Suchergebnisse

V magistrskem delu obravnavamo različne politike internacionalizacije visokega šolstva v Sloveniji in na Nizozemskem. Glavni temelj naloge predstavlja analiza in primerjava strateških dokumentov internacionalizacije visokega šolstva obeh izbranih držav. V teoretičnem delu izpostavimo internacionalizacijo v zgodovinski perspektivi. Na kratko opišemo družbenoekonomski kontekst razvoja nizozemskih univerz ter obravnavamo nastanek in razvoj slovenskih in nizozemskih univerz. Osredotočimo se na njihovo poslanstvo ter z njim povezanim položajem jezika v raziskovalni in pedagoški dejavnosti. Opredelimo tudi termin internacionalizacije in navedemo različne definicije. Nato predstavimo oblike internacionalizacije: internacionalizacijo doma, internacionalizacijo kurikuluma ter internacionalizacijo v tujini. V okviru razvoja bolonjskega procesa predstavimo nastanek evropske gospodarske skupnosti, začetke samega procesa ter kritiko njegove neoliberalne zasnove. Raziščemo tudi zelo relevantno temo – transfer izobraževalnih politik. Zaključimo s predstavitvijo jezikovne problematike, to je vedno večja vloga angleščine v pedagoškem in raziskovalnem visokošolskem prostoru ter položaj nacionalnih jezikov. V okviru empiričnega dela najprej ugotavljamo podobnosti in razlike med nacionalnimi politikami internacionalizacije visokega šolstva v Sloveniji in na Nizozemskem ter med politikami na institucionalni ravni – opravimo torej primerjavo Univerze v Ljubljani in Univerze v Amsterdamu. Analiza nacionalnih strateških dokumentov dokazuje, da tako slovensko kot nizozemsko visoko šolstvo sledi podobnim ciljem internacionalizacije. Kot prvo bistveno razliko pa lahko izpostavimo težnjo Nizozemske po povezovanju visokošolskih institucij z gospodarstvom in posledično prevlado gospodarskih motivov za internacionalizacijo. Nasprotno pa internacionalizacijo slovenskega visokega šolstva usmerjajo predvsem politični motivi, saj želi država utrditi prepoznavno podobo nacionalnega visokega šolstva. S tem pa je povezana tudi druga pomembna razlika. V nizozemskih strateških dokumentih je poudarjena namera po konkurenčnosti in prepoznavnosti države na globalni ravni, medtem ko je v slovenskih strateških dokumentih v ospredju potreba po vzpostavitvi regionalne identitete. Nizozemska se torej usmerja v bolj globalno internacionalizacijo, Slovenija pa v regionalno. Državi sta si podobni v tem, da vidita internacionalizacijo kot poglavitni dejavnik pri razvoju svojega visokega šolstva, ki rezultira v izboljšanje njegove kakovosti. Analiza politike internacionalizacije dveh osrednjih univerz v obeh država pokaže, da je zaradi statusa mednarodne in dvojezične univerze Univerze v Amsterdamu internacionalizacija njena ključna značilnost, medtem ko je ljubljanska univerza pri svoji internacionalizaciji dokaj omejena. Zaradi svoje izrazite mednarodne usmerjenosti Univerza v Amsterdamu izvaja pouk v t. i. mednarodni predavalnici. Nizozemska in njene univerze so že – gledano z zgodovinske perspektive – veliko bolj mednarodno odprte. Slednje pa je prispevalo k temu, da Nizozemska spada med najbogatejše države na svetu. Prednost bogatih držav pa niso le zadostna finančna sredstva za implementacijo optimalne internacionalizacije, ampak tudi »privilegij« postavljanja trendov na področju internacionalizacije. Preučujemo tudi medsebojno skladnost strateških dokumentov v posamezni državi ter način odražaja ciljev bolonjskega procesa v ciljih strateških dokumentov. Ugotovimo, da je v nizozemskih strateških dokumentih v primerjavi s slovenskimi prisotno bistveno večje ujemanje v ključnih oziroma prioritetnih ciljih, kar je mogoče pripisati aktivni vključenosti nizozemskih univerz pri oblikovaju politik. Bolonjski cilji so izraženi v obeh državnih in obeh institucionalnih strategijah internacionalizacije. Izpostavili bi cilj pospeševanja mobilnosti, ki se pojavi v vseh štirih strategijah. Na koncu raziskujemo, kako državi urejata oziroma rešujeta vprašanje jezika visokega šolstva. Ugotovili smo, da v obeh državah zakona, ki urejata področje visokega šolstva, izpostavljata skrb za materinščino. Ta naloga spada v okvir visokošolskih zavodov. Univerza v Amsterdamu ima – za razliko od Univerze v Ljubljani – oblikovano svojo jezikovno strategijo, v kateri je pojasnjeno, na kakšen način se izbere oziroma določi jezik poučevanja, s čimer je odločitev o jeziku poučevanja olajšana. Kot je pokazala primerjava različnih dokumentov s področja visokega šolstva in strategij, je današnja internacionalizacija v različnih državah pod vplivom tako sodobnih procesov, konkretneje bolonjskega procesa, kot tudi različnih zgodovinskih dejavnikov oziroma okoliščin. Enake politike internacionalizacije se torej v različnih okoljih implementirajo različno. S tem tudi potrjujemo ugotovitev de Wita in F. Hunter (2015, str. 2), da ni modela internacionalizacije, ki bi ustrezal vsem. ; Internationalisation of Higher Education in Slovenia and the Netherlands After the Implementation of the Bologna Process In this thesis, we discuss the different internationalisation policies of higher education in Slovenia and the Netherlands. Analysing and comparing the strategic documents about the internationalisation of higher education in the chosen countries is the basis of the following thesis. In the theoretical part, we put internationalisation in a historical perspective. We concisely describe the socioeconomic context of the development of Dutch universities and analyse the origins and development of Slovene and Dutch universities. Furthermore, we focus on the mission of universities and their related position of language in research and teaching. We also define internationalisation and present its different definitions. Additionally, we introduce the forms of internationalisation: internationalisation at home, internationalisation of the curriculum, and internationalisation abroad. In the context of the development of the Bologna Process, we present the emergence of the European Economic Community, the beginnings of the process itself, and a critique of its neo-liberal concept. Moreover, we also explore the transfer of educational policies. We conclude by presenting the language issues, i.e., the growing role of English in teaching and research in higher education, and the position of national languages. In the empirical part, we first identify similarities and differences between national policies on the internationalisation of higher education in Slovenia and the Netherlands. Then we examine the policies at the institutional level by comparing the University of Ljubljana and the University of Amsterdam. Analysis of national strategy documents shows that both Slovenian and Dutch higher education pursue similar internationalisation objectives. However, the first significant difference is the Dutch tendency to connect higher education institutions with the economy. Consequently, economic motives for internationalisation prevail. In contrast, the internationalisation of Slovenian higher education is driven primarily by political motives, as the country wants to consolidate a recognisable national higher education. Nonetheless, there is another important difference. The Dutch strategy documents emphasise the intention to make the country competitive and visible on a global level, while the Slovenian strategy documents focus on the need to establish a regional identity. The Netherlands is therefore moving towards a more global internationalisation, whereas Slovenia moves towards a regional one. At the same time, they both perceive internationalisation as the crucial factor in developing higher education. Particularly, in the context of increasing its quality. The two countries are similar in the way they see internationalisation – as the major factor in the development of their higher education and as means to enhance its quality. An analysis of the internationalisation policies of the two central universities in both countries shows that, due to its status as an international and bilingual university, internationalisation is a leading feature of the University of Amsterdam. On the contrary, the University of Ljubljana is somewhat limited in its internationalisation. Due to its strong international orientation, the University of Amsterdam holds its classes in a so-called "international classroom." Historically viewed, The Netherlands and its universities have been much more internationally opened. This has contributed to the Netherlands being one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The advantage of rich countries is not only having sufficient financial resources to implement optimal internationalisation, but also the "privilege" of setting trends in the area of internationalisation. We also look at the coherence between the strategic documents in each country and how the objectives of the Bologna Process are reflected in the objectives of the strategic documents. We have found out that there is a significantly higher congruence in the key objectives in the Dutch strategic document compared to the Slovenian ones. The reason for that could be the active involvement of Dutch universities in policymaking. The Bologna objectives are reflected in both national and both institutional internationalisation strategies. We aim to highlight the objective of promoting mobility, which appears in all four strategies. Lastly, we explore the way of how countries are addressing the issue of the language of higher education. We have discovered that the laws governing higher education emphasise care for the mother tongue in both countries. The University of Amsterdam has constructed a language strategy that explains how the instruction language is chosen and determined. By doing so, the decision for the instruction language is less complicated. At the moment, the University of Ljubljana still does not have the same approach. By comparing different higher education documents and strategies, we have shown that contemporary changes (specifically the Bologna Process) and various historical factors have influenced internationalisation today. The same internationalisation policies are therefore implemented differently in various contexts. This also confirms the observation made by de Wit and F. Hunter (2015, p. 2) that there is "no one model that fits all".

For most people the transition from childhood/youth to adulthood is a major upheaval – in physiological, cultural and social terms. For young people with a disease that is either congenital or acquired early in life, or with an injury that reduces functional capacity, the transition can involve further challenges – of a health-related nature. The theme of this report is the transition to adulthood within the framework of the habilitation service. Our aim is to shed light on challenges that youngsters needing a combination of coordinated services face in relation to the services established for them, and which are to assist them in childhood, upon transition to adulthood and later in life. Our point of departure is that if functionally impaired young people are to participate successfully in adult society, their need for health-related services must in each case be met in a manner commensurate with the challenges posed by the individual's health situation. This report deals with young people who have entered employment or are completing their education. In addition, they live in their own dwelling away from the parental home. These can be said to be young people whose inclusion in important social arenas has a «success». Hence the report seeks to illuminate the role of habilitation in the process prior to the present situation. This is achieved by means of interviews with two groups of informants. The first group comprises young adults with functional impairments. The second group comprises staff of coordinating units in a selection of Norwegian municipalities or municipal wards. The first chapter is a general introduction to the issues addressed in the report, while the second chapter expounds the habilitation field, its organisation, aim and main tools. Chapter 3 reports on the main findings of an interview survey with heads of coordinating units in a selection of Norwegian municipalities. Our particular focus is on issues related to collaboration within the municipality, between the municipality and the specialist health service and the transition between childhood/youth and adult life. The decision to interview the head of the coordinating unit in the respective municipalities was taken upon the advice of the Norwegian Directorate of Health. Chapter 4 discusses functionally impaired youngsters' experiences with the habilitation service and seeks in particular to elicit experiences from the transition from child habilitation to adult habilitation. Chapter 5 summarises the main findings and proposals some initiatives that may ease the transition from child habilitation to adult habilitation for the individual young person. Habilitation and rehabilitation are defined as: "Time-limited, planned processes with clear-cut aims and instruments, where two or more actors collaborate to provide necessary assistance to the users' own effort to function and cope to the best possible degree, to achieve independence and to participate in social and community life.» This is the definition of (re)habilitation employed today in official documents and which guides policy formulation in this field. The basis in law for habilitation and rehabilitation is set out in various statutes and regulations to ensure that the individual's need for a combination of coordinated services is met. Each municipality is obliged to have in place a coordinating unit with overall responsibility for habilitation service provision, and specialist health services include a rehabilitation unit catering to children and young people that is affiliated to and under the responsibility of a regional health trust. This responsibility can be transferred to a department of the regional health trust at a later stage. Both levels of administration are required to offer services that are: 1. based on a user perspective, 2. coordinated, cross-disciplinary and planned, 3. in or as close as possible to the user's customary environment, and 4. provided in a context meaningful to the user. The empirical part of the project is based on interviews with two different groups. One group comprises managers of the coordinating unit in 22 municipalities or municipal wards. This survey brought to light wide differences between municipalities as regards the organisation of the habilitation service and as regards how they discharged some of the tasks they were expected to perform. All the informants were concerned to improve the service offering to users who fell within the habilitation remit and were thus in need of a number of services the coordination of which was crucial to good service provision, municipal services and second-line services alike. No one was absolutely happy with the situation at the time of reporting although several informants reported an organisational set-up that appeared sound. The informants were clearly preoccupied by the challenges faced by functionally impaired young people upon the transition from youth to adulthood. A majority of the informants made it clear that the quality of the habilitation service, both municipal and second-line, was crucial to young people's ability to tackle the transition to adult life and the challenges they would face in areas such as education and employment, setting up a home and taking on greater responsibility for coordinating social services and health services. An important step in improving the municipal habilitation service would be to assign responsibility for it to a higher level of municipal bureaucracy than is usual at present. Several heads of coordinating units noted a mismatch between responsibilities and work assignments on one hand and the formal power or decision authority available to them in the municipal system. One possible model, to which attention was drawn, was to assign management of the service to a staff function under the chief municipal executive and to draw up guidelines and in the event an authorisation structure for initiatives involving various service performers. It would be important here to clarify responsibilities for and decision authority in relation to services administered by the Labour and Welfare Administration. The second survey comprises interviews with 12 informants in the age range 22 to 31, six females and six males. All have a diagnosis involving varying degrees of impaired physical functioning. Poor balance and reduced mobility are reported by many. Some use a wheelchair all day, others use a wheelchair in particular situations and to move over longer distances. Poor motor function, including poor fine motor control, makes using a keyboard problematic for some. All in all this part of the survey showed wide variation in the informants' experience of how well the habilitation service functioned in terms of coordinating various types of measure and in relation to assuring service continuity. The survey also showed wide variation in the role of the responsible doctors. This is attributable both to the differing priority assigned to habilitation-related work by different doctors and to variations between municipalities in the emphasis given to drawing doctors into this work. The survey also shows that, in the case of a number of informants who are prioritised for residential rehabilitation, the main rationale is to enable medical follow up of their diagnosis. The transition to adult habilitation is an important theme for many. Several of the informants believed they were given insufficient information about various schemes and programmes after they had reached the age of 18 and were no longer in child habilitation. It was now up to them to seek out the programmes and services they needed. Several experienced this situation as difficult. After being in child habilitation, where most of them felt they were taken care of, the transition to adult habilitation was a radical change. They are now personally responsible for applying for and coordinating the health services on which they depend. The situation is most difficult for those whose diagnosis does not place them within the remit of one of the country's competence centres. The report closes with 11 points on which the habilitation service could be improved to bring the range of services offered to users more into line with the legislation and the intentions as regards service quality and scope that are enshrined in central public documents. ; En del mennesker med nedsatt funksjonsevne kan i perioder av livet ha et behov for rehabilitering og habilitering. Barn med en medfødt sykdom eller skade kan trenge koordinerte og sammensatte tjenester innenfor ulike områder gjennom hele livet. Det tjenestetilbudet som gis innenfor habiliteringsfeltet, er både organisert gjennom kommunene og gjennom spesialisthelsetjenesten i de enkelte helseregionene. Det er unge voksnes erfaringer med habiliteringstjenesten som er denne rapportens tema. I første del gis det en fremstilling av mål og virkemidler i habiliteringsarbeidet. Først og fremst konsentrerer fremstillingen seg om den kommunale organiseringen av tjenester. Deretter presenteres erfaringer som leder av koordinerende enhet i 22 kommuner har med samordningen og samhandlingen på habiliteringsfeltet samt de erfaringer 12 unge voksne har med habiliteringstjenesten. Særlig blir utfordringer i forbindelse med overgangen fra barnehabiliteringen til voksenhabiliteringen vektlagt. Som en avslutning på rapporten legges det frem elleve punkter som kan bidra til en forbedring av habiliteringstjenesten.

