Cette these vise a demontrer la nature sexuee de la mondialisation de l'economie en expliquant comment le fonctionnement de la mondialisation de l'economie repose sur des idees quant aux rapports sociaux de sexe qui renforcent la marginalisation et l'exploitation des femmes. Plus precisement, a l'aide d'une approche feministe neo-gramscienne, cette these revele que cette marginalisation et cette exploitation des femmes sont perpetuees par la facon dont les changements associes a la mondialisation de l'economie profitent d'idees devalorisant le travail des femmes, mais aussi par les interventions decoulant du feminisme liberal, telles celles mises de l'avant par l'ONU dans le cadre de la Conference de Beijing qui eut lieu en septembre 1995. L'essentiel de cette these consiste donc a confronter les causes profondes de la marginalisation et de l'exploitation des femmes associees au contexte de la mondialisation de l'economie et la capacite du feminisme liberal, tel qu'en fait usage I'ONU, de remedier a de tels problemes. Cette these conclut que les recommandations onusiennes emanant de la Conference de Beijing se veulent une illustration de l'incapacite de l'approche feministe liberale d'elaborer des solutions qui permettent vraiment d'admettre la nature profondement sexuee de la mondialisation de l'economie et de resoudre les problemes de marginalisation et d'exploitation des femmes qui en decoulent.

A feminist content analysis examines how the popular and health professional literatures discuss infant feeding practises from the 1960's to 1996. Three research questions were constructed to address women's role(s) and obligations as mothers with respect to infant feeding. The first research question examined the advantages and disadvantages associated with particular methods of infant feeding. The second research question examined how (if at all) a woman's time, energy, and bodily fluids are appropriated, and how the development of self-actualisation might be connected to infant feeding practise. The third research question examined how the popular and health professional literatures discussed the various support systems available to the mother in order to analyse the way in which the mother is situated culturally and socially. The results of the three were theorized and operationalized using the concepts of alienation, appropriation of women, self-actualisation, and diversity. These various concepts were found within socialist and materialist feminism and social psychology.

La liberte de l'avortement pose un probleme particulier au regard de l'universel puisqu'elle concerne avant tout des citoyens qui sont aussi designes comme des femmes. Elle concerne une categorie sexuee. On bute sur la differenciation des sexes. Or, ce n'est que depuis un plus d'une vingtaine d'annees que nous pouvons considerer qu'aucun interdit ne frappe plus les femmes dans leurs droits politiques et civils dans les democraties occidentales. La presente these tente de demontrer que la recente plenitude des droits et libertes aurait ete rendu possible par l'abolition de la construction erigee entre "femme et mere". L'hypothese centrale tourne autour de l'idee que le tres grand respect portee a la mere au cours de l'histoire aurait ete un habile artifice pour la tenir a distance du politique. Le passage par la mere grecque et par la mere republicaine en temoignerait. Ce ne serait qu'une fois que les femmes se sont approprie le controle de la maternite, que ce soit par l'utilisation de moyens contraceptifs et en se faisant reconnai tre la liberte d'avorter, que les femmes ont pu etre considerees comme des individus a part entiere. La difference des sexes permet de penser "l'autre" et sert de referent pour dire la communaute, toutefois l'universel exigetait la reconnaissance des singularites de l'un et l'autre des deux sexes.

