Conducted within a feminist framework and guided by the principles of grounded theory methodology, this dissertation reports on the findings of a study of women's rape perceptions, undertaken in Beirut, Lebanon. The study relied on 38 interviews, participant observation, and a review of newspaper articles (1996--1999) and organizational documents. / In this dissertation, I argue that perceptions of rape reflect, reinforce, and are supported by dominant social relations based on elements of social location such as gender, religion, socioeconomic status, disability, ethnicity and race. More specifically, I maintain that the relationship between perceptions of rape on one hand, and social relations on the other, is mediated by the centrality of marriage. This mediation is reflected in two processes. First, social relations lead to differential constructions of womanhood and perceived marriageability, which in turn play a large role in shaping perceptions of what counts as rape. Concretely, this impacts on which women are perceived to be consenting to sex and those perceived to be rape victims. / Second, social relations construct a marriage that adheres to specific conditions as the only acceptable union between a man and a woman in Beiruti society. In consequence, these constructions of acceptability shape what counts as "real" rape versus consensual sex. Concretely, this means that relationships that fall outside this construction of acceptability are more readily labeled as rape. / In the first four chapters of the dissertation, I provide background information about the study's theoretical framework, location within the broader empirical scholarship on rape perceptions, and methodology. I also provide detailed information about the Beiruti/Lebanese context. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 are empirical chapters relating some of the findings of the study as they relate to the centrality of marriage and perceptions of rape and consent. Chapter 8 concludes the dissertation with a discussion of the themes of women's agency, the line between sex and rape, and the impact of social relations. Through this discussion, I offer concrete insights for the further development of theory, research and practice with the issue of rape.

Women's access to micro credit has increased substantially worldwide. International organizations, non-governmental organizations, commercially-oriented institutions and governments support the proliferation of micro credit programs through diverse funding arrangements, and specifically target women to participate in such initiatives. This dissertation explores women's experiences in a micro credit program in Cairo, Egypt, funded by Save the Children (USA) in order to contribute to the growing debate on women's poverty reduction and empowerment potential. Because women's voices are critical the issues are raised through questions regarding women's situation in micro credit and what factors assist women in meeting their choices and concerns, and empowerment outcomes. / A qualitative research study of women's micro credit groups based in Cairo's Abdeen and Imbeba neighbourhoods was used in order to address women's experiences. In the literature reviewed on micro credit and micro finance, international development paradigms for women, and the socio-economic context in Cairo served to identify important influences. Women's sources of power based in the household were used to develop a conceptual framework. Women's triple roles in production, reproduction and community managing, women's practical and strategic gender needs, and theories of women's empowerment formed the principal elements. / Findings were based on interviews and observation with 69 project participants, including 54 women borrowers, of which 11 interviewed women agreed to a second interview, and 4 key staff members of the Group Guaranteed Lending and Savings program. Numerous assumptions regarding the role of micro credit in the lives of low-income women are reported and analyzed. An exploration of women's experiences reveals that, social issues in micro credit are as important, perhaps even more so, than the economic concerns of the projects. Only through building a more complete picture of women's lives can micro credit programs achieve their objective: to contribute to greater gender equity in society. / Keywords. micro credit; women; informal economy; poverty; empowerment; international social work; Middle East

