Divorce and the Politics of the American Social Welfare Regime, 1969-2001 asks how rising divorce rates shaped the laws governing the American social welfare regime between 1969, when California passed the nation’s first no-fault divorce law, and 2001. Scholars have shown that in the early 20th century the American social welfare regime developed to distribute economic resources, such as Social Security, to women through their husbands. Between 1967 and 1979, however, the United States’ divorce rate doubled. This dissertation investigates how this sudden challenge to the breadwinner-homemaker family structure affected the gendered welfare regime. Divorce and the Politics of the American Social Welfare Regime examines how women organized to gain access to lost economic resources after divorce and how policymakers responded to their demands. It reveals important and forgotten components of the histories of welfare state development, the feminist movement of the 1970s, and marriage law. It argues that, ironically, rising divorce rates led to a series of federal laws that actually strengthened the social welfare system’s use of marriage to determine eligiblity for benefits. These new laws specifically rewarded intact marriages by providing more robust benefits to women in longer marriages. In a political world increasingly concerned with the impermenance of marriage, Congress created a legal system that signaled that marriage was about length of commitment above all else.

In the UNDP Report of 2008, promotion of gender equality and women empowerment, Millennium Development Goal (MDG3), has been declared not only as the main developmental objective but also a fundamental mode of attaining the entire MDGs. This study examines women’s experiences of economic empowerment projects in the era of escalating female household heading and relentless poverty in Lesotho. It particularly focuses on women participating in crafts projects initiated for income generation, in the context of gendered spaces. A growing body of literature asserts that Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) is a potential route out of abject poverty, especially for the economically marginalised women in Female- Headed Households (FHH). A case study focusing on women participants in Teya-teyaneng crafts of Berea district in Lesotho was carried out. Semi-structured interviews were employed to explore the potential of participation to yield positively for empowerment in the scenario of informal economy. Findings from the two units within the single case utilised revealed that empowerment remains to be one of the entangled processes of economic development. It is highly subjected to social, political and economic procedures operating in a country. The study further revealed that economic empowerment of women participating in income generating projects is considerably constrained by the patriarchal and globalised economic set ups that women operate within. The case of Elelloang Basali illuminated that adherence to contemporary strategies of economic empowerment is a beneficial ingredient, contrary to the operations of Setsoto Design. Recommendations ultimately forwarded highlight the significance of macro-economic policy to pay attention to the assertion that WEE is not merely a path out of poverty but an intrinsic entity of employment-led-growth. This also hints on policy for broad-based growth that can be countercyclical for the economy of the country. The paper serves to articulate a dire need for shift from reluctance to responsiveness for those with political and economic will power. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Le travail explore et démontre le pourquoi de la persistance de la pauvreté des femmes en Afrique post-conflit. Le cas d'étude est celui des Femmes rwandaises chefs de ménages dans leurs tentatives d'accès au microcrédit, considéré jusqu'ici comme outil de réduction de la pauvreté. Les conséquences du génocide de 1994 au Rwanda a contraint beaucoup de femmes et de filles à se prendre en charge socialement et économiquement. Cependant dans une société toujours patrilinéaire, les obstacles sont nombreux. Malgré que le microcrédit existe, il ne dépasse pas non plus les inégalités de genre enracinées dans la culture rwandaise. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Women are now making their mark in virtually every economic sector including traditionally male strongholds of engineering, heavy transport, construction and manufacturing. Probably the most spectacular progress by women has been in the public sector. Many women now have voting rights, follow careers which demand that they work outside of the home, enjoy professional status equal to their male compatriots, occupy top leadership positions in their societies and, furthermore, fulfil their traditional roles of wife and mother. The present study is an attempt to explore a female eader’s perceptions and experience of discrimination in her place of work. The problem has been that although there have been significant changes in women’s increased representation in recent years, it is believed that women who succeed in obtaining top management posts still have to deal with unfair barriers. These need to be more carefully explored and understood. In this study I focus on one female leader’s perceptions and experiences of leadership in an institution of higher learning. The advantages and disadvantages of such a small case study are discussed later. A phenomenological approach was used for obtaining information pertaining to the phenomenon “female leadership”, because phenomenology does offer ways of understanding not offered by other research methodologies. It enables the researcher to enter the lived world of the researched, and understand events and perceptions from a fresh point of view. A semi-structured interview was used to allow the respondent freedom to elaborate on responses in whatever manner she wished. The results obtained indicate that women are in a life-world in which, apart from the general experiences shared with their male counterparts, they are also exposed to many other forms of discrimination. Some of these are subtle, and result from years of socialisation into perceived gender role expectations. I hope that what I have discovered may help to contribute to the small but growing body of literature that seeks to understand women leaders’ experiences, and perhaps in time play a role in enhancing their relative position in education and society at large.

