There is a noticeable improvement in the quality of the lives of women engaged in economic activities beyond the home. In a democratic South Africa, women – including those in rural areas – are being freed from their fixed gender roles. Today women are regarded as co-participants in any undertaking, whether as organisers, natural environmentalists or economists, in order to achieve sustainable development. It is for this reason that a number of laws and statutory bodies are in place to speed up the empowerment of women. Consequently, women as individuals or groups are doing their best to respond to the call of democracy in order to balance the equation which has for long remained skewed. In the study area of the Makhuduthamaga Local Municipality, women have initiated projects through mobilisation of their capabilities and available resources to sustain their personal needs, and those of their households. Hence, their well-being with regard to health, nutrition, mobility and social connectivity has improved. There is no doubt that these women are primary breadwinners for their families on a daily basis, as the majority have no other source of income or their husbands’ jobs are taken by migrant labour. The research reveals that, unless women stand up and take action to disprove what is known as ‘feminisation of poverty’, nothing good can happen. Through Participatory Rural Appraisal and Community Asset Mapping techniques, an observation of ethical considerations, participants responded willingly and exposed the realities of their lives. One remaining challenge that needs to be constantly monitored is that there should be a balance between policies and practices with men needing to be empowered to understand, accept and assist in the empowerment of women with a view to achieving sustainability in almost every undertaking. / Geography / D.Litt. et Phil. (Geography)

This collective case study explored the impact of a later-in-life learning disability (LD) diagnosis on women in poverty. The study focused on the perspectives of four women who were not identified with LD as children but accessed assessment services as adults receiving Oregon's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). All four reported painful awareness of learning differences as youths; as adults they voluntarily engaged in a "labeling event," furthering a process toward personal transformation and enhanced well-being initiated by their own awareness and curiosity. The women described critical social and emotional support systems and relationships that helped them integrate understanding of the LD construct, education and employment opportunities that came in the wake of the diagnosis, and decisions made regarding disclosure. Self- determination theory and interpersonal neurobiology undergird reflections on narratives and themes. Recommendations for practice include providing low-income women assessed with LD (1) access to an LD specialist; (2) case planning and case management with a strength-based focus; and (3) assistance working with the public schools for those who are parents. The study underscores the significant services provided by Oregon DHS to low-income women with learning disabilities who have not been identified by K-12 school systems and recommends that DHS undertake further quantitative and qualitative research in collaboration with a research institution.

There is a noticeable improvement in the quality of the lives of women engaged in economic activities beyond the home. In a democratic South Africa, women – including those in rural areas – are being freed from their fixed gender roles. Today women are regarded as co-participants in any undertaking, whether as organisers, natural environmentalists or economists, in order to achieve sustainable development. It is for this reason that a number of laws and statutory bodies are in place to speed up the empowerment of women. Consequently, women as individuals or groups are doing their best to respond to the call of democracy in order to balance the equation which has for long remained skewed. In the study area of the Makhuduthamaga Local Municipality, women have initiated projects through mobilisation of their capabilities and available resources to sustain their personal needs, and those of their households. Hence, their well-being with regard to health, nutrition, mobility and social connectivity has improved. There is no doubt that these women are primary breadwinners for their families on a daily basis, as the majority have no other source of income or their husbands’ jobs are taken by migrant labour. The research reveals that, unless women stand up and take action to disprove what is known as ‘feminisation of poverty’, nothing good can happen. Through Participatory Rural Appraisal and Community Asset Mapping techniques, an observation of ethical considerations, participants responded willingly and exposed the realities of their lives. One remaining challenge that needs to be constantly monitored is that there should be a balance between policies and practices with men needing to be empowered to understand, accept and assist in the empowerment of women with a view to achieving sustainability in almost every undertaking. / Geography / D.Litt. et Phil. (Geography)

