journalism to objective journalism in order to resist the turbulent political environment. In recent years, research on the Hong Kong news media has documented the threat to journalistic autonomy from pro-China political power. The present study chooses to focus on the China-beat reporters as a case study to examine the constitution of journalistic autonomy through an analysis of journalistic practice. China-beat journalists are the journalists who report on China for the Hong Kong media. The reason for focusing on China-beat journalists in this study is that they are at the frontier of the battlefield between the journalistic field and the political field. For this research, I conducted in-depth interviews with twenty-two journalists, and examined books and public talks related to China reporting. / Findings of this study reveal the de-politicization of China reporting. Though journalists are aware of the censorship on reporting, they are co-opted into the institutionalization of the Chinese State by joining official press tours, sourcing from Mainland media outlets and official press conferences, and balancing their reports with interviews with government spokespersons. While journalists perceive these practices as exercising objective reporting, they are unconscious of the political power embedded in these interactions. The de-politicization of China reporting in recent years reflects the erosion of autonomy as many journalistic practices are aligned with political power, and this is reflected in the news content. This study finds that journalists’ cultural capital and commitment in the field constitute different form of journalistic autonomy. According to these two criteria, China-beat journalists are categorized into three types: Detached journalists, Attached journalists, and Synthesized journalists. The labels describe their cultural and emotional attachment in between Hong Kong and Mainland China. Detached journalists resist integration with China but neglect the blind spot of the political character of objective journalism. Attached journalists’ career paths are constrained by their cultural capital, and they fail to see the political forces embedded in news sourcing and journalistic practice. The high cultural capital and commitment of Synthesized journalists help them to be reflexive in journalistic work, which helps them to articulate their own autonomy and gain skills to resist the growing domination of political forces in the journalistic field. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Tsui, Yuen Sze. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 183-194). / Abstracts also in Chinese; includes Chinese.

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This thesis examined the role of supranational organisations (SOs) in the governance of tourism in a North-South context. Focusing on the issue area of development cooperation, this thesis investigated the question of how and why SOs got involved in tourism in developing countries, and more specifically, in small island developing states. Such involvement may occur either directly through aid funded projects or indirectly through international trade regimes that impact on tourism in the aid recipient countries. The thesis adopted a case study approach focussing on the European Union�s (EU�s) involvement in the governance of tourism in South Pacific island states. Grounded in a history of colonialism, the EU has been involved in the �development� of the South Pacific for more than three decades, which allowed to track changes in development philosophy over time. Focusing on the concept of power, the case was assessed in a multi-scalar manner, analysing the EU�s involvement from the global down to the local level. Never before has an entire multilevel polity been assessed in one coherent case study, incorporating actors situated at all levels and ranging from supranational organisations to national governments, businesses, communities, and individuals. The methods employed in this thesis included interviews, participant observation, document analysis (policy documents and newspapers), and subsequently critical discourse analysis. The latter served to highlight the so-called �third face of power� (Lukes 1974), which is closely related to the concept of ideological hegemony. Interviews were conducted in Fiji and Samoa with officials of the South Pacific Delegations of the EU, officials of tourism authorities, NGOs, tourism operators and community members. Elite interviews in Brussels were conducted with officials of the European Commission and the European Parliament. Under all scales and �faces� of power the EU was found to be the dominant actor, while the issue of self-interest appeared to play a key role. At a macro-level, the EU clearly dominated in most overt decision-making situations during negotiations on aid and trade agreements. As concerned the inclusion of tourism in the agreements, the relative importance of the sector was clearly dependent on the European Commission�s prevailing attitude on �tourism and development� at any point in time. At a meso- and micro-level, the EU�s influence was less obvious yet nonetheless existent, for example through funding rules and the use of European consultants. Indirect influence also occurred at the national level. In particular the substitution of a preferential trade regime with a free trade agreement (the Economic Partnership Agreements), which is currently being negotiated between the EU and the Pacific Islands, is likely to have a significant impact on the economic importance of tourism, as well as public policy in the South Pacific. In a mini case study of Samoa, it was found that the resulting changes in tourism policy would have a significant impact �on the ground�, in particular with regard to rates of local ownership and control. Overall, power relations were found to be highly unequal and self-determination and empowerment have largely not been achieved. However, more research is needed to examine the ability to generalise the findings to other geographic regions or other types of SOs. The key contribution of this thesis in the theoretical realm constitutes its bridging of agency and structure within multi-level governance, which may be conceived as a �third way� to either dependency theory-influenced studies (global/structure) or community approaches (local/agency).