Wu, Ka Ming. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-163). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i-iii / Table of Content --- p.iv-v / Abbreviations --- p.vi / Chapter Chapter One --- Introduction: Women and Poverty in Hong Kong --- p.1 / Poor Women: Where and Who are They? / Research Purpose and Questions / Research Methodology / Some Research Reflections / Chapter Chapter Two --- "Engendering the Question of Poverty: Power in Economy, State and Discourse" --- p.14 / Women and Development under Economic Globalization / Working Daughters Getting Old: The Hong Kong Case / Hong Kong in the International Political Economy / Poor Women: The Opposition of Workers and Citizens / Welfare Perspectives: Three Different Theoretical Streams / The Political Economy of Welfare State / Feminist Critique of Welfare State / Poor Women and Welfare Services in Hong Kong / The Genealogy of Modern Power: Foucault on Power and Discourse / Discourse Analysis / Ideology versus Truth / The Power of Gaze / The Welfare Cut: The Poor as Objects of State Intervention / Power/ Knowledge / Chapter Chapter Three --- poor Women as Product of Economic Development: Changing Role of Hong Kong in the Global Economy --- p.45 / Changing Role of Hong Kong in the Global Economy / Poor Women after Economic Restructuring / Reproductive Work Positions: Sliding Ranks and Salaries / No Jobs for Poor Mothers / Working Poor Mothers: Reconciling Paid Work and Family Responsibility / Familialism and the Incorporation of Women as Labor / Capitalist Production of Familialism / The Matron Workers in the 1970s vs the Disabled Women in the 1990s / Entering the Information Age in the late 1990s: Poor Women and Development / Conclusion / Chapter Chapter Four --- "Women, Poverty and the Welfare System in Hong Kong " --- p.72 / Concern of Hong Kong Social Policy / The Myth of Lassie-faire in Social Welfare / Productivity: Philosophy of Hong Kong Social Welfare / Single Mothers as Study Focus / Who has the Right to Social Welfare? The Breadwinner's Myth / Housing Problem for Single Mothers with Children / Poor Lives of Lone Mother: Child Caring and Work / Women in Our Welfare System without Citizenship / Chapter Chapter Five --- Discourse on the Welfare Cut: The Poor as Object of Intervention --- p.101 / Discursive Analysis / The Arrival of Dependency Culture in Hong Kong / Colonial Fear against the Poor: History of the Politics of Welfare / The Poor as the Object of Intervention / "The Poor against the “Imagined Poor"" " / The Construction of Social Subjectivities of the Lower Class / Conclusion: Difficulty of the Underclass and their Agency / Chapter Chapter Six --- Knowledge Production and Power Relation in Hong Kong --- p.124 / Social Welfare in Hong Kong: To Prevent People from Starving to Death / Make Money and Be Happy: People and Society in Hong Kong / Chou's Discourse on Welfare in Hong Kong / The Hidden Reality in the Affluent 1990s / Rocketing Welfare and Car Crash / The Meaning of Non-Interventionism: Government and Business Interests / Non-Interventionism as Ruling Success or Ruling Inability? / Power/ Knowledge and the Politics of Writing / Conclusion / Chapter Chapter Seven --- Conclusion --- p.148 / Complicity of Economic Development / Complicity of the Government / Power of Discourse / Effects of Discourse / Discourse and Knowledge Production / The Future / Bibliography --- p.155

This thesis explores how a typical area of rural Wales participated in and was shaped by social and economic change during the period of the Industrial Revolution. It investigates how increasing numbers of people made a livelihood in the Caernarvonshire hundred of Nantconwy over the period 1750-1860, including the role of women in the local economy. A wide range of record types are used to explore inter-relationships between population growth, agriculture, proto-industry, the organisation of farming households, and the livelihoods of the poor. The thesis covers a key gap in the historical literature, as most studies of agrarian change at this period concentrate on