This dissertation has two primary objectives. First, through an analysis of empirical data, it presents a systematic, in-depth analysis of how rural populations react and adjust to adversity within specific socio-economic and institutional contexts. The analysis applies a vulnerability framework to understand the complex relationships between households, communities, and larger environmental, socio-economic, and political factors and how they influence drought impacts on the population. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative data to look at issues of overall well-being, resource access, and livelihood and risk management strategies, the results provide insights into why most households are unable to successfully mitigate the impacts of drought. The analytical framework also provides a mechanism for making policy-relevant recommendations. In this vein, the dissertation explores the need for a new approach to the status quo of public policy making and presents an applied model for participatory planning to reduce drought vulnerability in Ceará. The pilot program, Projeto MAPLAN, is an effort, based on an empirical understanding of the public and private sides of vulnerability, to redefine the way that politics as usual are carried out. It challenges the way in which decisions are made by stimulating public participation and providing tools for accountability. On the public side it works to institutionalize effective participation through citizen input and governmental recognition of that input. On the private side the model works to increase the availability of resources and improve access to resources in order to expand the range of opportunities and strategies and to help households flourish in a semi-arid region.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)--University of Durban-Westville, 2002

No description available.

This study explores men's gender identities in development. It develops an analysis of gender power relations in households as economic limits by considering gender as a social identity not limited to women and exploring the gendered character of men’s work in development. The analysis focuses on three urban programmes from different development organisations involved in the National Microenterprise Plan in Colombia. The thesis examines changing expressions of masculinity and gender relations of power in households in which couples are working in family microenterprises, and one of the members has access to credit or other services. The labour market context, characterised by male job losses, has led many men to find in family businesses an alternative form of work. This process has brought about greater female participation and changes in gender identities. Gender relations are analysed in terms of both the division of labour in micro- economic activity and the contracts couples make around housework. The directly connected nature of the two types of work in family businesses allows different configurations of gender relations from those stemming from general patterns of paid work. The thesis analyses those elements that reveal changes in gender power relations such as control over money, access to property, etc., and discourses constructed around them. These elements are seen as a result of a cumulative process, which in some cases impacts on and is a consequence of women's self-empowerment and emerging masculinities. The changing nature of the gender division of labour in home-based businesses facilitates the negotiation of gender norms. The thesis examines for the three case studies the challenges that they pose to bringing men and masculinities into development.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2007. / "August, 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 42-45). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, 2007. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 203-224).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, 2007. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 203-224).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Kentucky, 2004. / Title from document title page (viewed Jan. 7, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 125p. : ill. Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-119).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Don Schlagenhauf, Florida State University, College of Social Science, Dept. of Economics. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 15, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.