Historians of industrial financing have often adopted a single-firm or single issue approach, emphasising prominent companies that have bequeathed documentary riches on which detailed studies can be based. However, historians concede that such firms were untypical, as most businesses disappeared leaving liftle trace. Even so, all too little consideration has been given to the source material that is available, especially to assess the ability of partnerships to generate company finance, whilst aspects of the demand for capital that arose from urbanisation and transport development also remains under-researched. Concentrating on textile Lancashire, this thesis researches lesser-known entrepreneurs between 1770 and 1850 from little-used primary material, studying partnerships as important suppliers of capital. This original approach demonstrates the growing importance of partnerships, particularly amongst non-family firms, exploring the sources of funding they tapped, and comparing share allocations they made. Consideration is also given to investments partnerships made in establishing related enterprises and how they coped with capital withdrawal on a partner's retirement. Investment in Lancashire's infrastructure is analysed partly in relation to the construction and improvement of turnpike roads, matters of considerable importance to manufacturers in transporting products and raw materials and which required high levels of financing. It examines the levels of finance needed for improvements, the sources from which it was drawn, and the role of businessmen in financial management of turnpike trusts. Infrastructural development is also addressed in relation to the construction of the numerous handloom weavers' cottages that were built by terminating building societies. Identifying the membership of these societies reveals that they were not self-help schemes for artisans, but rather that they offered opportunities for those with surplus income to invest in tenanted properties at a time when the skills of the handloom weaver were at a premium. This provision was vital to Lancashire's burgeoning economy, and offered subscribers an additional source of income. In drawing together the threads of the discussion, new insights are presented to show that the kinds of associations open to them provided a range of investment opportunities for people at different levels of society, who can all be regarded as members of Lancashire's investing classes.

The aim of this thesis is to explain the reasons why some residential areas have substantially more vandalism than others. Various theories are critically examined in the first three chapters in relation to their applicability in explaining spatial patterning of crime and delinquency. A new town, which had visibly highly different levels of vandalism on different housing estates, was chosen for study. Secondary data, commissioned by the Skelmersdale Development Corporation, was analysed to see if the vandalised and non-vandalised areas had other distinquishing characteristics - demographically and socio-economically. Six main hypotheses were constructed for testing in Skelmersdale. A random stratified sample of householders were interviewed regarding their attitudes towards victimisation and tolerance of crime and delinquency. Householders were interviewed on both "problem" and "non-problem" housing estates. The Data was then analysed by using the SPSSx computer package. The main conclusion is that it is necessary to adopt a holistic approach to more fully understand the complex processes which produce "problem" and "non-problem" residential areas. This means viewing the phenomena of vandalism by looking at the delinquents, the housing market, macro economics and social and cultural structures. In explaining vandalism no one theory, such as defensible space, will do. We need to take into account a multitude of factors - such as the relative desirability of housing areas, tenants self selection processes, housing allocation processes, conduct norms, informal social control mechanisms, the existence of empty houses and the opportunity to commit vandalism etc. All these will have different degrees of importance in different housing areas. The reasons for vandalism will be relative to the place where it is committed.

The research is informed by the post-modernist theoretical framework. This framework is chosen because of its dynamic and eclectic epistemology which allows the study to identify the experiences of a group of African Caribbean people within the British education system. It also explores the patterns of experiences among three African Caribbean generations in Preston. The study seeks to explain the relative success of minority African Caribbean people in the education system. Data was gathered from questionnaire, interviews along with ethnographic observations from local secondary school and participation in seminars and conferences. The tools used to analyse the data employs the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) is used to analyse the survey data while Nvivo is used to analyse the interviews conducted. Both packages yielded significant results. The research concludes that while racism remains a widespread educational experience among the three generations of African Caribbean people studied, a great disparity of achievement also exists at different levels of educational success. While the second generation tops the success rates of educational attainment, the third generation fared abysmally. The research found that the length of African Caribbean peoples' stay in Britain does not correlate with their educational success. There is a social stratum within the African Caribbean community which mimics the host society; those from the middle class families tend to account for the largest rate of educational success in the English education system. The research also concludes that whilst living in semi urban environments does not guarantee educational success, in comparison it is even far worse for African Caribbean people living in deprived inner city council estates to achieve success in the educational system. The research proposes significant recommendations for policy makers, Local Education Authorities, schools, teachers, and the African Caribbean community especially parents to work together to promote educational success among African Caribbean people.

