Hunger and increasing poverty are major problems facing not only rural but also urban areas in South Africa, including its largest city, Johannesburg. Women‘s empowerment features significantly in the international development goals as key to poverty and hunger reduction. However, few studies analyse, as this study does, the links between women‘s empowerment and hunger from the perspective of women living in urban chronic poverty. This study entails a multidimensional analysis of poverty and an in-depth enquiry into women‘s experiences and perspectives of household hunger and poverty. A mixed methods study design was used. The quantitative study entailed the secondary analysis of a 2006 cross-sectional household survey (n=533) undertaken by the South African Medical Research Council (MRC). The quantitative findings steered a methodical process that ensured that the selected participants (n=9) for in-depth interviews represented the poorest households in the study sites. The qualitative results from the nine women were validated through three focus group discussions reaching 34 women from the same study sites. The prevalence of income poverty (64%) in impoverished settlements was higher than provincial and national rates. Household hunger (40%) was associated with multidimensional aspects of poverty. Households below the poverty line were at a higher risk of hunger (OR=4.04, CI: 2.60; 6.32). Multivariate regression showed not being fully employed as the main determinant of household hunger. On the other hand, female heads had lower chances of full employment, and their households were at higher risk of living below the poverty line (OR=1.52, CI: 1.03; 2.25). Yet women, more than men, invested resources in protecting their households from hunger. However, protecting their households did not signify empowerment. In the process of staving off hunger they constantly sacrificed social capital, indicating disempowerment. The current study is original for a number of reasons. First, it is the first to investigate household hunger, gender and women‘s empowerment in Johannesburg. Second, it combines large-scale quantitative data with in-depth qualitative data to give a holistic account of household hunger and poverty. The third reason is the discovery, made through grounded theory analysis, that women experience poverty as a personal phenomenon. This phenomenon contradicts widely used human development approaches, including women‘s empowerment. Lastly, this study concludes that women‘s empowerment is not likely in the context of chronic poverty as prevailing gender inequalities corrode social capital, resulting in their disempowerment.

Poverty reduction' is often one of the pillars of stated policy goals of decentralization programmes. Decentralization is frequently assumed to facilitate greater participation of poor people, which leads to greater accountability and responsiveness of the government and nonstate service providers. The present study revisits these assumptions through a comparative analysis of poverty reduction programmes in Thailand, which have been designed and implemented through varying degrees of centralization and decentralization. The study finds that the Low-Income Health Card (LIHC) scheme, which has been implemented through a traditional centralized bureaucracy and structure (representing the 'livelihood protection' type of poverty reduction programme), succeeded in reaching the largest number of target beneficiaries, in particular the 'poorest' segment of the population, and received an almost universally favourable beneficiary assessment. On the other hand, several different types of community-based credit programmes (representing the 'livelihood promotion' type of poverty reduction programme), which have been implemented through different types of decentralized structures, rarely reached the 'poorest' people and presented mixed results in the beneficiary assessment. Importantly, however, through the beneficiary assessment of the credit programmes, it was found that people attached great value to all the assumed 'virtues' of decentralization, including participation, ownership, proximity and transparency, which have been achieved through some decentralized programmes implemented in their villages. Several conclusions may be drawn based on the Thai case studies. First, it is necessary to use both centralized and decentralized approaches to poverty reduction service delivery, since these two different delivery mechanisms are appropriate for different types of poverty reduction programmes, which benefit various categories of poor people differently. Second, the distinct needs of the 'poorest' segment of the population may be served better through centralized delivery of 'livelihood protection' services, when the central bureaucracy is reasonably capable of delivering services. Third, other groups of poor people may benefit from 'livelihood promotion' programmes, which may be delivered better through decentralized approaches. These approaches have greater potential to promote such necessary elements for programme success as participation, ownership, and a sense of solidarity among the beneficiaries. However, for decentralized approaches to realize these intended 'virtues', the programme's design and implementation -requires careful examination of local culture, organizational and political structures, as well as the'capacity and experience of the decentralized bodies. One lesson for aid donors from the above may be the need to consider possible trade-offs between poverty reduction objectives and good governance objectives.

