Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / In 1959 the popular Revolution of national liberation and independence triumphed in Cuba, extended a few years later into a Marxist-Leninist strategy for building socialism and communism on the island. In this radical social and political context, conditions were ripe for a radical alternative approach to secondary school education. This research confirms and extends existing evidence and analyses, showing that the model of secondary schooling established in revolutionary Cuba shared fundamental aspects of dominant models throughout the world. In particular, Cuba’s revolutionary schools are shown to have adopted a similar approach to mass education, as an investment in human capital and citizen formation. In the analysis of this historical phenomenon, a world-systems geocultural approach is used to describe and explain the non-exceptional form and character of Cuba’s secondary schools. The approach synthesises world-system level economic and cultural aspects, within the concept of a world-systems ‘geoculture’ of development, describing how these interrelated influences historically conditioned secondary school education policy and practice in Cuba. This process is traced through the impact of the world-economy, and related world-systems geocultural assumptions and objectives, over the political economy of Cuba’s socialist project, with direct implications for secondary school education. The world-system level conditioning influence on school policy and practice is shown to have been mediated by the particular national conditions, such that features specific to Cuba’s secondary schools are identified within the broad framework and constraints of the world-system level influence. The world-systems geocultural approach provides a viable, historical account of secondary school policy and practice in revolutionary Cuba. General continuity is identified, in accordance with the broad, world-system level influence. The historical analysis demonstrates the need for a world-system level approach, and supports the need to include world economic and cultural factors, under the geocultural framework.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA (DVS) / The South African government has earmarked infrastructure development as a key driver of the economy. The infrastructure sectors of energy, water and transport have received large Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) loans to fund new projects, repairs and maintenance. The DBSA loan approvals to municipalities for the period 2012-2013 was R2.3 billion. Loans to 'under-resourced' municipalities totalled R927 million for the same period. Key infrastructure sectors included electricity (R466 million), roads and drainage (R678 million), community facilities (R735 million) and water and sanitation (R1.2 billion). The DBSA is owned by the South African state and its relationship with municipalities is legislated and regulated through the Constitution and an Act of Parliament. One of the post-apartheid roles of the DBSA is to support the infrastructure development agenda of the State through a complexed network of infrastructure projects in the key infrastructure sectors of water and sanitation, education, housing, health and housing. It does so through project, technical and development finance support to municipalities. The underlying rationale for the relationship between municipalities and the DBSA is to forward the States' agenda of providing equal access to basic services and develop infrastructure to support its social and economic development agenda. While the DBSA does provide infrastructure grants and facilitates intergovernmental transfers to municipalities, it also provides infrastructure loans to municipalities for both capital expenditure and large-scale infrastructure projects. The premise of development banks is to provide development finance for infrastructure projects at low interest. The DBSA specifically as a state-owned bank has an overall agenda to develop the infrastructure of poorer municipalities whose credit-worthiness will not allow it to qualify for commercial loans.

This paper examines corporate responses to the voluntary UN initiative; the Global Compact and the legally binding UN Norms initiative that are attempts, at the urging of the international community, at different types of regulation of corporate activity in international socio-economic settings. This examination is done within the framework of the Modern World-Systems theory and both questions of the paper are therefore grounded in the MWS theory`s possibility to predict and explain the corporations` response to the two initiatives. The two hypotheses used in this paper are corresponding to the questions and they state that the MWS theory can answer the two questions. The paper therefore employs an overreaching congruence method that uses the MWS theory to predict and explain the outcome of the case study and a complementary descriptive argumentation analysis. This is conducted in order to attain the data needed and to elucidate what the differences and similarities are between the two initiatives and what aspect can be attributed most explanatory value to understand the possible differences in attitude by the corporations. The outcome of the case study shows that corporations are more in favor of the Global Compact then they are concerning the UN norms which they opposes vehemently. This difference in reaction is attributed to the latter’s legally binding principle and this is in accord with the logic of the MWS theory which is granted high predictable and explanatory value concerning the corporations` response to the Global Compact and the UN norms.

No description available.

