In this paper we report findings of a multidisciplinary study of online participation by culturally diverse participants in a distance adult education course offered in Canada and examine in detail three of the study's findings. First, we explore both the historical and cultural origins of "cyberculture values" as manifested in our findings, using the notions of explicit and implicit enforcement of those values and challenging the assumption that cyberspace is a culture free zone. Second, we examine the notion of cultural gaps between participants in the course and the potential consequences for online communication successes and difficulties. Third, the analysis describes variations in participation frequency as a function of broad cultural groupings in our data. We identify the need for additional research, primarily in the form of larger scale comparisons across cultural groups of patterns of participation and interaction, but also in the form of case studies that can be submitted to microanalyses of the form as well as the content of communicator's participation and interaction online.

Motherhood has been described as an identity, a role, and a way of participating in life (Arendell, 2000; Farber, 2004). Motherhood has also been described as 'work', the care taking, nurturing and teaching of children (Francis-Connolly, 2000). Mothers with arthritis have reported difficulty in the tasks of parenting and household work (Allaire et al., 1991; Backman, Kennedy, Chalmers & Singer, 2004; Barlow, Cullen, Foster, Harrison & Wade, 1999; Grant, Cullen & Barlow, 2000; Reisine, Grady, Goodenow & Fifield, 1998), however, we know little about how a mother experiences these challenges. While the subjective experience of being a mother and having a disability is intrinsically linked to participation, health and social interaction (Farber, 2004), research has not been conducted on how mothers with arthritis experience mothering in the presence of arthritis, and how this experience affects their participation, identity and social interaction. This narrative research study asks "How is being a mother and doing motherhood activities affected by your arthritis?" Study objectives include: 1) Describe mothers' experiences of nurturing, teaching and caring for their children. 2) Describe how mothers understand and explain the effect of arthritis on their role of mother. 3) Describe whether or not this understanding changes how mothers participate and interact in their community. Narrative inquiry was used to explore the experiences of eight married mothers with inflammatory arthritis who have at least one child (aged 0-18) living at home. Purposive sampling allowed representation of families from different communities, with children of different ages. Data collection included two in-depth interviews, participant observation, document review, and fine art painting. Data was coded and analyzed using narrative inquiry techniques (Coffey & Atkinson, 1996; Riessman, 1993; Sandelowski, 1991). Overarching storylines are presented as narratives that describe the mother's experiences of identifying with the role of mother, participation, fatigue and the social context in which mothering occurs. This study contributes to the sparse body of literature on the impact of arthritis on participation in maternal practices and social interaction, informing health professionals about the experience of mothering with arthritis.

No description available.

The Temporary Agricultural Worker to Canada (TAWC) project was introduced in 2003 with the purpose of recruiting Guatemalan migrants to fill seasonal labour voids in Canada. Workers contracted through TAWC directives have received minimal scholarly attention, given the infancy of the program and the substantial focus on Mexican migrants recruited through the Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program. This dissertation illuminates the transnational political realities of Guatemalans by examining the impact that circular migration has on the subaltern migrant body. Fieldwork was conducted in two sites, the first St. Rémi in Québec, the second Santiago Sacatepéquez in Guatemala. Research findings underscore the transnational nature of the flow of hegemonic (discipline, insecurity, oppression, exploitation) and counter hegemonic (empowerment, liberation, collectiveness, security) political ideas and activities between the spaces traversed by migrants. The study engages a multi-faceted ethnographic design in order to explore the spatiality of political consciousness, assessing Guatemalan migrant responses to a range of ideas and activities imparted by agencies of power. These include both the Canadian and Guatemalan governments, the International Organization for Migration, and le Fondation des entreprises pour le recrutement de la main-d'oeuvre étrangère along with a range of transnational supporting allies. Nevertheless, the decision to (dis)engage in certain politicized conduct is largely dependent on the human agency of Guatemalan migrants, as they find the means to cope with the pressures of seasonal migration. A political economy perspective allows me to engage three debates that theoretically frame the transnational political identity of Guatemalan migrants. These are: (1) processes of political transnationalism; (2) neoliberal agenda and mindsets; and (3) migrant political consciousness, with a particular emphasis on Foucauldian concepts of governmentality and Gramscian notions of hegemony and consciousness. By engaging the (re)shaping of transnational political identity as a phenomenon influenced by agencies of power, and more importantly, the human agency of subaltern migrants, my dissertation emphasizes migrant (un)willingness to embrace and/or suppress certain resources that restructure political consciousness and political action. The versatility and fluidity of transmigrant political identity reveal that the distinct realities of individuals are constructed by travelling back and forth, as seasonal labourers, between Guatemala and Canada. / Thesis (Ph.D, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2012-01-02 21:30:20.445

