This research explores the constraints to youth participation through the mechanism of the National Youth Roundtable. In 1999 the National Youth Roundtable was established as the centrepiece of the Federal Government's `Voices of Youth' initiative, designed to go to the grass roots of the youth population and seek their participation on matters of policy development. This was to be the new interface between young people and the Australian government, replacing the peak body for youth affairs as a more effective participation mechanism.

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Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / The objective of this research is to investigate the factors at plant level which impact on the diffusion of Japanese Manufacturing Techniques to enterprises in developing countries generally, and South Africa specifically. This informs the development of meaningful supply-side measures to improve the competitiveness of South African manufacturers. This has been achieved through both a thorough examination of the literature and through field research. The field research documents the implementation experiences in fifteen South African plants which participated in the Shopfloor Best Practice workshops of the Manufacturing Roundtable (MRT). I chose to examine these examples of transfer as I was a participant researcher, attached to the MRT. The central question which guided my research is what are the factors which affect the depth of systemic adoption of Japanese Manufacturing Techniques on the shopfloor in South Africa, and what this indicates for the breadth of diffusion of the techniques across the manufacturing sector as a whole. The research argument is that for sustainable adoption both social and technical aspects of Japanese Manufacturing Techniques need to be addressed. Focusing on the technical aspects only and presenting a universally applicable model obscures the realities of transfer, as the embeddedness of the techniques in the social and institutional context is ignored. The point of departure for analysis in this thesis is thus real examples of transfer, as opposed to a universally defined and abstracted model. The experience and opinions of the workshop participants, and those of managers in their plants, have been gathered through individual in-depth interviews and site visits. The evidence indicates that there are many factors both internal and external to the firm which are likely to constrain significantly the ability of some firms to move in the systemic direction. These include the poor primary education of much of the workforce, poor management skills, wage and social inequality and a lack of participation in the workplace. It becomes apparent that the process of diffusion amongst South African manufacturers is not likely to be rapid or steady, and that the most likely path is one of uneven diffusion.

Recent media scholars have taken, as their focus, relationships between qualitative research methods and examinations of contemporary media texts (e.g., Fox, 2013; Manning, Dunn, & Stern, 2012; Meyer, 2012). The purpose of this panel is to further examine these relationships. Participants will demonstrate how a qualitative research method (e.g., ethnography, autoethnography, narrative analysis, textual or discourse analysis, audience studies) can be used to study contemporary television and film texts (e.g. Coronation Street, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Orange is the New Black, Mad Men, Cabin in the Woods, The Butler). Participants will first discuss their particular method and then provide an exemplar of that method as they examine their chosen media text(s). To assist with the audience discussion of these methods and texts, participants will also include a brief clip/excerpt of their chosen texts.

A ascensão de atores não estatais tem suscitado agendas de pesquisa que questionam a centralidade do Estado e de seus agentes na área de Relações Internacionais. A emergência do setor privado (empresas) e do chamado terceiro setor (ONGs) em temas de Regulação e Governança Global têm promovido um profícuo debate, de caráter interdisciplinar, com outras áreas do campo das Humanidades, especialmente o Direito e a Economia. A presente dissertação buscou demonstrar como o sucesso da atuação de atores não estatais na provisão de regras internacionais, para temas como meio ambiente, padrões trabalhistas, e responsabilidade socioambiental, depende de um grande número de variáveis, dificilmente circunscritas a uma única dimensão de análise. A pesquisa realiza uma ampla sistematização bibliográfica das diferentes literaturas em Ciência Política, Relações Internacionais e Economia Institucional e das Organizações sobre regulação e governança privada na busca de denominadores comuns para a compreensão do alcance e dos limites da atuação de atores privados na promoção de regras internacionais de comércio. O estudo de caso em tela versa sobre as dificuldades de influência e adesão dos agentes do sistema produtivo da soja no Brasil à iniciativa transnacional da Associação Internacional da Soja Responsável (RTRS), a partir de um modelo síntese elaborado para integrar as diferentes literaturas. As dimensões levantadas neste estudo evidenciam que variáveis políticas e econômicas geram incentivos para a criação de regras internacionais privadas capazes de harmonizar padrões de produção e comércio de soja em escala global. No entanto, argumenta-se que tais incentivos, no Brasil, não contribuem para a constituição de um ambiente institucional e econômico favorável ao sucesso das iniciativas transnacionais privadas de regulação. Dessa forma, o resultado é uma não conformidade entre os incentivos internacionais e a coordenação dos agentes privados brasileiros para a regulação da soja. / The rise of non-state actors has evoked research agendas that challenge the centrality of the State and its agents in the field of International Relations. The emergence of the private sector (businesses) and of the so-called third sector (NGOs) on Regulation and Global Governance issues have promoted a fruitful interdisciplinary debate with other areas of humanities, especially Law and Economics. This dissertation sought to demonstrate how non state actors success performance in the provision of international rules for issues such as environment, labor standards and environmental responsibility, depends on a large number of variables, hardly confined to a single dimension of analysis. The research conducts an extensive bibliographic systematization of different literatures in Political Science, International Relations and Institutional and Organizational Economics regarding regulation and private governance, seeking for common denominators to understand the scope and limits of private actors role in the promotion of international trade rules. The case study on the screen discusses the Brazilian soybean producers difficulties to influence and adhere to the transnational initiative of the International Association on Responsible Soy (RTRS), using a synthesis model developed to integrate different literatures. The dimensions raised in this study show that political and economic variables generate incentives for the creation of private international rules adequate for harmonizing soybean production and trade patterns globally. However, it is argued that such incentives in Brazil do not contribute to the creation of an institutional and economic environment propitious to the success of transnational private regulatory initiatives. Thus, the result is a non-conformity between international incentives and coordination of Brazilian private agents for soybean regulation.

