Landsbókasafn Íslands - Háskólabókasafn
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/45
National and University Library of Iceland2024-03-19T02:36:56ZThe Role of Government in Economic Growth and Development: A Comparative Study of Malta and Iceland 1960-1980
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/4747
The Role of Government in Economic Growth and Development: A Comparative Study of Malta and Iceland 1960-1980
Jónsson, Sigfús
This is a comparative study of the two small island states of Iceland and Malta in 1960-2000. It
focuses on the role of the two governments as they enacted public policies, intervened in the
functioning of their economies and foreign trade, invested in infrastructure, enhanced human
capital and developed welfare states. The governments aspired to boost economic growth,
improve quality of life, raise living standards, increase exports, combat recessions, create jobs,
reduce trade and economic volatility, reap political gains and advance foreign relations.
The thesis compares economic and political developments and their interplay, advancing
international relations and different routes to European cooperation. With their emerging public
sectors, political systems, and political customs and conflicts, both island states tried to secure
their rights, livelihoods and positions amongst other European nations.
Around 1960, Iceland´s economy was relatively advanced compared to Malta. Iceland
was a financially self-standing republic, financing growth through exports, foreign loans,
Marshall Aid and locally accumulated capital; and gifted with prolific fishing grounds and rich
renewable energy resources. The national economy was vulnerable due to dependency on the
volatile fishery and its export markets. However, Iceland could not yet control and manage the
fishing grounds, as they were open for foreign deep-sea trawlers until the mid-1970s. Iceland
maintained its focus on developing the fishery further during the last quarter of the twentieth
century but with parallel government-driven developments in the power sector, while foreign
investors built the associated power-intensive industries. A transferable quota system was
introduced and shaped in the fisheries from 1984 to the 1990s. The new system increased
efficiencies and labour productivity and reduced the over-capacity of fleet and plants. The 1970s
and 1980s were marked by slack macroeconomic policies - hyperinflation, frequent devaluations
of the ISK, rampant over-investments, subsidies in farming and uneconomical redistributive
systems in fisheries. The economy became more liberal, diversified, and productive in the
1990s, helped by the European Economic Area Agreement, which became effective in 1994.
In contrast to Iceland, Malta pursued rather stable macroeconomic policies throughout
the period considered. In the 1960s, Malta was at first preoccupied with the politics and
administrative issues of independence, which was achieved in 1964, and then during the
remainder of the decade with preparations for diversifying and strengthening the economy in
iv
reaction to a massive down-scaling of the workforce in the dockyards and the British services.
The 1960s saw a large-scale emigration. Based on local development plans and in line with
advice from foreign consultants, manufacturing for exports was targeted, and foreign technology
and investments were attracted to Malta. Industrial estates were built, and incentives offered to
foreign investors. Manufacturing firms, e.g. in textiles, electronics and pharmaceuticals, set up
plants in Malta. New hotels were built in the 1960s, initiating a growing tourism industry. Air
Malta was founded, and Malta became a popular tourist destination. In the 1990s and the 2000s,
financial services emerged as another successful economic initiative.
While Iceland restricted foreign investments and the shareholding of foreign firms in its
strategic sectors, i.e., the fishery and renewable power production, Malta used foreign
investments to its advantage. Iceland and Malta took steps in easing foreign trade restrictions.
Iceland made its first move in liberalising domestic trade in 1960 and took a further step when it
joined EFTA in 1970, involving a customs union with the EFTA countries. That same year,
Malta signed an Association Agreement with the European Economic Community (EEC),
creating a customs union based on free trade between Malta and the EEC.
Malta developed a rather centralised political system, while Iceland evolved a more
decentralised system. Malta inherited its political system from Britain, and Iceland its system
from Denmark. Both had self-government, preceding the republic in Iceland (1944) and
independence in Malta (1964). The political system in Malta paved the way for two-party
politics, with one party in power and the other in opposition. Meanwhile, the Icelandic system
favoured multi-party politics, which needed coalitions of 2-4 parties at any time for a majority in
the parliament. Two government levels made the political processes in Iceland more
complicated than in Malta, as many policies and programs had to be negotiated between the
state, the local authorities, the trade unions and business federations. One of the foremost
differences between the two island states was the size of the landmass, topography, climate and
location. It resulted in dissimilar political systems with a strong geographical dimension in
Iceland. Their dissimilar location in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean swayed their
choices of foreign trading partners and political allies towards adjacent neighbourly countries.
