Si l’on considère que le rôle des actionnaires varie dans un continuum qui s’étend de la passivité à l’une des extrémités jusqu’au contrôle total de la société dans laquelle ils ont investi, on peut affirmer que si, à une certaine époque, les investisseurs institutionnels ont privilégié une certaine forme d’apathie rationnelle, cette réalité a évolué. Loins d’avoir atteint l’autre extrémité du spectre, on doit néanmoins constater que désormais, les dirigeants et les actionnaires dominants doivent faire face à un nombre limité d’actionnaires institutionnels qui se connaissent et détiennent une part importante des titres d’une société. Malgré la présence d’obstacles légaux et organisationnels qui entravent toujours aujourd’hui l’exercice des droits des actionnaires, il semble que les interventions des investisseurs institutionnels aient transcendé la règle de la majorité en ayant recours à des moyens inusités pour diminuer les risques d’opportunisme au sein des sociétés ouvertes. En effet, si l’activisme des investisseurs institutionnels est un phénomène complexe qui prend des formes multiples souvent opaques et qui est difficile à cerner avec précision, il est néanmoins possible d’affirmer que ce mécanisme de gouvernance joue un rôle des plus importants en contribuant à limiter les coûts d’agence découlant de l’extraction de bénéfices privés par les dirigeants et les actionnaires dominants. En effet, au Canada, où la structure de propriété d’une majorité de sociétés est concentrée, l’activisme actionnarial permet de faire contrepoids au vaste pouvoir discrétionnaire des dirigeants ainsi qu’à l’influence qu’exercent les actionnaires dominants afin d’assurer une certaine forme de protection aux droits des actionnaires minoritaires. / If the role of shareholders is regarded as varying along a spectrum ranging from passivity to control of the company in which they have invested, it is safe to say that whereas institutional investors have exhibited a form of rational apathy in the past, this situation has changed significantly in recent years. Although institutional investors are still far from reaching the other end of the spectrum, it is clear that senior management and controlling shareholders are now faced with a limited number of institutional shareholders who know each other and who hold a significant share of the company's stock. In spite of the legal and organizational barriers that still impede the ability of shareholders to exercise their rights, it appears that the actions of institutional investors have transcended majority rule by resorting to unusual ways of reducing the risk of opportunism within publicly held Canadian companies. While the activism of institutional investors is a complex phenomenon embodying various forms which are often opaque and difficult to fully grasp, it can nevertheless be said that this mechanism of governance plays a critical role in slimming down agency costs arising from the realization of private benefits by managers and controlling shareholders. Indeed, in Canada, where most companies have a concentrated ownership structure, shareholder activism can serve as a counterbalance to the broad discretionary powers of company leaders and the influence of controlling shareholders, thus constituting a certain measure of protection for the rights of minority shareholders.

Judicial activism implies a hidden politicization of the Court. The legal arguments and the methods used by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) might seem coherent. However, an inquiry into judicial activism means looking beyond the legal reasoning of the Court and trying to “connect the dots” of an alternative narrative that can explain the Court’s long-term approach to certain issues. In the case of judicial activism of the CJEU in the case-law concerning public international law, the veil for the politicization of the Court is provided by the pluralist architecture of global law. The heterarchical structure of relations among legal orders in the international arena activates the CJEU as an actor of global governance. Simultaneously, it results in the Court adopting a rather internal and defensive approach, undermining legal security.<p><p>Judicial activism of the CJEU finds its particular expressions in the case-law concerning public international law. The pro-integrationist tendency of the CJEU often raised in the literature concerning the Court’s role in the process of EU integration, translates into a substantial and an institutional dimension of judicial activism. The substantial articulation of judicial activism in the case-law concerning international law is the Court’s emphasis on the autonomy of the EU legal order. This internal perspective is adopted not only for virtuous reasons, but also in defense of definitely not universal European interests. The institutional dimension refers to the Court’s position within the EU structure of governance. The case-law concerning international law is marked by a close alignment with the European Commission and the integration of the EU goals in external relations. Moreover, the pluralist veil can cover the extent to which the Court’s decisions concerning international law are influenced by considerations completely internal to the EU. <p><p>In my analysis I proceed in three steps that are reflected in three chapters of the thesis. There is no clear and prevalent definition of judicial activism, but instead rather multiple possibilities of approaching the concept. While the general intend of the research project is to critically reflect on the concept of judicial activism of the highest courts within a legal order, the particular focus will be on the CJEU dealing with international law. I proceed in three steps. First, I assess different understandings of the role of the judge and the concept of judicial activism in legal literature in view of ascertaining the relevance of the debate and distilling some general components of a possible definition. Secondly, I identify the factors particular for the position of the CJEU within the EU legal order and with regard to international law. The particular characteristics of the CJEU result in a limited applicability of the general definitions of judicial activism. Finally, I analyze the case-law in view