This thesis inquires into the meaning of the right to security of person. This right is found in many international, regional and domestic human rights instruments. However, academic discourse reveals disagreement about the meaning of the right. The thesis first considers case law from the European Convention on Human Rights, the South African Bill of Rights and the Canadian Charter. The analysis shows that courts too disagree about the meaning of the right to security of person. The thesis then takes a theoretical approach to understanding the meaning of the right. It is argued that the concept of ‘security’ establishes that the right imposes both positive and negative duties but that ‘security’ does not determine which interests are protected by the right. For this, we need consider the meaning of the ‘person’. The notion of personhood as understood in the ‘capabilities approach’ of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum is then introduced. It is suggested that this theory could be used to identify the interests protected by the right. Next, the theoretical developments are applied to the legal context in order to illustrate the variety of interests the right to security of person would protect and the type of duties it would impose. As a result, it is argued that the idea of ‘security of person’ is too broad to form the subject matter of an individual legal right. This raises a question over the relationship between security of person and human rights law. It is proposed that instead of recognising an individual legal right to security of person, human rights law as a whole could be seen as a mechanism to secure the person, the capabilities approach determining what it takes to fulfil a right and thereby secure the person.

L’approche des capabilités a été caractérisée par un développement fulgurant au cours des vingt-cinq dernières années. Bien que formulée à l’origine par Amartya Sen, détenteur du Prix Nobel en économie, Martha Nussbaum reprit cette approche dans le but de s’en servir comme fondation pour une théorie éthico-politique intégrale du bien. Cependant, la version de Nussbaum s’avéra particulièrement vulnérable à plusieurs critiques importantes, mettant sérieusement en doute son efficacité globale. À la lumière de ces faits, cette thèse vise à évaluer la pertinence théorique et pratique de l’approche des capabilités de Nussbaum, en examinant trois groupes de critiques particulièrement percutantes formulées à son encontre. / The capabilities approach has seen significant development over the past quarter century, branching out into a variety of fields and directions. Originally developed by Nobel Prize Laureate Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum has sought to extend this approach beyond its mainly instrumental role into a tangible foundation for a full-fledged ethical-political theory of the good. However, this move has attracted a great number of criticisms levelled against Nussbaum’s specific version of the capabilities approach. In this thesis, I identify three main groups of observations under which said criticisms can be classified, and assess their respective strength and tenability.

Trafficking in persons is a serious crime and a serious violation of human rights. Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Trafficking in human beings (THB) can be about forced labour, sexual slavery and/or commercial sexual exploitation, but this this paper focuses on the latter category. One country in Eastern Europe with an exceptionally high proportion of women and children trafficked into Sweden each year is Romania. The purpose of the following study is therefore to investigate what moral responsibility – if any – Sweden has to protect the female part of the victims from Romania being trafficked for sexual purposes in Sweden. They are not Swedish citizens, and that makes it a complicated question. In making an effort to come up with answers, we will have a look at what Sweden is doing for these people today, and what the options look like going forward, if indeed the responsibilty is ours. This is an academic thesis with one normative and one empirical aspect. Normative theoretical principles of global justice, ethics and human dignity from American philosopher Martha Nussbaum are tested on an empirical problem; a case study about the situation for Romanian trafficking victims in Sweden and Norway. Apart from the theory and case study, I have exclusively used applied ethics, secondary sources and an analytical tool to analyze and dissect the problem, reaching the conclusion that Sweden does have a moral responsibility, and that we therefore should continue to work in these people´s favour. However, more so that now by assisting solution solving in Romania, where the biggest problems exist and the best solutions can be expected, if handled intelligently and with ethics in mind.

