Senegal is one of the very few former French colonies that explicitly pursued the sanitary regulation of prostitution after independence; in Senegal, the legal status of sex work turns on a distinction between registered “avowed” prostitutes, and non-registered, unofficial prostitutes – the clandestines. Based on fifteen months ethnographic study in two clinics this thesis traces the changes that have taken place in the regulation of commercial intimacy in Dakar following the integration of an experimental regime at the state clinic and the creation of the identity “clandestine” by non-governmental organizations. Despite the enormous changes that have taken place over the course of the twentieth century, colonial sanitary regulation remains a governing “biopolitical paradigm” (Epstein, 2007), leaving its traces in the therapeutic, experimental, and affective lives of the clinics. In this thesis I examine how racial, gender, and class difference is produced in regulation through (1) the racial politics of colonial policy; (2) enactments of social and individual bodies at the Enda mobile clinic; (3) how difference is written into the onto-epistemologies of molecular biology; (4) how attempts to understand and accommodate difference are attempted through bioethics and the material effects of ethical practice. I do this by paying close attention to the ethnomethods of the professionals I study and to the local historical geographies of clinical practice. Throughout this thesis I think about the feminist biopolitics that might be capable of responding to and theorizing the surprising social life of the clinics.

An increasing number of young girls produce contents in social media on a everyday basis for the opportunities to express, explore and connect. Public misunderstanding and concern are about whether girls are being narcissistic and vain. Academic works address how girls exercise agency while negotiating structure in the construction of their gendered adolescent identities. This thesis is situated in relation to our hopes and fears about girls’ self-representation through digital media production, and examines the role that photographic self-portraiture plays in girls’ social relations, personal and gender identity work. The theoretical framework combines the perspectives of gender performativity and symbolic interactionism, supplemented by analyses of personal photography. This thesis chose as its case study the popular Taiwanese social networking site Wretch, and employed a mixed method of quantitative content analysis of 2000 self-portraits of teenagers to understand how they represent themselves, and qualitative online interviews with 42 girls aged 13-20 to learn about their relationships with self-portraiture. The content analysis shows that most teenagers represent themselves in a gender stereotypical manner, while some adopt non gender-specific styles to represent themselves as friendly, suggesting that teenagers may use ideals about femininity, masculinity and sociality as shortcuts to present themselves in a positive light. Interview findings reveal how girls use camera technologies and the affordance of SNS for visual self-disclosure, which isimportant for the development of theirinterpersonal relationships. The findings also suggest that self-portraiture is not simply an act of photographing a ‘reality’ of the self, but of formulating self-image(s) and identity in the process of making self-portraits. In self-portraiture, girls are constantly confronted with the ‘who am I’ question, and construct and revise their biographies as they manage an array of audiences from different contexts all collapsing in one space. Furthermore, selfportraiture creates a distance between the ‘I’ and the ‘me’, allowing one to ‘play’ with self-image(s) and identity. It creates a space for the negotiation of ideals and anxieties, for experiments with different subject positions that may be socially or individually rewarding, and it is through these seemingly casual endeavoursthat one gradually works out their position in the social world. The thesis contributes to the scholarship on girls’ media culture, and suggests current theoretical perspective be expanded in order to better understand different ways of ‘doing girlhood’.

It is today commonly acknowledged that rape is a weapon of war. This consensus has been achieved in significant part through the efforts of feminist scholars and activists. Yet the consensus hides a multiplicity of ways in which weapons of war might function. This thesis uncovers and critically explores that variety. First, it turns to questions of what makes a form of inquiry specifically feminist, the better to understand the foundations for claims about rape as a weapon of war. Having offered a critique of existing divisions of empiricist, standpoint and postmodern feminisms (and of the distinction between feminism and gender theory), the thesis proposes a view of feminism as critical explanation: as at once explanatory, political and ethical inquiry. These view is expanded on through a framework of modes of critical explanation: styles of reasoning that provide analytical wagers, narrative scripts and normative orientations for feminist inquiry. Second, the thesis explores three such modes of critical explanation in relation to wartime sexual violence. It argues that the modes of instrumentality, unreason and mythology implicitly structure feminist claims about war rape. Each is examined in turn, with particular attention to how the forms of explanation mirror debates found in war studies and in social theory more generally. Each mode is clarified and expanded on, resulting in sets of propositions for each mode and in a clearer sense of where modes contradict each other and where they may combine. Third, this meta-theoretical and theoretical framework is applied to the specific case of atrocity in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Working through several kinds of empirical material (studies of sexual violence, histories of conflict in the Great Lakes, data on economic dimensions of violence and testimony from combatants and ex-combatants on the topic of sexual violence), the thesis shows how 'the rape capital of the world' is best understood in terms of themes derived from the modes of unreason and mythology. It explores retaliatory atrocity, extractive sexual violence and fragmented sexual aggression as three situated dynamics of violence. This part thus critiques a narrowly instrumentalist idea of wartime sexual violence as a strategy of profiteering, whilst also attending to how economic dimensions matter in the war complex as a whole. The conclusion draws out consequences for further work, especially in relation to a comparative project for the critical explanation of wartime sexual violence.

