The thesis investigates the processes of the formation and functioning of Water Users Associations (WUAs) which have been implemented under the policy of Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) in Maharashtra, Western India. The thesis explores (1) how social and economic hierarchies shape the process of participation in WUAs; (2) the roles played by the State and Non-Governmental Organisations in the process of participatory development; (3) the ways in which processes of neo-liberalisation have influenced water reforms in a developing country like India. The study draws on different critiques of neo-liberalism, and it explores theories of participation to provide a holistic understanding of PIM (Participatory Irrigation Management) reforms carried out in Maharashtra. The study uses a qualitative approach, based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out over twelve months at two Water Users Associations in a village in the Nashik district of Maharashtra. The study finds that processes of participation are complex, and characterized by the vested interests of the different actors involved in the process of the formation and functioning of WUAs in the village. The WUAs have been able to provide water to many farmers in the area. However, the policy has been unable to achieve much success in terms of resolving conflicts among farmers and enhancing the participation of small landholding and marginalized farmers in the WUAs. I found that the process of neo-liberalisation does not challenge or reform traditional institutions such as caste and gender, but rather that it uses them to entrench market reforms. The implementation of WUAs' policy in the wider neo-liberal context has increased the powers of the State and NGO intervention in the formulation and implementation of WUAs policy. Processes of WUAs' formation and functioning are significant examples of the ways in which neo-liberalisation is taking shape in India, including the commodification of water, and thereby, the reproduction of existing hierarchies and power imbalances. The study contributes towards developing an understanding of the wider processes of neo-liberal governance in the water sector.

No description available.

This thesis examines local people's voices and influence in negotiations over large-scale land deals. Drawing on ethnographic work on a case study from southern Madagascar, it highlights the variety of agropastoralists' responses to, and experienced outcomes of, the implementation of an agribusiness project on their land. The purpose of this research was to understand the conditions under which certain local people get heard, and others silenced, in the context of corporate land access and the processes by which some of these local voices manage to influence the terms and conditions of the deal. It looked at how horizontal and vertical power dynamics interface with situated moral economies and contentious politics to inform variations in local people's perspectives over, engagement with and experienced outcomes of the land deal. I argue that local voices and opportunities for influence in the context of land transactions in Madagascar are constructed at the intersection of national and village politics. I draw attention to the practices and discourses through which local state officials produce ‘powers of exclusion' and ‘powers of compliance' in their mediation of land deals. I show that, in socially-differentiated local populations, formal compliance with dispossession reflects processes of different natures: “compliance as acquiescence” for some, but also “constrained hope”, and potential challenging of local structures of domination or “compliance as resistance” for others. I explore the moral economies that underpin perspectives on corporate land access as well as choices to express, or suppress, subversive voices and observe a resistance, across social divides, to the “demoralising of land deals”. I show how the vulnerability of state authorities to social movements combined with competition for the resources of patronage and of authority associated with the control of corporate land access open interstices for influence. In a context of institutional bias however, only those who manage to activate key alliances with state officials and to unify village voices beyond inter and intra-class differences stand a chance of being heard.

This is an investigative action research study on ways of improving the reading comprehension skills of Arabic medical school students. The study first analysed the difficulties of teaching and learning English and reading in English in a Saudi university medical college. An intervention was planned and implemented based on Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR –Klingner and Vaughn, 1996). This involved using group work to teach explicitly a set of reading strategies to a class of students who had failed their first year examinations. The process and outcomes of this intervention were analysed through mainly qualitative research methods including: semi-structured interviews which were audio taped to explore students' reading habits, field notes and video and audio taped observations to examine students' interactions while reading, the results of the reading comprehension test taken at the end of the course, and a questionnaire of students' perceptions completed after implementing collaborative strategic reading. The results of the first action research cycle suggested that CSR had enabled these students to improve their reading comprehension considerably. However, the analysis also revealed some issues about the group work on which this was based, suggesting that improved interaction in groups might enable students to make better use of the CSR strategies. A second cycle of action research, this time with a different class of first year students, was therefore enacted including group work training using the idea of exploratory talk (Mercer 2000) alongside CSR to help students to think more critically and constructively. Analyses revealed significant findings. First, CSR had a positive improvement on students' learning by boosting their learning strategies. Second, students were able to build on the structure of CSR and gained other collaborative skills. Third, students reported positive feedback about CSR and its strategies and changed their views about group work and its efficacy in the classroom. Moreover, when CSR was combined with exploratory talk the group work became more critical and productive. However, analysis of data from group work transcripts suggested that Mercer's typology, developed with British children, may not be so useful for Arabian students working with English as a foreign language. The sociolinguistic context means that a different typology is required and the thesis suggests one appropriate to Saudi students who are studying English for a specific academic and professional purpose. The findings offer a framework for developing reading comprehension through group work and combining it with exploratory talk. The thesis has implications for those in similar contexts to the research site and makes some practical recommendations. It also raises questions about conducting action research in this context and engages with micro and macro political issues related to the purpose of teaching and learning English in the college and how they limit teaching and learning practices.

