In Canada, the growth and intensity of neo-liberal governance and philosophy, which includes idealizing a self-sufficient and independent citizenry continues to inform public policies at the federal and provincial levels. These policies, in turn, have implications for individuals’ health and well-being. Health implications are further visible and intensified along gender, class and ethnic lines. In this study, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with eight low income single mothers who had been affected by employment and assistance policies and regulations in British Columbia. The findings revealed the ways in which these women were affected by neo-liberal policy initiatives that held them individually accountable and responsible for managing their life circumstances in order to achieve the expectations bestowed upon them as citizens. It also revealed the inequalities that existed at the intersection of gender, class and ethnicity. The findings point to the need to address the policy barriers that confront lone mothers. / Graduate / 2015-02-12 / 0630 / 0628 / amyh@uvic.ca

In Canada, the growth and intensity of neo-liberal governance and philosophy, which includes idealizing a self-sufficient and independent citizenry continues to inform public policies at the federal and provincial levels. These policies, in turn, have implications for individuals’ health and well-being. Health implications are further visible and intensified along gender, class and ethnic lines. In this study, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with eight low income single mothers who had been affected by employment and assistance policies and regulations in British Columbia. The findings revealed the ways in which these women were affected by neo-liberal policy initiatives that held them individually accountable and responsible for managing their life circumstances in order to achieve the expectations bestowed upon them as citizens. It also revealed the inequalities that existed at the intersection of gender, class and ethnicity. The findings point to the need to address the policy barriers that confront lone mothers. / Graduate / 0630 / 0628 / amyh@uvic.ca

Neo-liberal political-economic ideology, theory and practice have had an immense influence on public and private life across the world, including the delivery of health care, and neo-liberalism has become the dominant economic paradigm. Market practices, business management theories and practices, and private enterprise have become increasingly significant in health care, as the welfare state and public health services have been challenged by factors such as rising costs, economic efficiency, globalisation and increasing competitive demands. The question of how, and to what extent, neo-liberalism has influenced contemporary health care is, however, deserving of more critical attention. This thesis examines the neo-liberal approach to, and effect on, contemporary health care, in the context of Western developed countries, and offers a conceptual analysis of the theoretical and ideological framework of neo-liberalism, especially regarding its ethical and moral underpinnings. Additionally, this thesis is concerned with the moral nature of health care. The objectives of this thesis are to articulate and analyse the neo-liberal interpretive framework, moral values and language; and to articulate and analyse the neo-liberal approach to, and effect on, contemporary health care. Thus, it is the intention that this thesis will provide a framework for reflection on the context of contemporary health care in Western developed countries and the influence of neo-liberalism. To achieve these objectives, the research strategy of this thesis is that of philosophical inquiry, additionally drawing on political philosophy; and the research is, therefore, basic, theoretical research. This thesis finds that neo-liberalism, and the neo-liberal approach to health care, is a highly complex theory and ideology, constituted of several intricate concepts and moral underpinnings. It is found that the neo-liberal approach affects the nature and purpose of health care, for example by making health care part of the free, competitive market, by commodifying health care, and by replacing the notions of the common good, social justice and public health care with an emphasis on the rational, self-interested consumer, individual responsibility and self-sufficiency. Another essential aspect of the neo-liberal approach is that it emphasises the ability to pay (user-pays system), rather than health care need, as the dominant determinant in health care. Furthermore, this thesis finds that the neo-liberal ideology excludes the ontological complexity and reality of the human condition, and in health care this has consequences in relation to, for example, interdependency, interrelationships, vulnerability and need. In essence, this thesis finds that there are several pragmatic and moral problems with applying a neo-liberal approach to health care, and that the complexities, irregularities, and unpredictability of health care make a neo-liberal approach difficult to realise in health care. The neo-liberal approach undermines the moral purposes of health care, and it is concluded that the neo-liberal approach offers no well-founded moral alternative to the universalistic, solidarity based approach common in most Western developed countries (except in the United States). This thesis seeks to add to the knowledge and literature concerning neo-liberalism, especially as regards its moral underpinnings and normative framework, and, furthermore, concerning the neo-liberal approach to, and effect on, contemporary health care in Western developed countries. Additionally, this thesis seeks to contribute to the knowledge of philosophical inquiry by documenting the method of 'doing' philosophical inquiry. Based on the research in this thesis, it is clear that there is a need for more empirical research into the pragmatic consequences of applying neo-liberal policies and practices to health care, and the analysis in this thesis could favorably serve as a basis for empirical inquiry.

"This study is an investigation of progress in Australia over the 20th century. Progress is defined here as the enhancement of human wellbeing. For the purposes of this study, human wellbeing will be characterised by five main components: knowledge, environment, economy, individual and social. Enhancement refers to positive directional change in terms of these components. The study firstly develops a framework to conceptualise progress. It then collects and uses statistical data in a descriptive study of what happened in Australia, over those 100 years, in terms of progress in general and in terms of its components. The study also develops a typology of relationships for models of progress, which best explain the Australian data. This study finally explores some of the relationships between the elements that make up the components of progress and looks at ways to best explain what has happened..." --p.1. / Doctor of Philosophy

"This study is an investigation of progress in Australia over the 20th century. Progress is defined here as the enhancement of human wellbeing. For the purposes of this study, human wellbeing will be characterised by five main components: knowledge, environment, economy, individual and social. Enhancement refers to positive directional change in terms of these components. The study firstly develops a framework to conceptualise progress. It then collects and uses statistical data in a descriptive study of what happened in Australia, over those 100 years, in terms of progress in general and in terms of its components. The study also develops a typology of relationships for models of progress, which best explain the Australian data. This study finally explores some of the relationships between the elements that make up the components of progress and looks at ways to best explain what has happened..." --p.1. / Doctor of Philosophy