Desde la irrupción de los medios de comunicación de masas en el entorno comunicacional de las sociedades, su accionar y la influencia que pueden ejercer en las decisiones sociales han despertado un gran interés, no solo en la comunidad académica sino también en la clase económica y política que han visto en ellos el camino para alcanzar el poder. Dado que la construcción de los significados se produce en un entorno comunicativo social, los medios de comunicación gestionan ese espacio público en donde se desarrolla la producción del significado para los actores sociales y, por tanto, en donde se establece la opinión pública. Así, desde una visión política, estos medios se constituyen en actores activos de la política de los países. Ellos intervienen directamente en la formación de la opinión pública, la cual condiciona las decisiones políticas. El entorno comunicacional ecuatoriano no es la excepción. Los medios de comunicación han sido parte activa del proceso político que ha hecho del Ecuador un país altamente conflictivo, con un sistema político que se ha mantenido en una permanente inestabilidad, producto de las perturbaciones internas y externas del sistema, derivadas de la lucha por el poder. Uno de los sucesos que marcaron al gobierno del presidente Rafael Correa fue el intento de golpe de Estado ejecutado el 30 de septiembre de 2010 (30-S). Los eventos acontecidos aquel día mostraron la fragilidad del sistema democrático ecuatoriano, revelando varios aspectos de la lucha de los diferentes sujetos políticos y sociales por alcanzar el poder. No obstante, la comunidad académica, por lo menos desde nuestro conocimiento, no ha desarrollado, hasta el momento de la redacción de esta memoria doctoral, un estudio que profundice en la estructura de la agenda mediática de los medios de comunicación ecuatorianos en los meses previos a la revuelta policial. Así mismo, se tiene conciencia del uso que se hizo de las redes sociales por la ciudadanía durante los acontecimientos de septiembre de 2010. Sin embargo, no se ha analizado la agenda establecida por los medios en ese entorno virtual y cómo esta información fluyó al interior de las redes sociales (específicamente en «Twitter»). Esta tesis doctoral busca llenar este vacío en el análisis de la participación de los medios de comunicación ecuatorianos en los hechos ocurridos previo y durante el 30-S. Por una parte, se desarrolla un análisis del proceso de establecimiento de la agenda mediática en dos de los periódicos ecuatorianos más representativos: El Universo—periódico privado— y El Telégrafo—periódico público—, durante y tres meses antes de la sublevación policial del 30 de septiembre de 2010. Nuestra intensión es dar respuesta a varias hipótesis y preguntas que nos surgen acerca del «poder simbólico» ejercido desde estos medios, con respecto a los acontecimientos acaecidos en aquella jornada. No se buscamos establecer responsabilidades, dado que esa no es nuestra función ni interés, lo que pretendemos es analizar la estructura de la agenda mediática propuesta por esos diarios, para aportar al estudio del accionar de los medios ecuatorianos como actores políticos. Por otra parte, presentamos los resultados de un análisis empírico de la difusión de la información en «Twitter», producida por los dos diarios bajo estudio, durante y tres meses antes del 30 de septiembre de 2010. Nos interesa responder a varias hipótesis y cuestionamientos que nos surgen acerca del flujo de la diseminación de la información que resultó de los tweets que emitieron ambos periódicos. El periodo de estudio correspondió a la etapa de discusión de la Ley Orgánica de Servicio Público en la Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador, uno de los detonadores de las protestas policiales. Los resultados nos muestran que la información difundida por esos periódicos en «Twitter», durante ese periodo, presentó una estructura mucho más compleja que el modelo de dos pasos. De esta forma, en este trabajo doctoral presentamos aportaciones al estudio del accionar comunicacional y político de los medios de comunicación ecuatorianos, tanto desde el ambiente tradicional (prensa) como desde el virtual («Twitter»). ; Since the irruption of mass media in the communicational scene, their action and influence in societal decisions have provoked great interest not only within academic communities but also among economic and political classes, which have assimilated it as an effective strategy to achieve power; thus, mass media fulfill an essential role for the establishment of power. Considering that constructing significances occur in a social communicative environment, mass media emerge as an ideal agent for managing public space for such objective, while defining public opinion; therefore, it also become an active public mean in forming social judgement and conditioning political decisions. Ecuadorian communicational reality confirms such phenomena: mass media have been an active agent in the nation's political scene, contributing to its highly conflictive and unstable history, always characterized by internal and external struggles for power. In such context, one of the events that stroke Rafael Correa's presidential period the most, was the failed coup d'état occurred on September 30th 2010 (30-S). Such event showed the fragility of Ecuadorian democratic system, while revealing data about the struggle for power among several social and political groups. Despite this event's importance, any study has analyzed the structure of Ecuadorian media agenda during the previous months of this police revolt; at least not from our knowledge at the moment of writing this dissertation. Similarly, the media´s agenda while using social network (especially Twitter) during this episode, remains under studied and analyzed. This dissertation seeks to fulfill this gap through the analysis of Ecuadorian mass media's participation before and during 30-S occurrence. The study offers an analysis of the agenda establishment for two most representative Ecuadorian newspapers: "El Universo" —private— and "El Telégrafo" —public—, starting three months before 30-S. Such analysis attempts to respond several questions and hypotheses focused on the "symbolic power" exercised by these media in such event. The interest remains far from establishing responsibilities, while intends to comprehend the structure of such newspaperságenda, contributing to study the facet of Ecuadorian media as political actors. The study also offers results of an empirical analysis of information broadcasted by both newspapers on Twitter, starting three months before 30-S. This process attempts to respond several hypotheses and questions focused on the flow of informative dissemination issued on the mentioned network. The period chosen for the study corresponds to the discussion stage of the "Law of Public Service" at the National Assembly of Ecuador, which is considered as one of the defining factors towards the police revolt. Results show that the information broadcasted by these media on "Twitter" implied a much more complex model than a two-step one. Therefore, this dissertation attempts to contribute in studying the communicational and political proceedings of Ecuadorian media, from both traditional (press) and virtual (Twitter) environments. ; En Ecuador, durante as últimas décadas, a medios tradicionais (radio, prensa e televisión) mantiveron a súa hexemonía na xestión da información. Estes medios, na súa maioría pertencentes a grupos financeiros eran a única forma de acceso á información para os cidadáns comúns, orientación da opinión pública de acordo cos seus intereses. Este poder político e comunicacional reforzouse con case ningunha presenza de medios de comunicación públicos e infraestruturas de comunicación pobres que limitan o acceso do público á Internet. Proba do poder político que mantivo a mídia en Ecuador foi a súa participación influente en eventos importantes na historia política do Ecuador como o derrubamento de presidentes Abdala Bucaram (1997), Jamil Mahuad (2000) e Lucio Gutiérrez (2005), amplamente estudado en literatura. Coa chegada de Rafael Correa á Presidencia da República do Ecuador, en xaneiro de 2007, a área política e comunicacional do Ecuador cambiou dramaticamente. Correa ten aplicado unha serie de políticas e accións de comunicación para contrarrestar o poder de comunicación da mídia tradicional. Neste novo contexto de cambio, os medios de comunicación teñen que chegou a desempeñar un papel político moi importante, -por mor ao forte descenso na credibilidade e forza dos partidos políticos, tornándose a principal forza de oposición contra o réxime de Correa. Durante o goberno de Rafael Correa, un dos eventos críticos foi a insubordinación dun grupo de membros da Policía e do Exército do Ecuador, que tivo lugar o 30 de setembro do 2010 (30-S). Nesta tese, analizamos este feito a partir de dous aspectos: en primeiro lugar, a axenda mediática dous maiores xornais de circulación en Ecuador: The Universe (medios privada) e The Telegraph (sector público), tres meses antes da 30- S; e, por outra, a propagación da emitidos por estes dous xornais a través de novas Twitter no mesmo período. A nosa hipótese é que este fluxo de información é unha estrutura multi-estadio e multi-direccional, o que corresponde a un modelo de enxame, dadas as características de conectividade de rede social en liña.

