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Hunting is often summarised to the act of searching for and killing an animal. Due to this fact, hunting has in recent years, come under scrutiny for its’ morality and lack of environmental consciousness. The thesis will be countering this idea, by demonstrating the entanglement of hunting in specific social and material circumstances what is referred to here as the assemblage of hunting. Following this thread, it will highlight the relationship between hunting, conservation, rewilding, rurality. To illustrate this point, the thesis will be analysing the case of hunting in Alsace. With the help of five interviewees, including three Alsatian hunters, and two members of a local conservation organisation, Alsace Nature, I discuss how the local Alsatian hunting system is experienced, perceived and produced, within a local and more global context. By using theories of Actor-Network-Theory, Assemblage Theory, Landscape Theory, Lefebvre’s production of space, and Disturbance Ecology, I analyse how hunting in Alsace has been shaped by the industrialisation of agriculture in the 20th century, how the activity connects to tradition and the creation of a wider Alsatian identity as Germanic, how hunting, conservation, and agricultural policy intertwine to produce a set of practices – or territorialisations but also how they continuously challenge each other. In addition, I trace the prey animals as deterritorialising agents. Overall results show that hunting in Alsace, while not static, has seen little change when it comes to the local hunting system. This creates conflict, as the local Alsatian landscape has changed heavily. Debates on hunting, such as the return of the lynx, or rural-urban divides can be tied to this perceived divide between hunting and the local landscape. Despite these conflicts, hunting stays an important activity in the Alsatian landscape, and a valuable way of managing the environment according to the interviewees.

The following dissertation is a series of three essays in behavioral/experimental and labor economics: (1) Information Asymmetry in Job Search, (2) Minority Turnout and Representation under Cumulative Voting. An Experiment, and (3) Networks and Labor Mobility: A Study of LinkedIn Profiles in the Biotechnology Sector. Standard models of rational job search assume agents know the distribution of offered wages when deciding which jobs to accept. In Chapter 1, coauthored with Kai Zen, I test if incorrect beliefs about wages affect real-world job search behavior in a field experiment with 1100 senior-year undergraduate students in the graduating Class of 2023 at the University of California, Berkeley. Partnering with the Career Center, we present personalized information graphics on school-and-major-specific salary distributions to students in the treatment group. We first document novel evidence that even prior to labor market entry, errors exist in wage beliefs – some students overestimate the available distribution, while others underestimate the available distribution. Post-treatment, we find that students treated with correct information update their beliefs towards the truth, and this is reflected in changes in reservation wages. At the end of the school year, we find that in comparison to the control group, students who increased their reservation wage after treatment had higher total and base salaries conditional on employment, a result significant at the 5% level. However, these same students had a lower, but imprecisely estimated likelihood of being employed by June post-graduation. An opposite but symmetric effect occurred for students who decreased their reservation wage. Our results are consistent with job search models where workers with more optimistic expectations wait longer to accept a job, but accept higher wages. We compare our experimental estimates to simulated moments from the model and find that the mean experimental effect is close to the model in magnitude under reasonable parameters. Our paper suggests an economically important role for errors in beliefs about labor market conditions and shows the effectiveness of a light-touch information intervention on employment and earnings for first-time job seekers. Chapter 2, coauthored with Alessandra Casella and Jeffrey Guo, asks how an alternative voting system can increase the voter turnout and representation of minorities. Under majoritarian election systems, securing the participation and representation of minorities remains an open problem, made salient in the US by its history of voter suppression. One remedy recommended by the courts is the adoption of Cumulative Voting (CV) in multi-member districts: each voter has as many votes as open positions but can cumulate votes on as few candidates as desired. Historical experiences are promising but also reflect episodes of minority activism. We present the results of a controlled lab experiment that isolates the role of the voting rule from other confounds. Although each voter is treated equally, theory predicts that CV should increase the minority's turnout relative to the majority and the minority's share of seats won. Our experimental results strongly support both theoretical predictions. In Chapter 3, using LinkedIn profiles data on the biotechnology sector, it is possible to construct a measure of individuals' networks based on coworkers within the same firm and location. Exploiting such a measure, I intend to test the impact of network size on future employment in the biotechnology sector, which has frequent employee turnover due to unanticipated clinical trial failures. In doing so, I seek to answer the following question: Do larger or higher-quality networks cushion against negative employment shocks? According to preliminary evidence, connections help workers find jobs more quickly. Currently, the network measure is imperfect, the data set on which the preliminary results are based is small, and the assumptions underlying the statistical analysis can be questioned. However, all three limitations can be overcome. I highlight in this chapter the steps to be taken to do so.

