Ser bombero es una labor que conlleva diversos riesgos para la salud física y mental. Estudios previos sugieren que realizar la labor de bombero de manera voluntaria, y la carga laboral asumida como bombero, son dos factores que incrementan los riesgos de padecer síntomas de estrés post-traumático. Consecuentemente, el presente estudio tuvo como objetivo examinar la relación entre los síntomas de trastorno de estrés postraumático (TEPT) y la calidad de vida (CV) en una muestra de bomberos voluntarios de Lima Metropolitana con diferente nivel de carga laboral. Participaron 116 bomberos en actividad (84.5% hombres, M = 31.65 años, DE = 10.11, entre 18 y 66 años). Según el número de horas trabajadas, se dividió a la muestra en dos grupos: el grupo con carga laboral baja (n = 34, todos aquéllos que reportaron un máximo de 20 horas por semana) y el grupo con carga laboral alta (n = 82, más de 20 horas a la semana). Los instrumentos utilizados para evaluar los síntomas de TEPT y la CV, fueron La Escala del Impacto del Evento (IES-R) y el Índice de Calidad de Vida (ICV). En los resultados, se observó que todos los participantes reportaron bajos niveles de sintomatología de TEPT y correlaciones negativas entre sintomatología de TEPT y CV. Al comparar los dos grupos, el grupo de bomberos con alta carga laboral presentó mayores niveles de evitación, que el grupo con carga laboral baja. Se discuten las implicaciones y limitaciones del estudio, además de proveerse recomendaciones para futuras investigaciones. / Being a firefighter is a labour that carries a diverse set of risks for physical and mental health. Previous studies suggest that carrying out the work of a voluntary firefighter and the workload assumed, are two factors that increase the risk of suffering symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Consequently, the current study had as an objective to examine the relationship between the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the quality of life (QoL) in a sample of voluntary firefighters of Metropolitan Lima with different levels of workload. 116 active firefighters participated (84.5% male, M = 31.65 years old, SD = 10.11, with ages that range from 18 to 66 years old). Regarding the amount of hours worked, the sample was divided in two groups: Low level workload group (n= 34, every person that reported a maximum of 20 hours of work per week) and the High level workload group (n=82, more than 20 hours of work per week). The instruments used to evaluate the symptoms of PTSD and QoL were the Impact of Event Scale Revised (IES-R) and the Quality of Life Index (QLI). In the results, it was observed that all participants reported low levels of PTSD symptomatology and negative correlations between PTSD symptomatology and QoL. When both groups are compared, the High level workload group presented higher levels of avoidance. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed, in addition to providing recommendations for future research. / Tesis

Este trabalho tem como principal objetivo analisar representações de aluno, professor e de língua inglesa presentes nos dizeres de voluntários de uma ONG que promove o ensino de inglês. A leitura de trabalhos sobre o terceiro setor nos mostra que as ONGs surgem para propor soluções a problemas detectados na sociedade. Desse modo, podemos inferir que o discurso sobre o insucesso do ensino de inglês nas escolas regulares está entre os elementos que possibilitaram o surgimento da ONG analisada. O corpus do estudo foi formado pela transcrição da gravação em áudio de entrevistas com oito professores voluntários. Para a análise da materialidade linguística, utilizamos conceitos do quadro teórico da Análise de Discurso, assim como o conceito de identidade discutido na visão dos Estudos Culturais e na perspectiva psicanalítica. A análise da materialidade linguística dos dizeres revelou que houve uma mudança no discurso a respeito do voluntariado em nosso país. Nos anos 70 e 80, essa atividade era pautada principalmente por motivações políticas ou religiosas, focando os assistidos e suas necessidades. Atualmente, os dizeres revelam que o voluntariado é perpassado pela discursividade de Mercado, e que o eu voluntário é o centro das decisões. A análise também nos permitiu observar o uso de metáforas espaciais na representação de aluno como aquele que, devido as suas carências, vive uma realidade diferente da do voluntário. Para encorajar o aluno a quebrar as barreiras que limitam seu espaço, os voluntários reforçam dizeres que defendem a possibilidade de sucesso a qualquer pessoa, dependendo de seus