How do authoritarian stales foster civil society growth while keeping unruly organizations in line? This governance dilemma dogs every state that attempts to modernize by permitting civil society to pluralize while minding its potential to stir up restive social forces. This dissertation's main finding is that the Chinese party state the world's largest and arguably the most resilient authoritarian regime-has engineered a flexible institution of state control in which the "rules of the game" arc created, disseminated, and enforced outside of institutionalized channels. This dissertation demonstrates how the coercive apparatus improvises in an erratic manner, unfettered by accountability mechanisms. The regime does not necessarily pull the levers of hard control mechanisms-the tanks, guns, and tear gas-whenever dissenters cross a line of political acceptability. Instead, in keeping with its decentralized political system and its tradition of experimental policy-making, the Chinese state continually remakes the rules of the game which keeps potential rabble-rousers on their toes. Although the regulatory skeleton of state corporatism remains intact, flexible repression is the informal institution-the set of rules and procedures-that structures state-civil society interactions. Specifically, this institution is made up of three key practices: a) decentralization b) ad-hoc deployment c) mixed control strategies. These three practices manifest in two concrete strategies used to govern aboveground and underground civil society: fragmented coercion and controlled competition. Flexible repression enables the Chinese party-state to exploit the advantages of a flourishing third sector while curtailing its threatening potential. Through participant observation, interviews, and comparative case studies of aboveground and underground independent labor organizations, this dissertation accomplishes three goals. First, it identifies the within-country variation in state control strategies over civil society, which includes the above-ground sector as well as the underground sector of ostensibly banned organizations. Secondly, it traces the patterns of interactions between the state and civil society, generating hypotheses about the mechanisms of change. Finally, it identifies new concepts relevant for studying organized contention in authoritarian regime.. .... Overall, this dissertation contributes to the study of authoritarian state control and civil society contention, with an emphasis on the nexus between the two.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse and explain the organization of Greek broadcasting, and particularly its relationship to the state and politics. The study begins with the introduction of state-owned radio in 1936 and ends with the abolition of the state monopoly and the introduction of private local radio by a Socialist government in 1987. Through a mainly chronological structure the study examines the development of Greek radio and television set against major developments in the sphere of politics from the inter-war period until the late 1980s. These developments include the establishment of a quasi-fascist dictatorship in 1936, the Right-Left cleavage of the 1940s and the nature of parliamentary regime which was established as a result of the Communist defeat in the civil war (1946-1949). Subsequently, the study deals with the imposition of the dictatorial regime in 1967 and examines the contradictions which led to its eventual downfall in 1974. Finally, the thesis covers the transition of the country to democracy, the nature of the democratic regime, the party system and the major aspects of policy of both the Conservative governments (1974-1981) and the Socialists (1981-1987). Placed within the framework of the debate about the role of broadcasting in liberal democracies, the thesis examines the applicability of two antithetical models, the 'fourth estate' and the 'dominance' models to the Greek broadcasting system from 1936 to 1987. Neither is found to be satisfactory. Our study of government-broadcasting relations since the introduction of radio demonstrates that the broadcast media have always been subordinate to partisan political control and that neither the editorial autonomy nor the political independence of Greek broadcasters, on which the 'fourth estate' model is based, have ever been safeguarded by Greek politicians. The 'dominance' model, on the other hand, to the extent that it considers the mass media as an instrument of the dominant classes fails to describe accurately the role of Greek broadcasting institutions and of the state which controls them within Greek society. Due to the uneven and belated industrial development of the country, the state has acquired a dominant position in social and economic life by distributing resources and safeguarding the vital Interests of various social groups. Political parties have always relied on the mechanisms of the state to consolidate their power. Broadcasting institutions have therefore been used by those holding executive power as a legitimating mechanism of their policies. Preoccupied as they were with the political output of radio and television, Greek politicians never pursued the development of a public service ethos In Greek broadcasting.