Tutkielma esittelee blogisaation käsitteen, jonka avulla kuvataan yhtä aikaa journalismin viimeaikaista kehitystä ja tämän kehityksen sijoittumista osaksi laajempaa poliittisen ja yhteiskunnallisen elämän muutosta Venäjällä. Tutkimuksen päätehtävä on tarkastella journalistien ja bloggaajien välisiä suhteita venäläisessä journalismissa noin vuodesta 2001 vuoteen 2013. Ensiksi työ liittyy laajempaan keskusteluun journalismisesta professionalismista ja joukkoviestinnän rooleista moderneissa yhteiskunnissa. Bloggauksen voi nähdä vaihtoehtoisena ja uutena käytäntönä tai jopa käännekohtana journalismin kehityksessä. Bloggaus avaa kiinnostavan kehyksen, jossa voimme tarkastella joukkoviestinnän piirissä meneillään olevia symbolisia kamppailuja ja siellä kehittyviä identiteettirakennelmia. Toiseksi tutkimus tarkastelee journalismin blogisaatiota sana laajempaa yhteiskunnallis-poliittista modernisaatiota ja sen ymmärtämistä. Tässä mielessä Venäjä on erityisen relevantti ja kiinnostava esimerkki. Blogisaation avaaman näkökulman kautta onkin mahdollista paitsi pohtia journalismin muutosta myös arvioida yleisemmin "transitologiaa". Tämä tutkimusnäkökulma jäsentää Venäjän poliittisen ja joukkoviestintäympäristön viimeaikaisen historian muutoksena kohti demokraattisempaa ja modernimpaa yhteiskuntaa. Tutkimuksen ydinaineiston muodostaa yhtäältä kahdeksan LiveJournal-alustalla toimivan bloggaajan työn tarkastelu. Bloggaajien kohdalla on mahdotonta arvioida heidän määrällistä tai sisällöllistä "edustavuuttaan", mutta kaikki valitut esimerkkitapaukset ovat olleet merkittäviä venäläisen journalismin blogisaation prosessissa. Toisaalta käytän hyväkseni myös media-aineistoa. Tämäkään aineisto ei ole suoraviivaisesti edustavaa tai systemaattisesti kattavaa suhteessa venäläiseen mediamaisemaan. Se kattaa kuitenkin monipuolisesti ne poliittiset, taloudelliset ja teknologiset ulottuvuudet, joilla venäläinen media toimii. Mukana on kolmenlaisia tiedotusvälineitä: televisiokanavia jotka tavoittavat laajimman yleisön, erityisille sosiaali/yleisöryhmille suunnattuja sanomalehtiä sekä verkkojulkaisuja jotka on suunnattu joko nuorisolle, keskiluokalle tai älymystölle. Tutkimuksen pääkysymys on operationalisoitu jakamalla se neljään alakysymykseen, joita tarkastelen neljässä luvussa. Luku 4 rakentaa kuvan yhteisestä tilasta, jossa joukkoviestimet ja bloggaajat toimivat. Luvun keskeisiä väitteitä ovat, että median konvergenssi ja "joukkotuotteliaisuuden" (mass produsage) kulttuuri purkaa rajoja joukkoviestinnän ja keskinäisviestinnän väliltä ja että venäläisen perinteisen joukkoviestinnän pysyvyyden takeena on valtion strateginen kontrolli. Verkkomedia puolestaan on vähemmän altis näiden valtion resurssien vaikutukselle. Tämän vuoksi blogisaatio viriää haasteena vallitsevalle valtiollis-kaupalliselle journalismin mallille. Vaikka blogisaation vaikutukset koko mediajärjestelmään ovat rajoitetut, ne nostavat esiin tärkeitä mediaeettisiä kysymyksiä. Työ tuo myös esiin (epäsuoraa) todistusaineistoa siitä, että venäläinen poliittinen järjestelmä pyrkii kaappaamaan, epäpolitisoimaan ja ajoittain häiritsemään blogosfäärin rajoittamatonta toimintaa. Luku 5 tarkastelee journalisti-bloggaaja suhteita symbolisen pääoman ja journalistisen kentän hierarkioiden uusintamisen näkökulmasta. Tässä näkökulmassa valtion poliittinen metapääoma on keskeinen voimavara venäläiselle joukkoviestinnälle, joka on valtion kontrolloimaa ja lojaalia Kremlin politiikalle. Ne bloggaajat ja journalistit, jotka ovat vähemmän tämän kontrollin piirissä ja siten kriittisempiä Kremlin politiikkaa kohtaan, nojaavat toiminnassaan enemmän tiheiden digitaalisten verkostojen ja journalistisen vertaistunnuksen tarjoamaan pääomaan. Luvussa tarkastellaan Aleksei Navalni ja Leonid Parfenovin esimerkkien kautta sitä, millainen potentiaali blogisaatioon vaihtoehtoisten poliittisten keskusten luojana sisältyy. Luku 6 erittelee näkyviin bloggaamisen esiin nostamia diskursiivisia ydinelementtejä ja näiden artikuloinnin – ja uudelleënartikuloinnin logiikkaa. Esiin nostetaan neljä keskeistä kysymystä tai elementtiä, jotka liittyvät journalistiseen autonomiaan, uskottavuuteen, subjektiivisuuteen ja vastuullisuuteen. Analyysi paljastaa, että blogisaation diskursiivista kenttää hallitsee eronteon logiikka, jossa "journalisti" ja "bloggaaja" ja heidän erottamisensa häilyvyys tuottaa kentälle epävarmuutta. Luvun ydinhavainto on, että blogisaatio ei suinkaan luo itselleen uutta journalistista tilaa jakamalla kenttää näihin kahteen identiteettiin, vaan tuottaa aikaisempaa monimutkaisempia rakenteita toimijoiden identifikaatioille. Luku 7 käsittelee blogisaatio-diskurssin muotoutumista ja sen jäsentämään laajempaa yhteiskunnallista haastetta vielä uudella tavalla. Väitteeni on, että blogisaatio diskurssina jäsentyy ja jakautuu noudattaen vanhaa venäläistä filosofista jakolinjaa slavofiilien ja länsimielisten välillä. Nämä kaksi traditiota ruokkivat kahta kilpailevaa diskurssiasemaa. Nämä ovat hegemoninen konservatiivinen ja sen liberaali vastapositio. Hegemonisen diskurssin takeena toimivat Venäjällä konservatiiviset voimat, jotka kontrolloivat valtavirran joukkoviestimiä samaan tapaan kuin slavofiilit aikanaan. Hegemonisen diskurssin valta-asema nojaa ajatukseen vastuullisesta journalismista, joka kritisoi bloggaamista uskottavuuden puutteesta ja joka oikeuttaa media autonomisuuden puutteen uhkaavalla kaaoksella. Hegemoniaa haastava vastadiskurssi puolestaan nojaa länsimaisuuden kuvastoon ja se leimataankin usein "liberaaliksi". Se nojaa yksilöllisen autonomia, vapauden, subjektiivisuuden ja tyylien moninaisuuden kuvastoon. Viime vuosien kaupallistuminen, poliittisen klientelismi ja median itsesensuuri ovat kutakuinkin syrjäyttäneet rippeetkin Venäjän itsenäisestä ja yhteiskunnallisesti orientoituneesta journalismista. Tämän ovat yhä enemmän panneet merkille myös mediatutkijat. Voidaanko siis blogisaation puitteissa puhua uudelleen virinneestä avoimuuden politiikasta, Glasnost 2.0 versiosta? Vai onko osuvampaa nostaa esiin entistä tarmokkaampi poliisin urkinta, seurantatyö ja sensuurin leviäminen digitaalisiin verkostoihin. Ero myöhäisen Neuvostoliiton Glasnostilla ja nykyisen mediakehityksen luoman avoimuuden väillä on se että ennen mainittu oli ylhäältä alas suuntautunut, suunniteltu ja tietoinen kampanja kun taas jälkimmäinen on suurimmaksi osaksi alhaalta ylös suuntautuva spontaani liike. Tämä ero saattaa loppujen lopuksi olla perustavaa laatua. ; Blogization is the term that describes the current state of Russian journalism and considers its broader implications for political and social life. This research argues that convergence and mass "produsage" culture dissolves boundaries between mass and interpersonal communications; that the stability of traditional mass media in Russia is secured by the strategic control and support of the state; that online media are less susceptible to the influence of the state. Accordingly, blogization becomes a challenging factor for the otherwise prevalent journalistic model of statist commercialism. There is also evidence that the Russian political system tries to co-opt, depoliticize, and at times disrupt the uncontrolled advances of the blogosphere. Journalists and bloggers, less controlled by the state and critical of the Kremlin, rely on the dense digital networks of social capital and the journalistic capital of peer-recognition. This is demonstrated by cases of blogger Aleksey Navalny and journalist Leonid Parfenov as examples of blogization's potential to create alternative centers of political capital. The project's core empirical data includes eight examples of mass media and eight Russian bloggers, who are all important actors in the blogization process. The media sub-sample does not claim to be exhaustive or strictly representative of the Russian media landscape. It is however relatively diverse in terms of political, economic and technological contexts. It includes three types of media: television as the medium with the largest audience; newspapers targeted to specific social groups; and online publications popular among younger generations, the middle class and intellectuals. The sub-sample of bloggers includes individuals with large readerships who come from various backgrounds and professional orientations: pro-Kremlin and oppositional bloggers, trained journalists and blogging celebrities. It also covers different genres ranging from investigative and opinionated reporting, to facts, aggregate stories, and daily life reflections. The initial overview of relations between journalism and blogging is based on official reports and media statistics. Qualitative findings are drawn from textual examples of where and how discussions of journalism and blogging appear and evolve over time. These texts cover a time period from March 2003 through to June 2013. While various sets of quantitative data provide contextual background, the qualitative data highlights crucial examples of the development of relations between journalism and blogging in Russia. Blogization is a highly contested term where various meanings are attached to ideas of journalistic autonomy, credibility, subjectivity, and responsibility. Analysis of mass media and blogs reveals that the very use of the words "journalist" and "blogger" serves as catalyst for undecidability. The key finding in this respect is that blogization does not split the "new" journalistic space directly into journalists and bloggers, but this borderline creates the more complex structures of identification. This work also addresses the formation and contestation of the discourse of blogization in Russia. It argues that blogization as a discourse becomes divided along old philosophical traditions of slavophilism and westernism. These two traditions are sources for two competing discourses: hegemonic conservative and liberal counter-hegemonic. Hegemony is secured by the conservative forces who control the mainstream mass media in ways similar to the ideas of slavophiles. Its dominance rests upon an image of responsible journalism that criticizes the credibility of some marginal blogging, and justifies the lack of media autonomy by equating it with chaos. Counter-hegemony is based on the ideas of westernism and often labeled as "liberal." Westernism in blogization relies on the values of individual autonomy, freedom, subjectivity, and the diversity of styles. The past years of commercialization, political clientelism and media self-censorship have all but marginalized what remains of Russia's independent and socially committed journalism. The difference between late Soviet glasnost and glasnost based on new media phenomena (glasnost 2.0) is that the former had been a top-down conscious decision, whereas the latter is mostly a bottom-up spontaneous movement. In the end, this difference is crucial.

Terveyden edistämisen idea ja sen tulkinnat. Tutkimus kansanterveyspolitiikan muutoksesta 1970-luvulta nykyaikaan Suomessa ja Portugalissa Tutkimus tarkastelee, kuinka kansainvälisen terveyspolitiikan keskiöön 1970-luvun lopussa noussutta terveyden edistämisen ideaa on tulkittu ja sovellettu Suomessa ja Portugalissa. Kansainvälisen tason keskustelu on perinteisesti paikannettu Maailman terveysjärjestön (World Health Organization, WHO) ympärillä tapahtuvaksi, joka onkin kiistatta ollut keskeinen toimija kootessaan yhteen jäsenmaidensa virkamiehet ja alan asiantuntijat. Mutta terveyden edistäminen on ollut myös muiden kansainvälisten toimijoiden, kuten Euroopan Unionin (EU) ja roomalaiskatolisen kirkon tavoitteena. WHO:lla, EU:lla sen paremmin kuin kirkkoinstituutiollakaan ei ole terveyden edistämiseen liittyen käytössä ns. kovaa valtaa, kuten jäsenmaita sitovaa lainsäädäntöä, jolla politiikkaa voitaisiin ohjailla. Poliittisten ideoiden levittämiseen ja toimintaohjelmien jalkauttamiseen käytetyt keinot ovat pääasiassa normatiivisia, suosituksia antavia. Tässä Länsi-Eurooppaan rajautuvassa tutkimuksessa analysoidaan kuinka tämä ns. pehmeä valta toimii kansanterveyspolitiikan saralla. Ajallisesti tutkimus rajautuu 1970-luvulta 2010-luvun alkuun. Väitöskirjassa valtiokeskeistä näkökulmaa laajennetaan yhteisötoimijoiden suuntaan tutkimalla Portugalin, Suomen ja Englannin enemmistökirkkoja terveyden edistämisen toimijoina. Tutkimuksen mukaan kirkot ovat siirtyneet sairauksien hoidosta ja kuolemaan valmistavasta sielunhoidosta kohti terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin edistämistä. Terveyden edistämisen keskeiset ideat ovat levinneet tieteen ja politiikan kentiltä myös kirkkojen piiriin, terveydenhuollon ammattilaisilta papistolle ja muille kirkkojen yhteydessä työskenteleville, lääketieteestä ja yhteiskunnallisesti suuntautuneesta terveystutkimuksesta teologisten ja eettisten pohdintojen pariin. Tällaista instituutioiden, ammattialojen ja tieteenalojen rajat ylittävää ideoiden ja toimintatapojen leviämistä voi pitää merkkinä terveyden edistämisen noususta erääksi aikakauttamme jäsentäväksi ja toimintaamme ohjaavaksi perusarvoksi. Terveys ymmärretään niin kirkkojen, hallitusten kuin kansainvälisten organisaatioidenkin teksteissä yleisenä hyvän elämän lähtökohtana ja tavoitteena, jonka edistämiseen ne kaikki ovat sitoutuneet erilaisin ohjelmin ja suosituksin. Eräänä väitöstutkimuksen keskeisenä tuloksena voikin pitää terveyden edistämispolitiikan tunnistamista ohjelmissa ja julistuksissa ilmeneväksi politiikaksi. Maiden väliset vertailut ja maita paremmuusjärjestykseen laittavat rankinglistat ovat käytössä niin poliittisessa keskustelussa kuin mediassakin. Uutiset kertovat lähes viikoittain, kuinka Suomi on sijoittunut mitä erilaisimpia ilmiöitä kuvaavia indikaattoreita käyttäen suhteessa muihin maihin. Melko usein uutiskynnyksen ylittävät sellaiset vertailut, joissa Suomi on sijoittunut tavalla tai toisella tarkasteltavien maiden kärkikastiin. Näissä vertailuissa Suomi esitetään usein eräänlaisena esimerkillisenä mallimaana, kuten EU:n mallioppilaana, koulutuksen kärkimaana tai kansanterveyspolitiikan edelläkävijänä. Siirryttäessä maakohtaisista vertailuista alueelliseen luokitteluun kuvataan Suomen kuuluvan Pohjoismaisten edistyksellisten ja modernien hyvinvointivaltioiden ryhmään. Näissä samoissa keskusteluissa Portugalia ja muita Etelä-Euroopan maita on kutsuttu alkeellisiksi, perässä laahaaviksi hyvinvointivaltioiksi ja talouden suhteen kriisimaiksi. Näin vallitseva kuva Euroopasta on kiteytynyt yksinkertaistavaan kahtiajakoon, edistyksellinen ja vauras pohjoinen – alkeellinen ja köyhä etelä. Vertailut ovat tehokas keino kuvata monimutkaista todellisuutta, mutta ne väistämättä myös yksinkertaistavat maailmaa. Juuri todellisuutta yksinkertaistavan luonteensa vuoksi vertailut leviävät helposti ihmiseltä toiselle, tieteellisestä raportista poliittisen asiakirjaan ja edelleen median pariin. Toiston kautta luokittelut saavuttavat pysyvän aseman tavassamme kuvata jotain tiettyä ihmisryhmää tai maata. Myös tieteentekijät osallistuvat tähän keskusteluun tuottamalla erilaisia vertailuja, ja toisaalta tutkimalla näiden vertailujen käyttöä poliittisten päätösten ja linjausten teossa. Kuvatessaan kansainvälisten organisaatioiden (WHO:n ja EU:n) tuottamien vertailujen käyttöä osana kansallista ja kansainvälistä kansanterveyspolitiikkaa, tämä tutkimus sijoittuu jälkimmäiseen ryhmään. Analysoimalla kansainvälisten vertailujen käyttöä kansallisessa politiikassa tutkimus osoittaa konkreettisesti ja yksityiskohtaisesti, kuinka kansallista politiikkaa linjataan suhteessa siihen, mitä muissa maissa kuvataan vertailujen välityksellä tapahtuvaksi. Kansainväliset vertailut ovat jatkuvasti mukana määritettäessä kansallisesti merkittäviksi ymmärrettyjä ongelmia ja tulevaisuuden tavoitteita. Toinen vertailuihin liittyvä seikka, joka tässä väitöstutkimuksessa nostetaan esiin, liittyy vertailujen todellisuutta tuottavaan valtaan. Vertailut eivät vain kuvaa tai heijasta monimuotoista todellisuutta, vaan ne myös rakentavat sitä. Eräänä esimerkkinä tästä voidaan pitää Suomen terveyden edistämisen mallimaa- aseman rakentumista. Suomi solmi 1980-luvulla sopimuksen WHO:n kanssa, jossa se sitoutui toimimaan Terveyttä kaikille -ohjelmaa testaavana pilottina. Hyvin pian pilottimaa kääntyi muotoon mallimaa tai edelläkävijä. Samaan aikaan, kun Terveyttä kaikille -ohjelmaa pilotoivasta maasta tehtiin mallimaa, laajeni edelläkävijyys mainitun ohjelman piiristä koskettamaan koko suomalaista kansanterveyspolitiikkaa. Tämä WHO -yhteistyöstä alkunsa saanut tulkinta Suomesta terveyden edistämisen mallimaana on osoittautunut melko pysyväksi tavaksi asemoida maatamme suhteessa Eurooppaan. Tämä tutkimus on tuottanut uudenlaisen tavan ymmärtää EU:n kansanterveyspoliittinen rooli. Aiemmissa tutkimuksissa EU:n vaikutuksen jäsenvaltioiden politiikkaan on todettu alkaneen vasta 1990-solmittujen Maastrichtin ja Amsterdamin sopimusten jälkeen. Usein tutkimuksissa viitataan kansallisena säilyneeseen määräysvaltaan sosiaali- ja terveyspolitiikassa ja todetaan EU:n vaikutuksen jääneen melko vähäiseksi. Tässä tutkimuksessa on keskitytty lainsäädännön sijaan tarkastelemaan sitä, kuinka EU tai WHO ovat muodollisen toimivallan puutteesta huolimatta vaikuttaneet jäsenmaidensa kansanterveyspolitiikkaan. Tutkimuksen tulokset viittaavat siihen, että EU on tuottamiensa vertailujen välityksellä vaikuttanut jäsenmaidensa kansanterveyspolitiikkaan jo kauan ennen kuin se saavutti edellä mainittujen sopimusten myötä muodollisen, joskin rajatun toimivallan tällä alueella. Tutkimus on osoittanut, että vertailut ovat ohjelmien ja yhteisen kielenkäytön tuottamisen ohella olleet keskeinen hallinnan keino myös WHO:ssa. ; This study explores, how the idea of health promotion, appearing on the global public health policy agendas in the end of 1970s, has been interpreted and adapted in Finland and in Portugal. In this research, which in geographical terms is limited to Western Europe and which focuses particularly on soft governance, European health promotion policy has been traced by analysing declarations, recommendations and programmes produced by the WHO and the EU as well as the related comparative practices, which have been used to guide and evaluate the desired policies. In temporal terms the study covers the period from the 1970s until the end of the 2010s. The dissertation comprises a theoretically and methodologically oriented summary, that frames the study, and four articles based on empirical analysis. The research data obtained from the case countries consists of various texts, such as government programmes, public health strategies, programmatic documents of the majority churches of the case countries and newspaper articles. The theme pervading the entire dissertation is the movement, travel or transfer of ideas and policies from one place to another. Place refers here not only to geographical location, but also to more abstract localizations, such as epistemic communities, international organizations or different societal institutions (church, welfare state, media). The movement of ideas and programmes for its part is understood to occur between these places across borders and in all directions. Methodologically I have approached the movement of particular policy ideas and programmes in different ways in each original article. The first article addressed the movement of key recommendations of the Health for All programme to the government policies of Finland and Portugal in the historical context of broader welfare state development. The study indicated that the application of the programme to the local context caused only minor changes in national policies. In the second article the state-centred perspective was broadened towards community actors by analysing the majority churches of England, Finland and Portugal as actors in health promotion policy. The analysis of programmatic documents of the churches of England and Portugal revealed the transition from the treatment of sickness towards the promotion of health and wellbeing. The churches have interpreted and recontextualized the health promotion discourse mediated by the WHO as well as the core results of public health science into their own programmatic documents. The analysis showed how the main ideas of health promotion have spread over institutional, professional and disciplinary borders. Such a transnational diffusion can be taken as an indication of the rise of health and its promotion to be one of the metadiscourses that characterizes our era. By analysing the use of comparisons produced by international organizations in national policy-making, the third and fourth articles demonstrate concretely and in detail how national policies are defined in relation to what is described to happen by means of comparisons in other countries. International comparisons and the related categorizations are actively and continuously manner used when defining what are perceived to be nationally significant problems and the (related) future objectives. The analysis of the use of comparisons as a one method of governance produced a novel perspective to comprehend the roles of the WHO and the EU in public health policy. The results of this study indicate that by authoring and producing comparisons the EU influenced the public health policies of its Member States long before gaining any formal competence in this area. Studying texts can be perceived as studying policy agendas. However, in those models which describe policy-making as a rational and linear process, agendas are often perceived as a mere starting point for the actual implementation. From the point of view of constructivist policy analysis, policy programmes and texts are understood as a focal form of policy-making. One of the key results of this research is a conceptualization of health promotion policy as programmatic and declarative (as opposed to system based). Of the essence is also the international and transnational nature of this programmatic dimension. From this reason it is not very useful to approach health promotion solely from the perspective of national health care system research. This study provides a novel perspective on the Finnish and international debate in order to understand health promotion policy.

