School of Social and Political Sciences - Theses

Permanent URI for this collection

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 11
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Queering constructivist international relations: questioning identity-based human rights norms in sexual orientation-based refugee law
    Dawson, Jaz ( 2018)
    Since the late 1980s, many norms relating to the recognition of sexual orientation-based rights have come to be accepted and institutionalised at the international level. One of these, based on developments in multiple jurisdictions since the late 1980s, has been the institutionalisation of the norm of sexual orientation-based claims to asylum. This has been accompanied by an ever-growing series of procedural norms relating to assessing sexual orientation-based claims in the refugee status determination process. At the same time, constructivist international relations scholars have been developing theory on norm institutionalisation and implementation. Scholars such as Amitav Acharya have explored how norms can be adapted when they reach the regional level, developing the notion of ‘norm localisation’. More recently, constructivist scholars Alexander Betts and Phil Orchard have argued that the institutionalisation of international norms ‘ultimately only [has] significance insofar as they translate into practice’. They have, therefore, brought their analysis on norm institutionalisation and implementation processes down to the domestic level.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    The state and the growth hegemony: prospects for a post-growth society
    Ferguson, Peter James ( 2014-01-20)
    Since the early-1970s, many scientists, economists and activists have warned that there are ecological and social limits to economic growth. This thesis examines why governments remain committed to growth in spite of these concerns and whether and how this commitment might be overcome. It begins by undertaking an immanent critique of the currently dominant concept of economic growth. This reveals that although growth is widely believed to be in the best interests of society, it now generates environmental and social problems that increasingly outweigh its benefits. Second, the historical evolution of the concept of economic growth is examined. It is found that growth only became an overarching goal of governments in the mid-twentieth century, indicating that the commitment to growth is historically contingent and thus significantly less socially embedded than is commonly assumed. Following this, theoretical explanations for the commitment to growth are explored by way of a meta-theoretical critique. Drawing upon dominant state, international relations and international political economy theories, two general sociological explanations of the commitment to growth are developed. Some explanatory shortcomings of these theories and theoretical possibilities for transcending the commitment to growth and also identified. The first explanation, which is derived from liberal theory, finds that the commitment to growth is an expression of actors’ preferences. For liberals, growth is assumed to be the most efficacious means to maximise societal utility, ensure fundamental rights, and thus promote human autonomy. However, given that the costs of growth now often outweigh its benefits, it is argued that continued growth threatens to undermine these core liberal values. The second set of theoretical explanations highlight the functional role performed by growth in avoiding systemic crisis and ensuring state survival. Domestically, this explanation is derived from neo-Marxist systems analysis, which implies that growth is the primary means to manage class conflict. Internationally, neoliberal institutionalism and neorealism are the most applicable theories. The former understands growth to be mandated by a competitive, integrated global economy, whilst the latter sees growth as necessary for maintaining state security in an anarchical international system. However, as growth now threatens to exacerbate class conflict and undermine security by intensifying environmental and social problems, it has become a threat to systemic stability. The thesis then examines dominant ideologies and discourses of growth. This highlights how a hegemonic constellation of neoliberal, sustainable development and neoclassical economics discourses have obfuscated the costs of and limits to growth, and empowered forms of knowledge and being that normalise the commitment to growth. All of these explanations for the commitment to growth indicate that despite being deeply ingrained in existing social understandings and practices, the growth hegemony is not necessarily immutable. However, as overtly challenging the growth hegemony is unlikely to be politically feasible, the final part of the thesis develops a subversive rearticulatory strategy. This enlists theoretical possibilities for transcending the growth hegemony and the emerging discourses of ‘green economy’ and ‘economic security’ to progressively transform dominant understandings of social, environmental and economic progress in a post-growth direction.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Sexing up the international
    Obendorf, Simon Benjamin ( 2006-10)