esforços. Ao mesmo tempo em que essa atitude pode valorizar a auto-estima dos jovens, ela pode reforçar o conceito de que, caso fracassem na realização de seus objetivos, serão os únicos responsáveis. Em algumas formulações, percebemos que o inglês ensinado pela ONG será oferecido aos alunos como outros itens o são por casas assistenciais. Ou seja, assim como cestas-básicas são oferecidas a famílias que precisam de um mínimo de alimento, a organização oferecerá aos alunos o que acredita ser o mínimo de inglês necessário para que possam sobreviver em um mundo globalizado. Dessa forma, a escola regular e seu professor são representados, pelo não-dito, como aqueles que não fornecem ao menos esse inglês elementar disponibilizado pela organização. Apesar de ser representado como pouco, o inglês ensinado pelos voluntários é caracterizado como suficiente para os jovens atendidos. Não há, nos dizeres analisados, a expectativa de que esses jovens possam, caso desejem, prosseguir seus estudos após o Ensino Médio e ingressar em uma universidade de qualidade. O inglês é representado como o instrumento essencial para que os alunos possam, ao deixar a escola, ingressar no mercado de trabalho, ainda que em posições consideradas menores. A ONG e a escola regular são, portanto, representadas como espaços no quais a língua inglesa não pode ser aprendida de forma bem sucedida. Essas representações reforçam, desse modo, o lugar já estabelecido dos institutos de idiomas como o único capaz de habilitar um estudante a aprender uma língua estrangeira em seu nível comunicativo. / This work aims at analyzing the representations of student, teacher and English found in the utterances of volunteers who work in an NGO that offers English classes to young people also studying at state schools. Articles about the Third Sector argue! that NGOs are created to propose solutions for societys problems. Thus, one can infer that the discourse about the failure of the English teaching in state schools is one of the elements that motivated the creation of this particular NGO. The corpus of analysis was collected from eight audiotaped and transcribed interviews with voluntary teachers. As to the analysis of the corpus linguistic materiality, we have relied on Discourse Analysis perspective, also focusing on the concept of identity as approached by Cultural Studies and Psychoanalysis. Through the analysis of the interviews we could notice that the concept of voluntary work has changed in Brazil. In the 70s and 80s, this activity was carried out based on political or religious reasons and geared towards the people being helped and their needs. Nowadays, what is said about voluntary work is influenced by the Market Discourse, and places the volunteer in the center of decisions. The analysis also revealed the use of metaphors of space to represent the students as people who, due to their lack of certain elements, live a reality different from that of the volunteer. In order to encourage students to break down the barriers that limit their space, the volunteers assert that anyone can achieve success, depending on their efforts. This attitude can boost students self-esteem, but it can also reinforce the idea that when one fails, he or she is the only one to blame. In some utterances, we can notice that the English taught in the NGO is offered to students as other items are offered by charities. The same way food vouchers are provided to families that lack the minimum food they need, this NGO will provide students with what they believe is the minimum English necessary for them in a globalized world. Therefore, state school and the teachers who work there are represented, through the non-said, as those who do not provide students with at least the minimum English they are supposed to find in the NGO. Although it is represented as little, the English taught by the volunteers is qualified as enough for the teenagers who are students in the NGO. In the utterances analyzed we could not identify expectations that these students, in case they want to, will be able to continue studying after High School and be part of a renown University. The English language is represented as the essential instrument for students to leave school and start working, even if it is in a position considered inferior. The NGO and the state schools are, therefore, represented as places where the English language cannot be learned successfully. This way, these representations reinforce the established position of Language Schools as the only institution able to make a student learn a foreign language in its communicative level.

