193,936 research outputs found
History of the steel industry in the Port Talbot Area 1900-1988
No full textThis thesis examines the history of steelmaking at Port Talbot in South Wales from the start of modern steelmaking in 1902 to 1988. Although the British steel industry has been studied at national level, few studies have looked at company level and fewer on plant level studies. By studying this large and significant steelmaking site this thesis sheds light on the interaction between national constraints and local forces for change or inertia and on the interaction of plant management, industry leadership and national Government policies. A number of themes are examined including issues of locational inertia and change; technological innovation and choice; relationships to, and changes in markets; products and demand levels; the role of the state; and issues of decision making. The later includes managers, management structure, conflict among managers, corporate rivalries, relationships with banks and Government, and within nationalised industries.
The thesis covers the origins of modern steelmaking at Port Talbot in the 1900s, its expansion and integration with iron making during World War One. It looks at Port Talbot within the framework of heavy steel rationalisation in the 1920s and the inconclusive manoeuvrings to build a strip mill in the 1930s. After World Ward Two Port Talbot emerged as Britain’s leading strip mill through a complex interplay of technological and locational choices including Government pressure and corporate rivalries. The boom years of the 1950s were followed by consolidation and modernisation in the 1960s through the Government inspired over expansion of the strip mill sector. After re-nationalisation in 1967 Port Talbot became involved in internal struggles with rival strip mills over investment. At each stage the thesis uses the detailed local adaptation and innovation within that context.
The thesis draws on extensive primary sources including the National Archives, Government Reports and documents, company records, Bank of England papers, trade papers, technical journals, trade union papers and local newspapers. The secondary literature on the steel industry is discussed and revised where appropriate and this study adds a full-scale plant level industrial history of one of the most important British steelworks to this literature
Talbot-enhanced, maximum-visibility imaging of condensate interference
No full textNearly two centuries ago Talbot first observed the fascinating effect whereby light propagating through a periodic structure generates a `carpet' of image revivals in the near field. Here we report the first observation of the spatial Talbot effect for light interacting with periodic Bose-Einstein condensate interference fringes. The Talbot effect can lead to dramatic loss of fringe visibility in images, degrading precision interferometry, however we demonstrate how the effect can also be used as a tool to enhance visibility, as well as extend the useful focal range of matter wave detection systems by orders of magnitude. We show that negative optical densities arise from matter-wave induced lensing of detuned imaging light -- yielding Talbot-enhanced single-shot interference visibility of >135% compared to the ideal visibility for resonant light
Adaptive photodetector for assisted talbot effect
No full textWe use an adaptive photodetector for measuring the visibility of the Fresnel diffraction patterns generated by a grating. Visibility is measured in real time, with high spatial resolution, and without any signal processing. This method is well suited for analyzing the Talbot effect and its many applications
Conclusions: Learning from Listening? Why the EU Failed to Learn from the Arab Uprisings and Why that Matters
No full textThis book has above all shown why the EU is not a ‘normative actor’ in the Middle East and how and why EU democracy promotion fails. These efforts fail because the Union promotes the wrong kind of democracy and the wrong kind of strategies for economic growth—wrong both in the sense that these approaches do not work and in the sense that they are not what people want. This double failure highlights a paradox of EU democracy promotion: while nominally an emancipatory endeavour, de facto it undermines those very emancipatory transitions to democracy and to inclusive development which it claims to pursue. In detailing these failures, the book compares conceptions of gender, democracy and human rights. The ‘gap’ between EU images and populations’ self-conceptions explains negative perceptions of the EU—undermining its role as a ‘normative power’—and how the EU’s own narratives ‘other’ Southern Mediterranean Countries’ populations
In the Eye of the Beholder: Perceptions of the EU Through Survey Data
No full textThis chapter uses survey data to analyse perceptions of the EU, its development cooperation programmes, its promotion of democracy, the appropriateness of its response to the Arab Uprisings and the perception of the EU as an international actor. Overall, the data suggests low levels of awareness and relatively negative opinions of the EU’s actions both in general and in the specific context of its response to the Arab Uprisings
Gender Equality in Theory and Practice
No full textThis chapter compares the way in which the EU defines and promotes gender equality and the empowerment of women on the one hand and the conceptions of women’s rights in Southern Mediterranean Countries (SMCs) on the other. The chapter begins by examining the evolution and metamorphosis of the EU’s self-image as a gender entrepreneur, followed by an in-depth analysis of EU gender promotion policy in the region both before and after the Uprisings, in theory and in practice. It then examines the progress that has been made in SMCs in gender equality and concludes by discussing the attitudes of women and men in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia to gender equality. It concludes that there is a mismatch between EU gender policy and the attitudes of citizens, with the latter remaining conservative with strong support for family policy being based on shari’a
Priorities for Inclusive Growth: Increasing Employment, Decreasing Inequality and Fighting Corruption
No full textThis chapter looks in detail at citizens’ views on the extent to which their governments are meeting their demands for inclusive economic development, decent employment and fighting corruptions. It concludes that they are generally dissatisfied with the way governments are managing the economy and providing basic services, although there are some differences between countries. In particular, they are concerned about a lack of employment opportunities and they do not think that their governments are fighting corruption. Migration is mainly motivated by economic factors, with those considering migration being educated young to middle-aged men
EU Delivery and Practice: Democracy Assistance, Aid and Trade Before and After the Uprisings
No full textThis chapter provides a bridge between the critical policy analysis offered in the first half of the book and the analysis of public opinion survey data in the second half. Comparing before and after the Uprisings, it does three things. First, it examines the changing political context within which the EU is delivering the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in the Southern Mediterranean (SM). Secondly, it considers how the mechanisms and tools of delivery changed in practice after the Uprisings, specifically considering the EU’s claims to innovative changes. Thirdly, it examines the EU’s practices in delivering democracy and ‘money, markets and mobility’. It concludes by arguing that there is little evidence of innovative changes of the EU practices in delivering the ENP in the SM after the Uprisings, that it has continued to support authoritarian regimes and that there is little evidence that the people of Southern Mediterranean Countries (SMCs) are benefitting from the ENP
What Do ‘The People’ Want? Form and Substance in Democracy and Social Justice
No full textThis chapter addresses five questions: what were the drivers of the 2011 Uprisings?; what do citizens see as the main challenges facing their country?; do they want democracy and if yes what kind of democracy?; what type of government do they think will deliver on their priorities?; and do they trust their governments to deliver on their priorities? The main conclusions are: citizens see economic factors and corruption as the main driver of the Uprisings and the main challenge facing their country in 2016; while for democracy seen as the best system of government and compatible with Islam what they want is social-democratic democracy; democracy is not necessarily seen as the only type of government that can deliver on their demands; and there is little trust that governments will deliver. The discontent that drove the Uprisings is still evident indicating that further mass protests cannot be ruled out
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