The declaration of the International Year of Disabled Persons in 1981 and the international activism of persons with disabilities resulted in the globalization of disability, which involved a new framework for the treatment of PWDs. Although disability activism was being played out globally, it has been about PWDs gaining equality and full participation in their local societies. Therefore, at the heart of an international movement was the strategic organization of PWDs, most of who live in the developing world. This dissertation is based on a case study of activism for disability rights in one particular developing society, Jamaica. The Jamaican movement is spearheaded by the Combined Disabilities Association (CDA), which has been at the forefront of disability rights activism locally and regionally. The primary research question: how does CDA organize strategically to meet the needs of the broader disabled population of Jamaica is broken down into the following four sub-questions: 1) how is "disability" constructed in the context of Jamaican culture, 2) how did CDA members negotiate their original involvement and level of participation with the organization, 3) what is the nature of the linkage between the CDA and Disabled People International, and how does this relationship affect CDA's policies and procedures, and 4) what strategies does CDA employ to mobilize PWDs in Jamaica to participate in advocacy activities? These questions are explored using participant observation, semi-structured interviews, survey, and document review. Findings reveal a complex construction of disability as Jamaicans negotiate between various beliefs and ideas to understand the meaning of disability. Furthermore, the negotiation of movement involvement by PWDs is based their connections have with fellow members as well as the personal benefits that they receive. Although the CDA has been influenced by the international disability movement, it has also contributed to the global activism, especially in the Caribbean. In a local environment overwhelmed by limited financial resources and social inequalities the CDA by default addresses some social welfare of PWDS, while pursuing its primary commitment to advocacy, resulting in numerous challenges.

Beginning in December 2010, Tunisian citizens used techniques of protest, resistance and intervention in a struggle for freedom from the systems that had for decades denied them agency, autonomy and dignity. As a result of their resistance, in January 2011 the Tunisian people successfully deposed the authoritarian president Ben Ali after 23 years in power. Though this movement began spontaneously and operated without designated leadership, the role of the national labor union - The Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail (UGTT) - was vital in mobilizing and directing the uprising. This thesis will interpret the events of the 2011 Tunisian uprising through the framework of civil resistance, as defined by Gene Sharp and Hardy Merriman. Through the use of political defiance and noncooperation, civil resistance employs nonviolent tactics to challenge and remove entrenched political leaders and systems. This study will analyze the Tunisian uprising and the role of the UGTT in the movement using three indicators of civil resistance success: unity, strategic planning, and nonviolent discipline. Despite sporadic incidents of violence, this thesis asserts that the 2011 Tunisian uprising successfully enacted nonviolent civil resistance, and the implementation of nonviolent political action has made the establishment of a genuine and lasting democracy a real possibility for the future. The UGTT were invaluable in the 2011 uprising as facilitators and collaborators with the Tunisian people, and currently function in a pivotal nonpartisan and objective intermediary political role. Though the outcome remains uncertain and the conclusion of the revolution in flux, the 2011 Tunisian uprising has set an example and a precedent for civil resistance to the rest of the world.

In the post-9/11 world, Bangladesh has been identified as a new hub of the Al-Qaeda network in South Asia. Most of the contemporary national and international media reports, security documents, and even academic studies point to the fact that an Islamist movement is on the dramatic rise in Bangladesh in recent years. These reports and studies portray the Islamist movement as closely linked with terrorism and devoid of any historical roots and relations with other types of movement. Contrary to this view, this study argues that the Islamist movement is not an unprecedented phenomenon but historically linked with a broader militia movement which subsequently leads to the emergence of Bangladesh as a nation state in 1971. Since its inception, the nation state is dealing not only with the Islamist movement but also with two other types of militia movement almost simultaneously – the leftwing and the ethnic. Having identified these three types, this study defines the militia movement in terms of five analytical categories – ideology, motivation, mobilization, organization, and ritual – following Freilich and others. It analyzes the Bangladesh militia movement in terms of these five dimensions, providing historical-empirical data from both primary and secondary sources to show how the contemporary militias are carrying forward the legacy of their historical forerunners. This study concludes with policy recommendations on how informed decisions can be made to effectively deal with the militia issue. / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-02 14:36:43.282

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Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

The purpose of this thesis project was to investigate the role played by the internet in the movement to abolish the Harmonized Sales Tax in British Columbia. A constructivist grounded theory approach was applied to data collection and analysis: specifically, five participants in the anti-HST movement were interviewed, and interview data was triangulated with observations of the movement's online activities. This study analysed the relationship between social forces and the structures of online spaces, identifying several ways that internet structure affected the shape of the movement. In addition, this study found that while the anti-HST movement bore many traits of a traditional, political-economic social movement, some elements of new social movement theory and practice were present within the movement. Finally, the study explored the homogenizing tendencies of online interaction, and how those tendencies affected individuals' interaction with the movement, and the discourses that informed and organized the movement. / Graduate