    This thesis takes sexuality as its subject matter and uses a methodology informed by postcolonial studies to explore new possibilities for thinking about the international, its construction, and its contemporary politics. I argue that postcolonial readings of sexuality can impel us to rethink the meanings and politics of international theory and to challenge notions that have come to appear fixed and unchanging. The thesis canvasses how such an intervention might occur – calling especially for a focus on the local and the everyday – and considers both the utility and the limits of the contributions sexuality might make to a rethinking of international theory. My arguments are made with reference to a series of specific examples from contemporary East and Southeast Asia: the nationalistically imbued gendered and sexed figures of the national serviceman and the Singapore Girl in Singapore; the political and social repercussions of the trial of former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on charges of sodomy; newly emerging homosexual identities in Hong Kong; and the connections between sexuality and disease that inform the Thai response to HIV/AIDS.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Governance and uncertainty: the public policy of Australia's official development assistance to Papua New Guinea
    Davis, Thomas William d'Arcy ( 2002)
    Against the backdrop of the historical failure of official development assistance to alleviate poverty in the Third World, this thesis examines the current approach of Western aid donors toward development. The thesis asks whether aid policy processes indicate a willingness, or capacity, on the part of official donors to more fully engage with the causal complexity of development, and so potentially improve development outcomes. Considering the case study of the Australian bilateral aid program to Papua New Guinea from both top-down and bottom-up policy perspectives, the thesis concludes that, in relation to Australia, there are significant structural and institutional impediments to change. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and its interpretation of national interest, dominate high-level aid policy-making, even though the objectives of foreign policy and those of foreign aid differ. Australia's official development agency, AusAID, is limited in its capacity to legitimately challenge this dominance, not least because its use of contracted-out projects restrict its corporate knowledge and its ability to influence policy agendas and networks. Overcoming this impasse requires creative management on the part of senior public servants and non-governmental members of the aid policy community alike.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    The influence of dominant cultural values on India’s foreign policy
    PETHIYAGODA, KADIRA ( 2013)
    This thesis seeks to answer the question “what is the influence of dominant cultural values on India’s foreign policy?” In so doing, it highlights the explanatory power of culture, something which has been elided in much of the International Relations discipline. I first explore the literature on cultural values and identify a definition which allows them to be examined as a variable influencing foreign policy. I then assess International Relations approaches for their understanding of culture in world politics. Values are then identified that can be accurately labelled ‘India’s dominant cultural values’. To qualify, the values must: (a) have played a dominant role in Indian culture throughout history, and (b) be dominant within present-day India. Non-violence, hierarchy, pluralism and tolerance were identified as such values. I examine the extent and nature of the influence of each of these values on India’s foreign policy. This is largely through focusing on leaders’ preferences and perceptions. Evidence is drawn from discourse and state behaviour. Qualitative and quantitative analysis are used in a complementary fashion. Alternate explanations, such as those based in realism, are tested alongside cultural values. A case study approach is taken. Each cultural value is assessed in three case studies on India’s nuclear posture. Nuclear weapons are highly symbolic and therefore an excellent theatre in which to examine the role of cultural values. Each case study covers a period within the last 25 years. The nuclear case studies are compared with each other. The values are then assessed in a control case study on India’s approach to humanitarian intervention from 1987-2012. This tests to ensure that cultural values’ influence is not restricted to nuclear posture. My analysis reveals that dominant cultural values have great explanatory power across both case study areas. This suggests that values have a significant influence on India’s foreign policy overall. Major decisions like nuclear testing cannot be accounted for by existing explanations solely and the role of cultural values must be understood. In addition to assessing the level of cultural values’ impact, the thesis also exposes the nature of their influence. The most powerful value is non-violence. Several non-violence driven preferences are identified: global peace; caution in the use of force; and the preference for maintaining a non-violent image. Hierarchy is found to be more influential in India’s nuclear posture than in its approach to humanitarian intervention. This value drives a preference for India rising up the global hierarchy of states. Pluralism and tolerance strongly impact India’s approach to humanitarian intervention. These values support a pluralistic and tolerant worldview, the preference for sovereignty, and the preference for caution in condemning the internal actions of other states.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Overseeing and overlooking: Australian engagement with the Pacific islands 1988-2007
