Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Grassroots level'

The birth of democracy in South Africa in 1994 not only meant the end of apartheid, but also served as the catalyst for community participation in the affairs of local government. Despite the creation of an enabling environment, i.e. the adoption of the concept of Developmental Local Government and Integrated Development Planning Framework to ensure the participation of communities, public participation remains contested today and still does not achieve its expected results. A range of problems besets public participation in governance and development planning. Accordingly, this thesis presents a case study of the barriers to meaningful public participation as well as exploration of the context and extent of public participation in Ward 28, Elsies River, Cape Town, South Africa. The investigation examined the link between public participation, development planning and service delivery. In order to achieve the stated aim, the researcher employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods including secondary analysis, observation, informal interviewing, focus group discussions as well as the administration of a structured questionnaire to various stakeholders. Based on the empirical results of this research, the study provides a number of developmental guidelines and public participation recommendations to enhance planning and service delivery, especially in poor communities.

This thesis offers a micro-level analysis of labour and women’s organizing in the context of globalization through the case study of the Comité Fronterizo de Obrer@s (CFO) from 1978 to 2009. We will see how one organization’s journey can give us insights into the complexities of local organizing and transnational networking in the context of globalization. This case study can be seen as a lens through which we can examine the changing context of labour and women’s organizing in the distinct maquiladora environment. My work positions itself in the “globalization from above” and “globalization from below” debate, specifically around the question of transnational social movements that form the “globalization from below” category in the context of a political economy analysis. However, where my thesis differs from a more traditional analysis of the resistance to globalization, such as that found in the global justice movements or alter-globalization movements, is in its focus on the complexities of organizing at the local level and the pressures that these local organizations feel from “above” from their transnational partners. What this thesis adds to the literature are the stories from the actual members of the organization, about the structure, the decision-making process of their organization, the role of the leadership and the connections between the local organizing and the transnational civil society partners. The complex history of an organization that has been there since the beginning of the maquiladora industry allows us a better understanding of the changing conditions and struggles these workers have faced. This journey through the history of the CFO, the richness of this empirical data encompassing more than 30 years of organizing in the maquiladora zone of Northern Mexico also allows us to explore “globalization from below” through different lens. This thesis brings in a micro-detail analysis of a specific organization in a specific context where we can see clearly transnational civil society linkages and the impact of globalizing capitalist neoliberal economy. As such, this research can offer us new insights into the intricacies of local-global linkages and thus contribute to an area often neglected or underdeveloped in international relations (IR).

Abstract Obviously, inside mediation through individuals or institutions emerged from the conflict situations becomes an alternative way to end armed conflict as it is regarded to have more local legitimacy with a higher sense of ownership. Surprisingly, researchers in peace and conflict studies have shown more interest to mediation processes dominated by outside mediators, while little has been known about the conditions that contribute to success of inside mediators. This thesis aims to contribute to this understudied research field by answering the question; under what conditions do mediators contribute to the ending of armed conflict in fragile states? In this thesis, I focus on the role of customary leaders, a form of inside mediators. The point of departure of this research question will be the distinction between the mediator’s involvements (Inside vs outside) and how their presence contribute to different outcomes. The variances will be explained with reference to two contending concepts of success and failure of mediation process. Success of mediators’ involvement can be measured by focusing on the following three areas; the initiation of peace process, conclusion of peace process and the sustainability of peace outcomes. The causal argument suggest that mediation processes dominated by inside mediators are more likely to end armed conflicts, as they have  more local legitimacy that can  engender a higher level of ownership, and sustain peace agreements as the actors feel engaged to the peace process. By testing this theory, this thesis applies the structured focused comparison method by selecting three cases of Southern, northwest and northeast regions in Somalia that have developed differently. The empirical findings of this thesis supports the hypothesis testes, as mediation processes dominated by inside mediators in Northeast and Northwest regions displayed a higher level of local ownership and legitimacy than the Southern regions. Finally, further researches on inside mediators success in a different countries is suggested in the future in order to know the level of inside mediators’ effectiveness in ending armed conflict.

