published_or_final_version / abstract / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

This dissertation examines the efforts of Pacific internationalists in the years during and after World War II to forge private intellectual connections between the West and Asia. One of the most prominent groups in this movement was the Institute of Pacific Relations (1925-61), an international non-governmental organization that nurtured a trans-Pacific community of scholars, businessmen and diplomats through research projects and international conferences. In evaluating the work of these internationalists during the postwar period, this dissertation challenges conventional Cold War historiography that has marginalized such cooperative efforts during these years. Previous scholarship concerning the Institute of Pacific Relations has noted the way in which the organization fell victim to anti-communist politics in the United States, yet no studies have examined the records of its postwar conferences, which reveal an active international agenda well into the 1950s. The support of Asian members for such trans-Pacific ties, moreover, provides a counter-narrative to the story of revolutionary nationalism and third-world solidarity among emerging Asian and African countries during this period. The Institute of Pacific Relations acted as a valuable asset in the struggle for the “mind of Asia,” this dissertation argues, largely because its leadership did not conform to the prevailing Cold War mindset. As a private international organization, the IPR provided a venue for unofficial dialogue among private elites who at once confronted and transcended the geopolitical restrictions of their time. In maintaining private East-West partnerships through such turbulent years, these Pacific internationalists set the stage for regional cooperative ventures to flourish later in the twentieth century. / text

In the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, many indigenous communities further their struggles for greater political and cultural autonomy by working with transnational non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Communication technology (what I call comtech) is increasingly vital to these intersecting socio-spatial relations of activism and advocacy. In this dissertation, I examine how comtech offer indigenous individuals and organizations with the means for visualizing their political-cultural agendas. Approaching the access and use of comtech, especially video technologies, as a partial and situated technoscience, I inquire into how and why these activities reconfigure the production and evaluation of authoritative knowledge about indigenous peoples, places, and practices. More specifically, I undertook an organizational ethnography of a small intermediary NGO comprised of individuals who self-identify as indigenous and others who do not, Ojo de Agua Comunicacin Indgena, which endeavors to place communication technologies (especially video equipment) at the disposal of indigenous communities. Through participation-observation and interviews, I explored this groups everyday strategies of networking in the name of assisting indigenous actors access and appropriation of visual technologies. I also pursued interpretive analyses of video-mediated articulations of indigenous knowledge and identity that were enabled by Ojo de Agua. My research indicates that Ojo de Agua has selectively built upon the ambitions and the socio-spatial connections of a government program that emerged from the initiatives of academic advocates, who sought to open new spaces of participation for indigenous peoples. Members of Ojo de Agua have, however, found their goal of service somewhat stymied by a situation that positions them within a flexible labor force of knowledge workers. Their livelihoods as media makers did not allow them (the time or money) to pursue as much altruism and advocacy as they would have liked. Nonetheless, Ojo de Aguas corpus of videos established the group as an alternative and yet authoritative source of visual knowledge of indigenous peoples, places, and practices. This relocation of advocacy is symptomatic of the creative destruction fueled by the neo-liberal economic policies that, for the last thirty years, have been reconfiguring spaces of cooperation and conflict in Latin America.

