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<p>The dissertation examines the evolution of global activism and collective identities for three small non-governmental organizations: the Grand Council of the Crees, the Saami Council, and Medecins Sans Frontieres-Canada. The three organizations are considered over a period of fifteen years, from 1990 to 2005. Global activism is an aspect of globalization that can take many different forms, as the three cases show. The study looks at the objectives pursued through global activism and the arguments used by the organizations, the alliances they create and the publics they target to achieve their objectives. From well-organized campaigns to sporadic interventions in global forums, the diversity in the forms of global activism demonstrates the creativity of the organizations and the different issues for which global activism is considered useful. Small groups can participate in the debates surrounding globalization, and sometimes create the spaces in which these debates can take place.</p> <p>The identity at the core of each organization has changed over the period studied. By looking at the self-definition of the organization, its actual roles and power, its leadership, and its relationships with its membership or the people it represents, one can understand better this evolution and how it is related to the global activism carried out by each organization. There are connections between these changes in identities and activism, and the comparative analysis presented in the dissertation illustrates how taking part in globalization can change an organization and allow it to reach its objectives.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Within the under-populated realm of scholarship on legislative committees, there have been numerous studies which have looked at the ability of legislative committees to achieve policy influence in the wider legislature. However, fewer have examined the ability for non-governmental organizations – particularly those with relative outsider status in the policymaking process – to influence the policy recommendations of committee members. As environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) have often worked through legislative committees to try to influence policy, this dissertation examines how the characteristics of different legislative institutions work to facilitate or limit influence by representatives of ENGOs. This is done by comparing the interactions of ENGOs with legislative committees in Canada, the United States, and Russia – countries which respectively have parliamentary, presidential, and semi-presidential systems, and hold in common the derivation of a large portion of the country’s GDP from natural resource-based industries. The central research question for this study asks how the institutional organization of legislative committees affects the ability of ENGOs to achieve influence through engaging the committees, and how other factors interact with this to increase or decrease the potential for ENGO influence. A key finding that emerges out of this line of inquiry is that there is evidence that some conditions for influence in committees cannot be seen as extensions of the wider legislature but can rightly be seen as unique to the committees themselves or as manifesting in unique ways within them. / Dissertation / Candidate in Philosophy

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Yes / This paper reports on the findings of an empirical study that explores the perception of HIV third sector managers in India of their own effectiveness and the contextual factors in which they work. A qualitative methodology with case study design was employed. Semi-structured interviews with 16 Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs) managers and two focus-group interviews with 16 non-managerial staff were carried out to generate primary data. The paper attempts to contextualise the model ‘parameters of managerial effectiveness’ (Analoui, 1999, 2002), and its related contextual factors in India. The findings identify managerial and leadership factors and influences that impact the effectiveness of NGO managers. It also confirms that, by and large, the framework is applicable to the NGO managers in India given the different context in which they must operate. These differences provided basis for the construction of a modified behavioural model for managerial behavioural analysis and their human resource development (HRD) needs. It provides a basis for HRD policy formulation for designing and implementing adequate training and development (T&D) for NGO managers in the third sector in India. This unique and first-time study contributes to the present stock of theoretical knowledge and understanding of the effectiveness of the managers in a sensitive untouched area within the third sector and organisations in a developing country.

This dissertation examines the role of nongovernmental public action (NGPA) in the controversial field of adolescent fertility in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Santiago (Chile) and Montevideo (Uruguay). Embracing a comparative perspective the study investigates the modes in which national policy and institutional environments shape the role of civil society organizations and their margins of autonomy vis a vis other powerful actors such as the State and the Catholic church. Forty one organizations whose mission includes the prevention of teenage pregnancy or the support of teenage parents were studied using a multi-method approach to explore cross national similarities and differences. An exhaustive account of national and subnational policies and programs in this field demonstrates the existence of isomorphic trends in the treatment and framing of adolescent reproductive behavior as a critical issue of public policy in each country. Similarly in all three countries women’s rights organizations play a critical role in the legal recognition and enforcement of adolescents’ sexual and reproductive rights while pro-poor organizations are fundamental actors in addressing the specific needs of teenage mothers and their children. However, important cross national differences were found regarding the modes in which NGPA engages with governmental agencies. As distinctive national marks, the study reveals a strong presence of NGOs in the role of rights watchdogs and monitors in Argentina, a strong alliance between central government structures and technical NGOs to confront resistances to reforms in Chile, and the utilization of NGOs as service providers in detriment of their participation in phases of policy design in Uruguay. Although the language of rights has colonized most of the surveyed organizations, adult-centric practices and discourses are still defining the interaction with adolescents. Adolescent’s demands are rarely voiced and only a few organizations favor their engagement in contentious politics and community activism. Nongovernmental autonomy is severely curtailed as a result of the influence of religion, and the lack of state modernization or financial opportunities, in the three countries. On theoretical grounds, the study highlights the importance of public policy as the arena where the potential of civil society can be maximized. / text