2024-01-01T00:00:00Z‘How Did This Happen?’: Making Retrospective, Present and Prospective Sense of Intimate Relationships Where Men Have Been Violent
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/4244
‘How Did This Happen?’: Making Retrospective, Present and Prospective Sense of Intimate Relationships Where Men Have Been Violent
Ólafsdóttir, Katrín; Hearn, Jeff
In seeking to explain intimate partner violence (IPV), feminist research has shifted its focus from individual
explanations to the social contexts of such violence. Adopting such a perspective, we explore the narratives
of three men who identify as perpetrators of violence and three women who identify as victims/survivors
of IPV. Our analyses focus on how the participants present their relationships, employing the notion of
affective – discursive practices as informing, at times constituting, the participants’ experiences. Their stories
are characterised by a chronological line – retrospective, present and prospective. Their understandings
change in framing their experiences, with the relationships themselves becoming affective–discursive
practices, albeit figuring differently in the participants’ stories across time. Our findings also underline the
significance of shame as a regulatory mechanism sustaining heteronormative practices.
2023-03-01T00:00:00ZThe effects of losartan and diazepam on emotional processing
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/3596
The effects of losartan and diazepam on emotional processing
Thoroddsen, Theodora A.
Given the prevalence and substantial economic costs of anxiety disorders, and the
shortcomings of current treatments, there is dire need for research that helps inform the
development of new treatments and medications. The aim of this thesis was to further our
understanding of the effects of two medications relevant to anxiety, losartan and diazepam, to help inform the use of existing treatments and lead to more effective ones.
Research has indicated that the angiotensin receptor antagonist losartan may potentially be a promising candidate to enhance the efficacy of exposure-based therapies. It however remains to be fully clarified how losartan affects some of the mechanisms relevant to exposure success. In the first study, a single dose of losartan was shown to increase activation in the paracingulate gyrus, insular cortex, lingual gyrus, and fusiform gyrus in healthy, high trait anxious volunteers, which possibly reflects modulation of higher-order visual processing. There was however no evidence found for an effect of losartan on neural responses in the hippocampus during non-emotional memory encoding. Losartan was also shown to increase positive attentional bias, which was reflected in attention being more firmly held by positive stimuli compared to neutral stimuli. Given that both greater reactivity in higher-order visual regions and positive valence training have been shown to be relevant for therapy success, these results may provide further support that losartan might potentially have synergistic effects with exposure therapy, but this remains to be tested directly. The most common pharmacological treatments for anxiety disorders include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and benzodiazepines, but both groups of medications have limitations. A better understanding of how existing medications exert their anxiolytic effects may help guide development of new medications. As benzodiazepines are not effective in treating depression, researching their effects provide a means of teasing apart antidepressant and anxiolytic effects. A comprehensive understanding of the cognitive neuropsychological mechanisms behind their anxiolytic effects is still lacking. In the second study, a 7-day treatment of diazepam was shown to lower connectivity between the amygdala and the pre- and post-central gyrus during cognitive reappraisal, and between limbic regions and the precuneous cortex in response to aversive pictures in healthy volunteers. The treatment also led to a decrease in activation in the right vlPFC during reappraisal, and to an increase in activation in the left vlPFC and right ACC in response to positive stimuli, without any subjective changes in mood and state anxiety. Diazepam may thus potentially be exerting its short-term anxiolytic effects by modulating activity within these brain areas. Taken together, these findings provide valuable insights into potential mechanisms through which diazepam and losartan may exert their therapeutic effects. A better understanding of these mechanisms can hopefully help inform the development of future anxiolytics and combination treatments.
