Contemporary global agriculture has been undergoing transition towards different pathways. In developed countries, a shift from productivist agriculture to multifunctional agriculture has begun since the 1980s (Wilson, 2007). In the developing world, agricultural modernisation is still the primary strategy for agricultural development, and driven by urbanisation and industrialisation, deagrarianisation of rural society has been widely identified (Bryceson, 1996; Rigg, 2006a). As the largest developing country in the world, China embarked on market reform three decades ago and has ever since experienced dramatic socio-economic transition towards modernisation, industrialisation and urbanisation. Significant levels of academic attention have focused on empirically identifying economic and policy drivers of Chinese agricultural production from a structuralist standpoint, largely neglecting the agency of smallholders and sociocultural factors. To address the resulting literature gap, this thesis adopts an approach that combines political economy and cultural analysis through an in-depth case study of a rural community in southwest China. A multi-methods approach is used to collect data, including questionnaires, in-depth interviews, focus groups, participant observation and the analysis of secondary data. The results suggest that Chinese smallholder agriculture has been dramatically transformed by an array of socio-economic forces. The “intensive, sustainable, diverse” Chinese smallholder agriculture which Netting (1993) portrayed, has been progressively shifted towards extensive, unsustainable and less diverse pathways. It suggests that the “perfunctory agriculture” performed by Chinese smallholders is the outcome of interactions and negotiations between various political, socio-economic and institutional constraints and farmers’ agency. Another key finding is that moving out of agriculture is becoming the norm in Chinese rural society. Most smallholders show willingness to rent out agricultural land and to enter into a capitalist relationship with employees, rather than primarily being cultivators of their land. Land transfer markets have become increasingly buoyant at the local level, and large-scale capitalist agriculture seems to be the desired future of Chinese smallholder agriculture for both the Chinese government and smallholders. Besides, based on the case of Hu Village, this thesis discusses the convergences and divergences between the road of Chinese agricultural development and that of developed countries and other emerging BRIC economies. Lastly, based on the findings of this research, four policy implications are proposed including sponsoring agricultural mutual aid groups, strengthening agricultural extension services, enhancing farmers’ negotiation power through laws, and initiating comprehensive socio-economic reforms to facilitate farmers’ pursuit of non-farm employments.

This paper examines in a descriptive manner how two groups of variables, institutional and socio-economic, correlate with voter turnout respectively and if their magnitude have changed over time in OECD countries. Previous research is often based on data from the 70’s and 80’s. Since then, voter turnout in democratic countries has decreased and more citizens do not use their fundamental democratic right of being involved in the process of choosing their representatives. To answer the paper hypotheses i.e. analyzing what factors that correlates with voter turnout, panel data between 1980 and 2012 are used which is estimated by an OLS approach. The outcome of the empirical estimations indicates that 13 out of 19 variables have a significant relationship with turnout. Most of the variables magnitudes are a bit lower than previous literature. From the time sensitivity analysis the result indicates that voters are less influenced by the significant variables that focus on the voting cost. It seems that voters in the 21st century meet voting costs in different manner than previously.

Democratization has been studied by several scholars, who have argued about significance of various factors for democratization of a certain country. One of these scholars was Seymour Martin Lipset and he claimed that there is a linear correlation between democracy and socioeconomic development. Thus, the aim of this study is to test Lipset’s hypothesis in the case of Azerbaijan, which is an oil rich authoritarian country. The study was conducted with the help of mixed analysis methods (i.e. combination of qualitative and quantitative methods) and a case study research design.  To measure socioeconomic development’s impact on democratization of Azerbaijan, some socioeconomic indicators were chosen in this study, such as economic growth, income inequality, poverty and unemployment rates in the country. Results of the empirical data analysis showed that, socioeconomic development has a positive correlation with democratization and therefore, Lipset’s hypothesis is plausible in the case of Azerbaijan. In addition, socioeconomic development has a great impact on democratization of the country, i.e. of Azerbaijan. / Demokratisering är ett ämne som har studerats av flera forskare under flera år. Några av dessa forskare har hävdat att det finns diverse faktorer som kan ha inverkan på demokratiseringen av ett land. En av dessa forskare var Seymour Martin Lipset, som hävdade att det finns en positiv korrelation mellan demokrati och socioekonomisk utveckling. Därmed, syftet med denna studie är att testa Lipsets hypotes om socioekonomiska utvecklingens samband med demokratin på fallet av Azerbajdzjan. Azerbajdzjan är ett oljerik autoritär land som har upplevt hög ekonomisk tillväxt.  Studien har genomförts med hjälp av blandade analysmetoder (dvs. kombinationen av kvalitativ och kvantitativ analysmetod) och en fallstudie forskningsdesign. För att genomföra studien, några socioekonomisk utveckling indikatorer har valts, såsom ekonomiskt tillväxt, inkomstskillnader, fattigdoms- och arbetslöshetsnivån i landet. Resultatet av det empiriska data analysen visade att, Lipsets hypotes stämmer i fallet av Azerbajdzjan och det finns ett positivt samband mellan demokratisering och socioekonomisk utveckling. Därmed, socioekonomisk utveckling har en stor inverkan på demokratiseringen av landet, dvs. av Azerbajdzjan.

