Nepal occupies a unique global position as a peripheral social formation subject to decades of relative isolation from capitalism. Although the agrarian sector has long been understood to be dominated by pre-capitalist economic formations, it is important to examine whether contemporary changes underway in the country are transforming the rural economy. There has been an expansion of capitalist markets following economic liberalization and improvements in the transport infrastructure. Furthermore, neo-liberal commercialisation initiatives such as the Agriculture Perspective Plan provide the ideological justification and pre-conditions for the broader process of capitalist expansion, despite the pro-poor rhetoric. However, just as neo-liberal poverty alleviation strategy is flawed, there are also shortcomings in many Marxian understandings of the transition from pre-capitalist to capitalist agriculture in peripheral social formations. There is a tendency for political-economic theorists to assume the inevitable ‘dominance’ of capitalism, contradicting considerable evidence to the contrary from throughout the world. The central objective of this thesis is to understand how pre-capitalist economic formations have been able to ‘resist’ capitalist expansion in rural Nepal. There is a necessity to understand the mechanisms through which older ‘modes of production’ are reproduced, their articulations with other economic formations – including capitalism – and how they are situated globally. As a case study, one year’s fieldwork was completed on Nepal’s eastern Terai using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The research suggested that surplus appropriation through rent in a mode of production which can only be described as ‘semi-feudal’, has for a majority of farming households impeded accumulation and profitable commercialisation, a precondition for the emergence of capitalist relations. Semi-feudalism has been reproduced for decades internally by the political control over land and externally by Nepal’s subordinate position in the global economy. The latter process has constrained industrialization and rendered much of the peasantry dependent upon landlords who have no incentive to lower rents. The economic insecurity which has arisen in the context of semi-feudal production relations has allowed further forms of surplus appropriation in the sphere of circulation to flourish, through for example, interest on loans and price manipulation on commodity sales. This further hinders profitable commercialisation amongst both semi-feudal tenants and also owner cultivators who farm under what can be termed an ‘independent peasant’ mode of production. Even wealthier independent peasant producers who could potentially become capitalist farmers are constrained both by high cultural capital expenses, oligoposnistic activity by industry in the capitalist grain markets, and Indian rice imports which depress local prices. Furthermore, development initiatives which could potentially facilitate capitalist transition through the introduction of productivity boosting techniques have had limited success under the prevailing relations of production and the associated ideological relations of caste and gender. The above findings are of crucial significance if one is to develop policies and political strategies for equitable change in peripheral social formations such as Nepal.

The thesis contains four chapters on the structure and predictability of individual differences Chapter 1. Re-analyses data from Holt and Laury's (2002) risk aversion experiments. Shows that big-stakes hypothetical payoffs are better than small-stakes real-money payoffs for predicting choices in big-stakes real-money gambles (in spite of the presence of hypothetical bias). Argues that hypothetical bias is a problem for calibration of mean preferences but not for prediction of the rank order of subjects' preferences. Chapter 2. Describes an experiment: Participants were given personality tests and played a series of dictator and response games over a two week period. It was found that social preferences are one-dimensional, stable across a two-week interval and significantly related to the Big Five personality traits. Suggestions are given about ways to modify existing theories of social preference to accommodate these findings. Chapter 3. Applies a novel statistical technique (spectral clustering) to a personality data set for the first time. Finds the HEXACO six-factor structure in an English-language five-factor questionnaire for the first time. Argues that the emphasis placed on weak relationships is critical to settling the dimensionality debate within personality theory, and that spectral clustering provides a more useful perspective on personality data than does traditional factor analysis. Chapter 4. Outlines the relevance of extraversion for economics, and sets up a model to argue that personality differences in extraversion may have evolved through something akin to a war of attrition. This model implies a positive relationship between extraversion and risk aversion, and a U-shaped relationship between extraversion and loss aversion.