2021-01-01T00:00:00ZThe relationship between international and national law: re-visiting concepts of dualism and monism
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/2930
The relationship between international and national law: re-visiting concepts of dualism and monism
Ingadóttir, Þórdís
The relationship between international and national law is increasingly being tested by jurisdictions and decisions of international courts. International courts have multiplied in the last two decades and have become permanent and active participants in the international arena. States and international organizations have considered the establishment and jurisdiction of such dispute settlement bodies vital for the enforcement of international law obligations of both states and individuals. States have undertaken an international obligation to comply with decisions of international courts. Particularly, in light of the enhanced role of international courts with respect to the enforcement of human rights and individual criminal responsibility, their jurisdiction and decisions have required major implementation at the national level. The authority of international courts calls for a theoretical understanding of the relations between international and national law. In only a short time, their authority has put into the spotlight fundamental principles of international law, such as human rights, criminal responsibility of individuals for international crimes, states’ responsibility, enforcement by international actors, and remedies. These areas of law are inter-dependent, both in substance and space. International human rights and individual criminal responsibility for serious crimes are matters of international law, undertaken and enforced at the international level, but to be realized at the national level. At both levels, every day practice illustrates the dire need of a theoretical understanding of the multilayered situation. Conventional application of established legal doctrines has often proved to be conflicting and unsatisfactory. Facing the dilemma, a grander strategy is needed. This thesis presents a study on this new phenomenon from a variety of perspectives. The six publications included study international legal norms that seek to activate domestic legal system, enforcement of international courts, and implementation at the national level (in particular in the Nordic countries). These studies are mainly in the area of international human rights, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law. The summary places the published text in a theoretical, historical and analytical context. The primary theoretical foundation of the relations between international and national law are the theories of dualism and monism. While set out in the nineteenth century, the theories have remained the main foundation for the kinship. The summary revisits and tests the components of these theories in light of the case studies. It concludes that the reliance of the theories is problematic, as their key foundations do not hold. This situation has real-world ramifications as actors with major interests at hand, primarily individuals, find themselves at times trapped, and left with a false promise of law.; Kansainvälisten tuomioistuinten toimivalta ja päätökset koettelevat yhä enenevässä määrin kansainvälisen ja kansallisen oikeuden rajoja. Kansainvälisten tuomioistuinten määrä on moninkertaistunut viime vuosikymmenten aikana, ja niistä on tullut yhä pysyvämpiä ja aktiivisempia toimijoita kansainvälisellä areenalla. Valtiot ja kansainväliset järjestöt ovat katsoneet, että tällaiset tuomioistuimet ovat elintärkeitä valtioiden ja yksilöiden kansainvälisoikeudellisten oikeuksien ja velvollisuuksien toteutumisen kannalta. Useimmat valtiot ovat myös antaneet suostumuksensa noudattaa tuomioistuinten päätöksiä. Etenkin ihmisoikeustuomioistuinten ja kansainvälisten rikostuomioistuinten päätösten toimeenpaneminen on usein vaatinut merkittäviä uudistuksia kansallisella tasolla. Kansainvälisten tuomioistuinten toimivallan ymmärtäminen vaatii kansallisen ja kansainvälisen oikeuden välisten suhteiden teorioimista. Tämä toimivalta on lyhyessä ajassa asettanut valokeilaan kansainvälisen oikeuden perustavanlaatuisia periaatteita ja kysymyksiä, kuten ihmisoikeudet, yksilön rikosvastuun kansainvälisistä rikoksista, valtiovastuun, kansainvälisten toimijoiden toimeenpanovallan ja oikeussuojakeinot. Nämä oikeudelliset kysymykset ovat toisiinsa liitoksissa niin substanssin puolesta kuin tilallisestikin. Ihmisoikeudet ja yksilön rikosvastuu kansainvälisistä rikoksista ovat kansainvälisoikeudellisia kysymyksiä, joista päätetään kansainvälisellä tasolla, mutta ne toimeenpannaan kansallisella tasolla. Päivittäiset käytännöt molemmilla tasoilla osoittavat tarpeen tämän monikerroksisen tilanteen teoreettiselle ymmärtämiselle. Olemassa olevien oikeudellisten doktriinien perinteinen soveltaminen on usein osoittautunut ristiriitaiseksi ja epätyydyttäväksi. Ongelmaan vastaaminen vaatii laajempaa strategiaa. Väitöskirjassa tarkastellaan tätä ilmiötä useasta näkökulmasta. Väitöskirjan ytimen muodostavissa kuudessa artikkelissa tutkitaan kansainvälisiä oikeussääntöjä, jotka pyrkivät toimimaan kansallisen oikeusjärjestelmän kautta, kansainvälisten tuomioistuinten toimeenpanovaltaa, ja niiden päätösten implementoimista kansallisella tasolla (etenkin Pohjoismaissa). Artikkelien tapaustutkimukset koskevat pääosin ihmisoikeuksia, humanitaarista oikeutta ja kansainvälistä rikosoikeutta. Väitöskirjan johtopäätösluku asettaa näiden tutkimusten tulokset teoreettiseen, historialliseen ja analyyttiseen kontekstiin. Kansainvälisen ja kansallisen oikeuden suhteiden teoreettisen perustan muodostavat dualismi ja monismi. Vaikka ne on luotu 1800-luvulla, nämä teoriat ovat säilyttäneet asemansa oikeusteoriassa. Väitöskirjan johtopäätösluvussa tutkitaan ja testataan näiden teorioiden eri osia väitöskirjan tapaustutkimusten valossa. Väitöskirjassa tullaan siihen tulokseen, että näihin teorioihin tukeutuminen on ongelmallista, koska niiden perusta ei enää ole vakaa. Tällä on käytännön vaikutuksia, sillä toimijat, ennen kaikkea yksilöt, joiden intressit ovat vaakalaudalla, jäävät usein vangiksi oikeuden valheellisten lupausten väliin.
2022-01-14T00:00:00Z