This thesis examines how constitutional reforms relating to the right to water in Bolivia have affected water provision in peri-urban Cochabamba. This multi-sited ethnography explores how the right to water has framed reforms to the Bolivian water sector, how and why the right to water has been contested in Bolivia, the impact of reforms to the water sector on peri-urban water committees and emerging challenges and opportunities for sustainable water provision in peri-urban Bolivia. It demonstrates that despite the high profile role played by Bolivia in advancing the right to water at the international and national level, in practice the right to water continues to be a fairly nebulous concept. There is a disconnect between Bolivia's international stance on the human right to water and national reforms around the right to water. This thesis contends that the right to water is a banner under which the water sector has been reformed since the election of Evo Morales in 2006. Even though the constitution states that everyone has the right to water, in practice water often continues to be provided through community providers such as drinking water committees (DWCs), largely due to the failure of municipal water provision. Reforms and policy have focussed on (re)nationalising the sector and establishing new institutions to regulate and develop diverse water providers such as peri-urban DWCs. Through detailed ethnographic examination of peri-urban Cochabamba, the thesis demonstrates that activists and community-water providers in rural and peri-urban areas have contested reforms linked to the right to water. They have contended that reforms have the potential to undermine community water systems, and furthermore, that the state has failed to guarantee basic human rights and service provision. To date, the state and non-state initiatives to enhance the sustainability of DWCs have focussed on certain elements of sustainability, specifically protecting the aquifer and enhancing institutional sustainability of DWCs. By drawing on the experience and development of one DWC, this thesis also explores further elements that present challenges and opportunities to enhance sustainable water provision in peri-urban areas, namely building equitable access, and the reconciling of local power relations.

Kinet H&ouml / y&uuml / k with its 3.3 ha size, is multi-period site located on the iskenderun Gulf of Eastern Cilicia. The research subject is: Middle ronze II (1800-1600 .C) burnt uilding complex located in the east terrace of the mound. The part of the building that has been exposed is representing the general characteristics of Levantine style monumental architecture of MBII with its 50 m exposure. The primary goal of the thesis is to understand the function of this specific building in its local context and to compare the building with similar building in Anatolia, Syria and the Levant to see the cultural interaction that is visible in the architectural evidence. Thje widely accepted conventions for the mound size and the settlement activity patterns are re-examined in the final chapter on the basis of the contradictory relationship between the size of the settlement and the monumental architecture at Kinet H&ouml / y&uuml / k.

Explored in this study were the patterns of direct sunlight received by differentlyoriented patient rooms in healthcare facilities. Desktop Radiance 1.02&reg / software was used to simulate conditions in a typical double patient room. The area and locations of sunlight patches on room surfaces were considered as analog indicators for the investigation. The setting was defined as Ankara, Turkey. Seven orientations and 3 positions of standard-size window openings were studied in different combinations at solstices and equinoxes, from sunrise to sunset on an hourly basis for comparison. Data compiled were statistically analyzed and results for various combinations of orientation and opening position recorded. All these showed that there was no difference in the total amount of direct sunlight received between rooms with different orientations but there was, with different opening positions. Orientation created a difference in the amount of direct sunlight when the room surfaces were studied separately. Rooms with right and left-shifted openings received direct sunlight mostly on walls while those with centered openings received direct sunlight mostly on floor surfaces. Results suggested there were sufficient grounds for further investigation focusing on decisions related to the design of patient rooms, such as layout (e.g., the location of beds) and to choice of surfacing materials, colors and textures.

