This thesis emerges in the context of recent developments in the field of charity fundraising. In particular, in order to increase, or simply maintain, fundraising levels charities have had to develop innovative devices which both take charity giving into the spaces in which individuals carry out their daily activities, and provide mechanisms through which they are able to give to charity in their daily lives. This thesis focuses on one such attempt. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate both the practices of constructing alternative giving and the materials which result from this, and the practices of giving and receiving an alternative gift. Alternative giving refers to a fundraising device which is built around a range of gift cards or certificates produced by the charity, each of which represent one particular item or service provided by the charity to its beneficiaries. The cards or certificates are then sold at a price which is designed to mirror the actual cost of providing the item or service represented and are intended to be used by the purchaser as a gift for a friend or relative. As such, alternative giving, as a form of fundraising used by international development charities, raises a number of questions, particularly in terms of how it affects the relationships between individuals and charities, and individuals and the specific beneficiary. Therefore, this thesis draws on literatures around ethics, governmentality, consumption and gift theory to examine the implications of alternative giving for these relationships. Having drawn these literatures into conversations with empirical research based around interviews with charities and those engaging in alternative giving, and a range of textual materials surrounding this, the thesis argues that practices of alternative giving are carried out by ethical subjects who are situated within broad sets of social relations, and which matter to how connections in the charitable act are manifest.

The Church always shown interest in the world of sick and those suffering. In its activities it was inspired by opinions and example of Jesus Christ. Help to those in need was considered as integral part of Churches mission. It responded to this challenge by organising help and care. Middle Ages were hard period afflicted by famine, epidemics or wars. Many due to these adverse conditions therefore found themselves in need of Churches care and cried for its help. The first part of the thesis was tasked with defining the term charity and focuses on the problematic of charity in period of early Christian Church. It briefly elaborates on Christian charity as a history of love, with Jesus Christ in its beginning as an impulse for apostles, first Christian communities, Christians living in age of persecution and later in times of free Church. The second part is dedicated to Middle Ages. It attempts to provide intellectual and social frame in which charity in this time found itself. In sub-chapters it determines the historical period of Middle Ages, characterises living conditions in that period with focus on social and economical aspects. Also a short excursion into Middle Age man's mind is taken. The last and the largest part of the thesis consists of description of charity work in the Middle Ages. It's...

The work deals with the definition of basic concepts relativ to communicationstrategy. It also deals with the description and analysis of the communications mixselected charity project. This will include a summary of the result carried out its ownresearch, which examined the effectiveness of the tools of communication mix. Havingdefined the positive and negative kontrast chosen communication strategy of the project. Because of thein charitable projects and organizations over many specificcommercial organizations, and because these particularities and differences, of course, also reflected in the communication strategy, the specifics of thesedifferences, and addressed in this thesis due attention..

研究中國明清慈善組織的歷史學者們認為，中國都市中的善會善堂起源於明末清初。但是，這些研究者較少指出慈善組織如何代表地方利益，也相對忽略慈善組織及其觀念在鄉村社會的歷史發展過程。另一方面，研究中國鄉村社會的歷史學者們認為，維護地方利益的社會組織通常以寺廟及祠堂為中心，運用宗教和禮儀來表達地方訴求。伴隨著近代民族國家的建立和現代化的發展，通過宗教禮儀表達地方訴求的方式遭遇前所未有的衝擊；那麼，慈善活動及慈善組織是否提供了一種空間，延續傳統的宗教祭祀活動進而表達地方訴求？ / 本文即嘗試從地方的視角，探討近代慈善事業如何整合到地方社會，以期理解地方社會對近代中國社會變化的調適與應對。本文聚焦近代中西文化交流的前沿地區──中山縣，對其轄內鄰近澳門的前山地區進行深入剖析。在20世紀30年代「反迷信」話語以及中山縣現代化建設的歷史背景下，探討這一地區的慈善與「迷信」的關係，以及如何實踐慈善事業及傳統的救贖。 / Historians who study the history of charity in China note that the history of Chinese urban charity organizations may be documented from the late Ming dynasty. Nevertheless, they do not argue that from the late Ming, those organizations represented local interests in urban administration and the development of charity in the rural areas. On the other hand, historians who study village and town communities have noted that local organizations representing local interests were centered at temples and ancestral halls. However, the structure was destroyed by modernization and the establishment of nation state in modern China. Meanwhile, charity institutions took more significant roles in local society since late Qing. Therefore, is it possible that charity took over the position that had been occupied by religious sacrifice as the defining quality of local management? This study examines how practices and ideas of charity in modern times were adopted in local society from the bottom up. In order to have a substantial focus, this research takes charity institutions in Qianshan, Chungshan as case studies to examine how they adopted and practiced ideas of charity, how they preserved religious sacrifice under the background of modernization and anti-superstition movement in 1930s. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 毛迪. / Thesis (M.Phil.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-108). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Mao Di.

