Short-term international immersion travel connects participants from educational and religious organizations with distant suffering to build solidarity and motivate transnational civic action. It is a distinct form of transnational social action that produces a personalized, embodied experience of transformation. Despite increasing popularity, and increasing evidence that this form of travel can facilitate civic action and activism, the mechanisms behind the production, experience, and outcomes are not well known. This research examines these issues through a focus on multiple cultural processes. The research site is BorderLinks, a faith-affiliated organization that promotes immigration awareness through travel along the U.S.-Mexico border. I use participant observation with different groups (colleges, seminaries, churches), pre/post surveys with 180 participants, and interviews with participants to examine why individuals participate, how transformative experience is produced, how group styles stabilize this moment of unsettledness, the difficulties of solidarity formation, and the specific patterns of outcomes. Short-term international immersion travel is a cultural strategy of transformation that provides participants with identity shaping experiences and fits the goals of feeder organizations that prioritize personal transformation and social engagement. Recruitment through feeder organizations creates groups with distinct demographic profiles, motivational repertoires, and emotional orientations: the "toolkits of travel." An immersion trip sits in a liminal space of culture, yet the institutional origins of groups generate group styles that guide groups through this unsettledness (Eliasoph and Lichterman 2003). Some groups "sleuth" while others "story build," resulting in different imaginations of possible future action. The encounter with migrants addresses a central question of how solidarity between international travelers and distant suffering is formed. I show the importance of two strategies of solidarity, one relational and one imaginative. Through a hike in the desert, I show the conditions for producing evoking symbols that moralize the experience into the future. I examine change in economic behavior, attitudes, and some civic activity. I use Qualitative Comparative Analysis to show which aspects of immersion travel are most responsible for change: emotional intensification, moralized situations, cognitive awareness, and/or group affiliation. For participants' narrative construction, differences in group use of reflexivity resources affect the moral extension into the future.

In 2014, in the wake of #BlackLivesMatter, a call to action was made for Asian Americans to actively engage with and unlearn the age old model minority myth and join the movement for racial justice. This thesis seeks to understand and complicate what it means to subvert this ideology in the way of #modelminoritymutiny. It is divided into three primary sections: first, a theoretical framework and of the model minority myth throughout time as a tool for positioning Asian Americans; second, an application of this framework into the recent Peter Liang and Akai Gurley case this past year; and third, a course syllabus for an Asian American studies course here at the Claremont Colleges. This trajectory showcases what it means for Asian Americans to actively resist ascribed narratives, and to propose methods for learning and unlearning.

This thesis provides an account of the work of Canadian organizations that took part in the global anti-apartheid movement and then continued political advocacy work in South Africa post-1994. My central research question is: What explains the rise and fall of international solidarity movements? I answer this question by exploring the factors that allowed the Canadian anti-apartheid network to grow into an international solidarity movement and explaining how a change in these factors sent the network into a period of decline post-1994. I use two organizations, the United Church of Canada and CUSO, as case studies for my analysis. I argue that four factors were behind the growth of the Canadian solidarity network: the presence of large CSOs in Canada willing to become involved in solidarity work, the presence of radical spaces in these organizations from which activists could advocate for and carry out solidarity work, the frame resonance of the apartheid issue in Canada and the political incentives the apartheid state provided for South African activists to encourage Northern support. Post-1994 all of these factors shifted in ways that restricted the continuation of international solidarity work with South Africa. Accordingly I argue that the decline of the Canadian network was driven in part by specific South African factors, but was also connected to a more general stifling of the activist work of progressive Canadian CSOs over the 1990s. This reduction of capacity was driven by the ascent of neo-liberal policy in Canada and worldwide. Using examples from a wide swath of cases I outline this process and explain how all four factors drove the growth and decline of Canadian solidarity work towards South Africa.

