Claridade - revista de letras e artes é considerada um dos principais marcos do desenvolvimento literário no arquipélago de Cabo Verde. O lema fincar os pés no chão crioulo fulgurou como estratégia na busca de temas que refletissem a realidade social das ilhas. O contato com escritores brasileiros (modernistas e regionalistas), a partir dos anos de 1930, foi a força motriz para o desenvolvimento e modernização literária cabo-verdiana. Nesse processo, os estudos de Gilberto Freyre, notadamente o Manifesto Regionalista, foram especialmente significativos por oferecerem o arcabouço teórico e metodológico para a valorização das raízes culturais das ilhas e de sua formação social. O presente trabalho estrutura-se na análise das ações envolvendo o grupo claridoso, questionadoras da identidade cultural e literária do arquipélago, por meio da valorização dos aspectos regionais, cujos registros figuram nas publicações de Claridade, entre os anos de 1936 e 1960. / Claridade - literature and arts journal - is considered a landmark in the literary development of Cape Verde. The motto set feet into creoule ground remained a strategy in the search of themes that reflected the social reality of the islands. The contact with Brazilian writers (modernists and regionalists), from the 1930s on, was a driving force to the development and modernization of Cape Verde literature. Gilberto Freyre\'s works, particularly his Regionalista Manifesto, played a significant role since they provided a theoretical and methodological framework to the acknowledgment of cultural roots and the islands\' social formation. This study centers on the analysis of Claridadoso group, whose activities questioned the Literary and cultural identity of the islands by taking into account the regional aspects, as shown by Claridade editions from 1930s to 1960s.

The present thesis studies the transformation of recreational facilities of Prague. It is focused on a model area of villages, Ohrobec and Dolní Břežany, which have been long - term observed by the departement of social geography and regional development of Charles University in Prague. Although this area is a significant recreational zone, since 1990's it passes through a considerable number of changes. In this area the transformation of second home and suburbal activity occurs and changes the present landscape character. In an observed locality it has occured the tranformation of the structure of area users. The aim of the thesis is to find out how these people use this area, how do they identify themselves with the place where they live or relax and, what kind of mutual relationships they have. Due to the character of my topic, I have chosen several methods from qualitative research, the main source of information is questionnaire survey between the inhabitants and vacationers.

This thesis deals with the formation of the Swahili identity within two countries: Kenya and Tanzania. The Swahili people have inhabited the East African coast since the first millennium, utilizing local resources to trade and to create their sophisticated social position. The philosophy of Islam had a considerable influence on the development of the Swahili culture. These traditional elements typical for the Swahili culture were significantly restricted by the period of colonialism, where newly formed boundaries divided this ethnic group. The situation on both sides of the border is analysed through quantitative and qualitative research, which offers a complex view on the issue. The results show that selected cities are very similar with only small differences - often related to the closeness or openness of the village towards increasing tourism. In general the established boundaries play almost no role in shaping the Swahili identity. The Swahili people retain their traditional position within the East African coast, although their relations with other countries are less pronounced as the distance between them increases.

The thesis speaks about the multilingual region Trentino-Alto Adige in Italy. The aim of the research was to define regional and linguistic identity, specifically in the context of this region. In order to do so, I relied on theoretical and empirical data collected through interviews. After having analyzing and interpreting them, I compared them to give my final conclusion.

Since 2011 the Comorian Island of Mayotte has been France’s 101st département, thereby becoming part of the European Union. As a result, France has consolidated and strengthened its strategic position in the Indian Ocean. With the change of political status in 2011, new developments have occurred in Mayotte. It is still unclear whether the expected economic boom, extensive social benefits or injection of EU regional funds can help to alleviate poverty and raise living standards. There is concern, however, that massive immigration to Mayotte from the surrounding territories is diminishing any progress and will continue to do so. Not only France but also the EU will have to adapt to new immigration problems due to this new external border. In this situation one thing is clear: the language contact between French and the local languages, which is the result of political developments, is leading to new dynamics. The diglossic situation east of Africa, between French as the dominant language and local languages like Shimaoré or Shibushi spoken in Mayotte will become more marked in the next few years.

