https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/130245 Sat, 10 Oct 2026 15:03:41 GMT 2026-10-10T15:03:41Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/149079 Title: An enabling legal environment for a sustainable ocean economy in small island developing states Abstract: This work and its abstract are both under embargo until the restriction is lifted. Description: Ph.D.(Melit.) Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/149079 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/144590 Title: The sustainability of seaweed aquaculture for blue growth and climate change adaptation in small island developing states : the case of Belize Abstract: This doctoral thesis investigated the sustainability of seaweed aquaculture in Belize, a Small Island Developing State (SIDS). While SIDS are inherently subjected to the extreme environmental and socioeconomic impacts of climate change, limited research has examined climate adaptation strategies within the context of sustainable livelihoods in seaweed farming. This study explores how seaweed farming contributes to sustainable livelihoods by integrating community-based (CbA) and ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) strategies framed through the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF). The research is situated within the broader context of Blue Transformation and Blue Economy, addressing the connections between livelihoods, environmental management, and national development objectives aligned with global sustainability agendas such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A triangulated mixed-methods approach was employed, combining qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative component included focus group discussions using the Community-based Risk Screening Tool-Adaptation and Livelihoods (CRiSTAL) toolkit, semi-structured interview household surveys, elite stakeholder interviews, and policy analysis using the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal (PESTEL) tool. The quantitative component included descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, cross-tabulation, and multi-linear regressions models to examine the relationship between livelihood capitals and seaweed production. This methodological integration provided a comprehensive understanding of both community-level and policy-level factors impacting the sustainability of seaweed farming livelihoods. The findings reveal that seaweed farming in Belize represents a viable and environmentally sustainable livelihood, yet it faces challenges from both climatic and non-climatic factors. While ocean temperature rises and storms impact farm productivity, more persistent issues such as limited financial resources, inadequate infrastructure, and weak institutional support constrain the sector’s long-term sustainability. The results show that EbA and CbA approaches positivity impact production outcomes, while farm size, gender, and value-adding activities display complex associations with harvest levels. Qualitative findings highlight the importance of traditional knowledge, collective action, and environmental stewardship in sustaining seaweed mariculture practices. The integration of these findings demonstrates coherence between household livelihood strategies, local community initiatives, and institutional frameworks. The research identifies the need for coordinated governance, improved policy coherence, and greater technical and financial investment to strengthen seaweed aquaculture as part of Belize’s Blue Economy strategy. This thesis makes three key contributions. First, it provides new empirical evidence linking SLF with community and ecosystem-based approaches in the context of SIDS. Second, it broadens the conceptual scope of sustainable livelihoods by incorporating ecological and cultural dimensions, offering a transferable framework for analyzing marine-based livelihoods. Third, it contributes to policy and practice by identifying specific areas for targeted investment, technical training, and inclusive governance to enhance the long-term sustainability of seaweed farming. The study concludes that seaweed aquaculture in Belize offers a sustainable and socially inclusive pathway for economic diversification and climate-aware development. Its continued success depends on integrating local practices with coherent policy frameworks that empower small-scale producers and align with national and international blue growth priorities. Future research should expand upon this tripartite hazard screening analysis to explore the interactions between risks, livelihoods, ecosystems, and governance across SIDS and beyond. Description: Ph.D.(Melit.) Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/144590 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/144589 Title: Explorations of social suffering and violence in a bipartisan political context : the case of Jamaica Abstract: Social suffering and urban violence are significant factors for Kingston’s urban poor communities. This study explores these concepts within Jamaica’s bipartisan political environment. The foundation of this project is the view that Jamaica’s colonial past has concretised a two-party political system leading to political tribalism and violence. Engaging the lived realities of 24 Jamaicans, the study aims to improve the complicated reality of social suffering and violence in urban inner-city communities while navigating political power. This investigation delves deeply into the socio-historical consequences of two-party politics and tribalism for the people who live in these places. This study takes an interpretive phenomenological analytical approach. The study engaged in-depth semi-structured and key informant interviews as the primary methods of data collection. Naturalistic observations were engaged as a complementary tool to best engage the methods social actors use to make meaning in their daily realities. The project focuses on two communities aligned to the two dominant political parties in Jamaica: the Jamaica Labour Party and the People’s National Party. The study offers a novel conceptual position that political communities in Jamaica operate as landed islands, creating endemic government, economic, and social systems. The study examines the relational and mitigation strategies that the urban poor employ to respond to endemic systems. The study notes social actors use biomedical and sensory parameters to offer a robust description of poverty. Finally, the study centers social suffering as a prerequisite of these spaces – where social actors embrace suffering as a condition of landed islands. Description: Ph.D.(Melit.) Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/144589 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/144339 Title: Investigating discourses on heroin use and users in a small island developing state (SIDS) : the case of Seychelles Abstract: As a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) with the highest GDP per capita in Africa, Seychelles is significantly affected by the heroin pandemic, experiencing the highest rate of heroin use per capita globally. Despite this, little is known about the complex realities of heroin practices in Seychelles, as no qualitative sociological study has been conducted locally. Existing literature, largely Western-focused, inadequately addresses how heroin use is produced, practised, and governed in island and small states contexts, limiting informed drug policy debates. I adopt a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis to examine how problematic heroin use and users are constructed, promoted, and sustained within Seychelles’ socio-cultural and political milieu. Data were collected from three sources: media texts to analyse representations of heroin and users; semi-structured interviews with six former problematic heroin users, to capture lived experiences and discursive constructions; and interviews with seven elite and expert stakeholders, to explore policy and practice perspectives. Five dominant discourses – medical, resource scarcity, political, stigmatising, and the ‘wake up and be normal’ discourse- shape intervention approaches, public understanding, and user identities. These overlapping discourses construct heroin users as deviant, ill, criminal, or morally failed, justifying practices of surveillance, abstinence-based treatment, and exclusion. The study reveals how Seychelles’ religious, cultural, and socio-political dynamics reinforce stigma and moral judgement as tools of power. Notably, no distinction is made between heroin use and problematic use; all heroin consumption is deemed dangerous and addictive. This thesis advances sociological insights into drug use in island settings, challenges prevailing medicalised and criminalised narratives, and advocates for contextually relevant, inclusive strategies that address stigma and acknowledge the political aspects of heroin and other illegal drug consumption. Description: Ph.D.(Melit.) Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/144339 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z