The purpose of this study was to explore how the local context of host countries shapes the provision of education to refugees. To achieve this aim, a comparative case study of Syrian refugee...Show moreThe purpose of this study was to explore how the local context of host countries shapes the provision of education to refugees. To achieve this aim, a comparative case study of Syrian refugee education in host countries Lebanon and Jordan was undertaken. Resting on the theoretical argument that context inherently matters for outcomes, it was expected that contextual differences between Jordan and Lebanon will have created differences in education for refugee children. Interviews were conducted with experts that have worked at various organizations in either context, in order to corroborate data from document research published by the governments, NGOs, or international organizations. An analysis of these diverse sources produced five contextual factors – political context, economic context, encampment policy, family practices, and cultural proximity – that provide an answer to this study’s research question and further endorse the notion that context inherently matters, and that ‘good practice’ for refugee education is highly contextual. In light of the contextual differences found, and their unique effects on refugee education, it can be said that Jordan and Lebanon should not be grouped together as hastefully as is done by existing scholarship, but should each be treated in their own right instead.Show less
This thesis explores the lobbying strategies used by multinational agribusinesses to shape the global food security regime as part of global capitalism management. My case study focuses on how the...Show moreThis thesis explores the lobbying strategies used by multinational agribusinesses to shape the global food security regime as part of global capitalism management. My case study focuses on how the four largest grain traders in the world lobby the Food and Agriculture Organization to promote market-based policies for global food security. I find substantial evidence for four strategies: multi-stakeholder fora, corporate-FAO partnerships, lobbying national governments, and revolving door practices. The four strategies help agribusinesses be involved in decision-making, increase their market and structural power, and promote the private sector as a legitimate and essential actor in the regime’s governance. The findings fit within a neo-Gramscian framework and can be interpreted as strategies used by the transnational capitalist class to support the transnationalization of social relations of production and the promotion of the neoliberal world order.Show less
Academics have generally overlooked how NGOs use and produce knowledge to influence policymaking, or have acknowledged it but have not assessed it using the concept of epistemic communities....Show moreAcademics have generally overlooked how NGOs use and produce knowledge to influence policymaking, or have acknowledged it but have not assessed it using the concept of epistemic communities. However, knowledge can also be a powerful tool in the hands of NGOs. Indeed, this study demonstrates that NGOs are more than just advocacy actors; like epistemic communities, they influence politicians’perceptions and actions with their knowledge. To determine this, I have closely examined the role of knowledge in three NGOs bases in Brussels: Ciré, CNCD11.11.11 and Plate-Forme Mineurs en Exil, and interviewed one employee from each organisation. I then compared my findings to expectations of how NGOs would use and produce knowledge to influence policymaking, and determined that they matched the characteristics of epistemic communities. Nevertheless, this research is based on interviews and looked at specific cases. To generalise my conclusions, further research would have to be done.Show less
