Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Labor mobility – Middle East'

Diese Dissertation besteht aus drei Aufsätzen, welche die sozio-ökonomische Konsequenzen der Verwicklung in Konflikte untersuchen. Der erste Artikel untersucht den Einfluss der “Operation Iraqi Freedom” und des folgenden Bürgerkrieges auf die Beschulung von irakischen Kindern im schulpflichtigen Alter. Einen Schwerpunkt der Studie bildet die Überwindung eines Endogenitätsproblems, welches sich durch nicht-zufällige Verwicklung in Gewalt ergibt. Die Ergebnisse der Studie zeigen, dass in Abhängigkeit von der Intensität des Konfliktes die Schuleinschreibung von Mädchen durch eine Verwicklung in Konflikte zwischen sechs bis zwölf Prozent reduziert wird. Der bei Jungen gemessene Effekt beläuft sich auf eine Reduzierung um ein bis neun Prozent. Im zweiten Artikel werden Lohnzuschläge von hochqualifizierten palästinensischen Arbeitskräften in Zusammenhang mit alternierender Intensität im Nahostkonflikt gestellt. Mit dem Ausbruch der Zweiten Intifada im Jahr 2000 führen erhöhte Grenzkontrollen zu eingeschränkte Mobilität. Dadurch gewinnt Der Dienstleistungssektor in den Besetzten Gebieten an relativer Bedeutung. Dieser beschäftigt anteilig mehr hochqualifizierte Arbeitskräfte als andere Sektoren, was den Anstieg ihrer relativen Löhne erklärt. Im dritten Artikel wird die Entwicklung des Geschlechterlohndifferentials in den Palästinensischen Gebieten untersucht. Während der Lohnunterschied zwischen Mann und Frau bis 1999 ansteigt, lässt sich mit dem Ausbruch der Zweiten Intifada die Umkehrung dieses Trends verzeichnen. Die Verlagerung der palästinensischen Beschäftigung aus Israel in den lokalen Arbeitsmarkt erklärt dabei 57,8 Prozent der schrumpfenden Lohnlücke. Die dadurch veränderte Industriestruktur macht weitere 26,5 Prozent der Lohnkonvergenz aus. Die veränderte Beschäftigung zugunsten der Agrar- und Dienstleistungssektoren, welche sich beide durch einen hohen Anteil an Arbeiterinnen auszeichnen, führt zu einem Anstieg ihrer relativen Löhne.<br>This thesis consists of three essays that analyze the socio-economic consequences of conflict involvement. The first essay studies the effect of the Operation Iraqi Freedom and the following civil war on schooling outcomes of Iraqi children in mandatory schooling age. Several conflict measures which vary over geographic regions are proposed to capture different traits of conflict involvement. A special focus is laid on overcoming the potential endogeneity arising from non-random involvement into conflicts. I find decreased school enrollment of six-year-old boys and girls. Depending on the intensity of the conflict enrollment of girls is reduced by six to twelve percent. The detrimental effect measured for boys ranges between one and nine percent. The second essay examines wage differentials of high-skilled workers in relation to relaxing and tightening conflict intensity in the Israeli-Palestinian case. After the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000 the relative wage of skilled workers experiences a substantial increase. Regional employment shifts coming along with a change in the sector composition are responsible for a higher skill-intensive labor employment which translates into higher relative wages for skilled workers. The third essay explores the evolution of the gender wage gap in the Palestinian Territories. While the male-female wage differential increases till 1999, this trend is reversed with the outbreak of the Second Intifada. The catch-up of the female wages is mainly driven by relative employment shifts across workplaces and sectors. The shift of employment in Israel to the local labor market explains 57.8 percent of the closing wage gap between men and women. The related change in the industry structure explains another 26.5 percent of the wage convergence. I find relative gains of the service and agricultural sectors located in the Palestinian Territories, both of which rely on high shares of female labor input.