Neste estudo, me propus a compreender os significados do trabalho voluntário e seus desdobramentos nas políticas públicas de acesso ao esporte e lazer dentro do Programa Escola Aberta de Novo Hamburgo. Para isso desenvolvi uma pesquisa de caráter qualitativo onde foram utilizados os diários de campo, entrevistas semi-estruturadas e análise de documentos. As idas a campo aconteceram em quatro escolas da cidade, sendo que foram realizadas doze entrevistas. Para responder ao objetivo proposto, organizei a dissertação em sete capítulos, sendo o primeiro introdutório, o segundo metodológico, o terceiro descritivo sobre o esporte e o lazer na cidade de Novo Hamburgo e sobre os preceitos do Programa Escola Aberta, o quarto sobre as identidades de Trabalho Voluntário dentro do Programa Escola Aberta de Novo Hamburgo, o quinto sobre as compreensões do esporte sobre o olhar dos trabalhadores voluntários, o sexto sobre as relações de do trabalho voluntário com políticas públicas e o sétimo apresenta realizo as conclusões do trabalho. Na descrição sobre o esporte e lazer na cidade de Novo Hamburgo, procurei demonstrar a dimensão histórica da consolidação destas políticas. Com relação ao Programa Escola Aberta, procurei fazer uma descrição do funcionamento do programa na prática e sua relação com a formulação estruturante determinada pelos documentos do Ministério da Educação. No capítulo de identidades, procuro problematizar as diferentes identidades dos trabalhadores voluntários, relacionando-as às identidades locais e globais de trabalho voluntário. No capítulo que trata sobre o esporte, caracterizo as relações entre o esporte e a inclusão social, a violência, o lazer, a educação, e as multiplicidades de representações de esportes para o programa. No capítulo que trata da relação do trabalho voluntário com as políticas públicas, pontuo a fragilidade da utilização de trabalhadores voluntários na operacionalização destas políticas, e relaciono este tipo de práticas ao pensamento político-econômico neoliberal e da terceira via, sem operar de uma forma classificatória. Demonstro ainda que ao invés de um encolhimento do estado este tipo de utilização proporciona um alargamento do alcance do estado sem levar em conta o processo de qualificação. / In this study, I propose to understand the meanings of the voluntary work and its unfoldings in the public politics of access to the sport and leisure of the Opened School Program of Novo Hamburgo. For this I developed a research of qualitative character in which field diaries, half-structuralized interviews and document analysis had been used. Field exits happened in four schools of the city being that twelve interviews had been carried through. To answer to the considered objective I organized the thesis in seven chapters, the first one is the introductory, the second is the methodological one, the third one brings description on the sport and the leisure in Novo Hamburgo city as well as the rules of the Opened School Program, the fourth is about the identities of Voluntary Work inside of the Opened School Program in Novo Hamburgo, the fifth chapter carries on the understandings of the sport form the perceptions of the voluntary workers, the sixth one treats on the relations between the volunteer work and the public policies and in the chapter seven I present the conclusions of the work. In the description on the sport and leisure in Novo Hamburgo city I searched for demonstrating the historical dimension of the consolidation of these policies. Regarding to the Opened School Program I tried to make a description of the functioning of the program in practice and its relation with the structure formulation determined by documents of the Ministry of the Education. In the chapter related to the identities I demonstrated the different identities of the voluntary workers relating them to the local and the global identities of voluntary work. In the chapter that treats on the sport I characterized the relations between the sport and the social inclusion, the violence, the leisure, the education, and the multiples representations of sports for the program. In the chapter that deals with the relation between voluntary work and public policies I aimed at to demonstrate the fragility of the use of voluntary workers in making public policies operational, also I related this type of practical to the neoliberal politic and economic thought and to the third way, without operating in a classificatory form. I demonstrated that in spite of the shrinking of the state this type of use provides a widening of the reach of the state without taking in account the qualification process. / En este estudio, me propuse comprender los significados del trabajo voluntario y sus desdoblamientos en las políticas públicas de acceso al deporte y ócio dentro del Programa Escuela Abierta de Nuevo Hamburgo. Para eso desarrolle una investigación de carácter cualitativo donde fueron utilizados los diarios de campo, entrevistas semi-estructuradas y análisis de documentos. Las idas al campo sucedieron en cuatro escuelas de la ciudad siendo que fueron realizadas doce entrevistas. Para responder al objetivo propuesto