Postcolonial readings of resistance and negotiation in selected contemporary African writing

Cette dissertation traite des (re)configurations postcoloniales de la r��sistance et de la n��gociation comme concepts permettant d���aborder les repr��sentations des conflits nationaux dans les litt��ratures Africaines contemporaines. Ensemble, ces concepts ouvrent de nouvelles voix et possibilit��s de se rem��morer, de raconter, et de lire la violence en probl��matisant non seulement les discours sur la guerre civile en Afrique, mais aussi les conceptions d���histoire nationale, de la m��moire, et de leur repr��sentation. Si cette ��tude cherche �� reconfigurer la n��gociation et la r��sistance au-del�� des d��finitions qui tendent �� les opposer, elle se consacre surtout �� d��velopper la notion de n��gociation comme strat��gie de d��passement, de lecture, et d�����criture, qui, n��anmoins, ne vise pas de r��solution. La n��gociation implique ainsi une conception pluraliste d���un pouvoir d���action sociale, politique, et culturelle. Cette dissertation avance que la n��gociation est un concept d�����criture et de lecture qui intervient dans les ��v��nements, discours, et pratiques de rem��moration en prenant compte de leurs multiplicit��s et d��finitions instables. Cette ��tude explore les mani��res selon lesquelles Nuruddin Farah, Chenjerai Hove, Yvonne Vera, Chimamanda Adichie, et Sefi Atta d��ploient la n��gociation et la r��sistance comme outils d���engagement esth��tique et sociopolitique dans la narration de la violence en Somalie, au Zimbabwe, et au Nigeria. En outre, la n��gociation marque mon analyse de l���intervention des textes dans les discours d���historiographie et de repr��sentation. Si ces romans mettent en exergue la g��n��alogie complexe du conflit postcolonial, ils n��gocient aussi les implications multiples, incluant la leur, dans les questions probl��matiques de la responsabilit�� et de la repr��sentation. La vii n��gociation repr��sente un acte conscient �� travers lequel nous reconnaissons l���instabilit�� de toute bataille politique, morale, ou ��thique sans pour autant c��der �� un cynisme paralysant. De par son approche n��goci��e et interdisciplinaire, cette dissertation ne fait pas qu���entrer en d��bat avec des discours multiples des ��tudes postcoloniales, Africaines, et litt��raires. Elle intervient aussi dans les conceptions de la nation, la violence, la m��moire, la responsabilit��, et la justice selon les ��tudes philosophiques, politiques, et culturelles. Outre les critiques litt��raires, les chapitres interrogent les th��ories de penseurs tels Ngugi wa Thiong���o, David Jefferess, Pheng Cheah, et Wole Soyinka. Cette approche ��clectique refl��te l���attention des romans �� la complexit�� irr��ductible des responsabilit��s individuelles et collectives dans les r��cits d���histoire et d���appartenance nationales. Cet engagement n��goci�� avec les questions entourant la postcolonialit��, malgr�� la dominance actuelle des discours de la globalisation, permet de reconceptualiser l���approche postcoloniale pour contrer les analyses d��historis��es et d��contextualis��es des conflits sociopolitiques en Afrique. Le chapitre 1 ��labore les concepts cl��s de la dissertation. Le chapitre 2 explore la r��sistance et la n��gociation dans le langage figur�� m��tonymique dans les repr��sentations de la guerre en Somalie. Le chapitre 3 se consacre �� l���analyse de la figure de la spectralit�� dans la narration de l���histoire et de la violence nationales au Zimbabwe. Finalement, le chapitre 4 n��gocie les concepts de repr��sentation et de responsabilit�� dans les r��cits du trauma postcolonial au Nigeria. viii Mots-cl��s : n��gociation, r��sistance, litt��ratures africaines, violence, responsabilit��, nation, repr��sentation

