This research is born from a conscious reflection on the roles and judgements that traditional scientific analyses imprint in its objects of study, especially in the field of social movement theory. It aims to understand whether and, to which extent, autonomous resistances knowledges constructed on the ground challenge the academic interpretations of those movements. For this reason, the first part of this dissertation focuses on unravelling how traditional ontologies have been built and underpin majoritarian scientific analyses. Thus, I review most current debates in the field. Traditional social movement research tends to focus on dualist discussions related to new and old social movements, European and American approaches, behavioural or cost-benefits views, structural and agency approaches, identity-based interpretations, etc. In opposition to that, I argue for an ontology breaking with dualist views, placing Deleuze’s concept of difference at the centre of my argument and feminist ontologies of the body as the medium affecting the political experience. I propose an autoethnographic method focused on presenting a cartography of urban resistance movements composed by difference and rhizomatic relationships in opposition to the homogenisation of ideas and demands of academic research for pilling up patterns, variables or categories. Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of the BwO is presented here as a theoretical tool that helps to introduce the case study in relation with its contexts, relationships, affects and networks. The second part of this research narrates and analyses how the proposed theory is unwrapped in the field. In doing so, I analyse my participation with and from within one of those collectives, Can Batlló and, more specifically, a project named La Fondona. Can Batlló is an autonomous and self-organised social centre in the neighbourhood of La Bordeta in Barcelona with which I worked during six months between 2013 and 2014. Throughout this period, I participated actively not only in Can Batlló but also in the actions and events that took place in the neighbourhood of Sants-Montjuïc and Barcelona. Hence, I present an analysis of the internal processes, relations and knowledge-practices as well as the relationships that this collective maintains with the community, its sociopolitical space and historical context. I argue those relations are constructed through rhizomatic principles as well as drawing from feminist approaches which put life and the body at the centre of their arguments. These outcomes will be finally reflected in chapter IX of this dissertation under the lenses of the research question posed in this thesis. That is whether current urban resistances challenge majoritarian social movements’ analyses. / Marie Curie Fellow Program and University of Utrecth

As a founding member of the Via Campesina (1993) and active participant in the Global Justice Movement (the altermondialiste movement in France), the Confederation paysanne (CP) - which literally stands for 'peasant confederation' - has been presented in academic and activist circles as a key player in the struggle against neoliberal globalisation, and as a contributor to the emergence of new transnational activist networks and a 'global civil society'. As a trade union representing the interests of 'peasants', the CP has been praised as an innovative form of professional organisation whose originality lies in its ability to defend farmers' interests while at the same time responding to a broader set of challenges for the planet and those who populate it (environmental degradation, cultural homogeneity, social injustice). As a result, the CP - and in particular its emblematic leader Jose Bove - was rapidly propelled to the forefront of a new progressive avant-garde whose discourse on the cultural and economic threats of neoliberalism found a positive echo in farming and non-farming circles alike. -- Yet, as I shall argue throughout the following pages, the CP's success was not only related to its successful response to the new challenges for the 'peasantry' and society but also to its re-appropriation of popular and essentialist representations of 'peasantness' as a timeless and intrinsically egalitarian condition. From the moment that we recognise this, our understanding of the union's evolving popularity changes. Many observers and activists, for example, explained the CP's disappointing result in the 2007 professional elections by arguing that the CP was ahead of its time.

The general focus of the study is a shanty town (población) on the outskirts of Santiago in Chile during the military regime of Augusto Pinochet. The military coup of 11th September 1973 was the beginning of seventeen years of repression and violence. The specific focus of the research is the development of resistance against Pinochet amongst the people (pobladores) of that shanty town. The research is based on a six year period in the población where the candidate, being also a Catholic priest, had unique access through his role to the social and cultural life of the people. The implications of this role in terms of retrospective anthropology are examined in detail. The experience is studied in terms of the developments of attitudes and behaviour within a particular group especially in their movement from tentative protest and the creative use of ambiguity, to the use of barricades as the focus for direct confrontation with the authorities. The passing beyond the barricade is explored in terms of the expansion of the people's capacity to develop political agency. The thesis is a case study of Liberation Theology and its role in the development of resistance to the military regime. The street becomes a central focus as space of protest. A comparison is made between the private space of the house as refuge and the public space of the street as place of conflict and danger. It is suggested that the barricade may be understood as a dynamic boundary being partly constituted by the bodies of the protesters themselves. It is also didactic, insofar as the re-appropriation of physical space - the streets, the bridge upon which the key barricade is built, and by extension the entire población, parallel the occupation of the internal space in the minds of the protesters. The transformations of meaning being etched into the 'landscape' were being correspondingly etched into the 'inscapes' of the imagination. If space can be taken as analogous to language and the movement of bodies through the población understood, therefore, as an articulation of an alternative discourse, then the boundary/barricade can be seen as the focus for such a counter-discourse against the attempt by Pinochet to militarise civilian life. Liberation theology and the Basic Christian Community are explored in terms of the development of the potential of resistance to the military regime. It is suggested that these functioned by legitimating new public discourses, promoting new styles of leadership and empowering individuals and organisations. Here politics becomes part of the road to 'salvation' and religion becomes politics by other means. Finally the question of popular education is addressed in the context of an invasion of the University by the pobladores. A project of popular education is explored in its attempt to go beyond the question of protest against the Regime to addressing how political power is operated through appropriation of discourse. Power and knowledge are intricately intertwined. The focus moves to consider political violence as being exercised not just in military might but also through institutional structures. The conclusion recapitulates the main themes in the context of wider aspects of anthropology.