Cette thèse de doctorat examine l’impact social de la Première Guerre mondiale dans l’Empire ottoman sur les femmes turques défavorisées et la réaction quotidienne de ces femmes aux conditions négatives de la guerre et aux mesures de l’État concernant les femmes. Elle utilise l’approche de l’histoire populaire et des nouvelles sources des archives ottomanes pour démontrer les voix et les expériences des femmes ordinaires, surtout leur lutte contre l’appauvrissement à cause de la guerre et les politiques sociales insuffisantes. Par conséquent, elle contribue à combler une grande lacune dans l’historiographie sur l’Empire ottomane et les études sur les femmes qui examinent rarement les femmes turques ordinaires. Elle renforce l’idée que les femmes ottomanes ont eu des grandes difficultés à cause de la guerre contrairement aux comptes de modernisation soulignant seulement les développements positifs concernant les libertés et les droits des femmes après la guerre. Elle réfute les comptes acceptant la guerre comme une période pendant laquelle toutes les femmes turques ont vécu une « émancipation. » D’ailleurs, elle met en lumière les formes et les aspects des points de vue critiques des femmes et de la politique quotidienne des femmes pour survivre les conditions négatives de la guerre, pour faire entendre leurs voix, pour protéger leurs droits et pour recevoir des aides sociales. / This dissertation examines the social impact of World War I in the Ottoman Empire on ordinary poor Turkish women and their everyday response to the adverse wartime conditions and the state policies concerning them. Based on new archival sources giving detailed information about the voice, experience and agency of these women and based on the history from below approach, this study focuses on poor, underprivileged and working Turkish women’s everyday experiences, especially their struggle against and perception of wartime conditions, mobilization and state policies about them. By doing so, it contributes to filling the great gap in late Ottoman historiography and women’s studies, which rarely examine ordinary women and their everyday problems and struggles for survival and rights. First, it scrutinizes how ordinary women experienced the war and argues that, in contrast to the modernization accounts that overlook women’s sufferings at the cost of post-war developments in women’s rights and liberties, ordinary Turkish women had great difficulties during the war years. It presents a major caveat to the accounts accepting the war years as a period during which Turkish women monolithically experienced a gradual liberty and « emancipation. » Second, it brings the unexamined forms and aspects of women’s critical and subjective views, their everyday politics to circumvent the adverse conditions and state policies, to make their voices heard, to pursue their rights, and to receive government support into the light. / Bu doktora tezi Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Birinci Dünya Savaşı’nın sıradan yoksul Türk kadınları üzerindeki sosyal etkilerini ve kadınların olumsuz savaş koşullarına ve kendileriyle ilgili devlet politikalarına yönelik tavırlarını incelemektedir. Kadınların sesleri, deneyimleri ve tarihsel rolleri hakkında detaylı bilgiler veren yeni arşiv kaynaklarına ve aşağıdan tarih yaklaşımına dayanan bu tez yoksul, temel sosyal haklardan yoksun ve çalışan Türk kadınlarının gündelik deneyimlerine, özellikle de savaş koşulları, seferberlik ve devlet politikalarını algılayış ve bunlarla mücadele biçimlerine odaklanmaktadır. Dolayısıyla, bu tez, sıradan kadınları ve onların gündelik problemleriyle hayatta kalma ve hak mücadelelerini çok az inceleyen Osmanlı tarihçiliği ve kadın araştırmalarındaki büyük bir boşluğu doldurmaya katkıda bulunmaktadır. Bu tez, bu anlamda, iki temel temaya odaklanmaktadır. Öncelikle, sıradan kadınların savaşı nasıl deneyimlediklerini mercek altına almakta ve onların çektikleri acıları savaş sonrası kadın hak ve özgürlüklerindeki ve üst ve orta sınıf eğitimli kadınların etkinlik ve deneyimlerindeki gelişmelerin bir bedeli olarak algılayıp gözden kaçıran modernleşmeanlatılarının tersine sıradan kadınların savaş yıllarında büyük güçlükler çektiğini savunmaktadır. Bu bağlamda, bu çalışma, Türk kadınlarının savaş yıllarında bütün olarak görece bir “özgürleşme” yaşadıklarını kabul eden anlatılara önemli bir uyarıdır. İkincil olarak, bu tez, kadınların zorluklarla gündelik mücadelelerine odaklanarak kadınların eleştirel ve öznel tutumlarının ve olumsuz koşullar ve devlet politikalarından kaçmak, seslerini duyurmak, haklarının peşine düşmek ve destek görebilmek amaçlı gündelik politikalarının keşfedilmemiş biçim ve yönlerini gün ışığına çıkarmaktadır.

