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The following project will consist in the study and examination of the concepts and theories that lie in the domain of political theory. The enquiry into the dimensions and complexities of the socio-political organization and the political substance of individual human agents will be conducted with the intellectual assistance of the postmodernist turn of thought. I will interrogate and develop a specifically Foucauldian reading of international politics and the emerging global world order as well as situate Foucault's insights and theorizing in a cosmopolitan framework, which calls for a progressive re-conceptualization of the dimensions of power and the modalities of state-citizen autonomy, and sovereignty. The thesis will proceed through five stages of analysis: (i) examination of freedom and self-creation as foundational and fundamental to the cosmopolitan citizenship; (ii) investigation of governmentality, power and the role of personal and political resistance in shaping new horizons of political order (iii) development of a structural approach to cosmopolitan democracy; enhanced by (iv) decoupling of identity from citizenship, and prompted by (v) an inquiry into and recalibration of the political space and sovereignty of states and political agents. I will contend for a conception of citizenship, illuminated by a postmodernist lens of analysis, set in a cosmopolitan framework and premised upon a notion of a layered and constituted dialectic, as the most adroit model for a re-articulation of the spirit of democratic qua cosmopolitan citizenship in the world of increasingly displaced loyalties, porous identities, and atrophied civic commitments. The study aims to inquire into the possibilities of meaningfully addressing the fundamental question in political theory, that of: how is the state to be organized in an era of globalization accompanied by an unprecedented compression of space and time, and re-spatialization of socio-economic and political relations. The thesis will conclude with a synthesis of proposed theoretical assumptions that are to serve as the structural basis and philosophical guidance for the institutionalization of measures conducive to the enactment and perpetuation of cosmopolitan consciousness and cosmopolitical practice.

This thesis explores the depiction of doping in the press. My interest in the topic stemmed from an early personal experience in competitive athletics where I was exposed to an in-sports reality that tolerated the use of performance-enhancing substances. However, references to doping in the media appeared to depict it in a different way. In order to investigate the divergence, the thesis analysed the reporting of two Olympic Games, namely Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. It focused on empirical data and thus all articles that referenced doping were collected one month prior, during and one month after the two Olympic Games. In total 1274 articles were collected and analysed. Adopting a post-structuralist approach, the discourse analysis of the data leads to the identification of journalistic techniques that constructed discursive statements of doping. It was observed that first of all, in the case of highly publicised drug cases, these statements could be understood as constructing a moral panic episode. Secondly, the same discursive statements were circulated in the press even in the absence of positive doping samples. The thesis draws on the theories of moral regulation and governmentality to make sense of the constant presence of doping discursive statements in the press. It argues that inducting doping into sport spectacle makes its depiction seem apolitical and disconnected from society. However, in-depth theorisation of the phenomenon shows that its mediated construction plays an active role in influencing public policy.

Hurricanes pose a challenge for residents and communities of the United States Gulf Coast. The people that live in the region must adapt and respond to these storms, as do the social institutions that provide support during disasters and their aftermath. This is complicated by the longstanding and ongoing relationship between the oil and gas industry and gulf coastal communities, especially as activities associated with oil and gas development alter the local environments and regional landscapes in ways that increase vulnerability. These vulnerabilities layer onto existing social inequalities and make management and protection of regional populations difficult, and complicate recovery efforts. In this dissertation I explore the relationships between people, communities, industry, and social institutions. I trace the recent history of gulf coast storms in the region, emergent and developing strategies for preparation and recovery, and ongoing contention embedded within policy and governance issues. I also consider the complex interaction between social and natural systems, the role of government and support networks in providing assistance, and the locus of responsibility in mitigating vulnerability and providing support, before, during, and after a disaster.

This thesis documents the genealogy of the development of Jakarta’s urban water supply infrastructure from 1873 (the inception of the first colonial water supply network) to the present. Using an analytical framework of governmentality, supplemented by insights from postcolonial studies and political ecology, the thesis explains the highly unequal patterns of water access in Jakarta as the product of (post)colonial governmentalities, whose relations of power are expressed not only through discursive categories and socio-economic relations, but also through material infrastructures and urban spaces. The thesis presents material from the colonial archives, Jakarta’s municipal archives, and the publications of international development agencies and engineering consultancy firms. This is combined with primary data derived from interviews, questionnaires, and participant observation of the implementation of current pro-poor water supply projects in Jakarta. This data is used to document how water supply is implicated in the discursive and material production of the city and its citizens, and to challenge conventional developmentalist and academic analyses of water supply access. Specifically, a conceptual triad of water, space, and populations – produced through, but also productive of government rationalities – is used to explain two apparent paradoxes: (1) the fragmentation of access in Jakarta despite a century of concerted attempts to develop a centralized system; and (2) the preferences of lower-income households for non-networked water supply, despite its higher cost per unit volume. This analysis hinges on an elucidation of the relationships between urban governance and urban infrastructure, which documents the interrelated process of differentiation of types of water supply, water use practices, populations, and urban spaces from the colonial period to the present. This, in turn, is used to explain the barriers being encountered in current pro-poor water supply development projects in Jakarta. The thesis thus makes a contribution to current academic debates over the ‘colonial present’. The contribution is both theoretical – in the emphasis placed upon the materiality of governmentality – and empirical. Finally, the thesis also makes a contribution to the urban and development studies literatures through its reinterpretation of the urban ‘water crisis’.