Poverty is one of the greatest problems affecting developing countries. Socio-economic imbalances, created by both natural and artificial resource scarcity, restrict impoverished people's access to economic opportunities, limiting their purchasing power and empowerment. Environmental degradation is thus both a cause and effect of resource scarcity, as the poor are forced to seek increasingly environmentally and economically unsustainable methods of income generation, further marginalizing them. Microfinance is known to be one of the best tools to combat poverty, as it allows the poor to empower both themselves and their communities through the creation and sustainment of their own businesses. Moreover, green microfinance, which combines the core concepts of microfinance with environmental awareness and preservation, aims to allow empowerment to occur without compromising the environment. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) use simple administrative procedures and the general abolishment of collateral to allow inhabitants of remote areas to access microfinance, whilst maintaining relationships with them and assisting with their financial and personal problems, educating them, and providing aid in the event of environmental disasters. Hence, microfinance is believed to have a positive effect on both poverty alleviation and environmental awareness. In Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, Islamic finance, which was established in 1991 and saw rapid development during the politically volatile years of 1997 and 1998 (Seibel 2008), comprises commercial banks and banking units, Islamic rural banks, and Islamic financial cooperatives. Commercial Islamic banks focus on providing savings, financing, and insurance to medium and large businesses. People running small or micro businesses are thus restricted from receiving their services. Islamic microfinance, in the form of banking units, rural banks, and financial cooperatives, fills the void left by the commercial banks, enabling Indonesia's disadvantaged entrepreneurs to generate income on their own terms. Most people in Pasuruan Regency, East Java, earn their incomes in the processing industry, agriculture, and trading. In this region, these sectors contribute more than any other to the total Gross Regional Domestic Product (BPS Pasuruan). However, most of them generally negatively affect the environment, through pollutive and chemically harmful practices, as well as a lack of skill and knowledge required to mitigate the negative impacts of these practices. These effects could be influenced by the microfinance institutions that finance their business activities and have a say in how their businesses are run. This is particularly the case with the Islamic MFIs in the region, in whom clients put a great deal of trust, and whose growth has been stimulated by Islamic finance's own growth in Indonesia as a whole. Although MFIs have seen significant development since the 1970s, not enough is known about them. While they have been shown to contribute to poverty alleviation, little is known about their simultaneous roles as facilitators of poverty alleviation and environmental development. Understanding this dynamic was of particular concern in Pasuruan Regency, as the peoples of our research sites appeared to show little regard for their environment whilst relying on MFIs to support their businesses. With their institutions failing to intervene in their destructive behaviors, there is an opening for environmental degradation to be countered with the use of MFIs as promoters of environmentally-friendly business practices. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Islamic microfinance institutions on the welfare of their clients, and whether they positively contribute to their environmental awareness. We examined the role of Islamic microfinance institutions in poverty alleviation and environmental awareness in three different areas of Pasuruan Regency, namely lowland, coastal, and upland. We further compared the impact of Islamic MFIs with that of conventional MFIs, to understand whether Islamic microfinance is consistent with other microfinance types or is able to stand out in its influence on clients' welfare, awareness, and behavior Field work data was collected using qualitative and quantitative approaches. The qualitative approach comprised in-depth interviews, direct observations, and focus group discussions, while the quantitative approach comprised standardized and semi-structured questionnaires. Additionally, secondary data was obtained from banks and a number governmental organizations and officials and statistics offices. Triangulation and a logic model were used to evaluate and validate data before conducting both qualitative and quantitative data analyses. The qualitative analysis was used to describe the behavior of the people in our research area, particularly towards changes in their economic welfare and awareness of specific environmental issues after joining a microfinance institution. Quantitative data analyses consisted of frequency distributions and numerical summaries. Our results revealed that both Islamic and conventional MFIs' primary concerns were self-sustainability, as they attempted to maintain financial performances and increase client bases within a regional context. Pondok pesantren, through their prevalence and their teachers and students' social programs, contributed to the development of Islamic MFIs in the lowland area by improving the public's perceptions of Islamic microfinance. In the coastal area, Islamic MFIs managed to mitigate the challenges and poor perceptions created by their failed predecessors. Meanwhile, Islamic MFIs in the upland area employed specific strategies to overcome challenges to their sustainability during periods of mass withdrawals. Conventional MFIs largely tailored their services to the needs of their clients, helping farmers acquire seeds and fertilizer in the lowland area, for example, or assisting fisheries and small entrepreneurs in the coastal area and helping clients grow, harvest, and process agroforestry products in the upland area. The microfinance institutions in all three areas positively contributed to poverty alleviation, with a significant majority of MFI clients being able to develop their businesses after receiving financing or loans—more so those in the lowland and coastal areas than the upland area. In terms of business re-investment, the lowland area was found to have the lowest percentage of clients spending their surplus incomes on increasing business size or employee numbers; a factor that requires attention from the local government and MFIs if they are to contribute to self-empowerment. Contrasting their impacts on poverty alleviation, both conventional and Islamic MFIs had negligible impacts on increasing the environmental awareness of their clients. Our analyses revealed that the MFIs in all three areas had problems with providing environmental training to their clients, failing to combat the already existent lack in awareness, and consequent accumulative degradation that occurred as a result. In all three research sites, more respondents reported that they did not receive training from their MFI than those who did. MFIs found it costly to dedicate a part of their net profits to environmental matters, but we found one cost-effective way to contribute to environmental awareness was through informing them of the existence of the few training programs that were available. There are still a limited number of empirical studies on Islamic microfinance's contributions to the poverty reduction of both the poor and the poorest. Our comparisons of the roles of Islamic and conventional MFIs in alleviating poverty revealed that both Islamic and conventional MFIs had a positive effect on poverty alleviation—Islamic MFIs slightly more than conventional ones. The screening system used by the Islamic MFIs, in particular their targeting of clients who were less inclined to use their funds for unrelated purposes, had a significant impact on their ability to avoid the lending risks encountered by the conventional MFIs, as well as the development of their clients' businesses. This was supported by key informants' observations that Islamic microfinance reduces the poverty level of clients, with their interest-free financing options and more flexible repayment plans being major factors. Islamic MFIs' redistributions of public donations to the poorest in the form of qard al hasan (credit without interest) also fortified their roles as important contributors to poverty reduction. Nevertheless, considering how integral the environment is to their clients' livelihoods, their environmental initiatives were merely enablers in their clients' destructive behaviors, and will only contribute to increased resource scarcity and more arduous poverty alleviation efforts. Islamic MFIs should therefore look at targeting environmentally-friendly businesses, in spite of their unfairly negative associations with cost and risk, whether through the use social funds or collaboration with the government. Green microfinance, which was unsuccessful in our study, should continue to be studied as a viable method of providing financial services to poor communities. Green Islamic microfinance, further, may be considered the next step in Islamic finance's development, as institutions attempt to empower individuals and communities in increasingly vulnerable environments.