This study deals with the perspective of Indonesian parents of children with disabilities concerning the inclusion of their children in mainstream schools. It explores the extent to which these parents believe in inclusion and what they identify as challenges and opportunities in the current inclusion of their children. Employing a case study approach, the main data for this qualitative study was collected through interview with seven parents of elementary school children with various disabilities in two cities in Indonesia, namely Jakarta and Yogyakarta.From their personal narratives, we learn that despite cultural differences, parents in Indonesia shared common opinions—with regard to various aspects of inclusion—with parents who lived in other parts of the world shown by previous studies. They, for instance, believed that the practices of inclusion cast positive impacts upon children's social and academic development. Parents also believe that inclusion is a better way to prepare children for the “real” world. However, cultural differences yielded different perspectives. Unlike previous studies, the Indonesian parents put greater emphasis on academic achievement instead of social ones. Parents in Indonesia also demonstrate distinct ways in facilitating and supporting their children inclusion. These subjective perspectives of parents can perhaps be interpreted as a cultural production of inclusion. / Cette étude porte sur le point de vue des parents indonésiens d'enfants présentant un handicap au sujet de l'inclusion de leurs enfants dans des écoles ordinaires. Particulièrement, elle explore dans quelle mesure ces parents croient en ce concept et ce qu'ils identifient comme des défis et des opportunités dans l'inclusion actuelle de leurs enfants. Utilisant une approche de type étude de cas, les principales données de cette étude qualitative ont été recueillies par des entrevues dans des écoles primaires. Sept parents d' élèves ayant divers handicapés provenant de deux villes indonésiennes (e.g. Jakarta et Yogyakarta) ont participé.Nous apprenons dans leurs récits personnels que les parents en Indonésie partagent des opinions communes en ce qui concerne divers aspects de l'inclusion avec des parents provenant d'autres parties du monde, tel que montré dans des études précédentes. Par exemple, ils croient que les pratiques de l'inclusion produisent des effets positifs sur le développement social et scolaire de leurs enfants. Les parents estiment également que l'inclusion est de meilleure façon de préparer leurs enfants pour le monde «réel». Toutefois, certaines différences culturelles ont donné des perspectives dissemblables. Contrairement aux études antérieures, les parents indonésiens mettent davantage l'accent sur la réussite scolaire plutôt que sur la réussite sociale. Les participants ont aussi démontré une façon distincte pour faciliter et soutenir l'inclusion de leurs enfants. Les perspectives subjectives des parents peuvent être interprétées comme une production culturelle de l'inclusion.

The study suggests that two domestic conditions are critical to foster opportunities for sustainable peace between formerly conflicting societies. The conditions are defined as social capital and political integration. These are explored in the context of Israeli and Palestinian societies following the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993 and through 1999, just one year prior to the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada. / Social capital refers to networks of association. Strong networks of relationship are important because they are positively associated with a community and/or society's ability to foster social cohesion, to problem-solve and cope with growing uncertainty such as that exemplifying the period of transition from conflict to peace. / Income inequality is inversely related to social capital. Communities and societies characterized by growing income inequality are typified by diminishing social capital, hence receding capacity to weather the impact of major societal change. / The term political integration refers to the relationship between a government and its citizens. In politically integrated societies citizens share a sense that government is concerned with their welfare and hence their loyalty is expressed through support of the government, its programs and policies. Growing political fragmentation, a lack of abidance, and the breakdown of relationships between civil society and government mark politically disintegrated societies. Political integration is particularly relevant in the aftermath of the signing of a peace agreement when domestic sectarian divides threaten to undermine the national entity that must maintain the delicate balance attained by formerly conflicting societies. / Social capital and political integration are the outcome of greater or lesser human rights: social and economic, civil and political. The persistence of inequality, social and economic, civil and political, wears down the relationships between members of a society and between citizens and their government. / Analysis of standard social and economic indicators in Palestinian and Israeli societies suggests that despite the promised peace dividend social and economic inequality persisted and in some instances worsened between 1993 and 1999. Analysis of civil and political conditions in both societies suggests that political disintegration as opposed to growing integration characterized the six-year period.

The phenomenon of street children is world-wide and on the increase despite numerous programs aiming at its eradication. The failure to adequately address this complex and very diverse phenomenon is the result of conceptual confusion with respect to defining who a street child is. The dominant discourse on street children defines them as victims or deviants to be rescued and rehabilitated. As such, the capacity of many of these children for human agency is occluded by excluding them from participation in the construction of solutions to their problems. I argue that, far from being mere victims and deviants, these kids, in running away from alienating structures and finding relative freedom in the street, often become autonomous and are capable of actively defining their situations in their own terms. They are able to challenge the roles assigned to children, make judgements and develop a network of niches in the heart of the metropolis in order to resist exclusion and chronic repression. I further argue that for research and action with street kids to be emancipatory, it is necessary to acknowledge and respect the human agency the kids display in changing their own lives and to capitalize on their voluntary participation in non-formal educational activities as well as in collective advocacy. / The thesis draws on a participatory action research (PAR) methodology spanning eight years of fieldwork with street kids in Cairo, which eclectically combined street ethnography, street work and action science. I critically review the historical development of these methodologies, and I argue for a conception of PAR as an open-ended process of action and reflective participatory research incorporated into everyday activities and work with excluded, marginalized and oppressed groups such as street kids. As such, I pay special attention to the ethical dilemmas that arise in day-to-day PAR practice.