Building Blocks : Children's Literature and the Formation of a Nation, 1750-1825

��Building Blocks: Children���s Literature and the Formation of a Nation, 1750-1825�� examine la fa��on dont la litt��rature pour enfants impr��gne les jeunes lecteurs avec un sens de nationalisme et d'identit�� nationale �� travers la compr��hension des espaces et des relations spatiales. La th��se ��tudie les ��uvres d���enfants par Thomas Day, Sarah Fielding, Mary Wollstonecraft, Richard Lovell et Maria Edgeworth, Charles et Mary Lamb, Sarah Trimmer, Lucy Peacock, Priscilla Wakefield, John Aikin, et Anna Laetitia Barbauld. Les diff��rents sujets th��matiques refl��tent la fa��on dont les fronti��res entre les dimensions ext��rieures et int��rieures, entre le monde physique et le domaine psychologique, sont floues. En s'appuyant sur les travaux de penseurs ��ducatifs, John Locke et Jean-Jacques Rousseau, les ��critures pour les enfants soulignent l'importance des exp��riences sensorielles qui informent l�����volution interne des individus. En retour, la projection de l'imagination et l'investissement des sentiments aident �� former la mani��re dont les gens interagissent avec le monde mat��riel et les uns envers les autres afin de former une nation. En utilisant une approche Foucaldienne, cette th��se montre comment la discipline est inculqu��e chez les enfants et les transforme en sujets r��glement��s. Gr��ce �� des confessions et des discours, les enfants souscrivent �� la notion de surveillance et de transparence tandis que l'appr��ciation de l'opinion publique encourage la pratique de la ma��trise de soi. Les enfants deviennent non seulement des ��bauches, sensibles �� des impressions, mais des corps d'��criture lisibles. Les valeurs et les normes de la soci��t�� sont internalis��es pendant que les enfants deviennent une partie int��grale du syst��me qu'ils adoptent. L'importance de la visibilit�� est ��galement soulign��e dans la popularit�� du syst��me de Linn�� qui met l'accent sur l'observation et la cat��gorisation. L'histoire naturelle dans la litt��rature enfantine renforce la structure hi��rarchique de la soci��t��, ce qui souligne la n��cessit�� de respecter les limites de classes et de jouer des r��les individuels pour le bien-��tre de la collectivit��. Les connotations religieuses dans l'histoire naturelle peuvent sembler justifier l'in��galit�� des classes, mais elles diffusent aussi des messages de charit��, de bienveillance et d'empathie, offrant une alternative ou une forme d���identit�� nationale ��f��minine�� qui est en contraste avec le militarisme et le nationalisme patricien. La seconde moiti�� de la th��se examine comment la th��orie des �� communaut��s imagin��es �� de Benedict Anderson devient une possibilit�� �� travers le d��veloppement du go��t national et une compr��hension de l'interconnexion entre les individus. Le personnage du barde pointe �� la centralit�� de l'esprit communautaire dans l'identit�� nationale. Parall��lement �� la commercialisation croissante de produits culturels et nationaux durant cette p��riode, on retrouve l���augmentation de l���attachement affectif envers les objets et la n��cessit�� de d��couvrir l'authentique dans la pratique de la r��flexion critique. La propri��t�� est red��finie �� travers la question des ��vrais�� droits de propri��t�� et devient partag��e dans l'imaginaire commun. Des cartes diss��qu��es enseignent aux enfants comment visualiser des espaces et des fronti��res et conceptualisent la place de l���individu dans la soci��t��. Les enfants apprennent que des actions disparates effectu��es dans la sph��re domestique ont des r��percussions plus importantes dans le domaine public de la nation.