Understanding community dynamics has always been a challenge for policy-makers. Often community policy has been ineffective and wasteful. This research explores and sets out an alternative, complexity-informed approach to community studies. The research develops an innovative, two-stage interview methodology informed by complexity considerations. This methodology is applied to two case studies of community-based organisations in Newcastle upon Tyne. The two case studies allow a comparative assessment of the complexity-informed methodology. In this way, the research uses a complexity-informed approach to produce a holistic and realistic view of the community being examined. By analysing the contribution of those present the research is able to capture information that is relevant and that may be used to bring about change. Complexity-informed approaches are thus shown to be open, flexible, insightful, confidence-building and engaging, when considering people living and working in communities. The research finds complexity considerations to show that, to be effective, public policy needs to offer choices to local people as to how they want to interpret local government policy in their area. This requires more than evidence gathering and assessment of the evidence gathered. It requires the active involvement of the community. Complexity factors such as interaction and emergence are used to identify important relationships and to assess social, economic and environmental changes from the community point of view. These are considered in the context in which they occur and for as long as the situation applies. A complexity-informed approach is shown to open the way for community interventions based on community views and needs. In doing this complexity is able to support genuine decision-making and action by communities for communities. Through discussion and reflection, the thesis finds this to be a suitable basis for public policy formation.

This thesis presents an investigation of the community empowerment of a selection of key villagers and the SDAO (Sub-District Administrative Organisation) committee members in the Loei Province, Thailand. The research identifies an understanding of community empowerment through an exploration of the lived experiences and perceptions of the community people themselves, at the grassroots level. These are challenging times for development in Thailand. Particularly at the micro level, community empowerment is central to community development, but its concepts remain elusive. This study is an attempt to clarify developmental features within the community. A qualitative approach with multi methods was adopted in order to allow the key people to express their understandings and experiences in relation to the concepts of community empowerment, and to identify approaches that are effective in strengthening the community. Six focus group discussions were employed in six villages. Twenty five key villagers and SDAO members were interviewed and invited to participate in the workshop held to facilitate further discussion of their lived experiences. Both non-participant and participant observations were also employed within the natural settings of the six villages and the SDAO meetings in order to depict the context of the community. This provided a rich source of data illustrating community empowerment which has never before been undertaken in rural Thailand. The findings revealed that empowerment can occur at both individual and social levels. Mental strength, alongside self-reliance and self —sufficiency, as well as the peacefulness within the community are found to generate community empowerment. This was discovered to be strongly interconnected to the significant community contexts in rural Thai culture, particularly the development of community leadership, participation, learning and local government. The approaches of retaining a sense of community, generating participatory groups, enhancing culture and learning as well as building up citizenship, can be effective in promoting community empowerment in the future. Community empowerment is effectively generated within the community from the potential of its members who consistently contribute to community life. The people's being in, and contribution to, the community provides a source of dynamism as well as establishing its firm structure. This is indicative of community empowerment. This thesis makes a significant contribution to the discussion on how community development benefits from empowerment to sustain itself, via the potential of people, and to promote community strengths through its ways of life.

