This thesis is a work of political philosophy. It aims to set out an egalitarian understanding of the promotion of social capital. The first chapter of the thesis is an introduction to social capital, and contains a normative criticism of contemporary social capital policy-making. A typology of theoretical approaches to social capital policies are outlined in the second chapter, including neoliberal constitutionalism, civic republicanism, and egalitarian pluralism. Of these approaches, egalitarian pluralism seems best able to promote social capital while balancing the competing values of freedom and equality. The third chapter builds on the egalitarian pluralist approach and investigates a relational egalitarian strategy for the promotion of social capital. / Thesis (Master, Philosophy) -- Queen's University, 2013-11-29 11:11:33.823

This thesis uses focus group interviews and survey questionnaires to examine perceptions of Ghanaian and Somali youth, residing in Toronto, about barriers to their labour market access. The emphasis is on perceptions that deal with labour market discrimination based on race, ethnicity and recency of immigration. The results show that perceptions of discrimination based on these factors are widespread among all of the participants interviewed or surveyed. This suggests a very strong belief that employment discrimination is pervasive and persistent in the Toronto labour market. The findings also show that the perceptions of discrimination are largely driven by ‘lived discriminatory’ experiences faced by the participants as well as revealing their desire for fairness and equality in society. The perceptions of discrimination negatively affected the level of trust the research participants have in people and institutions as well as impacting their sense of belonging to their communities and the wider society. The relationship between perceptions of discrimination and low levels of trust and sense of belonging is established in the findings of the Ethnic Diversity Survey. The consequences of this impact on the research participants and their communities are high levels of unemployment, high poverty rates and participant dissatisfaction with their own communities and society at large. It is my belief that this thesis contributes to the debate about the significance of discrimination due to race, ethnicity and immigrant status in the Canadian labour market.

This thesis explores the structure and delivery of education programs to justice-involved adults in Canadian federal prisons and in the community. A series of semi-structured interviews as well as three volumes of the Journal for Prisoners on Prisons were analyzed using a qualitative approach to determine whether or not principles of adult education and components of performative space are present in current correctional education strategies. The findings suggest that while there are occurrences of both elements in the education that is provided to prisoners, the programs in the community are much more reflective of these adult learning standards. This project highlights the need for research into the area of adult correctional education, increased collaboration between the fields of criminology and education, and provides a framework from which future research can continue.

This thesis is a detailed account and analysis of young disabled people‟s inclusions within one Further Education College. These inclusions were tied to a number of complex interactions between the people who exist there and key reforms to Further Education systems which aim to support an individual‟s capacity to offer entrepreneurial performances. Central to these reforms is alternative provision, which offer places in college to school aged students who risk failing to invest in the work-related skills and knowledge that apparently has measurable consequences for future earnings and social justice. This thesis shows how the inclusion of young disabled people in a contemporary college community has some unintended effects and consequences, and how their lives were differentially affected by social capital arising from social networks based on trust. An emancipatory, qualitative methodology was used to gather data. The findings provide important insights into how young disabled people possess, produce and utilise social capital, to build new relationships, to develop identity, to resist or manipulate pre-assigned social roles, networks and resources and to make the transition from school to college. In their own words, young disabled people question the sense of optimism often attributed to alternative provision and the extent to which their existence in college has overcome the social barriers and closed networks that can be associated with disabled people as a marginalised group. To harness such existences and to further develop social capital theory, my conclusions set out a young disabled person‟s negotiation of college as an ethical project in which everyone - college students, teaching staff and researchers - have work to do on themselves. This makes alternative provision not something that is just done to many young disabled people but a project for which everyone is responsible. This thesis, therefore, re-reads the story of alternative provision with a wary eye, using a critical approach to social capital theory. In doing so, the research not only confirms the significance of social capital as a crucial analytical tool for young disabled people, but also confronts the overly positive underpinnings of the social capital debate in education.

