Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009. / Full text also available online. Scroll down for electronic link.

Many development organizations now recognize the importance of culturally sensitive project design and implementation. Unfortunately most of these groups continue to disregard the significance of gender. This qualitative research examines a women's cooperative in rural El Salvador which formed in order to find a means of generating income and to improve the general status of women in this region. One purpose of this qualitative research was to investigate what, if any, economic and social benefits the cooperative members received through their involvement. Another purpose was to analyze the models of development employed by the agencies involved in implementing four cooperative projects, as well as the member's attitudes toward those projects. Data presented in this thesis was collected during a fifteen-month period in 1994 and 1995, and a one-month period in 1998. Twenty-six cooperative members were interviewed in 1998. The four projects investigated include cows and nutrition, land and reforestation, artisan crafts and corn mills. These findings indicate that the empowerment model of development, in which self-reliance is maintained and strategic gender needs are met through mobilizing around practical gender needs, is the most successful. Focusing on local knowledge and preserving the agency of the target population are critical to project success. The findings also show that social power is attained by many women in the cooperative as increased self-esteem and involvement lead to gaining a legitimate voice in community affairs. Economic power, however, is only achieved by maintaining a paid leadership position within the cooperative. This research makes recommendations centered on improved access to credit. / Graduation date: 2001

"Mémoire de maitrise"--Université nationale du Bénin, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [40]-43).

潘文瀚. / "2006年6月" / 論文(哲學碩士)--香港中文大學, 2006. / 參考文獻(leaves 145-152). / "2006 nian 6 yue" / Abstracts also in English. / Pan Wenhan. / Lun wen (zhe xue shuo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2006. / Can kao wen xian (leaves 145-152). / Chapter 第一章 --- 緒論 --- p.1 / 硏究問題及意義 --- p.1 / 硏究背景 --- p.3 / 理論綜述 --- p.9 / 硏究方法 --- p.17 / 論文大綱 --- p.20 / Chapter 第二章 --- 深圳女工寫照：「現代化」的困境 --- p.23 / 深圳的「崛起」與全球化生產 --- p.24 / 外來女工的生活 --- p.30 / 中國工運空間的縮減 --- p.39 / 小結 --- p.45 / Chapter 第三章 --- 合作社的出現 --- p.47 / 婦女團結理念：從服務到社運 --- p.48 / 婦女團結在深圳面對的困難 --- p.53 / 成立合作社的原因 --- p.58 / 女工合作社的發展過程 --- p.64 / 小結 --- p.69 / Chapter 第四章 --- 對合作社理念的不同詮釋 --- p.72 / 合作社的不同行動者 --- p.74 / 執委對合作社的理解 --- p.77 / 香港及本地職員：只是執行者？ --- p.85 / 女工：合作社的主體？ --- p.94 / 小結 --- p.110 / Chapter 第五章 --- 操作中的權力關係 --- p.112 / 日常運作中的權力地圖 --- p.113 / 特殊事件 --- p.127 / 小結 --- p.133 / Chapter 第六章 --- 結語 --- p.135 / 聆聽多元的聲音及經驗 --- p.136 / 處理權力關係中的不平等 --- p.138 / 另類發展的終極目標：充權 --- p.140 / 外來組織者在中國開展另類發展 --- p.143 / 參考文獻 --- p.145

This study identifies and explores the challenges faced by Local Women’s Co-operatives as service providers to the school feeding programmes in KwaZulu-Natal. It was motivated by the need to provide information, which could be used as a basis to ensure that the nutritional and educational objectives of the National School Nutritional Programme could co-exist with local women’s economic empowerment. A review of literature will demonstrate that, within the developmental framework, school feeding programmes are a valuable strategy and that there are diverse views as to whether co-operatives should be the preferred institutional model. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed July 2, 2009). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-138).

This thesis is based on an in-depth assessment of the three rural women co-operatives in the Tsojana village, within the Intsika Yethu Local Municipality, which is the largest and most rural municipality within the Chris Hani District Municipality. 95 percent of households in this municipality live in rural areas or villages (Integrated Development Plan (IDP), 2010-2011). Rural areas are characterised by high levels of poverty, deprivation, poor infrastructure, and poor linkages to markets. Rural women are the ones experiencing poverty at first hand due to the fact that they are less mobile; when food crisis hits, men tend to leave to look for work or income in towns/cities, while women stay behind to look after their families (Moyo-Mhlanga, 2001). In 1975, the World Bank addressed the question of how women can become effective in economic development, hence the establishment of Women in Development Projects to encourage them to be more involved in income-generating activities like rural projects, co-operatives (co-ops) and self-help groups. A co-operative is an autonomous association of people who join voluntarily to meet their socio-economic and cultural needs through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise (International Labour Organization (ILO), 2002). The United Nations (UN) recognized the contribution cooperatives can make to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through productive employment, eradicating poverty, enhancing social integration and promoting the advancement of women. This research study was motivated by the fact that- there are various women development projects/co-operatives in Tsojana Administrative Area (A/A) which aim to improve the lives of the rural people for the better, but most of these co-ops are not sustainable and financially viable. Rural women have realized that in order to sustain development they have to integrate themselves into village development structures, as in various co-operatives, informal rural entrepreneurs and agricultural and non-farm income-generating activities. The study proposes to investigate the reasons for the failure of these co-ops to create sustainable rural livelihoods. The study further attempts to explore development strategies that will assist to transform and advance the co-ops towards sustainable development for all. It also aims to explore strategies that will alleviate poverty, create jobs, and address all factors of underdevelopment and deprivation. The overall methodological approach in this study is qualitative in nature, as it is based on the understanding of the situation from the participant‟s point of view, or perspective. It seeks to describe, investigate and explore aspects of development projects, and to also understand the aspects of socio-economic life of rural women. It combines three traditions of enquiry, i.e. case study, phenomenology, and ethnography. A non-probability type of sampling, in particular purposive sampling, was used for the study because the researcher‟s samples are based on her judgement. Interpretive research paradigm was used to allow the researcher to study meaningful social action, not just the external or observable behaviour of people, and various research tools were used to collect data. These co-operatives have been identified as struggling for survival, and lacking training, and material and financial resources. The co-operatives require support for expansion and modernizing their operations.

M.A. / The dissertation analyses the political involvement of two women's organisations, Kontak and Women for Peace, during the period 1976-1990. Both organisations were established in the political watershed year of 1976. Kontak had its roots in `verligte' Afrikaner thinking concerned primarily about the image of the Afrikaner as oppressor. Women for Peace stemmed from the heart of liberal capitalist thinking fearing that the welfare community was under threat. Both organisations thus arose from the privileged white establishment and in this aspect differ from the many other women's organisations that existed in the period under review. The meaning of "political involvement" is defined in the study and evaluated in terms of the protest registered against the apartheid system, the ideological stand that was taken and the extent to which race relations improved. The latter was after all an essential objective of both organisations, more particularly to end conflict than to ensure a complete transition to democracy. The positioning, objective and conduct of the abovementioned organisations must of necessity be highlighted against the background of the oppressive political situation of the day. For this reason the study provides an overview of the political context within which the organisations had to function. It commences with the riots of 1976 when the National Party came under increasing pressure to scale down apartheid and make it more acceptable. Mention is made of the power of the National Party to equate matters of national interest with discrete party political interests. Further mention is made of the unbridgeable gap between intra-parliamentary and extra-parliamentary politics and how the decisive power of the latter was publicly suppressed. The impossibility of "political neutrality" is emphasised and that was precisely the label that the two organisations under discussion would have liked to attach to themselves. Kontak and Women for Peace were not the only players in the field of women's organisations. The study briefly discusses a few of the other main players such as the ANC Women's League, Inkatha's Women's Brigade and the Black Sash. Both Kontak and Women for Peace explicitly stated that they wished to seek reconciliation and peace between privileged whites and disadvantaged blacks "outside of the party-political arena". Neither of them could escape their political roots, however. The new enlightenment in the National Party for example prevented Kontak from taking an increasingly critical stand against apartheid. In the same way the much sharper voice of the Women for Peace was silenced by the approval of liberal PFP thinking. Both organisations registered protest within the safety of intra-parliamentary politics. They constituted no revolutionary threat for the apartheid state and their leaders were neither imprisoned nor banned. In summary it can be said that both Kontak and Women for Peace were able to realise the objectives of reconciliation within their chosen but limited target groups. Praiseworthy projects were undertaken and strong anti-apartheid positions were adopted. Democratic adjustments were constantly made with regard to membership, leadership hierarchy and language orientation. As far as the political main stream was concerned both, however, were wrongly positioned. The black majority moved in extra-parliamentary circles, outside the field of experience and even the protest actions of privileged whites. For this reason Kontak and Women for Peace were unable to contribute directly to the democratic transition to black majority rule but to some extent succeeded in sensitising the privileged white communities to accept change.

In 1994 South Africa took a new direction towards democratic governance. This led to a change of government principles and approaches in leading the country. The people became the centre of the country’s development, resulting in the adoption of people-centred development and people-driven strategies. A special focus highlighted women as in the category which had endured poverty the most in South Africa. The South African government, through its various departments, has a responsibility to improve the lives of South Africans, and the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Social Development is one of the departments which has committed itself towards changing the lives of women in the community. As a strategy to implement community development, the Provincial Department of Social Development is funding women cooperative programmes. Women cooperatives are a relatively new endeavour to address poverty within the democratic South Africa. The study supports the notion and attempts to show the impact that women have on community development. The researcher began studying the trends and realized that the funds allocated and the funding process of community development programmes by Provincial Department of Social Development is not working towards empowering communities. A purposive sampling method was used to select two women cooperative programmes in the Chris Hani District Municipality to explore the role of women in community development in the current context of democracy and social welfare transformation in South Africa; to explore the impact of gender through women cooperatives on community development and to explore strategies for the empowerment of women through community development intervention. The design of the study is qualitative, exploratory and descriptive in nature. The study also adapted evaluation and gender analysis methods to verify the effectiveness of women programmes. The study recommends that women be empowered with skills, knowledge, resources and opportunities to enable them to be more effective in community development.