In this thesis I investigate the evolving figure of the holy fool as a critical figure in European cinema. Three national cinemas - Soviet and post-Soviet cinema, French cinema, and Danish cinema – form the primary focus of my analysis. These cinemas correspond broadly to the three main orientations in European Christianity: Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant. The cinematic holy fool of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries is interpreted in this thesis as a protean figure through which different European religious and intellectual traditions percolate (chapters one and two). Against this varied cultural background, I investigate the way in which the figure of the holy fool is used by filmmakers as a means of responding to and critiquing aspects of the modern world. To this end I analyse how filmmakers have represented different types, features and uses of the holy fool in interaction with their particular cultural and religious backgrounds. In particular, I examine how the cinematic holy fool is used to critique the religious and social status quo, the contemporary political power structures, and the abuse of reason. An apparently anachronistic figure, I argue that the holy fool has proved a versatile modern device, employed to question established secular and religious worldviews, from the Soviet regimes (chapters three and four) to contemporary Western European democracies (chapters five, six and seven). Through this thesis I identify how the modern holy fool is one without authority; a figure whose critical function has largely outgrown its confessional traditions, even if indebted to them. Nonetheless, in diverse secular and religious settings, I demonstrate how the fool’s critical function remains morally legitimated by selfless suffering.

<p> In this thesis, the Palio horse race and the contrade (neighborhood) structure of Siena Italy are examined. Using thick description and grounded theory, ideas of residency, age, and identity construction are investigated among the contradaioli of Siena. It is of interest to see how these factors affect identity performativity on an individual and societal level. The value and increasing role of contradaioli women will also be discussed, as it is a topic that contradicts initial perceptions of women as a suppressed group. Although residency status within the contrada was previously known as the focal point of identity, over time its significance has shifted to account for a modern world with increased population mobilization. Residency patterns found to exist in Siena are reflected in the type and level of labor contributions made based on how far they lived from their contrada. Despite the initial perception that gender was the main factor that impacted participation and labor contributions, it was revealed that it was not the only significant variable and, in fact, age and residency was a more prominent dynamic to consider. </p>

For Turkey, Europe was the model for modernization since the era of Kemal Ataturk. Turkey's relations with Europe started with the Ankara agreement and the opening of the custom union. Since then, the country has strived for integration with the community. The Commission rejected Turkey's application in 1989 while stating for the first time that political reasons affected this decision over concerns about the Cyprus issue. The integration of new members highlighted the shift of Europe towards political considerations. Turkey was rejected again as a candidate at the Luxemburg summit. The following Helsinki summit accepted the candidacy for Turkey but now the country must comply with the political criteria. Turkey has made great progress towards integration. However, the demands imply that Turkey must make strong decisions that might contradict the country's long standing powers' politic approach. Moreover, the criteria raise security concerns in a country were security is an aspect of its psychology. The implementation of a such strong decision needs a calmer democratic environment. Turkey's further impediment results from such an absence. Thus, Turkey's real impediment is democratic deficiency. Therefore, Turkey needs a little more time to better align itself with the democratic values of the European standard before its integration, which appears possible considering the pace of reforms and the strategic weight of the country. / Major, Hellenic Air Force

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / This thesis analyzes key factors in Poland's decision-making concerning the European Union's European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). It reviews the development of Polish policy concerning the ESDP and the main considerations that have guided Polish assessments in this regard. Poland's position as a member of NATO and as a candidate for membership in the European Union and other factors affecting perceptions of the ESDP in Poland are discussed to throw light on the controversy associated with Poland's participation in the ESDP and to clarify possible implications for the future. With Poland's admission to the EU in May 2004, Warsaw will have an opportunity to contribute to ESDP formation and implementation. However, Poland will probably remain committed to maintaining NATO's primacy and cautious regarding concepts of transforming the EU into an autonomous military power, especially with respect to collective defense. / Lieutenant, Polish Army

This thesis seeks to show that the origins of the 1961 British application to join the European Community lay primarily in the long standing personal commitment of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan both to the idea of supranational European aaangemeats, and to full British participation in them. It argues that fiom the beginning of his political career in the late 1920's, Macmillan displayed a strong commitment to an internationalist political philosophy dedicated to creating a new European and world order that would transcend and replace the nation-states of Europe and their colonial empires, and suppress European economic and political nationalism. His work and close involvement with the leading promoters of this world view is charted, including his membership of groups such as the Round Table, the Royal Institute for International Affairs (RIIA), and Political and Economic Planning (PEP). In particular, his active role in the establishment of the post 1945 European Movement and in his consistent dedication to the creation of supranational European institutions, is described. It is shown, moreover, that Macmillan maintained his European Movement connections throughout his time in high political office, and it is advocated that they hold the key to explaining the evolution of the application to join the European Community which he orchestrated as British Prime Minister in July 1961. It is also argued, that a logical manifestation of Macmillan's internationalist world view and commitment io European supranational integration, was a long-standing sympathy with the ideas and methods of the Soviet Union, and a belief that stable world management could be achieved as a result of a close collaboration with it.