In recent years the government has introduced youth justice policy which claims to draw on the philosophy of restorative justice as an alternative to punitive sanctions. Referral orders were implemented nationally in 2002 and purportedly represent a significant policy commitment to restorative justice. Rather than incarcerating offenders or deterring them through punishment, referral orders aim to encourage them to understand the consequences of their behaviour, make amends and re-join the law abiding community. This is purportedly achieved through a youth offender panel (panel meeting) run by lay members of the local community along with a member of staff from the youth offending team (YOT). The panel meeting aims to provide a forum away from formal court proceedings to discuss the offence and to agree and construct a contract that the offender must follow. Referral orders therefore present a useful arena in which to explore young offenders’ experiences of restorative justice and to compare this with their experience of the more formal court process. Research has revealed that fair procedures are important in securing people’s compliance with the law and that offenders view restorative processes as fairer than court. However, the majority of research in this area has been done with adults and there is comparatively little research that focuses on young offenders’ perceptions of criminal justice processes. For children, procedural safeguards largely relate to the manner in which adults interact with them. My research therefore explores young people’s experiences with a range of authority figures including: teachers, police officers, magistrates, lay panel members and staff at the YOT. In doing this I aim to consider both how young people perceive the restorative elements of referral orders and more broadly, the way in which they form judgements of different criminal justice processes and sources of authority.

The aim of this thesisis to investigate the representations of teenage motherhood held by teenage mothers and specialised service providers in London and as expressed through public policy of the United Kingdom between 1999 and 2009, with the view of enabling social change in policy and practice. The secondary aim is to investigate the ways in which teenage mothers and specialised practitioners dialogically construct identities for themselves in light of these representations. The theoretical underpinnings of my empirical investigation are Social Representations Theory, especially the ‘structural approach’ and its expression of dilemmatic common sense through core and peripheral representational elements. This thesis also highlights the theory’s associations with social identities,stigma, power and resistance, and the possibility for social change. The qualitative methodological approach of a London‐based case study includes interviews and focus groups as well as observations with teenage mothers, interviews with specialised practitioners, and a thematic analysis of policy documents. The datasets are thematically analysed and juxtaposed through the lens of the ‘structural approach’. Findings suggest that, at the core, teenage motherhood is constructed as problematic by teenage mothers, practitioners and in policy. Simultaneously, all three datasets actively construct and draw on peripheral elements which are at odds with the core. Young mothers construct positive representations of teenage motherhood based on their own experiences and frequently draw on peripheral elements to negotiate positive identities. Specialised practitioners highlight the potential positive outcomes of teenage motherhood with appropriate support, and construct identities for themselves as‘correctors’, ‘defenders’ and ‘protectors’ of teenage mothers despite being exposed to courtesy stigma. Policy paints a heterogeneous picture of teenage motherhood as a multi‐faceted reality that can be managed through specialised professional support. The opportunities for social change based on the discourses and actions through which teenage motherhood is represented are discussed.

This dissertation sheds new light upon the complex interplay of factors (social, political and economic) that constrain the enabling environment for water sector reform and private sector participation (PSP) by analysing of the process of policy reform and the nature of stakeholder engagement in the provision of water and sanitation. Findings are based on an in depth case study of the La Paz/El Alto concession arrangement from 1997–2005, when the contract was abruptly terminated. The analysis is encompassed within the New Institutional Economics conceptual framework as it provides a holistic application of economic analysis on the role of incentives, institutions and behaviour, providing a common link in understanding between traditional economists and other social scientists, allowing for greater reflection as to the ways socio-political, cultural and historical contexts determine the behaviour of those involved in the water reform process. The delicate nature of the water sector provides evidence of how under certain institutional constraints, and where optimum accumulation of information is virtually impossible, human behaviour can become motivated by a volatile set of preferences, making it particularly difficult for policy-makers to manage the reform process and accurately predict reform outcomes. Research findings conclude that the difficulties policy-makers faced in reforming the water sector and introducing PSP in the case of La Paz/El Alto, stemmed from three fundamental factors: (i) The reform process did not consider how race-based socio-political and economic hierarchies, endemic in Bolivian history and culture, would influence intended outcomes; (ii) stakeholders underestimated the transaction costs involved in the process of reform and PPP implementation due to information and bargaining asymmetries; (iii) systemic barriers, beyond the control of stakeholders involved, constrained the space for partnership innovation and flexibility in the provision of water and sanitation, debilitating the possibilities for future collaboration between civil society, government and the private sector.

