Until relatively recently, 'child labour' remained a pejorative term used primarily by historians to describe the grinding and unremitting work routines and hostile work environments to which nineteenth century children were exposed. The start of the twentieth century, though, is frequently identified as marking the emergence of a more humanitarian attitude towards children, epitomised by the increasing willingness of the state to intervene in arenas such as child welfare. Historians have cited the intensification of legislation designed to protect the child as evidence to suggest that by the turn of the nineteenth century the vast majority of children were no longer significant workers. Before the publication of Emrys Davies' government funded 1972 study, which concluded that the employment undertaken by school children was frequently arduous and harmful, such claims were taken at face value in the academic world. As a result, until recently, the labour of school children throughout the twentieth century has not been subject to adequate social research, and the experiences of working school children have been largely ignored. However, as the recent upsurge in academic and political interest in child employment illustrates, the debate over what is an effective and appropriate level of child labour regulation remains a heated political question. One of the problems, though, is that a lack of information on the period c1900-1973 is hampering our understanding of the forces and interests which have helped shape child labour policy in Britain. Hence, this thesis has two main aims. Firstly, it seeks to provide detailed empirical information on the levels and types of work performed by children. Secondly, and more importantly, it aims to deepen our appreciation of the concerns which have influenced thinking and policy on this subject in the twentieth century. It is hoped that an analysis of these two issues will help us understand the origins and nature of current debates over school child labour, and to evaluate the 'solutions' advanced by politicians and academics in the twenty-first century. The potential impact of the range of factors and interests which are traditionally seen to be present within the policy-making process, such as ideologies, political parties and pressure groups, are assessed. Particular emphasis, though, is placed on the conservative role played by civil servants within the Home Office, the government department charged with responsibility for the administration of legislation for school children's employment throughout the period under examination. The thesis concludes that of all the agents active in the policy-making process, civil servants were the most influential in shaping the approach adopted by successive governments towards the question of child labour reform. It suggests that officials were guided by a pervasive 'departmental view' of the phenomenon, a key element of which emphasised its potential for channeling the potentially 'problematic' leisure hours of working class youths into creative outlets. Finally, the thesis highlights the extent to which the ideas and beliefs which underpinned thinking on child labour regulation between 1900-1973 continue to have an enduring influence on the current policy debate.

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Recent research has cast doubt on the suggestion that immigration weakens the societal foundation of a redistributive welfare state: there is little evidence of a negative relationship between immigration-induced diversity and public support for social programs. This research has largely overlooked, however, that unease about immigration is likely to have a more selective effect on solidarity. In some countries, the public has become less willing to share benefits with newcomers, and policy-makers have acted upon that sentiment, implementing limits and restrictions on immigrants’ welfare access. By combining quantitative data analysis of fourteen countries and a qualitative comparison of the Netherlands, Canada, and Sweden, this research explores when and how such expressions of selective solidarity are most likely to occur. The main findings are threefold. First, there is no evidence that actual patterns of immigrant welfare dependence are an important driver of selective solidarity or immigrant-excluding welfare reforms. Second, more important is how those patterns are politically translated. In the Netherlands, high levels of immigrant welfare dependence are commonly described as a sign that immigrants are lazy welfare cheats. In Canada and Sweden, the discourse is less accusatory and divisive, and attempts at welfare exclusion are consequently rarer. Country characteristics, in particular the political strength of anti-immigrant parties, the nature of national identity, and the structure of the welfare state, explain why the political translation differs between countries. Third, the primary constraint on immigrant-excluding welfare reforms tends not to be public opposition but legal prohibitions on differential treatment embedded in national legislation and international treaties. Sometimes politicians are forced to amend or withdraw from existing legislation before they can pass exclusionary reforms; in other cases the reforms are simply not possible. In sum, in some welfare states access to benefits has changed from an individual social right to a privilege for those lucky enough to be born in the country or to have lived long enough on its territory and acquired the necessary documentation. But this development is not unavoidable. Where forces of cohesion are stronger than forces of division, welfare states will likely address immigrant welfare dependence by more sanguine means than disentitlement. / Thesis (Ph.D, Political Studies) -- Queen's University, 2013-04-24 14:12:18.2

