Variations of customary tenure, chiefly power, and global norms for responsible land investments in Sierra Leone

In response to debates around land grabbing, the international community has increasingly developed and promoted global governance norms and guidelines for more responsible land investments. This concern on the part of the international community has particularly taken hold in Sierra Leone—in a post-war context, in which international donor agencies are already steering much of the country’s politics. Yet, despite the enormous influence of international guidelines and the actors promoting their use, there is a spatial variation in the conformity to and effectiveness of such norms in cases of land investments. While some projects seem to resemble ‘showcases’ for their exemplary use, these guidelines seem to be absent in other projects. This article analyses the political economy of customary land tenure, land investments, and international ‘soft laws’ in Sierra Leone. Based on 6 months of fieldwork in Sierra Leone in 2019, I compare several cases of large-scale land investments. I argue that there are important variations in the customary tenure system in the degree to which political authority over land is centralized in the authority of the paramount chief or is devolved to landholding families. This, I suggest, holds important implications for the uptake of global norms for ‘responsible’ investments

Structured Parallelism by Composition - Design and implementation of a framework supporting skeleton compositionality

This thesis is dedicated to the efficient compositionality of algorithmic skeletons, which are abstractions of common parallel programming patterns. Skeletons can be implemented in the functional parallel language Eden as mere parallel higher order functions. The use of algorithmic skeletons facilitates parallel programming massively. This is because they already implement the tedious details of parallel programming and can be specialised for concrete applications by providing problem specific functions and parameters. Efficient skeleton compositionality is of particular importance because complex, specialised skeletons can be compound of simpler base skeletons. The resulting modularity is especially important for the context of functional programming and should not be missing in a functional language. We subdivide composition into three categories: -Nesting: A skeleton is instantiated from another skeleton instance. Communication is tree shaped, along the call hierarchy. This is directly supported by Eden. -Composition in sequence: The result of a skeleton is the input for a succeeding skeleton. Function composition is expressed in Eden by the ( . ) operator. For performance reasons the processes of both skeletons should be able to exchange results directly instead of using the indirection via the caller process. We therefore introduce the remote data concept. -Iteration: A skeleton is called in sequence a variable number of times. This can be defined using recursion and composition in sequence. We optimise the number of skeleton instances, the communication in between the iteration steps and the control of the loop. To this end, we developed an iteration framework where iteration skeletons are composed from control and body skeletons. Central to our composition concept is remote data. We send a remote data handle instead of ordinary data, the data handle is used at its destination to request the referenced data. Remote data can be used inside arbitrary container types for efficient skeleton composition similar to ordinary distributed data types. The free combinability of remote data with arbitrary container types leads to a high degree of flexibility. The programmer is not restricted by using a predefined set of distributed data types and (re-)distribution functions. Moreover, he can use remote data with arbitrary container types to elegantly create process topologies. For the special case of skeleton iteration we prevent the repeated construction and deconstruction of skeleton instances for each single iteration step, which is common for the recursive use of skeletons. This minimises the parallel overhead for process and channel creation and allows to keep data local on persistent processes. To this end we provide a skeleton framework. This concept is independent of remote data, however the use of remote data in combination with the iteration framework makes the framework more flexible. For our case studies, both approaches perform competitively compared to programs with identical parallel structure but which are implemented using monolithic skeletons - i.e. skeleton not composed from simpler ones. Further, we present extensions of Eden which enhance composition support: generalisation of overloaded communication, generalisation of process instantiation, compositional process placement and extensions of Box types used to adapt communication behaviour

Celebrities, Fans, and Queering Gender Norms: A Critical Examination of Lady Gaga\u27s, Nicki Minaj\u27s, and Fans\u27 Use of Instagram

This dissertation used queer rhetoric as a lens for studying queering gender norms on Instagram by using Lady Gaga\u27s, Nicki Minaj\u27s, and fan posts as case studies. The research considers how celebrities may use social media, like Instagram, for queering gender norms, and what this might look like. This research also aimed to better understand if and how fans may take up celebrities\u27 efforts at queering gender norms and, in turn, queer gender norms in their own Instagram posts where they tag Gaga or Minaj. To conduct this research, I took a multimodal methodological approach and collected and coded 1,000 posts from Gaga and Minaj, respectively, and 1,000 posts that used the hashtag Gaga and another 1,000 posts that used the hashtag Minaj. My findings suggested that Gaga and Minaj do not engage in the queering of gender norms as frequently as anticipated, and when they do it is often in relation to their public, staged performances as musicians. Furthermore, Gaga also spoke on issues relating to gender and marriage equality whereas Minaj also spoke on issues relating to racial equality. The data collected on fans was inconclusive in part because of the large number of spam posts and also because, without interviewing fans, it was difficult to discern whether they were taking up celebrity messages in their posts given information shared in the photo and in the caption. However, I was able to note that, most often, fans were engaging with celebrities by expressing admiration. This research is useful for considering how gender performance manifests on Instagram, and possible ways celebrities can utilize Instagram to queer gender norms as well as promote other messages. With regard to fan posts, I argue for continued research in ways to support fans becoming critical rather than passive consumers of celebrity culture

What Do Patients Expect from Their Doctor?: A Study on What Patients Feel Their Doctor Can Do to Improve the Doctor-patient Relationship

The purpose of this study was to identify factors that patients thought doctors could do improve patient satisfaction in the doctor-patient relationship. A sample population that varied in age, race, and gender was asked their thoughts on what they expect from their doctor, and what their doctor can do to improve the doctor-patient relationship. Ten topics were discussed in an open-ended interview with each subject. The textual analysis focused on identifying those factors which patients thought were the most important in a satisfying doctor-patient relationship. The study found areas where the interview subjects supported previous research, and areas where they contradicted previous research. The study supported previous research in the areas of patient's need for information, communication issues, time spent with patients, and the need for patient follow-up. The study contradicted previous research in the area of patient's desire to make medical decisions.Master'sSchool of Health Professions and Studies: Health EducationUniversity of Michiganhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/118019/1/Dieterle.pd

Global governance meets local land tenure: international codes of conduct for responsible land investments in Uganda

Throughout the last decade, the international donor community has developed a plethora of regulatory initiatives for responsible agricultural investments. It remains unclear how such guidelines are invoked in practice in investment cases, and whether their use can prevent conflict and protect local land rights, as promoted. Uncovering how international guidelines work necessitates an understanding of the formal-legal setting and underlying land tenure regimes that shape investment projects. In Uganda, these contexts vary from region to region and investments take place on land held under various tenure regimes, including private, state-owned, and customary land. Based on 8 months of fieldwork in Uganda, I compare three cases of large-scale land investments in different settings and argue that variation in the underlying land tenure systems determines the variation, uneven applicability and effectiveness of global governance mechanisms