This study examined the distinct effects of partner violence and psychological abuse on women's mental health over time. Latent growth modeling was used to examine stability and change over time, evaluating the course and consequences of each form of abuse. The size of women's social support network was examined as a mediator. The sample consisted of 835 African American, Euro-American, and Mexican American low-income women. Participants who completed Waves 1, 2, 3, and 5 were included in the study (n = 585). In general, partner violence decreased over time for all groups, while psychological abuse decreased over time for only Euro-American women. Whereas initial and prolonged exposure to psychological abuse was related to and directly impacted women's mental health, partner violence was only related to initial levels of mental health. Surprisingly, social support was only related to initial violence and distress and had no impact on the rate of change over time. These results have important implications for researchers and health care professionals. First, differences in the pattern of results were found for each ethnic group, reaffirming the notion that counselors and researchers must be sensitive to multicultural concerns in both assessment and intervention. For example, psychological abuse had a greater impact on the mental health of African American and Mexican American women than it did for Euro-American women, suggesting a shift in focus depending on the ethnicity of the client may be warranted. Second, this longitudinal study highlights the importance of future research to considerer individual differences in treating and studying victimized women. Understanding factors that contribute to individual trajectories will help counselors gain insight into the problem and in devising plans to prevent or reduce the occurrence and negative health impact of partner abuse.

This is a transdisciplinary study of how ‘popular cultures of survival’ regenerate and rehumanise township residents and communities whose social fabric and intergenerational bonds have been violently torn by endemic suffering. I focus specifically on township mothers’ and daughters’ lifeworlds with the aim of recentering these marginalised lives so that they can inform us about retheorising marginality and in this way enrich our limited academic discourses on the subjectivities of poor urban African women. Located in the interdisciplinary field of popular culture studies, the study draws on and synthesises theoretical insights from a number of disciplines such as sociology, political-science, anthropology, history, literary studies, womanist and feminist studies and indigenous studies, while using a variety of methods and sources such as interviews, reports, observation, newspapers, field notes, photo-albums, academic articles and embodied expressions to create a unique theory on the lived and embodied suffering and healing experiences of township women. I have called this situated conceptual framework that is theoretically aligned to African womanism and existential phenomenology, but principally fashioned out of township mothers and daughters ways of understanding the world and their place in it--Township mothers’ and daughters’ lived and embodied ‘cultures of survival’. And in order to surface their popular cultural survival strategies I have adopted an African womanist interpretative phenomenological methodological framework. This suggested conceptual and methodological framework has allowed me to creatively explore the dialectical tensions of the everyday township philosophies, aesthetics and moralities of ‘ukuphanta’, to hustle and ‘ukuhlonipha’, to respect, and show how they create the moral-existential ground for township mothers and daughters not only to continue to survive, but to reclaim lives of dignity and sensuality amidst repeated negation and historical hardships. / Sociology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)