Social Policy Reforms in Turkey : Uses of Europe

Ce m��moire analyse trois r��formes majeures de politique sociale en Turquie, en deux domaines: emploi et s��curit�� social. En utilisant l'approche "Usage de l'Europe", ce m��moire developpe une analyse empirique et apporte une explication th��orique de ces changements qui ont ��t�� introduits au cours du processus d'adh��sion de la Turquie �� l'Union europ��enne. "Les usages de l'Europe" est une approche d'europ��anisation qui se concentre sur le r��le des acteurs domestiques, au sein des ��tats membres et candidats, ainsi que de leur utilisation des ressources de l'Union europ��enne. Les ��tudes de cas utilis��es dans cette th��se d��montrent l'introduction de changements au niveau de l'��tat-providence; ainsi, l'approche originelle est suppl����e par des concepts provenant de la litt��rature sur la politique partisane, les institutions formelles et l'h��ritage des politiques. Cette recherche utilise la m��thode de l'analyse de processus pour suivre la r��forme des r��glements du travail par la voie de reconstitution des droits individuels des travailleurs et de l'Agence d'emploi en Turquie jusqu'en 2003, ainsi que la transformation du syst��me de s��curit�� sociale en 2008. Ces trois r��formes repr��sentent des changements majeurs tant sur le plan institutionnel que politique en Turquie depuis 2001. Afin de comprendre "les usages de l'Europe" dans ces r��formes politiques, l'analyse empirique questionne, si, quand et comment les acteurs turcs ont utilis�� les ressources, les r��f��rences et les d��veloppements politiques de l'Union europ��enne lors de ce processus dynamique de r��forme. Les r��formes du syst��me de s��curit�� sociale, des r��glements du travail, en plus de la reconstitution de l'Agence d'emploi ��taient �� l'ordre du jour en Turquie depuis les ann��es 1990. La r��forme des r��glements du travail ont entra��n�� l'introduction des accommodements flexibles au travail et une r��vision de la Loi du travail permettant l'��tablissement d'une l��gislation de la s��curit�� d'emploi. La reconstitution de l'Agence d'emploi visait �� remplacer la vieille institution d��funte par une institution moderne afin d'introduire des politiques d'activation. La r��forme de s��curit�� sociale comprend les pensions de retraite, le syst��me de sant�� ainsi que l'administration des institutions de s��curit�� sociale. Les principaux r��sultats r��v��lent que la provision des ressources de l'Union europ��enne en Turquie a augment�� �� partir de la reconnaissance de sa candidature en 1999 et ce, jusqu'au lancement des n��gociations pour son adh��sion en 2005; ce qui fut une occasion favorable pour les acteurs domestiques impliqu��s dans les processus de r��formes. Cependant, �� l'encontre de certaines attentes originelles de l'approche de "les usages de l'Europe", les r��sultats de cette recherche d��montrent que le temps et le sort de "les usages de l'Europe" d��pendent des int��r��ts des acteurs domestiques, ainsi de leurs strat��gies tout au long de ce processus de r��forme, plut��t que des phases du processus ou la quantit�� des ressources fournies par l'Union europ��enne.

The Politics of Poverty in the European Union: How States Respond to the Open Method of Coordination on Social Inclusion

This article assesses the responses of EU-15 member states to the poverty reduction objectives of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) on social inclusion between 2001 and 2006. As a flexible mechanism of information sharing between governments, the OMC could not produce strong convergence. A thorough analysis of the OMC documents indeed points to the enduring power of national institutions and partisan politics, for the three dimensions of social inclusion identified by the EU (rights, labour market policies, and participation). There was however some learning and adaptation around emerging policy ideas like activation and the participation of people experiencing poverty.

Choosing the Lesser of Two Evils: Explaining Multinational Banking Groups��� Push for Supranational Oversight in the EU

European Union Series

The Economics of Rubber Based Industry in Kerala

The importance of industrialisation in achiering rapid economic growth has been recognised in India's development strategy ever since the inception of economic planning in the country. Being the secondary sector in the generation of national income. industry contributes significantly to the process of economic development. Extensive debates have taken place on the nature of the industrialisation strategy to be pursued in the economy since Independence. This is reflected in the industrial policy which evolved through the various five year plans and policy resolutions. Stupendous efforts have been made by the government since the commencement of planning and particularly since the 1960s to industrialise the Indian economy and develop the infrastructural base for sustained industrial development. It is difficult to assess the performance of the industrial sector over the past three decades with respect to the broad objectives of industrialisation. However. there are certain areas in which the achievements have been clearly significant.

