This thesis is based upon eighteen months of ethnographic fieldwork in London undertaken between January 2006 and July 2007. It explores the discourses and practices which (re)produce notions of gender, race, ethnicity and class among young people born or raised in London to migrants from Arab states. Instead of taking the existence of an Arab community' in London as self-evident, this thesis looks critically at the idea of Arab-ness in London and the ways in which it is signified, reiterated and recited. Taking the theorising of performative gender as a starting point I explore the possibilities of a sequential reading of ‘gender' and ‘race' and the practices and discourses which produce that which they name ‘Arab woman,' Arab man,' ‘British- Arab'. By looking at discourses, practices and political context, ‘ethnicity' and ‘race' appear to be less about an inner fixity or even multiple identities, instead they can be significantly attributed to a discursive and corporeal project of survival and social intelligibility between structures of subjection which create imperatives to enact and reproduce notions of ‘race' and ‘gender'. In this sense it is no longer satisfactory to see ethnicity as something that one possesses – but something that one does and embodies imperfectly, constantly adding, reinforcing and disrupting its presumed structure. Looking at what it means “to do” Arab-ness in London provides opportunities to look at the underlying normative and psychical structures that inform the doing of ethnicity in a particular setting. The shift from foundationalist and “epistemological account[s] of identity to [those] which locate[s] the problematic within practices of signification permits an analysis that takes the epistemological mode itself as one possible and contingent signifying practice” (Butler 1990: 184). Through the Shisha cafe, ‘Arabic nights', images and narratives I explore the discursive and corporeal acts that signify Arab-ness in London at a particular historical moment.

The dissertation employs insights from critical race theory and the environmental justice literature, questioning the sustainability of dominant state policies concerning development of informal settlements. The work explores spatialized and racialised forms of class and their normalisation in South Africa. Discussion of the rise and redefinition of urban segregation in South Africa notes racialised exclusions have not disappeared with the end of apartheid. Economic supremacy of ‘white’ populations reproduces ‘white’ control – with dirt, crime and disorder constitutive of the pathological spaces of the ‘other’. Second part examines the role of environmental ideas in reproducing ‘white’ spaces of privilege and ‘black’ spaces of degradation. Discussing neo-liberal development, sustainable development and ecological justice in South Africa – the dissertation shows service delivery and housing policy to possess similarities to apartheid projects – with weaknesses of the dominant model failing the requirements of environmental justice. The case study which follows examines a contemporary attempt to relocate an informal settlement sited in an affluent neighbourhood through ‘greenfields’ housing development, revealing environments as contested, with spatial subjugation dramatic and ongoing.

The roles of men and women are among the many elements of contemporary American society which are in a process of rapid and sometimes disruptive change. The more or less traditional ways in which men and women have viewed themselves and each other are being openly challenged by a number of significant factors. Although there have always been those exceptional persons who questioned the inevitability of seemingly given role differentiation, today’s social climate makes such questioning more common and acceptable. A few specific factors may be mentioned as being particular interest. With modern communication and mobility, the options for varied educational and employment opportunities and life styles available to both men and women have vastly increased. In a world threatened with overpopulation, there has appeared a marked decrease in family size expectations. Further, increasingly open challenges are being offered to the idea of inevitability and/or desirability of the nuclear family as the ideal life style for all persons. The modern Women’s Movement has spoken to all of the above issues and has added the unique dimension of heightened awareness of past and present role allocation for women and its associated critique of what society has apportioned to men as well. Cooperative households provide one form of intimate social organizations in which sex roles, in some form, will be expressed. It is the intent of this study to focus upon perceptions of sext roles within contemporary cooperative households. Generally, we wish to know whether or not certain group or individual factors are associated with the development of sex role patterns. If they are associated, in what ways? If they are associated, will this enable us to develop more focused questions which could be investigated in similar settings outside the population sample? Finally, we will examine whether our data and observations raise questions for further inquiry regarding sex role patterns within the nuclear family and/or society in general. As social workers we hope to gain some understanding of ways in which life in a cooperative household may provide one alternative among many for those seeking to develop roles which reflect their uniqueness as persons.

Bibliography: leaves 426-469.