This paper aims to investigate how film neo-noir functions as an ideal medium to engage in a postmodernist critique of our society, focusing on its negotiation in the city of Los Angeles. Through incorporating postmodernism theorists Fredric Jameson and Linda Hutcheon’s arguments of the themes of the Nostalgia Mode, Parody and Pastiche, and the Decentered, Destructured and Dehumanized, this paper will demonstrate how they manifest in neo-noir’s Los Angeles to totalize contradictions in society and evoke a critical awareness.

This thesis contains an edition of the Swedish Hebraist Andreas Norrelius’ (1679-1749) Latin translation, Illuminatio oculorum (1749), of the converted rabbi Johan Kemper’s (1670-1716) Hebrew commentary on Matthew, Me’irat ‘Enayim (1703). The dissertation is divided into three parts. The focus lies on the introduction, which concentrates on issues of language and style. Andreas Norrelius’ Latin usage is elucidated on its orthographical, morphological, syntactic, lexical and stylistic levels. The features are demonstrated to be typical of scholarly Neo-Latin: Through a broad comparative synchronic approach, conspicuous linguistic phenomena are taken as points of departure for the exploration of scholarly Latin prose in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, especially the vocabulary and phraseology of philological, theological, and exegetical discourse. An intellectual historical background is outlined that places the ambitions and the achievements of the author and the translator as well as the texts used for comparison in their scholarly and cultural setting against a general European and specific Swedish background. Furthermore, the introduction deals with various questions relating to translation techniques and strategies. In particular, the method for the translation of biblical passages is analysed and put in relation to the humanistic Latin Bible translations. Moreover, the life and work of Johan Kemper is described in the light of all historical sources available. The life of Andreas Norrelius is also portrayed, and the questions about the date and authorship of the Latin translation are thoroughly addressed. The second part contains the editio princeps of the Latin translation. Andreas Norrelius’ own prolegomena about Kemper’s early life has been made accessible as well. The third part provides a philological commentary focused on the explanation of specific linguistic and exegetical questions in the text edited.

This thesis attempts to provide a new reading of the organic motif as found in the works of the Dutch Neo-Calvinist theologian Herman Bavinck (1854-1921). Noting the recent collapse of the previously dominant 'two Bavincks‘ hypothesis, one explores the impact of this now defunct hermeneutic on the normative reading of Bavinck‘s organic motif in the work of Jan Veenhof. In probing Veenhof‘s general reliance on the failed 'two Bavincks‘ model and view of the motif through this lens, it becomes evident that a new general reading of Bavinck (which will be used to interpret specific portions of his theology) is required. One must 'reunite‘ the 'two Bavincks‘ by tracing the basis for conceptual unity in his thought. This basis for unity is located in Bavinck‘s doctrine of God. In handling the divine paradigm of unity-in-diversity via both triadic and non-triadic emphases, one argues that Bavinck attempts to understand all of nature and history as a broad sweep of Trinitarian divine self-revelation. The redemption and modification of the Augustinian notion of the vestigia trinitatis enables Bavinck to see the Trinity revealed in all of life. He thus commandeers the common organic language of nineteenth century Europe and, in so doing, loads it with Trinitarian meaning. The working hypothesis developed is that for Bavinck, a theology of Trinity ad intra leads to a cosmology of organism ad extra. Such a hypothesis is probed in chapters on Bavinck‘s doctrines of God, general revelation, Scripture and ecclesiology. In all of these, one finds that Bavinck invokes the organic motif to explain the sense in which the archetypal unity of the Godhead acts as the foundation for all consequent ectypal unity in the creation. As such, the organisch is understood to be Bavinck‘s motif of choice when accounting for the triniformity which abounds in all created reality. In this exploration, it becomes apparent that as Bavinck uses the organic motif, he draws on the heritage of both Patristic and Reformation theology. However, he does not merely repristinate this tradition. Rather, his use of the motif is a highly creative development in the intellectual context of the late nineteenth century.

