This thesis explores the ways in which international donors have attempted to shape and control civil society organizations in the occupied Palestinian territories. It employs Foucault's concepts of power/knowledge and disciplinary power to investigate and theorize the power-relations that govern the interactions of donors with civil society organizations. It contends that international donors have construed the concept of civil society in such a way that made it possible to partition social space into two incommensurable civic and political spheres. International donors have demanded that organizations limit their activities to the civic sphere. Moreover, the thesis argues that per the requirements of discipline that the objects of its surveillance be rendered visible and subject to technologies of control, donors have used both statistical surveys and administrative techniques to classify, categorize, observe and monitor civil society organizations. These modes of surveillance are then used for locating civil society organizations in one of the civic and political spheres. / Comparative Politics

Water quality is a substantial issue in rural and urban areas in the Midwestern United States. Water resources, such as streams, are often impaired by pollution. This can pose a threat to the natural ecosystem and the health of those that live within it. In the Lower Kaskaskia River region, Illinois communities are faced with impaired water resources. In order to effectively manage for healthy waterways, communities must have skills and resources to address threats to water quality. This study assessed capacity for effective watershed management in four communities within the Lower Kaskaskia River region. Each community exists within a subwatershed of the Lower Kaskaskia River Watershed. A stratified, random sample of 3,609 residents living within the four watersheds was taken to gather data on several community capacity indicators for each watershed community. A questionnaire was distributed to individuals living within the study area to measure dimensions of community capacity and familiarity with water conservation practices. With data from the questionnaire, it was possible to measure collective action, community empowerment, and shared vision for each of the communities within the study area. Exploratory factor analysis yielded outcomes that differed from theoretical literature on the topic. A stepwise regression analysis illustrated the importance of community empowerment in explaining the greatest amount of variability (39%) in community capacity. Once reliable measures of community capacity were established, it was possible to examine them across urban and rural areas. A multivariate analysis showed no significant difference between urban and rural community type in regards to levels of community empowerment, collective action, shared vision, and community capacity. Measurements of community capacity were not significantly different at á = 0.05 across urban and rural communities; however, practical differences between urban and rural communities were identified. Understanding practical differences in community capacity between different community types will assist in the development of outreach and education techniques that are relevant for both urban and rural communities that exist within the study area. Outreach and education strategies will allow for the implementation of effective natural resource management within the study communities, while informing citizens and leaders on watershed conservation practices that can be implemented at the individual and community levels.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-11T13:55:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria_Cristina_Oliveira.pdf: 2955762 bytes, checksum: 7e3357be2a9ff2ea1db93c931082ef8f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-20 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In the contemporary world, there are major concerns how to "meet the needs of the current population without compromising the ability of future generations to meet" (LEFF, 2001). Thus, the aim of this study was to assess socioeconomic and environmental associations and centers of recyclable cardboard in the city of Manaus. According to Calderoni (2003), Brazil boasts a performance well below the already achieved by several countries. In this context, we emphasize the importance of associations of collectors of recyclable cardboard in the city of Manaus as a form of collective action model and standard functionality. In the associations, the collectors of cardboard, occupy the public space, creating a separate pole for survival in society and the constitution of new identities, such as environmental educators. Thus, the associations are complex and can be scored as labor, collective action and organization, people who come together to promote collective action. Thus, this study will contribute to knowledge about the complex system of production chain of cardboard in the city of Manaus and this could contribute to the formation of public policy organizations and social actors involved in this matter. The survey was conducted among the associations and clusters of scavengers who work in collecting and marketing scrap of cardboard being recycled in the city of Manaus - AM. The methodological approach of this research aimed to gather and articulate concepts and tools relevant to the development of a study of collective action and environmental associations and centers of recyclable cardboard from Manaus - AM, through the use of a theoretical and methodological basis based on the collection of quantitative and qualitative data through the application forms of socioeconomic and semi-structured interviews. These instruments have sought to contribute to the assessment of social, environmental and economic associations and core collectors. In this sense, recycling cardboard is a great system that revolves around a number of categories as an alternative income generation and environmental sustainability for certain actors in society. / No mundo contemporâneo, há grandes preocupações em saber como satisfazer as necessidades da população atual sem comprometer a capacidade de atender as gerações futuras (LEFF, 2001). Nesse sentido, o objetivo deste estudo foi uma análise socioeconômica e ambiental, das associações e núcleos de catadores de papelão na cidade de Manaus. Segundo Calderoni (2003), o Brasil exibe um desempenho muito aquém do já alcançado por vários países. Nesse contexto, enfatiza-se a importância das associações de catadores de papelão reciclável na cidade de Manaus como forma de ação coletiva padrão e modelo de funcionalidade. Nas associações, os catadores de papelão, ocupam o espaço público, criando um pólo distinto como meio de sobrevivência no seio da sociedade e a constituição de novas identidades, como por exemplo, educador ambiental. Assim, as associações são complexas e podem ser pontuadas como trabalho, ação coletiva e organização, pessoas que se unem em prol do coletivo. Deste modo, este estudo contribuirá no conhecimento sobre o complexo sistema da cadeia produtiva do papelão na cidade de Manaus, podendo o mesmo contribuir para a formação de políticas públicas para as organizações e atores sociais envolvidos nesta questão. A pesquisa foi realizada junto às associações e núcleos de catadores que trabalham na coleta e comercialização de aparas de papelão a ser reciclado na cidade de Manaus AM. A abordagem metodológica desta pesquisa visou reunir e articular conceitos e ferramentas relevantes ao desenvolvimento de um estudo da ação coletiva e o ambiente nas associações e núcleos de catadores de papelão da cidade de Manaus - AM, mediante a utilização de uma fundamentação teórico-metodológica baseada na coleta de dados quantitativos e qualitativos, através da aplicação de formulários socioeconômicos e entrevistas semi-estruturadas. Estes instrumentos buscaram contribuir para a avaliação dos aspectos sociais, ambientais e econômicos nas associações e núcleo de catadores. Nesse sentido, a reciclagem de papelão é um grande sistema que gira em torno de várias categorias como uma alternativa de geração de renda e sustentabilidade ambiental para determinados atores na sociedade.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The National Water Act of 1998 provides the policy framework for stakeholder participation and the engagement of stakeholders closest to the resource on which they depend to be involved in developing and managing their water resources. Rainwater harvesting presents a viable option for securing water availability in order to increase food production and cash returns from food in the Ehlanzeni District Municipality which is one of the poorest districts in the Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. The study focuses on rural youth (between the ages 18-35 years) in two villages of the Ehlanzeni District, Luphisi and Dwaleni, and seeks to assess the relationship between youth capabilities and food security. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods but with more emphasis on the quantitative data, with qualitative data providing anecdotal evidence to back up the findings. The qualitative data was collected from focus group discussions and the quantitative data was based on a baseline survey within the context of an Integrated Rain Water Harvesting Project implemented by a local NGO. The data drew on indicators in the questionnaire that were to do with social capital and empowerment. The indicators tapped into attributes/capabilities like trust, social cohesion and inclusion and sociability and examined these within the context of Amartya Sen's Capability Approach, to consider whether and in what ways these attributes relate to food security. The results show that there are youth have high levels of certain attributes/capabilities such as trust, social cohesion and inclusion, collective action and co-operation, self-esteem, and meaning. The findings also show that in other dimensions there are less opportunities and that, in particular, access to networks, access to knowledge and information and sociability are lacking among youth. Low levels of adherence to networks, lack of access to knowledge and information and poor sociability show that there are inadequate opportunities for youth to engage with issues around food and water security. The Chi-square test was used to investigate the relationship between youth capabilities and food security and at p<0.05 results showed that there was no relationship between youth capabilities and food security in Dwaleni. There were only three capabilities which showed any significant statistical relationship between youth capabilities and food security in Luphisi namely; collective action and co-operation, social cohesion and self-esteem. The study recommends that networking opportunities and access to information relating to food and water security should be improved. The thesis claims that there are adequate opportunities to build on existing capabilities such as self-esteem, trust and social cohesion that are not being maximized and that youth are not being adequately engaged in water resources management. / Water Research Commission