L’approche des capabilités a été caractérisée par un développement fulgurant au cours des vingt-cinq dernières années. Bien que formulée à l’origine par Amartya Sen, détenteur du Prix Nobel en économie, Martha Nussbaum reprit cette approche dans le but de s’en servir comme fondation pour une théorie éthico-politique intégrale du bien. Cependant, la version de Nussbaum s’avéra particulièrement vulnérable à plusieurs critiques importantes, mettant sérieusement en doute son efficacité globale. À la lumière de ces faits, cette thèse vise à évaluer la pertinence théorique et pratique de l’approche des capabilités de Nussbaum, en examinant trois groupes de critiques particulièrement percutantes formulées à son encontre. / The capabilities approach has seen significant development over the past quarter century, branching out into a variety of fields and directions. Originally developed by Nobel Prize Laureate Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum has sought to extend this approach beyond its mainly instrumental role into a tangible foundation for a full-fledged ethical-political theory of the good. However, this move has attracted a great number of criticisms levelled against Nussbaum’s specific version of the capabilities approach. In this thesis, I identify three main groups of observations under which said criticisms can be classified, and assess their respective strength and tenability.

Zugl.: Hannover, Universiẗat, Diss. V. Doege, S. Martini, 2008.

It is widely acknowledged that poverty has declined globally over the last few years. In fact, this idea has become so ingrained in our society that it is almost taken for granted and assumed as an incontestable fact. The question that remains unanswered is where all the poor are now. Are they living a prosperous life or are they tinkering on the edge of poverty? This research study focuses on the precarious non-poor, who are the people surviving just above Upper Bound Poverty Line used by Statistics within South Africa. Although they are not ‘officially poor’ they are still a group that is often overlooked or ignored within the global development community since they are not poor enough to warrant intervention yet not secure enough to demand action. As the research study will show through using a mixed-method approach, they are far from being prosperous and in fact, still struggling to survive. The quantitative findings are based on a statistical analysis of the General Household Survey (2011) that overlaps with the latest Income and Expenditure Survey (2011). It gives valuable background to the problem that was also used during the qualitative phase of the research study to inform the sample choice and interview guide. The quantitative analysis shows that the precarious non-poor is not a unique problem, and as a group, they are found across South Africa. The qualitative findings are based on in-depth interviews conducted in Cape Town, Western Cape and Newcastle, KwaZulu Natal. Framed by the capability approach, set out by Amartya Sen, and a focus on basic capabilities such as employment, education and housing, the results show that the precarious non-poor lack access and choice in terms of capabilities and the opportunity to realise them into functionings. The precarious non-poor in this study are mostly employed within insecure, uncertain or underpaying jobs, underpinned by a social support program, living in neighbourhoods where they feel unsafe while trying to secure a better future for themselves and especially their children. In fact, they are probably no better off than their poor counterparts with prosperity remaining out of reach. / Sociology / Ph. D. (Sociology)

This research uses the ‘demand-side thesis’ to examine the decline of the Dundee jute industry. In particular, it examines the effect of international competition and the strategic response of the industry during the inter-war (1919-1939) and the post-war (1945-1960s) period to counter this challenge. The strategic response is studied by examining strategies employed at the firm and the industry level. Strategy at the firm level is studied in the form of capability development using the capabilities approach. The thesis also makes an attempt to redress the issue of determinism in the capabilities approach which suggests that the pattern of capability development is governed by path-dependency. By drawing on the techniques employed in the history literature, this research identifies strategic options that were being considered by firms at the time of capability development and examine why certain alternatives were not pursued. This will bring to light