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.

No description available.

O trabalho doméstico remunerado, apesar de pouco valorizado e permanecer na invisibilidade, é uma das modalidades de trabalho mais comuns entre as mulheres representando cerca de 17% da participação feminina na PEA. Encontra-se entre a formalidade, no que tange aos direitos estendidos a esta categoria, e a informalidade, quanto à relação profissional que as trabalhadoras domésticas estabelecem com as patroas. No Brasil, tem suas raízes no escravagismo e está atrelado à divisão sexual do trabalho que, sócio-historicamente, construiu a distinção entre os papéis de gênero, ficando a cargo da mulher a responsabilidade pelos cuidados da casa e da família. Além disso, sofre o atravessamento de questões de classe, pois as trabalhadoras domésticas são mulheres da massa urbana que cuidam da casa e da família para que as mulheres da camada social superior exerçam outras modalidades de trabalho remunerado. Portanto, instala-se a bipolaridade quanto ao trabalho feminino, isto é, por um lado verifica-se um aumento da participação no mercado de trabalho e a inserção em profissões de nível superior de prestígio e, por outro, há forte presença em trabalhos precarizados e de pouca valorização social como a responsabilidade pelos afazeres domésticos e o trabalho doméstico assalariado, herdeiros do escravagismo, num coorte de raça, gênero e classe social claramente definido. Os objetivos principais desta pesquisa foram reconstruir a história do trabalho doméstico localizada dentro do processo de construção sócio-histórica do trabalho e compreender suas representações sociais a partir do relato de cinco trabalhadoras domésticas obtido através de entrevistas semi-estruturadas analisadas pelo método de associação de idéias. Os resultados centrais indicaram que a configuração desta relação inerente ao trabalho doméstico, torna esta atividade mais próxima da servidão: a trabalhadora doméstica está isolada, suas humilhações não estão compartilhadas, está diretamente submetida à patroa por conta de uma relação assimétrica e não formalizada de poder que não deixa claro quais seriam as regras do contrato de trabalho, permitindo abusos e fraudes de ambas as partes. Conclui-se que o trabalho doméstico é uma modalidade de trabalho remunerado que faz transparecer o lugar e o papel social da mulher na sociedade brasileira atravessada pelas questões de raça, gênero e classe, e que apresenta uma ambigüidade às trabalhadoras domésticas e às suas patroas. Em relação às patroas, elas se libertaram parcialmente do papel de responsáveis pelos afazeres domésticos (questão de gênero), mas contratam outras mulheres de uma camada social inferior (questão de classe) para executarem esse trabalho, reforçando o papel social do qual estão, gradativamente, se emancipando. No tocante às trabalhadoras domésticas, seu trabalho permite uma renda e certa independência financeira, indicando uma relativa emancipação, entretanto reproduz o lugar de responsável pelos afazeres domésticos (questão de gênero) e submetida a relações informais que remeteriam às raízes escravagistas desta modalidade de trabalho (questão de raça) estabelecidas por suas patroas, que se emanciparam destas atribuições (questão de classe). Vale salientar que o trabalho doméstico é uma dentre tantas outras possibilidades para o grupo de trabalhadores da massa urbana, que tem seu trabalho marcado, em geral, pela precarização e pela informalidade. / The paid domestic work, although somewhat not valued and invisible, is one of the most common ways of work among women, representing about 17% of female participation in the Economically Active Population. It can be find among the formality, in regard to the rights of this category; and informality, by the professional relationship that the domestic workers lay with the employers. In Brazil, has its roots in slavery and is linked to the sexual division of labor which defined the distinction between the roles of gender, attributing to the wife the responsibility for the care of home and family. Moreover, there are issues of class, because the domestic workers are women of the urban mass that take care of home and family so that women of higher social layer perform other types of paid work. So, a bipolarity of the women working is installed. On one hand, there is an increase in labor market participation and inclusion in professions of higher level. And, on the other hand, there is a strong presence in precarious work and socially bad evaluated as the responsibility for domestic activities and the paid domestic work, heirs of slavery, in a clearly defined cohort of race, gender and social class. The main objectives of this research were: the reconstruction of the domestic work history; and the understanding of its social representations from the reporting of five domestic workers obtained through semi-structured analyzed by the method of the association of ideas. The main findings indicated that the way that the domestic work is built makes this activity more closer of the slavery: the domestic worker is isolated, their humiliations are not shared, she is directly submitted to the boss, which establishes an asymmetrical and not formalized relationship of power that leaves not clear what are the rules of the employment contract, allowing abuses and fraud on both sides. As a conclusion, the domestic work is a form of paid work that makes clear the place and social role of women in Brazilian society crossed by issues of race, gender and class, and it presents an ambiguity for the domestic workers and their employers. The employers are partially released of responsibility of the domestics tasks (issues of gender), but hire other women of a lower social layer (issues of social class) to perform such work, reinforcing the social role from which they are gradually being emancipated. With regard to domestic workers, their work allows for certain income and financial independence, indicating a partial emancipation, however they continue to have the responsibility by the domestic tasks (issues of gender) and to be submitted to informal relationships by their employers emancipated of these tasks (issues of social class), what are related to the roots of slavery of this modality of work (issues of race). It is important to say that domestic work is one among many other work possibilities for the group of employees of the urban mass, which, in general, have their work marked by precariousness and informality.