Conceptualisation Of Model For Studying Consumer Purchase Behaviour Of Passenger Cars

Automobile Industry in India is influenced by the presence of national and multi-national manufacturers. The presence of many manufacturers and brands in the state provides many choices to the customer. The current market for car manufacturers has been transformed from a monopoly of one or two manufacturers in the seventies to oligopoly of many manufacturers in the current marketing scenario. The main objective of the research paper is to explore and conceptualize various parameters and develop a model, which influence the purchase patterns of passenger cars in the State of Kerala. Thus, the main purpose of this paper is to come up with a model, which shall facilitate further study on the consumer purchase behaviour patterns of passenger car owners in the State of Kerala, India. The author intends to undertake further quantitative analysis to verify and validate the model so developed. The main methods used for this paper are secondary research on available material, depth interview of car dealers, car financing agencies and car owners in the city of Cochin, in Kerala State in India. The depth interviews were conducted with the use of prepared questionnaire for car dealers, car customers and car financing agencies. The findings resulted in the identification of the parameters that influence the consumer purchase behaviour of passenger cars and the formulation of the model, which will be the basis for the further research of the author. The paper will be of tremendous value to the existing and new car manufacturers both indigenous and foreign, to formalize and strategies their policies towards an effective marketing strategy, so as to market their models in the State, which is known for its high literacy, consumerism and higher educational penetration

Marine yeast Candida MCCF 101 as feed supplement in aquaculture: nutritional quality, optimization of large scale production and evaluation of its protective effect on Koi carp from Aeromonas infection

Marine yeast have been regarded as safe and showing a beneficial impact on biotechnological process. It provides better nutritional and dietary values indicating their potential application as feed supplements in aquaculture. Brown et al. (1996) evaluated all the marine yeasts characterised with high protein content, carbohydrate, good amino acid composition and high levels of saturated fats. However, there is paucity of information on marine yeasts as feed supplements and no feed formulation has been found either in literature or in market supplemented with them. This statement supported by Zhenming et al. (2006) reported still a lack of feed composed of single cell protein (SCP) from marine yeasts with high content of protein and other nutrients. Recent research has shown that marine yeasts also have highly potential uses in food, feed, medical and biofuel industries as well as marine biotechnology (Chi et al., 2009; 2010). Sajeevan et al. (2006; 2009a) and Sarlin and Philip (2011) demonstrates that the marine yeasts Candida sake served as a high quality, inexpensive nutrient source and it had proven immunostimulatory properties for cultured shrimps. This strain has been made part of the culture collection of National Centre for Aquatic Animal Health, Cochin University of Science and Technology as Candida MCCF 101. Over the years marine yeasts have been gaining increased attention in animal feed industry due to their nutritional value and immune boosting property.Therefore, the present study was undertaken, and focused on the nutritional quality, optimization of large scale production and evaluation of its protective effect on Koi carp from Aeromonas infection

Implication of Trade, Livelihood and Employment Exclusion among Workers in Plantation Sector in Kerala

