The thesis is divided into ten chapters and 3 parts. Following an introductory chapter on the literature on the main issues of the period, Part I opens with a chapter on the social and economic transformation of the city of Moscow during war communism, and its second chapter analyses the role of the trade unions and the pattern of labour relations in this period. Part II is concerned with the internal transformation of the party and the development of its relationship with society; and discusses recruitment, organisation, the nature of militarisation during the civil war, the party's ideological work, and its relationship to mass bodies. It ends with a study of the Moscow soviet and the development of bureaucracy. In Part III the debates at the end of war communism are considered in the light of the foregoing economic and political developments. The conclusion assesses the nature of war communism in Moscow.

Between 1928 and 1934 Soviet society experienced what amounted to two industrial revolutions: the adaptation of a largely non-industrial working population to industry and the introduction of new technologies and methods of management. These radical changes inevitably gave rise to problems of labour discipline, expressed most graphically in soaring rates of labour turnover and absenteeism. These problems were exacerbated by the pace, intensity and scope of Soviet industrialisation and by the social policies that accompanied this drive. As in any such process these problems had to be tackled by utilising a blend of measures based on compulsion, conviction and incentive. The present work examines the blend employed by the Soviet regime during the period under review to stimulate, in the shortest possible time scale, a general will for industrialisation and, having established that will and destroyed opposition to it, channel the energies thus generated into the desired directions. The distinctive element in this blend is identified as socialist competition, which the regime utilised to stimulate support for and stifle opposition to industrialisation, and, subsequently, to raise work skills to the level required by the modern industry being constructed. Moreover, socialist competition allowed the regime to implement a management system geared to the maximum priority of production interests, while preserving a commitment, albeit in abstract terms, to the concept of a workers' state.

The aim of this project is to find whether the national system of performance measurement in the Russian public sector is affected by deliberate data manipulation. Using mixed methods I demonstrate that locally generated data are more likely to be manipulated than data reported by external agencies. Instead of improving managerial decisions, performance indicators have become a tool of symbolic bureaucratic accountability not linked to real managerial activities. 25 current and former civil servants from three regional governments in Russia were interviewed (including three ministers of economic development); quantitative data were obtained from a publicly available performance dataset covering the period of 2007-2011 (with data for a unified list of over 300 indicators from 83 regional governments). Two strategies of data manipulation were identified: a “prudent bureaucrat” strategy consisted in minimizing long-term risks by reporting “more-normal-than-real” figures; a more ambitions “reckless bureaucrat” strategy aimed at inflating figures to maximise credit. Systematic application of these two strategies has produced a detectable bias in the overall performance data with “prudent bureaucrat” strategy dominating. Performance reporting creates a “bureaucratic panopticon” and resulting behaviour may be understood using Michel Foucault’s notion of normalisation.

1. Seed bank and seed rain represent dispersal in time and space. They can be important sources of diversity in the rural landscape, where fragmented habitats are linked by their histories. 2. Seed bank, seed rain and above-ground vegetation were sampled in four habitat types (abandoned semi-natural grassland (ABA), grazed former arable field (FAF), mid-field islet (MFI) and grazed semi-natural grassland (SNG)) in a rural landscape in southern Sweden, to examine whether community patterns can be distinguished at large spatial scales and whether seed bank and seed rain are best explained by current, past or intended future vegetation communities. 3. We counted 54 357 seedlings of 188 species from 1190 seed bank and 797 seed rain samples. Seed bank, seed rain and above-ground vegetation communities differed according to habitat. Several species characteristic of managed grassland vegetation were present in the seed bank, seed rain and vegetation of the other habitats. 4. The seed banks of SNGs and the seed rain of the FAFs were generally better predicted by the surrounding above-ground vegetation than were the other habitat types. The seed rain of the grazed communities was most similar to the vegetation in the FAFs, while the seed banks of the abandoned grasslands most resembled the vegetation in SNGs. 5. Gap availability and seed input could be limiting the colonisation of target species in FAFs, while remnant populations in the seed bank and the presence of grassland specialists in the above-ground vegetation indicate that abandoned grasslands and mid-field islets could be valuable sources of future diversity in the landscape after restoration. 6. Synthesis and applications. SNG communities are able to form seed banks which survive land-use change, but their seed rain does not reflect their above-ground communities. It is important that grassland plants set seed. By connecting existing grasslands with restoration targets, increased disturbance in the target habitats would allow for colonisation via the seed bank or seed rain, while decreased grazing intensity would benefit seed production in the source grasslands. Otherwise, landscape-wide propagule availability might increase with a more varied timing and intensity of management.

The study of resiliency theory allows for an examination of successful processes people have relied on to overcome difficult situations. In this study, former youth in care who have demonstrated resilience through educational success as defined by enrollment in post-secondary educational programs, were interviewed to gain an understanding of the factors that contributed to their resilience. Nine former youth in care participated in this study. Analysis of the transcripts from the conversations resulted in several factors that the participants identified as promoting resilience. These included supportive relationships, self advocacy, externalization of perceived negative attitudes, a high value placed on education, and access to community support through Amandas Gift, a bursary program available to former youth in care.