Text in English / This study is focused on the topical issue of female poverty in South Africa. Specifically, the study is on how poverty has single mothers households in reception area of Diepsloot informal settlements and how they have been coping with poverty while at the same time trying to change their situation. The study is premised on a qualitative approach employing the use of snowball sampling to refer other single mothers resident in the reception area. Methodologically, the results are drawn primarily on interviews held with 30 women residing in the reception area of the informal settlements. The study selects 8 out of 30 case studies which stand out from the others in circumstances, challenges and livelihood assets; challenges and coping mechanisms. What emerges from the results of all the interviews is a complex range of factors influencing and exacerbating these households' vulnerability and resilience to chronic poverty. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

Diabetes and related complications are one of the leading causes of death for Mexican American women. Although dietary behavior is a critical component of diabetes management, research is lacking in relation to the interplay of food habits, culture, and diabetes among this population. The specific aims of this ethnographic study were to: (1) explore the relationships between culture, food habits, and type 2 diabetes as experienced by low income Mexican American women; (2) examine the role of food in the cultural identity of low-income Mexican American women; (3) examine how trying to adhere to the ADA dietary guidelines for people with diabetes impacts the relationship between food and culture of low income Mexican American women with type 2 diabetes. This sample consisted of 16 Mexican American women between the ages of 39 to 60 years. Twelve of the sixteen had experienced diabetes for at least 10 years, and were considered experts in the management of their illness. The remaining four had experienced diabetes for a shorter period of time and were considered novices. Individual interviews were conducted with each informant. All interviews were audiotaped with the exception of one. The interviews, observations, and field notes were analyzed for data. The analysis of data rendered 6 themes: (1) “la dieta,” (2) the location and fluidity of food (3) confidence-defiance self-management connection, (4) negotiating sociocultural and biomedical expectations, (5) eating for diabetes is a family affair, and (6) strategies for self-care. In addition, preliminary comparisons were conducted between experienced and more novice individuals with diabetes. / text

Text in English with abstracts in English, isiXhosa and isiZulu / Disability studies largely ignored or neglected the experiences of rural women with disabilities (WWD) in the Global South. This qualitative study documents the challenges faced by Zimbabwean rural WWD in the enjoyment of their fundamental rights and freedoms. Against the backdrop of various global, regional and national efforts to advance WWD’s rights, the study examines possibilities for change. Utilising a phenomenological design, data were collected through in-depth interviews with women and girls with disabilities (WGWD), and semi-structured interviews with state and non-state actors in disability rights. Augmented by observations and extensive literature and policy reviews, the research findings revealed that the majority of rural WWD are not aware of their legal rights and have limited access to productive resources, information, employment, education and food. Rural WWD face mobility challenges and are largely discriminated against in health institutions and excluded from taking part in socioeconomic and political activities. Girls with disabilities in inclusive schools battle against a myriad of attitudinal, environmental and administrative hurdles that limit their academic and social functioning. The results confirm the feminist disability theory’s view that the functioning of WGWD is heavily determined by wider contextual, social, historic and gendered power relations. The findings support recommendations for an urgent alignment of liberal national disability instruments, policies and practices to international human rights norms. The 2013 Constitution effectuates a human