organize la disertación en siete capítulos siendo el primero introductorio, el segundo metodológico, el tercero descriptivo sobre el deporte y el ócio en la ciudad de Nuevo Hamburgo y sobre los preceptos del Programa Escuela Abierta, el cuarto sobre las identidades de Trabajo Voluntario dentro del Programa Escuela Abierta de Nuevo Hamburgo, el quinto sobre las comprensiones del deporte sobre el mirar de los trabajadores voluntarios, el sexto sobre las relaciones de del trabajo voluntario con políticas públicas y el sétimo donde realizo las conclusiones del trabajo. En la descripción sobre el deporte y ócio en la cuidad de Novo Hamburgo procure demostrar la dimensión historica de la consolidación de estas políticas. Con relación al Programa Escuela abierta procure hacer una descripción del funcionamiento del programa en la práctica y su relación con la formulación estructurante determinada por los documentos del Ministerio de la Educación. En el capitulo de identidades procuro demostrar las diferentes identidades de los trabajadores voluntarios relacionándolas a identidades locales y globales de trabajo voluntario. En el capítulo que trata sobre el deporte procuro caracterizar las relaciones entre el deporte y la inclusión social, la violencia, el ócio, la educación, y las multiplicidades de representaciones de deportes para o programa. En el capitulo que trata de la relación del trabajo voluntario con las políticas públicas procuro demostrar la fragilidad de la utilización de trabajadores voluntarios en la operacionalización de políticas públicas, bien como relaciono a este tipo de prácticas al pensamiento político-económico neoliberal y de la tercera via, sin operar de una forma clasificatoria. Demostre aún que al contrario de una reducción del estado este tipo de utilización proporciona una extensión del alcance del estado sin llevar en cuenta el proceso de cualificación.

Este trabalho tem como principal objetivo analisar representações de aluno, professor e de língua inglesa presentes nos dizeres de voluntários de uma ONG que promove o ensino de inglês. A leitura de trabalhos sobre o terceiro setor nos mostra que as ONGs surgem para propor soluções a problemas detectados na sociedade. Desse modo, podemos inferir que o discurso sobre o insucesso do ensino de inglês nas escolas regulares está entre os elementos que possibilitaram o surgimento da ONG analisada. O corpus do estudo foi formado pela transcrição da gravação em áudio de entrevistas com oito professores voluntários. Para a análise da materialidade linguística, utilizamos conceitos do quadro teórico da Análise de Discurso, assim como o conceito de identidade discutido na visão dos Estudos Culturais e na perspectiva psicanalítica. A análise da materialidade linguística dos dizeres revelou que houve uma mudança no discurso a respeito do voluntariado em nosso país. Nos anos 70 e 80, essa atividade era pautada principalmente por motivações políticas ou religiosas, focando os assistidos e suas necessidades. Atualmente, os dizeres revelam que o voluntariado é perpassado pela discursividade de Mercado, e que o eu voluntário é o centro das decisões. A análise também nos permitiu observar o uso de metáforas espaciais na representação de aluno como aquele que, devido as suas carências, vive uma realidade diferente da do voluntário. Para encorajar o aluno a quebrar as barreiras que limitam seu espaço, os voluntários reforçam dizeres que defendem a possibilidade de sucesso a qualquer pessoa, dependendo de seus esforços. Ao mesmo tempo em que essa atitude pode valorizar a auto-estima dos jovens, ela pode reforçar o conceito de que, caso fracassem na realização de seus objetivos, serão os únicos responsáveis. Em algumas formulações, percebemos que o inglês ensinado pela ONG será oferecido aos alunos como outros itens o são por casas assistenciais. Ou seja, assim como cestas-básicas são oferecidas a famílias que precisam de um mínimo de alimento, a organização oferecerá aos alunos o que acredita ser o mínimo de inglês necessário para que possam sobreviver em um mundo globalizado. Dessa forma, a escola regular e seu professor são representados, pelo não-dito, como aqueles que não fornecem ao menos esse inglês elementar disponibilizado pela organização. Apesar de ser representado como pouco, o inglês ensinado pelos voluntários é caracterizado como suficiente para os jovens atendidos. Não há, nos dizeres analisados, a expectativa de que esses jovens possam, caso desejem, prosseguir seus estudos após o Ensino Médio e ingressar em uma universidade de qualidade. O inglês é representado como o instrumento essencial para que os alunos possam, ao deixar a escola, ingressar no mercado de trabalho, ainda que em posições consideradas menores. A ONG e a escola regular são, portanto, representadas como espaços no quais a língua inglesa não pode ser aprendida de forma bem sucedida. Essas representações reforçam, desse modo, o lugar já estabelecido dos institutos de idiomas como o único capaz de habilitar um estudante a aprender uma língua estrangeira em seu nível comunicativo. / This work aims at analyzing the representations of student, teacher and English found in