VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Competing and interrelated conceptions of equality in Kenya's 2010 constitution

This thesis explores the ways in which competing and interrelated conceptions of equality in Kenya’s 2010 Constitution should be conceptualised, interpreted and applied. Kenyans’ overwhelming support for the adoption of the 2010 Constitution signalled a rebirth of the nation with a strong emphasis on equality and redressing past injustices. For this reason, the document has been termed as ‘transformative’, ‘historic’ and ‘revolutionary’ as it seeks to fundamentally change the social, political and economic way of life of all Kenyans.
The entrenchment of multiple equality provisions not guaranteed in the previous Constitution establishes a crucial constitutional framework for addressing inequalities. However, more decisive still is how well the 2010 Constitution’s equality provisions continue to be conceptualised, interpreted and applied. The Constitution contains different articulations of equality, both in the equality clause (Article 27) and elsewhere in the Constitution. These provisions reflect different, sometimes complementary and other times potentially conflicting, conceptions of equality. Yet, current equality jurisprudence says little, if anything, on how the multiple and competing conceptions of equality in the Constitution should be harmoniously interpreted. The concept remains open-textured, which offers limited guidance to legal practitioners and other pertinent players on what is required of them by law in addressing inequalities. This thesis aims to provide more clarity in this area of law in Kenya by examining all the equality principles in the Constitution with a specific emphasis on the potentially conflicting issues, with the aim of attempting to find a coherent and mutually supportive way of understanding the broader conception of equality in the Constitution. Two principled approaches are proposed for the harmonious interpretation of the Constitution’s equality concepts; the equal concern and respect approach and the multi-dimensional equality approach.

Keywords: Discrimination
Kenya
Religion
Equality
Affirmative Action
Disability
Advisor: Fredman, S
Stalinist monumental art and architecture, and the "immortalization of memory"

This thesis analyzes the “immortalization of memory” policy of the Stalinist regime in the USSR (1932-1954), a program that sought to ensure that contemporaneous events and individuals would be remembered by posterity, in perpetuity. “Immortalization,” I argue, was carried out through the construction of dedicated monumental art and architecture, which were built to last for centuries and were placed under a strong preservation regime.
The research proposes a new way to interpret the style and form of Stalinist monumentalism, heretofore analyzed solely in terms of its immediate propaganda functions. I argue that historicism did not pander to backwards-looking, conservative tastes, as is commonly assumed. Rather, Stalinist monumental artists and architects sought a trans-temporal language that would be understandable to posterity, turning to “timeless” styles, whose supposed universality was “proven” by their continuous use throughout the centuries. I also argue that the development of Stalinist monumental practice in many respects revolved around the often contradictory strivings that monuments remain at once distinctive and relevant to posterity.
Sensitivity to “immortalization” challenges the idea that Stalinist visions of the future can be contained in the “striving-towards-communism” model. I argue that the “immortalization” myth was not specific to Stalinism but was a shared response to wider processes of modernization: secularization of ideas about death (whereby “immortal” memory filled the existential vacuum left by declining belief in immortal souls) and rapid social change (in which communication with an imagined posterity gave a sense of stability). Insofar as these problems were particularly pronounced in a society undergoing rapid industrialization, and ruled by a militantly atheistic regime, “immortalization” dynamics achieved impressive dimensions in the Stalinist Soviet Union. This finding (that “immortalization” was a shared, transnational discourse, inflected in the Stalinist context) supports the emerging understanding of Stalinist culture as an expression of “radical modernity.”

Keywords: immortalization
monumental architecture
temporality
material culture
monumental art
Stalinism
memory politics
monuments
Moscow
collective memory
Soviet Union
totalitarianism
Advisor: Healey, D
Jones, P
Movement allies: the politics of civil rights activism in India (1960s-1980s)

This thesis is a study of the practices of civil rights groups in Indian politics as a distinct form of collective action. It examines the key aspects—composition, location, tactics, internal debates and collective identity—of civil rights groups in India during 1960s-1980s. Civil rights groups, in the Indian context, are independent and voluntary activist organisations such as the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and the People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR). They were formally set up in the early to mid-1970s. Their goal has been to defend the civil liberties and democratic rights of citizens, often, but not exclusively, from official abuse. The scholarship on civil rights groups has classified their collective action as a social movement. However, based on an examination of the history, practices and the narratives gathered from activist interviews during fieldwork, I argue that civil rights groups are better understood as movement allies, i.e., they are allies of, rather than a party to, movement groups. To consider them a movement is to misunderstand and obscure their core features. The thesis is motivated by three research questions. i) What role do civil rights groups play in the domain of social movement politics in India? ii) How is civil rights activism practiced and what are its key aspects? iii) How does the presence of movement allies refine our understanding of democratic politics in India?

