Research Project (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Research Project (Dept. of Political Science) / Simon Fraser University. Also issued in digital format and available on the World Wide Web.

This dissertation looks at the challenges that deliberative democratic theory encounters when it tries to offer a rich account of inclusion yet refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy of external protest. While sympathetic to deliberative democracy’s goals, I challenge this focus upon the deliberative group as the theory tries to satisfy requirements of inclusion and legitimacy. In response I offer a normative account of protest within a larger deliberative framework – one that offers a more comprehensive account of democratic inclusion. I look at critiques of deliberative democracy, particularly in terms of the theory’s ability to account for pluralism, and I argue that in order to meet this challenge we need to offer a normative justification of protest. Moreover, we need to do this not only to achieve full and effective inclusion but also to deal with the lack of efficacy that marginalized deliberants may encounter even when requirements of formal and effective inclusion are met. As I address these challenges I offer a theory of protest-as-deliberation in which I develop a normative justification of protest and set out the conceptual changes that allow this justification to be normatively and practically viable. My account takes protest, as something outside of and in opposition to the deliberative group, seriously and extends the deliberative framework to include protest; importantly, it does this without co-opting protestors. Drawing from previous critiques, I develop the normative and practical links that are necessary in order to facilitate a deliberative dialogue between protestors and the deliberative group. The conceptual changes that are necessary in order to realize protest-as-deliberation require that we re-evaluate the impact that deliberative criteria of reason-giving has upon effective inclusion and people’s efficacy and that we change these criteria accordingly. Additionally, we need to revisit the democratic capacity of the public sphere, reconceptualized as the deliberative polity in which the process of protest-as-deliberation takes place. When we do this we ought to place a greater emphasis upon available public spaces, both physical and conceptual, that deliberants and protestors need in order for effective deliberation and contestation to occur. / Thesis (Ph.D, Political Studies) -- Queen's University, 2008-12-01 14:58:51.95

The contemporary notion of sustainability is emerging as a political response to ecological and social problems associated with human development. It is a contested concept - eco-modernists interpret it as a call to rethink or adjust industrial production systems while others interpret it as a fundamental challenge to the dominant development paradigm. Corporations are playing a key role in shaping the discourse. Many argue that since corporations have enormous influence in the global political economy, they must take the lead in the search for sustainability. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) promotes eco-efficiency - an eco-modernist stance - as the primary business contribution to sustainability. However, the potential of the corporate focus on efficiency to contribute to sustainability is a subject of debate. In this thesis, I use a heterogeneous methodological approach to explore the interaction between corporations (with a focus on multinational corporations) and the discourse of sustainability in order to identify the potential for positive outcomes. I consider the compatibility of aspects of corporate identity and organisational structure to the ethos of sustainability. This leads to an examination of the meeting between corporations and sustainability as a reflexive process, paying particular attention to the ways in which language and mythology serve to uphold or transform existing power relations. I also explore forms of knowledge relevant to sustainability, comparing those that are typically emphasized in corporate enterprise with traditional, Indigenous and local ways of knowing that are essential to sustainability. The knowledge of classical equestrianism is used as an example in this analysis. Practical ways of including all these essential perspectives in the discourse are considered. The thesis concludes that certain aspects of corporate identity, structure and function are incompatible with the ideals of sustainability and that these disparities must be borne in mind as corporations attempt to embrace sustainability. I contend that sustainability requires network approaches that integrate strong and weak relations as well as diverse values and forms of knowledge. Sustainability can only be achieved with broad civic engagement that allows the synergistic combination of all values and knowledges relevant to sustainability. Furthermore, I argue that while corporations’ orientation towards market-based strategies has significant potential to support sustainability, it is limited since the market is fundamentally constituted by a network of weak ties. Therefore the thesis argues that while corporations can provide significant benefits in terms of sustainability, they cannot be expected to lead the sustainability agenda as it requires discursive plurality. The efficacy of the corporate contribution to sustainability will be greatly enhanced if companies are guided by strong democratic processes of deliberation and community engagement.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Universiẗat, FB Gesellschaftswiss. u. Phil., Fach Soziologie, Dipl.-Arb., 2006--Marburg. / Literaturverz. S. 106 - 109.

Thesis (Ph. D., Natural Resources)--University of Idaho, May 2006. / Major professor: Charles C. Harris. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 176-180). Also available online (PDF file) by subscription or by purchasing the individual file.

Zugl.: Hamburg, Techn. Univ., Diss., 2008

No description available.

Yes

There are two commonly accepted paradigms for organizing intelligence in robotic vehicles, namely reactive and deliberative. A third, a hybrid paradigm called integrated planning and execution, is considered a combination of the original two. Although these paradigms are well known to researchers, there are few published examples directly comparing their application and performance on similar vehicles operating in identical environments. Virginia Tech's participation with two nearly identical vehicles in the DARPA Grand Challenge afforded a practical opportunity for such a case study. Both base vehicles were developed by modifying Club Car Pioneer XRT 1500 on-demand four wheel drive base platforms. Cliff was designed to use the reactive paradigm, while Rocky was designed to use the deliberative paradigm. Both vehicles were initially outfitted with sensor suites and computational capabilities commensurate with the paradigm being employed. The author of this thesis coordinated the activities of the two teams of undergraduate and graduate students who implemented the respective designs and software. Both vehicles proved capable of off-road navigation, including road following and obstacle avoidance in complex desert terrain. In the end, however, the reactive paradigm proved to be smoother and more reliable than the deliberative paradigm under the conditions of our testing. While both vehicles were extensively tested and compared using the competing paradigms, the team modified Rocky to use the more effective reactive paradigm for the Grand Challenge events. The deliberative case shows much promise for complex navigation, but added unnecessary complexity to desert road navigation. This case study, while necessarily limited in scope, may help to shed additional light on the tradeoffs and performance of competing approaches to machine intelligence. / Master of Science