This dissertation explores music in Cusco, Peru found in the festivals and other performance contexts related to tourism. The central thesis considers what happen when culture becomes a resource for socio-economic development. First the historical emergence of culture as a resource is examined through the discourse of international agencies, folklorists, and travelers. Next, various contexts of music and tourism in Cusco highlight specific examples of culture as a resource, such as Inti Raymi, other raymi festivals, the pilgrimage of Señor de Qoyllur rit’i, dinner show restaurants, and nightclubs. In each example, I discuss the history of the performance context, the musical repertoire, opportunities for musicians, and how local people keep the performance relevant to their lives. While critics have called cultural tourism a devil’s bargain and proponents have called it a panacea to under-development, I conclude that the real effects of culture as a resource in Cusco are more complex. I analyze the music in conjunction with social conditions of asymmetric power as the aestheticization of poverty. / text

This qualitative research project focused on the interviews of 27 low socio-economic students at a research university in the southwestern United States. The students had already withdrawn from the university or were in the process of withdrawing. The study seeks to provide increased understanding of how students negotiate the decision-making process to withdraw from the first university they attended after high school. The theoretical lenses of student departure theories (Astin, 1993; Bean, 1983; Tierney, 1992; and Tinto, 1993) and decision-making theories (Becker, 1976; Frank, 1987; Kahneman, 2003; March, 1994; Scott, 2000) were combined. The Decision-Making Process Model of Student Departure is offered as a new theoretical framework that combines decision-making theories and student retention theories. This conceptualization is unlike other student departure models because it includes the proposition that forces push at the student from within the institution and forces pull them from outside the institution. In addition, it is different from other student departure models because it includes the discussion about how students think about their process to withdraw - it is not meant to describe their behaviors. Financial, academic and psychological stresses (from both within and outside the institution) influenced how the students negotiated the decision-making process to leave the institution. The students did not seek out institutional agents (advisors or faculty members) for advice when they were struggling academically. They developed their own strategies or went to their family members for advice, many of whom had never been to college.