Cette these offre une lecture a la fois theorique et empirique de la microentreprise comme nouvelle approche au developpement international dans laquelle est articulee l'importance des activites informelles des femmes microentrepreneurs. Il s'agit d'un travail d'analyse methodologique d'un projet de microentreprise bolivien operationnalise par une ONG (Organisation non-gouvernementale) canadienne de Toronto; Calmeadow, en fonction de l'optique IFD (Integration de la femme au developpement) de l'ACDI (Agence canadienne de developpement international). A l'aide de l'analyse conceptuelle de microentreprises de femmes de Iris Villalobos Barahona ("Women's Micro- and Small Scale Enterprises' Emergence, Features and Limits: A Costa Rican Experience", 1995) et de grille d'analyse empirique de projets de microentreprise incluant les femmes de Marguerite Berger ("Key Issues en Women's Access to and Use of Credit in the Micro- and Small-Scale Enterprise Sector", 1995), une evaluation des methodes empiriques qu'utilise la Calmeadow pour etudier les resultats du projet de microentreprise bolivien est realisee. Les resultats de la presente these montrent que (1) l'etude d'impact du projet geree par la Calmeadow n'a pas bien defini le concept de microentreprises de femmes et que (2) la definition biaisee du concept rend problematique l'evaluation du projet en soi.

Simone de Beauvoir a severement critique, dans Le Deuxieme Sexe, les conditions sociales et philosophiques de la maternite. Cependant, elle n'a pas pour autant proposer qu'y renoncer constituait une condition pour l'independance des femmes, telles que l'entendent maintes interpretations du chapitre sur la mere. Elle a plutot denonce que de nombreuses maternites de l'histoire ont ete vecues par tradition ou par convention maritale plutot que par choix. Appuyee des textes de Toril Moi, nous avons montre qu'en lisant Le Deuxieme Sexe a la lumiere de l'oeuvre plus philosophique de Beauvoir, Pour une morale de l'ambiguite, la maternite pouvait s'averer un vehicule de transcendance pour les femmes. Comme tout projet existentialiste, la maternite doit etre choisie librement, assumee responsablement et perpetuellement justifiee. La contingence dans la maternite ne provient pas du corps; elle est morale. C'est la contingence morale qui est le veritable obstacle a la transcendance.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine perceptions of academic efficacy of gifted young women in three different learning environments---a public high school, an early college entrance program and a private high school affiliated with the Coalition for Essential Schools. The second purpose of the study was to ascertain which factors in the learning environments influenced the students' perceptions of academic efficacy. The participants in the study were twenty gifted high school females in Grades 11 or 12, and, in the case of the early entrance program, in their first year of college. All were studying in the northeastern United States. The qualitative design of the study entailed an emerging analysis of data gathered through separate focus groups in each environment, close observation of the students in the environments, and reconvening the participants in a follow-up focus group. In addition, individual reflective assessments completed by participants and interviews with the directors of the programs provided triangulation data. A computer-assisted analysis of the data for each site was followed with analysis across-sites, from which emerged significant themes and constructs regarding efficacy and learning environments. Results of the study indicated that gifted young women have perceptions of academic efficacy that differed in the different learning environments. All students reported perceptions of strong academic efficacy. Students in the public high school perceived themselves strongest in specific subject matter efficacy. Young women in the early entrance program revealed strong global self-efficacy as well as an emerging sense of self-agency. Gifted young women in the private high school demonstrated significant metacognitive efficacy. Consistent with social learning theory, students' perceptions, behaviors and environments were reciprocally influenced in each of the learning climates. In addition, analysis revealed significant findings regarding early perceptions of intelligence and placement in the family constellation. The concluding chapters examine major themes and constructs that emerged regarding the psychosocial development of gifted young women and how learning environments can assist their development more effectively.