    SCHULTZ, JONATHAN ( 2012)
    This thesis aims to explain the discrepancy between Australia’s stable interests and objectives in the Pacific islands and the volatility of its approach to achieving those objectives. The thesis proposes a cyclic model of Australian engagement that it illustrates using a historical narrative of Australia’s relationship with the Pacific islands. The key finding is that weak institutionalisation renders Australian engagement dependent on the foreign minister and susceptible to influence by advocates who capture the minister’s attention.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    No strings attached? Chinese foreign aid and its implications for the international aid regime
    BRANT, PHILIPPA ( 2012)
    The emergence of China as a significant provider of development assistance operating outside the dominant aid system has prompted heightened interest within academic, public, and policymaking circles. This increased presence in many developing countries is changing the dynamics of ‘development’ and foreign aid provision, in ways that are only beginning to be seen and understood. There is a tension between the call for China to become a ‘responsible stakeholder’, and thus play by and reinforce the existing norms, rules and expectations, and the increasing pressure for the international system, including the international aid regime, to be reformed. China’s foreign aid approach and policies, and how it engages with the aid regime, if at all, will therefore be significant in this regard. At the same time, China’s foreign aid provision has been subject to much critique – in the Western discourse and also from within recipient communities. This thesis examines the role of China as a provider of foreign aid and the implications this has for traditional donors and for the dominant international aid regime. It critically analyses of the international aid regime that currently shapes the provision of aid, arguing that the impact of Chinese aid should be viewed against the backdrop of imperatives to reform current aid institutions and practices. Drawing upon field research in the South Pacific and China this thesis provides detailed analysis of Chinese aid norms, practices, and mechanisms, enabling comparison with traditional donor aid and providing a significant contribution to the currently limited data on Chinese aid. Through examination of how China is perceived and received within ‘recipient’ countries, including critical analysis of the notion of a ‘China model’, this thesis demonstrates that China is generally viewed as a complement rather than an alternative to traditional donor aid. It also analyses the processes of engagement and interaction between China and traditional donors, particularly the role of South-South Cooperation (SSC), and provides empirical evidence of the impact of the regime on China’s aid policies and practices and the ways in which China is having an effect on traditional donors. It argues that China is using the SSC framework in seeking to maintain its identity as a ‘developing’ country and as a way to distinguish itself from traditional donors, but at the same time the aid regime is expanding to (try to) incorporate South-South Cooperation to assist in maintaining its relevance. This thesis finds that whilst there is evidence of China’s increased engagement with the aid regime and the beginnings of internalisation of some of its components, China currently remains resistant to deeper involvement. Traditional donors and aid regime institutions are, however, continuing efforts to ‘engage’ with China in an attempt to both socialise Chinese actors and become more inclusive, representative, and thus legitimate. This thesis argues that China’s decision to continue to operate outside the regime is affecting the relevance and legitimacy of the aid regime, but the perception that China is ‘undermining’ aid regime norms and standards does not, at this stage, match reality.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Managing the globalisation of ideas: propaganda, power, and cohesion in Chinese domestic and international politics
    Edney, Kingsley John ( 2012)
    As China becomes more engaged with the outside world through the process of globalisation, the party-state actively attempts to use domestic and foreign policies to manage China’s global interactions in ways that work to its advantage. The party-state manages the transnational exchange of information and ideas using the practices associated with its propaganda system. This simultaneously occurs within China and internationally, as the party-state uses both domestic and foreign propaganda practices in order to maximise the benefits and minimise the risks of this aspect of globalisation. This thesis investigates the relationship between the party-state’s use of propaganda practices to manage the forces of globalisation within the country and its use of such practices at the international level. It does so in order to generate a better understanding of how China’s domestic political system, and especially the power practices embedded in that system, shapes the way that China engages with the rest of the world. This thesis argues that the party-state’s desire for political and