A ascensão de atores não estatais tem suscitado agendas de pesquisa que questionam a centralidade do Estado e de seus agentes na área de Relações Internacionais. A emergência do setor privado (empresas) e do chamado terceiro setor (ONGs) em temas de Regulação e Governança Global têm promovido um profícuo debate, de caráter interdisciplinar, com outras áreas do campo das Humanidades, especialmente o Direito e a Economia. A presente dissertação buscou demonstrar como o sucesso da atuação de atores não estatais na provisão de regras internacionais, para temas como meio ambiente, padrões trabalhistas, e responsabilidade socioambiental, depende de um grande número de variáveis, dificilmente circunscritas a uma única dimensão de análise. A pesquisa realiza uma ampla sistematização bibliográfica das diferentes literaturas em Ciência Política, Relações Internacionais e Economia Institucional e das Organizações sobre regulação e governança privada na busca de denominadores comuns para a compreensão do alcance e dos limites da atuação de atores privados na promoção de regras internacionais de comércio. O estudo de caso em tela versa sobre as dificuldades de influência e adesão dos agentes do sistema produtivo da soja no Brasil à iniciativa transnacional da Associação Internacional da Soja Responsável (RTRS), a partir de um modelo síntese elaborado para integrar as diferentes literaturas. As dimensões levantadas neste estudo evidenciam que variáveis políticas e econômicas geram incentivos para a criação de regras internacionais privadas capazes de harmonizar padrões de produção e comércio de soja em escala global. No entanto, argumenta-se que tais incentivos, no Brasil, não contribuem para a constituição de um ambiente institucional e econômico favorável ao sucesso das iniciativas transnacionais privadas de regulação. Dessa forma, o resultado é uma não conformidade entre os incentivos internacionais e a coordenação dos agentes privados brasileiros para a regulação da soja. / The rise of non-state actors has evoked research agendas that challenge the centrality of the State and its agents in the field of International Relations. The emergence of the private sector (businesses) and of the so-called third sector (NGOs) on Regulation and Global Governance issues have promoted a fruitful interdisciplinary debate with other areas of humanities, especially Law and Economics. This dissertation sought to demonstrate how non state actors success performance in the provision of international rules for issues such as environment, labor standards and environmental responsibility, depends on a large number of variables, hardly confined to a single dimension of analysis. The research conducts an extensive bibliographic systematization of different literatures in Political Science, International Relations and Institutional and Organizational Economics regarding regulation and private governance, seeking for common denominators to understand the scope and limits of private actors role in the promotion of international trade rules. The case study on the screen discusses the Brazilian soybean producers difficulties to influence and adhere to the transnational initiative of the International Association on Responsible Soy (RTRS), using a synthesis model developed to integrate different literatures. The dimensions raised in this study show that political and economic variables generate incentives for the creation of private international rules adequate for harmonizing soybean production and trade patterns globally. However, it is argued that such incentives in Brazil do not contribute to the creation of an institutional and economic environment propitious to the success of transnational private regulatory initiatives. Thus, the result is a non-conformity between international incentives and coordination of Brazilian private agents for soybean regulation.