The study shows how seven informants, all studying at a university in northern Sweden to become art teachers, perceive and relate to controversial contemporary art in the context of secondary school art education. The study is based on semi-structured interviews. The study contributes to a nuanced view of these informants opinions and thoughts regarding provocative contemporary art, in relation to the school's democratic values ​​and founding mission. The seven informants' responses were compiled thematically linked to the study's purpose and issues to allow for comparisons and analysis. The analysis of the information that was served was based on a qualitative perspective, which has links to hermeneutics. It appears that some of the informants have strong opinions regarding what kind of controversial contemporary art that should not be dealt with in elementary school art education. It is also suggested that contemporary art is an absent element in art education at Sweden's primary schools.

No description available.

Thesis (MPA.(Economic and Management Sciences))-University of Pretoria, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-150). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1965. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

The eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has experienced constant instability and conflict since 1996. With the collapse of the state of Zaire and the renaming of the country by the late Laurent Desire Kabila in late 1996, there were high expectations from the Congolese population that the country was going to move forward. However, in less than two years, the central government in Kinshasa was facing a new rebellion from the east of the country, followed by widespread violence and criminal activities by armed and militia groups. Although military intervention from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola halted the rebellion march to Kinshasa, the capital city of DRC, and allowed the DRC government to sign peace agreement with its opponents in 2002; since then, the prospect of peace in the eastern DRC, especially the North and South Kivus seems bleak. Since 2002, that region has been the theatre of armed and militia groups (both local and foreign), owing to, in the views of various experts, the presence of mineral resources to support their criminal activities, as well as the economic interests of regional actors to create proxy militia and armed groups in the absence of central government in much of eastern DRC. The purpose and rationale of this study is to critically identify actors in the postconflict reconstruction process, and examine the role of mineral resources among other perpetuating factors of the protracted conflict in eastern DRC, in order to arrive at a comprehensive analysis of the reasons for the failure of peace building and post-conflict reconstruction processes that have been undertaken. This study aims to fill a gap in available literature, by pointing to some conflict drivers and factors which have previously been overlooked in post-conflict reconstruction, and in existing research on the topic, especially the role of mineral resources in sustaining conflict. A thorough conceptualization of relevant conflict theory and a historical overview of the conflict in DRC were provided as a point of departure in order to understand other factors that contribute to the intractability of conflict in eastern DRC, this study found that those factors were rooted in the legacy of colonialism; the bad leadership under both the colonial powers and subsequent government of Joseph Mobutu, manipulation and politicization of ethnic identities especially in the South and North Kivu and the geopolitical location of the eastern DRC. This study further established that the presence of mineral resources in eastern DRC indeed contributes to the continued insecurity in that region by providing succour to armed groups, thus undermining peace agreements especially the Pretoria agreement that formally ended hostilities in 2002. Furthermore, the study found that the issue of mineral resources is not the sole driver of the eastern DRC conflict, as the issues of ethnic polarisation especially, discrimination against Kinyarwanda speaking Congolese in the east, and the view that only military means can solve this problem; coupled with other security threats including the presence of foreign militia groups motivate the neighbouring countries of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi to constantly meddle in DRC's internal affairs. The study suggests that additional research be conducted to further investigate the regional dimensions of the conflict and how perceived interests in mineral revenue contribute to the polarisation of the population in eastern DRC; leading to the proliferation of armed groups.

No description available.

What constitutes a stable democracy has consistently changed over time, with varying thresholds of democratic achievement being utilized. The definitions of a liberal democracy have remained rather broad. This allows for states to be deemed democratic rather easily through weak characteristics. However, while some states clearly begin to exhibit illiberal democratic policies, therefore missing the democratic threshold, they are able to maintain stability. What the precise causal factors to democratic backslide are, have yet to be fully realized. Academics pose a multitude of characteristics contributing to backslide. This thesis seeks to examine two of those factors: ethnic heterogeneity and state “newness.” New approaches to measuring democracy and fostering democratic development are needed, however, they may also prove to be unsuccessful in analyzing democratic transitions. Not all states are alike, therefore what works for one state may not work for another, be the policies of the state liberal or illiberal.

No description available.

No description available.