This study explores the social benefits resulting from community involvement in forestry in Scotland. Social benefits have been claimed and reported but a review of literature identified a need for further exploration to qualify them in nature and extent. A novel appraisal approach was also developed as part of this study to explore the context in which benefits are delivered and identify the factors and mechanisms instrumental in the delivery process. The research used a case study approach focussing on the Scottish Borders. It included a scoping phase involving semi-structured interviews to gain an understanding of the forestry sector and explore the wider context in which forestry operates. This phase informed the methodological strand of the study by feeding into the development of the appraisal approach and the design of the second empirical phase in which social benefits were investigated through a detailed study of four initiatives. Qualitative and quantitative information was collected through semi-structured interviews and local surveys. The main findings relate to the nature and distribution of social benefits and an understanding of the processes by which they are delivered. For example, social capital building was found nearly exclusively amongst those with direct contact with the projects. Other benefits, such as feelings of increased belonging or connection with their area, were experienced more widely and could result from the mere knowledge of the existence of the community initiative. The governance structures and institutions involved and the nature of the local community and area were found to be important and interrelating elements in the process by which benefits are experienced. Current forestry policy supports community involvement as a rural development mechanism, and the study findings provide insight in to the circumstances under which, and manner in which, community involvement should be facilitated for maximum gain. For example, the nature of the community and levels of existing community cohesion have implications for the role of external agencies; activities and events were found to be very important in attracting people to the woods who might not otherwise visit; and the capacity for the woods to be a forum through which interests in local biodiversity, history and arts are explored and expressed was found to be valuable.

Surveillance is something which has always existed. In the tribal cultures of preindustrial society, for example, the level of social surveillance was intense, because most people could see and hear just about everything that was going on in the camp (McCrone, 1995). In modern industrial societies, on the other hand, bureaucratic surveillance emerged as a highly rationalised mode of information gathering in response to the size and complexity of the administrative tasks faced by the modem nation state (Giddens, 1985; Dandeker, 1990). But with the recent advance of the so-called 'information revolution', many theorists have asked whether the advent of modem video, computer and telecommunications systems have given rise to a new surveillance, qualitatively different from that which existed before (see Lyon, 1994: 40-56). The main features of the 'new surveillance' are summed up by Gary T. Marx (1988), who states that it transcends distance, time, darkness and physical barriers; it is invisible (or of low visibility), involuntary, capital rather than labour intensive, involves decentralised self-policing, introduces suspicion of whole categories of persons rather than targeting specific individuals, and is both more intensive and more extensive (Lyon, 1994: 68). As David Lyon (1993, 1994) has pointed out, in an attempt to come to grips with the New Surveillance many writers have seized upon Foucault's idea of the Panopticon as a metaphor which captures neatly some of the features of contemporary society, linking changing technologies of surveillance with the debate over the emergence of the Information Age. Most of this literature has focused on computerisation and in particular at how 'the shift from paper-based to digital documentation heralds several profound changes in the nature and extent of surveillance' (Poster, 1990; Robins and Webster, 1988; Gandy, 1993). Thus, according to these writers, the ultimate realisation of the panoptic on is facilitated by information technology which means that 'not just the prison or the factory, but the social totality, comes to function as the hierarchical and disciplinary panoptic machine' (Robins and Webster, 1988: 59). For many writers, the rise of visual surveillance systems reflects this dynamic extending the disciplinary power of the panopticon to non-institutionalised public and private spaces (Fyfe and Bannister, 1994; Reeve, 1998). A combination of modern video and telecommunications systems has extended the disciplinary potential of surveillance systems in both time and space. As a result of these technological developments surveillance is no longer confined to the enclosed and controlled settings of institutions, the direct supervision of the subject population no longer requires the physical co-presence of the observer, and images can be 'lifted out' of the immediate nexus of social control and authoritative interventions made at some future, as yet unspecified, time and place. However, the present study is not concerned solely with the novelty or otherwise of visual surveillance systems. Instead, it attempts to show how the introduction of 'new' technology fits in with 'old' social practices and with 'existing' human relations. The study begins by telling a story about Northern City and its relationship with closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance systems. The use of the word relationship here is important, because it implies a two-way relationship between society and technology. This approach rejects the notion that technological systems 'have some autonomous "logic" which "impacts" on cities as an external force' (Graham and Marvin, 1996: 104). Instead, it aims to show how 'individuals, social groups and institutions ... have some degree of choice in shaping the design, development and application of technologies in specific cases' (ibid: 105). This approach focuses our attention on a number of issues. For instance, how is the construction and application of 'new' technology shaped by existing local elites? Does the human mediation of technology place limits on panoptic systems? How does the introduction of new technology fit in with the existing organisational, occupational and personal concerns of those operating the systems? Does the exclusionary potential of new technology reinforce existing social divisions? These are just some of the questions to be addressed in this thesis. Chapter one reviews the current literature by locating and analysing the growth of CCTV surveillance systems in relation to the central concerns of theorists of modernity. The themes of 'time-space distanciation', 'globalisation' and 'risk' are used in an attempt to identify some of the technological, socio-economic, and political forces that are propelling the CCTV revolution. Chapter two takes us from 'grand theory' to the 'real world' by posing the following question: How did CCTV become the new 'common sense' in contemporary strategies of crime control? This question is addressed by examining the debate over the introduction of CCTV surveillance systems in one city in the North of England (Northern City). The chapter draws on various texts - interviews, council documents and a local newspaper - to show how 'new modes of governance' (Garland, 1996) in crime control created a convergence of interests in Northern City which pushed CCTV to the top of the agenda. Chapter three argues that the starting point for any attempt to understand the impact of visual surveillance systems must be to take as its object of analysis not a separate and discrete CCTV system, but a 'surveillance web'. It is shown how a combination of public and private CCTV systems linked with pager systems, panic alarms, radio links and mobile and fixed telephone networks is facilitating the development of surveillance web's which weave unseen through the fabric of contemporary cities. Chapters four to six provide detailed case studies of the construction and operation of CCTV systems in two shopping malls, the workplace, and high-rise housing schemes. Chapter seven takes us back to theory and discusses the implications of the present study for theories of time-space, surveillance and social control.