the utterances of volunteers who work in an NGO that offers English classes to young people also studying at state schools. Articles about the Third Sector argue! that NGOs are created to propose solutions for societys problems. Thus, one can infer that the discourse about the failure of the English teaching in state schools is one of the elements that motivated the creation of this particular NGO. The corpus of analysis was collected from eight audiotaped and transcribed interviews with voluntary teachers. As to the analysis of the corpus linguistic materiality, we have relied on Discourse Analysis perspective, also focusing on the concept of identity as approached by Cultural Studies and Psychoanalysis. Through the analysis of the interviews we could notice that the concept of voluntary work has changed in Brazil. In the 70s and 80s, this activity was carried out based on political or religious reasons and geared towards the people being helped and their needs. Nowadays, what is said about voluntary work is influenced by the Market Discourse, and places the volunteer in the center of decisions. The analysis also revealed the use of metaphors of space to represent the students as people who, due to their lack of certain elements, live a reality different from that of the volunteer. In order to encourage students to break down the barriers that limit their space, the volunteers assert that anyone can achieve success, depending on their efforts. This attitude can boost students self-esteem, but it can also reinforce the idea that when one fails, he or she is the only one to blame. In some utterances, we can notice that the English taught in the NGO is offered to students as other items are offered by charities. The same way food vouchers are provided to families that lack the minimum food they need, this NGO will provide students with what they believe is the minimum English necessary for them in a globalized world. Therefore, state school and the teachers who work there are represented, through the non-said, as those who do not provide students with at least the minimum English they are supposed to find in the NGO. Although it is represented as little, the English taught by the volunteers is qualified as enough for the teenagers who are students in the NGO. In the utterances analyzed we could not identify expectations that these students, in case they want to, will be able to continue studying after High School and be part of a renown University. The English language is represented as the essential instrument for students to leave school and start working, even if it is in a position considered inferior. The NGO and the state schools are, therefore, represented as places where the English language cannot be learned successfully. This way, these representations reinforce the established position of Language Schools as the only institution able to make a student learn a foreign language in its communicative level.

Women’s wartime work is a well-known phenomenon in belligerent countries. But what happened in a neutral country like Sweden? With the outbreak of the Second World War, Sweden was put in a state of “national preparedness” that would last from September 1939 until the end of war in May 1945. From the autumn of 1939 the State Labour Market Commission (Statens arbetsmarknadskommission, SAK) had sent out signals to the employers’ associations in the engineering industry and at the ironworks that their male employees would not be granted exemptions from military service. Employers therefore had to find reserve workers, either men too old to be conscripted or women. The main purpose of this thesis is to explore how the threat of war affected the plans for and the use of women’s labour during the years of national preparedness. The national preparedness organisation did not include a plan ready for use to mobilise women either for work or for voluntary efforts for the nation during this period. The absence of a state plan for women’s national efforts became the point of departure for the Women's Organisations' Preparedness Committee, (Kvinnoföreningarnas beredskapskommitté, KBK) in 1938. The founding intention of this organisation was to gather Swedish women as a demonstration of their will to defend their country. A huge number of women – 800 000 – signed up for various tasks. This organisation was dominated by women who were eager to contribute to the national defence, and was not fully representative of the traditional women’s movement. With the passing of The National Compulsory Service Act (tjänstepliktslag) in December 1939 both men and women had become eligible for conscription. This was supposed to provide an instrument through which the government would be able to guarantee the supply of industrial labour. But the National Compulsory Service Act was never put into effect with regard to women. Instead, the governmental strategy to reach the female workforce was to establish a liaison between the state and the KBK. The Swedish way was the volunteer way. But this policy required propaganda. And so “Mrs. Loyal” made her entry in a state initiated propaganda newsreel on Swedish cinemas in January 