The thesis traces the emergence of civil legal aid in England and Wales from the introduction of a charitable Poor Persons Procedure in 1914 to the last major expansion of civil legal aid (to domestic proceedings in magistrates' courts) in 1961. Drawing on archive material from the Public Record Office, Law Society and National Council of Social Service, it explains why a scheme in which the state paid lawyers to represent individual citizens in civil claims developed during this period. Previous accounts tend to see legal aid as either the inevitable expression of a grand principle, or as a demand-creation exercise by lawyers. The thesis proposes a more complex picture, based on four factors: first, a clearly visible social problem (the inaccessibility of divorce to the 'respectable' working classes); second, an ideological justification (which rallied around the slogan of equality before the law); third, an existing infrastructure (namely the charitable in pauperis procedure); and last, an alliance of interest groups. In analysing the influence of different interest groups, I argue that the organised legal profession did not take the initiative in campaigning for legal aid. Instead, the initial pressure came from a loose coalition of social work groups and idealistic lawyers. Faced with a social problem, the government responded. Only when the pressure became irresistible did the Law Society co-opt the scheme, and bend it to its own purposes. These purposes were primarily ideological rather than economic: to provide legal services to the poor is to assert the universal importance of what lawyers do. Until 1944, the Law Society opposed a paid scheme. Payment became necessary to relieve the burden of voluntary service rather than to create new markets.

No description available.

This is a political economy study of poverty in Bangladesh, analysed from the perspectives of new institutionalism and focuses on the institutional constraints to poverty reduction. It argues that in the mainstream economic literature, poverty is not adequately analysed in its historical and political economy context. Consequently, the poverty reduction policy prescriptions, emanating from market-led growth paradigms, have failed to tackle significantly the poverty problems of the post-colonial states. Generalised sUbsistence poverty has been the central challenge for the lives of the majority of the Bangladeshi population since the colonial days. Bangladesh emerged impoverished from its colonial past. Since its political independence in 1971, it received considerable assistance from the donor community in its effort to reduce mass poverty without any Significant success. However, historical evidence suggests that Bengal was relatively a prosperous region in the pre-colonial days. What went wrong for the majority population of Bangladesh to be trapped in subsistence poverty? Why they have been failing to overcome subsistence poverty even after three decades of independence? This study attempts to address these questions. It is argued that Bengal was affected by mass poverty by the 1930s, through a series of institutional changes in land rights, initiated by the colonial rulers since 1793. The forced commercialisation of agriculture, demographic pressures and the collapse of Bengal's jute economy during the 'great depression' in the 1930s, all played a significant role. The post-colonial state of Bangladesh is embedded in social power structure and lacks autonomy and institutional capacity to pursue poverty reducing broad based economic growth. State institutions in Bangladesh are weak, anti-poor and partial towards the rich. They are ineffective in the pursuit of economic growth in general, and in achieving poverty reduction in particular. Social institutions operating at the village level tend to be more influential than those of state. However, social institutions are built on power structure that are dominated and governed by the rich and are anti-poor. They are not designed to address the poverty issue, but to sustain and strengthen existing village power structure based on unequal land and other resource ownership.

In this thesis I develop a social representational approach to understanding expert knowledge on homelessness. I relate the concept of cognitive polyphasia with Bakhtin's views on the polyphony of the person, and Herman and Kempen's concept of the dialogical self. I link dialogical epistemology and ontology to show that, (i) polyphony and polyphasia of self and knowledge are two sides of the same coin, and (ii) the inner plurality of the person is grounded in the multiple self-other relationships within which identity and knowledge are co-constituted and where different ideas and practices clash and compete. I show that our ability to position ourselves in relation to the knowledge of others explains how the meanings, practices and identities that co-exist within individuals and groups are put to use, enabling us to function in multiple relationships and contexts. The research involved a multidimensional approach comprising: (1.) narrative interviews and focus groups with homelessness professionals (HPs) working in the UK voluntary sector and (2.) participative observation at conferences, and in a voluntary agency. The research showed that homelessness is a contested and contradictory notion. Expert representational fields are simultaneously, identity and knowledge struggles, sharply characterized by cognitive polyphasia, whose contents and dynamics are drawn from the dialogues and battles between the voluntary and the statutory sector and the public at large. I conclude by suggesting that identity and knowledge are inseparable from both the multiple relationships in which they develop and from processes of self-other positioning.

No description available.

This thesis argues that social networks are key mediators between the harsh circumstances of people's lives and their lived experience and perceptions of health and well being. The thesis offers a critical review of the literature on health inequalities and social networks and health and from this identifies key concepts which serve as analytical/heuristic tools in approaching a study of the dynamics between poverty, community and health in the Lea Valley area of London. The complexities of the relationship between these various aspects of life are currently under researched in the literature. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are utilised. A statistical overview of the Lea Valley was undertaken and confirmed relationships between lower social class, poverty and deprivation (on a comprehensive range of measures) and poor health for the region. The evidence is considered in relation to current conceptual approaches to poverty. Two deprived areas are chosen as exemplary case studies and through detailed analysis of interview data the relationship between neighbourhood, social networks and the experience of health and well being is illustrated. Different social network formations were found to mediate poverty and health in different ways. Local patterns of social networks were influenced by local structural and historical features, by facilities and opportunities, including opportunities for positive neighbouring, for forming friendship networks, and for participation in local life as well as for casual interaction. Individuals' social networks were influenced by characteristics of their neighbourhood, by their perceptions of their community as well as by their experience of work, their values, and attitudes to others. It is suggested that the range of membership groups in an individual's network has implications for the mechanisms involved in the relationship between networks and health. Health promoting functions of networks and health protecting or damaging attributes and attitudes were found to be closely related to the type of network identified. Different network models also helped people to cope with poverty and life’s problems in different ways. It is concluded that social networks, attitudes and values, coping resources and health and well being are closely linked. A conception of social cohesion at the neighbourhood level is offered, based on interaction, strong community perceptions, solidarity, trust, inclusion and tolerance, with adequate distribution of resources and availability of work as preconditions.