This thesis is an analysis of the integration of dispersed asylum seekers in Glasgow. It is a qualitative case study that uses data from participant observation with community groups, interviews with asylum seekers and those involved in service provision and policy, and documentary analysis. It examines the impact of policy within a local context, and the difficulties of defining and promoting integration for asylum seekers. The research makes both an empirical and theoretical contribution, building on the knowledge of the impact of dispersal and asylum policy, with a Scottish perspective analysing the issues when implementing reserved asylum policy within a devolved context. The research contributes to debates on integration with an analysis of the conceptual and practical difficulties of promoting integration for asylum seekers. The research findings are structured around three key analytic themes, the impact of policy on asylum seekers and other stakeholders, defining and promoting integration, and challenges. The research indicates tensions between devolved and reserved responsibilities in relation to asylum. The different approaches to integration create difficulties for those working within devolved services, but implementing a reserved policy. Promoting integration for asylum seekers is seen as beneficial for both asylum seekers and host communities in Scotland, but there are both conceptual and practical challenges. There are difficulties of how far and in what ways temporary integration can be measured, which are analysed in relation to existing frameworks for integration. Practice related debates have formed the basis of a shift to a more strategic platform for integration work. Contexts and procedures continue to change, however, bringing fresh challenges. The concept of social capital has been influential in the structures that have been set up to facilitate the processes of integration and dispersal within Glasgow. Yet there are difficulties with the usage of a social capital based framework. Whilst social capital is a useful concept, there is a risk that its usage may mask issues of inequality and exclusion, and the fundamental difficulties of the asylum process remain.

Guided by the life course perspective, this study examined the frequency of caregiving provided by older adults to kin and non-kin. A telephone survey produced a random sample of adults 60 years of age and older, which was predominantly White, with higher income and education levels (n = 278). Bivariate and multivariate analyses tested the impact of demographic characteristics and other variables, conceptualized as physical, human, and social capital, on the frequency of caregiving. Gender, age, health, limitations, education, income, household composition, social contact, and reciprocity were analyzed in multinomial logistic regressions. Caregiving was defined as care provided to sick or disabled persons, with frequency of providing care classified as often, sometimes, and never. The majority of older adults provided at least some care to others over a one-year period, with almost one-third doing so often and only one-quarter never doing so. Most provided care to more than one person, with over one-quarter providing care to multiple friends only. Age failed to predict caregiving involvement when physical and social capital variables were considered. The odds of often providing care are higher for women, although gender did not predict those who never provided care. Having at least some college only significantly predicted women who often provided care. Living with a disabled person increased the frequency of caregiving, although that care was not always for the disabled person. Similarly, living with a spouse, as compared to living alone, increased caregiving involvement but often the spouse was not the care recipient. These findings highlight a need for policy changes that will support and recognize the contributions of older caregivers of both family and friends. The definition of caregiving is another policy issue that should be addressed. These findings also challenge policymakers and community leaders to promote informal caregiving by providing educational programs to enhance and better utilize the talents, abilities, and altruistic concerns of older caregivers.

This research examines multi-generational households and patterns of co-residence among Chinese immigrant households in Winnipeg following the federal government’s reforms of the Parent Grandparent Program in 2014. These phenomena are examined within the conceptual frameworks of familial obligations and social capital. The study interviewed 29 mainland Chinese immigrants living in Winnipeg. The study found that while social capital is relevant to understanding the flow of favours across generations, the flow of favours between generations is not necessarily reciprocal, but instead flows downward to the youngest generation. The study found the enormous scale of social, political and economic transformation in mainland China over the past half century have produced different forms of familial obligations and largely eliminated the practice of co-residence. Reforms to the PGP had the most impact on young families that desired to sponsor their parents and in-laws over a relatively short period of time. / May 2017