It appears from the literature that the mastery of motor skills is essential for the optimal development of young school beginners' cognitive, perceptual, sport-specific and emotional skills. Researchers agree that the optimal development and mastering of motor skills occurs during specific sensitive periods in each child's life, and this is why it is important that children are provided with appropriate opportunities to develop these skills. The conditions in which a child grows up appear to be a significant factor influencing motor development during childhood. Environmental factors such as socio-economic conditions seem to play a role in the development of young children 's motor skills . Literature suggests that poor motor development generally occurs among children with insufficient areas for playing, and results from low socio-economic conditions in which the parents have a low income and limited resources. A large percentage of South African children are exposed to low socio-economic conditions that may consequently affect their development. The objectives of this study therefore were to determine the effect of socio-economic conditions on the motor- and object-control skills of Grade 1-learners. Eight hundred and sixteen (N=816) (+0.39 sd) Grade 1-learners with an average age of 6.8 years from 20 different schools in the North West Province, representing five different school types (quintile 1 (low) to quintile 5 (high), participated in the study. The short form (SF) of the "Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency" 2nd edition (BOT-2) (Bruininks & Bruininks, 2005), as well as several subscales (strength and agility and balance) of the longer form (LF) were used to evaluate gross and fine motor development and divide learners into various categories of mastering. The “Test of Gross Motor Development” 2nd edition (TGMD-2), was used to evaluate object control skills and divide subjects into various mastered categories. The data was analyzed by means of analysis of variance correlation coefficients using the "Statistica for Windows" (Statsoft, 2012) program. The results were adjusted for height and age. Two-way frequency tables and cross-tabulations were also used to analyze the data. With regards to objective 1 , the resluts showed that learners from quintile 4 and 5 schools, representing schools from higher socio-economic conditions, scored significantly better than quintile 1 to 3 schools in six sub-items (fine motor precision, fine motor integration, manual dexterity, bilateral coordination, strength and upper limb coordination) of the BOT-2 (SF) (p<0.05) while no differences were found in the LF subscales. Quintile 4 and 5 schools also received significantly better (p<0.05) scores in the SF standard score and percentiles of the BOT-2. The results indicate d> that the motor proficiency of learners from higher socio-economic conditions were better than those of learners from lower socio-economic conditions. With regards to the second objective of the study, the analysis of the results indicated that quintile 5 schools performed significantly better (p<0.05) in throwing, hitting, dribbling, and catching than quintile 1 to 3 schools, while quintile 1 and 3 schools performed significantly better (p≤0.05) in the kicking skill. Quintile 4 and 5 schools also fared significantly better (p<0.05) in the object control standard score than quintile 1 to 3 schools. The group's age equivalent, according to the TGMD-2, was 5.5 years, and ranged from 5.1 years to 5.9 years, indicating a mean age difference of 1.3 years compared with the chronological age of the group. / MA (Kinderkinetics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The aim of this thesis was to investigate socio-economic status in relation to morbidity and mortality, in particular cardiovascular disease among women using data from two population based studies from Sweden. The secondary aim was to explore mechanisms potentially linking socio-economic status to health, assessing for example dental, dietary, and lifestyle factors. Samples: The Population Study of Women in Gothenburg Sweden was begun in 1968-69. A representative random sample of 1,622 women was selected according to date of birth and within the strata 38, 46, 50, 54, and 60 years of age; the participation rate was 90 percent. The Gerontological and Geriatric Population Studies in Gothenburg (H-70) are based on representative samples of 70-year olds from Göteborg, Sweden who participated in a series of cross sectional and longitudinal studies between1971 and 2000. Participation rates ranged from 86 percent for men and 83 percent for women in the 1901/2 birth cohort to 65 percent for men and 69 percent for women in the 1930 birth cohort. Main results: High socio-economic status was associated with a decreased risk for cardiovascular disease [RR 0.49; CI 0.24 – 0.99] in middle aged women independently of risk factors such as smoking and obesity;moreover opposing monotonic trends were seen for mortality from cancer and cardiovascular disease in relation to socio-economic status. Tooth loss, a proxy for cumulative lifetime oral infection was also associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease in women independently of socio-economic factors such as the husband’s occupational category, income, and educational level. Among 70-year old cohorts, later-born women were heavier and had higher body mass index than earlier-born women within the high education group only. However, secular increases in waist-hip ratio were seen in both educational groups. Compared to earlier-born cohorts of 70-year old men, later-born cohorts had higher body mass index and cholesterol levels across social strata, and heart disease and diabetes mellitus became more prevalent. Among the elderly, secular trends indicated greater improvements in cardiovascular risk factors among women than men, with exception to smoking and alcohol consumption. Diet quality and food selection were assessed in relation to socio-economic status in the youngest cohort of 70-year olds born in 1930. Socio-economic disparities in diet quality were detected in men but not in women. Conclusions: From a public health perspective, it is suggested that risk factor patterns should be investigated in association with socio-economic status in order to expose health inequalities, and to develop more equitable interventions for cardiovascular disease prevention.

Enhancing primary care is key to the Canadian health care reform. Considered as an indicator of primary care access and quality, hospitalisations for ambulatory care sensitive (ACS) conditions are commonly reported by Canadian organisations as sentinel events signaling problems with the delivery of primary care. However, the literature calls for further research to identify what lies behind ACS hospitalisation rates in regions with a predominantly urban population benefiting from universal access to health care. A theoretical model was built and, using an ecological design, multiple regressions were implemented to identify which neighbourhood characteristics explained the socio-economic gradient in ACS hospitalisation rates observed in Ottawa. Among these neighbourhoods, healthy behaviour and - to a certain extent - health status were significantly associated with ACS hospitalisation rates. Evidence of an association with primary care accessibility was also signaled for the more rural neighbourhoods. Smoking prevention and cessation campaigns may be the most relevant health care strategies to push forward by policy makers hoping to prevent ACS hospitalisations in Ottawa. From a health care equity perspective, targeting these campaigns to neighbourhoods of low socio-economic status may contribute to closing the gap in ACS hospitalisations described in this current study. Reducing the socio-economic inequalities of neighbourhoods would also contribute to health equity.