No description available.

The nineteenth-century English middle class was strongly influenced by science, industry, and capitalist managerial techniques. These trends also made their way into the domestic space, where women negotiated their application, particularly in the kitchen. This thesis examines domestic life in the context of the popularization of science and the history of technology and management to come to a fuller understanding of how middle-class women ran their homes between about 1800 and 1880, a period of broad industrialisation and business growth. The values of fact, precision, rationality, and order influenced the practice of cookery, the physical technologies in the home, and the management of people, time, and money. The middle-class male workspace celebrated the same values; women were the domestic counterparts of their husbands. Although the prescriptive literature was not always slavishly followed, adherence to these values, both at work and at home, could help cement the familys social status. / History

O trabalho doméstico remunerado, apesar de pouco valorizado e permanecer na invisibilidade, é uma das modalidades de trabalho mais comuns entre as mulheres representando cerca de 17% da participação feminina na PEA. Encontra-se entre a formalidade, no que tange aos direitos estendidos a esta categoria, e a informalidade, quanto à relação profissional que as trabalhadoras domésticas estabelecem com as patroas. No Brasil, tem suas raízes no escravagismo e está atrelado à divisão sexual do trabalho que, sócio-historicamente, construiu a distinção entre os papéis de gênero, ficando a cargo da mulher a responsabilidade pelos cuidados da casa e da família. Além disso, sofre o atravessamento de questões de classe, pois as trabalhadoras domésticas são mulheres da massa urbana que cuidam da casa e da família para que as mulheres da camada social superior exerçam outras modalidades de trabalho remunerado. Portanto, instala-se a bipolaridade quanto ao trabalho feminino, isto é, por um lado verifica-se um aumento da participação no mercado de trabalho e a inserção em profissões de nível superior de prestígio e, por outro, há forte presença em trabalhos precarizados e de pouca valorização social como a responsabilidade pelos afazeres domésticos e o trabalho doméstico assalariado, herdeiros do escravagismo, num coorte de raça, gênero e classe social claramente definido. Os objetivos principais desta pesquisa foram reconstruir a história do trabalho doméstico localizada dentro do processo de construção sócio-histórica do trabalho e compreender suas representações sociais a partir do relato de cinco trabalhadoras domésticas obtido através de entrevistas semi-estruturadas analisadas pelo método de associação de idéias. Os resultados centrais indicaram que a configuração desta relação inerente ao trabalho doméstico, torna esta atividade mais próxima da servidão: a trabalhadora doméstica está isolada, suas humilhações não estão compartilhadas, está diretamente submetida à patroa por conta de uma relação assimétrica e não formalizada de poder que não deixa claro quais seriam as regras do contrato de trabalho, permitindo abusos e fraudes de ambas as partes. Conclui-se que o trabalho doméstico é uma modalidade de trabalho remunerado que faz transparecer o lugar e o papel social da mulher na sociedade brasileira atravessada pelas questões de raça, gênero e classe, e que apresenta uma ambigüidade às trabalhadoras domésticas e às suas patroas. Em relação às patroas, elas se libertaram parcialmente do papel de responsáveis pelos afazeres domésticos (questão de gênero), mas contratam outras mulheres de uma camada social inferior (questão de classe) para executarem esse trabalho, reforçando o papel social do qual estão, gradativamente, se emancipando. No tocante às trabalhadoras domésticas, seu trabalho permite uma renda e certa independência financeira, indicando uma relativa emancipação, entretanto reproduz o lugar de responsável pelos afazeres domésticos (questão de gênero) e submetida a relações informais que remeteriam às raízes escravagistas desta modalidade de trabalho (questão de raça) estabelecidas por suas patroas, que se emanciparam destas atribuições (questão de classe). Vale salientar que o trabalho doméstico é uma dentre tantas outras possibilidades para o grupo de trabalhadores da massa urbana, que tem seu trabalho marcado, em geral, pela precarização e pela informalidade. / The paid domestic work, although somewhat not valued and invisible, is one of the most common ways of work among women, representing about 17% of female participation in the Economically Active Population. It can be find among the formality, in regard to the rights of this category; and informality, by the professional relationship that the domestic workers lay with the employers. In Brazil, has its roots in slavery and is linked to the sexual division of labor which defined the distinction between the roles of gender, attributing to the wife the responsibility for the care of home and family. Moreover, there are issues of class, because the domestic workers are women of the urban mass that take care of home and family so that women of higher social layer perform other types of paid work. So, a bipolarity of the women working is installed. On one hand, there is an increase in labor market participation and inclusion in professions of higher level. And, on the other hand, there is a strong presence in precarious work and socially bad evaluated as the responsibility for domestic activities and the paid domestic work, heirs of slavery, in a clearly defined cohort of race, gender and social class. The main objectives of this research were: the reconstruction of the domestic work history; and the understanding of its social representations from the reporting of five domestic workers obtained through semi-structured analyzed by the method of the association of ideas. The main findings indicated that the way that the domestic work is built makes this activity more closer of the slavery: the domestic worker is isolated, their humiliations are not shared, she is directly submitted to the boss, which establishes an asymmetrical and not formalized relationship of power that leaves not clear what are the rules of the employment contract, allowing abuses and fraud on both sides. As a conclusion, the domestic work is a form of paid work that makes clear the place and social role of women in Brazilian society crossed by issues of race, gender and class, and it presents an ambiguity for the domestic workers and their employers. The employers are partially released of responsibility of the domestics tasks (issues of gender), but hire other women of a lower social layer (issues of social class) to perform such work, reinforcing the social role from which they are gradually being emancipated. With regard to domestic workers, their work allows for certain income and financial independence, indicating a partial emancipation, however they continue to have the responsibility by the domestic tasks (issues of gender) and to be submitted to informal relationships by their employers emancipated of these tasks (issues of social class), what are related to the roots of slavery of this modality of work (issues of race). It is important to say that domestic work is one among many other work possibilities for the group of employees of the urban mass, which, in general, have their work marked by precariousness and informality.

