This thesis explores the role of Development policy as an alternative to the traditional public security focused strategies for tackling organised crime violence in Latin America and the Caribbean. To do so, it builds bridges between the academic literature of criminology and development. It examines the public experiences of insecurity in Mexico and the social impacts of a development initiative, the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme in two municipalities in Mexico. The thesis poses questions about the impacts of Development initiatives upon organised crime violence from the perspectives of those living within areas affected by violence. The CCT programmes seek to address poverty in the short and long-term and research has begun to explore the potential of these programmes to diminish violence and crime, almost exclusively from a quantitative research approach, whereas this study adopts a qualitative design. This research is based on data gathered through interviews, observations, and focus groups to examine the perspectives and experiences of current and former CCT recipients, CCT administrators, public security officials, members of the public, NGO leads, and ex-gang affiliated individuals. This micro-level qualitative methodology adopted in this research contrasts the almost exclusively macro-level, econometric evaluations which have dominated CCT and organised crime research. The findings demonstrated that respondents perceived CCTs as significant in reducing the propensity of young men participating in organised crime violence in their localities. The perspectives of participants in this study provided enough evidence to overturn a common narrative of ‘prevention doesn’t work’ and suggest that in each of the areas targeted by the study there is potential for a reduction of organised crime rooted in development initiatives according to respondents.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T20:20:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabiana Rita Dessotti Pinto.pdf: 1709401 bytes, checksum: 7329d61f1806abb025aa0cdf8913f6f3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-06-30 / The thesis develops a case study of Mercocities Network, an association of cities and associated member countries of MERCOSUL, and has aimed to analyze the decentralized international cooperation developed in this network as an initiative to promote local economic development. To this end, the thesis presents at first the motivations for the international actions of cities. It discusses the globalization in its economics aspects, the process of regionalization in Latin America and the impacts of globalization on cities, emphasizing essential the local economic development initiatives. Next, exhibits the characteristics of network relationships, presenting the central themes of the thesis: international networks of cities and decentralized cooperation. It analyzes the case of Mercocities network, through the description of its goals, its profile and its key initiatives. It identifies the relevant points for discussion of participation in international networks of cities. The survey results show that, despite having limitations, the cooperative participation in international networks of cities can maximize the capacity of cities in terms of public policy and impact on national and international policies of interest of the cities. Noteworthy among the limitations: the difficulty of exchanging experiences develop into effective public policies; the discontinuity of the initiatives in the network as a function of political discontinuity; the incipient participation of other civil society actors; the difficulty of evaluating results of the initiatives; and the lack of publicity in the media of the actions developed by the network / A tese desenvolve um estudo de caso da Rede Mercocidades, uma associação de cidades dos países membros e associados do MERCOSUL, e tem como objetivo central analisar a cooperação internacional descentralizada desenvolvida nesta rede como iniciativa para o desenvolvimento econômico local. Para tanto, a tese apresenta de início as motivações para as ações internacionais das cidades. Discutem-se a globalização nos seus aspectos econômicos, o processo de regionalização latino-americano e os impactos da globalização nas cidades, destacando-se as iniciativas de desenvolvimento econômico local. Em seguida, expõe as características do relacionamento em rede, apresentando os temas centrais da tese: redes internacionais de cidades e cooperação descentralizada. Analisa o caso da Rede Mercocidades, por meio da descrição dos seus objetivos, do seu perfil e das suas principais iniciativas. Identifica os pontos relevantes para discussão da participação em redes internacionais de cidades. Os resultados da pesquisa demonstram que, apesar de apresentar limitações, a participação cooperativa em redes internacionais de cidades pode maximizar as capacidades das cidades em termos de políticas públicas e de incidência nas políticas nacionais e internacionais de interesse das cidades. Destacam-se entre as limitações: a dificuldade das trocas de experiências evoluírem para políticas públicas efetivas; a descontinuidade das iniciativas na rede em função da descontinuidade política; a incipiente participação de outros atores da sociedade civil; a dificuldade de avaliação de resultados das iniciativas; e a pouca divulgação nos meios de comunicação das ações desenvolvidas pela rede