La péréquation française est devenue un enjeu fort des finances publiques locales. La croissance des moyens financiers et du nombre de dispositifs consacrés à la réduction des inégalités entre collectivités territoriales en est l’illustration. Malgré la mise en œuvre de péréquations nationales aux résultats encourageants, la cohérence et la complexité des mécanismes restent à parfaire. L’incapacité législative à contenir la péréquation dans un cadre stable et délimité n’est pas étrangère aux difficultés à appréhender la conciliation entre deux grands principes : la liberté et l’égalité. A ce titre, les grandes théories de la justice redistributive développées depuis le siècle des Lumières sont à considérer. Au contraire de la Loi fondamentale allemande, la Constitution française permet au législateur d’organiser très librement la solidarité inter-collectivités, d’autant que le juge constitutionnel, précurseur et gardien du droit à la péréquation, exerce en la matière, un contrôle incomplet au détriment de l’autonomie financière et fiscale des collectivités. A partir des fondements théoriques et positifs de la péréquation, un droit effectif et respectueux de l’autonomie locale reste à construire afin de corriger les insuffisances d’un système péréquateur récemment modifié par la réforme des lois de finances pour 2010 et 2011. / The financial equalisation system in France has become crucial in the management of local authorities. By way of illustration, there is an ongoing growth of financial resources, systems and plans of action to reduce inequalities between local governments and districts. Despite the encouraging results in the national equalisation implementation, its consistency and complexity mechanisms are to be enhanced. The disability to define freedom and equality contains the legislator in the design of stable and defined framework for equalisation. As such, the theory on a uniform distribution raised since the Age of Enlightenment, is to be considered. Unlike the German laws and regulation, the legislator is free to set up rules of financial interdependency among local authorities in the French Constitution. The constitutional judge, precursor and equalisation decision-maker, supervise an insufficient control to the detriment of financial and fiscal autonomy of local authorities. From the basis of equalisation benefits, there are some evident difficulties surrounding the limit of this system in respect to the degree of local authority’s financial autonomy. An operational review of both horizontal and vertical equalisation mechanisms, as well as the choice of redistribution criteria should be undertaken. The stakes are high to adjust and put right the shortcomings of the equalisation system, recently modified by a financial regulation reform for 2010 and 2011.

La finance solidaire constitue un champ fécond d’analyse de la régulation de la finance par l’éthique. Toutefois, dans un environnement financiarisé, la finance solidaire court le risque de perdre son identité solidaire par un processus d’isomorphisme institutionnel. Une telle dérive est perceptible dans le cas de la microfinance dans les pays du Sud. On y repère trois modalités de microfinance selon un ordre croissant d’immersion dans la finance classique via un formatage de l’offre et de l’identité solidaire : la microfinance pré-bancaire (cas d’isomorphisme coercitif), la microfinance bancaire (cas d’isomorphisme normatif) et la microfinance comme actif financier (cas d’isomorphisme mimétique). Les différentes modalités de la microfinance sont modélisées à travers une formalisation mathématique. Cependant, cette difficulté d’articulation de la finance et de l’éthique relève moins de l’influence de l’environnement financiarisé que d’un déficit d’appropriation collective de la finance. Une telle appropriation collective, caractérisée par une initiative à partir des acteurs sociaux, une forte résilience face à l’incertitude, un fort ancrage territorial et un rôle facilitateur de l’État, se voit davantage dans la finance solidaire dans les pays du Nord. / Solidarity-based finance is a fertile field to analyze the regulation of finance by ethics. However, in a “financiarized” environment, solidarity-based finance runs the risk of losing its solidarity identity by an institutional isomorphism process. Such drift is seen in the case of microfinance in the countries of the South. We identify three forms of microfinance according to the degree of immersion in classical finance environment: pre-banking microfinance (coercive isomorphism case), banking microfinance (normative isomorphism case) and microfinance as a financial asset (mimetic isomorphism case). These different forms of microfinance are modelled through a mathematical formalization. However, this difficulty to join finance and ethics is less driven by an influence of the “financiarized” environment than a deficit of finance collective appropriation. Such a collective appropriation, characterized by actions from the social actors, a strong resilience when faced uncertainty, a strong territorial anchorage and the role of the State, is a particular line of solidarity-based finance in the countries of the North.