aspects other then those associated with path-dependency that played a role in the pattern of capability development. The capabilities developed by firms during the two periods are compared and contrasted in order to understand the pattern over this period. These findings are juxtaposed with the British cotton textile industry, a related sector, to examine the effectiveness of the demand-side thesis in explaining the decline of the jute industry in particular and the textile industry in general. This thesis makes contribution to three areas of literature: First, the thesis helps to further develop the demand-side framework by introducing a new case (Dundee jute industry) and developing a better understanding of strategic response within the jute and textile industry in general. Second, this thesis contributes to the theoretical development of capabilities approach in two specific areas: a) it helps to address the issue of determinism inherent in the capabilities approach through the notion of path-dependency. This was done by also examining the strategic options that were available to firms while developing their capabilities and underlining the reasons for not pursuing them. b) the analysis sheds new light on the nature of branching of capabilities in an industry over a long period. Third, this research makes significant contribution to the existing literature on the business history of the Dundee jute industry, which is sparse. The contributions can be categorised into four key aspects which have not been examined in the current literature: a) period (inter-war and post-war), b) issue (systematic examination of the Dundee jute industry’s decline, strategic response and role of collective strategies), c) method (detailed study of individual firm’s strategies), and d) cross comparison of industry’s experience with related sectors (for example, the cotton industry). Focusing on these issues has helped to throw new light on the challenges, especially technological, facing the industry in developing its strategic response.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:21:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Thais Novaes Cavalcanti.pdf: 650266 bytes, checksum: 77e34372c8f8dab5f7f8a97d8b575c2f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-09-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The theory of Economic Development created by AmartyaSen and adopted by the UN as an criteria for the assessment of Counties growth, presents the person considering the expansion of their capacities as the aim of the policies proposed by States. The welfare and quality of life do not rely only on the equal distribution of primary goods, according to the ancient model of Welfare State. The modification occurs on how the State recognizes and valuates its citizens, starting from the development of their capacities to reach the formation of a wealth and participative social linen. Based on this Theory, this thesis aims at proposing the right of capabilities promotion as a fundamental right, in the material sense, as the basis for the creation of a new Model of State. The starting point is the conception of persona based on the aristotelic-tomist thought, with singular identity and personality, which exists in a rational and social nature, subject and purpose of the society, of the State and of the Law. The proposed right is divided in into three aspects, needed for its concretisation: material (education), formal (public policies) and instrumental (principle of subsidiarity), which will be analysed under the Brazilian Constitution of 1988 / ONU como critério de avaliação do crescimento dos países destaca a pessoa e a expansão das suas capacidades como o eixo e finalidade das políticas propostas pelos Estados. O bem-estar e a qualidade de vida não dependem somente da distribuição igual dos bens primários (materiais), conforme o modelo antigo de WelfareState. A mudança está em como o Estado reconhece e valoriza a pessoa, partindo da promoção das suas capacidades para a formação de um tecido social rico e participativo. Com base nessa teoria, esta tese objetiva propor o direito à promoção das capacidades como direito fundamental em sentido material, como base para a formação de um novo modelo de Estado. O ponto de partida é a concepção de pessoa fundada no pensamento aristotélico-tomista, com identidade singular e personalidade, existente em uma natureza racional e social, sujeito e fim da sociedade, do Estado e do Direito. O direito proposto desdobra-se em três aspectos necessários para sua concretização: material (Educação), formal (políticas públicas) e instrumental (princípio da subsidiariedade), que serão analisados sob a ótica da Constituição Brasileira de 1988