This thesis is an immanent critique of the African human rights system. It, therefore, examines the practice of human rights as set by the African people as opposed to purely external transcendental forms of critique. This is carried out by studying the theory of the African regional human rights system as presented in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights 1986, and then evaluating the practice to determine its consistency with the theory of rights contained in the Charter. Evaluation of the practice is achieved through necessary references to State Reports, Concluding Observations, NGO statements and rapporteur reports. Further assessments on the consistency between the theory and practice of such rights take into consideration the practicality of the normative standards as well as the challenges of implementation. As an immanent critique, the research evaluates identified discrepancies and tensions between theory and practice with the aim of ideally resolving these through proposed policy and other reforms. The originality of the research is hinged on the adopted approach which affords a holistic assessment of the African human rights system. This translates into concrete findings on the actual practice of the Charter and informed reform proposals based upon a thorough critical evaluation of these findings. The research, therefore, makes a case for an assessment of human rights in Africa based on the continent’s internal standards as represented by the African Charter. It is shown, through this approach, that there are a number of discrepancies between theory and practice such that the regional system often, wholly or partially, fails in its implementation of human rights even when its actions are assessed by distinctly African standards. It is argued that these theory/practice discrepancies are occasioned by three convergent challenges namely the lack of adequate cooperation from member states, practical socio-economic and cultural challenges, and institutional ineffectiveness. The research argues that, unless these challenges are adequately addressed, the practice of human rights in the continent will continue to fall short of the expectations generated by the African Charter.

This thesis explores the relationship between a global industrial actor and its regional host, and what that can tell us about neoliberalism and globalisation. The relationship between the nuclear industry, in particular the Sellafield site, and the West Cumbrian region where it is located is the specific focus for the data collection and analysis. West Cumbria is an isolated region in the very north-west corner of England. West Cumbria was the site of the UK’s first nuclear reactors. Over seven decades, as other industries have declined, West Cumbria has become home to, and economically dependent on, one of the largest and most complex nuclear sites in the world. The core concepts employed to analyse this relationship are power and scale. In particular, this thesis analyses how power is rescaled in the context of state restructuring and the wider changes associated with globalisation. To be able to analyse power it was necessary to develop an applied understanding of the concept. This is informed by a diverse literature, and takes an implicitly geographical and relational understanding of the exercise of power in its diverse forms, bases and uses. Firstly, policy documentation is analysed to understand the impact of the changes to the governance and management of the UK’s oldest and most hazardous nuclear sites. Secondly, survey and focus group data is analysed which focusses on the position of the nuclear industry in the local economy and specific changes made as a result of the part-privatisation of the industry in 2008. Finally, an analysis of economic development plans which aim to grow West Cumbria’s economy, and demonstrate an increasing priority being given to new nuclear developments. Finally, these three areas are brought together to explore how power is rescaled, its implications and the wider relevance of the thesis to other locations and policy areas.

The traditional form of the Arab house was dictated by both its climate and the culture of its inhabitants. Islamic values, as well as socio-economic factors, have played critical roles in ordering and forming the built environment. However, the mid-1950s marked the beginning of Saudi Arabia's first rapid economic growth as a result of the discovery of oil, which dramatically increased the wealth and prosperity of the population, resulting in a new lifestyle. This period witnessed the introduction of the grid layout street pattern and the detached villa house type constructed in reinforced concrete, with large windows and balconies. This is still the prevalent style in Saudi Arabia and the central province in particular. While the traditional courtyard house created its own privacy and microclimate, this contemporary type is a solid building with a narrow open space between it and the next house. The initial investigation for this research revealed that the villa style creates fundamental problems for Saudi families, especially in terms of lack of privacy; and the air-conditioning has negative implications for the climate. The theoretical framework investigates the principles of cultures that are associated with the home, in order to clarify its concept and fundamental principles; illustrate the influence of culture on house form; and finally, demonstrate the nature of both the courtyard and villa house types. The methodology uses a survey strategy with questionnaires, interviews and building analysis. This study aims to highlight the need for a specific contemporary home style where both the treatment of place and the house design meet all the needs of Saudi households. The output of this research will be some guidance for house design that could satisfy 21st century aspirations, yet still respect Islamic culture and traditional values.