My diploma thesis deals with problems of pension insurance, which is characterized by strong income redistribution and low pension equivalence. The aim of my thesis is complex analysis of contemporary state of Czech pension system from the point of view of solidarity and equivalence principle application and to propose solution reinforcing equivalence principle. In the theoretical part of the theses I first define terms solidarity and equivalence, then introduce types of pension plans, possibilities of their financing and describe current pension system. Analytical part points to excessive solidarity of Czech pension system. Analysis covers both mandatory basic pension insurance (reduction limits, non-contributory periods), and additional pension insurance with state contributions. Analysis contains comparison with selected states. Thesis conclusion leads in proposal of adequate problem solution. Study employs methods of systemic analysis, comparison, and synthesis.

Alors que le paradigme de la société de la connaissance tend à investir de plus en plus les champs politiques, économiques et sociaux, appréhender le phénomène du volontariat solidaire international sous ce prisme permet de mettre en avant les relations entre employabilité, citoyenneté et identité cognitive. En effet, le volontariat s’inscrit dans une tension entre une vision utilitariste à travers l’acquisition de compétences, une vision collective à travers sa contribution à l’intérêt général, et une conception individuelle liée à la construction identitaire. Etudier le volontariat solidaire à l’international sous l’angle de sa dimension formative et de ses potentielles répercussions dans la suite des parcours professionnels de jeunes adultes participe donc, à notre sens, d’une réflexion plus globale sur les fins et les moyens des apprentissages dans notre société. C’est à partir des parcours professionnels d’anciens volontaires que nous nous sommes intéressées aux répercussions de ce type d’expériences : qu’apprend-on au cours d’expériences de volontariat solidaire à l’international ? Comment ces apprentissages influent-ils dans la suite des parcours professionnels ? Dans quelle mesure les expériences de volontariat jouent-elles un rôle dans le rapport au travail de celles et ceux qui les vivent ? / The paradigm of knowledge society is increasing significantly in political, economic, and social fields. Understanding international volunteering through this lens enables to highlight the links between employability, citizenship and cognitive identity. Indeed, volunteering lies within a tension between a utilitarian vision through skill acquisition, a collective vision by contributing to common interest, and an individual conception linked to identity building. Studying international volunteering for solidarity from the point of view of its formative dimension and its potential impacts on young adults' career paths, contributes to a global reflection on the ends and means of learning in society. Based on career paths of former volunteers, this thesis looks at these experiences' repercussions: what does one learn during an international volunteering experience? What impact does this learning have on career paths' developments? How far are volunteering experiences instrumental in participants' relation to work?

University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Humanities Department of Sociology/ Global Labour University / This research report analyses the relationship between the Solidarity Economy framework and democratic values and practices. The research involved a literature review of the principles informing the Solidarity Economy (SE) framework, the experience of the SE in Brazil compared to South Africa, and the differences compared to conventional co-operatives. The field work involved semi structured interviews and participant observation in a worker co-operative located in Ivory Park, Gauteng. The co-operative is a bakery with approximately seven years of history with struggles and changes. The observation focused on the organization of power relations within the co-operative, the social relations between members themselves, with the community and with another institutions The research found that, despite facing challenges and being a small size cooperative, the social relationships are marked by democratic decision making, a flat, horizontal form of internal organisation and harmonious, collegial social relationships with an overall emphasis on solidarity. It suggests that co-operatives organised in terms of the Solidarity Economy framework have the potential to deepen sustainable democracy. Keywords: Solidarity Economy, Worker Co-operative, South Africa, Brazil, Qualitative method, Leadership, Social Relations, Democracy.