1944. Mrs. Loyal was introduced as an example of “the national preparedness woman of today”. As a reserve worker in the engineering industry, she replaced a man who was called up for military service. The Mrs Loyal propaganda was aimed at married women whose children were grown up. The film presented the ideal situation where women registered for these courses voluntarily, to be fully trained if and when they were needed in industry. Towards the end of the war the SAK made inquiries to investigate the outcome of industrial employment during the war years. It then appeared that the Mrs Loyal-campaign had had an unexpected result. Few of the married housewives Mrs Loyal was supposed to attract had followed her example. In reality, it was a different group of women who took advantage of the opportunity. Young, unmarried women – daughters who still lived at home – saw an opening for them to leave home and earn their own livings. For these young women the preparedness situation and labour shortage actually became an opportunity for emancipation. How are we to understand the significance of the years 1939–1945 in terms of gender relations? The years of national preparedness in Sweden never became the opportunity for a broad range of women to leave their homes and become wage earners. In terms of gender contract, the housewife contract remained dominant. The traditional gender order never changed. The call for women workers was never a question of equal rights, just the temporary needs of the nation. But even if the changes were as superficial as the propaganda image, the need for women workers led to some changes. The question of equal pay was finally brought up on the political agenda with women’s entry in the engineering and ironworks industries. The conditions of labour shortage also placed a focus on other questions concerning the consequences of the protective labour legislation for women, like the prohibition against women’s night work and the question of women’s part-time work. The government had the opportunity to present new guidelines for women’s work at the end of the war. Instead a pattern was institutionalised that reinforced an image of women workers as a “latent labour reserve”. The propaganda picture of Mrs Loyal was forgotten, but in reality both married and unmarried women went on seeking solutions to the difficulties of combining wage work with children and housework.

ABSTRACT Poverty, and in particular child poverty, is a serious social problem. Statistics show that the number of children living in poverty has increased over the last ten years. Earlier research shows that there are huge gaps in our knowledge of how the actors in civil society handle child poverty. With this study we hope to help fill this gap. The aim of our study is to look at how four different organisations working in the civil society in Uppsala perceive and handle child poverty. We have chosen to conduct an empirical study of fieldwork interviews. Our informants were selected from organisations in the municipality of Uppsala that were known to us as working with children's needs.   The results show that our informants consider child poverty an overly narrow and one-sided concept and rather see child poverty as a multifaceted social phenomenon. They view poverty as not only a matter of lack of economic resources but also as other welfare deficits – a view which agrees with previous research (Bitterman and Franzén 2008:243). All our informants express and, to a great extent, practice a children's rights perspective (Archard 2009). They construct children as citizens and bearers of rights, with the idea that adults have a common responsibility to supply for children’s needs of care and participation. None of the four organisations have a family poverty approach to the children. Instead they view children as unique individuals with their own needs beyond the family. The selection process is based on trust. There is no means test or strict investigation though the concept of need is an important criterion. All our informants’ organisations position themselves as something other than social services. They see their role as a complement to social services and public welfare. None of our informants express any desire to replace it.   Key Words: child poverty, economic vulnerability, civil society, voluntary work, child rights perspective.

Social work is a wide term but often presented as the form of activities done by public welfare organisations. This study aims to present an analys of social work done by the Church of Sweden congregations. The study uses a discourseanalys perspectiv to study local congregations’ instructional documents that describe their diaconia. The result shows that social work in diaconia is characterized by different hegemonies and conflicts of understanding and practices. The study shows how church of Sweden formulation can be influenced by history and political and ideological issues as well as economical issues for the church. The author means that we need more studies of how social work is understood by other welfare actors in Sweden in order to develop a deeper understanding of social work.