rights approach to disability, yet in practice the exclusion of the disabled, rural, female ‘other’ continues unabated. Transformation in this regard must include a restructuring of financial resourcing of various state institutions for advancing disability rights. Various avenues to ensure for effective disability rights mainstreaming, lobbying, advocacy, awareness raising, and capacitation of rural communities are suggested. At the heart of it all is a change in mind-sets to embrace WWD as equal human beings with rights and dignity. / Izifundo zobulwelwe azikhange ziyithathele ngqalelo imeko namava abantu basetyhini abayimilwelwe behlala emaphandleni kumazwe asemaZantsi. Esi sifundo somgangatho sibhala ngemingeni ejongene nabasetyhini abayimilwelwe basemaphandleni eZimbabwe xa befuna ukuxhamla amalungelo nenkululeko eyimfanelo yabo yemveli. Ngokuqwalasela imizamo eliqela yehlabathi jikelele, yezithili neyesizwe ekuphuhliseni amalungelo abasetyhini abayimilwelwe, esi sifundo sivavanya amathuba otshintsho. Ngokusebenzisa uyilo lwezifundo ngokwenzekayo, kwaqokelelwa iinkcukacha zolwazi ngokuqhuba udliwano ndlebe olunzulu namakhosikazi namantomabazana ayimilwelwe, kwaqhutywa nodliwano ndlebe lwemibuzo engenampendulo zithe ngqo (semi structured interviews) nemibutho yoburhulumente nengeyoyoburhulumente esebenza ngamalungelo emilwelwe. Uphando olwalukhatshwa kukuzibonela nokufunda nzulu okubhaliweyo ngemigaqo nkqubo, lwaveza ukuba uninzi lwabasetyhini abayimilwelwe basemaphandleni alwazi nto ngamalungelo alo asemthethweni kwaye alufikeleli ngokwaneleyo kwimithombo eluncedo, ulwazi, imisebenzi, imfundo nokutya. Abasetyhini abayimilwelwe basemaphandleni bajamelene nemingeni yokungakwazi ukuhamba kwaye bayacalucalulwa kakhulu kumaziko ezempilo. Ababandakanywa ekuthatheni inxaxheba kwimisebenzi yezentlalo, uqoqosho nezombuso/upolitiko. Amantombazana ayimilwelwe asezikolweni zikawonkewonke asedabini nemiqobo emininzi yendlela acingelwa ngayo, indawo ewangqongileyo nolawulo, zinto ezo zikuthibazayo ukusebenza kwawo kwezemfundo nasekuhlaleni. Iziphumo zophando ziyangqinelana nengcingane yezifundo zabasetyhini ethi indlela yokwenza izinto yabasetyhini abayimilwelwe ilawulwa ikakhulu lunxulumano lweemeko ezigqubayo, ezentlalo, ezembali nezesini. Iziphumo zophando zixhasa iingcebiso ezithi makukhawuleziswe kwenziwe ungqamano phakathi kwezixhobo, imigaqo nkqubo nemisebenzi yobulwelwe esizweni nezimiselo zamalungelo oluntu kwihlabathi ngokubanzi. UMgaqo Siseko wama-2013 ubeka elubala indlela yokujongana nobulwelwe, kodwa kuyaqhubeka kona ukujongelwa phantsi kwemilwelwe, yabasemaphandleni, yabasetyhini. Inguqu kulo mbandela kufuneka iquke ukuyilwa ngokutsha kwenkxaso mali kumaziko oburhulumente ahlukeneyo ukwenzela ukuba kuqhutyelwe phambili amalungelo emilwelwe. Kucetyiswa ngeendlela ezahlukeneyo zokuqinisekisa amalungelo emilwelwe njengokwenza iinkqubo ezifanelekileyo ezingundoqo, ngokuthethathethana nokuphembelela, ngokwazisa uluntu nokuxhobisa uluntu lwasemaphandleni. Esizikithini sako konke kufuneka utshintsho lwengqondo ukwenzela ukuba bamkelwe abasetyhini abayimilwelwe njengabantu abalingana nabanye benamalungelo nesidima. / Izifundo ezimayelana nokukhubazeka zivame ukunganaki noma ukungabi nandaba nokwenzeka kubantu besifazane abakhubazekile (ama-WWD) abahlala emaphandleni emazweni angakathuthuki ngokwanele (aseGlobal South). Lolu cwaningo olubheka kabanzi imininingwane engamaqiniso luqopha izingqinamba ezikhungethe abesifazane baseZimbabwe abakhubazekile abahlala emaphandleni ngenkathi bethokozela amalungelo abo asemqoka kanye nenkululeko yabo. Phezu kwemizamo eyahlukahlukene yezinga lomhlaba, lezifunda nelikazwelonke, yokuthuthukisa amalungelo abesifazane akhubazekile, lolu cwaningo lubheka amathuba akhona oguquko. Kwasetshenziswa uhlobo lokucwaninga olubheka okuthize ngokuhlola imibono yalabo abake baba sesimweni salokho okucwaningwa ngakho, ngokufaka imibuzo abesifazane kanye namantombazane akhubazekile, kanye nalabo abadlala indima kwezamalungelo abantu abakhubazekile abasebenzela umbuso nabangasebenzeli umbuso. Ngokufakazelwa kakhulu ngokubonakele kanye nokuhlaziywa kwemibhalo nenqubomgomo, imiphumela