The following study explores the, as-yet largely unexplored question within film studies of a ‘folk cinema’ through research and two practical film projects: the finished dramatic feature Blackbird (2013), and the 4th draft of a script for a dramatic feature in development, False Faces (2016). Drawing from aspects of Scottish folk culture, both films explore different forms of what a rooted, Scotland-based ‘folk cinema’ could be. In addition, the creation of an annual film festival – the Folk Film Gathering – has created a forum in which some of the issues of an emergent folk cinema could be explored with audiences in Scotland. The question of a folk cinema grows increasingly pertinent both globally and locally, particularly within an European cultural landscape where the traditional arts are increasingly resurgent, and upon a global stage where the indigenous peoples movement has led to reevaluations of concepts of tradition, indigeneity and autochthony. My PhD by practice attempts to explore, both theoretically and practically, some of the possible implications of a folk cinema, interlinking local and global contexts. In doing so I have made particular use of aspects of cultural studies and anthropological theory, such as the writing of James Clifford, Faye Ginsburg and Jay Ruby, which I believe to be a relatively untapped critical resource for wider film studies. Whilst opening discussion attempts to consider the question of folk cinema globally, as an issue that may be pertinent for diverse filmmaking traditions in world cinema, my practical filmmaking work is firmly rooted within a contigent and highly-localised attempt to explore such questions within Scotland. In particular, I explore the practical implications of a cinematic pursuit of ‘ethnographic verisimilitude’, and the translation of oral forms into a filmic narrative, whilst questioning the validity of ‘folk cinema’ that arises from ‘etic’ viewpoints, outside a depicted community. Ultimately, consideration of my practical work explores how the theoretical ideals of an emergent folk cinema are negotiated in the more unruly, worldy domain of filmmaking practice and whether, ultimately, an autochthonous Scottish ‘folk cinema’ is possible.

This thesis examines the development of the Leftist movement in British Punjab and the insights it provides into the political spaces it inhabited and the actors it engaged with. Broadly speaking, this is an attempt at uncovering lesser fragments that offer the possibility of complicating our understanding of Punjabi and South Asian History. In doing so, I seek to uncover a socio-political arena which played host to a multiplicity of contested identities, notions of sovereignty, and political objectives. I thus seek to explore this complex and fluid arena through the study of a variety of movements and intellectual strands, all of which can collectively be labelled as the ‘Left.’ I begin by situating the Punjabi Left within the wider global arena and then shift to examining it within the province itself. I then explore the Left’s acrimonious relationship with the Colonial State as well as its tortured engagements with ‘nationalist’ and ‘communitarian’ movements. Taken together, this thesis, aside from enhancing our understanding of the ‘Left’ itself, also contributes to regional studies in general and questions historiographical demarcations and the categories that are normatively employed in standard political histories.

This thesis explores the films produced by leftist filmmakers of the 1930s which reflect the contemporary urban life in Shanghai.

This dissertation examines U.S. views of Mexico from the end of the U.S.-Mexico War in 1848, to the end of the first phase of the Mexican Revolution in May 1911. During this period numerous Americans saw Mexico as a laboratory to test their ability to transform a country seemingly in need of guidance. Americans, however, struggled to define the role of the United States: whether it was solely to be a model for other nations to follow, or whether Americans should be actively involved in this process. In the years after the U.S. Civil War, a diverse group of Americans, especially missionaries, investors, and working-class activists, saw Mexico as a nation in need of change and sought to affect its transformation through the means of informal imperialism. Yet they vigorously disagreed whether this transformation should occur in religious, political, economic or social terms. Despite these differences, they all believed that Mexico could be reshaped in the image of the United States. Their views thus provided a powerful counter-narrative to persistent U.S. images of the Mexican people as irredeemable because of allegedly inherent inferiorities based on race, religion or culture. The dissertation also examines the role of Mexican actors in attracting, resisting and altering U.S. informal imperialism. These Mexican actors included government officials who petitioned for U.S. assistance during the French Intervention (1862-67) and the Porfiriato (1876-1911); dissident Catholic priests who requested aid for the fledgling Protestant movement in Mexico; and Mexican liberal exiles from the repressive Díaz regime, who sought U.S. support in bringing a democratic government to Mexico. More generally this dissertation challenges scholarly assessments of the United States as an isolationist nation during the mid-to-late nineteenth century, before the embrace of formal empire after the War of 1898. Though different groups of Americans would come to divergent conclusions about the foreign policy of the United States, a close analysis of U.S. efforts to reshape Mexico reveals an outward-looking and internationalist public that took seriously its self-image as a nation destined to transform the world.