Using the example of the London-based children's organisation Barnardo's, this thesis examines the influence of contemporary ideas regarding the relationship between environment, health and disease on the organisation and everyday institutional practices of the charity. While autobiographical accounts and historical investigations have written on the 'man himself' as well as the discursive and representational strategies used by Barnardo's to justify child removal, the importance of environmental discourses to the institution remain underexplored. The thesis addresses this lacuna through a detailed analysis of archival materials relating to Barnardo's (committee minutes, pamphlets, reports, Dr Barnardo's personal notebooks) as well as through a textual analysis of Night & Day, the main outlet for publicising the work of the charity and stimulating support for it. The thesis covers the period from 1866, when Barnardo's was founded, to the death of Dr Barnardo in 1905. This is a period when the environmental idea was arguably at its strongest, with a host of social ills (from criminality and prostitution, to human health and vitality and later in the period racial degeneration) linked to the influence of the environment. Like many other social reformers and philanthropists, Dr Barnardo was a firm believer in environmental explanations for such social ills, as well as a committed evangelical Christian, and promoted the rapid removal of young people (not all were orphaned but the vast majority were destitute) from urban and familial environments believed to do harm to their physical, moral and spiritual health. Where the first part of the thesis covers the importance of environment to the Barnardo's justification for his child removal practices, the remainder of it considers the response of the institution to environmental ideas. In addition to examining the influence of environment on institutional design and on the everyday practices of the 'inmates', for example the promotion of light and air in the girl's home at Barkingside, emphasis is also placed on ideas of mobility and movement. Here the thesis explores the paradoxical relationship between the organisation's 'anti-institutional' projection and the institutional realities of constructing and policing 'out of home' care practices (trips to the country- and seaside, boarding-out, emigration). This thesis contributes to extant accounts of Dr Barnardo's; however, its primary contribution lies in its nuanced examination of the role of environmental ideas on shaping institutional design and on its influence on the everyday practices of Barnardo's young inmates.

This research explores the learning of volunteers who are being trained to perform service-providing roles within UK health and social care charities. Within these charities, volunteers often perform complex roles in dynamic environments, supporting service users and addressing challenging causes. This thesis argues that the charity and voluntary environment offers certain affordances, and also constraints, that provide opportunities for transformative learning experiences. The limited previous studies on the learning of volunteers have tended to concentrate on training evaluations or informal learning 'on the job', resulting in an unhelpful formal/informal dichotomised approach to learning. The research proposes that this approach has been unable to offer a detailed insight into the learning experienced by volunteers within the training process. In particular, this dichotomised view has been unable to account for both the learning of scientific concepts, such as the specific health conditions these charities are addressing, and everyday experiences of both volunteers and service users that are integral to the learning process. To address this gap, the thesis draws upon Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), which is an approach grounded in Hegelian dialectics. Specifically, the CHAT-informed theories of expansive learning (Engeström, 1987) and Transformative Activist Stance (TAS) (Stetsenko, 2008) are synthesised to examine how volunteers interact with and within the charity environment through practices of training. Through this perspective, learning is conceptualised as a form of individual and social transformation, which expands the possibilities for collective activity. Expansive learning and TAS have previously been drawn upon to provide insight into learning in the workplace and in projects of social change respectively. However, so far the theories have not been focused on learning within the charity and voluntary environment. A multiple case study of three health and social care charities based in North West England provides the empirical data for the research. Each charity addresses a complex health and social cause, including stroke, sexual violence and HIV, and relies on volunteers to help provide services. Multiple qualitative methods, including observations of training, charity staff interviews, along with interviews and focus groups with volunteers, allow a range of perspectives and positions to be taken into account in line with the epistemology of the study. Data are analysed through the process of abduction drawing upon a CHAT-informed theoretical framework. The thesis intends to contribute to knowledge in two main areas. Firstly, it aims to increase understanding of learning within volunteer training, including how learning in the charity environment can be supported, sustained and made meaningful to enable transformative experiences. Secondly, it aims to theoretically advance CHAT, and the charity and voluntary environment is presented as a fruitful setting for developing particular aspects of the theory, such as emotion and agency.