yocwaningo enohlonze iveze ukuthi iningi labesifazane abakhubazekile basemaphandleni abawazi amalungelo abo ezomthetho kanti futhi abafinyeleli ngokuphelele emithonjeni elusizo, kwimininingwane, kwimisebenzi, kwezemfundo kanye nasekudleni. Abesifazane abakhubazekile basemaphandleni babhekana nezingqinamba zokungakwazi ukuhamba kahle kanti futhi bayacwaswa ezikhungweni zezempilo, baphinde banganikwa ithuba lokubamba iqhaza kwezenhlalo-mnotho nezepolitiki. Amantombazane akhubazekile ezikoleni ezamukela zonke izinhlobo zabafundi babhekana nezimo eziningi eziyizingqinamba maqondana nendlela aphathwa ngayo, nesimo sendawo kanye nokwenziwa kwezinto okuba nomkhawulo ekwenzeni kwabo maqondana nezemfundo nezenhlalo. Imiphumela iqinisekisa umbono wenzululwazi elwela abesifazane abakhubazekile wokuthi ukusebenza kwabesifazane abakhubazekile, esikhathini esiningi, kuvame ukuvela ngenxa yengqikithi esabalele yobudlelwano bamandla maqondana nenhlalo, umlando kanye nobulili. Imiphumela yocwaningo yeseka izincomo zokuthi kumele kube khona ukulinganiswa okuphuthumayo kwempahla yokusebenza maqondana nokukhubazeka, izinqubomgomo kanye nezindlela zokusebenza ezingeni likazwelonke kanye nokuvamile ezingeni lomhlaba wonke kokuphathelene namalungelo abantu. UMthethosisekelo wonyaka we-2013 wenza kusebenze indlela yokubheka ukukhubazeka ngeso lamalungelo abantu, kodwa indlela okwenziwa ngayo iqhubeka kakhulu nokubandlulula abesifazane abakhubazekile basemaphandleni. Uguquko, maqondana nalokhu, kumele lufake ukuhlelwa kabusha kosizo lwezimali ezikhungweni ezahlukahlukene zombuso eziqhuba phambili amalungelo aba. Kuhlongozwa izindlela ezahlukahlukene zokuqinisekisa amalungelo abakhubazekile okufaka kukho ukufakwa kwemiphakathi yasemaphandleni ezinhlelweni, ukukhulumisana nayo ukuze ibambe iqhaza, ukuyilwela, ukwenza ukuba iqaphele okwenzekayo kanye nokuyinikeza amandla okwenza. Okuyiyona nto ebaluleke kakhulu, wuguquko ekucabangeni ukuze abesifazane abakhubazekile bathathwe njengabantu abalingana nabanye abanamalungelo nesithunzi. / Development Studies / D. Phil. (Development Studies)

This is a transdisciplinary study of how ‘popular cultures of survival’ regenerate and rehumanise township residents and communities whose social fabric and intergenerational bonds have been violently torn by endemic suffering. I focus specifically on township mothers’ and daughters’ lifeworlds with the aim of recentering these marginalised lives so that they can inform us about retheorising marginality and in this way enrich our limited academic discourses on the subjectivities of poor urban African women. Located in the interdisciplinary field of popular culture studies, the study draws on and synthesises theoretical insights from a number of disciplines such as sociology, political-science, anthropology, history, literary studies, womanist and feminist studies and indigenous studies, while using a variety of methods and sources such as interviews, reports, observation, newspapers, field notes, photo-albums, academic articles and embodied expressions to create a unique theory on the lived and embodied suffering and healing experiences of township women. I have called this situated conceptual framework that is theoretically aligned to African womanism and existential phenomenology, but principally fashioned out of township mothers and daughters ways of understanding the world and their place in it--Township mothers’ and daughters’ lived and embodied ‘cultures of survival’. And in order to surface their popular cultural survival strategies I have adopted an African womanist interpretative phenomenological methodological framework. This suggested conceptual and methodological framework has allowed me to creatively explore the dialectical tensions of the everyday township philosophies, aesthetics and moralities of ‘ukuphanta’, to hustle and ‘ukuhlonipha’, to respect, and show how they create the moral-existential ground for township mothers and daughters not only to continue to survive, but to reclaim lives of dignity and sensuality amidst repeated negation and historical hardships. / Sociology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)