published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Sussex, 1970. / Title from screen page; viewed 17 Oct. 2005. "Department of Ethnography and Social Anthropology, University of Aarhus, Summer 2002" Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print format.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1989. / Also available in print.

No description available.

In much of the developing world, the community is the arena of social interaction. Heterogeneity at this local level, combined with a weak state and economic underdevelopment, has been found to make communities particularly receptive to conflict. We know little about cooperation between members of different groups in such communities, and we know even less about the influence of actors, such as the village chief and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), that substitute for the state at this level. What role do the village chief and NGOs play in governing communities characterized by the influx of migrants? Do NGOs strengthen cleavages in heterogeneous societies? What is the role of the village elite in managing cooperation within a village? And which tools should researchers use to understand behavior at this local level? To answer these questions, this dissertation collected original data in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone. Specifically, this project builds on carefully designed lab-in-the-field and field experiments, as well as original survey and ethnographic data, to explore the political economy of heterogeneous communities. The first essay shows how local institutions in the DRC are resilient to outside intervention. Importantly, I find causal evidence that local institutions, not NGOs, are key in sustaining high levels of intra-village cooperation in the presence of migrants. The second essay shows that NGOs in the same context influence how individuals relate to their social categories. I find that NGO activity can strengthen social categories that relate to access to development resources at the cost of those that benefit local cohesion. The final essay explores discriminatory behavior based on social status in rural Sierra Leone. I find that classic experiments may be insufficient in understanding behavior at the local level. In summary, this dissertation emphasizes the importance of research tools designed to measure local behavior, and challenges the basis for current international interventions by showing the positive role of the village chief and by providing micro-level evidence for the possible harmful role that NGOs can play in heterogeneous communities.

published_or_final_version / Geography and Geology / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

Block 71, the location of this design thesis, is within the Comox Valley, British Columbia, Canada. Situated on Vancouver Island and four kilometers North of the City of Courtenay. The site is 925 acres of cut-block, used for lumber, and owned by Raven Forest Products. Raven Forest Products clear-cut the site as recently as the late 1970's. Second growth has been allowed to persist on the site. In 1994, a development permit for a proposed village was submitted to the Regional District of Comox-Strathcona and is still pending. This proposed village was named 'View Ridge' and was intended to create higher densities and preserve more open space than convention subdivisions. The relevant proposed design for this property, View Ridge Revisited, endeavours to meet and surpass the intentions of the its predecessor. The View Ridge Revisited proposal allows for a minimum of eight hundred dwelling units and a maximum of one thousand and one hundred. Sustainability is the ultimate goal for View Ridge Revisited. The three parts of this goal are economic sustainability, social sustainability and ecological sustainability. As a template for the structure of the village, Transit-Oriented Developments and the principles of New Urbanism were employed. Economically, the proposed design should support a community of approximately two thousand two hundred persons. Seven hundred of these should be employed within the community itself. Appropriate retail, office and service-office space has been provided for this purpose. This assumes at least one job per household. At least seventy-five percent of all the housing units in the village are within one thousand-three hundred feet walking distance from the downtown commercial core, or a five minute walk. These two thousand and two hundred people will live in medium density (12 du/acre) and low-density (8 du/acre) areas. The latter housing type includes ancillary suites above lane-access-only garages. The higher density housing types should be at least three stories, with possible basement suites. All housing should meet some type of precedent typology. The most likely typology sources come from older parts of Courtenay and Comox. Adequate recreation space is provided for the residents. Approximately twenty acres are located adjacent to the Recreation Centre and the Schools. The schools should be adequate for the given population of the community. Additional green space is included throughout the site, in the form of neighbourhood parks. Ten percent of each block is designated to park space. These parks will also function as storm water channels and filtration areas. From an ecological perspective, the design proposal attempts to integrate the functioning, natural environment with the cultural processes of its human co-inhabitants. In general, the village is centred upon a sixty to eighty meter riparian corridor, a wetland area and a community forest. All of these features should maintain their ecological functions, as well as provide vital components to both the image of the community and its healthy existence. The riparian corridor is a diverted stream from Seal Bay Park. It should be engineered to follow its pre-logging path down into the Little River watershed Storm water is drained from the village into this stream, after being naturally treated within the previously mentioned wetland area. All water from the site is treated in this manner. Sewage is treated at a three acre solar aquatic treatment facility next to the commercial core. The community forest will allow a habitat connection to the riparian corridor as well as provide an educational component to the inhabitants. It is hoped that sustainable logging practices will become a part of this forest's character. The overall goal of sustainable community design is met at View Ridge Revisited by satisfying the economic, social and ecological requirements. The transit-oriented design of this village provides the template upon which this becomes possible.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [321]-332).

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 372-384). Also available in electronic version.