Nosso estudo busca identificar a conexão material entre o capitalismo e os direitos humanos de solidariedade. Esses direitos, segundo a teoria jurídica e as declarações internacionais, ao contemplarem toda a humanidade, ao conceberem o gênero humano como sujeito de direito, são a mais elevada expressão do progresso da consciência humana no que concerne a dignidade do homem e as ameaças contra a vida coletiva na Terra. Nós propomos, ao contrário, que os direitos humanos de terceira geração exprimem as formas mais abstratas do capitalismo depois da Segunda Guerra Mundial, especialmente aquelas que correspondem à finança e à mundialização do capital. A sociedade burguesa internacionalizada tornou-se ela mesma, em suas categorias fundamentais, mais abstrata, e as categorias jurídicas seguiram este mesmo movimento. E de modo similar ao que sucede com os direitos humanos de primeira geração e de segunda geração, as palavras charmosas apresentadas pelo humanismo jurídico portam, discretamente, a exploração capitalista. Os direitos ao patrimônio comum da humanidade, ao meio ambiente sadio, ao desenvolvimento e mesmo o direito à paz, cada um deles reproduz os meios de apropriação e organização capitalista do imperialismo os mesmos meios que dão suporte aos lucros privados sobre os bens coletivos, que mantêm a dominação imperialista e que preparam as guerras no interior do sistema de Estados. O idealismo e a visão romântica sobre os direitos humanos escondem esta contradição, e é preciso expô-la, é preciso superar a ideologia jurídica. Nossa crítica marxista, realizada pela crítica do capital e de sua forma jurídica em escala internacional, é um esforço nesta direção. / Our study seeks to identify the material connection between capitalism and human rights of solidarity. These rights, according to legal theory and international declarations, by contemplating the whole mankind, by conceiving human gender as a law subject, are the highest expression of the progress of human conscience concerning human dignity and the threats against collective life on Earth. We propose, on the contrary, that human rights of third generation express the most abstract forms of capitalism after the Second World War, specially those who correspond to finance and to capital globalization. The internationalized bourgeoise society has become itself more abstract in its fundamental categories, and legal categories have followed the same movement. And in a similar way to what happens to human rights of first generation and second generation, the charming words presented by legal humanism discreetly bear capitalist exploitation. The rights to the common heritage of mankind, to a clean environment, to development and even the right to peace, each one of them reproduce the means of capitalist appropriation and organization of imperialism the same means which support private profits and collective goods, which maintain imperialist domination and which prepare wars inside the system of states. The idealism and the romantic view about human rights hide this contradiction, and it is necessary to expose it, it is necessary to overcome legal ideology. Our marxist criticism, performed by the critique of capital and its legal form on international scale, is an effort towards this direction.

Ayant comme activité l'épargne et/ou le crédit, les initiatives auxquelles notre étude s'intéresse forment le domaine des finances solidaires, ce dernier constituant un sous-ensemble de l'économie solidaire. L' objectif central a été de délimiter ce champ en France et au Brésil, en interrogeant le rôle joué par ces initiatives dans le développement de l’économie solidaire sur un territoire. Dans une approche socioéconomique, la question du rôle des finances solidaires au-delà de leur dimension financière suppose une compréhension élargie de l’économie basée sur la pensée de Karl Polanyi. À partir d'une démarche ethnographique, nous constatons que l'activité de financement solidaire, considérée de manière isolée, produit un impact relativement peu significatif, en termes de financement et de développement de l'économie solidaire. Pour comprendre les finances solidaires, il est nécessaire de rendre compte des dimensions économique, sociale et politique de leur action. / The initiatives to which this study focuses are in the field of solidarity economy. Having as activity savings and / or credit, they form the field of social finance . The main question of this research is the role of social finance in the development of initiatives of the solidarity economy. In a socio-economic approach, this question implies a broader understanding of the economy which is based on K . Polanyi conceptual framework. Using an ethnographic approach in two different countries – France and Brazil -, we are looking for understand the social and political dimensions of solidarity finance. / Tendo como atividade principal a poupança e/ou o crédito, as iniciativas que interessam ao nosso estudo formam o campo das finanças solidárias, o qual se inscreve no campo da economia solidária. O objetivo central do traballho foi delimitar as finanças solidárias no Brasil e na França, questionando o papel dessas iniciativas no desenvolvimento da economia solidária em um dado território. Numa perspectiva socioeconômica, a questão do papel das finanças solidárias para além da dimension financeira supõe uma compreensão ampliada da economia, a qual se baseia no pensamento de Karl Polanyi. A partir de um trabalho de campo etnográfico, constatamos que quando analisamos a atividade de financiamento solidário de maneira isolada, seu impacto, em termos de financiamento e de desenvolvimento da economia solidária, parece relativamente pouco importante. Para compreender seu papel, é preciso considerar as dimensões econômica,social e política dessas iniciativas.