Purpose: The purpose of our research was to study the role and impact that ‘information and communication technologies’ and the MEC centers might have on the Uruguayan society. We want to examine how MEC and ICT usage could affect daily lives of marginalized people in Uruguay. We want to explore how it might benefit individuals living in small communities by evaluating indicators of positive impact of how ICT usage could strengthen capitals and increase freedom. Furthermore, our aim is to understand how digital literacy and the access to ICT’s can be related to democracy, and try to understand if greater individual empowerment also could enhance democracy. Method: For a period of eight weeks, from March 3rd to 28th of April 2014, we were in Montevideo and vicinity to gather material that we later have analyzed qualitatively. The material is based on observations in the field, interviews with various stakeholders, manuals and national policy documents concerning MEC, as well answers we received from an online survey. Main conclusions:We have found that the MEC centers and ICT, combined with education, could be an important tool to facilitate the inclusion of marginalized groups in the Uruguayan society. Our findings indicate that the MEC centers in Uruguay could contribute to the decentralization of the country and have a positive impact on gender- and generation equality. The result suggests that the centers could have a positive impact on democracy in Uruguay by teaching participants how to use e-governmental services as well as encouraging them to participate in online governmental websites. Furthermore, we found that MEC lets the local communities be in charge of their own development, which indicate that the sustainability of the project is increased as well as the positive development outcome. Through the MEC centers we found that both the freedom and the social capital of the participants were positively affected.

English title: “I still wander from country to country” The essay is about newly arrived immigrants, academics from countries outside Europe and their integration at the Swedish labour market. The purpose of this essay is to increase knowledge about non-European academic’s abilities and needs, and at the same time bring better understanding about how this group can contribute to the labour market. The essay is based on qualitative semi-structured research and interviews with ten unemployed individuals living in a medium-size city in south Sweden. The theoretical starting points are: postcolonial theory, Antonovsky’s KASAM theory and Bourdieu’s theoretical concept named social capital. The essay´s main conclusions are: This group of immigrants is facing several obstacles that aggravates their integration into Swedish labour market such as discrimination, ethnic hierarchy, stereotypes, contacts with Swedes and language barriers. Lack of network, informational contacts and communication with natives Swedes are some of challenges for the integration into the Swedish society. One of the causes that prolongs establishment in the labour market for unemployed immigrant’s is the long process of the Swedish school system for new arrivals which takes long time and isn’t combined with internship. The employers often undervalue and outlook foreign-born people’s education and this is a reason why some academics starts to look for jobs which they are overqualified for. Informants experiences of discrimination in the Swedish labour market are often related to their ethnicity and foreign name which is, according to the informants, the main reason why they don’t meet a Swedish employer. Overall there is a big dissatisfaction with Arbetsförmedlingen that doesn’t have working structure to offer internship or job to the new arrival non-European academic’s in the early phase of the integration process.

With increased immigration into western democracies, how to establish generalised trust in society has received new attention. Are minorities and immigrants low trust levels best remediated through Putnam’s theory of civil organisation engagement or Rothstein’s theory of impartial institutions? Simultaneously, people are hired based on their cultural identity to work with minorities and immigrants in Swedish public administration, which is thought to increase the target group’s trust. This resembles the ideas of representative bureaucracy and conflicts with traditional merit recruitment and Rothstein’s theory. This thesis uses an inductive ideal type method based on an assumption of thin rationality to study the phenomena of hiring based on cultural identity, which it names cultural professionalism. It askes firstly, what does cultural professionalism contribute with that makes it desirable for actors in public administration and how is this related to trust? Secondly, what are the trade-offs when using cultural professionalism in public administration? Through studying the rational of the phenomena for actors directly affected by it, the findings indicate that cultural professionalism is a way to communicate information and legitimise implementation towards minority groups. The cultural professionals use their trustworthiness within the group to link implementation and information from public administration towards the group, and information from the group towards public administration. This information also has a socialising potential. The trust is however particularised, i.e. not bridged to public administration. Problematic logics discovered in the material are evaluated towards the three values of public administration: democracy, rule of law and efficiency. In sum, cultural professionals imply trade-offs for democracy and rule of law, and appears to favour efficiency. Lastly, cultural professionalism is described and defined as a “new” ideal type legitimacy model in policy implementation.