<p> The "Macron Law", liberalizing French Sunday shopping hours, created great controversy in the French media in the winter of 2014-15, with particular opposition coming from the political left and the religious right. The controversy seemed to symbolize deeper issues for French society, appearing to some as a watershed, to others a threat. Some citizens expressed concern that the &ldquo;European way of life" was disappearing, being replaced by a more materialist, consumerist, extreme capitalist economic model that posed an overt threat to the traditional social protection system. Were these fears real or only imagined? To an observer, shops open on Sundays might only be a convenience, not an encroachment of &ldquo;jungle capitalism&rdquo;, and the French welfare state, even with changes in recent years, still appeared quite generous. Was the Macron Law a simple adjustment of business hours, or was it an existential moment for the nation? Focusing on French socialism, the social welfare system, and the pivotal presidential years of Fran&ccedil;ois Mitterrand, this thesis argues that the evolution of the meaning of Sunday in France can be seen as a metaphor for the nation&rsquo;s political and economic development in the late twentieth century. The thesis contends that following the turbulent 1970s, as the neoliberal paradigm became dominant globally, France forged a unique approach, an acceptable path between that model and the nation&rsquo;s traditions, just as an accommodation was found in the Sunday shopping controversy, when aspects of religious and socialist traditions were compromised to meet the demands of modern life.</p>

This study develops a model of macroeconomic and political determinants of public support for European integration. The research is conducted on pooled cross-sectional time-series data from five European Union member states between 1978 and 1994. The method used in this analysis is a Generalized Least Squares - Autoregressive Moving Average approach. The factors hypothesized to determine a macroeconomic explanation of public support for integration are inflation, unemployment, and economic growth. The effect of the major economic reform in the 1980s, the Single European Act, is hypothesized to act as a positive permanent intervention. The other determinants of public support are the temporary interventions of European Parliament elections and the permanent intervention of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. These are hypothesized to exert a negative effect. In a fully specified model all variables except economic growth and European Parliament elections demonstrate statistical significance at the 0.10 level or better.

This thesis examines the implementation of EC company law Directives relating to the formation and capital of public companies in three Member States, namely the UK, France and Germany. In each of the chosen areas the thesis first examines the relevant EC provisions in detail and discusses their objectives. It then assesses the correctness and effectiveness of their implementation in the national systems of the UK, France and Germany by evaluating not only the formal compliance of their laws with the Directives concerned, but also their actual compliance in terms of their interpretation and enforcement by the national courts. Where non-compliance is detected, use will be made of the principles of direct effect and of interpretation (the so-called indirect effect) as established by the European Court of Justice and amendments of the existing regime will be proposed. The thesis is divided into four parts. Part One of the thesis serves as a starting point and discusses the EC harmonisation programme. Part Two deals with the formation of public companies. It concentrates on four areas: pre-incorporation contracts, corporate capacity, formation of companies and disclosure, and nullity of companies. Part Three and Four consider the raising and maintenance of capital in public companies. Part Three looks at the power to allot new securities, the statutory pre-emptive rights of the shareholders and the payment for share capital. Part Four discusses share reacquisitions and the related rule prohibiting a company from giving financial assistance for the purchase of its own shares, and it examines the law relating to dividends and reductions of capital.

No description available.

This thesis focuses on work relations within the ironworks established at Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, in the second half of the eighteenth century. From the 1780s, theseconcerns expanded at high speed, to rank amongst the largest industrial plants in Britain. A variety of manuscript sources are exploited to provide an unusually detailed account of eighteenth-centuryworkplace practice. Particular attention is paid to the problems of capitalist control that arose in enterprises which were of unparalleled size, and growing at breakneck pace. The ways in which the slippage of capitalist control was offset are examined. Firstly, the 'culture' of work in the iron trade, the set of protocols which governed the organisation of work by senior workmen, is anatomised. Secondly, an analysis of the peculiar forms of working practice in the collieries and mines of Merthyr is developed to provide an explanation of the fierce loyalties which the rival ironworks could command. The second part of the thesis examines the power of the Merthyr ironmasters, both in south-east Wales, and, more especially, in the corporate politics of the national irontrade. The evolution of a piece of legislation which was sponsored by the ironmasters of South Wales is traced in an effort to understand the extent and nature of their power. Lastly, an account is given of Merthyr's development as an urban settlement, attending closely to the difficulties which industrialisation presented for the district's radical tradition. Stress is laid on the demoralising defeat of Merthyr's radicals in the late 1790s, and the ascension to local power of the ironmasters.