This dissertation on late Enlightenment poetics and the history of the biomedical sciences unfolds a lapsed possibility near the historical beginnings of the division of labor between literary and scientific representation. Against the pressure, then and now, to treat the culture of science as context or antithesis to literary production, I recover a countervailing epistemology that cast poetry as a privileged technique of empirical inquiry: a knowledgeable practice whose figurative work brought it closer to, not farther from, the physical nature of things.In his late life science, Morphology, Goethe mischievously re-signified "objectivity" to mean an observer's vulnerability to transformation by the objects under view: "every new object, well seen, opens up a new organ in us." Such a gesture at once opens the scene of experiment to the agency of objects, and shifts biology's question from the life force within beings, to the metamorphic relations between them. From Wordsworth's call for a "science of the feelings," to Blake's for a "sweet Science," and Goethe's for a "tender Empiricism," my project argues for a series of late Enlightenment attempts to re-invent empiricist methodology - and to do so with the resources of verse and figure. These revisionary poetic sciences, I argue, challenged early biological and aesthetic protocols to countenance the mutual, material influence between the subjects and objects of experiment; to represent `bare' sensation as itself vulnerable to social and rhetorical transformation; and to position vulnerability - to impression, influence, and decay - as central, not inimical, to life.I show that writers from James Thomson and Erasmus Darwin to Percy Shelley retrieved Lucretius's classical materialism as a model for describing bodies (textual and animal) as porous assemblages, shaped by losses and incorporations of what is not self, and not immediately present. In Lucretius's De Rerum Natura, all things, decaying in time, scatter fine atomic husks from their bodies: simulacra, figurae, imagines. Here `figures' are fractions of the real estranged from their sources, and all bodies, not just poets or their language, produce them. Such an epistemology afforded poetry a strong claim upon the real, and proved particularly fit to connect the epochal interest in living bodies to the period's new sense of its own historicity. Poets deployed Lucretius's atomist imaginary in order to make historical experience palpable as what Wordsworth called an "atmosphere of sensation." The material tropes they mobilized to do so, I argue, have been unrecognizable through the symbol-allegory paradigm that controls most rhetorical readings of romanticism.Such a view of the period's philosophy of life differs from a more frequent argument, whereby romantic poetics and early biology converge in the ideal of organism or artwork as self-sufficient whole, "both cause and effect of itself" - and the ideal of life or imagination as the "power" productive of such wholes. This Kantian and Coleridgean ideal of "organic form," I argue, has overshadowed our critical understanding of what the late Enlightenment poetics of life might have sought to do. Working through the tense collaboration between the Poet and the Man of Science in Wordsworth's 1800 "Preface" to Lyrical Ballads and in Blake's notion of "sweet Science" (The Four Zoas,1797), my introduction extracts two critical lenses - "matter figures back," and "atmospheres of sensation" - with which to discern the rival epistemology described in the dissertation's four body chapters. In chapters that center on, and move outward from, Goethe's poetic biology (1-2) and Shelley's "poetry of life" (3- 4) I show how a neglected strain of materialist natural curiosity sought to uncouple professionalizing biology and subject-centered aesthetics from their rhetoric of agency, autonomy, and power.In my first chapter, "Composite Life," I translate previously unavailable pieces from Goethe's microscopy logs (1785-6) and On Morphology periodicals (1817-24) as emblematic of the broader contemporary interest in studying living beings as composite, rather than organic forms. Here, each "seeming individual" is as a "being-complex," a fractious "assemblage of independent beings." Morphology, moreover, redirects biological inquiry from the question of new life (generation) around which the discipline had coalesced, to the biology and poetics of decomposition and senescence - or, as Goethe names one essay, "Going to Dust, Vapor, Droplets." What, this essay begins to ask, might life look like from the perspective of the non-reproductive, but communicative, effluvia that mediate between beings? What arts of discomposure would be adequate to this view? Focusing on an experiment in which a cut mushroom "draws" its own image in spores, I argue for the credibility in the period of non-human acts of representation: that is, for material (neo-Lucretian) images that emanate not just from agents, but from things.My second chapter, "Thinking Like an Object, Contra-Kant" concerns the aesthetic and poetic stakes of the experimental method Goethe calls "tender Empiricism," an approach to composite life that I read as a sly critique of Kant's durable accounts of aesthetics and organism. From Goethe's perspective, Kant's celebrated epistemological modesty - his concern that a man not "presumptuously . tack a whim . to the objects" (Goethe's paraphrase) - screens a more significant hubris: the presumption that a person could produce whims without objects and a sensing body; and, more basically, that what is important about a subject is the way in which he is not a natural object. Re- valuing the passive quality of tenderness as an epistemic virtue, Goethe experiments in "objectively active thinking," permitting the way the self is (also) an object to re-enter natural and aesthetic philosophy. The chapter culminates in a re-reading of the didactic poem Dauer im Wechsel ["Durance in Change"] from the perspective of objective figuration, centering on a neo-Lucretian simulacrum that, I argue, Paul de Man consequentially mistook for a symbol.In Chapter Three I move from Goethe's poetic morphology to Shelley's "poetry of life." "Growing Old Together: Composite Physiognomy in The Triumph of Life" examines the way Shelley's Triumph revives Lucretian corporeality in order to rebuke the markedly triumphalist rhetoric of both contemporary vitalist physiology and post-Waterloo historiography. Offering a new account of the face-giving trope of prosopopeia in the poem, I argue that Shelley mobilizes Lucretian simulacra in order to think through the way personal bodies produce and integrate passages of historical time. Representing aging faces as mutable registers of the "living air" of a post-Napoleonic interval, The Triumph depicts senescence as the unintended work of multitudes, pressing towards a biology and epistemology of transience that holds rhetorical, vital, and historical materialisms together.In Chapter Four, "The Natural History of Violence: Atomist Pre-Histories for Shelley's The Mask of Anarchy," I continue the increasingly historical trajectory of the dissertation's materialism by turning to Shelley's poetic representation of the 1819 "Peterloo Massacre." Here, I attempt to put the dissertation's valuation of epistemological "sweetness" and "tenderness" to the test of an event in which subjects' vulnerabilities were tragically violated. Focusing on the The Mask's preoccupation with the way wrongly spilled blood enters geological and meteorological cycles, I argue that the poem, which Shelley called "wholly political," is also a form of natural history. I recruit Erasmus Darwin, William Cowper, and James Thomson as well as Walter Benjamin to argue for a didactic natural historical mode in which a poem speaks polemically for bloodstained materials that do not, in themselves, disclose their provenance. In this way I suggest that, despite its reputation, pre-Darwinian natural history - and especially its poetry - is anything but a-historical or a-political. In the dissertation's Coda, "Marx's Sensuous Science" I pick up this materialist current at the start of the historical materialism more familiar to present-day critics: Karl Marx's doctoral dissertation on classical atomisms. I link Marx's reception of Lucretius to the idea of natural history that emerges in his "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844," which paraphrase Goethe on tender empiricism, and argue (like Blake, Wordsworth, and Shelley) that any sensation-based science needs to countenance the senses' susceptibility to historical re-configuration. The Manuscripts strain, very much in the tradition my chapters lay out, towards what Marx calls a "sensuous science." Like Goethe and Shelley, Marx presses past the biology of organicism in order to adumbrate "man's inorganic body," a body neither contemporaneous nor coincident with itself and whose life is traversed by and contingent upon innumerable others. In the Coda I take this cue to compare Marxian and neo-Lucretian ideology critique, asking how the embodied impressionability valued in "tender," "sweet," and "sensuous" sciences may run, but may also outrun, the risk Marx named "reification."

Emerging economies and the behaviour of firms domiciled in these markets is beginning to develop as a research area; yet little empirical work exists (Bruton, Ahlstrom, & Obloj, 2008; Hoskisson, Eden, Lau, & Wright, 2000; Meyer & Peng, 2005; Peng, Wang, & Jiang, 2008; Wright, Filatotchev, Hoskisson, & Peng, 2005). An extensive and critical review of the literature revealed that there was limited research that focused on the internationalisation of emerging economy firms to other emerging and developed economies. In order to address this clear gap in our understanding, the broad research problem that this thesis sets out to investigate is 'how do institutions, organisational governance and managerial intentionality effect the internationalisation of smaller Indian firms'? It is argued that in order for research in strategy to make a lasting contribution, there is a need to contemplate whether the theories and methodologies developed in primarily mature and developed economies are applicable to the emerging economy context (Wright et al., 2005). In addressing this concern, this study draws on institutional theory, transaction cost theory, the resource-based view and aspects of the organisational capabilities perspective in order to understand the internationalisation of smaller Indian firms. In particular, the aim of this research was to understand the effect of institutions (Research Question One), organisational governance (Research Question Two) and the moderating effect of managerial intentionality (Research Question Three) on the internationalisation of smaller Indian firms. India was chosen as the context for the study due to its rapid growth in recent years which places it among the four big emerging economies of the world (Wilson & Purushothaman, 2003). The relatively recent liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991 provides an interesting context within which to study the internationalisation behaviour of firms. Prior to its liberalisation India adopted what was known as an inward-focused, socialist-style, economic framework (Wilson & Keim, 2006). The liberalisation of the Indian economy has increased the country's trade linkages with other emerging and developed countries, yet little research has been conducted on the internationalisation of Indian firms (Peng et al., 2008; Wright et al., 2005). Further, India's linguistic distance but geographic closeness to emerging markets, yet western Commonwealth past and geographic distance to developed markets makes it a unique context. The research methodology adopted in this study entailed a qualitative design conducted through multiple case studies. The case study firms comprised four smaller manufacturing and four smaller service firms. Cases for the study were selected theoretically (Eisenhardt, 1989) using intensity sampling, snowball sampling, criterion sampling and opportunistic sampling techniques (Patton, 1990). To determine the size of the firms, the definition proposed by the Government of India was used. One key growth region in India was chosen due to the institutional diversity in India. Bangalore was chosen as it is considered a high growth region of the country that is well reputed for its service sector, as well as a competitive manufacturing sector (Ahya, Xie, Roach, Sheth, & Yam, 2006). The adoption of a multiple case study design facilitated an aggregated cross-case analysis. The data was collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with senior management in the selected case study firms. In addition, documentary evidence was collected through newspaper articles, information from trade journals and information from the company websites. The interviews were guided by an interview protocol and a case study database was created for each firm in order to increase the reliability and validity of the data. The data was coded using NVivo (version 7) and analysed using the 'template approach' (Crabtree & Miller, 1999). To date, literature originating out of mature markets has regarded institutions as background information due to the stability and maturity of institutions in these markets (Ingram & Silverman, 2002). However, when studied in an emerging market context, the role of institutions is argued to be pushed to the forefront of strategy research due to its relative underdevelopment (Meyer & Peng, 2005). This study used Scott's (1995) three institutional pillars (regulative, normative and cognitive) to gain an institution-based view of the business strategies pursued by the smaller Indian firms (Peng et al., 2008). The findings highlighted regulatory institutional influences at the home country, host country and trade policy levels. The findings from this study shed light on the notion of institutional entrepreneurship, thereby extending institutional theory to take into account the strategic behaviour of firms. The findings further emphasised the need to gain legitimacy in international markets as a means to gain access to resources and overcome the liabilities of foreignness and newness. In doing so, the findings from this study extended Mathews' (2006) 'linkage, leverage and learning' strategy to a 'linkage, leverage, learning and legitimising' strategy. Next, the findings from Research Question One extended the U-Model of internationalisation to highlight the importance of domestic market experience when gained in an institutionally complex market such as India. Finally, the findings highlighted the interaction between the path-dependent experience of the founders and the various dimensions of their managerial intentionality in managing the institutional influences on the firm. In studying organisational governance decisions (Research Question Two), transaction cost theory was used as the key conceptual perspective. This study used Williamson's (1975) governance continuum to understand the organisational governance decisions of smaller Indian firms. Interestingly, the findings emphasised a move away from the narrow comparative-efficiency framework developed by Williamson (1975), towards a more eclectic understanding of the effect of transaction costs. The findings highlighted the choice of governance modes not as discrete designs, but as those that overlap as a result of being influenced by institutions, the experience of the firm with a particular mode, the propensity to trust, the constraints on firm behaviour, the managerial intentionality of the founders and the need to gain local knowledge from network partners. In adopting this broader perspective, the findings addressed the call by Madhok (1997) to understand the choice of governance modes from more than a cost minimisation perspective. Hutzschenreuter, Pedersen and Volberda (2007) suggested that the role of managerial discretion to date is downplayed in existing IB literature and hence called for research to focus on the role of managerial intent in the strategies of established multinationals rather than on the process of 'becoming a multinational'. Research Question Three highlighted the moderating effect of managerial intentionality in managing the institutional influences and governance decisions of the firm. This study extended Hutzschenreuter et al.'s (2007) conceptualisation of managerial intentionality by emphasising the resilience as well as the reluctance of the founders (due to past experiences) as important in the emerging economy context. This study has practical implications for the case study firms as well as for potential entrants into India. Firstly, for the case study firms it is important to develop clear internationalisation strategies (as opposed to a reactive approach) due to the increasing competition both locally and internationally. Second, for the manufacturing firms, it is important to move beyond their pure low cost advantage. Partnering with other companies to leverage their resources and capabilities in international markets is one possibility. Third, for these firms to remain globally competitive, the sourcing of international talent is likely to increase their legitimacy and reduce their liability of foreignness. Finally, the continued liberalisation of the Indian economy has made it an attractive destination for foreign firms. While the case study companies have recognised the opportunities overseas, they should not ignore their domestic market where they enjoy a 'home court advantage'. For potential entrants into India, it is important to recognise the potential competitive advantage that local incumbents have with regard to the environment. Second, foreign firms entering India and competing with smaller players need to understand the subtleties of the market and tailor their strategies to meet local needs. Finally, while this study has made contributions to the field, the findings must be interpreted in light of the limitations of the study. First, this study focused on one key big emerging market; India. Further, within India only one key region was examined. The findings reflect the business strategies by firms domiciled in Bangalore. Hence future studies could extend this research to other emerging markets and other regions of India to gain a more detailed perspective. Second, given the qualitative nature of the study, only analytical generalisations can be made. However, these insights can provide a basis for future researchers to develop quantitative measures to test the inferences drawn. Finally, this study was cross sectional in nature. In order to gain a more detailed analysis on the effect of institutions, future researchers may consider a longitudinal design to capture the institutional transitions over time.