The coastal section of the London to Penzance railway line (Dawlish-Teignmouth) lies very close to sea level and has been susceptible to frequent closure during high seas and storm events. As the main railway connection for the southwest of England to the rest of Great Britain, it is a vital transport link for the Devon and Cornwall economy. Current understanding of future sea-level rise in the region is compromised by a lack of reliable geological data on which to establish accurate future sea-level projections. Furthermore, the impacts – in engineering and economic terms – of potential sea-level change on the long-term functioning of the main railway are unclear, and future policy making and planning are compromised by a similar gap in scientific knowledge. The central aim of this thesis is to establish the extent to which future sea-level changes will impact upon the Southwest’s main railway line. This aim carries three objectives: (1) to establish accurate sea-level trends over the last 4000 years (late Holocene) in order to validate geophysical models used in current future sea-level projections in the southwest of England; (2) to establish the likely impacts of future sea-level change on the functioning of the Dawlish-Teignmouth railway line; and (3) to integrate climate and socio-economic futures (scenarios) in an internally consistent manner for future use in regional policy debates. In addressing these objectives, we estimate that during the last 2000 years the coast of south Devon has subsided at a rate of ~1.1 mm/yr, generating a relative sea-level rise of ~0.9 mm/yr. The geophysical model (used to determine regional sea-level projections) underestimates the geologically estimated coastal subsidence rate by only 17%, which would generate an additional sea-level rise, compared to predicted values, of 0.014 m by 2100. Based on an empirical trend between increases in sea-level changes and rail functioning during the last 40 years, the corrected sea-level projections provide input for establishing future days with line restrictions due to overtopping on the Southwest Mainline. Impacts to both the Southwest economy (e.g., rail users) and the infrastructure owners have been determined, and integrating these forecasts with socio-economic scenarios (SES) has highlighted the important interaction between climate and socio-economic trends and future vulnerability. In a worst case scenario (e.g., high emissions), rail services are predicted to be disrupted (on average) for around 35% of the winter by 2060. By this stage, the cost of these disruptions will have exceeded the capital needed for constructing a new alternative inland route.

The question of agro/pastoral livelihoods adaptation is gaining attention in the rural development arena but little empirical evidence exists that has examined the performance and impact of diversified enterprises on agro/pastoral livelihoods and the environment in the ASAL, and on how to effectively support such initiatives. Additionally, there has been little evaluation of the type of behavioural patterns that agro/pastoral communities need to evolve in order to engage in such initiatives. This research study endeavours to bridge this knowledge-gap and assist the ASAL communities, NGOs, CBOs and government departments to understand the skills and resources required to develop climate-resilient, environmentally and economically sustainable bio-enterprises. This study examines the roles of bio-enterprise initiatives in enabling agro/pastoralists to develop more resilient livelihoods and incentivising positive community-led natural resource management and draws on different bio-enterprise initiatives located across the drylands of Kenya. In this study data was collected through interviews, focus group discussions and from secondary data. The analysis of four agro/pastoral bio-enterprise initiatives compares the level of success of specifically orientated development-funded support schemes. A more in-depth study was made of one of the initiatives, the BDP. Two surveys were made one year apart and secondary data was collected of the BDP impact. This highlighted the probable factors that influence the communities’ up-take of these bio-enterprises. Results show that this diversification requires stakeholders and support-actors to gain a greater understanding of business development approaches. Other factors such as capacity development to ensure production meets market standards, strong linkages with ethical commercial operators, access to trade-finance and ongoing mentoring proved to be the main drivers of success in these initiatives. The results show that the outputs of the BDP service-providing activities and the ethical trade facilities have been a major factor in the level of success achieved by the BDP. The main policy implications that this study has shown are: Agro/pastoralists realise that they can improve their resilience, food security and incomes by developing bio-enterprises. If conducted using conservation practices, this is an effective conservation and drought management tool. Communities do not possess the necessary skills and business acumen to diversify from traditional activities. Due to the lack of market knowledge, business acumen and technical skills many development and government instigated rural enterprise initiatives have failed. The commercial sector has strong transferable skills and will assist in developing bio-enterprises where commercial gains can be attained. This study has shown that where government, development and the private sector work in synergy projects are more socially, environmentally and economically successful. International standards and certification for sustainable harvesting of indigenous plant materials will effectively assist communities to manage their natural resource utilization and market their products more competitively. Women have shown that they have control over small-scale diversified activities and are able to choose how to use the revenue they have raised. Due to the orientation of agro/pastoralists to collective-action a wide ripple-effect can be seen from well-targeted business development assistance such as: mentoring, skills development, access to affordable trade finance/capital, improved market opportunities and value-addition.