Following the end of the Cold War and the ensuing changes to the international landscape, thinking about security has tended to become more discursive and interpretative in nature. What counts as security has increasingly derived from security discourses (that is, 'securitisation') and uncertainty about the multi-faceted future facing various countries and regions. Within this post-Cold War discourse, the Western Mediterranean has emerged as a region fraught with latent and manifest threats in the economic, political, societal and military sectors. Improved access to EU markets for Maghrebi exports; the security of energy supplies to the EU from Algeria and Libya; lack of democracy and the advance of political Islam; the flow of northward migration and worries about law and order in France, Italy and Spain; the growth in military expenditure and weapons proliferation in the Maghreb; all have been central to the securitisation agenda. However, this agenda has often lacked credibility especially when inter-linkages have purportedly been established between economic underdevelopment and political instability, between the advance of political Islam and the threat to energy supplies, or between immigration and the threat to national identity. Such inter-sectoral linkages distract from the credibility of those 'securitisation instances' which correspond to reality; the former linkages have often been exploited by extremist politicians in south-west European countries as well as by regimes in the Maghreb to advance their respective interests. Thus, securitisation may defeat its main purpose; it may generate responses out of keeping with the aims proclaimed at the outset, aims centred on the countering of real threats and the ensuring of greater stability.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University

This study investigates the impact of organisational and technological factors within pre-adoption, implementation, and post-implementation phases of RFID system deployment. In the pre-adoption phase, the study examines factors that drive and hinder organisations’ decision to adopt RFID. In the implementation phase, the study investigates the impact of organisational factors (business size, strength of culture, and business process re-engineering) on influencing the implementation processes of RFID. In the post-implementation phase, the study investigates how the benefits derived from RFID implementation interact with organisational factors (business size, strength of culture, and business process re-engineering) and RFID-related factors (product unit level of tagging, RFID implementation stage, and organisational pedigree in RFID). This study was motivated by the lack of (i) an advisory framework which considers quantifiable firm characteristics and the costs and benefits of implementing RFID, in yielding advice to guide decisions on RFID adoption, and (ii) a framework that covers the complete processes of RFID project deployment (from adoption decision to benefits derived) in yielding advice to guide decisions on RFID adoption. This study is achieved using a two-phase research approach: questionnaire survey of organisations that have adopted or plan to adopt RFID and case studies of organisations that have integrated RFID into their business processes. In addition, a thorough review of existing literature on RFID in different industrial settings was conducted. The key findings from the study indicate that RFID adoption is driven by factors from technological, organisational and environmental contexts and that the adoption, implementation and benefits of RFID are influenced by organisational culture strength, business size, and BPR. It was found that strong cultures, organisational size and BPR are all positively correlated with RFID adoption decisions, implementation and benefits. Potential contribution towards the existing body of knowledge is through highlighting the significance of organisational culture strength, business size, and BPR in providing a platform in which RFID will be accepted and implemented successfully to achieve maximum derivable benefits.

The study explores aspects of teaching and learning Development Studies (social studies) In Lesotho, mainly In lower secondary schools. The current situation of Lesotho and Its education system are briefly described, with an account of the Introduction of Development Studies. The literature on Action Research Is reviewed, together with the work of Sch6n and Argyrls on professional learning, and some themes In research and Innovation In developing countries are discussed. Four Interrelated aspects of the study are described and IIlustrated, together with the research methods used. The core was a collaborative action research project undertaken with 5 Basotho teachers and their classes, In which the teachers selected aspects of their own teaching for Investigation, experimenting with new classroom methods and evaluating their effects. The researcher acted as consultant to the team, whl Ie monitoring and reflecting on the process of consultancy. Concurrently she carried out an observational study of typical teaching-learning processes In 15 other Development Studies classes, and then undertook a sma II action research project Into the teaching of thinking ski IIs. It was found that Development Studies lessons were commonly teacher-centred and didactic, with little pupl I participation and low levels of cognitive ski II. When the teacher-researchers Introduced pupl I-centred, activity-based methods, they found It possible to Increase participation, encourage an open view of knowledge, and make pupl Is more Independent. The level of cognitive skll Is could be raised by deliberate challenge and by Instruction In study skll Is. However, rather than stating firm conclusions, the team has set out a series of propositions for teachers to test further. It Is argued that the process of action research helped the teachers to develop as "reflective practitioners", acquiring Insights Into their own teaching and becoming capable of self-generated growth. Peer support and the various roles played by consultants both appeared Important. It Is concluded that, as wei I as producing practical suggestions for teachers, action research can be a useful and appropriate method of professional development In a developing country, though a supportive Infrastructure Is necessary where the professional ml Ileu Is underdeveloped. The Implications for educational research, teacher education, and INSET are discussed, and recommendations made.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1972. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographic references (leaves 203-207). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

This thesis explores the health and social welfare 'needs' of the transsexual/transgender community and how they have come to be recognised, understood and managed within interventions. It focuses on the way the 'needs' of 'trans' people have commonly come to be understood as grounded within a sexual and erotic framework and how different levels of 'emotional needs' have come to be socially erased, regulated and controlled. A constructionist approach to social enquiry is used, data being generated through focus groups and personal interviews. By taking a particular approach that focuses on the 'trans' experience of 'ambiguity' and 'difference', it considers narrative forms in language and how discourses have served to modulate, regulate and maintain 'needs' within this sexual and erotic context. By focusing on the dominant narrative forms 'trans' people use in language and the 'ambiguities' and 'contradictions' they produce I look at the strategic practices that come into play in language that attempt to transcend and overcome the difficulties they present for 'trans' people. Through a reworking of the 'modes of transgendering stories' developed by Ekins and King (1999; 2001 a; 2001 b) I focus on notions of 'erasing' and 'negating' not as particular modes or processes, but as dialogically opposed communicative actions that actually constitute migrating, oscillating and transcending stories. It is argued that a closer examination of the strategic practices of 'erasing' and 'negating' notions of 'ambiguity' and 'difference' and 'trans' visibility in stories is useful in unearthing a range of 'needs' associated with 'emotional fit', which have yet to be discovered. Using discursive techniques I consider how particular levels of 'needs' that have come to be discursively mediated and recognised by health and social welfare professionals often fall short in supporting some individuals. It therefore argues for the integration of a more gender performative approach to practice and policy development in relation to the provision of health and welfare services for 'trans' people, an approach that recognises and acknowledges the ambiguities, contradictions and differences that exist within the everyday life of trans people.