What is the relationship between gender inequality and resource wealth in the Middle East? Why has progression of women’s rights in the Middle East advanced at a comparatively slower rate than most of the world? Conventional wisdom attributes the continued significant gaps in gender equality to the region’s strong patriarchic culture associated with Islam. However, recent statistical analysis conducted by Michael Ross suggests a correlation between oil production and women’s rights. This thesis examines an emerging schism in the literature and evaluates the relationship between social and political emancipation of women relative to Islam and oil wealth. The findings of this examination conclude that Ross’s theoretical framework is incomplete: Islamic law is a key causal mechanism left out of his examination. Furthermore, Islamic law has a more comprehensive negative impact on women’s social and political rights than oil wealth.

Migration and re-migration of economically and socially marginalized Ethiopian women and girls has become a phenomenon. Based on interviews with 12 Ethiopian migrant women returned from the Middle East and the Gulf States, the primary aim of this thesis is to describe and study Ethiopian women migrants’ circular migration to the Middle East. I will mainly focus on how social dynamics in the family, gender relations and economic circumstances are intricate. The process of women’s migration and how the expectations of the family can be gender differentiated are discussed. Further, the migrant women’s power relation when class and ethnicity determine their position is discussed. Relations with the sending family and the issues related to the women who return, as well as problems affecting them at home and in the destination countries, are looked at. Various and complex issues of migration and the women’s roles are discussed with reference to the women’s experiences. Migration provides women with opportunities for social and economic mobility but can also subject them to ethnic discrimination, exploitation, and abuse. The movement is generally seen as voluntary labor migration and it has placed them in a vulnerable position both at home and abroad. Their migration is interconnected to the economic need but also the responsibilities they have towards their family and kin.

This thesis seeks to explore the social, cultural, economic and political factors that influence female labor force participation rates. Specifically, this research will focus on female economic activity in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. MENA is often understood as being monolithic in its treatment of women. This study aims to challenge this rhetoric by evaluating the factors that impact female labor in MENA. Upon considering multiple social, cultural, economic and political factors, this thesis will focus on the role of oil and religion in influencing female labor rates. Finally, this study will explore these influences on a micro-level and the role of oil and religion will be examined as to how they apply to female economic activity in both Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.

In this thesis the pioneer settlement of northern Dalarna is investi­gated by means of a local study of lithic technology and raw material use on the Orsa 527 site in the area. This newly excavated site will be presented, for the first time in completion, in this thesis. The technological traits and raw material distribution on the site, which directly relate to the prehistoric people moving in this area during the Middle Mesolithic, are subsequently put into a larger regional perspective by comparing these results with other Middle Mesolithic sites in northern Dalarna and eastern Norway.             Through the theoretical framework of chaîne opératoire and methods, such as dynamical classification of blades, the study of knapping properties of local raw materials and the study of raw material composition on five other sites in the area, questions regarding cultural transition, mobility and contacts can be discussed.             The results of this work indicate that both technological and raw material parallels exist between eastern Norway and northern Dalarna during the Middle Mesolithic. This places these areas in a larger cultural sphere that was based on contacts and mobility during the pioneer settlement of the area.

This thesis investigates the emergence of an indigenous middle class between 1975 and 2010 in Bolivia - a country characterized by poor and unstable long-term economic growth, high inequality, and enduring ethnic and class cleavages. The study takes a two-tiered approach. It focuses first on tracing the emergence of the middle class by highlighting the main drivers of socio-economic improvement for individuals. Based on a longitudinal examination of a Socio-Economic Index (SEI) - upon which the middle class is operationally defined in this thesis - I explain the emergence of the middle class as the result of two distinct but interconnected processes: (i) a massive urbanization process that reached a peak in the mid-1980s, which brought individuals closer to areas favoured by state policies; and (ii) an institutional change in the mid-1990s, consisting of a new national framework that allocated resources more efficiently throughout the country. In addition, my analysis uncovers the different occupational trajectories that middle-class individuals followed to gain access to the new structure of opportunities and to prosper and become part of the middle class. Based on inter- and intra-generational analyses of occupational mobility, I find that in a context of an over supply of labour and with limited skills and economic capital, migrants found the means to thrive socially and economically in commerce, transport, and construction activities. Secondly, I explore the extent to which the emergence of the new middle class has opened-up opportunities for indigenous peoples. I conduct a periodic headcount of indigeneity based on spoken languages (indigenous and/or Spanish) and self-ascription to indigenous groups. Two messages emerge from this exercise. First, the new middle class has provided opportunities for individuals who are monolingual in indigenous languages, whether they ascribe themselves or not to an indigenous group. Second, individuals' ethnic identities become fuzzier as they move into the middle class. This is revealed by indigenous language loss and a significant decrease in self-ascription that happened in a markedly stratified manner over just ten years. I tackle the intricacies of middle-class ethnic identity by drawing on a social identity conceptual framework that allows me to integrate synergistically the discussions on class, ethnicity, and modernization. By approaching social identities through the analysis of differentiated lifestyles, I find that new middle-class individuals have hybrid and segmented identities. That is, individuals combine indigenous/traditional and modern forms of living that vary according to their socio-economic level, but do not necessarily move towards cultural assimilation. I contend that the creation of new status symbols and forms of recognition based on indigenous idiosyncrasies in the new middle class constitutes a categorical break with historical, ethnic-based forms of social, economic, and cultural exclusion and discrimination. In summary, this thesis advances the conceptualization and understanding of the middle class, contributing to the burgeoning literature on emerging middle classes in developing countries by offering a more complex picture of its expansion and identity construction.