The literature on non-European immigrant offspring has established that some children of non-European immigrants are achieving social mobility by way of attaining a post-secondary education, and others are faring worse than their working-class immigrant parents. One such group that has had difficulty incorporating into mainstream institutions and society are racialized black immigrant offspring. Notwithstanding the importance and usefulness of highlighting differences between non-European immigrant offspring, a lack of focus on within group differences in the literature perpetuates stereotypes about racialized non-white groups. To assist in addressing this imbalance in the literature, this study aims to further enrich limited extant research that examines how racialized black immigrant offspring 'successfully adapt' to living in a racially stratified and unequal society. More precisely, this research strives to capture the diverse experiences of racialized black children of immigrants—a group labelled ‘at-risk' to underachieve and prone to experience downward socioeconomic mobility. Twenty-three children of Sub-Saharan African immigrants and ten African immigrant parents and key informants were interviewed for this qualitative narrative study. Participants’ narratives revealed that racialized black immigrant offspring, who were able to successfully navigate the compulsory school system, shared some similarities. A commonality that the participants shared was that they adopted or were receptive to or in tune with their parents’ culture, advice, guidance, high educational expectations, and optimistic worldviews as adolescents. However, participants differed with respect to their identity formations and educational journeys. Participants who were independent learners, studious and/or identified as intelligent (e.g. enrolled in an enrichment program) were able to progress through the education system with little support. Other participants, on the other hand, relied—to varying degrees—on their family’s assistance and community-based supports to overcome structural, institutional and spatial barriers. Without these supports, some of these participants would have had greater difficulty achieving their goals. Furthermore, the narratives suggest that racialized black youth from low socioeconomic backgrounds who rely heavily on family and community support to complete high school are vulnerable to experience difficulties (including dropping out) at the post-secondary level, especially when their support system diminishes. With respect to identity formation, participants formed a diverse ray of identities.

This thesis investigates in depth the implementation of family planning regulations in China at the grassroots level with a focus on the period from the 1990s to the end of the 2000s, and the social environment in which such implementation takes place. The main evidence sources were collected during 5 months of fieldwork, and include close observation, in-depth interviews, questionnaires, archival records (secondary and official data), statistical data, and internal reports. Since the 1990s, China has experienced rapid economic development and has also introduced a new democratic system into the village: the village committee election. Thus in addition to the resistance caused by the traditional reproductive culture, these new factors also present themselves as obstacles to the smooth implementation of the family planning regulations. By adopting political science institutionalism theory and a socio-legal research method, this research aims to analyse the factors influencing the grassroots level officials’ implementation in a broad social environment. Following an explanation of the formal and informal organizational settings of the town family planning agency, this thesis also explores the town family planning officials’ degree of autonomy in implementation and the criteria they apply to their own decisionmaking. This thesis argues that family planning implementation in the grassroots rural China has been influenced by the following factors: the formal and informal organizational structures, new democratic system influences, the economic development level, employment conditions, culture and convention, the relationships among various interest groups, and family planning officials’ understandings of their work, as well as the imperfect legal environment. All these factors interact with each other to bring about the complexities and discrepancies in implementation.

This research is a result of a nine week field study during spring 2012, with the purpose of highlighting the stories of Dalit women in Madhya Pradesh, India. Together with a fellow student at Södertörn University, I investigated the Garima Campaign, an ActionAid project working with Dalit women forced to endure the illegal practice of manual scavenging, the manual removal of human excreta from dry toilets. This research was funded by a Minor Field Study scholarship provided by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). In this paper I investigate how these oppressed women may change their life situation and self-image through participation in a group of peers striving towards the same goal, asking the questions: how do they narrate their former life as manual scavengers, what is it that persuaded them to join the campaign, and what kind of attitudes did they encounter from other members of society? Following this, focus is on communication and how it can contribute to improving the life conditions of people of low social status. The theories used for this purpose are intersectionality and empowerment, as well as Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field and symbolic violence. The data was drawn from interviews with female former manual scavengers, supported by observations of their life situation and on other background material. The results of this study corroborate the findings of much of the previous work in this field, especially in relation to the treatment of manual scavengers by the rest of society. However, there seemed to have been three major arguments that finally convinced the women to quit working as manual scavengers. The first one related to their feeling of dignity. The second one dealt with them being aware of their human rights, which supports the argument that awareness may lead to change. The third argument was an important pathos argument, and consisted of the fact that their children were mistreated in school and that the women did not want their children to feel bad about their social situation. In the Garima campaign the women are allowed to do things taboo for Indian women, especially for Dalit ones, like disturbing the existing system and standing up for their rights by kicking up a fuss. The campaign opened up a new arena in which they did not only work to abolish manual scavenging practices, but also worked to attack the caste system on the grass-roots level. In informing others, convincing them to stop the practice, the self-confidence of the women was strengthened further, as individuals and as a group.