La tesis doctoral se refiere al proceso fundacional escasamente conocido por encontrarse sus fuentes primarias en los archivos de Londres y París de la población menorquina anteriormente denominada Georgetown, hoy Es Castell, planificada por el ingeniero militar escocés Patrick Mackellar en el puerto de Mahón durante la segunda dominación británica de la isla (1763-1782). Se trata de una labor de investigación que está estructurada en tres partes. En la primera, se realiza una aproximación al urbanismo de origen militar desarrollado por Gran Bretaña a lo largo de los siglos XVII y XVIII, coincidiendo con el auge de la artillería bélica. En este sentido es demostrable la influencia, en el plano teórico, de la supremacía militar de Francia y sobre todo, de la polifacética labor de Vauban reflejada, entre otras cuestiones, en los Manuales de Fortificación de obligatorio estudio durante la formación de los ingenieros militares británicos. Hasta el siglo XVIII, los ingenieros agrupados en torno a la Board Ordnance tuvieron escasas ocasiones de crear nuevas ciudades, fundamentalmente por dos razones. La primera, que Inglaterra no inició su expansión colonial hasta la resolución de sus problemas internos que finalizaron con la anexión de Irlanda y Escocia. La segunda, que su condición insular la obligó a basar la defensa de sus territorios en el desarrollo de una poderosa flota armada. Sin embargo, el modelo colonial inglés, basado en el protagonismo de las compañías comerciales, propicia la intervención de los ingenieros militares en las labores de planificación y verificación de los nuevos asentamientos del norte de Irlanda, la costa de Coromandel, el este norteamericano y las Antillas. La segunda línea de investigación incursiona en la vida del planificador de Georgetown, destacando su experiencia bélica en los frentes americanos durante la Guerra de los Siete Años (1756-1763). Gracias a su participación en las campañas militares, Patrick Mackellar conoce en primera persona las características del urbanismo practicado por Inglaterra y Francia en los territorios de ultramar, y se dota de un importante bagaje cultural que demostrará cuando, en su definitivo destino como Ingeniero-Jefe en Menorca, acomete la empresa de planificar y diseñar una nueva ciudad. La tercera línea de investigación se centra en el proceso fundacional de Georgetown. La operación basada en razones defensivas consistió en demoler un asentamiento surgido a los pies de la principal fortaleza de la Isla, y trasladar la morada de sus casi cuatro mil pobladores a una enclave prudentemente alejado de la fortificación. Llamada Vila Jordi por sus primeros moradores, Georgetown resultó un excelente ejemplo de pragmatismo urbanístico. La plaza central o génesis del asentamiento, se ubicó sobre una pequeña meseta portuaria que ya había sido elegida por un ingeniero militar galo durante la dominación francesa de la isla y se aprovechó el trazado de una antigua vía de comunicación territorial como eje longitudinal del nuevo conjunto urbano. Igualmente, el reparto de suelo se realizó en función del tamaño de las parcelas existentes en el pueblo anterior. Sin embargo, la atención a las gentes y a una geografía del lugar marcada por la costa portuaria, no impidió a Mackellar el desarrollo de un conjunto urbano de calles rectas, paralelas y jerarquizadas trazadas a partir de un espacio central conformado por las edificaciones propias de una ciudadela militar barroca. Tras una comparación formal con otras poblaciones estudiadas, el desarrollo de la tesis analiza, finalmente, los elementos principales de la población, tales como la anchura y distancia de las calles, los edificios cuarteleros y otras construcciones notables, la tipología residencial y la historia de la población en los dos últimos siglos. Como conclusión, el autor considera que el proyecto de Mackellar para Georgetown combina acertadamente las bases empíricas que lo sustentan con una variante del prototipo urbanístico aplicado en la colonización de Nueva Escocia como garantía de la satisfacción de las exigencias de orden y regularidad propias de la planificación militar y del urbanismo dieciochesco. Nacida entre la agonía del Antiguo Régimen y el estallido de las revoluciones americana y francesa, hija del Barroco y madre del urbanismo decimonónico, esta operación urbanística financiada por la corona inglesa fue el fruto de un compromiso, un proyecto de transición. ; The doctoral thesis refers to the foundation process quite unknown, as the first sources are in the archives of London and Paris of the Minorca's town before named Georgetown, nowadays known as Es Castell, planned by the Scottish military Engineer Patrick Mackellar in Mahon's harbour during the second british domination on the island (1763-1782). It is a research work and is structured in 3 parts. First part, it's an approximation to a source of military urbanism developed by Great Britain during the XVII and XVIII centuries, coinciding with the increase of war artillery. This is shown by the influence in the theoretical survey, of France's military supremacy and above all, the versatile labour of Vauban revealed, apart from other issues, by the Guides of Fortifications which were of compulsory study, for the british military engineers during their training. Until the XVIII century, the engineers round about the Board Ordnance had few occasions to create new towns, basically for two reasons. The first, is that England didn't begin its colonial expansion until it had solved its own internal problems, which came to an end with the annexation of Ireland and Scotland. The second, that it's insular status obliged it to base its defence of its territories in the development of a powerful navy. Nevertheless, the english colonial model, based on the commercial companies playing the main part, helped the intervention of the military engineers in the work of verifying and planning the new settlement in North Ireland, the Coromandel Coast, the east part of North America and the Antilles. The second line of research attacked the life of the planner of Georgetown, emphasising his war experience on the american front during the Seven-Year War (1756-1763). Thanks to his partaking in the military campaigns, Patrick Mackellar found out himself the characteristics of English and French development overseas, and he endowed himself with an important cultural knowledge which he revealed when, in his last post as Chief Engineer in Minorca, he undertook the designing and planning of a new town. The third research is centred in the foundational process of Georgetown. The transaction based on defensive reasons consisted in demolishing a settlement at the foot of the main fort of the island, and moves the homes of its almost 4.000 inhabitants to a more prudential area, away from the fort. Named Villa Jordi by its first inhabitants, Georgetown was an excellent example of city planning pragmatism. The central square or genesis of the settlement, was built on a small portside plateau which had already been chosen by a french military engineer during the France's domination of the island and, an old communicating land route, was made use of as an essential longitudinal part of the new urban unit. In the same manner the distribution of the ground was made according to the size of the existing plots in the old village. Nevertheless, the attention to the people and the geographical situation, marked by the port coastland, didn't stop Mackellar developing an urban unit with straight roads, parallel hierarchical layout from a central space, almost exactly like the buildings of a baroque military fortress. After a formal comparison with other populations under study, finally the thesis development analyses the principal elements of the population, like the length and the distance of the streets, the barrack buildings and other notable constructions, the residential types and the history of the population over the last two centuries. Concluding, the author considers that Mackellar's project for Georgetown, succeeds in combining the empirical bases that maintains it with a variation of the urban prototype applied in the colonization of New Scotland as a guarantee of satisfaction for the demand and regularity of a military planning as well as eighteenth century urbanism. Born between the agony of the Old Regime and the outburst of the american and French revolutions, daughter of the Baroque and mother of nineteenth century development, this town planning exploitation financed by the English Crown, was the result of a commitment, a design of the transitional period. ; Postprint (published version)

La tesis doctoral se refiere al proceso fundacional escasamente conocido por encontrarse sus fuentes primarias en los archivos de Londres y París de la población menorquina anteriormente denominada Georgetown, hoy Es Castell, planificada por el ingeniero militar escocés Patrick Mackellar en el puerto de Mahón durante la segunda dominación británica de la isla (1763-1782). Se trata de una labor de investigación que está estructurada en tres partes. En la primera, se realiza una aproximación al urbanismo de origen militar desarrollado por Gran Bretaña a lo largo de los siglos XVII y XVIII, coincidiendo con el auge de la artillería bélica. En este sentido es demostrable la influencia, en el plano teórico, de la supremacía militar de Francia y sobre todo, de la polifacética labor de Vauban reflejada, entre otras cuestiones, en los Manuales de Fortificación de obligatorio estudio durante la formación de los ingenieros militares británicos. Hasta el siglo XVIII, los ingenieros agrupados en torno a la Board Ordnance tuvieron escasas ocasiones de crear nuevas ciudades, fundamentalmente por dos razones. La primera, que Inglaterra no inició su expansión colonial hasta la resolución de sus problemas internos que finalizaron con la anexión de Irlanda y Escocia. La segunda, que su condición insular la obligó a basar la defensa de sus territorios en el desarrollo de una poderosa flota armada. Sin embargo, el modelo colonial inglés, basado en el protagonismo de las compañías comerciales, propicia la intervención de los ingenieros militares en las labores de planificación y verificación de los nuevos asentamientos del norte de Irlanda, la costa de Coromandel, el este norteamericano y las Antillas. La segunda línea de investigación incursiona en la vida del planificador de Georgetown, destacando su experiencia bélica en los frentes americanos durante la Guerra de los Siete Años (1756-1763). Gracias a su participación en las campañas militares, Patrick Mackellar conoce en primera persona las características del urbanismo practicado por Inglaterra y Francia en los territorios de ultramar, y se dota de un importante bagaje cultural que demostrará cuando, en su definitivo destino como Ingeniero-Jefe en Menorca, acomete la empresa de planificar y diseñar una nueva ciudad. La tercera línea de investigación se centra en el proceso fundacional de Georgetown. La operación basada en razones defensivas consistió en demoler un asentamiento surgido a los pies de la principal fortaleza de la Isla, y trasladar la morada de sus casi cuatro mil pobladores a una enclave prudentemente alejado de la fortificación. Llamada Vila Jordi por sus primeros moradores, Georgetown resultó un excelente ejemplo de pragmatismo urbanístico. La plaza central o génesis del asentamiento, se ubicó sobre una pequeña meseta portuaria que ya había sido elegida por un ingeniero militar galo durante la dominación francesa de la isla y se aprovechó el trazado de una antigua vía de comunicación territorial como eje longitudinal del nuevo conjunto urbano. Igualmente, el reparto de suelo se realizó en función del tamaño de las parcelas existentes en el pueblo anterior. Sin embargo, la atención a las gentes y a una geografía del lugar marcada por la costa portuaria, no impidió a Mackellar el desarrollo de un conjunto urbano de calles rectas, paralelas y jerarquizadas trazadas a partir de un espacio central conformado por las edificaciones propias de una ciudadela militar barroca. Tras una comparación formal con otras poblaciones estudiadas, el desarrollo de la tesis analiza, finalmente, los elementos principales de la población, tales como la anchura y distancia de las calles, los edificios cuarteleros y otras construcciones notables, la tipología residencial y la historia de la población en los dos últimos siglos. Como conclusión, el autor considera que el proyecto de Mackellar para Georgetown combina acertadamente las bases empíricas que lo sustentan con una variante del prototipo urbanístico aplicado en la colonización de Nueva Escocia como garantía de la satisfacción de las exigencias de orden y regularidad propias de la planificación militar y del urbanismo dieciochesco. Nacida entre la agonía del Antiguo Régimen y el estallido de las revoluciones americana y francesa, hija del Barroco y madre del urbanismo decimonónico, esta operación urbanística financiada por la corona inglesa fue el fruto de un compromiso, un proyecto de transición. ; The doctoral thesis refers to the foundation process quite unknown, as the first sources are in the archives of London and Paris of the Minorca's town before named Georgetown, nowadays known as Es Castell, planned by the Scottish military Engineer Patrick Mackellar in Mahon's harbour during the second british domination on the island (1763-1782). It is a research work and is structured in 3 parts. First part, it's an approximation to a source of military urbanism developed by Great Britain during the XVII and XVIII centuries, coinciding with the increase of war artillery. This is shown by the influence in the theoretical survey, of France's military supremacy and above all, the versatile labour of Vauban revealed, apart from other issues, by the Guides of Fortifications which were of compulsory study, for the british military engineers during their training. Until the XVIII century, the engineers round about the Board Ordnance had few occasions to create new towns, basically for two reasons. The first, is that England didn't begin its colonial expansion until it had solved its own internal problems, which came to an end with the annexation of Ireland and Scotland. The second, that it's insular status obliged it to base its defence of its territories in the development of a powerful navy. Nevertheless, the english colonial model, based on the commercial companies playing the main part, helped the intervention of the military engineers in the work of verifying and planning the new settlement in North Ireland, the Coromandel Coast, the east part of North America and the Antilles. The second line of research attacked the life of the planner of Georgetown, emphasising his war experience on the american front during the Seven-Year War (1756-1763). Thanks to his partaking in the military campaigns, Patrick Mackellar found out himself the characteristics of English and French development overseas, and he endowed himself with an important cultural knowledge which he revealed when, in his last post as Chief Engineer in Minorca, he undertook the designing and planning of a new town. The third research is centred in the foundational process of Georgetown. The transaction based on defensive reasons consisted in demolishing a settlement at the foot of the main fort of the island, and moves the homes of its almost 4.000 inhabitants to a more prudential area, away from the fort. Named Villa Jordi by its first inhabitants, Georgetown was an excellent example of city planning pragmatism. The central square or genesis of the settlement, was built on a small portside plateau which had already been chosen by a french military engineer during the France's domination of the island and, an old communicating land route, was made use of as an essential longitudinal part of the new urban unit. In the same manner the distribution of the ground was made according to the size of the existing plots in the old village. Nevertheless, the attention to the people and the geographical situation, marked by the port coastland, didn't stop Mackellar developing an urban unit with straight roads, parallel hierarchical layout from a central space, almost exactly like the buildings of a baroque military fortress. After a formal comparison with other populations under study, finally the thesis development analyses the principal elements of the population, like the length and the distance of the streets, the barrack buildings and other notable constructions, the residential types and the history of the population over the last two centuries. Concluding, the author considers that Mackellar's project for Georgetown, succeeds in combining the empirical bases that maintains it with a variation of the urban prototype applied in the colonization of New Scotland as a guarantee of satisfaction for the demand and regularity of a military planning as well as eighteenth century urbanism. Born between the agony of the Old Regime and the outburst of the american and French revolutions, daughter of the Baroque and mother of nineteenth century development, this town planning exploitation financed by the English Crown, was the result of a commitment, a design of the transitional period. ; Postprint (published version)

