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This thesis presents Giovanni Gentile’s actual idealism as a radical constructivist doctrine for use in moral theory. The first half describes the moral theory that Gentile explicitly identifies with actual idealism, according to which all thinking, rather than an exclusive domain of ‘practical reason,’ has a moral character. It is argued that after Gentile’s turn to Fascism in the early 1920s, this theory is increasingly conflated with his political doctrine. This entails several major changes that cannot be squared with the underlying metaphysics. The second half of the thesis develops a more plausible account of Gentilean moral constructivism based on the pre-Fascist idea of reasoning as an internal dialogue. Comparisons and contrasts are drawn with contemporary constructivist doctrines, as well as theories employing dialogical conceptions of reason. The internal dialogue is presented as a device enabling the thinking subject to make objective judgements about real-world problems despite the impossibility of her occupying a fully objective standpoint. Thus actual idealist moral theory is offered as an example of constructivism at its most radical, inviting advocates of less radical varieties to re-assess the foundations on which their theories are built.

This thesis examines how to export liberal theories of Multicultural Citizenship (MC) to post-violent conflict contexts, applying Kymlicka’s theory of MC to the case of Cyprus. The thesis modifies Kymlicka’s normative theory in order to make it applicable to contexts beyond those of its inception, focusing on cases where cultural identities are highly politicised and securitised. It provides a new theory of MC, a methodological approach for applying normative theories to different contexts, and a multicultural constitutional alternative for Cyprus. To facilitate the modification of Kymlicka’s MC and its application to Cyprus, the thesis develops a methodological approach called the Reciprocal Model (RM). The RM provides a systematic method for the re-examination of the fundamental assumptions of normative theories, using input from empirical cases. The RM also provides the conceptual tools for extracting policy-relevant suggestions from normative political theories. Through an immanent critique of Kymlicka’s theory of MC, a new multicultural theory is developed that has an internationally facilitated process of recognition at its core. The theory defended in this thesis adopts an ethnically-blind role for the state that dismisses reified notions of culture while also rejecting the exceptional treatment of cultural identities. It places culture on a level playing field with other individual identities and defends group-differentiated rights to minority groups on the grounds of equality of opportunity, replacing the autonomy-based defence of Kymlicka. The revised theory of MC, advanced through the application of the RM to the case of Cyprus, allowed for the development of a constitutional model for Cyprus based on multicultural citizenship. The multicultural constitutional model is defended as an alternative to Bizonal Bicommunal Federation – the bicommunal constitutional model underpinning the negotiations for a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem.

This thesis examines inter-sector partnership processes from a complex dynamical systems perspective. Inter-sector partnerships is increasingly researched both as new forms of government and policy making, and in the sustainability field. The theories traditionally used to analyse this topic fail to confront their dynamics as a whole. Recent approaches draw on complexity theory but, by pre-defining the principles for analysis, constrain the complete understanding of these phenomena. This thesis combines an inductive and deductive approach to explore the complex principles that drive agents’ interactions both at an emergent level (macro), process level (meso) and a causality level (micro). This aims at 1) providing a theoretical and methodological framework to study inter-sector partnerships as complex dynamical processes; and 2) advancing the understanding of social dynamics in the field of complexity theory. This work is based on two case studies collected during fieldwork in Brazil and Ecuador using participatory inquiry and semi-structured interviews to account for the multiple agents, perspectives and components of these processes. These experiences reflect dissimilar topics of collaboration and context conditions intended to provide various scenarios of work and highlight regularities through cross-examination. The results show that, despite the differences, a common pattern of behaviour governs the creation and evolution of multi-stakeholder processes in both case studies. This pattern shows five stages driven by different complex principles: 1) the creation of niche opportunities; 2) the occupation of this niche by a new agent; 3) the emergence of collective behaviour and inter-sector partnerships; 4) the influence of the collaborative process in the system dynamic; and 5) the expansion of a new dynamic in the system. The results provide new insights into the functioning of complex social systems and show that multi-stakeholder processes represent (1) a phase transition in the system dynamics; and 2) a poised state in the system dynamic at the complex regime or edge of chaos, state where the system optimises its capacity to adapt to change, innovate and perform complex tasks. These findings have a direct practical implication by providing practitioners and policy makers with a tool (qualitative dynamical modelling) to promote or reinforce inter-sector partnerships, and to drive social systems to this intermediate regime of optimal performance, the edge of chaos.

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