Ce mémoire vise à analyser les parcours universitaires d’étudiants montréalais d’origine haïtienne, qui représentent un des groupes les plus susceptibles de décrocher. Au moyen d’une posture épistémologique interprétative-critique, nous avons tenté d’identifier les facteurs qui entravent ou qui facilitent les parcours universitaires de ces étudiants. En nous basant sur la théorie raciale critique et de l’approche par les capabilités d’Amartya Sen (2000) et de Martha Nussbaum (2012), nous avons analysé un total de dix entretiens semi-dirigés menés auprès de cinq étudiants, afin de voir si les rapports sociaux de race et les rapports de pouvoir inégaux jouent sur leurs parcours. Ces entretiens sont issus de données secondaires s’inscrivant dans un projet de recherche plus large portant sur les inégalités de parcours dans l’enseignement supérieur et qui s’intéresse aux cas des étudiants racisés. Dans un premier temps, nous nous sommes penchées sur le sens que les étudiants montréalais issus de la communauté haïtienne donnent aux situations de racisme, de discrimination en milieu socioscolaire et universitaire, ainsi que sur la manière dont les rapports de pouvoir inégaux influençent leurs parcours. Dans un deuxième temps, nous avons analysé la manière dont les facteurs de conversion influencent leurs fonctionnements. On compte trois types de facteurs de conversion : environnementaux (liés à l’environnement géographique ou aux infrastructures), individuels (liés aux caractéristiques, aptitudes et aspirations individuelles) et socioculturels (normes, relations et rapports sociaux). Ils correspondent à ce qui influence un individu à utiliser une ressource ou un bien et peuvent avoir des versants positifs et négatifs. Les résultats vont dans le même sens que la littérature existante au sujet des étudiants issus de groupes racisés et révèlent diverses expériences racisantes, microagressions rencontrées par ces étudiants tout au long de leurs parcours scolaire et académique. Des stratégies comme la création de counterspaces ou le role flexing sont utilisées par les étudiants afin de contrer le sentiment d’aliénation ressenti et afin de mieux naviguer au sein du système. Les facteurs de conversion de type socioculturel se révèlent centraux dans l’analyse des façons d’être et d’agir de ces étudiants. Les recommandations qui émanent de notre analyse se rapportent surtout à l’importance d’un meilleur travail de sensibilisation auprès des acteurs des établissements scolaires et postsecondaires quant aux réalités des communautés racisées, notamment en termes de microagressions et de situations de racisation. / This thesis aims to analyze the postsecondary pathways of Montreal universities’ students of Haitian descent, who represent one of the groups that are most likely to drop out. Using a criticalinterpretative epistemological stance, we tried to identify the factors that may impede or facilitate their pathways. A framework combining the critical race theory and Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach allowed the examination of social relations of race and unequal power relations, and their influence on racialized students’ pathways. We first looked at the meaning Montreal students of Haitian descent gave to racializing situations in social and academic environments, as well as the way unequal power relations influence their experience. Then, we analyzed how conversion factors influenced the use of resources put at their disposal. Conversion factors inhibit or encourage the transformation of their characteristics into functionings, and can either be environmental, personal or social. The empirical material analyzed is based on 10 qualitative interviews conducted with five undergraduate students. The analysis of the data demonstrates that racialized students experience many forms of microaggressions and racialization during their pathways in the schools, cegeps and universities they attended. They use different strategies such as role flexing or creation of counterspaces to navigate the system better and to counter the feeling of alienation they sometimes feel. Social conversion factors occupy a central place in the analysis of ways of being and acting of our participants, compared to environmental and personal conversion factors. The recommendations that emanate from our analysis mainly relate to the importance of awareness raising among school and universities stakeholders as to racialized students’ realities, especially in terms of microaggressions and racializing situations.