<p>This thesis investigates help-seeking and effects of help-seeking on causal attributions for helping (i.e., what people believe caused help or lack of help). Additionally, it examines self-serving and other-serving attributions (i.e., to augment a person's positive sides and diminish the negative ones). Help-seeking was investigated in questionnaires, describing situations where spouses collaborate in doing household chores. A first study showed that women and men report using direct styles (i.e., explicitly verbalising the requests) more often than indirect ones. A second study showed that spouses inaccurately believe that wives in general would report more indirect and less direct styles than husbands in general. Causal attributions for helping were investigated in four studies with different methods, settings, and types of relationships (questionnaires, laboratory experiment; spouses doing chores, students and strangers doing computerized exercises). Consistent support was obtained for a predicted interaction between helping and the clarity of the request for help in determining the attributions. It is suggested that this finding is an effect of people comparing the behavior of one person with their beliefs about how other persons behave (i.e., consensus). Additionally, the findings did not support the claims that people make self-serving attributions and that the latter would be more pronounced among men than women. However, the attributions were other-serving. The thesis gives a novel understanding of everyday life by combining the issues of help-seeking and causal attributions. It also offers a discussion of the previous literature and of theoretical and applied implications of the findings.</p>

This thesis investigates help-seeking and effects of help-seeking on causal attributions for helping (i.e., what people believe caused help or lack of help). Additionally, it examines self-serving and other-serving attributions (i.e., to augment a person's positive sides and diminish the negative ones). Help-seeking was investigated in questionnaires, describing situations where spouses collaborate in doing household chores. A first study showed that women and men report using direct styles (i.e., explicitly verbalising the requests) more often than indirect ones. A second study showed that spouses inaccurately believe that wives in general would report more indirect and less direct styles than husbands in general. Causal attributions for helping were investigated in four studies with different methods, settings, and types of relationships (questionnaires, laboratory experiment; spouses doing chores, students and strangers doing computerized exercises). Consistent support was obtained for a predicted interaction between helping and the clarity of the request for help in determining the attributions. It is suggested that this finding is an effect of people comparing the behavior of one person with their beliefs about how other persons behave (i.e., consensus). Additionally, the findings did not support the claims that people make self-serving attributions and that the latter would be more pronounced among men than women. However, the attributions were other-serving. The thesis gives a novel understanding of everyday life by combining the issues of help-seeking and causal attributions. It also offers a discussion of the previous literature and of theoretical and applied implications of the findings.

The aim of the thesis was to compare the teaching of financial literacy at the lower secondary schools and lower grammar school degree. Comparison has shown the inconsistency of financial literacy teaching and the need to address the situation. One of the suggestions for improving financial literacy education is the creation of a set of worksheets based on the framework educational programs for basic education according to standards of financial literacy for lower secondary schools and lower grammar school.

The thesis aims to deconstruct the traditional dualities between design and use and blend the boundaries between them. It characterises design as a process that is complex, dynamic, and integral to other processes, such as use. The thesis utilises Latour's concept of the collective. Although this concept has been applied to architectural contexts in previous studies, this thesis expands the collective to include actors of use. The thesis elaborates on the inscription and description of technologies inspired by Akrich (1992). It shows how the collective is shaped and reshaped through such processes. Building parallels with previous studies, it analyses the importance of fluidity and fluid actors in de-scribing technologies and reshaping the collectives. The thesis utilises the case of Masdar City, which has been designed in the UK by the architectural and urban planning firm Foster + Partners and implemented in the Middle East, specifically in the United Arab Emirates. The thesis focuses on its first developed stage represented by Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST). Based on a qualitative and inductive approach, the conducted research utilises interviews and site observations with the designers, users, and other main contributors. Through this approach, the thesis reflects on the concept of sustainability that is itself contested, changeable, and vague. The thesis concludes that sustainable design processes should be seen as continuous loops between design and use. In acknowledging this, it is further suggested that concepts such as the living laboratory, which support the adaptation of designs and learning from use, are adopted at the outset in architectural production.