The issue of healthcare provision for homeless people provides an ongoing concern throughout Scotland. Homeless people have been shown to experience high levels of ill-health, including oral diseases and are disproportionately affected by mental health problems. This thesis sought to establish the health, oral health and psychosocial well-being needs of Scottish homeless people with a view to enhancing understanding, and providing a basis for improving models of care and service delivery for this group of vulnerable individuals. Two literature reviews were carried out, a narrative review of the available literature relevant to concepts of homelessness and relevant to the health of homeless people, and a structured review which allowed a detailed systematic examination of the literature specifically pertaining to the oral health of homeless people. In order to provide greater context, the information gathered in this survey was evaluated against a framework of typology; typologies being frequently used to characterise homelessness. The ETHOS typology, internationally recognised and considered to be a valid and reliable construct of homelessness, was selected for use in this context of this thesis. Thus the aim was to investigate if oral health, health and psycho-social wellbeing could be used as additional descriptors of the ETHOS typology of homelessness for a Scotland-wide homeless population to inform the development of a tailored service provision to increase engagement with health services. In order to achieve this aim, homeless people throughout seven NHS Boards in Scotland were sampled. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire which assessed demography, general health and associated health-related behaviours, psycho-social wellbeing, oral health and oral health-related attitudes and behaviours. An oral examination was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of obvious decay experience, levels of plaque present, oral mucosal disease, and denture wear. Eight hundred and fifty three homeless people participated, 85% of whom had an oral examination. Using the data obtained it was possible to show that demographic, oral health, health and psycho-social wellbeing descriptors existed which could characterise the various dimensions of the ETHOS typology, allowing an enhanced ETHOS typology to be developed. It is recommended that this enhanced ETHOS typology could act as a framework against which targeted and tailored health service provision for specific groups of homeless people could be developed. It is proposed that such a tailored health service provision is necessary, and would allow health services to improve their engagement of homeless populations.

The thesis analyses conditional cash transfers (CCTs) as a category of public policy tools, using Brazil's national Bolsa Familia as a case study. CCTs typically pay monetary transfers to the poor, provided they follow a specific course of action. They share a common structure of three components: a cash transfer, targeting mechanism and conditionality. In recent years, CCTs have experienced a remarkable expansion as countries, particularly in Latin America, have introduced them as key components of their poverty reduction strategies. In Brazil, the Bolsa Familia reform was launched in 2003, consolidating four existing national programmes into a single targeted cash transfer that would gradually reach 24% of Brazil's population (44 million people), making it one of the world's largest public cash transfers to the poor. The thesis identifies three motivations underlying the introduction of CCTs - political, administrative and well-being outcomes - and uses these as lenses of analysis of the Bolsa Familia. Firstly, based on a review of official documents and on interviews with politicians and public officials in Brasilia, it identifies the Bolsa Familia's design features and policy objectives. Secondly, it asks, how does Bolsa Familia implementation compare with official national policy regulation? Is it achieving intended administrative objectives? Based on an analysis of administrative data and on interviews with municipal Bolsa Familia administrators in five municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais, the thesis explores national programme implementation as well as variations in the day-to-day administration of the programme at the municipal level. Using nationally representative household survey micro-data, the thesis then analyses the Bolsa Famlia's distributional and poverty impact. It provides a detailed targeting analysis uncovering. the determinants of programme participation and trajectories of exclusion. Finally, the thesis investigates the programme's potential effect on long-term well-being outcomes by testing the association between Bolsa Familia receipt and beneficiary behaviour for two groups of people and sets of activities: school-aged children and school attendance and adult heads of household and work participation. The thesis makes two main contributions. Paying close attention to the Bolsa Familia's income, targeting and conditionality components and using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods and multiple information sources, it generates evidence on the programme's implementation and impact. Drawing from the Brazilian experience furthermore, it contributes to the broader' debate on CCTs, pointing to the limitations and potentials of such policy tools taking into account variations in programme design and implementation as well as their positioning within the broader welfare state.