The present study aimed to explore both situational (Emotional Display Rules and Affective Events) and dispositional antecedents (Four of Big Five personality dimensions<br>Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness and Agreeableness) of emotional labor. Potential interaction effects of situational and dispositional variables on emotional labor<br>and long-term consequences of the construct were also examined. Data were collected from table servers working in caf&eacute<br>s, restaurants, and hotels in Ankara, Istanbul, Kusadasi, (Aydin) and Antalya. The study was performed in three stages. In the first stage, diary study was conducted and Affective Events Scale was created for the service work. In the second stage, psychometric properties of the new scale were pilot tested. In the main study, reliabilities of the scales, hypotheses and potential moderation effects were tested with a total sample of 254 employees. Results revealed that emotional display rules were a significant predictor of both surface and deep acting. Positive events positively predicted emotional labor. Among dispositional antecedents, agreeableness was the only dimension that predicted surface acting. Deep acting was predicted by all of the personality dimensions utilized in the study, especially by agreeableness. On the other hand,conscientiousness had a marginally significant moderation effect on the relationship between emotional display rules and surface acting. With respect to consequences of emotional labor, both surface acting and deep acting positively predicted personal accomplishment. Deep acting was also positively related to job satisfaction, and negatively related to turnover intentions. Findings discussed and practical implications, limitations, and directions for future research were presented.

Im Zeitraum 1989 bis 2005 sind per Saldo 1,6 Millionen Menschen aus den neuen in die alten Bundesländer gezogen. Die Mehrheit dieser Binnenwanderer war zwischen 18 und 29 Jahre alt und die Mehrheit war weiblich. Als Ergebnis dieser anhaltenden geschlechtsselektiven Wanderung ist in den neuen Bundesländern eine stark unausgewogene Geschlechterproportion in der Wohnbevölkerung entstanden. In der Altersgruppe der 18- bis 29-Jährigen lag die Geschlechterproportion in den neuen Bundesländern (einschließlich Berlin) im Jahr 2005 nur bei 90 Frauen zu 100 Männern und sank in zahlreichen Landkreisen auf Werte von weniger als 85 zu 100. Eine so unausgewogene Geschlechterproportion ist auch im europäischen Maßstab ungewöhnlich und kommt in keinem ähnlich großen und dicht besiedelten Gebiet vor. Als eine wesentliche Ursache der disproportionalen Wanderung wird ein erhebliches Bildungsgefälle zwischen jungen Frauen und Männern in den neuen Bundesländern identifiziert. Das hohe Bildungsniveau von Frauen ist dabei nicht nur als ökonomischer Faktor für den Fortzug zu sehen: Da Frauen Partnerschaften mit geringer gebildeten Partnern meiden, werden auch Paarbeziehungen mit westdeutschen Männern und damit das Verbleiben in Westdeutschland wahrscheinlicher. Als Ursache für die Auseinanderentwicklung des Bildungsniveaus von Frauen und Männern in den neuen Bundesländern sieht die Studie die Kollision eines Geschlechterarrangements, das seine Wurzeln in der DDR-Geschichte hat, mit den ökonomischen und gesellschaftlichen Veränderungen nach der Wiedervereinigung. Das Rollenbild von Frauen, gekennzeichnet durch hohe Wertschätzung ökonomischer Selbstständigkeit und Orientierung auf Tätigkeiten im qualifizierten Dienstleistungsbereich, erweist sich im wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen Strukturwandel als prinzipiell anpassungsfähiger als jenes der Männer, deren klassische Tätigkeiten in Industrie und Handwerk eine tief greifende Entwertung erfahren haben.<br>Between the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the year 2005, 1.6 million people have migrated from East Germany (the former German Democratic Republic – GDR) to West Germany. The majority of these migrants were female and between the ages of 18 and 29. This unbalanced migration has caused a disproportionate sex ratio in the East German population. The sex ratio (in the age group between 18 and 29) in 2005 was only 90 women per 100 men and in many remote counties the ratio was less than 85 to 100. In such a large and densely populated area this phenomenon is unique within Europe. This study identifies the development of a considerable discrepancy in educational levels between women and men in Eastern Germany as one important cause for the disproportionate sex ratio in migration. The higher educational level of women is not only an economic factor: Since women generally prefer partners with at least the same educational level, relationships between East German women and West German men has become much more likely than the opposite. As a cause for the discrepancy in educational levels the study highlights a clash between gender roles rooted in GDR history and structural changes that took place after German reunification. The role model of women – a high valuation of economic independence and orientation towards professions in the service sector – proves to be more adaptable to the economic and social changes in East Germany than the role model of men, whose classical vocations in industry and crafts experience a considerable devaluation.