This thesis examines how women negotiate their identification within and as a group when engaging in interreligious dialogue. It is an in-depth case study of the women’s interfaith book groups, the Daughters of Abraham, located in the Greater Boston Area. This focus facilitates an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of relationships within one group, between different groups, and as situated in the American sociocultural context. I explore the tensions arising from religious diversity, and the consequences of participating in an interreligious dialogue group for understandings of religious self and others. Categories such as boundary, power, sameness, difference, self and other serve to explore the complexities and fluidity of identity constructions. I answer the following questions: How do members of the Daughters of Abraham engage with the group’s religious diversity? How does their participation in the Daughters of Abraham affect their self-understanding and understanding of the “other?” What can we learn about power dynamics and boundary drawing from the women’s accounts of their participation in the Daughters of Abraham and from their group interactions? Two interrelated arguments guide this thesis. One, I show that Daughters members arrive at complex and fluid understandings of what it means to identify as an American Jewish, Christian, and Muslim woman by negotiating various power dynamics arising from ideas of sameness and difference of religion, gender, and sociopolitical values. Two, I contend that the collective emphasis on commonalities in the Daughters of Abraham is a double-edged sword. Explicitly, this stress intends to encourage engagement with the group’s religious diversity by excluding those deemed too different. However, whilst this emphasis can generate nuanced understandings of religious identity categories, at times it highlights differences detrimental to facilitating such understanding. Moreover, this stress on commonalities illuminates the power dynamics and tensions characterizing this women’s interfaith book group. Scholarship has by and large overlooked women’s interreligious engagements with explicit ethnographic studies of such being virtually non-existent. This thesis addresses this gap by using ethnographic methods to advance knowledge about women’s interreligious dialogue. Furthermore, it pushes disciplinary discourses by speaking to the following interlinked areas: Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations, formalized interreligious dialogue, interreligious encounters on the grassroots level, women’s interreligious dialogue, a book group approach to engaging with religious diversity, and interreligious encounters in the American context post-September 11th 2001.

This thesis studies how Liberal Democrat members and supporters use Internet tools to mobilise volunteers within local election campaigns. It also identifies who is most likely to use these tools and who is most likely to perceive that they are useful. Existing studies of the use of Internet tools to mobilise volunteers are limited because they have typically focused upon the Internet-as-a-whole, instead of breaking it down into smaller, more meaningful categories. It is important to study Internet tools individually as they each have different features and some are more deeply integrated into mobilisation practices than others. Therefore, this thesis addresses this limitation by focusing upon three specific Internet tools: Facebook, Twitter and email. It uses data generated from a participant observation, survey and series of semi-structured interviews. Similarly, few studies have been carried out in England or within the context of second order elections. As a result, this thesis explores the perceptions of grassroots activists in relation to English local elections, thus offering a relatively unique perspective upon the link between Internet tools and volunteer mobilisation. The findings confirm that it is beneficial to analyse Internet tools individually because there are significant differences in how they are used, in addition to who uses them and who perceives them to be useful. Email is the most commonly used; it is also perceived to be the most useful for mobilising volunteers and increasing membership. Younger people are more likely to use Facebook and Twitter and to perceive that they are useful tools, whereas older people are less likely to do so. This emphasises the importance of younger supporters, as the party would find it more difficult to reach online audiences without them. This thesis argues that people that become involved as a result of Internet tools are less likely to remain heavily involved over the long-term. For instance, externally elected public officials are less likely to join online or use Internet tools to mobilise volunteers and increase membership. This fits with a wider pattern of engagement amongst party elites and long-term members. It emphasises the importance of using a combination of online and offline tools to mobilise volunteers and increase membership.

