Master Degree in International Relations. Master Thesishttp://hdl.handle.net/10230/436392024-03-29T11:46:20Z2024-03-29T11:46:20Z‘(Non-)Intervention is always for someone and for some purpose’: a critical theory analysis on the principle of non-interference within ASEANLengeling, Isabellehttp://hdl.handle.net/10230/526532022-03-09T02:32:04Z2020-01-01T00:00:00Z‘(Non-)Intervention is always for someone and for some purpose’: a critical theory analysis on the principle of non-interference within ASEAN
Lengeling, Isabelle
Despite its centrality for the organisation, the approach of ASEAN member states towards the Principle of Non-Interference has not been consistent ever since the foundation in 1967. So far, the existing scholarship has not been able to provide a comprehensive explanation for the complex reality surrounding the exercise and uses of non-interference. Acknowledging this, the paper first aims at understanding the weaknesses of existing theoretical approaches and why they differ so strongly. The main reasons identified are their ontological and epistemological assumptions that lead them to misunderstand the Principle as a static concept. Subsequently, drawing on ideas of Strydom (2011) and Cox (2012) contemporary Critical Theory is tested as an alternative to the existing approaches in the context of a plausibility probe using the case of Myanmar between 2007 and 2020. The meta-level application of contemporary CT reveals that the pathologies concerning the realisation of the sociopractical idea of sovereignty are the consequence of a disregard for the duality of sovereignty and actions beyond the official state level. Meanwhile, the identification of those is considered to contain the potential for transforming this realisation of the socio-practical idea of sovereignty. Both factors seemingly have been given rise by a complex mechanism shaped by implicit socio-cultural background assumptions, historically developed pragmatism, and capitalism. Based on these findings, it is argued that contemporary CT might be better suited than existing approaches to account for the complex reality surrounding the Principle and a full-scale application is suggested for future research.
Treball fi de màster de: Master’s in International Relations. Curs 2019-2020
2020-01-01T00:00:00ZResponding to a global pandemic: a comparative analysis of New Zealand, Taiwan and the United KingdomDini, Giovannihttp://hdl.handle.net/10230/526442022-03-09T02:31:58Z2020-01-01T00:00:00ZResponding to a global pandemic: a comparative analysis of New Zealand, Taiwan and the United Kingdom
Dini, Giovanni
The ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic has proven that most States were unprepared and complacent in the face of the imminent epidemic threat that epidemiologists had long warned of. The COVID-19 pandemic confounded the expectations of public policy analysts and epidemiologists alike in terms of which States would fail in their response and which would succeed. This dissertation seeks to identify the causes behind the varying degrees of success or failure initial policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. To do so, it employs a Mill’s Method of difference to compare the two successful cases of Taiwan and New Zealand and the failure case of the United Kingdom. The key result, found by applying Rubin and Bækkeskov’s expert-led securitisation theoretical framework, is that the two successful responses were guided by independent and transparent scientific advisories or semi-autonomous technocratic authorities and the failure case had a politicised scientific advisory that lacked both independence and transparency.
Treball fi de màster de: Master’s in International Relations. Curs 2019-2020
2020-01-01T00:00:00ZCauses of ethnic unrest in China: the cases of Xinjiang, Tibet, and Inner MongoliaDomingo Bartolí, Martahttp://hdl.handle.net/10230/526162022-03-04T02:31:53Z2019-01-01T00:00:00ZCauses of ethnic unrest in China: the cases of Xinjiang, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia
Domingo Bartolí, Marta
By analyzing the cases of Xinjiang, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia, three Autonomous Regions of the People’s Republic of China, this dissertation attempts to answer the following question: When do states’ ethnic assimilation policies cause ethnic unrest? These regions have historically been populated by the non-Han ethnic groups of Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Mongols, respectively. Xinjiang and Tibet are wellknown for their ethnic unrest, while Inner Mongolia has remained relatively free of it since China’s economic liberalization in the 1980s. Mongols, unlike Uyghurs and Tibetans, largely seem to have assimilated into Han culture. This dissertation has identified four factors that contribute to the existence of ethnic unrest, or its lack, in the three Autonomous Regions: the presence of a strong religious identity tied to ethnicity, ethnic market segregation, a strong extranational community supporting the ethnic group, and, especially, the demographic share of the ethnicity in the region.
Treball fi de màster de: Master’s in International Relations. Curs 2018-2019
2019-01-01T00:00:00ZGender-specific migration patterns in the context of political and economic upheaval : the case of TunisiaPober, Verahttp://hdl.handle.net/10230/434892020-02-07T11:14:34Z2018-01-01T00:00:00ZGender-specific migration patterns in the context of political and economic upheaval : the case of Tunisia
Pober, Vera
The aim of this paper is to understand the progressive feminization of migratory flows from Tunisia to Europe over the period 2010-2017. The observed increase in female migration took place in the context of economic crises in both sending and receiving countries. In Tunisia, it coincided with dramatic changes at the political, economic and social level that followed the 2011 revolution. In Europe, the issue of migration experienced another wave of politicization during the same period. In light of those developments, the paper studies the different behavior of male and female migrants. It applies a case-oriented approach, testing seven hypotheses derived from standard migration theories, as well as feminist approaches. The results of multivariate regression analyses confirm the importance of migratory networks and unemployment in receiving countries, while bivariate analysis suggests that the severe impact of the Tunisian economic crisis on women may have been an additional driver of female emigration rates. More importantly, a generation of increasingly well-educated women, with very restricted labor market access in Tunisia, are faced with European migration policies favoring the highly-skilled. Due to a growing demand in immigration countries for services traditionally performed by female workers, as well as the need for highly-skilled workers to support technological change, the trend towards a feminization of Tunisian emigration is likely to last.
Treball fi de màster de: Master’s in International Relations. Curs 2017-2018
2018-01-01T00:00:00Z