Variationen im Gen der Tryptophanhydroxylase 2 (TPH2), das den geschwindigkeitsbestimmenden Schritt der Serotoninsynthese katalysiert, wurden mit psychiatrischen Erkrankungen, die durch emotionale Dysregulation charakterisiert sind, in Verbindung gebracht. Die vorliegende Arbeit evaluierte die Rolle von TPH2 Varianten und Haplotypen bei Persönlichkeitsstörungen der Cluster B und C. Dazu wurden 420 Patienten mit Cluster B oder Cluster C Persönlichkeitsstörung (nach DSM-IV-TR) sowie 336 gesunde Probanden als Kontrollgruppe bezüglich TPH2 SNPs (rs4570625, rs11178997, rs4341581, rs4565946) genotypisiert. Die Persönlichkeitsstörungen wurden mit Hilfe des „Strukturierten Klinischen Interviews für DSM-IV-TR, Achse II“ (SKID-II) diagnostiziert und in die Cluster A, B und C eingeteilt. Die vorliegenden Resultate verknüpfen potentiell funktionelle TPH2 Varianten – insbesondere den rs4570625 SNP – mit Cluster B und Cluster C Persönlichkeitsstörungen. Für beide Patientengruppen zeigte sich eine signifikante globale Assoziation. Das T-Allel von rs4570625 war sowohl mit Cluster B als auch Cluster C Persönlichkeitsstörungen signifikant assoziiert. Diese Ergebnisse bestätigen TPH2 als ein Suszeptibilitäts- und/oder Modifier-Gen von affektiven Spektrumsstörungen. Die Relevanz für die Ätiologie von adulten ADHS und dramatisch-emotionalen Cluster B beziehungsweise ängstlich-furchtsamen Cluster C Persönlichkeitsstörungen muss durch weitere Studien untersucht werden. / Variation in the tryptophan hydroxylase-2 gene (TPH2) coding for the rate-limiting enzyme of serotonin (5-HT) synthesis in the brain has been linked to a spectrum of clinical populations characterized by emotional dysregulation. Here, a set of common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in and downstream of the transcriptional control region of TPH2 (rs4570625, rs11178997, rs4341581, rs4565946) was testet for association in two cohorts comprising of 336 healthy individuals and 420 patients with personality disorders. Personality disorders were diagnosed with the Structured Clinical Interview of DSM-IV and were allocated to clusters A, B, and C. Individual SNP and haplotype analyses revealed significant differences in genotype frequencies between controls and cluster B as well as cluster C patients, respectively. In both patient groups, overrepresentation of T allele carriers of a functional polymorphism in the upstream regulatory region of TPH2 (SNP G-703T, rs4570625) was observed. The results link potentially functional TPH2 variants to cluster B and cluster C personality disorders. These findings confirm TPH2 as a susceptibility and/or modifier gene of affective spectrum disorders. The relevance for the etiology of adult ADHD as well as Cluster B and Cluster C personality disorders needs further study.

Thesis advisor: Franco Mormando / Tra il 1410 e 1411, di ritorno dal suo viaggio di formazione in Grecia, il giovane Guarino tradusse in latino il Περὶ παιδῶν αγογὴς, opuscolo contenuto nel corpus dei Moralia e attribuito ad un maestro del circolo di Plutarco. Il testo greco riassumeva concetti educativi fondamentali nell’antichità, suggerendo un modello di educazione che mirava a formare un uomo laico, cittadino consapevole dei suoi doveri familiari, civili e religiosi. Questo concetto educativo, consono alla sensibilità umanistica di Guarino, spiega la sua scelta di tradurre in latino l’opera greca. Il De liberis educandis rappresenta, dunque, dal punto di vista del contenuto, un importante divulgatore di principi educativi per i secoli a venire e, dal punto di vista linguistico, una preziosa fucina di quel nuovo latino che andava formandosi all’inizio del XV secolo e di cui Guarino è uno dei primi artefici. Questo studio si propone di sottrarre il De liberis educandis dall’ombra e di aggiungere osservazioni sulla controversa attività di Guarino come traduttore. Sulla base di un dettagliato confronto linguistico tra l’originale greco e la versione latina di età umanistica, si può concludere che Guarino traduceva il testo greco con precisione, pur permettendosi qualche libertà dal punto di vista linguistico e culturale, come si dimostrerà con precisi riferimenti testuali. Il raffronto con l’originale greco rappresenta anche la base per avviare un’edizione critica dell’opuscolo latino che, assieme ad una traduzione in italiano, non è mai stata affrontata prima d’ora. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Romance Languages and Literatures.