Syftet med arbetet är att undersöka hur föräldrar från postsovjetiska länder som har flyttat till Sverige uppfattar begreppet jämställdhet, hur uppdelningen av deras vardagssysslor ser ut, hur deras medvetenhet kring det jämställdhetsarbete som förskolan enligt läroplanen ska utföra ser ut samt om deras uppfattning om begreppet är likadan med vad Läroplanen för förskolan säger. I studien intervjuades fyra föräldrar från två postsovjetiska länder, resultatet analyserades med hjälp av fenomenografisk ansats. I resultatet framkom det att föräldrarnas uppfattning om begreppet jämställdhet kan vara helt annan än den som står i Läroplanen för förskolan. De föräldrar vars uppfattning om jämställdhet skiljde sig från den svenska uppfattningen menade att jämställdhet är ett påhittat problem eftersom kvinnor och män har lika rättigheter i ett modernt samhälle, dock skyldigheterna är olika och det är biologiska skillnader som ligger till grund för det. Främst syns det i hushållsysslornas fördelning där den traditionella arbetsfördelningen finns kvar. Alla informanter var välmedvetna om att det är en stor skillnad mellan hur jämställdhetsarbetet ser ut i Sverige och hur det var i deras respektive länder. Ingen av de intervjuade föräldrarna visste vilka jämställdhetsmål som finns i Läroplanen för förskolan, inte ens alla visste att det finns ett dokument som styr förskolans verksamhet. Man kan dra slutsats att föräldrar från postsovjetiska länder med en annan uppfattning om jämställdhet, utan intresse för jämställdhetsfrågor samt bristande samverkan mellan förskola och hem, istället för att stödja och komplettera förskolans uppdrag kan motverka förskolans jämställdhetsarbete. / The aim of this study is to find out how parents from former soviet republics who emigrated to Sweden understand the concept of gender equality, how their distribution of daily chores looks like, how their awareness about gender equality work, which the pre-school should be carrying  out according to the curriculum, looks like and if their understanding of gender equality concept is the same with the pre-school curriculum. In this study there were interviewed four parents from two former soviet republics. The result was analyzed by phenomenographic approach. The result  showed that the parents’ understanding of gender equality concept could be completely different from what the pre-school curriculum means. Those parents who didn’t  agree with the pre-school curriculum description of gender equality meant that the concept of gender equality was a made-up problem, because men and women have the same rights in a modern society, but their obligations are different and that depends on biological differences. It is foremost visible in distribution of daily chores where the traditional chores distribution hasn’t changed. All the parents were aware of the huge difference between the work being done in Sweden in matter of gender equality and how it was in their countries of origin. None of the parents knew what gender equality aims are in the curriculum for the pre-school. Not even every one of them knew about the existence of such document. The conclusion is that parents from the former soviet republics, with a different understanding of gender equality and insufficient cooperation between the pre-school and the families, instead of supporting and supplementing the pre-school’s mission are counteracting the pre-school’s gender equality work.

The study of resiliency theory allows for an examination of successful processes people have relied on to overcome difficult situations. In this study, former youth in care who have demonstrated resilience through educational success as defined by enrollment in post-secondary educational programs, were interviewed to gain an understanding of the factors that contributed to their resilience. Nine former youth in care participated in this study. Analysis of the transcripts from the conversations resulted in several factors that the participants identified as promoting resilience. These included supportive relationships, self advocacy, externalization of perceived negative attitudes, a high value placed on education, and access to community support through Amandas Gift, a bursary program available to former youth in care.

This thesis seeks to explore the Soviet territorial claims on Turkey during the period between 1939-1946. The main argument of this thesis is that the Soviet demands from Turkey during the World War II were expansionist in nature, as opposed to the view that they were defensive. The Soviet leadership formulated these demands before the German invasion of the Soviet territories when the Soviet Union did not have significant security concerns and maintained superiority during the war. This thesis is composed of six chapters. The first chapter is the introduction and the second chapter looks at the historical context of Turkish-Soviet relations. Chapter Three examines the Soviet demands for military bases and territorial concessions from Turkey immediately after the Second World War. The fourth chapter discusses planning of settling Armenians in Turkish territories. This chapter also examines the initial US response to the Soviet demands. Chapter Five analyzes the United States&#039 / adoption of a hard-line attitude towards the Soviet Union with respect to these demands and also how the US reaction led to the Soviet withdrawal of demands. The last chapter is the conclusion.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

In 2008 Russia surprised the West by going to war with Georgia. While several analyses have pointed to separate actions by NATO and the West as having influenced the 2008 war, this paper endeavors to show that the combined actions of the West and NATO since the fall of the Soviet Union created a security dilemma for Russia. Because the West refused to properly acknowledge and address Russia’s dilemma, the West inadvertently created the conditions which led to the culmination of Russia’s security dilemma in the form of an invasion of Georgia. Russia’s war with Georgia was less an attempt to protect Russian citizens and prevent atrocities as it was a rebuttal of Western actions. This thesis examines the security dilemma and cooperation theories as presented by Dr. Robert Jervis, and looks specifically at Western-Russian relations relating to three spheres: NATO expansion and Western marginalization of Russia, Western unilateral and extra-U.N. military aggression, and Western anti-ballistic missile defense initiatives and programs. Western actions relating to these three spheres created the conditions for the war, and specifics within the Caucasus region and relating to separatist conflicts drove Russia to deem a war with Georgia a politically safe rebuttal to the West. This paper also examines continued Western refusal to acknowledge Russia’s dilemma and developing conditions, as they relate to the three spheres of NATO expansion, unilateral military action and missile defenses, which could potentially lead to further conflict between Russia and the West. / text