This thesis deals with the way that values get taken up by managers and leaders in international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), organisations which already have a rich history of public appeals to values. By ”values‘ I take to mean those generalised and idealising statements, such as the aspiration to ”mutual respect‘, ”equity and justice‘ ”honesty and transparency‘ in dealings with others, which usually accompany the organisation‘s vision and mission statements. The thesis sets out the argument that modern management methods based on systems thinking have been imported largely uncritically into the INGO sector, and in situations where the future is uncertain, or where there is difficulty or conflict, managers often attempt to cover over this conflict or uncertainty with an appeal to values which pictures an idealised future or an imaginary unity. Further, the thesis attempts to explore this phenomenon and to uncover some of the ethical issues that arise in the process of an appeal to unity when I am engaged as a consultant in working with managers in the INGO-sector. The thesis considers how my own practice as a consultant has changed and developed as a consequence of considering these phenomena more intensely and acting on the conclusions from these reflections. The research was prompted by my feelings of being co-opted into a process that encouraged conformity in INGOs in a way that left me feeling uncomfortable. In exploration of this discomfort and as student in a faculty pursuing the conceptual development of professional practice I have drawn broadly on the phenomenological tradition of research as a way of better understanding what I was encountering and how to make better sense of it. The method underpinning this thesis uses narrative, and reflection on narrative with a community of enquirers, which has included both fellow students on the course, as well as a wider group of interested academics. I have used as my research material my own experience of working with INGOs as a consultant and have reflected on those occasions when the discussion of values is very much to the fore. It has also meant my locating the discussion of values in a wider discourse of philosophy, sociology and psychology and mounting a critique of the dominant paradigm for understanding values in current management and organisational change literature, which is often understood as a tool for management to bring about employee alignment. Instead, I have set out an emergent understanding of values as radically social phenomena arising in the daily interaction between engaged human beings. I argue that, because of our interdependence, we are obliged to renegotiate our value commitments on a daily basis as a way of working out how we can continue together. This has involved developing a different understanding of the relationship between self and other, and a more nuanced insight into the workings of groups and the relationships of power that arise between people. Engaging with values in INGOs as a consultant invited into conversations in INGOs has thus involved my paying attention to power relating between myself and others, and the dialectic between the good and the right. Reflecting on the ethical aspects of my own consultancy practice has involved an investigation into what we might mean by ethical practice, which is generally understood to be following a series of linear rules and paradigms. I have begun to develop in its stead a theory of consultancy practice based on concepts of mutual recognition and mutual adjustment that create more space for movement within the broader social processes that can severely constrain what it is and is not possible to say and do. This thesis contributes to knowledge in the field of the management of INGOs by being one of the first to offer a critique of accepted paradigms of management theory, particularly as it relates to the appeal to values as part of strategy formation. Moreover, the emergent and social theory of values that I develop as a foil to more orthodox understandings of the role of values in the management of INGOs is also unique. My arguments concerning the ethical practice of consultancy in the domain, underpinned by a dialectical engagement of self and other, are particularly relevant to the field in which I am involved where the encounter with difference is inevitable. In the literature on management of INGOs, where research on consultancy practice is still rather thin and orthodox, my argument for a different understanding of ethical practice offers a considerable divergence of approach. In pointing to the similarities between the pressures facing INGO and private sector organisations I have also called into question the uniqueness that many scholars claim for the current management practice in INGOs. My attempts to use narrative and reflection on narrative as a method that strives to articulate what a different practice might look like should also make a new contribution to the debate about method, and ways of discussing management practice, in international development.

Abstract Title: Nonprofit transparency in practic. A study concerning how transperancy is motivated in fundrasing organisations. Author: Julia Heiming & Alexandra Strand Tutor: Josef Pallas Purpose: The purpose with this thesis was to examine whether transparency exists and how it appears in nonprofit organizations, first and foremost in their fundraising. Moreover, the investigation display a more thoroughly and complex image of transparency compared to the external, which is more requested nowadays. The key questions to be answered are; How does nonprofit organizations consider themselves to be transparent?, What sort of transparency exists within the participating nonprofit organizations?, Does the collaborators have an insight in the operation managers’ decisions?, Do the operation managers have an insight in the work of their employees’, concerning their collection processes?, Does the collection organizations have an oversee concerning their branch and what is said about them?, Does external stakeholders have an opportunity to get insight in the organizations’ collecting processes? Method/Material: The results are based on a qualitative study built on nine different semi structured interviews with three nonprofit organizations. The interviews are based on a model made by Esaiasson, Gilljam, Oscarsson and Wängnerud which later on was analyzed with Heald’s four different types of transparency. Main results: The primary result of the survey proved that all the four different types of transparency more or less exist within the participating organizations. Transparency inwards is the type that the organizations proved to focus on the most. However, the organizations did also focus on the remaining three types. In account of this survey a broader picture of transparency has been disclosed, not only the public view has been displayed. As a nonprofit organization one should be aware of all four different varieties of transparency when openness towards different types engender trust towards the nonprofit organizations, which in return can generate donations. Number of pages: 65 Course: Media and Communication studies C University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University Period: Fall 2014 Keywords: Transparency, Nonprofit sector, Nonprofit organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations, Collection processes.

The purpose of this study is to make an investigation of certain governmental policies in relation to parochial schools and to ascertain reasons why parents enroll their children in parochial schools instead of public schools.

M.Comm. / Microfinance refers to the provision of financial services, in particular small loans in the context of South Africa, to poor people with very small businesses. Commercial banks have largely considered poor people in remote areas unbankable, because they lack collateral and have no credit histories. Microfinance institutions emerged as unconventional institutions with innovative techniques, mechanisms and instruments to advance financial services to this segmented part of the population. This has, however, not been without challenges. Microfinance institutions face a number of challenges such as lack of competent human capital, unfavourable regulatory environment, and insufficient financing. The study examines if these challenges are applicable in the South African context and whether financial and operational inefficiency has hindered microfinance institutions in South Africa from sustainably increasing their outreach through the provision of microcredit. It surveys two microfinance institutions, characterised as non-governmental organisations using the group lending methodology to offer microloans to the very poor. The results indicate that microfinance institutions are not on a sound fiscal footing, and large operating expenses have resulted in some form of inefficiency. This has, however, not hindered the microfinance institutions from reaching a greater number of borrowers. The witnessed increased outreach in number of clients reached is considered unsustainable given the existence of inefficiency and financial weakness. The results suggest a number of policy options on the side of government and the institutions concerned. Increasing the funding sources available to microfinance institutions should be considered by both government and private institutions. This policy would succeed if microfinance institutions work at reducing their operational costs and become both efficient and sustainable so as to be seen as viable investment options.