The study explores language bias in the NEO-PI-R both quantitatively and qualitatively. A sample of 28 postgraduate psychology student volunteers completed a questionnaire containing the NEO-PI-R and two open-ended questions about the instrument. These responses were then analysed across English first language and second language speakers to explore issues of bias. Reliability of the NEO-PI-R appeared to be robust at a domain level. The reliability of the facets, while appropriate for the most part, still yielded low alpha coefficients for the Excitement-seeking, Actions, Values and Straightforwardness facets. ANOVA’s at the domain and facet scale levels indicated no significant differences across home language. However ANOVA’s at the item level yielded 33 in total that were problematic, comprising of 12 items that were significant at the 5% level of significance and 21 items at the 10% level of significance. These items were primarily from the N and E domains. Thematic analysis of the open-ended questions of the questionnaire indicated 26 items were difficult to understand and/or inappropriate for the South African context. These items were primarily from the E and A domains. From the original sample of 28 volunteers, two focus groups were formed, comprising of volunteers from the initial sample. The focus groups explored several qualitative issues, including concepts of personality, language and culture and the applicability of the NEO-PI-R for South African user groups. It was perceived that there is a presence of American socio-cultural references within the use of language, grammar and socio-cultural context in the instrument. Thus the results show evidence of language bias in the NEO-PI-R, and subsequently identify particular aspects and items of the instrument that are especially problematic for a South African user group. The present study suggests that the NEO-PI-R would need to be revised to suit the South African context by changing the problematic items.

Regardless of housing backlog and rapid urbanization created by population growth, the promotion of Self-Help Housing by authorities in charge of housing and policy documents1, there is a limited used of Self-Help Housing in South Africa. In pursuing the Self-Help Housing debate, this research argues that the failure to implement a widespread use of Self-Help Housing is not directly linked to weaknesses of Self-Help Housing. Instead, the difficult access to land for urban poor households, the ignorance from households of their right of having access to adequate shelter, the attitude of dependency evident in households, the paternalistic attitude from the government, the failure to constitute an active community and the failure to establish real priorities of poor people are the main causes of the limited use of Self-Help Housing in South Africa. Tembisa, one of the South Africa’s Townships, is used in this research for the purpose of illustrating the unsuccessful implementation of Self-Help Housing, adopted in South as People Housing Process (PHP).