The Temporary Agricultural Worker to Canada (TAWC) project was introduced in 2003 with the purpose of recruiting Guatemalan migrants to fill seasonal labour voids in Canada. Workers contracted through TAWC directives have received minimal scholarly attention, given the infancy of the program and the substantial focus on Mexican migrants recruited through the Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program. This dissertation illuminates the transnational political realities of Guatemalans by examining the impact that circular migration has on the subaltern migrant body. Fieldwork was conducted in two sites, the first St. Rémi in Québec, the second Santiago Sacatepéquez in Guatemala. Research findings underscore the transnational nature of the flow of hegemonic (discipline, insecurity, oppression, exploitation) and counter hegemonic (empowerment, liberation, collectiveness, security) political ideas and activities between the spaces traversed by migrants. The study engages a multi-faceted ethnographic design in order to explore the spatiality of political consciousness, assessing Guatemalan migrant responses to a range of ideas and activities imparted by agencies of power. These include both the Canadian and Guatemalan governments, the International Organization for Migration, and le Fondation des entreprises pour le recrutement de la main-d'oeuvre étrangère (FERME) along with a range of transnational supporting allies. Nevertheless, the decision to (dis)engage in certain politicized conduct is largely dependent on the human agency of Guatemalan migrants, as they find the means to cope with the mounting pressures of seasonal migration. A political economy perspective allows me to engage three debates that theoretically frame the transnational political identity of Guatemalan migrants. These are: (1) processes of political transnationalism; (2) neoliberal agenda and mindsets; and (3) migrant political consciousness, with a particular emphasis on Foucauldian concepts of governmentality and Gramscian notions of hegemony and consciousness. By engaging the (re)shaping of transnational political identity as a phenomenon influenced by agencies of power, and more importantly, the human agency of subaltern migrants, my dissertation emphasizes migrant (un)willingness to embrace and/or suppress certain resources that restructure political consciousness and political action. The versatility and fluidity of transmigrant political identity reveal that the distinct realities of individuals are constructed by travelling back and forth, as seasonal labourers, between Guatemala and Canada. / Thesis (Ph.D, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2012-01-14 20:36:14.142

Lake Winnipeg and the issue of its declining health are at the heart of this research. At stake is not only the integrity of this ecosystem but also the substantial commercial fishery that depends upon it. Finding a solution to this problem involves a complex mixture of social, economic and ecological considerations. In response to such multi-faceted questions there is an increasing awareness for the role of public participation in decision-making. In recognition of this, there is a move away from top-down governance to one that acknowledges the need for innovative approaches to governance as well as the role for the participation of non-state actors in decision-making. This type of participatory governance decentralizes power in order to permit citizens the opportunity to bring to bear their knowledge in the quest for sustainable solutions. One such source of knowledge is local knowledge. Accordingly, this research explores the local knowledge about Lake Winnipeg held by its commercial fishers and how that knowledge is included in the Lake’s governance. This goal is pursued through the examination of four specific objectives that are: 1) to establish the sorts of local knowledge that fishers hold and the ways in which they gained this knowledge; 2) to identify what informal and formal governance processes already exist for participation of the fishers in the governance of Lake Winnipeg; 3) to determine by what means and to what extent this local knowledge has been shared in governance processes about the Lake; 4) to identify opportunities for the incorporation of the fishers’ local knowledge into the governance of the Lake. A qualitative approach was used to address the goals of the research and included literature review, a focus group with fishers, and interviews with fishers and government personnel. Analysis revealed that the commercial fishers possess local knowledge extending across a broad range of topics from hydrology, ecology, weather, water quality and fish diet, habitat, behaviour and morphology. This knowledge was gained primarily through personal observation, but also from other fishers, scientists, and the media. The more formal participatory processes in which the fishers became engaged have been limited to issues relating to the fishery. These formal processes included the Lake Winnipeg Fisheries Management Advisory Board, the Manitoba Commercial Inland Fishers Federation, and the Lake Winnipeg Quota Entitlement Review Task Force. In addition to these formal processes there was also a less formal network of contact between fishers and those in government and science. This network has involved fishers sharing their local knowledge about the fishery and. to a lesser degree, about the Lake’s environment more generally. Taken together, these various processes have supplied, with variable success, some opportunities for fishers to share their local knowledge and influence fishery related decisions. However, the extent of their participation has been significantly impaired by a number of critical factors. Of these, the most detrimental barrier identified was a lack of meaningfulness and transparency in the key process, the Advisory Board. This, in turn, resulted in frustration, mistrust of government, and ultimately, withdrawal from that process. Reflecting on these problems, fishers made a number of recommendations including the creation of a co-management board and the use of interviews and surveys, public meetings, and collaborative research as ways to ensure that their knowledge is shared and that their concerns and recommendations are considered in meaningful ways that influence fishery and Lake-related decisions.