This thesis examines the impact of the �Nunavut Project� on Inuit identity, governance, and society. This is illustrated through three manuscripts, where I demonstrate the effects that the establishment of Nunavut has had on the Inuit of the Canadian Central and Eastern Arctic. The first manuscript (Chapter 2) presents a critical literature review of scholarly works on Nunavut. It also proposes a theoretical model based on boundaries and symbols to help comprehend the impact of Nunavut on the changing Inuit collective identity. The model shows that political elites and leaders in Nunavut are promoting the idea of a civic/regional form of collective identity for the Inuit pulling them away from a more cultural/traditional form of sub-regional groups of collective identities. The establishment of Nunavut also has had an effect on Inuit governance through the creation of the government of Nunavut and through the establishment of the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the organization representing the interests of the Inuit beneficiaries of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement and managing the implementation of the Agreement. In my second manuscript (Chapter 3), I examine the mode of operation and the activities of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. I demonstrate that the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is based on a Euro-Canadian corporate model foreign to a traditional Inuit model of governance. Today, the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is the most important political player in Nunavut. The government of Nunavut regularly consults with the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. before taking any decision that may impact the Inuit beneficiaries of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. The �Nunavut Project� seems to not only have changed the Inuit modes of identity and governance; it has also had some effects on Inuit socio-economic conditions in the Canadian Central and Eastern Arctic. My third manuscript (Chapter 4) recounts the events that led to the creation of Nunavut (1999); but more importantly it argues that although Nunavut has reinforced the sense of pride and collective regional identity of Inuit, Nunavut�s political institutions have not helped to improve the socio-economic conditions that plague Inuit society. I note, however, that Nunavut has provided Inuit with all the necessary jurisdictional powers to help improve their socio-economic conditions. I remain optimistic that in time, with additional financial contribution from the Canadian government, the Nunavut experiment may prove to be a success in alleviating some of the Inuit socio-economic challenges. Results from this thesis have demonstrated that the �Nunavut Project� has had an impact on Inuit identity, governance, and society.

This thesis examines the impact of the �Nunavut Project� on Inuit identity, governance, and society. This is illustrated through three manuscripts, where I demonstrate the effects that the establishment of Nunavut has had on the Inuit of the Canadian Central and Eastern Arctic. The first manuscript (Chapter 2) presents a critical literature review of scholarly works on Nunavut. It also proposes a theoretical model based on boundaries and symbols to help comprehend the impact of Nunavut on the changing Inuit collective identity. The model shows that political elites and leaders in Nunavut are promoting the idea of a civic/regional form of collective identity for the Inuit pulling them away from a more cultural/traditional form of sub-regional groups of collective identities. The establishment of Nunavut also has had an effect on Inuit governance through the creation of the government of Nunavut and through the establishment of the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the organization representing the interests of the Inuit beneficiaries of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement and managing the implementation of the Agreement. In my second manuscript (Chapter 3), I examine the mode of operation and the activities of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. I demonstrate that the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is based on a Euro-Canadian corporate model foreign to a traditional Inuit model of governance. Today, the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is the most important political player in Nunavut. The government of Nunavut regularly consults with the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. before taking any decision that may impact the Inuit beneficiaries of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. The �Nunavut Project� seems to not only have changed the Inuit modes of identity and governance; it has also had some effects on Inuit socio-economic conditions in the Canadian Central and Eastern Arctic. My third manuscript (Chapter 4) recounts the events that led to the creation of Nunavut (1999); but more importantly it argues that although Nunavut has reinforced the sense of pride and collective regional identity of Inuit, Nunavut�s political institutions have not helped to improve the socio-economic conditions that plague Inuit society. I note, however, that Nunavut has provided Inuit with all the necessary jurisdictional powers to help improve their socio-economic conditions. I remain optimistic that in time, with additional financial contribution from the Canadian government, the Nunavut experiment may prove to be a success in alleviating some of the Inuit socio-economic challenges. Results from this thesis have demonstrated that the �Nunavut Project� has had an impact on Inuit identity, governance, and society.

<p>The Swedish regions are new phenomena, from the start from the new regionalism which started in the 1980´s. The purpose of the thesis is to analyze Region Skåne and Västra Götalandsregionen to come to a conclusion which model of region they are and want to be by using theories of regional identity and identity of politics and see similarities and differences. My research question is: Which of cultural, administrative and functional region are Region Skåne and Västra Götaland striving to construct?</p><p>   The methods I have used are qualitative text- and content analysis to analyze the regions, by using theories about regional identity and identity of politics. Furthermore, I am using some statistic from SOM-institutet to analyze the regional identity in the regions.</p><p>   The result show that Region Skåne is constructing a cultural region, because of their strong regional identity and that the politicians are using identity of politics to combine the citizens. The citizens feel a strong fellowship and share a common history and culture.</p><p>   However Västra Götalandsregionen is an administrative region, there their regional identity is low and do not have a common history and culture. There the politicians’ focus is on administrative things, as research and communication.  </p>