本文以明初官定程朱理學讀本《四書五經性理大全》的成書和思想反應為中心，旨在探討朱子學在14、15世紀流衍、官學化乃至自我更新的過程。作為士人參加科舉考試的必讀之書，《四書五經性理大全》原則上締造著明代士人的思維結構乃至行事方式，成為他們為學從政的依據和根基。全文主要分為三個部份：第一部份重點討論此書萌生於14世紀的主要學術背景，指出它是在元代浙江、江西、徽州三地朱子學並競發展的多元化局面中醞釀而生的。第二部份首先檢討了明初洪武、永樂兩朝帝王一脈相承卻又有不同的理學取態。同樣尊信理學可以幫助治國，太祖樂於以務實態度來修正和完善朱子學並顯現出他淩駕於道統的情形，而明成祖則將程朱理學視作其政權合法性的依據進而操縱了儒家道統，《大全》正是在明初政治文化微妙而重大轉變中應運而生的。本文接著考察了《大全》的編纂、取材與影響，從中指出編纂地選在北京對成祖遷都部署的配合作用，並分析《大全》內容取材的地域特色，及此特色所受敕撰要求、書籍流通、人事安排等因素的影響；統計其刊行情況以證實《大全》地位在有明一代從未被動搖，在晚明乃至成為商業出版中有利可圖的公共文化資源的情形。本文第三部份重點以15世紀持續出現的多種《大全》反應性著作為分析對象，從中觀察《大全》被作為舉業的讀本、行道的載體、救正時弊乃至變革士人思想的必由取徑，而在地方學官、著名儒者以及土木之變後學者型官員中引發的激烈迴響和對其批評、質疑、修正的相應行動。透過這些討論，本文期望檢討14世紀朱子後學的多元化發展與並競局面、明初帝王的理學取態對於明初理學的官學化進程的實際影響，以及15世紀的菁英士大夫如何運用“統一“後的理學學說來應對現實危機與朱子學發展困境等議題。 / This dissertation studies the formation of and intellectual responses to the Sishu Wujing Xingli Daquan( Great Compendia of the Four Books, Five Classics and Human Nature and Heavenly Principle), which were compiled in the Yongle period (1403-1424), in the context of the spreading and self renewal of Zhu Xi’s philosophical school in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. As must-read books for the imperial examinations, the Compendia affected Ming scholars’ mode of thinking and their way of doing things. They also formed the basis of their classical learning and political participation. / The study begins with an analysis of the intellectual background of the Compendia in the fourteenth century. It points out that there were three types of development and competition patterns of Yüan Neo-Confucianism in Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Huizhou. / The research then reviews the important changes of attitude from the Hongwu emperor to the Yongle emperor towards Neo-Confucianism. Although both emperors believed that Neo-Confucianism could help them better govern the country, the Hongwu emperor was keen to see revisions of Zhu Xi’s classical exegesis. To meet his realistic needs he even ignored the Neo-Confucian orthodoxy. The Yongle emperor, however, used Neo-Confucianism as the basis of his political legitimacy and thus manipulated the Neo-Confucian orthodoxy. / This study also discusses the process of compilation, selection of material and Ming editions of the Compendia. It finds that the whole set was compiled in Beijing to parallel the policy of moving the capital from Nanjing to Beijing. It points out that the Compendia are mainly based on the works written by Yüan scholars from Huizhou prefecture, and for a number of reasons: requirement of the Yongle emperor, good circulation of books or classical commentary in late Yüan and early Ming Huizhou area, and arrangement of the editorial personnel. Finally, I analyze the editions of the Compendia published throughout the Ming dynasty to show the reception of them and to confirm its popularity in commercial publishing in the late Ming period. / By focusing on the views of scholars in the fifteenth Century who wrote their books in response to the Compendia, I show how school teachers, Confucian thinkers, and scholar-officials after the Tu-mu incident of 1449 saw the Compendia as teaching