Résumé Le taux de mortalité infantile est un indicateur de santé des populations et de l'efficacité des systèmes de santé. Il est également capable d'estimer l'ampleur des inégalités sociales et en matière de santé entre populations. Au cours des 30 dernières années, le Brésil a enregistré des réductions significatives des taux de mortalité infantile. Entre 1990 et 2017, le taux de mortalité des moins de cinq ans est passé de 53,7 décès pour mille naissances vivantes à 15,6. Une réduction de 71% sur la période. La moyenne nationale de réduction était de 6% par an dans les années 90, passant à 4,8% dans les années 2000 et à 3,2% par an entre 2011 et 2015. De nombreux facteurs ont été signalés comme la cause de ces améliorations. Malgré la mise en œuvre de politiques sociales et de santé qui ont eu un impact positif sur la santé des populations brésiliennes au cours des dernières décennies, depuis 2009 le pays a connu une lente diminution de la baisse de la mortalité infantile qui est restée à des niveaux élevés, enregistrant de grandes disparités régionales. Après une crise économique qui a évolué vers une période troublée de crise politique, le pays a enregistré en 2016 une augmentation de la mortalité infantile chez les moins d'un an et de cinq ans, qui est passé de 12,43 à 12,72 décès pour mille naissances vivantes et de 14,28 décès à 14,89 décès pour mille naissances vivantes, respectivement. Ces éléments attirent l'attention sur l'impact possible des déterminants sociaux de la santé sur les taux de mortalité infantile au Brésil après la mise en œuvre de ces politiques sociales et de santé. Cette anomalie observée dans la tendance de la mortalité infantile, combinée aux disparités régionales et à une lente diminution de la baisse des taux de mortalité infantile est préoccupante. Elle soulève des questions sur l'impact de ces politiques sociales et de santé, sur la capacité du pays à maintenir une réduction du taux de mortalité infantile à long terme, et sa capacité à rejoindre les taux des pays développés, ainsi quels sont les déterminants de la mortalité infantile au Brésil après la mise en œuvre de ces politiques publiques? L'objectif premier de cette thèse était d'identifier les déterminants de la mortalité infantile au Brésil après la mise en œuvre du programme Stratégie Santé Famille et du Programme Bolsa Família afin de formuler des hypothèses plausibles, relatives au ralentissement du taux de mortalité chez les moins d’un an et de cinq ans, aux disparités régionales et à l’anomalie observée dans la tendance à la baisse du taux de mortalité infantile au Brésil. Pour atteindre cet objectif, nous avons effectué trois études: 1) un examen de la portée qui visait à identifier et à résumer les déterminants de la mortalité infantile au Brésil sous l'influence de ces programmes, en vue de formuler des hypothèses relativement à l’évolution récente des taux de mortalité infantile au Brésil et d’identifier les lacunes, en termes de recherche, concernant les déterminants de la mortalité infantile dans le pays; 2) une analyse descriptive rétrospective, dans une optique de santé publique et des inégalités en matière de santé, en adoptant le cadre analytique proposé par la Commission de l'OMS sur les déterminants sociaux de la santé, en utilisant les données du taux de mortalité chez les enfants de moins d'un an et des possibles déterminants de la mortalité infantile au Brésil selon les conclusions de notre examen de la portée (article 1); 3) une proposition de méthodologie pour faire face aux défis liés au développement d'un modèle de données de panel en utilisant des données agrégées des 26 états brésiliens et des différentes sous-régions, selon le « Conceptual Model of Health Capability » , afin d'inférer des associations possibles entre nos variables indépendantes et les taux de mortalité infantile au Brésil et pour vérifier l'hypothèse soulevée dans l'examen de cadrage sur les récents changements des indicateurs de mortalité infantile du pays. Les résultats globaux de ces études ont démontré qu'à la lumière du « Conceptual Model of Health Capability » et des déterminants sociaux de la santé, les disparités régionales liées aux inégalités, notamment aux niveaux du revenu, de l'éducation, de l'emploi, du taux de fécondité, de l'accès et de la qualité des services de santé, expliquent les inégalités en termes de taux de mortalité infantile, en particulier dans les macro-régions du nord et du nord-est du pays, ce qui freine probablement la baisse du taux de mortalité infantile. Ces inégalités expliqueraient à la fois la lenteur de la réduction du taux de mortalité infantile et sa tendance à demeurer à des niveaux relativement élevés. Les résultats ont également montré que les variations de ces facteurs, pour des raisons liées à la crise économique et politique, ont probablement perturbé la tendance à la baisse des taux de mortalité infantile. À cet égard, les résultats suggèrent qu'une forte réduction du taux d'emploi, observée entre 2014 et 2015 entre autres facteurs, pourrait avoir eu un impact différé sur le TMI en 2016. Les résultats ont également permis d’établir une association entre l'emploi et différents indicateurs de mortalité infantile, le taux d'emploi pouvant avoir un impact sur la mortalité infantile jusqu'à trois ans. Enfin, les études ont démontré qu'il existe un seuil de revenu des