Suite à l‘éclatement de la bulle des « subprimes » en 2008, le tournant décisif de cette période de crise, toutes les attentions se sont focalisées sur la crise de la « finance mondialisée », masquant d‘autres conséquences de la crise aussi lourdes et perverses que l‘essor du chômage et le resserrement du crédit (Carfantan 2009). Ce travail se consacre ainsi aux autres aspects de la crise tels que vécus à la campagne, en particulier la crise alimentaire et la crise des sociétés paysannes. Le point central de cette recherche porte plus particulièrement sur la montée de « l‘alternative de la souveraineté alimentaire » en réponse à la crise agraire de manière à poser un véritable défi au modèle agroalimentaire du néolibéralisme (Desmarais 2008; Holt-Giménez 2009). La présente recherche étudie donc les déterminants sociopolitiques qui conduisent à l‘édification des politiques de souveraineté alimentaire malgré la pression du régime alimentaire néolibéral. Ce mémoire avance que les politiques de souveraineté alimentaire sont issues de contre-mouvements paysans qui parviennent, en premier lieu, à établir une structure domestique agraire de nature « populaire-démocratique » et « antisystémique », et en second lieu, à transnationaliser cette structure de manière à défier le régime alimentaire néolibéral en crise. En adaptant la théorie intermédiaire de « structures domestiques » à l‘étude critique des structures agraires autour de trois différentes variables (Risse-Kappen 1999), le mémoire soutient que l‘émergence des politiques de souveraineté alimentaire nécessite la décentralisation de la prise de décision et la collectivisation du secteur agricole à travers une transformation agraire radicale et agroécologique (variable de « structure politique »), de même que l‘émergence d‘une structure sociétale agraire robuste construite sur des réseaux politiques consensuels, en présence d‘un État puissant et d‘une société civile agraire mobilisée (variables de « structure sociétale » et de « réseaux politiques »). Au niveau conceptuel, la recherche repose sur la théorie du système-monde, et consiste en une étude comparative modelée sur une étude de cas contrastes; le cas de Cuba, caractérisé par une forte résistance aux défis agroalimentaires du système-monde contemporain, et celui du Mexique, marqué par l‘adoption des politiques alimentaires néolibérales. / Following the bursting of the subprime bubble in 2008, which is considered to be the turning point of this period of crisis, much attention has been focused on the global economic meltdown, masking the other consequences of the crisis which are as heavy and perverse as the rise of unemployment and the credit crunch (Carfantan 2009). This research is dedicated to the study of other aspects of the crisis as it evolves in the countryside, mostly dealing with the socio-political consequences of the global food crisis and the crisis of peasant societies. The focal point of this study concerns in particular the rise of the "food sovereignty alternative" which mounts a serious challenge to the dominant agri-food model of neo-liberalism in crisis (Desmarais 2008; Holt-Giménez 2009). Therefore, the present study seeks to reveal the socio-political determinants leading to the establishment of food sovereignty policies despite the pressure of the neo-liberal food regime. This thesis maintains that food sovereignty policies originate from peasant counter-movements which engender, in the first place, the establishment of a new agrarian domestic structure of "popular-democratic" and "antisystemic" nature, and secondly, the transnationalization of this structure so as to challenge the neo-liberal food regime in crisis. By adapting the intermediary theory of "domestic structures" to the critical study of agrarian structures on the basis three different variables (Risse-Kappen 1999), the thesis argues that the emergence of food sovereignty policies requires the decentralization of the decision-making and the collectivization of the agricultural sector through a radical and agro-ecological agrarian transformation (the "political structure" variable), as well as the emergence of a potent agrarian societal structure which is built on consensual political networks, in presence of a strong state and a mobilized agrarian civil society (the "societal structure" and "policy networks" variables). At the conceptual level, the research draws on the world-systems theory, and consists of a comparative study modeled on a contrasted case study approach which includes the case of Cuba, characterized by a strong resistance to challenges posed by the neo-liberal food regime, and Mexico, marked by the adoption of neo-liberal food policies.