In April 2003, Peru’s cocaleros broke into the national spotlight by mobilising a six thousandstrong March of Sacrifice from their coca-producing valleys to the capital city of Lima. In 2006, cocalero leaders ascended to several political positions at the municipal and national level. However, their political impact has been limited and divisions amongst coca-producing valleys have prevented cocaleros from articulating a unified agenda on the coca issue itself, let alone on wider issues. The experience of Bolivia’s cocaleros presents a very different picture. In 2005, cocalero leader Evo Morales was elected president with the highest margin of victory in the country’s electoral history. He was re-elected in 2009 by a greater margin. Morales and his political party mobilised a broad coalition as they developed an identity of ‘excluded’ that challenged Bolivia’s unrepresentative democracy, neoliberal economic model and relationship with the United States. How do we explain the political ascent of these unprecedented actors that stand on the border of illegality? Why has the empowerment and impact of these actors on their national political landscapes varied so significantly? This work aims to explain the different experiences of the Bolivian and Peruvian cocaleros in gaining political empowerment through contentious action that originated in defence of coca—an issue that is both de-legitimising and divisive. This work presents the political ascent of these actors as cases of identity-formation. It argues that their ability to construct identities that deterred disunity, legitimised their struggle and broadened their appeal determined their degree of political empowerment. Furthermore, it reveals how contentious interactions—bound by the context in which they unfolded—distinctly shaped each case’s identity-formation processes. In Peru, the imposed identity of ‘illegitimate’ weakened the identity of ‘cocalero’ and generated disunity, isolation and a limited political impact. In Bolivia, the identities of ‘syndicalist’ and ‘excluded’ strengthened the identity of ‘cocalero’ and engendered unity, alliance formation and a significant political impact.

The enactment of the national Right to Information (RTI) Act in 2005 has been produced, consumed and celebrated as an important event of democratic deepening in India both in terms of the process that led to its enactment (arising from a grassroots movement) as well as its outcome (fundamentally altering the citizen-state relationship). This thesis problematises this narrative and proposes that the explanatory factors underlying this event may be more complex than thus far imagined. First, the leadership of the grassroots movement was embedded within the ruling elite and possessed the necessary resources as well as unparalleled access to spaces of power for the movement to be successful. Second, the democratisation of the higher bureaucracy along with the launch of the economic liberalisation project meant that the urban, educated, high-caste, upper-middle-class elite that provided critical support to the demand for an RTI Act was no longer vested in the state and had moved to the private sector. Mirroring this shift, the framing of the RTI Act during the 1990s saw its ambit reduced to the government, even as there was a concomitant push to privatise public goods and services. Third, the thesis locates the Indian RTI Act within the global explosion of freedom of information laws over the last two decades, and shows how international pressures, embedded within a reimagining of the role of the state vis-à-vis the market, had a direct and causal impact both on its content, as well as the timing of its enactment. Taking the production of the RTI Act as a lens, the thesis finally argues that while there is much to celebrate in the consolidation of procedural democracy in India over the last six decades, existing economic, social and political structures may limit the extent and forms of democratic deepening occurring in the near future.

This study examined second-level agenda setting effects of six news sources on public opinion about the health care reform bill proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. The affective attributes (tone) of media coverage were measured immediately and cumulatively. A regression analysis found cumulative affective attribute salience, but not immediate affective attribute salience, was a significant predictor of support in public opinion polls. Separate regression analyses found that effects were greater on Republicans than on those who identified with another political party. A final regression analysis was performed to examine whether support in public opinion polls was a predictor of affective attribute salience in the media. Support was also measured both immediately and cumulatively. Findings show that only immediate support in public opinion polls was a predictor of affective attribute salience in the media. The political implications and the consequences for health care policy are discussed.

There has been a trend toward increased in educational accountability for the past fifty years as seen through legislation, policy, and guidance implemented by state education agencies. While states had accountability systems, the federal NCLB Act of 2001 formalized the current system that worked to remediate schools challenged to meet the accountability expectations? Exacerbating these circumstances was a shifting accountability model, AZ LEARNS, that measured school performance from 2007-2009. The Arizona Department of Education formalized processes and structures to address the needs of low-capacity schools through the State System of Support. This research examined the role of the ASSIST Coach in underperforming schools as a measure of state intervention in Arizona. Data revealed that insufficient time, resources, and support were afforded to low-capacity schools by the ASSIST Coach to affect change that resulted in school improvement within the AZ LEARNS model. Additionally, the skills, experience, and background did not align to the needs of low-capacity schools that participated in this study. In the absence of effective state intervention, schools turned to internal capacities to plan for and implement school improvement initiatives that were minimally effective in turning around their respective underperformance. Based on these findings, recommendations for future research were offered to strengthen the support for schools under the State System of Support in Arizona.