L’île du Putuoshan (archipel de Zhoushan, Zhejiang) accueille chaque année des dizaines de milliers de voyageurs venus de toute l’Asie pour rendre un culte au bodhisattva de la compassion Guanyin, dans l’espoir de bénéficier de ses faveurs, d’obtenir des réponses miraculeuses et d’assister à une manifestation divine. Haut-lieu bouddhique depuis le Xe siècle, le Putuoshan est au cœur de projets de développement initiés à la fin de la Révolution Culturelle qui visent à transformer les paysages et les pratiques de pèlerinage. Ces mutations ont reconfiguré le champ religieux local lequel intègre désormais une pluralité d’acteurs, avec chacun leurs objectifs et leurs stratégies ; ainsi les communautés monastiques cherchent à accroître l’influence du site, une ambition partagée par les autorités politiques qui encouragent également les initiatives touristiques des entreprises privées et des administrations en charge de la culture, tout en opérant, comme il est de mise partout en Chine, un contrôle sur les activités des temples. Microcosme insulaire, le Putuoshan est un espace où se croisent nombre de personnes qui projettent sur l’île de Guanyin leurs propres visions du lieu. Elles les façonnent à partir des récits mythologiques et des discours relayés par les media bouddhiques et la littérature touristique, qui font du site, un lieu à la fois dans et hors du monde. Avec leur savoir-faire et leur savoir-être bouddhistes, ils inventent leur pèlerinage et leur relation à Guanyin dont la présence leur est tantôt suggérée, donnée à voir, mise en scène à travers différents dispositifs. Se rendre sur l’île (de) Guanyin, c’est ainsi « faire l’expérience » de Guanyin, un bodhisattva aux multiples facettes, capable de prendre toutes sortes de formes et de faire des miracles. À partir d’enquêtes de terrain et de l’analyse des matériaux édités localement, cette thèse propose d’analyser dans une perspective anthropologique, la combinaison des différents aspects religieux, économiques, politiques et sociaux qui fondent le site et son pèlerinage. / Putuoshan Island (Zhoushan archipelago, Zhejiang) welcomes every year thousands of travelers coming from all over Asia to worship Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and to express their wishes to be blessed, to receive miraculous responses and to see divine manifestations. Well known as a major Buddhist site since the tenth century, Putuoshan is by now the focus of many development projects, initiated at the end of the Cultural Revolution, that aim to transform the landscapes and to change the pilgrimage’s practices. These changes have reconfigured the local religious field that includes a plurality of actors each of them having their own goals and strategies. The monastic communities seek to increase the influence of the site; a goal that is shared by the political authorities, that encourage also the touristic initiatives taken by private companies, and by administrations in charge of cultural affairs. Of course, by the while, they mean to control the temples’ activities, as they do everywhere in China. Many different people project their own visions of the place onto Putuoshan, this insular microcosm, the island of Guanyin. They shape them by listening to the mythological narratives and discourses relayed by Buddhist media, as well as by reading the tourist literature that make the site become a place both in and out of the world. With their knowledge of Buddhist practices, they invent their own pilgrimage and their own relationship to Guanyin, whose presence is sometimes suggested, sometimes showed to them, or even staged through various theatrical sets. So that going to the island of Guanyin is properly to ”experience” Guanyin, this multifaceted bodhisattva able to take any existing form and performing miracles and marvels. Based on an ethnographic fieldwork research and on the analysis of local publications, this thesis means to analyze from an anthropological perspective, the various religious, economic, political and social aspects, that shape the site and its pilgrimage.

Humboldt-Univ., Diss.--Berlin, 2004. / Literaturverz. S. [XV] - LI.