social unity and cohesion within China, combined with the specific way in which it exercises power through the use of propaganda practices at the domestic level, fundamentally shapes how it uses propaganda practices to try to increase China’s global influence. The party-state’s emphasis on the importance of national cohesion means that foreign propaganda practices involve the party-state exercising power not only to influence the views of international actors but also to discipline the discourse that Chinese actors articulate internationally. The party-state sees the generation of domestic cohesion using propaganda practices as a necessary prerequisite to China’s international rise. Its strategic approach to foreign propaganda involves increasing the variety of Chinese voices that are available to foreign audiences, as long as they maintain propaganda discipline and do not challenge the official discourse. When it comes to practical propaganda responses to domestic and international challenges the party-state is primarily concerned with establishing and defending an official “truth” around which it can unite Chinese public opinion, even when this stokes anti-foreign nationalism. The ability of Chinese actors to articulate a discourse to overseas audiences is thereby limited by the party-state’s focus on the use of propaganda practices to consolidate political consensus at home.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Vorsprung durch Technik?: selling Britons the new Germany
    Long, Brian Gordon ( 2011)
    German reunification and the Federal Republic’s post-reunification emergence as one of the Europeans Union’s two most economically and politically powerful states has presented unique challenges for British public opinion and government policy. This thesis investigates to what extent German post-war cultural diplomacy has facilitated and fostered acceptance of these developments. Faced with unprecedented political challenges in the aftermath of the terrifying reign of the Third Reich and its genocidal prosecution of World War II, Germany set about rehabilitating its international standing in the years after 1945. In the shadow of the Cold War in Europe, the German states that emerged out of the 1949 partioning became satellites of their respective superpower masters. It was the largely unexpected end of this “serfdom” in 1989 that presented the first major test of international opinion on the prospect of a re-emergent Germany. British attitudes and policy in particular were challenged by this development and it provides a useful milestone from which an assessment of German cultural diplomacy in the preceding four decades can be made. The thesis provides an outline of German cultural diplomacy initiatives in the post-war era and is rounded off with a background consideration of theoretical aspects of contemporary cultural diplomacy.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    The "English School" and Southeast Asia: evaluating a region-theory dialogue
    Quayle, Linda Catherine ( 2011)
    This thesis argues that the English School (ES) has a unique contribution to make to the notoriously problematic theorization of the international and transnational politics of Southeast Asia (SEA). It examines four key political areas – the nature of interstate relations; the community-building plans of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); the involvement of regional civil society in ASEAN processes; and the influence of a range of transnational non-state actors on regional dynamics – and contends that a pluralist ES perspective can tackle some of the discursive problems these issues raise, while also suggesting a different way of seeing and talking about SEA. No claim is made that the ES offers a total or exclusive answer to the problems of interpreting SEA’s politics, or that it cannot benefit from further input from regional data or other bodies of theory. Indeed, the thesis invokes the need for an ongoing region-theory dialogue. But while the ES’s input is not sufficient, it is certainly an important – and thus far underexploited – part of any regional interpretation, and no picture of SEA is complete without the perspective it brings. In some areas, ES-derived narratives already offer valuable alternative framings. They can bridge the gap between power-related and community-related interpretations of SEA’s international politics, and provide a wholly different perspective on relations between ASEAN and regional civil society, by demonstrating that these actors are involved in an incipient process of institutionalization. In other areas, ES narratives stand to gain considerably from continued observation of the region. They speak to the dilemmas inherent in moves to build an “ASEAN Community”, but as yet understand a liberal route to solidarism better than the mixed route ASEAN is taking, and while they contextualize and reimagine the dynamics linking a wide range of state and non-state actors in SEA, they can go only a certain distance down this road. Overall, however, the ES projects a different picture of the region. Its holism, combined with its ability to recognize, defend and validate conceptual “in between” spaces, allow it to capture and synthesize aspects of SEA’s international and transnational politics that are grasped only incompletely by other theoretical approaches, enabling a more nuanced, integrated – and sometimes more positive – interpretation of the region’s dynamics.