Castration has a long temporal and geographical span. Its origins are unclear, but likely lie in the Ancient Near East around the time of the Secondary Products Revolution and the increase in social complexity of proto-urban societies. Due to the unique social and gender roles created by castrates’ ambiguous sexual state, human castrates were used heavily in strongly hierarchical social structures such as imperial and religious institutions, and were often close to the ruler of an imperial society. This privileged position, though often occupied by slaves, gave castrates enormous power to affect governmental decisions. This often aroused the jealousy and hatred of intact elite males, who were not afforded as open access to the ruler and virulently condemned castrates in historical documents. These attitudes were passed down to the scholars and doctors who began to study castration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, affecting the manner in which castration was studied. Osteometric and anthropometric examinations of castrates were carried out during this period, but the two World Wars and a shift in focus meant that castrate bodies were not studied for nearly eighty years. Recent interest in gender and sexuality in the past has revived interest in castration as a topic, but few studies of castrate remains have occurred. As large numbers of castrates are referenced in historical documents, the lack of castrate skeletons may be due to a lack of recognition of the physical effects of castration on the skeleton. The synthesis and generation of methods for more accurate identification of castrate skeletons was undertaken and the results are presented here to improve the ability to identify castrate skeletons within the archaeological record.

This thesis focuses on park planning in Dubai, and how current differences in their socio-spatial access can be alleviated by using regional-vernacular design principles. The thesis uses a mixed method approach that begins with the analysis of parks across the entire city to understand their current access and distribution, and then narrows down to focusing on four micro-case studies,which will serve as sites where improvements could be made. These improvements are inspiredby vernacular design and planning and aim to improve current access. All work originates fromthe author unless otherwise cited.

Through quantitative and qualitative methods, this dissertation endeavors to explain why the rate of female labor force participation (FLFP) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is the lowest in the world. Using panel data models for fifty-four developing countries over thirty-five years, the first essay suggests that the most likely factor affecting the rate of FLFP negatively in MENA is the institution of patriarchy. Being part of MENA, which is characterized primarily by the institution of patriarchy, is associated with lower than average FLFP. Oil income appears to have a positive effect on FLFP for countries outside MENA but no effect for countries inside MENA. Moreover, Muslim countries outside MENA do not have lower than average FLFP, while Muslim countries in MENA do. Using ten proxies for patriarchy, the second essay quantifies patriarchy in order to compare MENA countries with the rest of the world. Using principle component analysis (PCA), the study measures patriarchy for fifty-nine developing countries over thirty years. The technique creates three main components for patriarchy, namely; the gender gap in education and demography, children’s survival rate, and participation in public spheres. The results show that MENA has the highest level of patriarchy with regard to women’s participation in public spheres, education and demography compared with non MENA countries. The region’s culture and religion seem to be associated with high levels of patriarchy in MENA. The third essay focuses on women’s unpaid work as well as women’s participation in the informal sector in MENA. The results point to a severe undercounting of women’s work. Since women are expected to provide care and produce goods and services for their family at home, women do not participate in the formal labor force in large numbers. Because of the patriarchal culture, patriarchal family laws and labor laws, many women including educated women have to choose to work in the informal sector in MENA. Since women’s unpaid work and their participation in the informal sector are not recorded in labor statistics, the MENA region appears to have a lower rate of FLFP than it does in reality.