Public participation is an important aspect of Environmental Assessment (EA) processes where the public can have an influence on decisions about development affecting them or their surrounding environment. A case study was conducted on the Wuskwatim Generating Station and Transmission Line Project EA process in order to identify barriers to participation faced by Aboriginal publics. Nine general barrier types were identified including: resource deficiencies, accessibility, information deficiencies, communication barriers, inadequate consultation, timing and scheduling constraints, lack of trust, lack of understanding, and coercion and control of dissent. The findings indicate most barriers faced by Aboriginal publics were procedural in nature and may be addressed through improvements in the design and implementation of participatory processes. A number of interrelationships were noted among barrier types suggesting that barriers to participation cannot be addressed in an isolated manner. Recommendations to improve future EA process and areas requiring further research are also discussed.

Public participation continues to hold an uncertain position in professional city planning practice. At the scale of the neighbourhood, planners are faced with a variety of options to engage the public and key stakeholders. This case study will compare three public engagement processes taking place in the South Point Douglas neighbourhood of Winnipeg. Each of the processes will highlight differing approaches to the relationship between planner and public in a neighbourhood context. Key stakeholder interviews are used at the conclusion of the study to evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of these planning processes.

No description available.

This thesis is concerned with Local Government Unit - Nongovernmental Organizations (LGU-NGOs) partnership in local governance in the Philippines as embodied in the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the Local Government Code of 1991. The main objective is to examine the most effective relationship between the LGU and the NGOs as well as where collaboration is most necessary. This is undertaken by experimentally evaluating the validity of four hypotheses on LGU-NGOs relations. The first hypothesis is that effective LGU-NGOs relationships are hardly felt or visibly seen despite the existing mechanisms. The second hypothesis is that opportunities for NGOs to participate are great; however, participation has not been realized. The third hypothesis examines whether larger LGUs are more effective in addressing the needs of their constituents, taking into consideration the presence of NGOs as conduits between the LGUs and the ordinary citizens. The fourth hypothesis examines whether larger LGUs are more effective in cooperating with NGOs because of the substantial resources and staff that they can utilize to reach out to them. In case studies of two LGUs in the Philippines, one larger and one smaller, the evidence largely verified the first two hypotheses while the last two hypotheses established a conclusion. First, it is found that NGOs have not participated at all in the planning process, although a number of NGOs have been involved in the implementation of programs, projects and activities (PPAs), ordinary citizens do not feel there is an LGU-NGO partnership. Second, the Local Special Bodies (LSBs) do not regularly conduct the mandated meetings, so that the NGOs have not participated in basic policy-making processes in the LGUs. Resources of NGOs do not indicate effective participation although the LGUs utilize the NGOs in the implementation of PPAs. Third, although the smaller LGU provided money to a number of NGOs, this did not ensure their participation, which shows that the NGOs were not accountable for the money they were given. As expressed by ordinary citizens, both the LGUs and the NGOs engage in patronage and influence peddling in providing services. Fourth, the size of the LGU does not indicate effective cooperation with NGOs. Although NGOs in the larger municipality have stronger views than in the smaller municipality, size of the NGOs does not determine effective ii participation. The size of the LGU does not matter in multi-sectoral policy making such as those in the Municipal Development Council (MDC) and Municipal Peace and Order Council (MPOC) since policy formulation is less focused and more complex and that seems to be introducing barriers to participation. Although sector-specific NGOs are more involved in the Municipal Health Board and Municipal School Board in the larger municipality, NGOs in the smaller municipality have a hard time participating.