This thesis seeks to contribute to two areas of historical enquiry: the history of women and the history of poverty, by investigating the strategies used by women to cope with poverty. It attempts this in a systematic way by applying a taxonomy of strategies to the case study area of West Oxfordshire from the mid-to-late nineteenth century. As such, it broadens our understanding of the lives of women living in a rural area as well as examining poverty from the perspective of the responses to it. Three main strategies were considered; employment, household management and community strategies. General results of the analysis suggest that the strategic approach is a valuable method of examining the way poor rural women coped with poverty, highlighting the interconnections between their roles of reproduction, production and consumption. Specific results suggest that first, a radical rethink of the role and importance of the home as a female power base is required. Second, although strategies are difficult to quantify, certain strategies appear to have been more popular than others; household management emerged as the pivotal strategy to make ends meet. Careful spending and saving and the ability to utilise a variety of resouces such as animal husbandry and gardens and allotments was necessary in the fight against poverty. Employment, although of value, could not always be relied upon to provide a steady, regular income. Community strategies were of some value. They were provided informally by kin and the neighbourhood and formally by charities and poor relief. Third, certain factors were influential concerning the nature of strategies; namely duration of need, age and marital status, geographical location, seasonality and conditions for eligibility. The organic nature of the taxonomy means that it can be expanded to include additional strategies and used to study other groups of women such as the middle-class, different historical periods and geographical locations.

Orientador: Antônio Mendes da Costa Braga / Banca: Sílvia Regina Alves Fernandes / Banca: Christina de Resende Rubim / Resumo: O presente estudo aborda a vida religiosa feminina na Igreja Católica Apostólica Romana e busca, na particularidade da vida cotidiana dos agentes envolvidos, uma compreensão da vida cenobítica contemporânea em interface com a filantropia. Com o intuito de obter dados sobre a temática, o trabalho empírico foi desenvolvido junto a um instituto religioso de freiras inseridas em obras filantrópicas, do interior do estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Entrevistas, observações e visitas foram realizadas por meio de contatos estabelecidos com o grupo de freiras. A pesquisa revela como através do tempo e espaço cenobítico, são produzidas experiências com o sagrado e os contextos sociais para a inserção dessas mulheres no trabalho de assistência social saúde e educação, importantes à população local. Abre-se uma oportunidade para refletir como as mulheres agem a partir de uma posição feminina eclesial subalterna e, ao se doarem para os serviços religiosos, produzem agenciamentos, conferindo sentido à vida consagrada. Além disso, o estudo aponta para a necessidade de novas investigações que versem sobre os diferentes aspectos da vida religiosa cenobítica e a relação dessas mulheres com a sociedade. / Abstract: The following study approaches the religious female life in the Roman Catholic Church and seeks, within the private daily life of the subjects involved, a comprehension between the contemporary cenobitic life facing the philanthropy. To obtain data about the theme, the empirical work was developed in partnership with a religious institute of nuns inserted in philanthropic work from the countryside of Sao Paulo State, Brazil. Interviews, observations and visits were made since the contact to the group of nuns was established. This research reveals how, by the cenobitic time and space, are produced experiences with the sacred and the social contexts to insert these women in the social work, health care and education, essential to the locals. That is an opportunity to consider how women act in face a feminine ecclesial position and, giving themselves to the religious service, produce meaning to the consecrated life. Thus, the present study pointed out the need for further research on different aspects of the cenobitic religious life and the relationship of these women to society. / Mestre

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Alberta, 2010. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on February 1, 2010). A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing, School of Business. At head of title: University of Alberta. Spring 2010. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Yale University, 1985. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 343-381).

A small proportion of American charitable donors give to international causes. Aid to developing countries constitutes a large part of this charitable sector. By studying donors who make contributions to causes outside the US, we may better understand the factors which shape public concern for global poverty and inequality, and which influence the will for redistribution. While a substantial amount of research has investigated the determinants of overall giving in the US, little is known about the determinants of giving to specific causes, especially international causes. With the data set, “Giving and Volunteering in the United States 2001,” this study uses econometric regression analysis to estimate the predictors of giving to international causes and compares them to the determinants of giving to other causes such as health, education and the arts. My main hypothesis is that educational and religious institutions influence people to identify with and donate to individuals and causes in the developing world. This is based on the theory in altruism studies that people behave prosocially when they identify others’ interests as indistinct from their own. The results of econometric analysis support the idea that education and religiosity are significant predictors of giving to international causes, but suggest that other mechanisms are more influential. Of the predictors included in the regression model, youth volunteering has the largest effect on the likelihood that someone gives internationally, both compared to other predictors in the model, and compared to the effect of youth volunteering on giving to other causes. The size and significance of the effect of each variable vary by cause, confirming that there are unique determinants for giving to different charitable sectors. For giving to international causes, the results suggest that being foreign born, having volunteered in one’s youth, belonging to a non-religious group, attending religious services frequently and having a four-year college degree or more are all significant factors. These variables may represent mechanisms for identification, as well as other factors that motivate charitable giving such as individual personality characteristics. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Colombia in the second half of the nineteenth century was a country with extensive poverty and vulnerability was the main characteristic of the poor. A general concern about the conditions of the poor, particularly in urban areas, was broadly manifested. Poverty was seen basically as a moral problem, and poor relief was implemented within a process of moralization. Between 1870 and 1930 poor relief underwent significant transformation: it grew appreciably, became more complex, more dynamic, more professional and more specialized; it passed gradually from being strongly localized to a departmental and national orientation. Poor relief involved the decision from the state to incorporate the 'social' in the government agenda and by 1930 started to be more grounded in political reality. An identifiably modern 'social policy' came into being, even though it contained some ambiguities and traditional values. There were two main forms of poor relief: institutional and outdoor. Institutional poor relief was predominantly carried out by the state and some private societies. Some state poor relief establishments continued to be run by religious orders. Outdoor poor relief was only implemented by private societies and institutions. For poor relief public beneficencia and private charity were equally important. In this period the state attempted to consolidate resources for beneficencia and for social assistance; it created specific poor relief taxes and established special funds. Private giving was linked to traditional Christian charity. Charity was constant, large and participants covered a broad social spectrum. Modern ideas of charity were progressively introduced, generating a professionalization of voluntary activities. Alongside poor relief there were other survival strategies promoted by the poor of which mutual aid societies were the best example. They grew considerably and they gave support to their members in an any eventualities. They were certainly important in the formation of'social capital'. Sources for this research are dispersed; most of them came from institutions, societies, establishments that carried out poor relief activities. Research about poor relief generally and inevitably has to face a lack of informal data on many aspects of the subject, though much can be gained through the study of wills.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Melbourne, 1987. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves [10-16] (2nd group)).

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-62). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, August, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.