The first part of the study has focused on the trends in area, production and productivity comparing the state���s performance with of national level performance. Also an attempt was made to understand the trends in commodity price over the years especially in the post liberalization period from the early 1990s. Plantation commodities occupy an important share in the country���s export basket and thereby earning foreign exchange to the national exchequer. Taking into consideration the competitive dimension of natural rubber, cardamom and pepper in the export market was analyzed to see penetration of these commodities in the world market.The second part of the study has tried to understand the plantation workers livelihood by understand the employment generation in the sector. Livelihood assets of plantation workers were analyzed to understand the nature of ownership of various assets. Understanding the poor quality and ownership of various livelihood assets and their relative deprivation the study also tried to understand the income-expenditure patterns and the nature of indebtedness among workers and the factors responsible for deprivation and thereby social exclusion.Area, Production and productivity trends of rubber, pepper and cardamom show a mixed picture. Area, Production trends are impacted greatly by the commodity price of the plantation crops.High correlation exists between commodity price and area and production trends of plantation crops in the state.In terms of Natural Rubber, Kerala experienced a steady growth over the years in terms of area production and productivity as the price of rubber has increasedIn terms of black pepper, the state witnessed a deceleration in growth.In the case of cardamom the area of cultivation declined whereas production increasedProductivity of natural rubber, pepper and cardamom has increased substantially over the yearsEmployment pattern in rubber and spices sub-sector has been analyzed by looking in to the commodity prices so as to see the changes in employment pattern over the years. The study has helped to understand that commodity price and employment generation in plantations are interconnected to such an extent that a fall in the commodity price have greater reverberations on the employment pattern in plantations.Livelihood analysis both in the small and large holdings show that workers belonging to rubber (large and small rubber) plantations have shown better possession of livelihood assets when compared to spices plantation workers as 16.2 percent of the spices sub-sector workers claimed about ownership of house which is considered to be an important and primary livelihood asset.In the case of natural assets like accessibility, availability and duration of water for drinking and other household purposes, the situation of workers in spices plantation still remain poor as around 80 percent of workers depending on public well public taps and canals as source of drinking water.Evaluating financial assets also give clear indication that the road to secure financial assets still remains a distant dream for the workers in plantation sectorEvaluating income and expenditure trends pinpoints to the fact that disparity in terms of income exist among the plantation workersWhile observing the employment though wage levels have improved because of improvement in commodity price of plantation crops, significant improvements are not visible in their livelihood and they remain excluded compared to other sections of the society.

Benefits of Implementing Lean Practices and the Impact of the Lean Aerospace Initiative in the Defense Aerospace Industry and Government Agencies

In the 1980���s, many United States industrial organizations started developing new production processes to improve quality, reduce cost, and better respond to customer needs and the pressures of global competition. This new paradigm was coined Lean Production (or simply ���Lean���) in the book The Machine That Changed The World published in 1990 by researchers from MIT���s International Motor Vehicle Program. In 1993, a consortium of US defense aerospace firms and the USAF Aeronautical Systems Center, together with the AFRL Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, started the Lean Aircraft Initiative (LAI) at MIT. With expansion in 1998 to include government space products, the program was renamed the Lean Aerospace Initiative. LAI���s vision is to ���Significantly reduce the cost and cycle time for military aerospace products throughout the entire value chain while continuing to improve product performance.��� By late 1998, 23 industry and 13 government organizations with paying memberships, along with MIT and the UAW were participating in the LAI.

Discovering similarities in the time use patterns of the Spanish Autonomous Communities by Fuzzy techniques

In 2000 the European Statistical Office published the guidelines for developing the Harmonized European Time Use Surveys system. Under such a unified framework, the first Time Use Survey of national scope was conducted in Spain during 2002��� 03. The aim of these surveys is to understand human behavior and the lifestyle of people. Time allocation data are of compositional nature in origin, that is, they are subject to non-negativity and constant-sum constraints. Thus, standard multivariate techniques cannot be directly applied to analyze them. The goal of this work is to identify homogeneous Spanish Autonomous Communities with regard to the typical activity pattern of their respective populations. To this end, fuzzy clustering approach is followed. Rather than the hard partitioning of classical clustering, where objects are allocated to only a single group, fuzzy method identify overlapping groups of objects by allowing them to belong to more than one group. Concretely, the probabilistic fuzzy c-means algorithm is conveniently adapted to deal with the Spanish Time Use Survey microdata. As a result, a map distinguishing Autonomous Communities with similar activity pattern is drawn. Key words: Time use data, Fuzzy clustering; FCM; simplex space; Aitchison distance

Provision of information and documentation on education in the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education. 'Provisi��n de informaci��n y documentaci��n en educaci��n en el Ministerio Federal de Educaci��n de Austria'.