At the core of this study there lays a paradigm that existing explanation of regionalism and inter-regionalism process neglect the essential, and arguably the most advanced level of it – the cognitive level of regionalism. The theoretical contribution of this study is the concept of “cognitive”/ conscious regionalism”. This dissertation argues that without that element, regional and inter-regional cooperation cannot be advanced and they remain shallow processes. This study argues that the gap between Asia and Europe is a cognitive one, rather than physical. The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) has been facing severe criticism because of the low effectiveness of its governance. This dissertation explains the reason behind the limits of ASEM in looking into the deeper levels that determine the inter-regional cooperation: level of cognition of the actors involved. The research not only explains the limits but also identifies the contributions of the ASEM as a bridge between the regions and their peoples’. Creating the venue for interaction contributes to the realization and awakening of the perception of what is “Asia” and what is “Europe” in Asia-Europe Meeting. Incorporating cultural and intellectual agenda of cooperation and including the civil society into the process not only creates the mutual understanding and acquisition of exchanged knowledge but also to pluralization of actors involved in the inter-regional process. Both in terms of actors and of cultural factors of cooperation, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plays the pivotal role in the ASEM process. The process of sustainable interaction shows institutional learning happening between ASEAN and ASEM that proves the idea of acquisition cognition through interaction also between institutions. This dissertation’s theoretical contribution is offering the concept of ‘cognitive regionalism’. Cognitive regionalism is explained and analyzed through ideas of awakening, acquisition and affiliation. The analysis is done on four levels of inter-regional, sub-regional, member government and civil society. The aspects included in these levels are: regional identity formation, institutional representation, member government’s commitment to ASEM process and civil society inclusiveness in “bottom-up” inter-regionalism. The empirical contribution of this research is in the richness of extensive interviews with various stakeholders including Track 1, 1½, 2 and 3 representatives from both across Asia and Europe. Methodology is a combination of interpretative, policy-tracing of official documents, official press releases and an essential participatory observation and field work. The originality of this study is twofold: (1) the comprehensive explanation of the role of culture, and norms in the inter-regional cooperation focusing on the third pillar of ASEM particularly and (2) taking the ASEAN’s perspective in analysis.

This thesis examines the impact of the �Nunavut Project� on Inuit identity, governance, and society. This is illustrated through three manuscripts, where I demonstrate the effects that the establishment of Nunavut has had on the Inuit of the Canadian Central and Eastern Arctic. The first manuscript (Chapter 2) presents a critical literature review of scholarly works on Nunavut. It also proposes a theoretical model based on boundaries and symbols to help comprehend the impact of Nunavut on the changing Inuit collective identity. The model shows that political elites and leaders in Nunavut are promoting the idea of a civic/regional form of collective identity for the Inuit pulling them away from a more cultural/traditional form of sub-regional groups of collective identities. The establishment of Nunavut also has had an effect on Inuit governance through the creation of the government of Nunavut and through the establishment of the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the organization representing the interests of the Inuit beneficiaries of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement and managing the implementation of the Agreement. In my second manuscript (Chapter 3), I examine the mode of operation and the activities of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. I demonstrate that the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is based on a Euro-Canadian corporate model foreign to a traditional Inuit model of governance. Today, the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is the most important political player in Nunavut. The government of Nunavut regularly consults with the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. before taking any decision that may impact the Inuit beneficiaries of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. The �Nunavut Project� seems to not only have changed the Inuit modes of identity and governance; it has also had some effects on Inuit socio-economic conditions in the Canadian Central and Eastern Arctic. My third manuscript (Chapter 4) recounts the events that led to the creation of Nunavut (1999); but more importantly it argues that although Nunavut has reinforced the sense of pride and collective regional identity of Inuit, Nunavut�s political institutions have not helped to improve the socio-economic conditions that plague Inuit society. I note, however, that Nunavut has provided Inuit with all the necessary jurisdictional powers to help improve their socio-economic conditions. I remain optimistic that in time, with additional financial contribution from the Canadian government, the Nunavut experiment may prove to be a success in alleviating some of the Inuit socio-economic challenges. Results from this thesis have demonstrated that the �Nunavut Project� has had an impact on Inuit identity, governance, and society.