Women made, and continue to make history in Point St. Charles, and in doing so, transform selves, groups and community. / Building on the literature on class and gender in community organising, read through the conceptual lens of "translocational positionality" (Anthias, 2002a), I tell a story of the journeys of a group of ten women activists through four decades of neighbourhood organising. I show that although all the women were first involved in citizens' committees around practical needs such as housing, welfare, urban renewal and education, most of them, stimulated by feminist agitators in their midst, came to new awareness about gender inequalities, to new and deepening analyses, and to individual and collective actions around strategic gender needs. Part and parcel of this spiral of change (Nadeau, 1996) were the tensions that emerged with their families, friends and neighbours, and even with the agitators themselves. Out of these tensions came transformations at the macro level---community, public opinion and government, at the meso level---organisational structures and cultures, and at the micro level---family and selves. / Next I do a metanarrative on the methodology that underlies the project upon which my thesis is based, one that borrows from feminist community organising practice (Gutierrez & Lewis, 1994) to deal with the many ethical dilemmas inherent to feminist life history methodology (Geiger, 1990). In line with the notion of "translocational imaginings in dialogue", the project was conceptualised to pre-figure power-with (Starhawk, 1987) in order to construct narratives of belonging that break with processes of differentiation and stratification. The project is about doing community history with the people who make that history. Because of this, when tensions emerged around power relations, instead of paralysis, individual, interpersonal and collective transformations emerged. / Through this work, I am not only releasing new voices into the collective narrative, but I am also contributing to debates on life history methodology. And, my thesis, and the other historical products that will emerge from this project, will enable organisers and activists to learn from the past, and will, hopefully, entice younger people to get involved in community activism.

ABSTRACT This study explores the experience of adopting and implementing a Rights-Based Approach (RBA) to community practice in Palestine using a case study methodology. The studied case is a community-based organization that is university affiliated and voluntary efforts-oriented; the Community Service Center (CSC). CSC is affiliated to An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine and is a partner in the McGill Middle East Program in Civil Society and Peace Building (MMEP), Montreal, Canada. CSC works in a context that is characterized by political, social and economic instability and uncertainty. Community work in this context, as a method of social work, is expected to target its goals through addressing issues of social and political nature simultaneously; contribute to national aspirations of building a state after decades of occupation and working to realize human rights of the disadvantaged through their empowerment and participation. Human rights-based social work constituted the theoretical framework of the study. This framework is based on linking human rights and social work in a way consistent with the mission of social work as a profession that targets the barriers to accessing human rights; poverty, discrimination, and lack of education. Therefore, a human rights-based community practice should imply respect of human rights in its means and outcomes. Data about this experience was collected from three sources; CSC documents, a sample of persons who were involved in CSC work, and the researcher's own experience as a founding director of the organization. Data was collected using qualitative methods; interviewing study participants, reviewing documents, and reflection on researcher's experience. Data was analyzed using qualitative traditions. The study concluded that successful adoption and implementation of RBA is conditioned by five factors: opportunity for the organization, professionality of the organization's team, team's commitment, RBAing / Résumé Cette recherche explore l'expérience d'adoption et de mise en oeuvre d'une approche de la pratique communautaire en Palestine basée sur les droits de l'homme et utilisant une méthodologie d'une étude du cas. Le cas étudié est une organisation communautaire affiliée à l'université et imprégnée par l'esprit volontaire: le Centre du Service Communautaire (CSC) est affilié à l'Université Nationale An-Najah (UNA), à Naplouse, en Palestine, et il est un des partenaires au Programme de McGill en société civile et rétablissement de la paix au Moyen Orient, Montréal, Canada (PMMO). Ce Centre travaille dans un contexte d'incertitude et d'instabilité politique, économique et sociale. Comme prévu, le travail communautaire, comme une méthode du travail social, dans un tel contexte tend à réaliser ses objectifs en traitant des problèmes à la fois politiques et sociaux, et contribue aux ambitions nationales par rapport à la construction de l'Etat après des décennies d'occupation et de travail en ce sens. Et tout cela pour faire accéder les désavantagés aux droits de l'homme par leur empowerment (responsabilisation) et leur participation. Le travail social basé sur les droits de l'homme a constitué le cadre théorique de l'étude. Ce cadre d'analyse est basé sur le désir de lier les droits de l'homme et le travail social d'une manière qui paraît correspondre à la mission du travail social en tant que profession visant les obstacles à l'accès aux droits de l'homme comme la pauvreté, la discrimination et l'absence d'éducation. Par conséquent, la pratique communautaire basée sur les droits de l'homme doit impliquer le respect des droits de l'homme au niveau des moyens et des fins. Les données concernant cette expérience ont été collectées à partir de trois sources: les documents du Centre du Service Communautaire, un échantillon composé des personnes engagées dans le travail du Centre, et l'expérience personnel