The present study is an investigation of the relationship between male value systems and male interpersonal conflict, with particular emphasis upon inter-personal violence. The study adopts a naturalistic methodology (Archer 1995) and draws on concepts drawn from a range of disciplines that are integrated using an evolutionary analysis (Daly and Wilson 1988, Archer 1996). The triangulation of methods comprising case studies (study 1), questionnaires (studies 3 and 4) and ethnography (study 2), form the basis for a descriptive phase of research (Archer 1989) that enabled specific hypotheses to be formulated and tested using experimental methods (studies 5 and 6). The research findings from the questionnaires and ethnographic observations suggested that male values may constitute important determinants of male aggression reflected, for instance, in the utility of physical aggression to acquire and defend status and to confirm a masculine identity. The case studies demonstrated that male value systems provide insights into the causation of extreme acts of violence. The Fight Self Report (study 3) highlighted features of fights and that they were more likely to occur in or around pubs and night-dubs, the provocations that were most likely to lead to aggressive ads and how males are expected to behave in conflict situations. The ethnographic observations (study 2) provided insights into how males interpret information about potential opponents' perceived threats and challenges and how age, social support and alcohol consumption influence aggressive responses. The observations also generated data that indicates that inter-male conversations may have ritual elements and may be used to maintain and acquire status. The Masculinity Questionnaire (study 4) provided further insight into the type of provocation that may lead to physical aggression and attitudes to how certain provocations should be responded to. The hypothesis testing stage of the project (studies 5 and 6) used questionnaires to manipulate Resource Holding Potential (RHP) and Provocation and to measure their influence on escalation of aggression. The study 5A demonstrated that young men are much less likely to indicate that they would respond to an insult with physical aggression if their opponent was bigger than them, had more potential allies and had a reputation for being successful in the use of physical aggression, which represented high RHP. Conversely young men were much more likely to use physical aggression against an opponent of low or medium RHP. The Provocation Study (study 5B) demonstrated that incidents involving insults to a sexual partner were the most likely situation to provoke a young man into using physical aggression. The final method used in the project, the Human Conflict Questionnaire (study 6), also manipulated RHP and Provocation and used measured variables that included not only physical aggression (as in study 5) but also a range of immediate and post-incident behavioural and cognitive responses. Principal Components Analyses identified three sub-scales, Direct Aggression, Non-Provocation Behaviour and Negative Impact (post-event negative emotional responses). Scales derived from these factors were used as DVs in an ANOVA The analyses. indicated that a challenge from an opponent of higher RHP than oneself is likely to reduce the chance of reacting with physical aggression but to increase non-aggressive responses Including subsequent negative cognitive reactions. Conversely high provocation from opponents of lower RHP than oneself are more likely to lead to physical aggression, and less likely to lead to nonaggressive responses, and to subsequent negative emotions. The findings of the various methods are interpreted using evolutionary concepts and a case is made for the existence of evaluative mechanisms in males that are used to assess RHP in other males and which may make males sensitive to status interactions with other men.

This thesis performs a review of both geographical and social literature to examine the uneven geographies of family migration in Great Britain (GB). Using 2001 GB Census data, the thesis explores the inter-connections between diverse patterns of migration, family structures, and other demographic characteristics via the construction of a Migrant family Index (MFI). Four types of ‘migrant-family locations’ are identified at the Local Authority District (LAD) level; ‘conventional’, ‘increasing onventionality’, ‘increasing non-conventionality’, and ‘non-conventional’. These ‘migrant-family locations’ are underpinned by specific processes of family migration, and the reproduction and/or transformation of dominant place-specific conventional and non-conventional family structures. This distinction is consolidated by empirical findings from a large-scale survey of 400 recent migrant households in four case study locations in South-east England; Wealden, Crawley, Lewes, and Brighton. Recent migrants were identified in a novel way using a web-based register of recent residential property transactions.