The advanced state of land degradation affecting more than 3,200 million people worldwide have raised great international concern regarding the sustainability of socio-ecological systems, urging the large-scale adoption of contextualized sustainable land management. The agricultural industrial model is a major cause of land degradation due to the promotion of unsustainable management practices that deteriorate the quality of soils compromising their capacity to function and deliver ecosystem services. The consequences derived from land degradation are especially devastating in semi-arid regions prone to desertification, where rainfall scarcity and irregularity intensifies crop failure risks and resource degradation, compromising the long term sustainability of these regions. Regenerative agriculture (RA) has recently gained increasing recognition as a plausible solution to restore degraded agroecosystems worldwide. RA is a farming approach foreseen to reverse land degradation, increase biodiversity, boost production and enhance the delivery of multiple ecosystem services by following a series of soil quality restoration principles and practices. Despite its promising benefits, RA has been limitedly adopted in semiarid regions. Major reasons explaining this seemingly incongruous mismatch are the scarce and contrasting empirical data proving its effectiveness, top-down research approaches and lack of farmer involvement in agroecosystem restoration projects and decision-making, and the generally slow response of soils to management changes in semiarid regions, which may delay the appearance of visible results discouraging farmers from adopting RA. In the high steppe plateau of southeast Spain, an on-going process of large-scale landscape restoration through adoption of regenerative agriculture was initiated in 2015. The high steppe plateau is one of the European regions most affected by land degradation and desertification processes and represents one of the world´s largest areas for the production of rainfed organic almonds. In 2015, local farmers created the AlVelAl association with the support of the Commonland Foundation, business entrepreneurs, regional governments, and research institutions, and started to apply RA at their farms. The objective was to restore vast extensions of degraded land for increasing the productivity and biodiversity of their agroecosystems, increasing the resilience to climate change, generating job opportunities and enhancing social cohesion in the region, in a time frame of 20 years following Commonlands´ 4-Returns approach. However, the limited empirical information supporting RA effectiveness, the lack of reference examples in the region, and the slowness with which visible ecological restoration processes usually occur in semiarid regions were considered major obstacles hindering RA adoption in the region. To effectively address this knowledge gap, support farmers and expedite RA adoption, this research proposed horizontal research fostering the creation of learning communities between farmers and researchers, putting together local and scientific knowledge to improve the understanding of RA. This thesis presents a participatory monitoring and evaluation research (PM&E) applying a combination of social and ecological methods to evaluate the potential of PM&E to enhance knowledge exchange between farmers and researchers on Regenerative Agriculture in the context of the high steppe plateau. The aim of this thesis is twofold: on one hand, to increase the understanding on RA impacts, on the other hand, to evaluate the potential contribution of PM&E to enable social learning and contribute to the adaptation and long term adoption of RA in the high steppe plateau and semiarid regions in general. To facilitate PM&E of the impacts of sustainable land management and agricultural innovations like RA, Chapter 2 presents a participatory methodological framework that guides the identification and selection of technical and local indicators of soil quality, generating a monitoring system of soil quality for PM&E by farmers and researchers. The methodological framework includes the development of a visual soil assessment tool integrating local indicators of soil quality for farmers´ monitoring. The framework consists of 7 phases: 1) Definition of research and monitoring objectives; 2) Identification, selection and prioritization of Technical Indicators of Soil Quality (TISQ); 3) Identification, selection and prioritization of Local Indicators of Soil Quality; 4) Development of a visual soil assessment tool integrating LISQ; 5) Testing and validation of the visual soil evaluation tool; 6) Monitoring and assessment of sustainable land management impacts by researchers and farmers using TISQ and the visual soil evaluation tool respectively and; 7) Exchange of monitoring results between all involved participants, and joint evaluation of impacts. To facilitate PM&E of RA in the steppe highlands, Phases 1 to 5 were applied through a series of participatory methods including a first meeting with AlVelAl board members for the definition of research objectives, farm visits, participatory workshops, and conducting formal and informal interviews, among others. Technical indicators of soil quality were identified, selected and prioritized by researchers through an extensive literature review and ad-hoc expert consultation with expertise in soil quality assessment and monitoring. Local indicators of soil quality were identified, selected, prioritized and validated by farmers in two participatory workshops. The co-developed visual soil assessment tool, named the farmer manual, was tested and validated during the second workshop. Local indicators selected by farmers focused mostly on supporting, regulating and provisioning ecosystem services including water regulation, erosion control, soil fertility and crop performance. Technical indicators selected by researchers focused mostly on soil properties including aggregate stability, soil nutrients, microbial biomass and activity, and leaf nutrients, covering crucial supporting services. The combination of local and technical indicators provided complementary information, improving the coverage and feasibility of RA impact assessment, compared to using technical or local indicators alone. The methodological framework developed in this chapter facilitated the identification and selection of local and technical indicators of soil quality to generate relevant monitoring systems and visual soil assessment tools adapted to local contexts, thus improving knowledge exchange and mutual learning between farmers and researchers to support the implementation of RA and optimize the provision of ecosystem services. Implementation of RA usually happens gradually due to socioeconomic, informational, practical, environmental and political constraints Thus, RA adoption by farmers, in practice, translates into different combinations of RA practices, with a diversity of management, based on farmer capabilities, environmental conditions, and expected restoration results. To help the design, adoption and implementation of most effective RA practices to optimize the restoration of agroecosystems, Chapter 3 presents the impacts of the different combinations of RA practices implemented by participating farmers on crucial soil quality and crop performance indicators using previously selected technical indicators of soil quality over a period of 2 years. This chapter corresponds to the application of phase 6 of the methodological framework developed in Chapter 2. RA impacts were assessed in 9 farms on one field with regenerative management and one nearby field with conventional management based on frequent tillage, that were selected together with farmers. Fields were clustered under regenerative management based on the RA practices applied and distinguished 4 types of RA treatments: 1) reduced tillage with green manure (GM), 2) reduced tillage with organic amendments (OA), 3) reduced tillage with green manure and organic amendments (GM&OA), and 4) no tillage with permanent natural covers and organic amendments (NT&OA). The impacts of RA compared to conventional management were evaluated by comparing physical (bulk density and aggregate stability), chemical (pH, salinity, total N, P, K, available P, and exchangeable cations) and biological (SOC, POC, PON, microbial activity) properties of soil quality, and the nutritional status of almond trees (leaf N, P and K). Our results show that GM improved soil physical properties, presenting higher soil aggregate stability. We found that OA improved most soil chemical and biological properties, showing higher contents of SOC, POC, PON, total N, K, P, available P, exchangeable cations and microbial respiration. RA treatments combining ground covers and organic amendments (GM&OA and NT&OA) exhibited greater overall soil quality restoration than individual practices. NT&OA stood out for presenting the highest soil quality improvements. All RA treatments maintained similar crop nutritional status compared to conventional management. We concluded that RA has strong potential to restore the physical, chemical and biological quality of soils of woody agroecosystems in Mediterranean drylands without compromising their nutritional status. Furthermore, farming management combinations of multiple regenerative practices are expected to be more effective than applying individual RA practices. In parallel to researchers´ assessment of RA impacts, farmers assessed RA impacts in their farms by using the farmer manual jointly developed in participatory workshops. Chapter 4 presents the RA impact results from farmers´ assessment, and documented farmers´ insights, in the third year of PM&E, on the visual soil assessment process using the farmer manual, and on PM&E outcomes regarding the facilitation of participation and learning processes. This chapter corresponds to the application of phase 6 and phase 7 of the methodological framework developed in Chapter 2. Farmers´ visual soil assessment indicated regenerative agriculture as a promising solution to restore degraded agroecosystems in semiarid Mediterranean drylands, although observed soil quality improvements were relatively small compared to conventional management, and more time and efforts are needed to attain desired restoration targets. The monitoring results on RA reported by farmers were complementary to researchers´ findings using technical indicators of soil quality. Farmers' evaluation of the research project highlighted the PM&E research as an educational process that helped them look differently at their land and their restoration efforts and facilitated the creation of relationships of support and trust, learning and capacity building that are fundamental conducive conditions to enhance farming innovation efficiency and adoption. Farmers confirmed that generating spaces for farmer-to-farmer diffusion of knowledge and on-farm experiences is a key driver to expedite farming testing and adoption of innovations. Farmers insights revealed the need to actively involve them in all decision making phases of VSA tools and support them in initial implementation, in order to develop tools that meet farmers´ needs, to enhance VSA tool adoption, and facilitate reaching restoration goals. Furthermore, farmers´ evaluation of the farmer manual suggested the need to reinforce the multipurpose usefulness and potential benefits of collectively recording restoration progress in a systematized way, to enhance VSA tool adoption. Farmers´ insights on the PM&E research reinforces the importance of developing learning communities of farmers and researchers that provide a platform for exchange of experiences and support, as a crucial factor to favor social learning and support the adoption of long-term agricultural innovations. The success of PM&E research for agroecosystem restoration can be improved by integrating iterative phases where farmers can evaluate and adjust research activities and outcomes. We concluded that the process of PM&E that leads to enhanced social capital, social learning and improved understanding of restoration efforts has as much value as the actual restoration outcomes on the ground. Social learning is considered an important precondition for the adoption of contextualized sustainable land management and farming innovations like RA. The main objective of involving farmers and researchers in PM&E of RA was to enable social learning for enhanced understanding of RA impacts and support adoption of RA. Although there is a growing body of literature asserting the achievement of social learning through participatory processes, social learning has been loosely defined, sparsely assessed, and only partially covered when measured. Confirming that a participatory process has favored social learning implies demonstrating that there has been an acquisition of knowledge and change in perceptions at individual and collective level in the people involved in the participatory process, and that this change in perceptions has been generated through social relations. Chapter 5 presents an assessment of how the PM&E research process enabled social learning by effectively increasing knowledge exchange and understanding of RA impacts between participating farmers and researchers, and multiple stakeholders of farmers´ social networks. Occurrence of social learning was assessed by covering its social-cognitive (perceptions) and social-relational (social networks) dimensions. This chapter discusses the potential of PM&E to foster adoption and out-scaling of sustainable land management and farming innovations like RA by promoting the generation of information fluxes between farmers and researchers participating in PM&E and the agricultural community of which they form part. To assess changes in farmers´ perceptions and shared fluxes of information on RA before starting the PM&E and after three years of research, we applied fuzzy cognitive mapping and social network analysis as graphical semi-quantitative methods. Our results showed that PM&E enabled social learning amongst participating farmers who strengthened and enlarged their social networks on information sharing, and presented a more complex and broader common understanding of regenerative agriculture impacts and benefits. This supports the idea that PM&E thereby creates crucial preconditions for the adoption and out-scaling of RA. This study was one of the first studies in the field of natural resource management and innovation adoption proving that social learning occurred by providing evidence of both the socialcognitive and social-relational dimension. Our findings are relevant for the design of PM&E processes, agroecosystem Living Labs, and landscape restoration initiatives that aim to support farmers´ adoption and out-scaling of contextualized farming innovations and sustainable land management. We concluded that PM&E where the democratic involvement of participants is the bedrock of the whole research process and the needs and concerns of the farming community are taken as the basis for collaborative research represents a great opportunity to generate inclusive, engaging, efficient, and sound restoration processes and transitions towards sustainable and resilient agroecosystems.