England, and there has been little investigation of the experience in rural Wales. Unlike many parts of England where economic modernization was accompanied by growing inequality involving a transition from a household economy to a capitalist tripartite society of landowners, tenant farmers and landless wage labourers, Nantconwy experienced a growth of subsistence smallholding, as more people faced with a shortage of waged employment sought to make a livelihood from the land. Family by-employment and proto-industry also played a crucial role in the local economy. Bringing the commons and wastes into private ownership had relatively little impact on the poor, but smallholders' livelihoods were adversely affected after 1815 by the mechanization of spinning and declining earnings from stocking knitting. Living standards began to improve after 1830 with the expansion of male employment in slate quarrying, while the role of women on family farms was enhanced. Parishes evolved a low-cost system of poor relief which supported mainly older residents who were no longer able to quite make ends meet from the traditional cottager economy, while encouraging the young to leave the land or migrate to local towns or quarrying areas with better employment prospects.

Thesis (MPA (Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Unemployment and poverty have an adverse effect on society and proactive and sustainable measures are needed to deal with it. Women and rural women in particular, form the most affected group when it comes to unemployment and poverty. Illiteracy and underdevelopment are the major barriers to the advancement of unemployed rural women. Women in rural settings in most cases rely on local economic development (LED) initiatives for day-to-day survival. Local government has a constitutional mandate to promote social and economic development in order to improve the quality life for the citizens of South Africa. This mandate has been followed by a number of policy documents and guidelines for LED to enable local authorities to perform this task efficiently. The concept of LED is a micro approach in that it deals directly with local issues of economic development through partnerships between communities, business, workers, development agencies and governmental agencies to promote local economy. There is a pressing need for local government to be proactive in dealing with issues of rural development and in supporting LED initiatives of rural women. The literature review covers the theoretical framework of LED through examining both international and domestic practices. The review deals with the history of LED, the LED concept, development theories, evaluation of the practices of LED, as well as participatory development, pro-poor LED, and tourism as a response to LED. It further assesses the contextual framework of LED with particular attention to South African policy and practice. The state of LED in South Africa is discussed, together with the way forward for LED. The study provides an investigation into the background of the Mandeni Municipality by looking at the demographic factors and geographical location of the area. The state of LED in Mandeni Municipality is highlighted, together with LED strategy for the Municipality, and major future development associated with LED. The study clearly portrays that there is a gap between the LED initiatives of the unemployed rural women and the Municipality. The strategic location of the Municipality facilitates future economic prospects for the area and new development proposals associated with LED. It is clear from the LED Unit structure in Mandeni Municipality that there is a lack of capacity to deal with the LED challenges and local economic initiatives. From the literature review it is clear that women are critical role players in LED because of their ability to initiate community-based economic development projects and to perform multi-task activities. It is evident that strong partnerships with various LED stakeholders working directly with low-income communities can play a meaningful role in alleviating poverty, and in the creation of employment. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Werkloosheid en armoede het vandag .n nadelige invloed op die gemeenskap en proaktiewe en volhoubare maatreels is nodig om dit hok te slaan. Wat werkloosheid en armoede betref, val vroue onder die groepe wat die meeste geraak word, veral plattelandse vroue. Ongeletterdheid en onderontwikkeling is die vernaamste hindernisse vir die vooruitgang van werklose plattelandse vroue. Vroue in .n plattelandse milieu steun sterk op plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsinisiatiewe vir hulle dag tot dag oorlewing. Plaaslike regering het .n konstitusionele mandaat om maatskaplike en ekonomiese ontwikkeling te bevorder ten einde die lewenskwaliteit van burgers van Suid-Afrika te verbeter. .n Enorme behoefte bestaan dat die plaaslike regering proaktief moet optree wanneer aangeleenthede rakende plattelandse ontwikkeling en ondersteuning van plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelings-inisiatiewe vir plattelandse vroue aangespreek word. Op beleidsvlak het Suid-Afrika sterk klem geplaas op plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkeling as maatreel om sosio-ekonomiese toestande vir plattelandse gemeenskappe te verbeter. Plattelandse vroue staar egter reuse uitdagings rondom onderontwikkeling in die gesig. Die groot probleem vir hierdie navorsing is dat die Mandeni munisipaliteit se plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsprogramme, wat vroue as voorheen gemarginaliseerde en kwesbare groepe teiken, onsigbaar is. Plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsinisiatiewe geskied in isolasie van die munisipaliteit en daar blyk maar .n powere vennootskap tussen die munisipaliteit en plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsinisiatiewe wat deur vroue gevoer word, te wees. Die Plaaslike Ekonomiese Ontwikkelingseenheid (LED-eenheid), wat oor .n mandaat beskik vir die implementering van plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsprogramme, het .n niksseggende rol in die bevordering van plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsprogramme vir plaaslike werklose vroue gespeel. Daarbenewens is daar baie vroue onder die bevolking van die Mandeni-munisipaliteit en die meerderheid van hulle is werkloos. Die vernaamste doelwitte van hierdie studie was om probleme te identifiseer wat die LED-eenheid gehad het met die implementering van LED-programme vir die werklose vrou en om sy vlak van deelname, in belang van die werklose plattelandse vroue, te assesseer. Die fokusgroep-metode is tydens navorsing ingespan met die insameling van data oor die twee verskillende vroueorganisasies wat plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsprojekte geinisieer het. Voorts is die onderhoud-metode tydens die studie toegepas vir die insameling van data rondom die drie munisipale amptenare en die Speaker van die munisipaliteit. Die vernaamste bevindinge van die navorsing toon duidelik dat daar .n gaping bestaan tussen LED-inisiatiewe deur die plattelandse werklose vroue en die Mandeni-munisipaliteit. Die bevindinge van die studie dui daarop dat die LED-eenheidstruktuur van die Mandeni-munisipaliteit oor onvoldoende fondse beskik en gebrek toon aan die nodige vermoe om die plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsuitdagings en plaaslike ekonomiese inisiatiewe van die werklose plattelandse vroue te hanteer. Dit is duidelik dat vroue kritiese rolspelers in plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkeling is weens hulle vermoe om gemeenskapsgebaseerde ekonomiese ontwikkelingsprojekte te inisieer en hulle kennis om veelvuldige taakbedrywighede van stapel te laat loop. Ten slotte beveel die studie aan dat die LED-eenheid geherstruktureer word om die LED-agterstande binne die Mandeni-munisipaliteit aan te spreek, dat daar behoorlike koordinering van LED-programme moet wees, en dat die plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsinisiatiewe vir vroue sterk deur die Mandeni-munisipaliteit gesteun moet word.