Thesis (M Social Work)--Stellenbosch University, 2001.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: An explorative study of the Social Worker's role and responsibilities to develop the leadership potential of grassrootslevel employees in industrial organisations was undertaken. This subject was chosen with requirements in mind, which are necessary for the transformation process to be presented to industrial organisations for the implementation of affirmative action. A comprehensive literature study revealed that social workers can make a positive and essential contribution to organisations, either as an industrial social worker, or an affirmative action specialist, or as a member of the human resources development team. A discussion of the necessary leadership qualities, the implementation of affirmative action, and useful resources that may be used for development programs, is included. The literature study was followed by an empirical study. The empirical study was made with the assistance of questionnaires. The questionnaires were used to collect data on the perceived role of social work in the industrial organisation. Organisations that do utilise social work services were approached for permission and co-operation to complete the questionnaires. Seventeen respondents from fifteen organisations were selected in a random process, for inclusion in the study. The research indicated that social workers have different roles to play in vanous organisations, and with the values, knowledge base and competencies that are brought to the organisation, have a responsibility to ensure that affirmative action and labour equality is brought to fruition. With regard to the implementation of leadership development programs in industrial organisations, it was noted that grassroots level employees were seldom included in the programs, although the majority of social workers believe that all employees should participate in the programs. A summary of the skills and knowledge base required by the industrial social worker to deliver an effective service in the organisation, and to manage the development and training of employees, is included. Some skills that require further development by social workers were identified. It was also found that individuals hold different perceptions and definitions of affirmative action and it's implementation in organisations. The recommendations are, inter alia, that all leadership development programs must be continuously monitored, evaluated and subsequently followed up to assess their applicability and effectiveness. The training of industrial social workers must focus more on the development of negotiating and training skills and stimulation of assertive actions. A larger variety of resources, such as video recordings, role playing, dramatisation, interactive computer programs and small group discussions, can be used in addition, for the training and development of grassroots level employees. Should these recommendations be implemented, industrial social workers can make a significant contribution to the development and improvement of South Africa's economic, political and social situation by extending the potential of the grassroots level employees, who constitute the greatest portion of the total labour force. A group of people can thus be empowered to function optimally and to respond to the guidelines of the White Paper for Social Welfare 1997.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: 'n Verkennende studie oor maatskaplike werkers se rol en verantwoordelikheid om die leierskapspotensiaal van grondvlakwerknemers in bedryfsorganisasies te ontwikkel, is onderneem. Die onderwerp is gekies met die oog op die vereistes wat die proses van transformasie aan bedryfsorganisasies stel om regstellende aksie doeltreffend te implementeer. 'n Omvattende literatuurstudie het aan die lig gebring dat maatskaplike werkers 'n positiewe en onmisbare bydrae het om aan bedryfsorganisasies te lewer, hetsy as bedryfsmaatskaplike werker, as regstellende aksie spesialis of as deel van die menslike hulpbronontwikkelingspan. 'n Bespreking van noodsaaklike leierskapskwaliteite, die implementering van regstellende aksie en hulpmiddels wat vir ontwikkelingsprogramme benut kan word is ook ingesluit. Die literatuurstudie is opgevolg deur 'n empiriese studie. Die empiriese ondersoek is aan die hand van vraelyste uitgevoer. Die vraelyste is benut om data oor die rol van maatskaplike werk in bedryfsorganisasies te bekom. Bedryfsorganisasies wat wel van maatskaplike werkdienslewering gebruik maak, is genader en toestemming en samewerking is verkry. Deur middel van 'n nie waarskynlikheidseleksiemetode is sewentien respondente binne vyftien organisasies in die Kaapse Metropool geselekteer om aan die ondersoek deel te neem. Die navorsing het aangedui dat maatskaplike werkers verskillende rolle in bedryfsorganisasies vertolk, en met die waardes, vaardighede en kennisbasis wat na die organisasie gebring word, 'n verantwoordelikheid het om toe te sien dat regstellende aksie en arbeidsgelykheid in organisasieverband tot volle reg kom. Met betrekking tot die implementering van leierskapsontwikkelingsprogramme in organisasies, het dit aan die lig gekom dat grondvlakwerknemers selde ingesluit word by die programme, alhoewel die meerderheid bedryfsmaatskaplike werkers van mening is dat alle werknemers aan die betrokke programme kan deelneem. 'n Uiteensetting van die vaardighede en kennisbasis wat die maatskaplike werker benodig ten einde effektiewe diens binne 'n bedryfsorganisasie te lewer, asook om die ontwikkeling en opleiding van werknemers te behartig, is voorsien. Enkele vaardighede wat verdere ontwikkeling by bedryfsmaatskaplike werkers verg, is identifiseer. Daar is ook bevind dat individue verskillende definisies en persepsies het met betrekking tot regstellende aksie en die implementering daarvan in bedryfsorganisasies. Die aanbevelings sluit in dat alle leierskapsontwikkelingsprogramme deurlopend, sowel as na afloop daarvan evalueer en ook opgevolg moet word ten einde die toepaslikheid en effektiwiteit daarvan te monitor. Die opleiding van bedryfsmaatskaplike werkers moet meer fokus op die ontwikkeling van onderhandelings- en opleidingsvaardighede, en ook assertiewe gedrag stimuleer. 'n Groter verskeidenheid hulpbronne kan in kombinasie vir die opleiding en ontwikkeling van grondvlakwerknemers gebruik word, soos videoopnames, rollespel, drama, interaktiewe rekenaarpakette asook kleingroepbesprekings. lndien hierdie aanbevelings geïmplementeer word, kan bedryfsmaatskaplike werkers 'n prominente bydrae tot die ontwikkeling en vooruitgang van Suid-Afrika se ekonomiese, politieke en sosiale situasie lewer, deur grondvlakwerknemers, wat 'n groot deel van die totale arbeidsmag uitmaak, se potensiaal te ontgin. Sodoende word 'n geïdentifiseerde groep persone bemagtig om optimaal te funskioneer en word daar terselfdertyd aan die riglyne soos deur die Witskrif vir Maatskaplike Welsyn 1997 bepaal, beantwoord.