What impact has volunteering on the individual and their career development? For the young man about to enter the world of work, for the non-profit organization that needs to recruit new volunteers or employers who are facing hiring new staff. This study may provide a new approach in their search for work, volunteers or employees. The purpose of this study is to highlight the experiences of volunteering for individuals' personal learning and development, and the importance of volunteering for their career development. The study has a qualitative approach. A total of nine individuals participated in the study. The results leading to different patterns that emerge and they are divided into following themes: social significance, being there for others, their own well-being, personality / values, career development, learning. Findings: Non-profit work is important for the individual, for example, it has given individuals a satisfaction to help others and see them evolve, they are delighted and they feel it is precious to them. There is also a process in individuals' self-development and learning. Individuals describe their own development, both concrete, such as "gained courage to speak in front of people", but also more abstract, such as personality. Those interviewed said that their experience of volunteering influenced career development but in different ways, either in their current work or that they through the experience got a new job. A few individuals have difficulty seeing a connection, but suggests that it may have had an impact.

Recent international scholarship has placed new emphasis on women’s formative role in the social, economic, political and cultural lives of their respective communities. Some researchers have suggested the greatest legacy of women’s organised contribution to those communities can be found in the history of their voluntary work. Others have urged greater recognition of that contribution through landmark recognition and historic preservation programs. To date, women’s voluntary work in Queensland has drawn limited scholarly interest and it is not well represented on the State Heritage Register. Attempts to establish links between cultural heritage and women’s history generally have been restricted to national heritage agencies in North America and Australia. However, methodologies tended to rely on existing historiography which was traditionally non-inclusive of women, and gaps in the record remained a problem. This thesis seeks to address these developments by undertaking a comprehensive gender-sensitive study of women’s voluntary work and its associated place-based dimensions, across ninety-four groups in Queensland between 1859 and 1959. A central hypothesis asserts women’s formative role as historical agents and community builders, and argues that participation in voluntary work provided opportunities to enrich and empower lives. A social history approach emphasises the diversity of women’s volunteer experiences over time and their manifestation in the built environment. The capacity of cultural heritage to effectively and comprehensively represent those experiences and map key contributions to building and shaping communities is also tested. Research confirms a direct correlation between broader historical developments and women’s volunteer responses in groups. Women reacted proactively, spontaneously and creatively to changing community needs. They committed their collective voluntary labour to address shortcomings in government policies and emerging inequalities in society, to support a nation at war and the work of various Church denominations. These findings validated women’s creative and progressive agency in volunteer-based groups to building and shaping communities, and confirmed their contribution was sustained and consistent over time. Although most volunteer experiences reflected traditional definitions of gender, more expansive opportunities were available to office-bearers, as well as those involved in self-development groups, the suffrage movement and mobilising for the war effort. Government policy did, however, attempt to restrict women’s voluntary wartime work to conventional roles, as did male-dominated ecclesiastical views within church-affiliated groups. Regardless of work or group type, evidence suggests that participation was nevertheless an empowering process. It enriched the lives of many women and facilitated their transition from the private domain of home and family to the public arena. The pioneering nature of women’s voluntary work, especially in nineteenth century Queensland, further enhanced that journey. While voluntary work over this period was dominated mostly by married upper- and middle-class women, single women were well represented. All groups benefitted from career volunteers, who displayed high levels of participation within and across groups. Many participants were motivated by strong altruist ideals, although patriotism and government propaganda played a major role during the war years, as did the influence of the Church and strong Christian beliefs for those involved in groups with a religious affiliation. A key outcome of the study is the identification of some 700 cultural heritages sites, just over half of which appear on an indicative list of places by theme. They reflect the diversity and development of women’s volunteer experiences in Queensland between 1859 and 1959 and provide tangible evidence of their sustained contribution in volunteer-based groups to processes that build and shape communities over time. Collectively, however, these sites tend to strengthen the conservative view of women’s roles, in that they were associated with services which often reflected concerns about issues impacting on home and family. Groups pursuing social or political reform were also disadvantaged in that their sites were restricted in number and frequently limited to public space and bureaucratic or ministerial offices. Likewise, the efforts of Church-based groups were diffused, given their sites of association were, in many cases, not their own. As the first of its kind in a Queensland setting, this study provides substantive findings in an area not well served by scholarly researchers in the past. It also offers an alternative gender-sensitive approach to establishing links between women’s history and cultural heritage. In addition, it has the potential to lift the visibility of women’s voluntary work through landmark recognition and historic preservation programs, whether as new entries on heritage registers, additional information for existing listings, plaque placement or memorial programs and heritage trails.