Ecofeminism perceives an interconnection between the domination of women and poor people, and the domination of nature. This domination is founded on modern, Western, patriarchal, dualised structures, which subordinate all considered as "the other" compared to the superior masculine archetype. Hence, all feminine is seen as inferior and may therefore be exploited. This is presently manifested in the neo-liberal economic development ideal. Its global penetration generates huge economic profits, which are reaped by Northern and Southern elites, while its devastating crises of poverty, violence, environmental destruction, and human rights abuses makes life increasingly unmanageable for Southern women, poor people and nature. Feminism and ecology have therefore come together aiming at liberating women, poor people and nature. They want to change the dualised, reductionist perception of reality into a holistic cosmology. Ecofeminism consequently aims to integrate the concerns of women, poor people and nature into development. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

Ecofeminism perceives an interconnection between the domination of women and poor people, and the domination of nature. This domination is founded on modern, Western, patriarchal, dualised structures, which subordinate all considered as "the other" compared to the superior masculine archetype. Hence, all feminine is seen as inferior and may therefore be exploited. This is presently manifested in the neo-liberal economic development ideal. Its global penetration generates huge economic profits, which are reaped by Northern and Southern elites, while its devastating crises of poverty, violence, environmental destruction, and human rights abuses makes life increasingly unmanageable for Southern women, poor people and nature. Feminism and ecology have therefore come together aiming at liberating women, poor people and nature. They want to change the dualised, reductionist perception of reality into a holistic cosmology. Ecofeminism consequently aims to integrate the concerns of women, poor people and nature into development. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

Text in English with abstracts in English, isiXhosa and isiZulu / Research about intimate partner violence (hereafter IPV) in South Africa indicate that there are high prevalence rates. The negative effects of this phenomenon create a wide range of physical, mental and emotional problems for those exposed to it. There have been various intervention programmes designed to address IPV. However, the high incidence indicates that these have been ineffective. Seeking to explore women’s lived experiences of IPV at a non-profit organisation, this study gathered data from women with experiences of IPV. Eight participants were selected based on purposive sampling technique from a non-profit organization in Johannesburg. Utilizing semi-structured interviews conducted in English for a duration of one hour, data was gathered from the participants. Using IPA and the ecological model as a theoretical framework to interpret the women’s lived experiences. The findings of the study indicated that individual factors such as childhood exposure to violence influenced the women’s lived experiences of IPV. Stereotypical gender roles and economic strains were found to be at the core of the women’s lived experiences of IPV. Furthermore, broader societal values and beliefs about violence proved to validate and normalise the violence women experienced. The findings broaden our understanding of intimate partner violence and offer an opportunity to add knowledge of intimate partner violence in the South African context. / Uphando malunga nobundlobongela obenziwa liqabane othandana nalo (apha okubizwa ngokuba yi-IPV) eMzantsi Afrika lubonakalisa ukuba bukwizinga eliphezulu. Iziphumo ezibi zesi senzeko