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This thesis is a comparative analysis of the impact of local government reorganisation on the overview and scrutiny functions across four unitary local authorities in England. The creation of new unitary authorities in England in 2009 gave an opportunity to compare how they have maintained and developed effective overview and scrutiny functions previously undertaken by the former district and county councils. Investigating how this was achieved allowed reflection upon New Labour’s aims and objectives within the overall local government modernisation agenda and the wider discourse on local government, new localism and democracy. This research contributes to the knowledge previously established on overview and scrutiny by harnessing original empirical data from the unitary authorities. At the time there were no in-depth studies of how the transition to unitary status has affected and challenged patterns of overview and scrutiny developed in local authorities after 2000. The research for the thesis included a critical examination of the existing literature on local government and the overview and scrutiny function, was undertaken partly as a participant observer within the overview and scrutiny team of one of the case study authorities and through semi-structured interviews of council members and officers. The research found the case study authorities have developed overview and scrutiny functions that: adhere to accepted good practice; reflect the culture of their authorities; is understood and valued by council members and officers; acknowledges the influence of party politics; is dependent upon dedicated officer support and finance and are playing a significant role in meeting New Labour’s aims of transparent, accountable and efficient local government. However it is unclear as to whether they are contributing to ‘new localism’ given their unsuccessful engagement of the general public and communities. The research has also augmented the typologies of effective overview and scrutiny advocated in the existing literature.

Most European countries now have independent children’s rights institutions, but there has been little attempt to systematically evaluate their impact. This study attempts to fill this gap by exploring the kinds of impact institutions make, and how this could be evaluated. Critical realism, case study and appreciative inquiry were the approaches to the research questions. The research had two phases: a survey of all members of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) to get a broad picture of how they understood their impact; and to recruit participants for phase 2; and case studies in two institutions. 67% of ENOC members responded to the survey, which was designed to shed light on the context in which IHRICs are working, mechanisms and their outcomes. It showed that contextual factors helping members are their staff, mandate and independence, frameworks and networks, especially NGOs. Impact was sought in terms of full implementation of the UNCRC, influencing law and policy, and raising awareness of children’s rights. As a result, the main focus of the case studies was on evaluating the organisations’ impact on law and policy, and how this was informed by children’s perspectives. The second phase of the research involved talking to staff of the two institutions and a range of stakeholders, and reviewing relevant documents. This revealed that key contextual factors were: powers and remits, staff, political independence and background of the Ombudsman and Commissioner. Participants mainly pointed to the greater visibility and priority of children’s issues in policy-making, greater participation, and raised awareness of children’s rights as impacts of the two institutions. The research showed that the impact of children’s rights institutions can be substantial but variable, that evaluation has to be highly contextual, and that generalised indicators have limited value. It produced a template for contextual evaluation, to help ICRIs and IHRICs show the evidence of their impact and reflect on what works well for them. The study also suggested that institutions can act as interlocutors between children and the State by empowering both to engage in more effective dialogue, and so enable children to have real impact on policy.