The aim of this study is to investigate the existing communicative and informative work on reaching out to citizens about the service concept of governmental service offices which includes the swedish agencies; Skatteverket, Försäkringskassan and Pensionsmyndigheten. The study will be based on the perspective of officials operating within the current area. Furthermore, we also aim to examine which motives and which risks that exist with developing this work in conjunction with the transfer of responsibility to a new authority. The motives are examined from a citizen's perspective with a focus on political communication as a democratic tool in the modern society. The study is based on interviews with managers within the organization of governmental service offices and managers at the new authority - with the purpose to gain their perspectives about this communication aspects. A qualitative text analysis as a method has been used to analyze the interviews. The primary findings of the empirical study show that the public's knowledge about the concept of service offices are low as a result of a limited marketing. It also shows that there are motives to increase the extent of communication and information about the service concept, in order to raise awareness about what services are available at the governmental service offices. On the other hand, the research also indicates issues with an increased marketing of the service offices as service concept, instead of marketing the agencies individually, which requires consideration in the matter.

Research Report submitted to the University of the Witwatersrand, School of Governance in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Management in Public and Development Management (50% Research) / Since the development of the World Programme of Action for Youth to the year 2000 and Beyond (United Nations, 2010), youth and the associated development issues that affect and are effected by them have risen to prominence. In South Africa, 66% of the population are under the age of 34 (the cut-off age for youth), and 36% are between the ages of 15-34 years old, and there is a general perception and concern that current youth policy is failing (Maupa, 2013; NUMSA Bulletin basic, 2014; Setiloane, 2014; South African Broadcasting Corporation, 2011). From anecdotal evidence, personal experience as a youth development practitioner and brief analysis of the literature, there appears to be limited strategic and deliberate engagement of youth and youth-oriented CSOs in the youth policy formulation and implementation process. The purpose of this research is to explore the perceived and real barriers to the involvement of CSOs in youth policy implementation in South Africa. A policy implementation research lens is applied in a broad analysis of the National Youth Policy 2015-2020 and its implementation, exploration of the involvement of CSOs in the policy process and assessment of perceived and real barriers of involvement for CSOs. The research study was an attempt to address the identified knowledge gap regarding youth policy implementation in the South African context (O’Toole, 2000; Saetren, 2005) and the potential role of civil society in that policy process. To some extent, the data, findings and analysis discussed addressed the knowledge gap in that they described how the youth policy is being implemented; identified the key role players in the implementation, and the ways in which civil society may be involved. The research findings and analysis answered the research questions, revealing the barriers to civil society, the nature of youth and CSO engagement by government. In conclusion, this study sheds light on the policy implementation, youth engagement, and civil society involvement, providing clarity and recommendations that may enhance youth participation and civil society and state partnership in policy implementation. / MT2017

Child protection refers to the systems put in place to prevent child abuse and maltreatment and to promote and enhance the well‐being of children. Child protection has been basically a constitutional issue for the state to protect children. Existing civil society organisations emerged as community collective organisations that were meant to voice out the concerns and demands of the public to their governments with regards to some problematic issues in their communities. Gradually, NGOs shifted their focus from reactive approaches to be more proactive in the manner they addressed the community issues and hence they incorporated child protection activities in their programmes. However, they are faced with criticism in focusing more on preventative and early intervention measures in child protection. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of NGOs as change agents in child protection. The study was qualitative in nature and used a multi‐case study design. The study population consisted of 4 Directors /Managers from the 4 NGOs for the study as well as 6 Social Workers from the 4 NGOs, 3 councillors and 1 chief from the district and 2 key informants from the Department of Social Development and the South African Police Services. Semi‐structured interview schedules were used to get the information from the respondents through face to face interviews. The findings from the study are: NGOs contribute to the social protection of children by preventing child abuse, promoting the wellbeing of children and protecting their rights, building of resilience in children and their families and creating partnerships with other role players to provide holistic child protection services. The findings also revealed that revealed that communities perceive NGOs as the immediate service providers in their communities and promoters of child well‐being and better social functioning of children. The findings from the study also revealed that NGOs are seen as change agents in terms of socio‐economic development of communities. However, the study showed that communities perceived that NGOs render poor service and also that their programmes had a negative impact on children and their families. The findings of the study identified the following challenges faced by NGOs in their work of child protection which are role confusion, lack of cooperation, malfunctioning child protection systems and lack of resources. The study recommends that child protection policy and processes around prevention, early intervention, statutory services and continuum of care be relooked and be improved and that programmes of child protection be child centred and yet be inclusive of parents as well. The study suggests that the child protection role players need to be capacitated and funded more to improve service delivery in child protection.