Since its inception in 1989, the private water sector of England and Wales has been enlisted as a centrepiece in debates concerning the merits of privatisation. Advocates point to increased environmental performance and increased investment. Critics note a significant retraction of the early free market aspirations and increasingly prescriptive regulation. However, market mechanisms and liberalisation are once again being emphasised in policy, reigniting the debate surrounding the commoditisation of water. This thesis engages directly and critically with Karen Bakker's 'Uncooperative Commodity' approach to the 'reregulation' of the industry, arguing its tenants must be adapted to accommodate these recent developments. While Bakker's earlier accounts of the reregulation of the water industry placed a great emphasis on the geography and biophysical properties of water, later work by both her and her contemporaries have developed more refined and socialised models of how water and society interact to produce temporary regularities in the material world. This thesis argues that an appropriate means of developing Bakker's original thesis would be a greater focus on socio-historical context when exploring the materiality of water, and hence the degree to which water may be transformed into a private commodity. Bob Jessop's Strategic Relational Approach (Jessop 2008) is deployed as a means of describing and relating: (1) the degree to which research can identify underlying mechanisms which govern the outcomes of attempts to commoditise water under capitalist modes of production, (2) the role of the state and politics in flanking or supporting the commoditisation of water and (3) the role of existing discursive-institutional structures in introducing path-dependencies and uneven power geometries which in turn effect the outcomes of collective action towards the commoditisation of water. The thesis documents historical developments in English and Welsh resource planning, regulation, and policy from 1945 to 2012 in order to explain the current structure of the industry, its response to water scarcity, and the origins of the current reform programme. It then focuses on the conflicts and tensions between actors in the industry generated by the current reform programme and their role in affecting the degree of success of the programme itself.

Problems of mental health care in the Czech republic have been defined in the early nineties. Yet after nineteen years of progress in this area, these problems are still major topics in mental health care policy documents. Main purpose of diploma paper is therefore to analyse mental health care problems and at the same time also might-be solutions. Mental health care problems definitions as conceptualized in mental helth care policy documents are found to be plausible. Though the amount of supportive data is sufficent, there are differences in decisiveness of some arguments. Available solutions are brought up and described in various manners in order to show their own logic, rules and after all their usability. Final conclusions consider the roles and responsiblities of various policy actors.

As escolas médicas brasileiras encontram-se diante do desafio de mudar para formar protissional crítico, capaz de aprender a aprender, de trabalhar em equipe, de levar em conta a realidade social para prestar atenção humana e de qualidade. As mudanças necessárias são profundas porque implicam a transformação de concepções, práticas e de relações de poder, tanto nos espaços internos das universidades, como em suas relações com a sociedade, especialmente como os serviços de saúde e com a população. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar algumas das principais causas das sucessivas histórias de resultados desfavoráveis nas tentativas de mudar a educação médica; analisar como essas questões e problemas cruciais vêm sendo tratados em dois processos de mudança na educação médica atualmente considerados promissores, quais sejam as transformações curriculares de Marília e de Londrina; e construir um conjunto de idéias, propostas e instrumentos que contribuam para a produção de mudanças efetivas na educação médica no Brasil. A metodologia adotada foi a de estudo de caso informado pelo referencial crítico-dialético. Foi feita uma análise política dos processos, assumindo o poder como categoria analítica central. Nos dois casos estudados estão em curso mudanças profundas no âmbito da organização institucional, das concepções e das práticas, bem como das relações entre professores, estudantes, profissionais dos serviços e população. Há avanços significativos, mas também problemas e conflitos, níveis diferentes de acumulação de poder técnico e político, sendo necessário um período de consolidação. / Brazilian medical schools have to face the challenge of changing so as to graduate professionals capable of critical and self conducted learning, of working in teams, of taking social reality into account in the clinical practice and of delivering health attention of good quality. Deep changes will be necessary as conceptions, practices and of relations of power inside and outside the university have to be addressed. This study meant to analyze the main causes of the previous unsuccessful experiences of changes in medical education in Brazil; to analyze how the identified critical questions are being dealt in two changing processes that are taking place in Marília and Londrina and build a set of ideals, proposals and tools that can be useful for changing medical education in Brazil. The adopted methodology was a case study orientated through the critical-dialectic reference. A political analysis was made, taking power as the central analytical category. Both of the studied cases reveal deep changes in the fields of institutional organization, conceptions and practices and relations between faculties, students, health professionals and people. Both groups present relevant results, but also problems and conflicts and different leveis of technical and political power accumulation, what makes necessary a consolidation phase to take place.

As escolas médicas brasileiras encontram-se diante do desafio de mudar para formar protissional crítico, capaz de aprender a aprender, de trabalhar em equipe, de levar em conta a realidade social para prestar atenção humana e de qualidade. As mudanças necessárias são profundas porque implicam a transformação de concepções, práticas e de relações de poder, tanto nos espaços internos das universidades, como em suas relações com a sociedade, especialmente como os serviços de saúde e com a população. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar algumas das principais causas das sucessivas histórias de resultados desfavoráveis nas tentativas de mudar a educação médica; analisar como essas questões e problemas cruciais vêm sendo tratados em dois processos de mudança na educação médica atualmente considerados promissores, quais sejam as transformações curriculares de Marília e de Londrina; e construir um conjunto de idéias, propostas e instrumentos que contribuam para a produção de mudanças efetivas na educação médica no Brasil. A metodologia adotada foi a de estudo de caso informado pelo referencial crítico-dialético. Foi feita uma análise política dos processos, assumindo o poder como categoria analítica central. Nos dois casos estudados estão em curso mudanças profundas no âmbito da organização institucional, das concepções e das práticas, bem como das relações entre professores, estudantes, profissionais dos serviços e população. Há avanços significativos, mas também problemas e conflitos, níveis diferentes de acumulação de poder técnico e político, sendo necessário um período de consolidação. / Brazilian medical schools have to face the challenge of changing so as to graduate professionals capable of critical and self conducted learning, of working in teams, of taking social reality into account in the clinical practice and of delivering health attention of good quality. Deep changes will be necessary as conceptions, practices and of relations of power inside and outside the university have to be addressed. This study meant to analyze the main causes of the previous unsuccessful experiences of changes in medical education in Brazil; to analyze how the identified critical questions are being dealt in two changing processes that are taking place in Marília and Londrina and build a set of ideals, proposals and tools that can be useful for changing medical education in Brazil. The adopted methodology was a case study orientated through the critical-dialectic reference. A political analysis was made, taking power as the central analytical category. Both of the studied cases reveal deep changes in the fields of institutional organization, conceptions and practices and relations between faculties, students, health professionals and people. Both groups present relevant results, but also problems and conflicts and different leveis of technical and political power accumulation, what makes necessary a consolidation phase to take place.