This thesis aims to provide an understanding of the phenomenon of citizen censorship in India and its implications for free speech. It is especially concerned with public protests where groups of citizens demand government action in order to ban or censor controversial material. These groups tend to invoke feelings of offense or hurt religious sentiments as a justification for restriction. The point of departure of this thesis is research on social movement outcomes and the history of Indian censorship. A quantitative approach is adopted, which includes data of protest events from 2010 to 2015. The author will demonstrate that restrictions on free speech coincide with protest events in three out of ten cases. A shorter case study of the controversy surrounding the film Vishwaroopam provides a concrete example of the dynamics of citizen censorship and aims to highlight some aspects that might have affected protest outcomes. Ultimately, the author concludes that protests are likely to be influential for restrictions on free speech, and that the role of the citizen as censor should not be ignored.

MA Cum Laude / Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (International Studies) at Stellenbosch University / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The objective of this thesis is to explain the differing levels of rural activism in Brazil and South Africa. As both countries are plagued with similar land and poverty disparities, the varying intensity and national organisation of rural movements is striking. In Brazil a strong and nationally organised rural movement, the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem- Terra (MST), established itself as the leading rural movement; whereas South Africa’s National Land Committee (NLC) remained weak and ultimately collapsed. Today, South Africa is characterised by a complete lack of a national representation of rural interests and shows only timid attempts at the local level. In order to address the issue systematically and comprehensively, the thesis first provides a historical outline of both countries, thereby discerning similarities and differences in social, economic and political development. Subsequently, and based upon these findings, a systematic comparison of the NLC and MST is conducted. Utilising contemporary social movement theory, a synthesised theoretical framework of political opportunities, resource mobilisation and framing processes is proposed to methodically compare movement dynamics. Applying this synthesised framework the protest cycles of the NLC and the MST are compared, namely the emerging phase, the stabilisation and decline/resurgence phase. The study points to a complex network of reasons for varying rural activism. In South Africa an overall demobilising constellation of important movement dynamics led to the collapse of the NLC and the weakening of the rural grassroots. Political opportunities changed from overly exclusive to overly inclusive in South Africa whereby the NLC’s resource mobilisation became narrowly institutionalised; containing most oppositional forces at the national and local level. In Brazil, in contrast, political opportunities remained ambivalent throughout MST existence; thereby providing enough loopholes to achieve partial success and yet maintaining the critical distance and constraints which necessitates and legitimates grassroots mobilisation. In Brazil, land distribution has been singled out early as the prime source for deprivation and consequently served as a vantage point for framing processes which stimulated a coherent idea of landlessness and the legitimation of land occupations. The exclusive/inclusive dichotomy of the South African society with its strong racial overtones led to framing processes which interpret land reform as an exclusive state affair; thereby discouraging land occupations and merging land with the broad context of social injustice in South Africa. The thesis concludes that the historically constructed and contemporarily continued racial dichotomy of South Africa’s society has ultimately hampered rural movement dynamics in South Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van die tesis is om die verskille in aktivisme dinamiek van grondhervormingsbewegings in Suid-Afrika en Brasilië te verduidelik. Die verskillende in terme van nasionale organisasie en intensiteit is merkwaardig gegewe dat beide state gekenmerk word deur soortgelyke grond en armoede ongelykhede. In Brasilïe is ’n sterk en nasionaal georganiseerde beweging, die Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais-Sem Terra (MST) gevestig as die leidende grondhervormingsbeweging, terwyl Suid-Afrika se Nasionale Grond Komitee (National Land Committee, NLC) swak gebly het en eindelik as ’n beweging verval het. Suid-Afrika word vandag gekenmerk deur die afwesigheid van ’n nasionale artikulasie van die belange van grondloses met gebrekkige pogings om hul belange op plaaslike vlak te verteenwoordig. Ten einde die kwessie sistematies en omvattend aan te spreek, verskaf die tesis eerstens ’n historiese konteks van die politieke ekonomie van grond in beide state ten einde verskille en soortgelykhede uit te wys. Hierna word die MST en die NLC sistematies vergelyk. Deur gebruik te maak van kontemporêre sosiale bewegingsteorie word ‘n gesintetiseerde teoretiese raamwerk – wat fokus op Politieke Geleenthede, Hulpbron Mobilisering en Orienteringsprosesse – voorgestel om metodologies die dinamiek van die bewegings te ontleed. Deur die gesintetiseerde raamwerk toe te pas, word die protes siklusse van die NLC en die MST vergelyk, naamlik die ontstaan fase, die stabiliseringsfase en die verval/herlewingsfase. Die studie ontrafel ‘n kompleks netwerk van redes vir gedifferensieerde grondaktivisme. In Suid-Afrika het ‘n reeks demoboliserende faktore gelei tot die verval van die NLC en die verswakking van plattelandse organiasies op voetsoolvlak. Politieke geleenthede het verander van eksplisiet eksklusief na eksplisiet inklusiewe prosesse waardeur die NLC se basis vir hulpbron mobilisering baie nou geinstitusionaliseerd geword het en waardeur meeste aktiviste op nasionale en plaaslike vlak gekoopteer is. In Brasilïe in teenstelling het politieke geleenthede tydens die MST se bestaan ambivalent gebly en as gevolg daarvan voldoende ruimte gebied om ‘n kritieke afstand teenoor die staat in te neem. In Brasilïe is grondhervorming reeds lank gelede geidentifiseer as die oorsaak vir ontneming en het gevolglik gedien as die basis vir mobilisering rondom grondbesit en die legitimering van onwettige grond okkupasie. Die eksklusief/inklusief dichotomie van die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing met gepaardgaande ras-kompleksiteit het gelei tot prosesse waardeur grondhervorming as ‘n ekslusiewe staats kwessie gesien is wat daardeur onwettige grond besettings verminder het en die debat rondom grondhervorming vetroebel het as net nog ‘n geval van sosiale ongeregtigheid. Daar word tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat die historiese konstruksie en voortgesette rasse konteks waarbinne grondhervoming in Suid-Afrika plaasvind, die moontlikheid vir ‘n soortgelyke aktivistiese grondhervormingsbeweging soos in Brasilïe kniehalter.