This study attempts to explain why some countries experience multiple civil wars while others who have experienced a civil war build long-term stability from the rubble of conflict. The explanation of why civil war recurs focuses on the collective action problem, centering on the rebel leaders' ability to solve the Rebel's Dilemma. I further argue that once the Rebel's Dilemma has been solved once it is much easier for rebel leaders to solve it again and again. The empirical finds suggest that the political situation resulting from the first war plays a strong role in the solutions to the collective action problem and thus the long-term stability following a civil war. Namely, the level of democracy, partition and third party enforcement of the peace all affect the ability of the rebel leaders to solve the collective action problem and the likelihood of another civil war.

This thesis studies an island of civility embedded in an ethos of conflict, focusing on a shared society peacebuilding initiative between Palestinian and Jewish citizens of Israel. Undertaken in close partnership with the NGO Hand in Hand: The Centre for Bilingual Jewish-Arab Education in Israel using a semi-participatory approach, this research describes the evolution of Hand in Hand from a small grassroots organization to a multimillion-dollar NGO. Drawing on survey data (n = 107), personal interviews (n = 25), and key insights from a four-month ethnography, this dissertation analyzes the social change function of Hand in Hand, ordinary citizens’ motivations for enrolling their children in bilingual (Hebrew/Arabic) schools, and the drivers and barriers for attending peacebuilding activities for adults.

No description available.

What explains the dynamics of contentious collective political action in post-Soviet Central Asia? How do post-Soviet Central Asian citizens negotiate the tensions between partaking in and abstaining from elite-challenging collective protests? By analysing cross-national attitudes in two Central Asian states, this article (1) systematically analyses the variation in collective protests by testing rival macro-, meso-, and micro-level theories; (2) reintroduces a conceptual and empirical distinction between low-risk and high-risk collective protests; and (3) examines the conditions under which individuals participate in two distinct types of elite-challenging collective actions. Three conclusions are reached. First, the evidence suggests that nuanced consideration of multi-level theoretical perspectives is necessary to explain contingencies of elite-challenging actions. Second, economic grievances and resource mobilization emerge as leading factors driving both low-risk and high-risk protests. Third, Islamic religiosity and social networking robustly predict participation in high-risk collective action.

To what extent does Islam help explain the dynamics of a participatory civil society in the post-Soviet Muslim-majority Central Asia? More specifically, to what extent does the variation in Islam (personal religiosity) and political Islam (support for Islam’s role in politics) help predict the propensity to engage in elite-challenging collective political actions, rooted in self-assertive social capital? Grounded in emancipative social capital theory, this article embarks on an individual-level quantitative analysis to systematically examine the variation in self-assertive collective action in four Central Asian republics. This study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the empirical nexus between general religiosity (Islam), Islamism (Political Islam), and elite-challenging collective actions and offers new clues on the empirical interactions between resurgent Islam and collective political participation in the post-Communist Muslim world.

This study focuses on the Salvadoran diaspora, by implementing the concepts of marginality, collective action and the Third Space together with hybridity theory. Characteristics of marginality faced by the diaspora and methods used to defy them are explored, through a qualitative analysis of previously published research. The results of this study are that members of the diaspora have challenged their position of marginality, and that the methods of defiance studied are two types of collective action. I argue that is it hybridity which opens a Third Space for defiance to existing power-structures by conjuring new negotiations against marginality.