En un pa��s peque��o como Austria es necesario recibir est��mulo del exterior a nivel europeo respectivamente internacional para que los responsables vean lo ��til que son las iniciativas nacionales en el campo de documentaci��n educativa. Trabajar de manera comparativa en un contexto europeo ayuda a comprender mejor su propia posici��n y sirve de base para tomar decisiones y para desarrollar nuevos proyectos en el futuro. Ha crecido el inter��s en utilizar la informaci��n y documentaci��n educativa durante las ��ltimas d��cadas. Actualmente los ministros de educaci��n ya no pueden seguir su trabajo sin recurrir a todos aquellos datos que han sido recopilados en los respectivos pa��ses y presentados a trav��s de las redes europeas como EURYDICE, la red europea de informaci��n en educaci��n (htttp://www.eurydice.org).

Role of the cultural values as a key part in the implementing of healthy practices : exploratory research

El concepto de organizaci��n saludable cada vez toma m��s fuerza en el ��mbito empresarial y acad��mico, a raz��n de su enfoque integral y al impacto generado en distintos grupos de inter��s. Debido a su reciente consolidaci��n como concepto, existe un limitado cuerpo de investigaci��n en torno al tema. Para contribuir a la generaci��n de conocimiento en este sentido, se desarroll�� un estudio exploratorio el cual ten��a como objetivo identificar la relaci��n existente entre la implementaci��n de pr��cticas saludables en las organizaciones y los valores culturales. En el estudio participaron 66 sujetos a quienes se les administr�� un cuestionario compuesto por nueve variables, cinco provenientes del modelo de Hofstede (1980) y cuatro m��s que evaluaban la implementaci��n de pr��cticas organizacionales saludables. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que los valores culturales predicen la implementaci��n de pr��cticas saludables.

Actuaci��n de UNAMID (operaci��n h��brida de la Uni��n Africana y las Naciones Unidas en Darfur) en la defensa de los Derechos Humanos de las mujeres en el conflicto en Darfur (2008 ��� 2012)

El inter��s de esta monograf��a es analizar los alcances y las limitaciones de la actuaci��n de UNAMID en la defensa de los Derechos Humanos de las mujeres en el conflicto en Darfur (2008-2012). Lo anterior, para dar cuenta de que si bien UNAMID ha tenido avances significativos en el aumento de denuncias por violaci��n sexual, en la educaci��n y en la inclusi��n de la mujer en Darfur, la intervenci��n tard��a, la falta de personal cualificado y el lento despliegue ha limitado su actuaci��n para erradicar la violencia sexual como arma de guerra. Sin embargo, la baja internalizaci��n de la norma por parte del Estado de Sud��n ha sido el mayor limitante para la Misi��n de Paz. Este an��lisis se realiza mediante el concepto de Responsabilidad de proteger y el enfoque de Alexander Wendt y Nicholas Onuf.

The Proliferation of Paramilitary Groups in Southern Mexico: State Strategy or Struggle between Local Political Elites?

This study traces the origins of Mexican paramilitary groups and argues that, contrary to what most of the literature on the subject implies, they do not represent a state strategy to thwart leftist groups seeking social change. Rather, they represent battles between groups of national and local-level elites with different visions of democracy and of what constitutes good governance. The polarization inherent in this type of conflict leads local actors to have to side with one faction of elites or the other. The presence of radical leftist groups in recently colonized indigenous areas with scant state presence gives rise to a process of radicalization among local elites. There are multiple factors that explain the emergence of paramilitary groups. Aside from the post Cold War international context, there were national factors like a shift in its focus away from security matters between 1989 and 1993, and presidential policies between 1968 and 1993, that planted the seeds of leftist radicalism in a context of id modernization