La question initiale qui dirige et oriente notre demarche analytique pose les premisses d'une evaluation de la situation du travail informel des femmes en centramerique. En tentant de comprendre les liens qui unissent les Programmes d'ajustement structurel au travail des femmes, nous cherchons a exprimer et a mettre en evidence les dynamiques du travail feminin. En adoptant un cadre theorique feministe, soit l'approche "Genre et developpement", nous illustrons la complexite du travail des femmes et combien ce dernier, par la force de mesures economiques externes, s'est transforme au fil des ans pour s'apparenter aujourd'hui 'a un travail davantage informalise que formalise. C'est en ces termes que nous proposons une hypothese de recherche, laquelle nous amenera a examiner les diverses formes de travail informel feminin et le role du travail informel dans le processus de developpement. Par le biais d'indicateurs de nature quantitative, nous examinons l'importance de l'informalite economique des actrices et acteurs sociaux et dressons un portrait des femmes qui forment la main d'oeuvre informelle des centres urbains. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The study of stress related to real-life potential future events is sparse. Evidence suggests that future events can be meaningfully appraised and generate consequential levels of psychological stress as they are anticipated. The goals of this study were to investigate changes in stress and appraisals over time in a prospective way and to test a novel formulation of anticipation, within the context of a true stressor. Participants were women undergoing routine breast cancer screening as part of a provincially funded program. From the original sample (n = 606), women were divided into normal (negative, n = 541) and abnormal (false-positive, n = 65) groups and completed measures of stress and cognitive appraisals at four critical time points: (1) prior to the screening, (2) one day after the screening, (3) 20 days after screening and (4) at a three-months post-screen follow-up. A comparison group (n = 119) of women not currently undergoing screening was also included in the study. Anovas revealed a significant decrease in stress for negatives and false-positives reported more stress than negatives at Time 2. As for appraisals, manovas showed that for negatives perceived impact and perceived uncertainty decreased while perceived mastery increased throughout the process. For false-positives, there was an increase in perceived impact from Time 1 to Time 2, then a decrease from Time 3 to Time 4. False-positives reported more perceived impact and perceived uncertainty than negatives at Time 2 and Time 3. In terms of anticipation, we showed that women seemed to appraise the potential event more negatively at the outset and then experienced a decrease in stress. Additional analyses also revealed that the Clinical Breast Exam results can have a profound impact on women's experience of screening. The research and clinical implications of these findings, as well as the strengths and limitations of the present study are reviewed in the discussion.

People who do not succumb to adversity but excel and achieve are said to be resilient. Individuals can become competent and successful despite having experienced adversity. Resilient protective characteristics may be classified into the following categories: internal psychological characteristics, environmental factors and social cultural factors. The internal protective resilient characteristics of populations who have overcome adversity are numerous. However, research on the internal protective resilient characteristics of the population of gifted females is limited. Moreover, there is a lack of literature focusing on one population, gifted females, and what internal resilient protective factors they utilize to build successful lives. This study attempts to provide insight regarding the questions: (1) What behavioral and psychological internal resilient protective factors do gifted women use to overcome challenges; and (2) Do they use the same internal resilient protective factors that other populations use? This study explores the internal resilient characteristics of women currently enrolled in graduate school who have received an academic scholarship. A content-analysis of the emerging resilient characteristics and a content-analysis of the occurrence or nonoccurrence of 18 specific resilient characteristics is conducted. Recommendations are made to guide educators in nurturing resilient characteristics in gifted female students.

abstract: Do adult women survivors of childhood sexual abuse see their past victimization as having any relation to or impact on their current political engagement? While it is important to know how having experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA) impacts women survivors’ adult personal relationships, health, and wellbeing, more research must be done on how these abuse experiences affect women survivors’ political engagement. Nearly 25,900,000 women voters in the United States have likely experienced childhood sexual abuse (National Sexual Violence Resource Center 2011), therefore it is imperative and participation. This interpretive autoethnographic and ethnographic study examines the narratives of six women CSA survivors currently attending a counselling support group, and employs feminist methodology to conceptualize the women’s beliefs and feelings on the impact of CSA on their political participation. The findings of this study, however, do not seek to be generalizable to all women survivors of CSA, but instead reveal how six adult women survivors of CSA cope with and interpret their victimization as having an impact on their adult political engagement and participation. Utilizing interpretive concepts of power, citizenship, and civil society, this study finds that adult women survivors of CSA may be more politically active if they have a safe space to disclose their abuse experiences to fellow survivors of CSA. This study suggests that a civil society community of adult CSA survivors might be beneficial for survivors and may encourage survivors to see political engagement as a viable avenue for healing from the trauma of CSA. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Social Justice and Human Rights 2020