Advisor: Gooptu, N
Options in climate change adaptation, resilience and mitigation: evidence from Zambia’s rural-rural migration

Least understood in human migration theory is the extent to which gradual and long-term environmental changes interact with other factors to trigger rural-rural movements. Research has tended to focus on rural-urban and cross-border movements based either on sudden environmental change drivers or economic differentials. Based on multi-disciplinary methods, and using climate, land cover, soil and/or land degradation as indicators of gradual and long-term environmental change, this research examines the extent to which these factors interact with other drivers of migration to trigger rural-rural movements in Zambia. Socio-economic attributes at household level including ways by which people recognise and respond to changes and/or variabilities are examined to measure vulnerability to environmental change and adaptive capacity potential. Results from social survey data suggest high vulnerability with low adaptive potential. However, vulnerability varies according to gender, migration status and area. Similarly, evidence from secondary environmental data for the 36-year period 1980 to 2016 shows that there are changes in all the environmental factors examined, although the magnitude of change varies between areas studied. Anthropogenic factors which appear to be the main cause of the observed changes also vary between areas. Findings show that gradual and long-term changes in environmental conditions can trigger rural-rural migration as these conditions were ranked highest in people’s perception of risk. It is thus concluded that gradual and long-term environmental factors contribute to rural-rural migration to a larger extent than economic or social factors. Furthermore, environmental factors also contribute to the spatial scales of rural-rural migration. However, while this type of migration is shown to be a working strategy as an adaptive response to environmental change, it is arguably a maladaptive response. With climatic patterns currently dynamic, there is little or no certainty in the economic benefits that may materialise from these movements. With a lack of evidence-based policy responses in governance, compounded by slow but long-term changes in ecological systems, multidimensional poverty is likely to jeopardize further the livelihood prospects of the rural poor, regardless of migration status, gender and location.

Advisor: Thomas, D
Synthetic studies towards aruncin B: total synthesis, structural revision and synthesis of analogues for biological evaluation

This thesis describes synthetic studies towards the recently isolated and previously unsynthesised cytotoxin aruncin B, a small molecule inhibitor of the Bcl-2 family antiapoptotic proteins.
An initial approach relying on an Achmatowicz reaction is first presented. This method was unsuccessful. An alternative approach relying on a RCM / ethoxyselenation-selenoxide elimination was then envisaged. This method successfully delivered the Na salts of the Z- and E- isomer of the originally proposed structure of aruncin B, along with a third closely related isomeric Na salt. The free acids could not be obtained from these salts, suggesting structural misassignment of aruncin B. An alternative g-alkylidenebutenolide structure is proposed, and its synthesis using a related RCM / hydroxyselenation-selenoxide sequence is presented. This sequence confirmed the true structure of aruncin B, but suffered from reproducibility issues. An alternative sequence based on b-iodo MBH followed by Sonogashira cross-coupling-5- exo-dig-lactonisation was successfully applied to the synthesis of the true structure of aruncin B, as well as 15 analogues for biological evaluation.

Advisor: Hodgson, D
Putting functions in context: reconceptualising the scope of trade mark infringement

The functions theory developed by the CJEU continues to be one of the most contentious issues in contemporary European trade mark law. In this thesis, I propose a more coherent reading of the CJEU jurisprudence; the functions theory may deliver a more transparent process of reasoning, allowing infringement assessment to engage with normative choices (or internalise policy concerns), which a conventional industrial property model otherwise fails to grasp. But these benefits can be attained only if functions theory is assessed within a broader, more complex expansionary trajectory within trade mark law. I therefore argue that the development of the functions theory is intertwined with and most productively understood alongside the increasing role of context in trade mark infringement. It should be seen as a doctrinal device that, together with a more realistic (or hybrid) construction of the average consumer, enabled infringement assessment to be infused with market realities, in response to the problems of abstraction that an expansionary trade mark doctrine had created. This analysis is potentially useful in two ways. First, it indicates that the CJEU might be relocating the centre of gravity of trade mark law from the formal universe of the registrar to the everyday experience of the consumer; a proposition finding some support in recent decisions of national courts. Secondly, it argues that the origin function seemingly departed from a more conventional paper-based approach, with infringement becoming increasingly contextual. This further suggests that other trade mark functions took a different path, relying more on untested assumptions of consumer behaviour, producing inconsistencies in the case law that ought to be addressed. The emerging approach to the origin function has important lessons for how the other functions ought to be assessed during infringement analysis.