The general aim of this study was to investigate whether a relationship exists between employee wellness (specifically sense of coherence, burnout, sources of job stress and work engagement) and career anchors, and to determine whether gender, race, employment and age groups differed in terms of the employee wellness and career anchors variables. The study was conducted among a random sample of 90 employees in a typical South African work context. The data was collected by means of the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (OLQ), Maslach’s Burnout Inventory (MBI), Sources of Job Stress, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and the Career Orientations Inventory (COI). Supporting evidence indicates significant associations between employee wellness and the career anchors variables. The results also showed significant differences between the career anchors of males, females, blacks, whites, permanent staff, contract staff and age groups. The findings contribute valuable new knowledge to the wellness and career literature and organisational practices related to employee wellness and career decision making. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The growth and development of sport in Co. Tipperary, 1840 to 1880, was promoted and supported by the landed elite and military officer classes. In the instances of cricket, rugby union and association football, the military were the principle agency through which these sports were disseminated among the people of Tipperary. Sporting trends which were fashionable in Great Britain also became evident in Ireland, and by extension, Tipperary. The thesis demonstrates the emergence of these sports at a micro-level in Tipperary and the qualitative research is indicative of the trends by which they became apparent. The degree to which horse racing and hunting to hounds became an integral aspect of the social lives of the elite class is reflected countywide. The associational culture among this class became evident in summer time recreations most notably archery, lawn tennis and cricket. Cricket was the one sport which was quickly diffused throughout the sporting community of Tipperary as it became, in the 1870s, the most prolific team sport in the county and played by all classes. Sport took place without borders and to this end patronage was a key element of this support. There were some notable supporters who gave of their time and money to ensure that the best resources were in place to bring this about. In this respect the 3rd Marquis of Waterford was a leading figure. The thesis clearly shows that sporting diversions continued through the traumatic famine period. As everyday life continued, so too did recreational sport. Hurling remained a part of Tipperary life and the research identifies new sources to demonstrate this. The growth and evolution of sport in Co. Tipperary, 1840-1880, is put into context with comparable studies in Ireland and Great Britain as the Victorian penchant for sport manifested itself in this part of rural Ireland.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores hunting in the Lower Tchiri Valley as an arena in which African and white hunting interests as well as conservation policies precipitated insurgence and accommodation, collaboration and conflict. Precolonial Magololo hunters, having supplanted Mang’anja hunting as a result of the superiority of their hunting technology by 1861, found themselves in competition with white sport hunters over game animals. Unequal power relations between the Magololo hunters and the white hunters, who formed part of the colonial administration in Nyasaland from the 1890s, saw the introduction of game laws that led to wild animals and their sanctuaries becoming contested terrains. Colonial officials and some whites enjoyed privileges in hunting game whose declining populations were blamed on Africans in general and the Magololo in particular. Some Africans and certain whites devised hunting strategies that brought them into conflict with the colonial state. In the Lower Tchiri Valley, the tsetse-game controversy led to game being slaughtered on an unprecedented scale in the Elephant Marsh region. The Game Ordinance of 1926, intended to prevent such wanton destruction, was protested by settlers, planters, white hunters and even missionaries who claimed to represent the interests of the “natives”. The colonial state and the Colonial Office in London quelled the protests, proclaiming Lengwe and Tangadzi as game reserves. As the state was consolidating the game preservation economy and establishing the game reserves from the 1930s to 1960, opposition continued. The implementation of international conservation trends locally, particularly after 1945, served to entrench illicit hunting and the position among some white settlers that game should be exterminated as it was incompatible with agricultural “progress.” The Nyasaland Game Department increased its efforts to ensure that killing game for crop protection was confined to Game Guards, one of whom, an African named Biton Balandow, became a local “hero”. Despite this, by 1960 game populations in the Lower Tchiri Valley reserves were still declining. Together with oral testimonies collected in the communities neighbouring the reserves (or former hunting grounds), the fresh perspectives rendered in this thesis derived from a systematic use of reports, original research papers, colonial administrative correspondence and autobiographical works of big-game hunters-turned preservationists. Specific material for the Lower Tchiri Valley hunting economies from these primary sources allowed this thesis to transcend the often generalised analyses necessitated by macrooverviews in Malawian historiography, and offer a more nuanced study of local contestations between state and subject, between competing individuals, between groups, races and generations and, enduringly, between human and animal. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek jagaktiwiteite in die Laer Tchiri-vallei van Malawi as ‘n gebied waar swart en wit jagtersbelange, asook bewaringsbeleid, teenstand en aanvaarding, sowel as samewerking en konflik ontketen het. Pre-koloniale Magololo-jagters, wat Mang’anja-jagters teen 1861 as gevolg van hulle superieure jagtegnologie verdring het, het toe met wit sportjagters om wild begin kompeteer. Ongelyke magsverhoudinge tussen die Magololo- en wit jagters, wat sedert die 1890’s deel uitgemaak het van die koloniale administrasie in Nyassaland, het tot die daarstelling van wildwetgewing gelei. Op sý beurt het die wildwetgewing en wildbewaringsgebiede betwiste terreine geword. Koloniale amptenare en sekere blankes het jagvoorregte geniet waarvoor die daarmee gepaardgaande blaam vir dalende wildpopulasies op swartes in die algemeen en die Magololo in die besonder geplaas is. Sommige swartes en wittes het jagstrategieë ontwikkel wat hulle in konflik met die koloniale staat gebring het. In die Laer Tchiri-vallei het die tseste-wild-twispunt daartoe gelei dat wild op ‘n ongekende skaal in die Olifant-moerasgebied uitgeroei is. Wit setlaars, boere en jagters, selfs sendelinge wat daarop aanspraak gemaak het dat hulle die belange van die “naturelle” verteenwoordig het, het egter beswaar gemaak teen die Wild Ordonnansie van 1926, wat veronderstel was om sulke ongebreidelde vernietiging te voorkom. Die koloniale staat en die Colonial Office in Londen het die besware onderdruk deur Lengwe en Tangadzi as wildreservate te proklameer. Van die 1930’s tot 1960, toe die staat besig was om die wildbewaringsekonomie te konsolideer en wildreservate te vestig, het teenstand daarteen voortgeduur. Die plaaslike implementering van internasionale bewaringstendense, veral ná 1945, het egter daartoe bygedra om onwettige jagaktiwiteite te verskans. Dit het ook die standpuntinname van sommige wit setlaars, dat wild uitgeroei moes word omdat dit onversoenbaar met landbou “vooruitgang” was, versterk. Die Nyassaland Departement van Fauna het pogings verskerp om te verseker dat die doodmaak van wild, ter wille van oesbeskerming, tot wildbewaarders beperk bly. Een van hulle, ‘n swartman genaamd Biton Bandalow, het ‘n plaaslike “held” geword. Maar ten spyte van hierdie maatreëls was die wildpopulasies in die Laer Tchiri-vallei wildreservate teen 1960 steeds aan die afneem. Hierdie proefskrif bring nuwe insigte aangaande jagaktiwiteite en wildbewaring in die Laer Tchiri-vallei na vore. Die bronne daarvoor is mondelinge getuienis wat in die gemeenskappe aangrensend aan die wildreservate (of voormalige jaggebiede) versamel is. Daarby is verslae, oorspronklike argivale dokumente, koloniale administratiewe korrespondensie en outo-biografiese werke van grootwildjagters wat wildbewaarders geword het, ook sistematies nagevors. Deur middel van spesifieke inligting aangaande die Laer Tchiri-vallei jagtersekonomie wat uit die primêre bronne verkry is, bring hierdie proefskrif nuwe perspektiewe na vore wat in teenstelling staan tot die dikwels geykte analises wat in makro-historiese oorsigte van Malawiese historiografie voorkom. Derhalwe is die proefskrif ‘n meer genuanseerde studie oor plaaslike wedywerings tussen staat en onderdaan, tussen wedywerende indiwidue, tussen groepe, rasse en generasies en op ‘n blywende basis ook tussen mens en dier.

Shaped in part by diverse landscapes, game profiles, and ruling personalities, hunting in the Indian princely states in the colonial period was heterogeneous to a previously unrecognized extent. At the same time, significant underlying political, social, and cultural continuities unified states and their rulers’ approaches to sport. Focusing on the Rajput realms of Mewar, Orchha, and Bikaner, I show how princes of different ranks negotiated their states’ divergent landscapes in pursuit of dissimilar game, and how they trusted in superior hunting grounds, wildlife, and shooting methods to advance their personal standings and sovereign powers. I also investigate how these rulers used hunting to maintain connections with their state and lineage histories, to exemplify local Rajput ideals and identities, and to manage relationships with various audiences, including their subjects, state nobles, other princes, and British officials. This study is concerned as much with princely perceptions of game and shooting grounds as with “real” landscapes or environmental changes. I examine how the princes conceptually linked natural abundance with favorable political conditions and degradation with lost power and compromised dignity. I consider what it meant to pursue tigers, wildfowl, antelope, and wild boar in dense jungles, wetlands, arid plains, and imposing hills. In addition, I look at the ways princes attempted to employ and also to modify those meanings to suit their own purposes. I did the research for this dissertation at government and private archives in India and the United Kingdom. Because my primary goal was to discover princely views, I relied as far as possible on sources produced by elite Indians or by those in their service. Among the materials I used were state government records, personal correspondence, speeches, game diaries, hunting memoirs, photographs, and miniature paintings. Much of the documentation was in English, with the major exception of records relating to Mewar State and its subordinate noble estates. The language of those papers ranged from Hindi through Rajasthani (Mewari). To understand British responses better, I consulted Government of India records. Published memoirs and travelogues written by Europeans who visited and hunted in the regions under consideration also proved useful. / text