ménages, qui agit comme facteur de protection contre la mortalité infantile, en dessous duquel plus la proportion de ménages est élevée, plus le risque d'augmentation de la mortalité infantile est élevé. / Abstract The infant mortality rate is an indicator of population health and the effectiveness of health systems that is also capable of estimating the extent of social and health inequalities between populations. Over the last 30 years, Brazil has recorded significant reductions in child mortality rates. Between 1990 and 2017, the under-five mortality rate dropped from 53.7 to 15.6 deaths per thousand live births, a 71% reduction over the period. The national reduction average was 6% per year in the 1990s, decreasing to 4.8% in the 2000s and to 3.2% per year between 2011 and 2015, and many factors have been reported as the cause of these improvements. Even after the implementation of health and social policies that positively affected the health of the populations in Brazil in the last decades, since 2009 the country has experienced a slow decrease in the decline in infant mortality that remained at high levels, registering great regional disparities. After an economic crisis that evolved into a troubled period of political crisis, in 2016 the country recorded increases in under-one-year infant mortality and under-five-year infant mortality rates, that raised from 12.43 deaths to 12.72 deaths per thousand live births and from 14.28 deaths to 14.89 deaths per thousand live births, respectively. These facts call attention to the possible impact of social determinants of health on infant mortality rates in Brazil after the implementation of these health and social policies. This anomaly in the trend of child mortality, particularly when combined with regional disparities and a slow decrease in the decline in infant mortality rates is of great concern and raise questions about what is the extent of these health and social policies on the country’s ability to maintain a longer-term decline in the infant mortality rate, is it capable of placing this rate at the level of developed countries and what are the determinants of infant mortality in Brazil after the implementation of these public policies. The overarching goal of this thesis was to identify the determinants of infant mortality in Brazil after the implementation of the Family Health Strategy and the Bolsa Família programs in order to raise plausible hypotheses for the slowdown, the regional disparities, and the anomaly observed in the trend of declines in the infant mortality rate in Brazil. To attain this objective, we conducted three research papers: 1. a scoping review that aimed at identifying and summarizing the determinants of infant mortality in Brazil under the influence of Family Health Strategy and Bolsa Família programs, with a view of raising hypothesis for the recent changes in the infant mortality rates in Brazil and identifying gaps in terms of research concerning the determinants of infant mortality in the country, 2. a descriptive retrospective analysis according to the perspective of Public Health and health inequalities by adopting the analytical framework proposed by the World Health Organization’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health, using data from under-one-year old infant mortality rate and from possible determinants of infant mortality in Brazil according to the findings of our scoping review (article 1), and 3. a methodological proposal in order to overcome the challenges to developing a panel data model using aggregated data from the 26 Brazilian states and different subregions according to the Conceptual Model of Health Capability, with a view of inferring possible associations between our independent variables and infant mortality rates in Brazil, aiming at reviewing the hypothesis raised in the scoping review about the recent changes in the country's infant mortality indicators. The global results of these studies demonstrated that in the light of the Conceptual Model of Health Capability and the social determinants of health, regional disparities related to inequalities in factors such as income, education, employment, fertility rate, access, and quality of health services, account for inequalities in infant mortality rates, especially in the north and Northeast macro-regions of the country, which likely hamper further reductions of infant mortality. Those inequalities would explain both the slowdown in the reduction and the tendency of the infant mortality rate to remain at relatively high levels. Results also demonstrated that variations in those factors for reasons relating to the economic and political crisis, likely have interrupted the secular trend of declining infant mortality rates. In this regard, results suggest that a sharp reduction in employment rate observed between 2014 and 2015, among other factors, may have had a delayed impact on infant mortality rates in 2016. The results also identified an association between employment and different infant mortality indicators, with employment rate possibly impacting child mortality up to three years. Finally, the studies have shown that a household income threshold acts as a protective factor against child mortality, the bigger the proportion of households below this income bracket, the greater the risk of an increase in child mortality.