Though New Zealand author Janet Frame (1924-2004) lived at a time of growing dissatisfaction with purely Western (i.e. European) cultural models, her work has so far never been examined from the vantage point of its indebtedness to Eastern epistemologies, and to Buddhism in particular. Even though it is possible to establish links between an author and a given system of thought (Heidegger's for instance) without necessarily buttressing the comparison from a factual perspective, in this case, the author's (auto-)biography, her fiction and letters, as well as the circles of Buddhists or Buddhist-sympathizers in which she evolved at a given time, all testify to the fact that a direct encounter between Janet Frame and Buddhism did occur. It can thus be affirmed that, just like W.B. Yeats, C.G. Jung, Heidegger and many others before her, one of the most striking personalities of the 20th century was drawn eastward. The relevance of this study to Janet Frame scholarship resides not only in its politicized angle of approach but also, more importantly, in the fresh light it sheds on entire segments of the Framean corpus which have tended to remain obdurately mysterious; this includes passages centering on e.g. the existence of a non-dual world, a reality un-harnessed by the partial categories of empirical thinking, on a character's sudden embrace of a non-ego-like self, or on the jolting back of distracted individuals into an awareness of their physical reality in 'this' profane world. On the whole, and despite this apparent profusion of themes, my concern is to show that these obscure passages, as well as many other key moments in the narratives, all coalesce into a systematic deconstruction of empirical thinking and its point of anchorage in a discriminating kind of consciousness, both notions forming excellent points of entry into virtually all the texts produced by Frame. Through a careful mapping of the impact of discriminating habits of thought on the self's place of being in the world and perception thereof, this work clarifies, or rather reconstructs, the narratological architecture of the studied texts – especially the novels – quite apart from the somewhat restrictive view, held in some circles of literary criticism, that they are mazes of random turnabouts and dead-ends where narrotological playfulness is valorized for its own sake. To provide just one example of how a study of Janet Frame via Buddhist thought facilitates the navigation of the author's intricate novels, the idea in Buddhism that the artist is the bow that shoots the arrows, but then s/he is the target also, is a useful starting point for analyzing the seminal "Jan Godrey" (one of Frame's best known short stories) in which a terrified author-figure finally allows her creature of words, described as an alien inside, to take full control of the speaking position. A contrario, Thora Pattern's willingness in The Edge of the Alphabet to trap her creation within neat academic cages of words (as she calls them) spawns images of a hellish self-scape of containment which translate in an endless regression of framed frames since her attitude is paralleled by some of her own creatures of words and by the Christian God Himself – each at his or her level of being and of influence. But that is not all for, in a last turn of the screw, and pace the critics who diminish their roles in the narrative, Thora's characters rebel against their creator, and they succeed in jamming her creative incarcerating mechanisms so that, by the end of the novel, the author-figure is no longer able to exist without the not-self. This dialectics of un/framing, in which a discriminating consciousness battles against the invading otherness of the non-dual, unharnessed world in all its manifestations, is one which typically informs the Framean corpus although, of course, the architecture of enactments it gives birth to is as varied as it is unpredictable. The idea, which Frame shares with Buddhism or with Nietzsche (who, incidentally, owes an intellectual debt to Buddhism), that most of the human existence is characterized by the "will to power," i.e. by the drive to take full possession of one's chosen place of being, is rather unflattering for her fellow human beings. In another sense, the author's conception of our (in-)humanity as being made up of an accretion of egotistic habits that can be unlearned certainly explains why, in her oeuvre, a liberation from totalizing structures demands an encounter with the negative of place, of identity, of vision, of sound, of fullness, of shape, of well-worn mind-routes and, as we saw in the last chapter, with the negation of negation. Often, it takes no less than a rebellion of the supposedly harnessed reality to disorient a protagonist's dualistic bearings or to jam an artist's incarcerating mechanisms; and this, in part, accounts for the extreme physicality encoded in a fiction replete with moments of thumping or bashing – indeed with the promise of a cut finger. Still pondering the centrality of 'unframed' or 'ego-less' modes of being, each of the nine chapters that constitute this work aims at countering the oft-recurring claim that Frame's oeuvre is studded with traces of a 'beyond' which no character can ever approach because 'one cannot explore beyond'. By this definition, each of the questing selves that clutters the author's haunting universe is condemned to failure beforehand, as it were, while concomitantly the Framean text itself is deemed to be bleak, defeatist, even nihilistic. Therefore, it is of the utmost significance that a Buddhist navigation of Frame's texts should lead one to the conclusion that this unharnessed world which human beings are often unable to apprehend and embrace has always been right under their nose so that, between 'this' world of limited perceptions and 'that' world of the beyond, the boundary is as thick or as thin as the walls of a self-made conceptual prison. Indeed, whenever the aspect of the intellect that filters perceptions into mutually excluding categories fails to function, or is willingly jettisoned by a protagonist, s/he finds a place of subjective arrival in, and sees, this supposedly unknowable 'beyond'. Thus, possibly against the grain of mainstream criticism, this study argues that Janet Frame constantly seeks ways through which the infinite and the Other can be approached, though not corrupted, by the perceiving self, and that she found in the Buddhist epistemology a pathway towards grasping such alterity. ; Bien que l'écrivain Néo-Zélandais Janet Frame (1924-2004) ait vécu à une époque d'insatisfaction grandissante à l'encontre des modèles culturels purement occidentaux (c.-à-d. européens), son œuvre n'a jusqu'à ce jour jamais été examinée du point de vue de sa proximité aux épistémologies orientales, et au bouddhisme en particulier. Alors qu'il est possible d'argumenter une comparaison entre un auteur et un système de pensée (celle d'Heidegger par exemple) sans que les liens ne soient avérés d'un point de vue factuel, dans le cas qui nous intéresse, l'(auto)biographie de l'auteur, sa fiction et ses lettres, ainsi que les cercles de bouddhistes ou de sympathisants bouddhistes dans lesquels elle évolua à une certaine époque, attestent du fait qu'un contact direct entre Janet Frame et le bouddhisme eut lieu. Il est par conséquent certain que, tout comme W.B. Yeats, C.G. Jung, Heidegger, et d'autres encore, l'une des personnalités les plus marquantes du 20ième siècle a été attirée par l'Orient. La pertinence de ce travail pour les études framéennes réside donc dans son angle d'approche politisé mais plus encore dans l'éclairage novateur qu'il porte sur ces segments entiers de l'œuvre de Janet Frame qui tendent à demeurer résolument mystérieux, entre autres des passages se focalisant sur l'existence d'un monde « non-dual », « non-harnaché » par les catégories partiales de la pensée empirique, ou encore sur l'adoption soudaine par un protagoniste d'un « soi » au-delà de l'égo, sur la re-sensibilisation fracassante des consciences distraites à leur réalité physique dans ce monde profane. De manière générale, et ce malgré l'apparente profusion de thématiques, mon souci est de montrer que ces passages obscurs, de même que nombre d'autres moments clés des narrations, tous convergent en une déconstruction systématique de la pensée empirique et de son siège en la conscience discriminante, les deux notions formant d'excellents points d'entrée vers virtuellement tous les textes produits par Frame. Au travers d'une cartographie consciencieuse de l'impact des habitudes de pensée discriminatoire sur la place de l'être dans le monde et sur sa perception de celui-ci, ce travail clarifie, ou plutôt reconstruit, l'architecture narrative des textes étudiés, particulièrement les romans, à l'écart de l'avis soutenu dans certains cercles littéraires qu'ils sont dédales aléatoires d'impasses et de tournants où le jeu narratologique est valorisé en soi. Pour donner un exemple de la manière dont une étude de Janet Frame par la pensée bouddhiste facilite la navigation des romans complexes de l'auteur, l'idée dans le bouddhisme que l'artiste est un arc pour les flèches de la création et en est la cible également est un point de départ utile pour l'analyse de la séminale « Jan Godfrey » (une des nouvelles les plus connues de Frame) dans laquelle un personnage-auteur apeuré autorise finalement sa créature de mots à prendre le contrôle absolu de la position de parole. A contrario, la propension de Thora Pattern dans The Edge of the Alphabet à capturer sa création dans des cages de mots académiques bien nettes (comme elle les appelle) évoque, image sur image, un infernal paysage intérieur de confinement qui se traduit en une régression infinie de cadres encadrés, puisque l'attitude de Thora suit une trajectoire semblable à celle de certaines de ses créatures de mots et du Dieu chrétien lui-même, chacun dans sa propre sphère d'être et d'influence. Ceci n'est pas tout car, au dernier moment, et ce malgré la tendance des critiques à diminuer leurs rôle dans la narration, les personnages de Thora se rebellent contre leur créateur, et ils réussissent à enrayer ses mécanismes d'incarcération créative si bien que, à la fin du roman, elle cesse de pouvoir exister à distance du « non-soi ». La dialectique de dés-incarcération, en vertu de laquelle une conscience discriminante lutte contre les multiples manifestations de cet envahissant autre qu'est le monde non-dual, imprègne typiquement le corpus framéen quoique, bien entendu, l'architecture ainsi engendrée est aussi variée qu'imprévisible. L'idée de Frame, qu'elle partage avec le bouddhisme et avec Nietzsche (qui, soit dit en passant, a une dette intellectuelle envers le bouddhisme), selon laquelle l'existence humaine se caractérise par un désir de pouvoir, par une volonté d'assumer l'entière possession d'une place d'être soigneusement choisie, est peu flatteuse. D'un autre côté, la conception qu'a l'auteur que notre (in-)humanité est faite d'une accrétion d'habitudes égotiques qui peuvent être désapprises explique certainement pourquoi, dans son œuvre, une libération des structures totalisantes demande une rencontre avec le négatif du lieu d'être, de l'identité, de la vision, du son, de la plénitude, de la forme, de toutes les routes usées de la pensée et, enfin, de la négation de la négation. Souvent, donc, il ne faut pas moins qu'une rébellion de la réalité supposée enchaînée (par l'esprit empirique) pour confondre l'orientation dualiste d'un protagoniste ou pour enrayer les mécanismes d'incarcération d'un artiste, et ceci explique en partie la physicalité extrême qui est encodée dans une fiction repue de raclées et autres corrections, et même d'une promesse d'un doigt coupé. Toujours en considérant la centralité des modes d'êtres « déharnachés » au-delà de l'ego, chacun des neuf chapitres qui constituent ce travail tentera de contrer l'assertion bien répandue dans la critique que l'œuvre de Frame est saturée de signes d'un monde supérieur qu'aucun protagoniste ne peut jamais approcher car « on ne peut explorer au-delà ». Selon cette définition, les êtres en quête d'un meilleur et qui peuplent l'univers étrange de l'auteur sont condamnés, pour ainsi dire, par avance à l'échec pendant que, de manière concomitante, le texte framéen est lui targué de sombre, de défaitiste et même de nihiliste. Par conséquent, il est plus que significatif qu'une navigation bouddhiste des textes de Frame conduise à la conclusion que ce monde non harnaché par la pensée cartésienne que l'homme peut si difficilement appréhender est, en fait, juste sous son nez, si bien qu'entre ce monde-ci des perceptions limitées et le monde au-delà, la frontière est aussi fine, ou épaisse, que les murs d'une prison conceptuelle. En effet, dès que l'aspect de l'intellect qui filtre les perceptions en autant de catégories exclusives oublie de fonctionner, ou est sciemment rejeté par un protagoniste, il ou elle trouve enfin un authentique lieu d'être et il ou elle voit ce soi-disant inconnaissable au-delà. Donc, possiblement à contre courant de la critique dominante, cette étude argumente que Janet Frame cherche inlassablement comment l'infini et l'autre peuvent être appréhendés, mais non corrompus, et qu'elle a trouvé, au travers de l'épistémologie bouddhiste, un chemin vers cette altérité.

The geo-economy presents Lebanon with challenges associated with being a nexus for regional fault lines and risks from its dependence on capital inflows. Despite markedly improved security conditions since the start of 2015, anxiety over regional turmoil and potential spillover effectspersist. All the while, Lebanon continues to be, by far, the largest host of Syrian refugees (in proportion to the population). In addition, the economy's dependence on its diaspora to finance internal and external imbalances exposes Lebanon to economic and political conditions beyond its influence. Despite these challenges and risks, the political process remains impaired with the vacant presidency completing its second year with uncertain prospects of a near-term resolution. On the other hand, a short-term solution has been found to the garbage crisis that has left piles of trash uncollected on the streets across the country since summer 2015. The Lebanon Economic Monitor provides an update on key economic developments and policies over the past six months. It also presents findings from recent World Bank work on Lebanon. It places them in a longer-term and global context, and assesses the implications of these developments and other changes in policy on the outlook for Lebanon. Its coverage ranges from the macro-economy to financial markets to indicators of human welfare and development.

During the past decade, Georgia's pursuit of economic reforms led to impressive economic growth, capital inflow, and investments. It helped improve the business environment and infrastructure, strengthened public finances, and liberalized trade. Georgia achieved most of the human development targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This progress did not result, however, in improved environmental governance or better management of natural resources. Nowadays, environmental policies are receiving increasing attention from Georgian policy and decision makers, recognizing that sustainable development is about a profound change of policies that drive systemic transformation of production, consumption, and behavioral patterns. The list of the country's environmental challenges is long. Current policies and instruments lack the rigor to effectively reduce pressures on natural assets and protect public health from poor environmental quality. Georgia does not have a comprehensive assessment of the cost of inaction to environmental degradation linking it to economic growth, poverty, and shared prosperity. This is a central issue on which the Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) is focused. The main objective of the CEA is to assist the government, civil society, and development partners of Georgia in identifying and analyzing critical environmental constraints to sustainable growth and shared prosperity. Georgia's Country Partnership Strategy for 2014-2017 points to lagging public policies on protecting the environment and natural resources, against impressive economic growth. It further highlights several areas needing attention, such as air and water quality, waste management, land and landscape management, and nature resource use and protection.

After several years of strong economic performance, Zambia now confronts several important challenges that must be managed carefully to ensure sustained and inclusive growth in the future. On the one hand, the economy grew by an estimated 5.5–6.0 percent in 2014, somewhat above the average for African economies. Monthly copper production increased by an average of 8 percent during the second half of 2014, reversing the sharp slide in early 2014. Inflation fell to 7.2 percent in March and April, helped both by falling world oil prices and by the Bank of Zambia's monetary tightening. In the first half of 2015, the authorities adjusted several key economic policies to respond to serious problems: revising rules on VAT refunds in February, announcing a new mining fiscal regime in April, and raising fuel prices in May so that the government could recover import costs. On the other hand, the kwacha has come under renewed pressure. It lost 17 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar from December 2014 through the end of March 2015. Since then it has recovered somewhat, but foreign exchange markets remain volatile. Interest rates have been rising since September 2014, due in part to increased government borrowing and in part to steps taken by the Bank of Zambia to tighten credit. Over the medium term, growth should hold steady in 2015 and then accelerate to around 6–7 percent per year in 2016–2018. Although inflation is expected to rise towards the end of 2015, it should resume falling in 2016. Low commodity prices, a more stable exchange rate, and adequate local harvests would help contain inflationary pressures and boost real disposable incomes. The resulting pick-up in private consumption, coupled with increasing copper exports, should help strengthen growth prospects.