This thesis examines the development of occupational health and safety policies in Ontario from 1880 to 1914 focusing on the Railway Accidents Act, Ontario Factory Act, Workmen's Compensation for Injuries Act and the Workmen's Compensation Act. Together they formed the basic regulatory framework that endured in Ontario until the 1970s. / The rise of industrial capitalism and the growth of the private market in the mid-1880s brought forward the factory system which depended on an unskilled labouring class and the use of power-driven machinery. Thus system of production created many risks for workers including accidents and diseases, and resultant financial problems caused by an inability to work. / The role of, and interactions among, workers, employers, and the state were key in determining the particular patterns of policy development. Although health and safety policies provided only minimal protection to workers, while at the same time causing little disruption to business, the policies were more beneficial to workers when labour played an active role in the policy-making process.

This study explores women's narratives from within and outside of the frail/non-frail binary of public home care services. It focuses on the stories that are commonly told about older women's needs and bodies and the regulatory potential of these accounts. Considering power, language, diversity and change, this study focuses on the way that twelve diverse older women at various social locations (e.g., ability, age, culture, ethnicity, 'race', sexual orientation, and socio-economic status) understand, make meaning, and negotiate the concept of frailty in relation to their everyday lives. The sample includes six women considered 'frail' in relation to service (i.e., according to clinical judgement & home care eligibility guidelines), as well as women not considered 'frail' (i.e., non-service recipients). / The twelve older women's storied responses, illustrations and experiences challenge the various stories that are told about them. Their complex accounts both reflect and reject dominant notions, blur the boundary between the frail and non-frail classifications, expose frailty as contextual, temporal and relative, as well as illustrate the connections between medical and social needs. Their individual accounts highlight how they make meaning of their life events in relation to their diverse experiences and identities, as well as how these identities and interpretations are key to their negotiations of life and needs. The variations between the imposed stories about frailty and women's self-perceptions highlight the research, policy and practice relevance of a narrative approach focused on in-depth local accounts, raise questions about the current priorities within home care services, as well as the future of social work practice with older women considered frail.

At the heart of this study is a desire to unravel a puzzle of why I and other self-identified Chinese students share common experience of exclusion in the Canadian academy, despite our differences as individuals and as Chinese. Our experience of exclusion is made invisible by the stereotypical image of Asian students as the paragon of success within the academy. It is again made invisible by policy addressing inclusion in the academy that uses largely outcome measures to paint pictures of success, and keeps the less concrete parts of processes unpainted. There is a lack of attention to and an under-theorization of the less perceptible and less tangible processes of inclusion and exclusion. The central question of this study is: How do Chinese students’ experiences in higher education, as viewed through Bourdieu’s framework of culture, inform a nuanced understanding of inclusion and exclusion? I draw on Bourdieu’s framework along with its core concepts to analyse the narratives of sixteen self-identified Chinese students from six Ontario post-secondary institutions. Methodologically, I draw on a theme-based approach from Thematic Inquiry and a case-based approach from Narrative Inquiry to form a Bourdieusian methodological framework that stays true to the anti-dualistic epistemological foundation of Bourdieu’s theory. Captured in this study is a complex picture of inclusion and exclusion centred on a boundary that is so intangible and masked that it is largely imperceptible and hence unarticulated. The boundary is imperceptible because: 1) inclusion and exclusion is mediated through an unspoken system of meanings and values inscribed in disposition and practices; the boundary takes the form of a normalized way of being (disposition) and doing (practice) 2) inclusion and exclusion is unintentionally enacted; the boundary takes the form of unintentional domination and ‘voluntary’ exit (as if no external force is driving the exclusion) 3) inclusion and exclusion is diffused by the conversion of the boundary from an overt form to a neutralized or ‘normalized’ form such as social network. While the boundary is obscured, it is at the same time fluid and permeable when capital is strategically positioned and deployed. This study concludes by suggesting the need to take into consideration intangible and unintentional processes of inclusion and exclusion, and a two-way approach (again staying true to Bourdieu’s anti-dualistic framework) to broaden policy and research conversations about inclusion and exclusion. Only when invisible processes of inclusion and exclusion are brought to the fore can we begin to redress them. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)