Den insamlade empirin syftar till att besvara studiens frågeställningar gällande hur skolkuratorerna i denna studie påverkas av resursbrister inom skolan, samt vilken hjälp och stöd de får när de ställs inför utmaningar i arbetet. För att besvara dessa frågor har fyra verksamma skolkuratorer under intervjuer berättat om sina olika upplevelser inom yrkesrollen. Empirin har strukturerats med hjälp av innehållsanalys och har därefter tolkats och analyserats utifrån tidigare forskning och ett neo-liberalistiskt perspektiv. Det teoretiska perspektivet har tillämpats för att empirin ska kunna förstås i samband med hur samhället påverkar den individuella skolkuratorn. Studiens resultat visar att de rådande resursbristerna för skolkuratorerna får konsekvenser både gällande yrkesutövandet och den egna hälsan. Slutsatsen av resultatet är att samhällets ekonomiska prioriteringar medför en risk för att elever inte kan ges bästa möjliga hjälp och att kuratorerna vid oförbättrade förutsättningar i arbetet riskerar utbrändhet. / <p>2018-06-05</p>

The main purpose of this study is to understand the historicity of the dynamics of socio-economic changes and the characteristics of social and political mobilization in the case of progressive activists' ongoing search for new strategies of progressive urban community politics in Seoul, South Korea, after the historical conjuncture of democratization and neo-liberal globalization. This study is conducted through participant observation, interviews, and post-fieldwork historical research. By adopting the concept of "multiple-layeredness" as the underlying perspective, this study aims to capture the complexity and hybridity of past and recent socio-economic transformations. The progressive community activists are products of historically specific circumstances of state repression and radical social movements in the 1980s and the 1990s, and the influences of their past activist experiences are visible in their community activism. Historically, the state has been implicated in popular mobilizations for the national goals of economic development and democratization, which resulted in two-party domination in local politics. Under this unfavorable political condition, the community activists seek to acquire their places in public institutions through local elections and to organize grassroots resistance against local "growth machines" by mobilizing various social ties.

Magister Artium - MA (Ethics) / This research will investigate how globalization developed its own ethical discourse, based on perceived benefits and failures; also how it could be transformed within the global economic sphere, based on critique and advice given by Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, a world renowned economist. Globally, historically and currently, there has been a misunderstanding about the concept and dynamics of globalization among government officials, economists and ordinary citizens. This resulted in an economic imbalance that benefited [and still benefits] the rich and leaves the poor outside in the cold. In this research I wish to explore the critique of Stiglitz on globalization, specifically on global capital. The aim is to bring the Stiglitz critique into alignment with critical debates within ecumenical circles on the responsibility of human agents – based on middle-ground (shared ground) ethical discourse. The normative framework for such a comparison of responses to globalization, delivering middle axioms in ethical discourse, is taken from various strands of “Responsibility Theory”, especially the contributions of authors such as Tödt, Schweiker and Sacks. The important goal of this inter-disciplinary exercise is to bring about a balance between the discrepancy of the proclaimed benefits and the extreme negative effects which globalization has for millions of people worldwide, as expressed by Stiglitz and confirmed by various ecumenical discourses. For the purposes of this study ecumenical debates on globalization, called forth by the impact of the Accra Declaration on Globalization (2004), are discussed in some detail: the Agape Process within the World Council of Churches, the Stackhouse Project on Globalization and the joint Project on Globalization of the Uniting Reformed Church of Southern Africa and the Reformed Church in Germany. The results of the study show a convergence in ethical concerns and the strengthening of ethical discourse between critical economists and ecumenical theologians, especially on extreme and ever-growing discrepancies between rich and poor, and the effect of unbridled economic activity on the future of our planet. It is hoped that this study will contribute towards ongoing inter-disciplinary work on the burning social-ethical issues facing humanity and our earth.

This thesis considers the role of union full time officers in union organising strategies. Two decades of promoting union organising influenced by models developed by the AFL-CIO, has failed to arrest the decline of UK trade unions let alone produce evidence of renewal. Focusing mainly on one region in the UKs largest public sector trade union, Unison, the research provides for a detailed account of how organising strategies affect union work, presenting thick and deep data from full time officers (Regional Organisers), Regional Management, Senior National Officials, other Unison staff and lay representatives. The research focuses on the previously neglected role of full time officers in union organising strategies and considers how such strategies can change both the role of the full time officer and relations with other union constituencies. The research contributes to the ongoing study of trade union attempts to renew in the cold climate of globalisation and neo-liberalism. In doing so it also considers the much ignored area of the role of union bureaucracy in union organising strategies and the potential distortion or opposition it may present. Consequently the research also synthesises literature on union organising with classical theories of trade unions. Unison embraced the TUC’s promotion of grassroots organising and, it has been claimed, has been transformed into an organising union. The research questions this judgement by revealing a disconnection between organising strategies from workplace realities, resulting in an increasing managerialism and attempts to extend control over full time officers. A key consequence of these developments is the deterioration in the ability of Unison to represent members, both collectively and individually, leading to a potential crisis in representational capacity and ability providing the prospect for further union decline.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / In this research paper, I explore the relationship between learnerships and employability. Will I get a job after completing a learnership? This question is posed by many if not most learners participating in learnerships. Learnerships have been promoted as improving the skills level of the population as integral part of economic growth in South Africa. This is still in process as the impact of completed learnerships still has to be felt and seen in industry, especially in increased employment or improving the possibility of employment. In this paper I investigate the relationship between a learnership and employment.