materials, vehicle for driving daoxue learning, a way to solve the problems of their times, but also subjected them to criticism, questioning and revision. / This then reveals the influence of the state-sanctioned Cheng-Zhu of Neo-Confucianism and its decline in the course of 14th and 15th centuries. The challenges the school faced in the 15th century formed the background of the marked shift to another approach of Confucian learning in the next century best represented by Wang Yangming. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 朱冶. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 275-293). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Zhu Ye. / 目錄 --- p.1 / Chapter 第一章 --- 緒論 --- p.5 / Chapter 一、 --- 元代朱子學研究的回顧與展望 --- p.6 / Chapter 二、 --- 明初政治文化與《大全》研究 --- p.11 / Chapter 三、 --- 十五世紀思想史的研究路向 --- p.16 / Chapter 四、 --- 論文結構 --- p.19 / Chapter 第二章 --- 多元並競：元代南方三地朱子學的推廣與認受 --- p.21 / Chapter 第一節 --- 學術譜系的建構與強化以金華吳師道為例 --- p.22 / Chapter 一、 --- 鄉里傳統：“金華四先生“的成立 --- p.22 / Chapter 二、 --- 師友淵源：吳師道與“金華四先生“之一許謙的交往 --- p.25 / Chapter 三、 --- 求助於官：吳師道推廣金華學術的努力 --- p.31 / Chapter 四、 --- “獨得其宗：吳師道對金華學統的強烈自認 --- p.36 / Chapter 第二節 --- 學問自得與道統傳遞以江西虞集為中心 --- p.41 / Chapter 一、 --- 期為“豪傑“：虞集之師吳澄的學術面向與道學承創 --- p.42 / Chapter 二、 --- 文名之外：虞集的理學身份與學問趨向 --- p.51 / Chapter 三、 --- 誰是正學？：虞集拒絶撰寫許謙墓銘的由來及其相關問題 --- p.57 / Chapter 第三節 --- 一宗朱子與著述傳道以新安汪克寬等人為例 --- p.66 / Chapter 一、 --- 羽翼與纂釋：新安朱子學的特色及其影響 --- p.66 / Chapter 二、 --- 挫折與執著：汪克寬的為學、著述及與虞集的學術分野 --- p.80 / Chapter 三、 --- 反思與開新：朱升各經《旁注》的撰作及用意 --- p.87 / 小結 --- p.96 / Chapter 第三章 --- 君師治教：明初洪武、永樂兩朝對待宋元理學的取態 --- p.98 / Chapter 第一節 --- 學以輔政：太祖敕修《書傳會選》的用意及影響 --- p.99 / Chapter 一、 --- 太祖修訂蔡《傳》的背景及用意 --- p.100 / Chapter 二、 --- 《書傳會選》的編纂及內容特色 --- p.107 / Chapter 三、 --- 《書傳會選》的有限影響：以永樂二年的廷試對策為中心 --- p.111 / Chapter 第二節 --- 道治天下：成祖治國理念的演進以《聖學心法》為中心 --- p.114 / Chapter 一、 --- 學在皇家：成祖與帝王教育 --- p.115 / Chapter 二、 --- 治平有道：成祖與《聖學心法》 --- p.116 / Chapter 三、 --- 道在六經：成祖與三部《大全》 --- p.135 / 小結 --- p.145 / Chapter 第四章 --- 垂世立教：《大全》的編纂、取材及其流傳 --- p.147 / Chapter 第一節 --- 纂修地點與編修人員、分工特色 --- p.147 / Chapter 一、 --- 北京：纂修地的安排及用意 --- p.147 / Chapter 二、 --- 人員任用與分工 --- p.151 / Chapter 第二節 --- 《四書五經大全》的內容取材及成因 --- p.161 / Chapter 一、 --- 《大全》的體例、性質與取材的關係 --- p.163 / Chapter 二、 --- 《大全》所選書籍在明初的影響 --- p.165 / Chapter 三、 --- 人事因素與《大全》取材 --- p.172 / Chapter 第三節 --- 《大全》在明代的刊行與流傳 --- p.174 / Chapter 一、 --- 刊行歷史概說 --- p.175 / Chapter 二、 --- 校訂本 --- p.176 / Chapter 三、 --- 增補本、合刊本 --- p.177 / 小結 --- p.178 / Chapter 第五章 --- 十五世紀士人對《大全》的反應及其意義 --- p.181 / Chapter 第一節 --- 地方學官：最初的反應 --- p.181 / Chapter 一、 --- 摘取切要：彭勗及其《書傳大全通釋》 --- p.182 / Chapter 二、 --- “不可泥也：陳璲等人之意見 --- p.185 / Chapter 第二節 --- 儒者的取態：薛瑄及其《讀書錄》 --- p.187 / Chapter 一、 --- 《性理大全》：《讀書錄》的主要閱讀對象 --- p.187 / Chapter 二、 --- 《讀書錄》對《四書五經大全》的具體意見 --- p.190 / Chapter 第三節 --- “一道德與“經世：十五世紀中後期學者型官員對《大全》的修正 --- p.195 / Chapter 一、 --- 理事之道：楊守陳及其《私抄》 --- p.197 / Chapter 二、 --- 經世面向：周洪謨及其《疑辨錄》 --- p.206 / Chapter 三、 --- 以心考之：王恕及其《石渠意見》 --- p.226 / Chapter 四、 --- 輔翼之書：蔡清及其《蒙引》諸書 --- p.235 / 小結 --- p.259 / Chapter 第六章 --- 結論 --- p.261 / Chapter 附錄一： --- 《四書五經性理大全》的明代版本 --- p.266 / 參考文獻 --- p.275