Keywords: UK law
Comparative law
Intellectual Property
Trade mark functions
Trade mark law
German law
European law
Advisor: Gangjee, D
Neoliberalism, urban development and Accra's (Ghana) shopping malls as new spaces of urban consumption

This study is focused on urban transformation of Accra, the capital city of Ghana, under neoliberalism. Situated within the field of urban geography, and drawing from Harvey’s (1989b) urban entrepreneurialism thesis and consumption theorists, such as Bourdieu (1984), as well as attention to the literature on the middle class, the study investigates how urban governance transformation in the neoliberal era have led to the proliferation of western-style shopping malls and their consequent impact on the city’s urban development, in particular, coalition building, consumption and local economic development impacts. This is done through a case study of two of the city’s shopping malls, which have been the product of increasing foreign direct investments (FDI). The two case studies are the Accra Mall, the first fully enclosed mall in the city opened in 2008, and the West Hills Mall, West Africa’s biggest mall, opened in 2014.
The study uses a mixed methods approach involving both qualitative and quantitative methods in the relevant areas of the study. Thirty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with key/expert informants, city authorities, mall developers and operators as well as customers. Additionally, 409 semi-structured questionnaires were administered to mall shop staff (343) and shop managers/owners (66).
In particular, three key findings are outlined: first, that contrary to the urban entrepreneurialism thesis derived from the experiences of global North cities, Accra’s malls have largely been led by the private sector who tend to ally more with national political actors rather than those in local government. I argue that shopping mall development may have been delayed due to the subservient role of the local government and other challenges, including institutional and procedural bureaucracy, that tend to constrain local governments. As such, I indicate a need for reframing the idea of private-public partnerships (PPP) as a fulcrum in urban entrepreneurial policies to local (private)-global partnership as pertains to Accra’s malls. Second, in framing mall projects as local economic development process, the results suggest that though they may be helping in poverty reduction, they may be low on local wealth creation. Finally, I argue that, as pertains to malls as spaces of consumption and projectors of modernity, in Accra, and other global South cities, malls need to be viewed more as ‘nodes of global convergence’.

Keywords: Urban entrepreneurialism
Consumption
Urban governance
Neoliberalism
local economic development
Accra
Ghana
Advisor: Daley, P
The role of RASSF1A in human embryonic and neural stem cells during differentiation

Stem cells are characterised by their ability to continuously self-renew and differentiate into various lineages. This balance is tightly controlled by intrinsic and extrinsic factors that maintain normal development and tissue homoeostasis. The dysregu- lation of these factors is associated with oncogenesis and is extensively studied in the context of treatment resistance and tumour reoccurrence. Stem and cancer cells share the ability to indefinitely self-renew and therefore it stands to reason that these cells harbour similar underlying regulatory processes. Stem cells that are unable to differentiate are widely described as cancer initiating (or cancer stem) cells and their inability to differentiate is therefore heavily investigated as a therapeutic target. A crucial signalling pathway regulating pluripotency and proliferation in stem and can- cer cells is the Hippo tumour suppressor pathway. RASSF1A, a key regulator of the Hippo pathway, is frequently methylated in numerous brain/central nervous system (CNS) malignancies, indicating that a potential deregulation of stem cells may drive the association with poorer prognosis. In this work we demonstrate that RASSF1A mediates the localisation of suppressor of variegation 3-9 homologue 1 (SUV39H1), a histone methyltransferase that catalyses the trimethylation of histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9me3). H3K9me3, a heterochromatin mark that stably represses genes during differentiation, is reduced with loss of RASSF1A, leading to impaired neural differentiation of stem cells. Our findings suggest that the epigenetic loss of RASSF1A therefore contributes to a dedifferentiated phenotype in cancer.

Advisor: O'Neill, E
‘The Indispensable East’ in decadent literature in England and Germany 1880−1920

This thesis explores the role of the East in British and German literary Decadence. It reaches from the high point of Victorian Decadence in the 1880s to high point of Modernism at the beginning of the Weimar Republic in 1918−1920 in Germany. My central concern is to argue that the East is a major characteristic of fin-de-siècle European Decadence. In bringing together two European literatures, this comparative thesis makes a case for Decadence’s transnational if not global nature. England and Germany serve as examples to consider Decadence beyond the Anglo-French model still dominating the field. The thesis examines the role of the East with specific reference to two British and two German authors: starting from Oscar Wilde’s (1854− 1900) Victorian vision of Egypt and Arthur Symons’s (1865−1945) post-Romantic fascination with the ‘Gypsy’, it moves to Paul Scheerbart’s (1863−1915) Decadent Babylon and Assyria, read as being in opposition to a modern Europeanism, and concludes by turning to Stefan George’s (1868−1933) exclusion of the East from his poetic practice. The geographical reach of the East focuses on regions of the Eastern Mediterranean and Northern Africa. The cultural translation of specifically the Middle East into different national contexts gains new − sometimes oppositional – meanings, avoiding a one-sided representation of both the East and the two national literatures that absorbed it. In arguing for a Decadent cosmopolitanism as a model of heterogeneous inclusivity that reaches beyond the binaries Edward Said established in his Orientalism, this thesis brings together postcolonial theory, theories of cosmopolitanism, art history and literature in a comparative study allowing for an analysis of synergies and interdependences of European literary movements. The thesis thus chronologically traces how the literary treatment of the East changed Decadent literature: initially defined as a cosmopolitan network of artists and as an aesthetically inclusive concept, Decadence in the early twentieth century evolved to denote the decay of Western socio-political culture. In my conclusion I argue that the renewed attention to the East was ‘indispensable’ to the formation of Decadence and crystallized the need for literary ‘cosmopolitics’ in order to overcome Europe’s cultural crisis of modernization at the turn of the twentieth century.