abstract: One in six children in the developing world is engaged in Child labor. Child labor is considered an issue that violates children's rights in many countries and Iraq is no exception. In 2004, Iraq had 1,300,000 children between the ages of eight and sixteen years engaged in work (UNICEF.com, 2004). This study identifies the major causes of child labor in Iraq and investigates the consequences of this issue. In this thesis I draw on the comparison of former regimes in Iraq and Egypt and how those regimes were mistreating their citizens by making them live under poverty and oppression while they were receiving support from the U.S. Poverty is the major cause behind Iraqi children engaging in work. I used the data I collected in Iraq, in the city of Nasiriyah, of 28 working children to explain the relationship between poverty, students drop out of school, family attitude towards education and the child engagement in work. At the end of the thesis I offer a list of recommendations to try to address the problem of child labor in Iraq. The recommendations and regulations are for Iraqi government and the NGOs to take into consideration in trying to resolve and regulate the issue of child labor to rescue the children in Iraq from more exploitation in the future.<br>Dissertation/Thesis<br>M.A. Social Justice and Human Rights 2011

This dissertation explores the changing organization of work in the transnational humanitarian aid sector. I specifically examine aid localization: a sector-wide strategy to increase the role of local labor in humanitarian aid projects. What does the aid sector’s localization look like in practice? What are the effects of localization on local labor? To answer these questions, I conducted a qualitative study of aid operations in Jordan, a major global aid hub. I find that localization creates a particular structure of work in which tasks, resources, and expectations are formally and informally organized and premised upon particular meanings associated with ‘the local’ as a category. This structure subsequently creates new forms of precarious labor and challenging work conditions for national employees under the framing of humanitarian aid, and also shapes how workers make sense of their own positions within the aid labor hierarchy. These effects are indicative of the tensions and contradictions embedded in conceptualizations of ‘the local’ in the aid sector. It is these tensions and ambiguities that subsequently become sources of productivity for aid employers: a space to generate new forms and relations of work that ensure successful project outcomes. I subsequently contend that localization ruptures and reinscribes Global North-Global South inequalities through ambivalent constructions of who local workers are, and how they should and can provide value to their organizations.

This dissertation tells the tale of al-Mahalla al-Kubra during the transition from handloom crafts to the mechanized textile industry and from a local community to a battleground for the nationalist cause in the first half of the twentieth century. By exploring the relationships between culture, politics, and modern industrialization and how subaltern groups shaped their local experiences of modernity in a setting remote from the central government and the cosmopolitan culture of Cairo and Alexandria, it unpacks the social history of men and women, artisans and workers, notables and fitiwwat who were situated between national capitalism and foreign domination. The goal is to write the history of the society from the bottom up and to write a history that is an alternative to the already established histories of nationalism and colonialism. It provides a historical reconstruction and analysis of the process of assimilation undergone by the recruited peasants into urban industrial life and explores the various ways in which they and the Mahallawiyya negotiated living together and dealt with their mutual hostility on an everyday basis. Identity is the core question in this process of assimilation. Did modern, horizontal class relations actually replace traditional, vertical communal and patronage relations? To what extent did the traditional social institutions help or hinder the process of adapting to forms of social life associated with modern industry? I argue that both vertical class and horizontal communal relations co-existed and sometimes competed. In that fluid dynamic, individuals and groups acted and interacted depending on their socio-economic status, communal commitments, conjuncture or the way that a given situation developed, and a shared, often contested, discourse.<br>text