zidala iingxaki ezahlukahlukeneyo ngokwasemzimbeni, ngokwasengqondweni nangokwasemphefumlweni kwabo basesichengeni sazo. Iinkqubo zongenelelo ezahlukahlukeneyo ziye zayilelwa ukuhlangabezana neIPV. Nangona kunjalo, izehlo eziphezulu zibonakalisa ukuba azikhange zisebenze. Ngokufuna ukuphonononga iimeko amabhinqa aphila phantsi kwazo zeIPV kwiqumrhu elingenzi nzuzo, olu phononongo luqokelele idatha kumabhinqa aphila phantsi kweemeko zeIPV. Abathabathinxaxheba abasibhozo bakhethwa kwiqumrhu elingenzi nzuzo eGoli ngokusekelwe kubuchule bokusampula okunenjongo. Kusetyenziswa udliwanondlebe olwakheke ngokwesiqingatha olwaqhutywa ngesiNgesi ngesithuba seyure enye, idatha yaye yaqokelelwa kubathabathinxaxheba. Uhlalutyo lwamava emo yesenzeko umntu aphila phantsi kwaso (i-IPA) kunye nemodeli yonxibelelwano phakathi koluntu nemekobume yalo zasetyenziswa njengenkqubosikhokelo sethiyori ukutolika iimeko amabhinqa aphila phantsi kwazo. Iziphumo zophononongo zabonakalisa ukuba iimeko ezizodwa ezinje ngokuba sesichengeni sobundlobongela ebuntwaneni ziphembelele iimeko amabhinqa aphila phantsi kwazo zeIPV. Iindima zobuni zeengcinga ezisoloko zisetyenziswa njalo kunye nengxaki yezoqoqosho zafumaniseka zingoyena ndoqo weemeko amabhinqa aphila phantsi kwazo ngokuphathelele kwi-IPV. Kwakhona, imikhwa esulungekileyo yoluntu ngokubanzi kunye neenkolelo malunga nobundlobongela zibonakalise ukwamkela nokubenza bube yinto eqhelekileyo ubundlobongela obuthe behlela amabhinqa.Iziphumo zenza siqonde ngokungaphaya ngeIPV kwaye zinika ithuba lokongeza ulwazi ngeIPV kwimeko yaseMzantsi Afrika. / Ucwaningo mayelana nodlame lwezithandani (emva kwalokhu oluzobizwa nge-IPV) eNingizimu Afrika lukhombisa ukuphakama okukhulu kwamazinga okwanda nokusabalala kwalolu hlobo lodlame kuleli. Imithelela engemihle neze yalolu dlame idala izinkinga eziningi impela kulabo abazithola bebhekene nalolu dlame, okungaba yizinkinga zomzimba, zengqondo kanye nezomphefumulo. Ziningi izinhlelo zokungenelela ezisunguliwe njengomzamo wokuqeda isihlava se-IPV. Kepha-ke, ukubhebhetheka nokusabalala kakhulu kwezigameko zalolu dlame kubonisa ukuthi azisebenzi neze kahle lezi zinhlelo zokungenelela. Lolu cwaningo lwaqoqa idatha kwabesifazane abake bahlangabezana ne-IPV, ngenhloso yokucubungula nokuhlaziya ngokujulile izigameko abadlule kuzona abesifazane abayizisulu ze-IPV abathola usizo enhlanganweni engenzi nzuzo. Ababambiqhaza abayisishiyagalombili abavela enhlanganweni engenzi nzuzo eGoli bakhethwa ngokulandela indlela yokukhetha ababambiqhaza ngokwezici-bunjalo zabo ezihambelana nezinhloso zocwaningo. Idatha yaqoqwa kubabambiqhaza ngokusebenzisa izingxoxo ezingama-semi-structured interviews ezabanjwa ngolimi lwesiNgisi isikhathi esiyihora. Kwasetshenziswa i-interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) kanye ne-ecological model njengohlaka lwethiyori yokuhumusha izigameko abadlule kuzona abesifazane ezimpilweni zabo.Imiphumela-ngqangi yocwaningo yakhombisa ukuthi izimo eziqondene nomuntu ngamunye, njengokuhlangabezana komuntu nodlame ngenkathi eseyingane, kwaba nomthelela kwindlela abesifazane abahlangabezana ngayo nezigameko ze-IPV nezinyathelo abazithathayo kanye nolwazi abaluzuzayo kulokhu. Amaqhaza kanye nemisebenzi ethathwa njengemisebenzi yabesifazane kuphela kanye nezimo zomnotho ezinzima ababhekene nazo abesifazane kwaba nomthelela kwindlela abahlangabezana ngayo nezigameko ze-IPV kanye nezinyathelo abazithathayo. Ngaphezu kwalokho, izimompilo kanye nezinkolelo zomphakathi wonkana eziphathelene nodlame zabonisa ukugunyazeka ngandlelathize kodlame abahlangabezane nalo abesifazane futhi ngokunjalo zalwenza lwaba yinto ethathwa njengejwayelekile. Imiphumela-ngqangi yocwaningo ikhulisa ukuqonda kwethu i-IPV futhi ihlinzeka ngethuba lokwengeza olwazini lwe-IPV oluqondene nesimo saseNingizimu Afrika. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)