Relational memory refers to memory for arbitrary associations among components of experience, and is thought to be critically dependent on the hippocampus. Previous studies suggested that age-related differences in relational memory were consistent with a protracted developmental trajectory of hippocampus. Recently, eye tracking studies conducted in infants have concluded that eye movement detection could provide one indirect index of relational memory and hippocampal function in infants as young as 6 months. While the eye-based memory expression has been detected in adults on relational memory tasks, this effect has been less studied across development, and the few studies that have been conducted have suggested discontinuity in eye-movement behaviors across age. The purpose of the current study is to examine the development of relational memory in middle childhood (7-8 years of age) by utilizing a face-scene binding paradigm. Behavioral results revealed that adults showed higher identification accuracy than children when recalling matching faces based on scene cues. The eye movement data indicated that adults showed stronger and more rapid looking preference to matching face during correct test trials, and the proportion of viewing time towards matching face was significantly greater than children on incorrect trials (while performance was below chance in both age groups). Therefore, eye movements do index relational memory and correct responses but show rapid onset only in adults. We discuss these results in the context of the neural systems that may support eye movement behavior across the lifespan and conclude that more work is required to determine the nature and strength of these effects prior to adopting eye-movements as a continuous measure of relational memory across development.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Humanities / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Orthopaedics and Traumatology / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Orthopaedics and Traumatology / Master / Master of Philosophy

This project examines social movements in Guåhan (Guam) and activism within this unincorporated territory of U.S. Two assumptions guide this work. First, Guåhan is the site of rhetorical struggle over identity, indigeneity, and Americanness. Second, indigenous Chamoru (Chamorro) struggles must be examined within the historical context of colonial projects, which have established a political economy of stratification. Thus, the complexities of social movement organizing might be better understood when historicized with political and economic realities. To get a more complete understanding of how indigenous social movements and activism in contemporary Guåhan are shaped by understandings of national identity, colonization, and military buildup, I analyze three sets of artifacts: (1) testimonies at United Nations from 2005-2012; (2) the texts and activities of the group We Are Guåhan and its legal action against the Department of Defense (DOD) regarding the U.S. military buildup; and (3) interviews with social movement members and organizers regarding activism in Guåhan and contending with American influence. The project argues that resistance takes place through social movement efforts centered on the issues of ancestral land, language and cultural revitalization, and self-determination for Chamorus; and these moments occur primarily through actions that both depend upon and reinforce communicative channels directed against the U.S. nation-state. This phenomenon is articulated through the rhetoric of both/neither that demonstrates complex and contradictory identities positioned as both part of the U.S. while simultaneously remaining exterior to it. / text