The defeat of 1940 and its aftermath stimulated a wide-ranging debate in France about the causes of national decline and the possible sources of renewal. During the period between 1940 and 1946, and in particular in the two years after the liberation in 1944, most of the nation's political, social and economic structures were re-examined. A multitude of plans and programmes were elaborated with a view to carrying through significant reforms after the war had ended. The aim of this dissertation is to review the process of rethinking. Its major focus is on the ideas of national political elites, although it also attempts, wherever possible, to draw on sources nearer the grass roots. The dissertation is divided into two parts. The first part considers the postwar plans formulated, in the months around the Liberation, by the new elites of 1944: the Resistance movements, the Free France organisation, General de Gaulle, and the three dominant political parties (the Communist party, the Socialist party, and the Christian Democratic M.R.P.). These chapters deal, in general terms, with the reformist ideologies of the above groups, and also, in particular, with the ways in which they approached the problems of planning for the postwar period. A second group of chapters examines the rethinking in a thematic sense. This part traces the development of reformist ideas on a number of the issues which were identified as particularly crucial to a future national recovery: the political and constitutional regime; the form of the French empire and its relation to the <i>metropole</i>; the structures of the French economy; and the problems of French society (specifically, of the educational system and of relations between labour and capital). A thematic approach places the views of the national political leaders in a broader context by including the ideas of civil servants, intellectuals, pamphleteers, and other non-political figures. It also permits some observations about the political vocabulary of renewal - a vocabulary which reflected both consensus and ambiguity.

Although the utilitarian character of modern architecture has been widely recognized, the relationship between Utilitarianism and architectural practice has not been adequately discussed. This thesis intends to contribute to this area with a historical study of the interaction of Utilitarianism and architectural practice in the social reforms of 18th and 19th century Britain. Edinburgh is used as an example to illuminate this historical process in more detail. From three angles: prison, poor relief and elementary education, this thesis discusses how Utilitarians influenced the reform process and how architecture was used as significant instruments to promote the reform schemes designed by Bentham and his followers. In prison reform, Bentham created the architectural model of the Panopticon to build a new punishment system based on disciplined prisons which could harmoniously align individual interest and public interest. He later introduced the same ideology and the Panopticon model into poor relief reform. Through the works of his followers, especially Edwin Chadwick, these Utilitarian ideas largely shaped the new poor relief system in Britain. Similar steps were later followed in elementary education reform. Together with the establishment of the national systems of poor relief and elementary education, a large volume of institutional buildings such as workhouses and board schools came into being, and many of them are still affecting our modern life. Based on these examples, this thesis ends with a theoretical discussion of the inadequacy of Utilitarianism as a complete ethical theory. Contrary to the optimism of Bentham and his 19th century followers, Utilitarianism is insufficient to be a practical guidance for everyday life. This inadequacy determines that Utilitarianism cannot provide a firm ethical foundation for architecture.

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<p>The Government of Namibia has been responsible for facilitating the resettlement of destitute and landless people since its independence in 1990. The provision of resettlement is a very contentious issue in Namibia. The bulk of land is still in the hands of minority white communities and foreigners. It is against this background that the study examined the land reform process in Namibia. The objectives of the study was to investigate to what extent the land reform process has been successful in one of Namibia's regions, and what factors are relevant for success, and identify ways to improve the process / to examine the original government objective/policy and how/why it changed over time.</p>

Within the period 1860-1890 changes took place in the public worship of the Church of Scotland. These changes were so revolutionary that many who could recall the Church's form of public worship before 1860 confessed their astonishment at the changes which they had seen. These changes were rapid and extensive, partly because external factors facilitated change. Like most ecclesiastical reforms or revivals, the revival of Church worship in the second half of last century in the Church of Scotland was no sudden growth. There had been much preparing of the soil for a time before the growth began. The initial preparation was done by three Scottish thinkers who wrote primarily on theological, rather than liturgical questions. Yet had they not put forward their teaching, it is difficult to see how the revival of Church worship would have begun when it did, or have developed as it did. These three thinkers were Thomas Erskine of Linlathen, John McLeod Campbell and Edward Irving.

This thesis examines the implementation of mental health reforms in Britain and Italy since the 1950s from a geographical perspective. Both countries have experienced the policies of deinstitutionalisation and community care, yet the timing, methods and outcomes of implementation have varied considerably, both between the countries and within them. This situation suggests that underlying social, political, economic and cultural differences have been important influences on the implementation of the respective mental health reforms, and this is a theme that is considered throughout the thesis. The research was conducted at three levels of enquiry: firstly by comparing the implementation of mental health reforms at the national scale in Britain and Italy, looking in particular at the influence of politics and place; secondly by focusing upon the implementation of the reforms in two cities, for which Sheffield and Verona were selected; thirdly a case study approach was adopted in order to study in greater detail one community-based mental health service in each city. It was at this level of enquiry that the more intensive research was carried out, in the form of two local resident questionnaire surveys, one in each city, and semi-structured interviews with mental health professionals from the two case study services. This research illustrates that the implementation of mental health reforms in Britain and Italy has led to a geographical unevenness in the distribution of community-based services at all spatial scales. However, the social, cultural and political contexts in which the reforms have occurred in the two countries have been quite different and therefore when contemplating direct comparisons between mental health reforms in Britain and Italy, the argument that 'place matters' is highly pertinent.