In this dissertation, I use interview data to answer three questions concerning the deindustrialization of southwest and southside Virginia. First, how have Radford City, Montgomery County, Pulaski County, the City of Martinsville and Henry County been affected by plant closures and mass layoffs at the community level? Second, how have displaced workers and their households been affected by this loss of manufacturing jobs? And third, what survival strategies have displaced workers and their households employed as a result of being displaced? In carrying out this research, I engage with four theoretical discussions: (1) deindustrialization of the US South, (2) the impact of deindustrialization on local communities and economies, (3) the impacts of deindustrialization on workers, and (4) workers' strategies for coping with job loss. I argue that the strategies employed are influenced, shaped, and/ or constrained by regional resources, family structure, and previous experience(s) with job loss due to plant closures and layoffs. The findings from this research suggest that household survival strategies are based on four influential or motivating factors: (1) the presence of a spouse and/or children in the home, (2) having prior experience with being displaced, (3) use of personal networks, and (4) utilization of spouses' knowledge, skills, and abilities. At the community level, there are two major findings. First, there is a level of resilience in the worst affected communities that keeps them moving forward, if at a slower pace than desired. Second, deindustrialization does not affect all manufacturing communities the same way. Local economic profiles, local resources, and past ties to manufacturing matter both in the severity of impacts and the options for rebounding and/ or creating new economic identities. For these reasons and others, it is suggested that future research continue to focus on individual communities and localities which are working to identify good long term solutions to address changes due to large scale economic disruption. / Ph. D.

This study explored the experiences and survival strategies of teachers in Zimbabwe in the context of low salaries that were brought by the adoption of the multicurrency system in 2009. The specific objectives were to: (i) examine the main socio-economic challenges that teachers are facing after the dollarization of the economy; (ii) establish how the teachers are coping with the challenges; and (iii) illuminate some of the key areas in which in which government may improve conditions and enhance teachers’ wellbeing so as to retain them in the education sector. To achieve its objectives, the study adopted a qualitative interpretive research paradigm. Data collection entailed conducting in-depth interviews with 20 male and female teachers drawn from primary and secondary schools in high and low density areas of the capital Harare. The objective of the interviews was to explore the coping strategies of the teachers in the post-crisis period. The livelihood framework provided the theoretical and analytical framework for the study. The key thesis of this framework is that there is a direct link between assets and the options people possess in practice to pursue alternative activities that can generate the income level required for survival. The interview guide was thus designed to solicit information of the respondents’ income levels; income-generating activities, expenditure and purchasing patterns, rural-urban ties, social networks, and community participation. The key findings of the study were that: the main socio economic challenges that the teachers are facing after the dollarization of the economy include poor salaries, poor living conditions, poor working conditions, demotivation, and restricted career growth paths and to cope with these challenges, the teachers are using the five identified forms of capital—human, physical, natural, financial, and social— to sustain their livelihoods. However a salient finding was that the teachers generally reduced their expenditure and diversified their sources of income as coping strategies. The study concludes with the following three policy recommendations. First, the government should consider using tangible compensation to improve teachers’ remuneration. Second, the government should also improving infrastructure in educational institutions to ensure that working conditions are conducive for teachers to carry out their work effectively. Third and finally, the government in partnership with organizations that promote children’s rights should mobilize resources that can be used to improve teacher motivation. These could include incentives, accelerated promotions and manpower development. / Mini Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Sociology / MSocSci / Unrestricted

The aim of the study was to analyse the survival strategies of the poor households in Boitumelo township. The research methodology used herein was two fold: Firstly, a literature research based on economic journals, previous research projects, books and internet was done in order to develop a better understanding of poverty. Secondly, an empirical research survey using questionnaires was undertaken. Over the years there have been competing theories which provide an understanding of poverty. Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses. Poverty captures a wide range of meanings, depending on who is defining it. Although various technical solutions have been suggested for differentiating the poor and non-poor using the monetary approach, there is no theory of poverty that clearly differentiate the poor from the non-poor. The survey results showed that 41% of all households in Boitumelo are poor and on average have an income shortage of 63% to the poverty line. Poverty within the area has a gender bias as 76% of the poor are females. The large number of households below the poverty line provided ample opportunity for further analysis to find out about the activities that they use to sustain themselves. Being unemployed in government or manufacturing industries, the urban poor are compelled to create some sort of jobs for themselves. Street vending, odd jobs, gambling, seeking credit on exploitative terms, income from state welfare, begging for survival are just a few of the activities urban poor adopt to survive / Thesis (MCom (Economics))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