The subject of the research is regional housing policy. It is defined as a kind of public policy investigated on the conditions of the selected region. This is a problem that is still very little theoretically elaborated. The theoretical framework (concept) of "housing policy" as a kind ("subset") of public policy ", which has its actors, objectives, content, assumptions and subject orientation, will be elaborated. Then this problem is solved in the case of Rychnov nad Kněžnou. The city has two major problems. Collapsing transport infrastructure and a lack of housing in private or urban property. The problem of shortage of flats is connected with other social problems such as the creation of illegal hostels, overuse of apartments by a large number of people - more waste, insufficient civic amenities. The city leadership would like to address the problem with a new construction but does not have sufficient resources to do so. Construction by private investors is also not jeopardized. By developing a building, the city would like to attract more families and employees' partners who would easily find jobs in various fields. By city dwellings and regulated rent the city would like to restrict illegal hostels. Similarly, it could offer apartments for families with children or start-ups for young people....

This master thesis is thematically treating three short stories of Andrey Platonov: Bessmertie, Fro and Vozvraščenie. The purpose is to examine how Platonov presents the Soviet family and to what extent it fits the Soviet family politics. The family portraits are analysed in comparison with the guiding principles of the doctrine of Socialist Realism with the trends of Socialist Realism and family policy of the time into consideration.       The first part describes Platonov’s life, the Socialist Realism, and the family policies of the Soviet Union. It also discusses how the influences of the time could have affected the author’s later works. The second part consists of an analysis of the three short stories mentioned above.      The conclusion is that there is an opposition between the task of working and family life in the stories. Despite the fact that Platonov problematizes this opposition, there are few signs that he writes with an intended direct opposition towards the Soviet power or censorship. The themes of his stories are instead in fact following the development of contemporary family politics, and that is a development with a Soviet family that is “withering away”. / <p>Min examen är från Masterprogrammet i språk. Programmet finns inte med under kategorin "Utbildningsprogram".</p>

This thesis attempts to reconcile the ‘two Rwandas’ which dominate contemporary scholarship, and seem on first glance utterly incommensurable: the inspirational developmental donor darling, and the brutal police state ruled by a shadowy ethnic clique. It argues both sides capture something, but fail to give a fair assessment of the mercurial system of political order constructed by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) following the Genocide of 1994. This system is a durably strong state with exceptionally high levels of societal penetration capable of delivering order and other public goods, with a ruling party in a hegemonic position with a degree of medium-term stability, despite (and because of) its illiberal repressive character. Such a system is only possible because of the extremely unusual sociology of the RPF itself, forged in the refugee camps of Uganda and the Ugandan Bush War, and the structural constraints on rule within Rwanda. With these resources, the RPF has successfully made the transition from guerilla movement to hegemonic civilian political party, created bureaucratic institutions of government which penetrate to the lowest level, and hugely profitable ‘party-statals’ which co-exist alongside functioning competitive markets. Such successes are not disconnected from the violence, repression, and extra-judicial coercion which remain crucial to the regime. Analyses which think the positive aspects of Rwanda’s current ‘miracle’ can be mimicked without the accompanying domination and autocracy are engaging in wishful thinking. Crucially, given how distinctive the enabling conditions for Rwanda’s current political dispensation are, the extent to which Rwanda can be a policy exemplar or ‘best-practice’ for other African states to follow is in any case seriously overstated.

Diss.--Freie Universität Berlin. / Bibliography: p. [439]-462.

The United Kingdom is imprinted in our historical memory as the birthplace of modern democracy, the rule of law and respect to private ownership. However, this memory reflects deep history of the 19th century rather than the present state of affairs. The English like other developed nations have acquired the policy of state interventions, nationalization of private enterprise for a compensation, fight against the economic cycle in an unprecedented consensus. Many of the contemporaries assess England through the prism of Margaret Thatcher, however, as demonstrated in this work, her right-winged policy proved an exception to the Conservative Party's rule. Historiography ascribes the reasons of the situation especially to the Labour Party. A number of history works limits the causality of the state growth to the onset of the Laborites. It is apparent, however, that the search for the reasons of the state of affairs needs to quest much deeper in history. Despite its name, the Liberal Party is an institution with a long tradition of state-positive thinking. It was the new Radical Liberals who arrived with a "ransom" theory as well as the program of urban socialism, which does not seem to be a symptom of the laissez faire era in the today's regulated world of private waterworks, gas and electric power...