Change in government has characterized the development of most nations. Sometimes this change has been marked by continued evolution, in a peaceful attempt to move forward. Other times, change has been fraught with violent revolution and terrorism. This process has been the subject of much debate by political scientists and economic philosophers. Today, Turkey suffers from continued threats to its government through violent acts of terrorism conducted by various groups, expressing ideologies of leftist and rightist organizations, as well as ethnic and religious extremists. This thesis examines DHKP/C as the primary leftist revolutionary group effecting Turkey, exploring its historical background in Europe and the Middle East, as well as its philosophical link to Marxism. Further, this treatise discusses the implication of revolution and terrorism expressed by DHKP/C; and explores innovative and peaceful solutions, strategies, and techniques to be used by the police forces of Turkey in combating this group

The aim of this study is to position T&uuml / rkSolu (TurkishLeft), a weekly newspaper, and its accompanying organizations in Turkey&rsquo / s contemporary socio-political environment. T&uuml / rkSolu, which defines itself as secular/leftist nationalist, will be investigated as a form of reactive nationalism that becomes viable in 2000s. By this means, it will be argued that T&uuml / rkSolu&rsquo / s secular/leftist nationalism is a form of extensively &lsquo / exclusive&rsquo / &ndash / ethnicist &ndash / interpretation of nationalism.

Šiame darbe keltas tikslas remiantis Urugvajaus lietuvių spauda, kitais šaltiniais bei moksline literatūra atskleisti kairiųjų judėjimų Urugvajaus lietuvių bendruomenėje veiklą XX amžiaus 4 – ajame dešimtmetyje. Darbe išnagrinėtos socialistinio, komunistinio ir anarchistinio judėjimų Urugvajaus lietuvių bendruomenėje susiformavimas, įkurtos organizacijos, jų veikla, skleistos idėjos bei santykis su kitomis bendruomenės organizacijomis. Lietuvių socialistiniam judėjimui pradžią davė nedidelė aktyvistų grupelė, užmezgusi glaudžius ryšius su Urugvajaus socialistų partija, bei įkūrusi jos padalinį - Lietuvių skyrių. Socialistų veiklos centru buvo „Naujoji banga“, kur glaudžiai dirbta kartu su Urugvajaus lietuvių kultūros klubu. Socialistų organizacijas lydėję skylimai lėmė jų įtakos lietuvių bendruomenei silpnėjimą ir „Naujosios bangos“ žlugimą. Galiausiai socialistai susivienija su tautinių bei katalikiškų pažiūrų organizacijomis. Urugvajaus komunistinis judėjimas įsisteigė kaip Argentinoje veikusio judėjimo atšaka. Nuo 1935 metų komunistų aktyvistai telkėsi apie „Darbo“ laikraštį ir Urugvajaus lietuvių darbininkų sąjungą. Jie aktyviai agitavo už darbininkų teises, taip pat propagavo jungimąsi į profesines sąjungas, kooperatyvus, savišalpos draugijas. Komunistams pavyko išplėtoti plačią kultūrinę bei meninę veiklą. Skirtingai nei socialistai, jie ketvirtajame dešimtmetyje išvengė skilimų savo gretose, bei nuosekliai plėtė savo veiklą. Augant komunistų įtakai, šie bandė suvienyti... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The goal of this research was to analyze Leftist movements among Lithuanian Diaspora in Uruguay in the 30‘s of XX century. Research was based mainly on Lithuanian newspapers in Uruguay, as well as on scientific literature and other sources. After investigation on socialist, communist and anarchist movements, their ideas, their relations to other ideological groups was completed the following conclusions were made. Small group of Lithuanian exiles established the Lithuanian section within Socialist Party of Uruguay. Lithuanian section together with Culture Club of Lithuanians in Uruguay published a newspaper “Naujoji banga” which became the center of socialist thought among local Lithuanian Diaspora. But because of divisions among socialist movements they lost their influence on Lithuanian community and in 1940 “Naujoji banga” was closed. In late 30’s socialist movement started to decline, lost its significance and merged with national and catholic movements. Lithuanian communist movement in Uruguay started as a branch of Argentine communist movement. Since 1935 communists gathered around newspaper “Darbas” and Workers Union of Lithuanians in Uruguay. Communists actively campaigned for workers rights, advocated labor unions and cooperatives. Communists succeeded in establishing wide cultural and artistic activity. Unlike the socialists, they avoided division among their ranks and consistently expanded their movement. As their influence on Lithuanian community reached highest... [to full text]