Twenty years has passed since the adopted of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which aims to strengthen the gender perspective in conflict settings as well as address inequalities related to sexually gender-based violence. Still, the concrete impact it has had on sexual violence in armed conflict, is questioned. Additionally, it is questioned if it reaches the grassroot level in armed conflict settings. Thus, this study has examined what factors that may have hindered a successful implementation on a grassroot level in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. Furthermore, it has examined the concrete impact on the efforts against sexual violence in these areas. This was done by firstly, conducting a policy analysis using the “What’s the Problem Represented to be?” approach to identify underlying problematics within the resolution. Additionally, semi-structed interviews were conducted with respondents having experience in working with the resolution and/or sexual violence in armed conflict. The results showed, among other things, that the complex construction of the resolution have been a hindering factor for a successful implementation. Additionally, the concrete change for the efforts against sexual violence in conflict settings is lacking. However, the empowerment that the resolution has provided to those working with these issues, is still an important impact.

碩士
國立體育大學
體育研究所
103
The purpose of this study was to explore table tennis development at grassroots level in the northern part of the Taoyuan City, which is taken as an example to investigate the state of grassroots table tennis development at the aspects of training, planning and difficulties encountered. The subjects is a junior high school in Taoyuan City, focusing on the development of table tennis in last eight years, which is currently the only key schools in Taoyuan City.The qualitative was used for this research, which is by means of semi-structured interview outline to conduct in-depth interviews. The study found that the reason why the team encountered difficulties is often because of the lack of resources, funding and the school's dormitory which lead to difficulties in admissions of players and team operation. Therefore, for future table tennis team management, it is a very important factor that external resources, and communication between school administrations can be effectively facilitated. This study proposes reference and recommendations for future research.

碩士
國立東華大學
公共行政學系
107
Taiwan’s elderly population over the age of 65 in 2018 has reached more than 14% and has officially entered the Aged Society. In this study, the qualitative research method was conducted through semi-structured in-depth interviews. The Hualien City Elder care station was Transformation into a long-term care station C in alleys. The main purpose of the study is to focus on the " Aging in place " view. To operation the difficulties encountered in the experience of manpower, financial and operational status of the long-term care station C in alleys in Hualien City, and to explore the choices and methods of family care ,taking care of the needs and other issues, in the future long-term care station C in alleys policy support and recommendations. In addition, this study is aimed long-term care station C in alleys at the service provider (Administrator, health care attendants) and government agencies of (Hualien County Government Social Office, Hualien City Office and Hualien City Health Center) and service demand(by care of person or their family )accepted by Interviews with relevant stakeholders to gain insights into and analyze the process and bottlenecks of Taiwan's long-term policy. The results of the study show that the long-term care of human resources is insufficient. The staff of the health care attendants should be according to the current law and regulations, should be increased in proportion to the supply and demand. The supporting measures are to increase the provision of temporary wages, train volunteers to strengthen professional knowledge and training courses to become health care attendants; to enhance the professionalism and the professional image Improve the reasonable salary , so as to increase the incentives for Incentive in the work and the promotion of the professional training and career development. Secondly, the way financial planning has changed from a single financial source to a multiple-financial. It is generally believed that the long-term insurance system is the mainstay, which is supplemented by designation tax opportunity financial and user payment,and the concept of two-track parallelism, is used to pay to the financial source of long-term care policy. However, the means that the family is still the provider and affordor of the long-term care finance. Finally, the long-term care family demand, the number of hours provided by the service is still not enough for the family, can not effectively solve the problem of long-term care needs; the elderly action become increasingly inconvenient as they get older, the transportation is the demand side is generally considered to be urgent Project; look forward to Aging in place the, choose long-term care station, which is familiar with the living environment, to receive services, and set up " Night care" and other respite care service; incorporate institutional care service as a supporting measures; expect the public sector to release idle space as the of long-term care station Land use and other issues.     In summary, according to the opinions of all stakeholders and the related literature, this study specific proposes for the service provider,for the government,for the demand for the service, and the recommendations for the future policy of long-term care station, summarizing the four local experiences and suggestions for the community that is currently providing currently promoting the overall care plan of the community and as a for the future long-term policy reference.