<p>This essay deals with different survival strategies in Hemingway´s <em>The Sun Also Rises</em>, with a focus on three of the characters: Jake, Brett and Cohn. They all try to survive mentally in post-war Europe, and have different ways of handling their traumas.</p>

Southern Africa faced a serious food security crisis after a three-year drought which started in the 1999/2000 season. In 2002, Zimbabwe and its neighbours declared food emergencies. With improved climatic conditions in 2003, Zimbabwe failed to recuperate from the crisis despite its neighbours showing signs of recovery. Instead, the food crisis in Zimbabwe intensified and has threatened the lives of many ordinary Zimbabweans. This paper argues that the land reform programme and its after effects, other government policies, international sanctions and intractable political posturing have all played a significant role in causing and prolonging the post 2000 food crisis in Zimbabwe. International and local food aid became a priority to feed the millions of hungry Zimbabweans. With severe food shortages, food aid became an important political tool used by the main players in the food distribution process to win support or discredit the other side. Drawing from the political theories of famine, this research argues that the food crisis in Zimbabwe is largely due to the failure of political accountability by the government of Zimbabwe, and also by the international relief organizations and other stakeholders who are in and outside Zimbabwe. With a thorough review of primary, secondary and scholarly literature, helped by informal discussions with people living in Zimbabwe, the research found out that the Zimbabwe food crisis has thus far failed to be resolved due to lack of political commitment and competence by the government of Zimbabwe; and an unwillingness by the international community to work with the Mugabe government which many in the west see as a dictatorship.

This essay deals with different survival strategies in Hemingway´s The Sun Also Rises, with a focus on three of the characters: Jake, Brett and Cohn. They all try to survive mentally in post-war Europe, and have different ways of handling their traumas.

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The aim of the study was to analyse the survival strategies of the poor households in Boitumelo township. The research methodology used herein was two fold: Firstly, a literature research based on economic journals, previous research projects, books and internet was done in order to develop a better understanding of poverty. Secondly, an empirical research survey using questionnaires was undertaken. Over the years there have been competing theories which provide an understanding of poverty. Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses. Poverty captures a wide range of meanings, depending on who is defining it. Although various technical solutions have been suggested for differentiating the poor and non-poor using the monetary approach, there is no theory of poverty that clearly differentiate the poor from the non-poor. The survey results showed that 41% of all households in Boitumelo are poor and on average have an income shortage of 63% to the poverty line. Poverty within the area has a gender bias as 76% of the poor are females. The large number of households below the poverty line provided ample opportunity for further analysis to find out about the activities that they use to sustain themselves. Being unemployed in government or manufacturing industries, the urban poor are compelled to create some sort of jobs for themselves. Street vending, odd jobs, gambling, seeking credit on exploitative terms, income from state welfare, begging for survival are just a few of the activities urban poor adopt to survive / Thesis (MCom (Economics))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

No description available.

In November of 1941, 1,973 Canadian soldiers and two nurses sailed from Vancouver for Hong Kong to garrison the British colony and help defend it in the event of a Japanese attack. The ensuing battle was a decisive defeat for the defenders. 555 Canadians never returned home, over half of those dying in captivity, either in Hong Kong or later once transferred to Japan. The prisoners would become Canada’s longest serving prisoners-of-war of the Second World War and arguably suffered worse than any others. Yet, despite the high casualties, 84 per cent of the 1,684 initial captives survived the ordeal as prisoners in Hong Kong. Once one begins to understand what these men went through, it seems remarkable that so many of them managed to survive at all. This thesis explores Canadian survival in Hong Kong prison camps and the various methods these captives used to overcome boredom, violence, disease, hunger, loneliness, and hopelessness. Using as a research basis clandestine diaries, journals, memoirs, and letters to and from family members, this thesis argues that the Canadians survived due to strong leadership, commitment to duty, creative ingenuity, and a firm determination to return to their families. Uncertainty was an unyielding enemy from day to day and the Hong Kong POWs had to rely on themselves and their compatriots to keep mentally sharp and physically fit. Canadian prisoners in Hong Kong were abused by their captors, fed meager rations, suffered a myriad of tropical diseases, and lived in appalling conditions. The fact that so many survived is a testament to their courage and resilience. This thesis will show how they did it.