Political ideologies translate into both rhetoric and actual economic policy, and both are important factors for explaining economic development such as foreign direct investment and the distribution of growth. In Nicaragua, the government calls itself “socialist”, but neither local big business nor rating firms or foreign investors seem to be anxious. In this thesis, an attempt is made to define and measure characteristics of economic ideologies, and to analyse them in a country context.Factors are identified that would be characteristic for a “leftist” or to a “rightist” ideology, and then translated into measurable indicators, used to analyse the rhetoric, planning and legislation in Nicaragua. Actual outcomes are compared with previous liberal and socialist regimes. The result indicates that the actual economic policy of the current “marxist” government can be described as liberal or mildly social democratic. A similar analysis, made of IMF and Moody’s show that their assessments are based on liberal theory.One cause for this discrepancy between rhetoric and economic policy may be that no option is available in the globalised context with its unequal distribution of resources and power.

This study is concerned with describing and analyzing the factors that led to the election and subsequent defeat of Salvador Allende. The research information was selected from leading books, periodicals, government documents, archives, and newspapers. The thesis presents the political history of Allende's rise to power, the social structure that made his victory possible, the development of major programs that facilitated his ascension and that made his decision inevitable, and, finally, an analysis of his administration with observations as to why he failed. The importance of the lower class, the middle class, the military, and the United States are presented as factors contributing to Allende's victory and later accelerating Allende's fall from power.

Em 1977, a Alfa-Omega, uma editora de oposição ao regime militar, publicou Em Câmara Lenta, de Renato Tapajós. Foi a primeira obra nacional, produzida por um escritor que atuou em um grupo da esquerda armada, a trazer uma reflexão crítica sobre as estratégias da guerrilha e a denunciar o emprego brutal da tortura pela repressão. O autor participara da Ala Vermelha, um agrupamento urbano de influência maoísta que empreendeu ações armadas, e por isso cumpriu pena de 1969 a 1974. Divulgado por todo o Brasil, o livro despertou a fúria de setores conservadores e levou a um episódio inusitado: em julho de 1977 Tapajós foi preso em São Paulo e ficou dez dias incomunicável, sob a acusação de que Em Câmara lenta era \"instrumento de guerra revolucionária\". Isso apesar de o livro não ter sido proibido e não ter, do ponto de vista legal, nenhum empecilho à sua circulação. Somente 15 dias depos da prisão de Tapajós, a obra foi censurada e sua venda, proibida. A partir das intricadas repercussões desse fato, o propósito principal deste trabalho é procurar demonstrar como a experiência da luta armada se transformou em narrativa literária. Para tanto, apresentamos um estudo sobre a história do livro, sobre os procedimentos empregados tanto na formação da culpa dirigida contra Renato Tapajós (com base em documentos do Departamento Estadual de Ordem Política e Social, DOPS, de São Paulo, produzidos durante a investigação policial) quanto os utilizados pela defesa do caso, bem como a respeito da recepção crítica e do teor testemunhal presente no romance / In 1977, Alfa-Omega, a publish house which opposes the Military Regime, published Em Câmara Lenta, by Renato Tapajós. It was the first book to analyze the leftist guerilla groups strategies and to denounce the brutality of the torture enforced by the military and the police against the activists of those groups. Tapajós had been a militant of Ala Vermelha, an urban Maoist guerilla group, and had been jailed from 1969 to 1974. Publicized all over the country, the book was furiously received by the conservative sectors of Brazilian society. In a surprising move, Tapajós was jailed in São Paulo in July of 1977 and stayed 10 days without any communication, under the accusation that Em Câmara Lenta was a \"tool of the revolutionary guerrilla\". Formally, the book was not forbidden and legally, there was no problem to publish and publicize it. Just after 15 days of Tapajós got the jail, the book was formally censured and it was made illegal to sell it. Taking in consideration the complex repercussions of this event, the initial aim of this dissertation is to demonstrate how the leftist guerrilla experience was transformed in a literary narrative. In order to do that, I present a study of this book history, the criminal procedures enforced against Renato Tapajós (using the documentation of the State Department of Political and Social Order, DOPS, the political police of São Paulo, produced during the police investigation) and in favor of him, as well as the testimonial narrative of the romance and its critical reception by the public and the specialists.