Keywords: Oscar Wilde
decadence in Germany
Advisor: Evangelista, S
Robertson, R
Taxing the ‘hard-to-tax’ in low and middle-income countries: an examination and Kenyan case study

The term ‘hard-to-tax', in tax evasion literature, refers to farmers, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and professionals. However, scholarly discourse on the hard-to-tax in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) has focussed primarily on farmers and SMEs. Professionals are rarely critically considered despite the acknowledgement in the literature that, considering their potential earnings, the absolute amount involved in evasion by professionals in LMICs is probably higher than farmers and SMEs. The primary goal of this thesis is to interrogate the phenomenon of tax evasion by hard-to-tax professionals in LMICs by answering the research question: what are the barriers to tax compliance by these hard-to-tax professionals and how can tax authorities in LMICs effectively improve compliance among these taxpayers? The researcher utilises several methods and data sources to answer this question. Secondary data sources provided useful knowledge regarding theoretical accounts of tax evasion and the administrative options available to tax authorities dealing with hard-to-tax groups. The researcher enriched this secondary data using primary data collected for a case study explicitly interrogating tax compliance among self-employed dentists and lawyers in Kenya, a lower-middle income country. Through the case study, the researcher obtained rich qualitative data via open-ended semi-structured interviews with taxpayers and tax experts in Kenya. The interview data was analysed, using key tax evasion theories, applying a thematic analysis method. A detailed narration of the major and minor themes that emerged from the data is presented in Chapter 4. The findings of this research make a significant and substantial contribution to: existing knowledge on tax evasion and compliance in Africa, taxation of hard-to-tax professionals in LMICs, effects of corruption and poor service delivery by government on tax compliance attitudes, presumptive taxation of professionals, and the potential role of professional bodies and associations in promoting tax compliance among their members.

Keywords: Developing Countries
Taxing Professionals
Taxation in Kenya
Hard-to-Tax
Tax Evasion
Presumptive Tax
Advisor: Freedman, J
Effects of water absorption on the strain rate sensitive properties of glass fibre reinforced polymers

The present thesis introduces, for the first time, a comprehensive numerical and experimental investigation of the combined effects of strain rate and water exposure on composite laminates and their constituents epoxy resin matrix and E-glass fibres. Long-term exposure to wet environments and the application of loads at various speeds are critical challenges for marine composites, as both strain rate and water absorption affect their mechanical behaviour. This thesis addresses the problem by investigating the influence of water absorption on the strain rate dependent behaviour of glass fibre reinforced polymers. Unlike previous studies focusing on the consequences of water on the properties of the composite or the resin matrix only, the strategy behind this investigation considers the experimental and numerical study of the effects of water on every constituent of the composite.
Specimens were immersed in water and salt-water baths at 50° C to accelerate water absorption, and subsequently tested at different strain rates. Experiments showed that all constituents and the composite are strain rate dependent regardless the water pre-conditioning. In addition, all tests suggested that wet environments have detrimental effects on the resin matrix, fibre bundles, and composite laminates. Water absorption affected their elastic modulus, tensile strength, short beam strength, and caused swelling of the matrix and damage to the matrix-fibre interface. Only E-glass single fibres were found to be indifferent to water pre-conditioning. For fibres, a novel experimental technique named Sound Measurements, based on sound acquisition, proved its applicability to gather information about the distribution of fibres strengths within a bundle.
Simulations of the constituents showed how water affects the parameters of the Arruda-Boyce model for polymers and the Weibull model for fibre bundles. The comparison of the experimentally measured properties of the composite with those obtained by homogenisation suggested that matrix-fibre interface must have suffered damage from water absorption. Finally, a numerical study of water-induced stresses due to matrix swelling and viscoelastic relaxation was conducted and determined the history of stresses arising during the water absorption process due to the expansion of the matrix.

Advisor: Tagarielli, V
Petrinic, N