The aim of my thesis is to consider a contemporain concept of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and all relative activities in the international company and to propose a potential development of this concept for a specific region. Theoretical part explains fundamental features of the corporate social responsibility, its' history, three pillars and organizations which are dedicated to this concept. Practical part of this paper analyses the system of CSR in the international company. In this part there is a history of the CSR applicated in the company, the rating and the contemporain status of the corporate social responsibility. There are mentioned also the methods of measurement of CSR which proclaim the level of corporate social responsibility in the company. There is a focus on the concept of CSR applicated in the Czech republic and some new ideas how to improve it.

This research contributes to the relatively small collection of primary research exploring environmental social work. The research is qualitative in design and is underpinned by critical theory. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 14 Welsh based, social work participants who all possessed a self-identified interest in environmental issues. The interviews elicited biographical narratives which were subject to thematic analysis. This gave insight into the development of such interests through childhood experiences, contact with nature and rural living. The underlying beliefs systems of participants were highlighted as political, spiritual and ecological awareness. The participants offered accounts of how social work and the natural environment were connected for them. The rural social work field shaped perspectives which were holistic and anti-discriminatory, containing evidence of structural understandings. Practice involving nature as a tool for individual change, food based initiatives and green work based behaviours emerged. The participants’ narratives are presented through a Bourdieusian lens. Barriers to integration were explored with notions of restrictiveness and disillusionment emerging from a neoliberal setting. The participants contributed to the development of the action stage. The action stage first, investigated the inclusion of the natural environment in the social work curricula in 5 Welsh Universities. The survey revealed a focus on individualised approaches being given priority with limited attention given to the wider environment. Phase two, involved the delivery of lectures on the subject of green social work in two universities. A post lecture evaluation form highlighted an interest in the subject amongst students as well as a perception of it being both relevant and of value to contemporary social work practice. Recommendations are made in relation to social work education, giving attention to food based initiatives and a reconsideration of community based social work with a focus on sustainability.

acase@tulane.edu

The purpose of my research was to understand the role that the novel played in the development of religious toleration in eighteenth-century Britain. In my first chapter, I draw on an archive of polemical texts, legal documents, correspondence, sermons, and novels to reconstruct the historical and ideological transformations that occurred between the English Civil War (1642) and Catholic Emancipation (1829). I demonstrate the centrality of anti-Catholicism to the construction of British identity and arguments for the toleration of Protestant Dissenters. Throughout my dissertation, I argue that the novel served as a site for the articulation of new concepts and identities, and functioned as a mechanism for transforming readers’ subjectivities. One of the most important transformations to which the novel contributed was the elaboration of the concept of tolerance as a supplement to toleration. As an individual, private affect, tolerance depoliticizes religious difference, shifting emphasis away from the existential threat that toleration could potentially pose to the state and established church. The most surprising finding of my research was the extent to which novelists drew on a contemporary theological discourse of charity in developing this idea. My readings demonstrate the need for an understanding of secularization that would see it not only as a separation out of church and state, but also as a set of corresponding changes within religion, and a process whereby religious ideas are brought into what we normally think of as secular political ideas, like tolerance. Daniel Defoe plays a pivotal role in my dissertation, as both a prolific polemicist and one of the first novelists. My second chapter explores his polemical arguments for toleration, before moving on to examine how the political philosophy he develops in them informs the Robinson Crusoe novels (1719-1720). I argue that the liberty of conscience that Crusoe offers is tenuous and fragile in the first novel because of contradictions in Defoe’s political thought. In The Farther Adventures (1720), he is able to offer a more robust vision of toleration, by placing the relationship of charity between the Protestant Crusoe and a French priest at the center of his novel. In chapter three I shift my focus to the formal features of the Crusoe novels, arguing that the first novel urges its readers to undergo a series of identifications that lead them toward the charitable tolerance that the second novel thematizes. The second novel disperses the narrative function between characters, highlighting the role of perspective in religious knowledge. My fourth chapter argues that in Sir Charles Grandison (1753), Samuel Richardson demonstrates that tolerance can function as a bulwark, rather than a threat, to British identity. Richardson simultaneously offers a positive representation of Catholic characters and shows how tolerance in the face of intolerance can found a new identity secured by a dynamic of moral and epistemological condescension. My final chapter turns to an exploration of how the Gothic novel could mediate changes in the political and ideological context at the end of the eighteenth century, as toleration was first being extended to Catholics in Britain. I argue that Lusignan (1801) represents Catholic monasticism in a way that makes it not only newly tolerable, but also newly desirable for British readers. At the same time, the novel demonstrates more forcibly than any of the preceding texts, the secularizing negotiations that not only Catholicism, but religion itself, underwent during the increasing modernization and liberalization of Britain through the eighteenth century.