This study is an evaluation of the function and the meaning of parliamentary spaces of the Turkish Republic, focusing on the parliamentary complex of the Turkish Grand National Assembly in the capital city of Ankara. Parliament buildings are symbols of the nation and the nation state, representing the national identity via expressional aspects of their functional space. The issue is of national prestige, security and power that remain in effect albeit adapting to changing situations in time. This study attempts to contribute to a better understanding of the spatial, stylistic as well as the urban characteristics of parliamentary spaces in Turkey by examining the earlier experiences in late Ottoman and early Republican periods, and by not only analyzing the establishment of the complex as designed by Holzmeister in the late 1930s, but also evaluating its enlargement as affected by the changing exigencies in contemporary political agendas after the Assembly had started to use the complex in the 1960s until today. The study examines the formation and the transformation of the Assembly complex in Turkey under the pressure of the highly dynamic political realities of the twentieth century, in order to reflect upon the continuities and discontinuities in functions and meanings of the parliamentary spaces throughout the process.

Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder that is seen more and more in the society and it significantly affects the lives of not only those who have autism but also their families and close ones. There is no known cure for autism, the most effective treatment is education. The choice between the several approaches regarding the education of autistic children is shaped according to education choices, children&rsquo / s age, the severity of symptoms and children&rsquo / s intellectual capabilities. The thesis focuses on the architectural design of special education schools among other education opportunities. The aim is to draw architectural guidelines for the design of a special school for children who are diagnosed with autism and who require special education support. These architectural guidelines are hoped to aid architects who will work with similar architectural programs in the future. The study concludes with an appraisal of the design of Private ilgi Special Education School, realized by the author of this thesis and architect Kadri AtabaS. In the light of information gathered during the study, the preliminary design is evaluated. Suggestions are offered concerning the architectural design, in the subjects of program elements, natural lighting, layout of education and circulation spaces, acoustics and color scheme.

The aim of this study is to examine the technology of the relatively deteriorated historic tile, brick and mortar samples of Sivas G&ouml / k Medrese and Tokat G&ouml / k Medrese. Their main deterioration factors were analyzed mainly as salt weathering. It was examined in detail, and the possible desalination methods were discussed. For this purpose, the studies were carried out with a field survey and laboratory experiments on the two sites. Documentation of visual decay forms of Tokat G&ouml / k Medrese were done with AutoCAD. The density and porosities of tile body and mortar samples were determined by using RILEM standards. The pore size distributions of tile and mortar samples were examined by Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry. Modulus of elasticity of tile body and mortar samples was determined and compared with the other Seljuk building materials. Mineralogical compositions of the tile body and glaze, adhesive tile mortars of Sivas G&ouml / kmedrese and Tokat G&ouml / kmedrese were analyzed with X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRD). Their microstructure and chemical compositions were determined by using Scanning Electron Microscope coupled with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). The salts were determined for various methods such as spot tests and XRD analyses. The possible treatment methods of salt crystallization were discussed according to the properties of the examined samples. One of the most essential causes of decay factor was salt crystallization for the two buildings which causes detachment and loss of tiles. The deteriorations were distributed over the upper and lower sides of the wall which were close to the dampness zones from the roof and above ground. The experiments proved different kinds of salts such as thenardite, sylvite, halite, natrite, nitratine and niter coming from the ground and the restoration materials such as cement based mortars. The relative humidity of the environments was compared with that of salt characteristics. It was proved that the tiles were adversely affected from salt crystallization. The best desalination method was discussed. Advection method by using poultices was based on the transformation of ions through the flowing moisture. The most prominent characteristic of the poultices must have smaller pore size distribution than original salty materials. The pore size distributions of the tiles and gypsum mortars were determined to compare and chosen the best poultice from the literature. It was concluded that kaolin-sand-based poultices having known properties was the best one as considering the pore size distribution of the tiles and mortars. The study on material properties and desalination process was expected to help different monuments having salt problem.