Bibliography: leaves 426-469. / 2 v. (xx, 640 p. ; ix, 469 leaves) : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geographical and Environmental Studies, 2001

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

<p>In this bachelor essay an attempt is done, to recreate a probable Bronze Age landscape on Gotland, with GIS as a tool. The landscape on Gotland is situated with many different monuments dated Bronze Age, such as cairns and stone ships. In creating of the maps, two possible shorelines contemporary with the Bronze Age have been calculated and marked on the maps. Furthermore, peat lands have been drawn upon the maps, by using the information from geological maps.</p><p>A landscape variable have been compared between Bronze Age places and Early Iron Age houses; the soil type. On Bronze Age places gravel is the most common, while moraine marl is the most common on places with Early Iron Age houses.</p><p>From a selection that were made, all Bronze Age places where within 3 km from the water, either the recreated shoreline or peat land. On the maps both Early Iron Age houses and Bronze Age places seemed to have a connection with water.</p>

This thesis is an attempt to address issues of housingtransformation in informal settlements. Transformation ofhouses is seen to be associated with modernisation forceswhereby people adapt their houses to suit their needs anddesires. On one hand the desire to own a“modernhouse”may lead to deterioration of spatial qualities, onthe other hand fulfilment of the desire may contribute to themodernisation of urban settlements. The informal settlement ofHanna Nassif was chosen as a case study to illustrate theprocess of housing transformations in informal settlement.Knowledge on the transformation processes serves as animportant tool to address issues of spatial qualities, housingmodernisation, actors in the processes of transformation anduse of space. The results show that there is a wide range oftransformation activities that have been taking place in termsof extensions and alterations. The desire to modernise theirhouses impels developers to use modern building materials. Insome instances houses constructed with traditional buildingmaterials are replaced with industrially produced materials.Through transformation processes new house types emerge. Thestudy identifies problems as well as positive aspectsassociated with the whole process of housing transformation.The positive aspects are those of increased indoor space,increase of rooms for renting and in other cases separation offunctions. The problems emerging from this process include:decrease of outdoor space, increase of housing density,blockage of ventilation and light in the transformedhouses. The study concludes that housing transformation being oneway in which lowincome earners strive to get access to housingdeserves government support, particularly in the absence ofalternative housing supply. It is further observed that todatemany urban dwellers have managed to secure housing as a directresult of house extensions effected by house owners. The houseextensions are being carried out outside the established formalplanning regulations. It is in the light of these developmentsthat there is a cause for government intervention to guidehousing development processes in informal settlements.Professionals like planners and architects should also assume arole for quality and sustainability to prevail. The study alsosuggests specific problem areas for further investigation. <b>Key words:</b>Tanzania, housing transformation, informalsettlements, modernisation, spatial qualities and housetypes.