Suite à l‘éclatement de la bulle des « subprimes » en 2008, le tournant décisif de cette période de crise, toutes les attentions se sont focalisées sur la crise de la « finance mondialisée », masquant d‘autres conséquences de la crise aussi lourdes et perverses que l‘essor du chômage et le resserrement du crédit (Carfantan 2009). Ce travail se consacre ainsi aux autres aspects de la crise tels que vécus à la campagne, en particulier la crise alimentaire et la crise des sociétés paysannes. Le point central de cette recherche porte plus particulièrement sur la montée de « l‘alternative de la souveraineté alimentaire » en réponse à la crise agraire de manière à poser un véritable défi au modèle agroalimentaire du néolibéralisme (Desmarais 2008; Holt-Giménez 2009). La présente recherche étudie donc les déterminants sociopolitiques qui conduisent à l‘édification des politiques de souveraineté alimentaire malgré la pression du régime alimentaire néolibéral. Ce mémoire avance que les politiques de souveraineté alimentaire sont issues de contre-mouvements paysans qui parviennent, en premier lieu, à établir une structure domestique agraire de nature « populaire-démocratique » et « antisystémique », et en second lieu, à transnationaliser cette structure de manière à défier le régime alimentaire néolibéral en crise. En adaptant la théorie intermédiaire de « structures domestiques » à l‘étude critique des structures agraires autour de trois différentes variables (Risse-Kappen 1999), le mémoire soutient que l‘émergence des politiques de souveraineté alimentaire nécessite la décentralisation de la prise de décision et la collectivisation du secteur agricole à travers une transformation agraire radicale et agroécologique (variable de « structure politique »), de même que l‘émergence d‘une structure sociétale agraire robuste construite sur des réseaux politiques consensuels, en présence d‘un État puissant et d‘une société civile agraire mobilisée (variables de « structure sociétale » et de « réseaux politiques »). Au niveau conceptuel, la recherche repose sur la théorie du système-monde, et consiste en une étude comparative modelée sur une étude de cas contrastes; le cas de Cuba, caractérisé par une forte résistance aux défis agroalimentaires du système-monde contemporain, et celui du Mexique, marqué par l‘adoption des politiques alimentaires néolibérales. / Following the bursting of the subprime bubble in 2008, which is considered to be the turning point of this period of crisis, much attention has been focused on the global economic meltdown, masking the other consequences of the crisis which are as heavy and perverse as the rise of unemployment and the credit crunch (Carfantan 2009). This research is dedicated to the study of other aspects of the crisis as it evolves in the countryside, mostly dealing with the socio-political consequences of the global food crisis and the crisis of peasant societies. The focal point of this study concerns in particular the rise of the "food sovereignty alternative" which mounts a serious challenge to the dominant agri-food model of neo-liberalism in crisis (Desmarais 2008; Holt-Giménez 2009). Therefore, the present study seeks to reveal the socio-political determinants leading to the establishment of food sovereignty policies despite the pressure of the neo-liberal food regime. This thesis maintains that food sovereignty policies originate from peasant counter-movements which engender, in the first place, the establishment of a new agrarian domestic structure of "popular-democratic" and "antisystemic" nature, and secondly, the transnationalization of this structure so as to challenge the neo-liberal food regime in crisis. By adapting the intermediary theory of "domestic structures" to the critical study of agrarian structures on the basis three different variables (Risse-Kappen 1999), the thesis argues that the emergence of food sovereignty policies requires the decentralization of the decision-making and the collectivization of the agricultural sector through a radical and agro-ecological agrarian transformation (the "political structure" variable), as well as the emergence of a potent agrarian societal structure which is built on consensual political networks, in presence of a strong state and a mobilized agrarian civil society (the "societal structure" and "policy networks" variables). At the conceptual level, the research draws on the world-systems theory, and consists of a comparative study modeled on a contrasted case study approach which includes the case of Cuba, characterized by a strong resistance to challenges posed by the neo-liberal food regime, and Mexico, marked by the adoption of neo-liberal food policies.