Denna uppsats undersöker hur deltagare i arbetsmarknadspolitiska program upplever deltagandet och effekten av programmen. Studien riktar sig specifikt mot fas 3 inom jobb- och utvecklingsgarantin, dit individer som varit arbetslösa under flera års tid skrivs in. Problemområdet omfattas av hur arbetslivets förändring leder till komplikationer för individer som är arbetslösa. Sju medverkande intervjupersoner deltog i studien, där semi-strukturerade intervjuer användes. Resultaten visar att deltagarna i programmet upplever att de dagliga aktiviteterna är meningsfulla, men att det politiska och byråkratiska ramverket leder till försämrat välmående och hopplöshet. Två handläggare för deltagare inom programmet intervjuades också, för att skapa en bättre helhetsbild. Den teoretiska ansatsen som används i analys av empirin utgick ifrån Foucaults teori om governmentality, som belyser hur individer disciplineras in i en övervakande mentalitet genom styrning och makt. Makten tydliggörs i analysen, där maktrelationer används för att förklara hur upplevelserna av fas 3 förhåller sig till exempelvis politiska beslut. Slutligen diskuteras hur detta leder till främlingskap för deltagarna i relation till det övriga samhället och varför detta är problematiskt.

This thesis examines how the liberalization of United States agriculture has affected the everyday experiences of labor, and laborers. Centered on a case study of mushroom production in Southern Chester County, Pennsylvania, this thesis explores the role of governmentality in shaping the daily work experience of labor employed in the industry. Situated within feminist geographic debates regarding gender and work, this thesis argues that normalized and stereotypical understandings of gender, ethnicity, and immigrant status have become tools of discipline that encourage particular performances of work within mushroom houses. The disciplinary strategies explored in this thesis are comprised of rules, procedures, regulations, and dispositions, and are deployed in a complementarily manner to maximize profit generated by laborers. Ultimately these disciplinary measures have become integral for Southern Chester County to both maximize profits and maintain its prominent location as the largest mushroom cultivating region in the United States. / Thesis (Master, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2012-02-06 22:57:27.043

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

In 1997, Governor Paul Patton of Kentucky asked the state Cabinet of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection to develop administrative regulations for industrial hog farms in the state. The regulatory process has been contentious. From 1997 through 1998, the Cabinet held five public hearings to elicit comments on the proposed regulations. This study is designed to answer two questions. First, how, within parameters of participation established by the Kentucky Cabinet of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, have participants in the debate deployed notions of risk to privilege certain gendered and sexualized farming identities, farming practices, and notions of rurality? Second, how will the spatial arrangements proposed by participants alter social relationships? A theoretical framework that draws from Foucaults work on governmentality and power/knowledge, feminist theories and Latours actor network theory was developed for this analysis which combines discourse analysis with participant observation. The study examines texts produced by the Cabinet and three groups: the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and Community Farm Alliance. Texts include transcripts of hearing comments, published histories, newspapers and web sites produced by three studied, law suits related to the debate, and newspaper coverage of the debate. Participant observation was conducted at public hearings and meetings of the Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and Community Farm Alliance. Results from this project suggest that gender and sexualization play very important roles in establishing hierarchies between organized groups and government agencies. Results also indicate that the constructions of farmers, farming and rurality produced by hierarchical relationships are largely dependent on distinct spatial arrangements which have very real effects on human-human, human-environment and human-animal relationships.

The aim of this thesis is to study public space and how tourism has influenced the provision ofpublic space in Stone Town, Zanzibar. In order to achieve the aim, theory of public space andgovernmentality has been used. The thesis is a qualitative case study and the empiricalmaterial has been gathered through interviews and observations. The result of this studyshows that tourists are somewhat prioritised in the planning of public space. Furthermore bydeveloping the parks in a particular way the planners try to create a certain conduct in theparks. This coupled with pressure from the large tourism industry on Zanzibar has led to thepublicness of the parks being somewhat diminished.