Drawing on my own process of entry into local queer, lesbian and feminist public cultures, I argue that a powerful relationship between feminist and lesbian existence can be felt and that this sensibility bears influence on the way queer erotic and politicized identities emerge in relation to one another. These affective links remain frequently unacknowledged and/or are actively repudiated due to popular accounts of feminist genealogy whereby second wave lesbian-feminist positions are rendered fundamentally incompatible with contemporary queer/third wave feminist ones. I challenge this narrative by building on select early articulations of radical lesbian feminism to show that when affirmed consciously, the sense that lesbianism and feminism are interconnected constitutes a “woman-identified experience” and an opportunity to bear witness to the unrealized possibilities of second-wave radical feminism in the present. I conclude that politicized “lesbian” and/or “woman” identification remain indispensable strategic sites from which to observe and confront heteropatriarchy.

This exploratory case study examines the proposition that development NGOs are playing an active part in the de-politicization of Palestinian women's movements fight for independence and liberation from occupation by advancing the development projects (McMicheal, 1996) push for Western conceptions of democratisation and modernisation as being the key to economic and social development of Palestinian society, while disregarding the current state of occupation (Jad, 2003). The application of Third World feminist perspectives allows for the examination of structural and systemic forms of oppression that encourage womens struggles and names ways that women have taken action to make positive libratory social change in the face of systems of domination such as capitalism and western-led international development. Education and knowledge production are implicated in this process of NGO-led de-politicization (NGO-ization) of Palestinian womens movements. / Theoretical, cultural and international studies

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:33:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 2855461 bytes, checksum: 16d55a707bc0082efee6dbab629f4fda (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-27 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / This dissertation examined the social effects on women s lives that participate in the Movement of Affected by Dams (MAB). Taken as reference three rural localities in the state of Minas Gerais, which are: Miguel Rodrigues, Emboque and resettlement Guaiana, all stricken Small Hydroeletric Fumaça. The research aimed to investigate the effects of female participation in social MAB in gender relations and forms of empowerment in the public and private sectors. We tried to understand the relations power from places lived in the house and property, community and social movement, focusing on categories like place, sexual division of labor and empowerment. This is a descriptive and explanatory research that used questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, document analysis and journal entries for field data collection. The results showed that women's participation in collective action is linked primarily on the desire to maintain their lifestyles, even in forms of power that cause gender disparities. Moreover, even if women participate in grassroots groups in communities and other spaces outside their localities, they can t break the gender roles that mark the places of women and men in family spaces, house, property, and in community spaces. It gives the maintenance of power relations and the fixed and rigid roles for men and women in public spaces in the communities which they live. But there was a difference in handling between the female private and public spheres, which leads to greater empowerment of leaders than for another woman organized. / Esta dissertação analisou os efeitos sociais na vida das mulheres que participam do Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (MAB). Tomou-se como referência três localidades rurais do interior do Estado de Minas Gerais, quais sejam: Miguel Rodrigues, Emboque e reassentamento Guaiana; todas atingidas pela Pequena Central Hidrelétrica Fumaça. A pesquisa teve como objetivo investigar os efeitos sociais da participação feminina no MAB nas relações de gênero e nas formas de empoderamento, no âmbito público e privado. Buscou-se perceber as relações de poder a partir dos lugares vividos da casa e da propriedade, da comunidade e do movimento social, focalizando as categorias como Lugar, divisão sexual do trabalho e empoderamento. Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva e explicativa que fez o uso de questionários, de entrevistas semi-estruturadas, da análise documental e das anotações no diário de campo para a coleta de dados. Os resultados apontaram que a participação das mulheres na ação coletiva se vincula primeiramente ao desejo de manutenção dos seus modos de vida, mesmo sob formas de poder que causam as disparidades de gênero. Além disso, mesmo que as mulheres participem dos grupos de base nas comunidades e de outros espaços fora de suas localidades, estas não conseguem romper com os papéis de gênero que demarcam os lugares femininos e masculinos nos espaços familiares, da casa, da propriedade, assim como nos espaços comunitários. O que confere a manutenção de relações de poder e dos papéis fixos e rígidos para mulheres e homens nos espaços públicos das comunidades em que vivem. Mas, observou-se uma diferenciação na movimentação feminina entre as esferas privada e pública, que ocasiona maior o empoderamento das lideranças do que para demais mulheres organizadas.