Recent international scholarship has placed new emphasis on women’s formative role in the social, economic, political and cultural lives of their respective communities. Some researchers have suggested the greatest legacy of women’s organised contribution to those communities can be found in the history of their voluntary work. Others have urged greater recognition of that contribution through landmark recognition and historic preservation programs. To date, women’s voluntary work in Queensland has drawn limited scholarly interest and it is not well represented on the State Heritage Register. Attempts to establish links between cultural heritage and women’s history generally have been restricted to national heritage agencies in North America and Australia. However, methodologies tended to rely on existing historiography which was traditionally non-inclusive of women, and gaps in the record remained a problem. This thesis seeks to address these developments by undertaking a comprehensive gender-sensitive study of women’s voluntary work and its associated place-based dimensions, across ninety-four groups in Queensland between 1859 and 1959. A central hypothesis asserts women’s formative role as historical agents and community builders, and argues that participation in voluntary work provided opportunities to enrich and empower lives. A social history approach emphasises the diversity of women’s volunteer experiences over time and their manifestation in the built environment. The capacity of cultural heritage to effectively and comprehensively represent those experiences and map key contributions to building and shaping communities is also tested. Research confirms a direct correlation between broader historical developments and women’s volunteer responses in groups. Women reacted proactively, spontaneously and creatively to changing community needs. They committed their collective voluntary labour to address shortcomings in government policies and emerging inequalities in society, to support a nation at war and the work of various Church denominations. These findings validated women’s creative and progressive agency in volunteer-based groups to building and shaping communities, and confirmed their contribution was sustained and consistent over time. Although most volunteer experiences reflected traditional definitions of gender, more expansive opportunities were available to office-bearers, as well as those involved in self-development groups, the suffrage movement and mobilising for the war effort. Government policy did, however, attempt to restrict women’s voluntary wartime work to conventional roles, as did male-dominated ecclesiastical views within church-affiliated groups. Regardless of work or group type, evidence suggests that participation was nevertheless an empowering process. It enriched the lives of many women and facilitated their transition from the private domain of home and family to the public arena. The pioneering nature of women’s voluntary work, especially in nineteenth century Queensland, further enhanced that journey. While voluntary work over this period was dominated mostly by married upper- and middle-class women, single women were well represented. All groups benefitted from career volunteers, who displayed high levels of participation within and across groups. Many participants were motivated by strong altruist ideals, although patriotism and government propaganda played a major role during the war years, as did the influence of the Church and strong Christian beliefs for those involved in groups with a religious affiliation. A key outcome of the study is the identification of some 700 cultural heritages sites, just over half of which appear on an indicative list of places by theme. They reflect the diversity and development of women’s volunteer experiences in Queensland between 1859 and 1959 and provide tangible evidence of their sustained contribution in volunteer-based groups to processes that build and shape communities over time. Collectively, however, these sites tend to strengthen the conservative view of women’s roles, in that they were associated with services which often reflected concerns about issues impacting on home and family. Groups pursuing social or political reform were also disadvantaged in that their sites were restricted in number and frequently limited to public space and bureaucratic or ministerial offices. Likewise, the efforts of Church-based groups were diffused, given their sites of association were, in many cases, not their own. As the first of its kind in a Queensland setting, this study provides substantive findings in an area not well served by scholarly researchers in the past. It also offers an alternative gender-sensitive approach to establishing links between women’s history and cultural heritage. In addition, it has the potential to lift the visibility of women’s voluntary work through landmark recognition and historic preservation programs, whether as new entries on heritage registers, additional information for existing listings, plaque placement or memorial programs and heritage trails.