O presente trabalho investiga a influência do sistema internacional e de seus principais componentes no processo de construção e desconstrução da República Federativa Socialista da Iugoslávia. A partir da consideração dos conceitos de Charles Tilly sobre guerra e dominação, busca-se trazer a política e as relações internacionais para o centro da discussão sobre a questão iugoslava, a qual é comumente tratada apenas na perspectiva étnica. Assim, os principais fatos da trajetória iugoslava são pincelados à luz das estratégias político-econômicas dos grandes poderes mundiais em relação ao território balcânico. Para isso, analisa-se a criação e a dissolução da Iugoslávia pela ótica da teoria dos sistemas-mundo de Immanuel Wallerstein, para mostrar que a posição que este país ocupou no sistema mundial contemporâneo foi determinada pelos interesses estratégicos das grandes potências, que exerceram a dominação da região em termos políticos e econômicos. O propósito é mostrar que os principais pólos de poder do sistema-mundo da época incentivaram a criação do Estado iugoslavo em razão de interesses específicos, e instrumentalizaram o conflito étnico quando estes interesses já não mais existiam, com o fim da Guerra Fria e a queda do comunismo. / This study investigates the influence of the international system and its major components in the construction and dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Considering Charles Tilly’s concepts on war and domination, we try to bring politics and international relations to the center of the discussion on Yugoslavia, which is often treated solely from the ethnicity perspective. Thus, the main facts of Yugoslav history are brushed in light of the political-economic strategies of the great powers over the Balkans. We analyze the creation and dissolution of Yugoslavia from the perspective of Immanuel Wallerstein's worldsystems theory, in order to show that the position occupied by this country in the contemporary world system was determined by strategic interests of great powers which have dominated the region politically and economically. The purpose is to show that the major powers encouraged the establishment of the Yugoslav state due to their interests, and when these interests no longer existed, they instrumentalized the ethnic conflict in the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism.

O presente trabalho investiga a influência do sistema internacional e de seus principais componentes no processo de construção e desconstrução da República Federativa Socialista da Iugoslávia. A partir da consideração dos conceitos de Charles Tilly sobre guerra e dominação, busca-se trazer a política e as relações internacionais para o centro da discussão sobre a questão iugoslava, a qual é comumente tratada apenas na perspectiva étnica. Assim, os principais fatos da trajetória iugoslava são pincelados à luz das estratégias político-econômicas dos grandes poderes mundiais em relação ao território balcânico. Para isso, analisa-se a criação e a dissolução da Iugoslávia pela ótica da teoria dos sistemas-mundo de Immanuel Wallerstein, para mostrar que a posição que este país ocupou no sistema mundial contemporâneo foi determinada pelos interesses estratégicos das grandes potências, que exerceram a dominação da região em termos políticos e econômicos. O propósito é mostrar que os principais pólos de poder do sistema-mundo da época incentivaram a criação do Estado iugoslavo em razão de interesses específicos, e instrumentalizaram o conflito étnico quando estes interesses já não mais existiam, com o fim da Guerra Fria e a queda do comunismo. / This study investigates the influence of the international system and its major components in the construction and dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Considering Charles Tilly’s concepts on war and domination, we try to bring politics and international relations to the center of the discussion on Yugoslavia, which is often treated solely from the ethnicity perspective. Thus, the main facts of Yugoslav history are brushed in light of the political-economic strategies of the great powers over the Balkans. We analyze the creation and dissolution of Yugoslavia from the perspective of Immanuel Wallerstein's worldsystems theory, in order to show that the position occupied by this country in the contemporary world system was determined by strategic interests of great powers which have dominated the region politically and economically. The purpose is to show that the major powers encouraged the establishment of the Yugoslav state due to their interests, and when these interests no longer existed, they instrumentalized the ethnic conflict in the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism.

