Browsing by Subject "fragmentation"

In this Master’s thesis, “International Courts: Challenges New and Old - A Deconstruction on the Work of International Courts”, the aim is to critically appraise some characteristics of international courts that seem to hinder their impact and be problematic to their legitimacy. It presupposes that these features are hidden by the conventional legend-building narratives on international courts. To deconstruct this framework in which they operate, the thesis focuses on three features it argues are connected: the type of justice international courts provide; the democratic legitimacy vacuum in which they operate and the effect of fragmentation and the proliferation of international courts. The inspirations for the thesis notably stem from the remarks that other institutions have raised in popularity in tackling issues of international justice, and from the observation that the issues faced by international courts have, to some extent, remained similar for over a century. The thesis also accepts as a starting point that legal theory on the international field lags behind reality and has struggled to provide a comprehensive theoretical framework under which international courts operate. In order to locate the questions to be asked and to provide an explanation of their need and perceived benefits, the thesis first lays out the historical context of the emergence of international courts on the international stage. This historical context is argued to be closely connected to the legend-building narratives on international courts. Next, in chapter three, inspired by the notion of micro and macro justice, the thesis then makes observations on the kind of justice international courts actually can and should aim for and the results they can achieve. It argues that international courts are limited in the type of justice they can provide, and thus unable to alone reach the goals they were created to fulfil. In chapter four, the thesis then notes that the democratic legitimacy of international courts has been considered questionable from their very appearance, an issue argued to be of relevance still today, not least to the glaring lack of a global demos. It is thus observed that due to the reality of the international field, international courts have had to take the role of a norm-creator. The thesis argues that none of the traditional counter-arguments to this problematic feature can be held satisfactory. Further, it is asserted that the absence of a legislative causes problems to international courts both as an interpreter and as a norm-creator. Finally, the thesis then moves on to a more recent development in chapter five, namely legal fragmentation and the proliferation of international courts. While these make the international legal field more complex, create overlapping systems and thus potential power struggles, it is argued that this phenomenon also further affects the issue of democratic legitimacy and the justice provided by international courts. This happens notably because they lessen the control of states on the newly established norms and institutions. Further, while fragmentation might aid international courts in focusing on micro justice, it complicates their norm-creating process. As a conclusion, the thesis summarises the problems it claims are caused by the framework in which international courts operate and how they differ from the legend-building narrative. Additionally, it restates a few possible modest paths of development to tackle each of the noted problems, although it is argued that to truly solve the encountered issues, the establishment of an international legislative would be required. Due to the research question and the multiplicity of issues treated, the methods used in the thesis are a combination of critical analysis with theoretical and historical approaches, with an end-goal to provide a critical legal study on the impact of international courts.

This study examines an online counter media publication in Finland. The 800 sample articles were collected during the spring 2016. Articles address social, political and cultural issues on national and international levels. This study examines how the publication aims to construe a sense of reality. The theoretical framework of the study is presented through a variation of global media and communication perspectives such as media life, mediatisation, fragmentation and the public sphere. These theories demonstrate that in a mediated society readers and media consumers face daily challenges in evaluating media content. Constructing factuality and detecting fakeness in the media have become a global talking point in the media, academia and public discussions. Moreover, in fragmented media life consumers are divided into small segments and consumption patterns are based on individual preferences and lifestyles. These aspects may also have further consequences to the ideal of the public sphere. Through the means of quantitative content analysis and qualitative frame analysis this case study reveals that the style of presentation and linguistic framing methods together construct a troubled sense of reality by manifesting on mutual feelings of uncertainty, unfairness and untrustworthiness towards mainstream media and traditional power structures in the Finnish context. The publication employs familiar journalistic conventions in the style of presentation, but distinctive components are absent, such as clear style and valid referencing as well as transparent reporter identities and reporting methods. The large number of published articles per day on one hand may create a sense of continuity, but on the other hand, indicates that planning, production, publishing and broadcasting may be practiced carelessly resulting in errors and repetition. By combining the traditional news-like format with an unconventional style of representing the outlet aims to establish a form of social reality which is driven by all-consuming uncertainty. The findings reveal that the publication does not focus on rationalising or explaining complex problems with exhaustive solutions, but rather circulates speculative frames that potentially aim to reinforce the state of dubiety already exciting in the publication’s readers’ media lives. Finally, the findings underline the importance of open public discussion as well as media literacy and media technology education. This study demonstrates that new media outlets do not necessarily fit in to the traditional theoretical and practical research conventions but instead require hybrid approach and explanations. The study offers a view point to the current media landscape that consists of traditional mainstream media but also of non-professional and semi-professional content producers and providers as well as social media sites and online networks. The study takes part in the ongoing discussion about the state of pseudo professional online publications and argues that the everyday essence of the digital media content impacts how the sense of reality is established. In addition to traditional media producers and political actors, alternative and counter publications, as well as users themselves, take part in the battle to define the social world in the mediated society.

In tablet compression the objective is to obtain a durable tablet. The main deformation mechanism of substance affects how good tablet is obtained. The pharmaceutical powders is often divided into two categories with respect to their principal deformation mechanism: plastic and fragmented. Good tablet formulation requires its components to deform with both of these mechanisms. It is possible to examine in many ways, whether material is plastic or fragmented. These include force-time graphs and indentation methods, as well as different compression equations such Heckel equation. Examination and identification of the deformation mechanisms is important in order to design a formulation which provides the most durable tablet. The aim of experimental work in this study was to test the new compression device and method, and to compare the results of the device shown in the earlier literature results. Comparison with previous research, new in this study was compression rate and without a motor acting compaction system. In this study, there was two compression method developed, dynamic and static. Data from a dynamic method were analysed by time-travel - and force-displacement -curves. Results were parameterized, and on the basis of these parameters the behaviour of various materials was evaluated and compared to the earlier literature. Relaxation study was also performed in this research. The results of these measurements were analysed with the parameterized function fit, after which the results were compared with earlier results presented in the literature. The results of this work in dynamic measurements are cosistent with the research results received earlier. In terms of almost all parameters investigated, substances were divided into two groups in the same way as in the previous literature on the basis of the main deformation mechanism. The results obtained in static measurements, however, were quite inconsistent with previous research. Based on the results it can be stated that the method makes it possible to get consistent results with the literature. However, the method still requires development, and possible error sources and the choice of analytical method should pay special attention.