Note:

No description available.

Bibliography : leaves 246-269 / xiv, 269 leaves : ill ; 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 Economics, 1993

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1968. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universidad de los Andes. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [105]-118).

M.Phil. (Energy Studies) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

What kinds of sensory adjustments allowed human beings to industrialize? If we accept Lewis Mumford's proposition that the era of coal, iron and carbon fuel production was accompanied by a broad scale "starvation of the senses" (Mumford 1963 [1934], 180), then what is the material evidence of this sensory suppression or deferral? What is the material culture of feeling -- or unfeeling -- that accompanied the arrival of the Anthropocene? One of the implications of this question is that the aesthetic and anaesthetic imperatives that escorted Americans into industrial life have simply continued in different forms, but without the belief in industrial 'progress' to give context or meaning. Social forms of industrialism endure within a void of purpose; this gives the imperative of anaesthetization renewed fuel as a buffer for the difficulties that accompany the ongoing environmental catastrophe. Historical and archaeological evidence collected during my recent investigations into the natural cement company town of Whiteport, New York, suggest that the aesthetic and anaesthetic origins of industrial society share a common source and destination in the world of dream, whereas the aesthetic impulse emerges from imagination and reverie and anaesthetic deferral is one of renunciation and self-preservation.

Climate change is an issue rife with economic risk. The physical impacts of global warming, allowed to intensify by halting international climate cooperation, threaten climate-vulnerable industries and communities. Global transitions away from fossil fuels endanger carbon-intensive economic assets. Whereas climate change is often framed as an issue of global collective action and public goods provision, I instead conceptualize it as one of economic risk and decline. How do workers, voters, and governments perceive and manage mounting "climate risks"? How do they cope with losses stemming from realizations of such risks? I interrogate these questions in reference to the political and economic divisions that exist within and across many of the world's most fossil fuel-intensive and ecologically vulnerable countries. The first two papers of the dissertation consider how ethnoracial divisions within states shape perceptions of climate risks and responses to their realization. In the first, I argue that the ascriptive makeup of an industry serves as a heuristic for evaluating its access to state subsidies and ability to weather climate change and decarbonization. Survey experiments on representative U.S. samples indicate that minority Americans see greater downside risk in industries that hire large numbers of Black workers, expecting those industries to be denied government support as climate risks manifest. Conversely, minorities see less risk in industries that mainly employ white workers, believing those industries to have more benefactors in government. In the second paper, I study how migrants, who have long featured prominently in fossil fuel workforces, politically assimilate amid industrial booms and busts. Whereas scholars often contend that industrial decay aggravates ethnocultural animosities and compounds existing group loyalties, I argue that the starkest intergroup divides can emerge in periods of growth, not decline. When an industry is growing, economic optimism and resources flow across ethnic groups concentrated in that industry, bolstering migrants’ confidence in the ability of coethnics to safeguard their welfare and suppressing investments in political assimilation. Gains from concentration in the industry dissipate amid decline, leading migrants to forge ties with outside groups promising access to political rents previously out of reach. I find support for this theory in the case of the early twentieth century U.S. coal industry. The third paper of the dissertation, coauthored with Richard Clark, explores why some international organizations have retrofit themselves to address climate change despite the intransigence of powerful member states on the issue. We link these pro-climate turns to bureaucrats' socialization in climate-vulnerable countries. As bureaucrats rotate between countries and are promoted, climate concerns then diffuse outwards and upwards, gradually sharpening the climate focus of the institution despite the skepticism of powerful principal states. We find support for this argument in the case of the International Monetary Fund, drawing on original data on bureaucrat career paths and Fund attention to climate change.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, March 2017. / This thesis follows the development of a particular set of large technical systems in South Africa from the late apartheid era into the age of democracy. During apartheid technological prowess, upheld by the network of state corporations or parastatals, bolstered the authoritarian rule of the white minority government in South Africa. The economic and political liberalisation of the late 1980s challenged the power of the parastatals and altered the underlying rationale of infrastructure development. In particular I describe the transformation of Iscor and Eskom, two of the country’s major parastatals, and their activities in the Waterberg coalfields, an isolated region on the country’s north-western border. While Eskom’s activities in the region began in the 1980s they gained public notoriety with the construction of the Medupi power station two decades later. The obstacles that Eskom faced at Medupi represent the main challenge of developing large technological infrastructures in the democratic, post-colonial order, where the fruits of infrastructure development demand to be spread beyond the bounds of an elite minority. But the eventual completion of some power generating units in 2015 at Medupi demonstrates that failure is not inevitable. I argue that this success is due to the fact that the autonomous parastatal network negotiated the political and economic liberalisation of the early 1990 by incorporating the changing socio-political conditions into its operations. The parastatal network retained a momentum, in the sense first described by the historian of technology Thomas Hughes, which was also a product of the “locked-in” nature of investment in the infrastructure project. Because of the large capital investment required for the infrastructure development, proceeding tenaciously against the odds to see the project to completion was cheaper than retreat for those involved. / MT2018

Thesis. (D. Tech. - Business, Faculty of Management Sciences)--Vaal University of Technology, 2010. / The study explored the South African coal mining industry and it’s role players to establish the causes of the bottlenecks/constraints experienced in the coal mining industry supply chain. A qualitative research paradigm methodology was used. Both theoretical and philosophical assumptions were utilised with inferences from and references to works by other researchers to broaden the knowledge horizons for the study. Thirteen supply chain executives and professionals from the key role players in the coal mining industry were interviewed and provided invaluable input for the study. The study determined the presence of communication barriers between the industry role players in the public and private institutions that culminated in main themes and sub-themes being established from which the industry constraints were uncovered. The study identified six main constraints affecting the various role players within the coal mining supply chain and it culminated in the model that would enable the industry to minimise such constraints. To this end, the study proposes the development of an Integrated Strategy for the Development of Coal Mining (ISDCM).The model is based on the public and private partnership arrangement that would alleviate most of the prevailing constraints when implemented. The model would furthermore have the capacity to rectify most of the existing constraints. It would be funded from the commercial sector and would operate on triple bottom lines of economic, social and environmental factors, with equal weight. This is a desirable direction for the future in order to maintain sustainable development. Emanating from the study are policy and research recommendations for the South African coal mining industry, covering the coordination of the critical areas of the proposed integrated strategy for the development of the coal mining industry. Such recommendations include further research into new coal mines and power stations as well as perceptions and expectations of potential investors in the industry, among others.