O presente trabalho investiga a influência do sistema internacional e de seus principais componentes no processo de construção e desconstrução da República Federativa Socialista da Iugoslávia. A partir da consideração dos conceitos de Charles Tilly sobre guerra e dominação, busca-se trazer a política e as relações internacionais para o centro da discussão sobre a questão iugoslava, a qual é comumente tratada apenas na perspectiva étnica. Assim, os principais fatos da trajetória iugoslava são pincelados à luz das estratégias político-econômicas dos grandes poderes mundiais em relação ao território balcânico. Para isso, analisa-se a criação e a dissolução da Iugoslávia pela ótica da teoria dos sistemas-mundo de Immanuel Wallerstein, para mostrar que a posição que este país ocupou no sistema mundial contemporâneo foi determinada pelos interesses estratégicos das grandes potências, que exerceram a dominação da região em termos políticos e econômicos. O propósito é mostrar que os principais pólos de poder do sistema-mundo da época incentivaram a criação do Estado iugoslavo em razão de interesses específicos, e instrumentalizaram o conflito étnico quando estes interesses já não mais existiam, com o fim da Guerra Fria e a queda do comunismo. / This study investigates the influence of the international system and its major components in the construction and dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Considering Charles Tilly’s concepts on war and domination, we try to bring politics and international relations to the center of the discussion on Yugoslavia, which is often treated solely from the ethnicity perspective. Thus, the main facts of Yugoslav history are brushed in light of the political-economic strategies of the great powers over the Balkans. We analyze the creation and dissolution of Yugoslavia from the perspective of Immanuel Wallerstein's worldsystems theory, in order to show that the position occupied by this country in the contemporary world system was determined by strategic interests of great powers which have dominated the region politically and economically. The purpose is to show that the major powers encouraged the establishment of the Yugoslav state due to their interests, and when these interests no longer existed, they instrumentalized the ethnic conflict in the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism.

The berry industry is one of many migration corridors where migrant workers work under precarious forms of employment. The essay’s purpose is to examine different perspectives on the living and working conditions in the Swedish berry picking industry. This will be studied qualitatively, with oral history as the primary research method, by analysing inspection reports and through interviews with six informants. The informants consist of workers from The Swedish Municipal Workers' Union (Kommunal), a berry picker and a berry principal. Previous research on this topic is sparse and few have used historical and sociological perspectives to explain the phenomenon. The Thai berry pickers’ living conditions varies. Some municipalities need to execute inspections far more frequent, for the inspections to become an important mechanism of control which can exert pressure. Kommunal has since 2009 had the right to represent the Thai berry pickers and the working conditions have improved ever since. Through the collective agreement the workers are given the right to minimum-wage in addition to the piece rate. Kommunal plays an important role but are limited as few berry pickers are members of the labour union. The working hours is one area of concern where Kommunal has difficulties to act. The piece rate has given rise to intense work and the berry pickers therefore want to maximize their profits. The berry picking principals, in the competitive industry, varies in terms of seriousness but can change the industry. This responsibility has not always been adopted. / Bärindustrin är en av många migrationskorridorer, där migrantarbetare arbetar under prekära anställningsformer. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka ett flertal perspektiv på boende- och arbetsförhållandena inom den kommersiella bärplockningen i Sverige. Detta studeras kvalitativt, med muntlig historia som huvudsaklig undersökningsmetod, genom att analysera opublicerade inspektionsrapporter samt förhållningssätt till företeelsen genom intervjuer med sex relevanta informanter. Informanterna består av anställda på Svenska Kommunalarbetareförbundet (Kommunal), en bärplockare och en bärföretagare. Forskningsläget om den kommersiella bärplockningen är begränsat och få har anlagt historiska och sociologiska perspektiv för att förklara fenomenet. De thailändska bärplockarnas boendeförhållanden varierar. Vissa kommuner behöver utföra mer frekventa inspektioner för att inspektionerna ska kunna utgöra en viktig kontrollmekanism i form av ett påtryckningsmedel.  Sedan 2009 har Kommunal haft organisationsrätt att företräda de thailändska bärplockarna och därefter har arbetsförhållandena förbättrats. Genom kollektivavtalet har alla thailändska bärplockare rätt till lagstadgad grundlön, utöver ackordslönen. Kommunal har ett viktigt ansvar men är begränsade då organiseringsgraden är låg. Arbetstiderna är ett problemområde där Kommunal har svårt att agera. Ackordslönen ger upphov till intensivt arbete och bärplockarna vill därför maximera sina inkomster. Bärföretagen i den konkurrerande branschen varierar i seriöshet men har möjligheter att påverka arbetsförhållandena. Detta medför ett ansvar som inte alltid har antagits.