of identifying examples as well as counter-examples of the particular symptoms/attributes. Because judicial activism broadens the scope of the factors guiding judicial decision-making, it enables us to better understand the contingencies in the Court´s jurisprudence. / Doctorat en Sciences juridiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Cette thèse s’intéresse aux manières dont se déploie le militantisme féministe au Togo, en interrogeant plus précisément la structure de l’espace de la cause des femmes, les stratégies employées par les militantes de différentes générations, leurs expériences du militantisme et leurs perceptions du féminisme dans un contexte ouest-africain où le féminisme est souvent connoté péjorativement. À partir d’une collecte de données ayant combiné des entretiens semi-dirigés, des observations participantes et une veille des réseaux sociaux, elle dresse un portrait des « féminismes », des « féministes », de leur militantisme et de l’espace dans lequel ces « féministes » militent au Togo. Cette recherche doctorale a permis de montrer un espace togolais de la cause des femmes foisonnant, marqué par la passion et l’intensité de l’engagement des militantes principalement issues d’une élite privilégiée. Même si l’émergence d’un discours féministe plus affirmé et plus globalisé a été discernée, le militantisme féministe, chez toutes les générations, est généralement exprimé en termes de promotion des droits des femmes et de l’égalité des genres, et est axé autour du principe de la négociation et de modalités d’action collective peu contestataires. La jeune génération de féministes se distingue surtout par la place importante qu’elle accorde aux plateformes digitales comme canal de communication. Les analyses ont montré que les militantes de l’espace togolais et ouest-africain de la cause des femmes adoptent une pluralité d’identités féministes qui sont néanmoins traversées par des expériences communes et une volonté partagée de défendre les droits des femmes, en tant que femmes. En adoptant une interprétation plus souple du militantisme et du féminisme en contexte ouest-africain, cette thèse permet de rendre compte des expériences particulières des militantes togolaises, mais aussi des tendances historiques et transnationales plus larges dans lesquelles elles s’inscrivent. / This thesis examines the ways in which feminist activism unfolds in Togo, focusing specifically on the structure of the women's rights movement, the strategies employed by activists from different generations, their experiences with activism, and their perceptions of feminism in a West African context where feminism is often negatively connoted. Through a combination of semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and social media monitoring, it paints a picture of "feminisms", "feminists", their activism, and the environment in which they operate in Togo. The research shows a thriving Togolese women's rights movement marked by the passion and intensity of the engagement of activists, mostly from a privileged elite. While the emergence of a more assertive and globalized feminist discourse has been discerned, feminist activism, across all generations, is generally expressed in terms of promoting women's rights and gender equality, and is centered around the principle of negotiation and non-subversive collective action. The younger generation of feminists is distinguished by the significant importance they assign to digital platforms as a communication channel. The analysis showed that women's rights activists in Togo and West Africa adopt a plurality of feminist identities that are informed by common experiences and a shared commitment to defending women's rights as women. By adopting a more flexible interpretation of feminism and activism in the West African context, this thesis sheds light on the specific experiences of Togolese activists as well as broader historical and transnational trends in which they are embedded.

Digital rights activism constitutes an exemplary case of how internet affordances can be mobilised to engender political change. The values and principles stemming from the hacker imaginaire, and free and open source software practices, underpin digital rights activism, which uses the internet as a tool, object and platform for the protection of rights in the digital realm. The analysis focuses on how digital rights activists use and adapt the political affordances of the internet to intervene in European Union policy-making. Two original case studies of internet-based campaigning at the European level (the “No Software Patents” and the “Telecoms package” campaigns) provide in-depth insight into the campaigning processes and their impact upon parliamentary politics. The cases highlight the complementarity of online and offline collective action, by examining processes of open collaboration, information disclosure and internet-assisted lobbying. The success of the “Telecoms package” campaign is then assessed, along with the perspective of the targets: members and staff of the European Parliament.<p><p>The belief in values of freedom, decentralisation, openness, creativity and progress inspires a particular type of activism, which promotes autonomy, participation and efficiency. The empirical evidence suggests that this set of principles can, at times, conflict with practices observed in the field. This has to do with the particular opportunity structure of the European Union and the characteristics of the movement. The EU favours functional integration of civil society actors who are expected to contribute technical and/or legal expertise. This configuration challenges internet-based protest networks that rely on highly independent and fluctuating engagement, and suffer from a lack of diversity and cohesion. The internet does not solve all obstacles to collective action. It provides, however, a networked infrastructure and tools for organising, coordinating and campaigning. Online and offline actions are not only supportive of each other. Internet-based campaigning can be successful once it reaches out beyond the internet, and penetrates the corridors of political institutions.<p> / Doctorat en Information et communication / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished