This thesis examines the development of self-help as an ideology and as an organisational principle for poor relief and how it came to dominate discussions over poverty and crucially inform the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. The continuity of self-help with earlier discussions and reviews of the poor laws is explored and emphasised, as is the continuing moral core of poor relief despite historians’ frequent ascription of de-moralisation to the new political economy that came to heavily influence poor law discourse. The thesis analyses the evolution of the poor laws and of attitudes to poverty and begins with an examination of a divergence in the discourse relating to poverty between a more formal and centralised institutional approach and a more devolved, permissive institutional approach; the latter gained precedence due to its closer proximity to a dominant mode of thinking (as analysed by A. W. Coats) about the poor that held self-betterment as offering a solution to poverty most appropriate to the governance structures of the day. The greater role given to self-betterment and the natural affinity of more devolved schemes with a macroeconomic political economy framework pushed the evolution of poor law discourse along a route of emphasising individual probity and agency over the established model of community cohesion. Parallel to this divergence was the development of distinct intellectual traditions within poor law discourse between the older natural-law tradition of a natural right to subsistence and a new ideology of the natural law of markets and of competition for resources. By analysis of the thought of writers such as Thomas Robert Malthus, Jeremy Bentham, Patrick Colquhoun, David Davies, Frederick Morton Eden, Edmund Burke, etc., it is shown that this newer conception of natural law, encompassing a less interventionist and more macroeconomic approach (involving the deployment of statistics and abstraction, as explored by S. Sherman), proved more compatible with the devolved, more permissive institutional approach and so came to take precedence over that of the natural right to subsistence, which was associated more with traditional paternalism and community-level responses to scarcity and poverty. The natural law tradition spoke more to the abstract conceptions of poverty associated at this time with the greater deployment of statistics and tables in the analysis of social problems. It is demonstrated how writers of the period utilised utilitarian conceptions and nascent political economic arguments to portray the greater good of the country as a whole as possessed of greater moral and economic authority than more traditional ‘moral economy’ responses, and that vocabularies of virtue and duty were used to illustrate and justify such a shift. This set the scene for self-betterment as an economic strategy to evolve into an ideology of self-help which was developed as the panacea of poverty and the answer to the social dislocations caused by industrialisation. Self-help came to the fore as an approach that was more politically resonant in the era of revolutionary France and which enabled a more permissive institutional apparatus to be advanced. These institutions, such as allotments, savings banks and schools of industry, came to prominence in the period 1816-1820 and pertained more to macroeconomic understandings of poverty. They were expounded using a theme, that of ‘character’, that described poverty as the result of personal imprudence and hence as treatable, the most appropriate level for this treatment being that of the individual. The reforms of 1818-19 and the debates that informed them are given an extended analysis as they formed the crucial juncture in the cohering of self-help as an ideology and a paradigmatic shift in poor law policy towards greater discrimination underwritten by self-help. Finally, the 1834 Poor law Reform Act is explained in terms of the ideological development of arguments of self-help and character towards a more punitive and disciplinarian platform for enforcing self-help, with the cost-efficient and systematic institutional approach of Bentham adapted to the purpose.

The international campaign for housing rights focuses on the process of legislative change. Critics of the legislative change approach argue that this process is elitist insofar as such campaigns are fought on behalf of those people denied the right to housing by academics, lawyers and international non-governmental agencies, instead of in conjunction with the people. This approach, it is argued, excludes the people themselves from defining what housing rights mean to them, their culture and their community standards, placing such decisions in courts of law and legislatures. It is the position of this study that a more effective approach in the struggle for housing rights is one that recognizes that the problems of the poor and disenfranchized are not just their lack of rights per se, but also their lack of power to demand the legislative recognition and enforcement of those rights. This study explores a more inclusive approach to the housing rights struggle wherein the achievement of legislative rights represents only one peg in a more holistic strategy for change. This approach is represented by the theory and practice of Community Development — a process which empowers people to work collectively for change. Community Development provides the tools for people to understand, define and demand their rights, thus providing a bottom up and sustainable strategy in the struggle for housing rights. Community Development does not reject the role of legislative change, nor the responsibility of the state to recognize and enforce housing rights among its citizenry, but enhances the process to include all dimensions of the the housing struggle, most notably the community based sector which is currently excluded from the legislative change approach. The viability of a Community Development approach is built upon the premise that rights are norms or standards determined by the shared values of society and influenced by the dominant ideology. If people can articulate their values as well as organize to demand from the state the recognition and enforcement of their values, then they can work for change and begin to shape their housing rights. An indigenous non-governmental organisation using the methods of Community Development in the struggle for housing rights is the Society for the Promotion of Area Resources (SPARC). The work of SPARC focuses on a group of women pavement dwellers in Bombay India. In SPARC'S analysis, it is women who bear the brunt of poverty, yet are vested with virtually no powers of decision-making within (or outside) the family. SPARC uses the methods of Community Development to empower these women to demand the recognition and enforcement of their housing rights. Their work has resulted in such manifest outcomes as: challenging the Bombay Municipal Council in a court of law, building prototype houses, establishing a credit co-operative, undertaking a people's census and the creation of Mahila Milan — a community based organisation run entirely by the women themselves. Other latent, less measurable outcomes have also resulted from their work such as confidence building and solidarity among the women. SPARC'S use of Community Development methods on the streets of Bombay has important lessons for the international struggle for housing rights. Incorporating the community based sector in the struggle ensures that the process of defining and demanding housing rights remains democratic, culturally sensitive and sustainable. Community Development can be effectively facilitated by an indigenous non-governmental organisation which can gain the trust of the community and understand local customs, cultures, language and history. Essentially the debate over the right to housing comes down to a set of ethical questions, the answers to which form the philosophical and moral framework for the policy decisions that face a society. A Community Development approach ensures that all people have a voice in answering these questions and influencing the decisions that affect their lives, their housing and indeed their rights. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

In capital-scarce low income economies, the lack of attractiveness to private foreign investment implies that the only readily available source of external financing for economic development has to come from foreign aid which normally comes with an altruistic motive. However, despite long history of aid-giving to low income countries and especially Sub-Saharan Africa, evidence of effectiveness of such assistance has remained debatable, particularly with the dominance of cross-country studies in such enquiry. With yet no existing country study for Sierra Leone, a typical aid dependent country, this research investigates the relationship between donor intervention (in their aid disbursement) and the development outcomes of economic growth and poverty reduction in the country. In conducting such an enquiry, the study proposed three objectives. The first examines the relationship between aid and economic growth. The second objective investigates the relationship between aid and poverty reduction considering two variants of poverty reduction: improvement of pro-poor growth and aggregate human welfare. The final objective assesses the effect of domestic politics on aid’s effectiveness in improving human welfare. Arising from a pluralistic analytical framework involving a triangulation of econometric estimation approaches complemented with qualitative enquiry, the study finds that aid to Sierra Leone is significant in promoting economic growth in the country. In terms of the impact on poverty, the results show that foreign aid to Sierra Leone has significantly improved long-run pro-poor growth in the country, but this impact could not be confirmed in the short-run. With respect to the other strand of poverty, the study finds that though aid may have not improved human well-being in Africa, it is found to significantly improve human development in Sierra Leone, though the evidence could not support its reduction of infant mortality rate as a second indicator of human well-being. Finally, for the investigation of the link between aid, politics and human development in Sierra Leone, the study finds that though aid is significant in directly improving human development in the country, yet pro-democratic politics (as against autocratic regimes) can also be good a policy option for aid‘s impact on human development in the country. Accounting for disaggregation bias of foreign aid, the study finds that whilst grants seem to consistently improve economic growth, pro-poor growth and human welfare, the study could not find strong evidence to suggest that technical assistance and loans likewise improve economic development the country. The impact of food aid on pro-poor growth is found to be moderate in conformity with the study’s hypothesis. Concluding from the analysis, it is evident in the case of Sierra Leone that the supplemental theories largely hold that foreign aid is vital in the promotion of a country’s economic development. Hence, the intervention of donors in the economy of Sierra Leone has not seemed to be in vain, but has rather proved to be largely useful. It implies that Sierra Leone’s persistent poverty characterisation amidst notable donor presence and participation in the country’s economy has little to do with the fact that foreign aid has not been effective in promoting the country’s economic development, but it may however be that the magnitude of the effect may not have been that high to completely eradicate poverty. The study’s identification of the most effective types of aid as well the realisation of political stability and democracy for enhanced effectiveness of aid in the country could be crucial if the economic significance of foreign aid is to be improved in Sierra Leone.

M.Cur. / A study on promotion strategies for voluntary surgical contraception in Family Planning Clinic of Swaziland. There is under-utilization of voluntary surgical contraception in Family Planning Clinic of Swaziland. The clinic started to operate in 1995 up to date, there are only 88 clients who had been operated on. The aim of this study is to explore and describe factors, which contribute to client satisfaction with this method, so that promotion strategies will be developed to increase the demand. Purposive sampling, which is a probability method was utilized to select the sample. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the data from 10 participants - five males and five females. The researcher discovered that participants are satisfied with voluntary surgical contraception. The reasons for their satisfaction are because of the good counseling, benefits, positive attitude of the service provider and technical competence of the doctor. Information, education, communication and promotion strategies were then developed based on the themes identified. The information, education and communication strategy is given by satisfied clients in terms of interpersonal communication, mass media and also advocating strategy.

D.Phil. (Environmental Management) / Clean, efficient, and low carbon energy services are crucial to the sustainable functioning of a household unit. Therefore, this study explores a vital query on the best pathway to achieve universal modern energy access in low-income South African households, based on information gathered from interviews in urban settlements. The thesis is based on published papers touching on thematic areas of household energy access – from baseline assessments to appraisal of modern energy programmes. A set of factors that are necessary for successful introduction and uptake of clean energy are identified for consideration by policy makers. Results indicate widespread use of paraffin and solid fuels in inefficient combustion technologies among low-income urban households even in the rich Johannesburg metropolis. In the absence of formal employment, some township residents use the basic fuels and conventional combustion technologies for productive purposes. Growth in the thermal-intensive informal businesses could be achieved faster through provision of efficient and reliable alternative energy technologies and better operational environment. This study has highlighted the undue risk borne by energy-poor households in the performance of the day-to-day energy tasks. The results show that household risk is positively correlated with the quality and quantity of energy used, with paraffin being the most risky fuel and the apparent risk being larger in non-electrified households. The affected communities have expressed a desire to adopt cleaner and safer forms of energy for residential and economic uses. It is incumbent upon the government and relevant role players to create enabling systems for acquisition of the preferred modern energy streams. An LPG intervention project in the City of Tshwane has demonstrated the inherent potential for modern energy to transform the socioeconomics and overall wellbeing of a family. The impact of such energy interventions could be improved through better-designed energy delivery models that cater for residential and productive needs, leading to sustainable communities. Education and income have been shown to be good precursors for modern energy uptake. Therefore, efforts towards sustainable energy for all should not only focus on indigent assistance and expansion of electrification, but also be intertwined with policies addressing skills need and better household incomes.

The thesis deals with the valuation of income-poor enterprise KM-System s. r. o. as at 31.12.2011. The financial and strategic analysis are followed by the main part, which deals with suitability for rehabilitation of the company. The work includes the valuation at a liquidation and a book value.

The premise of this research is that the local church is called to play a major role in the transformation process of the local community in which it is called to work. This call is rooted in its nature and mission. The outcome of this research is to develop a model of how to do theology in a local community context, what is described in these pages as “Community-Sensitive Church Model”. This premise is developed by revisiting the concept of church and social transformation, church engagement with society throughout history and through analyzing the community of praxis before attempting to develop the model that makes of a local church an agent of social transformation. Lofdal Community Church is presented as an implementation of this model in Maitland. Copyright / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Purpose – The purpose of this research to provide insights into the underresearched area of social responsibility practises by SMEs at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP). Design/methodology/approach – Drawing from the literature, the research expands and builds on the previous work of Spence and Gilligan in explaining the daily activities of owner-managers with respect to CSR at the BOP. Also the link between ethic of care and CSR practises by SMEs at the BOP is established.Findings – The ethic of care and the owner-manager’s values are the main drivers of CSR at the BOP. Due to scarce resources, most of the CSR initiatives are linked to the core of the business. CSR is not used as a strategic competitive advantage business model. Also the CSR initiatives do not come from external pressure such as stakeholders, but are internal at a human level. The CSR practices are not linked to the bottom line; self-satisfaction is the ultimate price. Originality/value – Given the limited literature on the social responsibility practices of by SMEs at the BOP, this research makes a contribution to increasing the understanding of CSR initiatives by SMEs at the BOP, as well as to the BoP literature in general.Practical implications – The paper concludes by outlining the implications for managers, policy-makers, and stakeholders, and advancing the agenda of social responsibility for future research in the fields of both the BOP and SMEs. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / pagibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

Neste projeto de pesquisa planeja-se obter indícios da correlação entre o conteúdo metálico estelar deduzido para a Via Láctea e os indíces metálicos obtidos para as Nuvens de Magalhães. O ponto de apoio para tal comparação é que cada encontro deixará importantes traços na eficiência de formação dos membros do tripleto. À medida que os encontros dependem da história dinâmica, suas ``impressões digitais\'\' deixadas nos conteúdos estelares colocam importantes limitações na história dinâmica e vice-versa. Para tanto, são utilizados os dados espectroscópicos já obtidos com o telescópio Magellan Clay, para uma amostra contendo 28 estrelas ricas em carbono encontradas nas Nuvens de Magalhães. A quantidade de carbono bem como a existência ou não de binaridade nas estrelas da amostra são indícios das possíveis fontes da sobreabundância do carbono. A caracterização da amostra é essencial para o estudo da relação entre duas populações estelares aparentemente distintas: a de estrelas de carbono e a de estrelas pobres em metais enriquecidas em carbono. Para tanto, são utilizados catálogos de espectros assim como critérios fotométricos. A descoberta de alguma relação entre as duas populações pode ajudar a esclarecer o problema dos processos de enriquecimento de carbono, notado nas atmosferas estelares. A futura determinação dos parâmetros físicos das estrelas que compõem a amostra pode revelar detalhes sobre a história de formação estelar dos objetos das Nuvens e, portanto, vincular a evolução dessas duas galáxias-satélites à história da Via Láctea. / This project searches for signs of correlation between metallic stellar content, available for the Milky Way, and the metallicities indices obtained for the Magellanic Clouds. This comparison is supported by the traces on the formation of these three galaxies, that should have been left by each triplet members encounter. Since these crosses depend on the dynamical history, their fingerprints left by stellar content can estabilish constraints to the Galactic dynamical history. Spectroscopic data for a sample of carbon stars, obtained on the Magellanic Telescope, are used in this work. The amount of carbon, as the existence or not of binary stars in this sample, indicates possible sources of this element. The determination of sample properties is essential for studying the constraints between two stellar populations that are apparently distincts: carbon stars and carbon enhanced metal-poor stars. To do this, spectral catalogues and photometric criteria are used. Finding the correlations between both populations will bring some light to the unknown carbon enrichment processes that occured at the stellar atmospheres. Variability, emission lines, and binarity are studied for the sample. Stellar parameters are discussed, although there is no method applicable to this sample. By estimating the physical parameters of the stars presented in this sample and by analysing their carbon abundances, one can provide hints of the star formation history of objects in the Magellanic Clouds and therefore constraint the evolution of these satellite-galaxies to the Milky Way.

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