El objetivo de esta tesis es el estudio de distintos problemas económicos en los que el diseño de las instituciones afectan de forma significativa los resultados obtenidos. Es un enfoque teórico motivado por problemas económicos relacionados con el diseño de políticas educativas o industriales. El objetivo es comprender los incentivos de los individuos o las empresas al tomar decisiones y la forma en que la regulación puede influenciar tales decisiones. La tesis consta de tres capítulos. En el primer capítulo, se estudia el papel que las reglas internas a las universidades tienen en la producción de la ciencia y en la formación de nuevas generaciones de investigadores. La calidad de los futuros investigadores afecta el valor de proyectos científicos. En este capítulo se considera que científicos con más experiencia (seniors) influyen en la formación de los científicos con menos experiencia (los juniors). El modelo teórico describe las decisiones de los seniors en dedicar su tiempo a la investigación directa o a la formación de juniors, en el entorno de un proyecto de investigación. La inclusión de un junior en el proyecto mejora los resultados de éste, y la contribución del junior crece con su calidad. Los resultados de asignación del tiempo entre la investigación directa y la formación dependen de las características del proyecto, la preocupación del senior para la formación y la capacidad innata del junior. El modelo realiza un análisis sobre el papel que un regulador puede jugar en la definición del valor de los proyectos y la población futura de científicos independientes. El segundo capítulo analiza el papel que los acuerdos “pay-for-delay” pueden jugar en la estrategia de obtención de patentes de las empresas farmacéuticas de marca. Se considera que las farmacéuticas de marca se enfrentan a la competencia potencial de las empresas de genéricos antes del vencimiento de su patente. El análisis se encuadra dentro en un debate importante: el efecto de la amenaza de los genéricos en las estrategias de innovación, ya que estas conforman el trayecto de mejoras sobre medicamentos de la industria. Para realizar el análisis, se propone un modelo que explicita la decisión de patentar ante la posible entrada de genéricos y teniendo en cuenta la posibilidad de litigio como reacción a esa entrada. Una empresa farmacéutica de marca debe decidir bien desarrollar un nuevo medicamento, bien mejorar la protección de un medicamento ya existente. Se muestra que permitir los acuerdos “pay-for-delay” fomenta una mayor entrada de empresas de genéricos y, en algunos casos, llevan a que las decisiones de la marca se desvíen hacia la protección de los medicamentos existentes, en detrimento del desarrollo de nuevos medicamentos. En el tercer capítulo, se desarrolla un modelo de competencia de servicios en línea y contenido. Internet es un mercado donde los proveedores de servicios de Internet (ISP) sirven de plataforma que conecta los usuarios y los contenidos. Se analizan los incentivos de ISP para invertir en la capacidad de la red, bajo un régimen de red neutral y bajo un régimen discriminatorio. Se considera que los ISP tienen diferentes capacidades de red y los proveedores de contenidos (CP) distribuyen contenidos asimétricos. En el modelo los usuarios deciden a qué proveedor conectarse y navegar por uno de los contenidos. Cuando los ISP discriminan los contenidos, los usuarios migran desde el ISP más grande al más pequeño. El resultado que se obtiene del análisis es que cuando los ISP pueden discriminar y cobran una cuota suficientemente alta por el servicio de prioridad, estos tienen menos incentivos para aumentar la capacidad de la red, en comparación con el régimen de neutralidad de la red. / The objective of this thesis is the theoretical study, under different approaches, of topics in political economy and in industrial organization. The purpose is to understand the incentives of individuals or firms to make certain strategic decisions and how regulatory institutions can deal with such decisions. It is composed of three chapters. In the first chapter, it is studied the role that universities have in producing science and in training the new generations of researchers. The quality of future researchers is very important, since this quality affects the value of future scientific projects. It is considered the case where senior scientists influence the quality of juniors. The theoretical model approaches the incentives of senior scientists to either perform direct research or to training juniors, while working in a project as a team, by focusing on the senior’s decision of how much time to allocate to each task. Juniors’ contribution to projects is increasing in their quality. The results of this decision depend upon the characteristics of the research project, the senior scientist’s concern for training and the expected innate ability of the junior scientist involved. Additionally, an analysis is made on the role of a regulator in defining both the value of scientific projects and the future population of independent scientists. The second chapter analyzes the effect that pay-for-delay settlements may be playing on the patent strategy of brand pharmaceutical firms, when these face potential competition from generic firms before brand drug patent expiration. This is part of an important debate since patent strategy shapes the innovation path of the pharmaceutical industry. To perform the analysis, the framework is a model of patent decision under the prospect of generic entry and litigation as a reaction to entry. A brand pharmaceutical firm must decide to either develop a new drug or to improve the protection of an existing drug, when faced with possible entry of a generic. It is shown at allowing pay-for-delay settlements induce more entry of generic drug firms in brand drug markets and, in some cases, direct brand firms' decisions towards protection of existing drugs, in detriment of new drug development. In the third chapter, it is developed a model of competition in online and content services. It is known that Internet works as a two-sided market, where Internet Service Providers (ISPs) serve as a platform that connects users and contents. The analysis evaluates the incentives of ISPs to invest in network capacity under a network neutral regime and a network discriminatory regime, where a tiered service is offered. ISPs have different network capacities and Content Providers (CPs) distribute asymmetric contents. Users decide which provider to connect to and which content to browse. When ISPs prioritize one of the contents, users migrate from the larger ISP to the smaller. The main result is that when ISPs are allowed to discriminate and charge a sufficiently high fee for the priority service, both ISPs have lower incentives to increase the network capacity, in comparison to the network neutrality regime.

Within Buenos Aires there exists a boundary between the formal, planned developments of the middle class and the informal, organically-developed self-built housing of the poor. Villa 31, an informal settlement located near the heart of the city, contrasts directly with the skyscrapers of the Argentinean capital’s financial and political centre. The tension between the formal and informal cities creates a stigmatization of the residents of Villa 31, essentially barring the possibility of its integration into the city. The boundary between Villa 31 and Buenos Aires exists not only in the physical space between the two, but more importantly in the collective imagination of the city’s inhabitants. This is a story of the space between Villa 31 and Buenos Aires. It chronicles the attempts at crossing that boundary and the obstacles encountered. As a means of presenting the work to a broad audience, the story was written as a comic book. The first-person narrative helps to immerse the reader in the story while presenting the full complexity of the problem through a personal account. The story reveals the complex relationship between Villa 31 and Buenos Aires as a means of understanding the invisible boundary between the two. The core of the research consists of two months of field work in Buenos Aires conducted through October and November of 2009. Journal entries, photographs, conversations and first-hand experiences were transformed into a comic book that tells a story of the invisible boundary between Villa 31 and Buenos Aires.