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T14:53:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabiana Rita Dessotti Pinto.pdf: 1709401 bytes, checksum: 7329d61f1806abb025aa0cdf8913f6f3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-06-30 / The thesis develops a case study of Mercocities Network, an association of cities and associated member countries of MERCOSUL, and has aimed to analyze the decentralized international cooperation developed in this network as an initiative to promote local economic development. To this end, the thesis presents at first the motivations for the international actions of cities. It discusses the globalization in its economics aspects, the process of regionalization in Latin America and the impacts of globalization on cities, emphasizing essential the local economic development initiatives. Next, exhibits the characteristics of network relationships, presenting the central themes of the thesis: international networks of cities and decentralized cooperation. It analyzes the case of Mercocities network, through the description of its goals, its profile and its key initiatives. It identifies the relevant points for discussion of participation in international networks of cities. The survey results show that, despite having limitations, the cooperative participation in international networks of cities can maximize the capacity of cities in terms of public policy and impact on national and international policies of interest of the cities. Noteworthy among the limitations: the difficulty of exchanging experiences develop into effective public policies; the discontinuity of the initiatives in the network as a function of political discontinuity; the incipient participation of other civil society actors; the difficulty of evaluating results of the initiatives; and the lack of publicity in the media of the actions developed by the network / A tese desenvolve um estudo de caso da Rede Mercocidades, uma associação de cidades dos países membros e associados do MERCOSUL, e tem como objetivo central analisar a cooperação internacional descentralizada desenvolvida nesta rede como iniciativa para o desenvolvimento econômico local. Para tanto, a tese apresenta de início as motivações para as ações internacionais das cidades. Discutem-se a globalização nos seus aspectos econômicos, o processo de regionalização latino-americano e os impactos da globalização nas cidades, destacando-se as iniciativas de desenvolvimento econômico local. Em seguida, expõe as características do relacionamento em rede, apresentando os temas centrais da tese: redes internacionais de cidades e cooperação descentralizada. Analisa o caso da Rede Mercocidades, por meio da descrição dos seus objetivos, do seu perfil e das suas principais iniciativas. Identifica os pontos relevantes para discussão da participação em redes internacionais de cidades. Os resultados da pesquisa demonstram que, apesar de apresentar limitações, a participação cooperativa em redes internacionais de cidades pode maximizar as capacidades das cidades em termos de políticas públicas e de incidência nas políticas nacionais e internacionais de interesse das cidades. Destacam-se entre as limitações: a dificuldade das trocas de experiências evoluírem para políticas públicas efetivas; a descontinuidade das iniciativas na rede em função da descontinuidade política; a incipiente participação de outros atores da sociedade civil; a dificuldade de avaliação de resultados das iniciativas; e a pouca divulgação nos meios de comunicação das ações desenvolvidas pela rede

The primary goal of development organizations is poverty reduction, but their initiatives have in recent years also been recognized as a potential tool in empowering women and raising their status. Previous knowledge on the topic is largely based in an understanding of empowerment that seems to miss or overlook limitations and impacts of initiatives which authors with a more feminist view on empowerment address. Thus, this thesis aims to increase the understanding of women’s empowerment in relation to development initiatives. A case study focusing on women who had previously participated in the business training and microcredit program of an NGO in Nairobi, Kenya was conducted. The study shows that through development organizations’ various initiatives women can be empowered on a personal and a collective level. For instance, the women’s self-confidence has increased and they see themselves as entitled to do things on their own, such as running a business. Further, through coming together as a group they gain access to new spaces and agency to act on their collective interests. However, little evidence of women’s empowerment on a relational level is seen. The study also shows that there are economic and gender-related barriers constraining the empowerment process. / Utvecklingsorganisationers primära mål är att minska fattigdom, men deras initiativ har på senare tid också kommit att erkännas som ett potentiellt verktyg för att främja kvinnors egenmakt och höja deras status. Tidigare kunskap om kopplingen mellan egenmakt och organisationers initiativ utgår i stor utsträckning från en förståelse av begreppet egenmakt som verkar missa eller förbise vissa begränsningar och effekter av initiativen, som andra med en mer feministisk syn på egenmakt lyckas belysa. Syftet med denna uppsats är därför att öka förståelsen för kvinnors egenmakt i förhållande till utvecklingsinitiativ och den har utförts som en fallstudie fokuserad på kvinnor som tidigare deltagit i ett entreprenörskaps- och mikrokreditprogram hos en ideell organisation i Nairobi, Kenya. Studien visar att genom organisationers olika initiativ kan kvinnors egenmakt stärkas på ett personligt och ett kollektivt plan. Bland annat har kvinnornas självförtroende ökat och de ser sin rätt att göra saker på egen hand, såsom att driva ett företag. Genom att samlas som grupp får kvinnorna dessutom tillgång till nya utrymmen och möjligheter att agera på sina kollektiva intressen. I studien ses emellertid svaga tecken på kvinnors egenmakt inom äktenskapet. Slutligen visar studien att det finns ekonomiska och könsrelaterade barriärer som begränsar utvecklingen av kvinnors egenmakt.