Building Bridges: Church Women United and Social Reform Work Across the Mid-Twentieth Century

Church Women United incorporated in December 1941 as an interdenominational and interracial movement of liberal Protestant women committed to social reform. The one hundred organizers represented ten million Protestant women across the United States. They organized with the express purposes of helping to bring peace on Earth and to develop total equality within all humanity. Church Women United was the bridge between the First and Second Wave of Feminism and the bridge between the Social Gospel and Social Justice Movements. Additionally they connected laterally with numerous social and religious groups across American society. As such, they exemplify the continuity and matrix of reform in American history. Because they worked to promote international peace, develop positive race relations, and advance women’s rights, their campaigns give us a model for how to rectify the social problems of today. These women used communal prayer, politics, education, and hands-on labor to promote their ideas. They originated in collective prayer and continued this tool, but they added letter writing campaigns, public education forums, and lobbying politicians at all levels including the president to advance their goals. They held massive campaigns to collect needed items for war-torn countries and natural disaster areas as well as acting as counselors to the needy. They raised public awareness of issues facing migrant laborers, inner-city residents, Native Americans, Japanese internment detainees, and then worked hard to ameliorate the worst of these problems. They promoted literacy around the world, as well as new agricultural techniques to address human conditions that were known to lead to political and social unrest. This dissertation covers the mid-twentieth century while being predominately focused on the years 1941-1968. This study is built upon multiple archives across the United States and oral histories of movement leaders. It is one of the first interdenominational studies focused on the work of women in social reform work. This dissertation enlarges our knowledge of feminism and social reform work

THE MAIN TENDENCIES OF PUBLIC MANAGEMENT REFORMS– FROM A HUNGARIAN POINT OF VIEW

Over the course of human history each state decided on its own how broadly and how extensively to encroach on social conditions, i.e. which tasks to take on. However, the growth of state tasks and abstractions by the state (taxation) is a historical fact, particularly in the 20th century. Centralization of state duties and GDP (40-50% of it!) in a bigger scale into the state budget by the 1980s led to the obvious fact that this tendency cannot be continued, the model of state-concept needs a change. It came forward firstly in the Anglo-Saxon countries, than in the developed countries such as France, Germany, etc.. From the public law crisis public management reforms could have meant the way out. The public management reforms can be classified into three tendencies dependent upon aspects of how the state or rather the administration tries to solve the social problems. According to this, on one hand, we can talk about the technical, the value- and participation-based, as well as about the regulative approach, and on the other hand, about the tendency of “New Public Management”, “Good Governance” and “Neo-Weberism”. This essay takes a look at these approaches, tendencies and their most important features brieflyPublic Management, Public Service Reform, New Public Management, Good Governance, Neo-Weberism

Promoting development and land reform on South African farms

The issue of social development for farm workers has always been a contentious one, primarily due to a history of development being one of repression and exploitation. Decades of exploitative control have left a social situation characterised by poverty and extreme inequality of power, between farmer and worker, black and white people, and between men and women. The legacy of this brutal past is not only to be found in the conditions under which farm workers now live, but rather the psychological and institutional barriers preventing their achievement of a better life though effectively utilising the opportunities available to them. Poverty and marginalisation is a formidable barrier to overcome in this environment. In becomes clear that any development programme aimed at providing farm workers with support in their struggle for a better life - the essence of “development” - will of necessity need to address these factors. The complexity of the farm situation, with its myriad of historical, social and economic problems, requires an innovative approach which represents a combination of, and compromise between, the priorities for farmers and those of workers, and mechanisms which promote broad based minimum standards as well as innovation and leverage for longer term benefit. The Land and Agricultural Bank of South Africa has initiated a number of products and programmes to promote development and land reform for farm workers. The intention of these is to stimulate farm based development through leveraging the various governmental development programmes and the commitment of landowners. In particular, Land Bank is to introduce a Social Discount Product to provide incentives for the Bank’s clients to implement development projects on their farms. This article explores some of the issues Land Bank has experienced in developing its products to promote farm based development, and specifically the Social Discount Product. It examines in "brief the current development context for farm workers, and in particular their conditions of life and work. It also reviews some of the current mitiatives to promote farm-based development by a variety of actors, governmental, private sector, and civil society. An outline of the Land Bank’s Social Discount Product and other programmes is then presented. Finally, issues and challenges are identified which are critical to the success of development and land reform for farm workers. The article contends that land reform for farm workers cannot be viewed separately from the broader process of development on farms. The reason for this is partly that land reform, or redistribution, will only affect a minimal number of farm workers, while the majority still seek improvement in their life conditions and opportunities. For this reason, it is important to identify the challenges to development on farms, and the spectrum of measures and interventions necessary for promoting overall development.Paper presented at the SARPN conference on Land Reform and Poverty Alleviation in Southern Africa Pretori

Framing the Windows of Prostitution:Unfolding Histories in Amsterdam’s Redesign of Its Famous Red-Light District

Introduction: This research is about the power of documents as recorders of history and preservers of institutional memory. Specifically, the study examines Project 1012, a municipal reform project in Amsterdam’s famous Red-Light District. Methods: We performed a critical discourse analysis on 10 policy briefs leading up to and following the implementation of Project 1012 between 2007 and 2020. Results: Our study reveals that the documents actively evoke certain narratives about sex work, its historical connections to the city, and its social problems to support the reduction of the industry. The documents omit other information about the history and origins of the problems experienced in Amsterdam’s Red-Light District, including policymakers’ own roles in the creation of these issues.Conclusions: The research concludes that policy documents have deontic powers and can be considered “folded objects” that consistently present certain narratives as truthful by omitting or downplaying the historical context of social issues. By folding these narratives in themselves, they have the power to shape the futures of the city and its citizens, executing a myriad of changes that have significantly impacted the lives and work conditions of local sex workers. Policy Implications: This research highlights the importance of being aware of the power and potential biases inherent in policy documents. Policymakers should strive to create policies that are based on accurate and comprehensive information and consider the voices of marginalized groups, such as sex workers, who are disproportionately affected by the policies.</p

Swarthmore College Special Collections Preservation Planning Project

Swarthmore College requests an NEH planning grant of $32,000 to hire an outside consultant to assess the mechanical systems and recommend sustainable environmental practices for the long-term stewardship of its three most valuable, distinctive, and distinguished humanities collections: Friends Historical Library, the Peace Collection, and the McCabe Library Rare Book Room. The College will match the grant with an in-kind contribution in excess of$8,000. This grant would enable us to fully evaluate current environmental conditions by engaging an expert consultant with a proven track record in very similar projects, and gain recommendations on how we might best address the specific problems that are adversely affecting these unique and rare collections. The collections are used regularly by students and a wide variety of humanities scholars interested in Quakerism and the history of social reform movements in North America during the last two centuries

베이징과 부카레스트 사이에서: 사회주의 및 포스트사회주의 공공주택정책 사례연구를 통한 평양의 주택전환 방향연구

학위논문 (석사)-- 서울대학교 환경대학원 : 환경계획학과(도시및지역계획전공), 2014. 2. 전상인.This research attempts to investigate the history and spatiality of public housing developments in Bucharest, Romania and Beijing, China, in the context of economic reform and system transition for the purpose of providing insights on the future housing reform and transition in Pyongyang, North Korea. This research will base its research target on the socialist public housing estates in Pyongyang, Bucharest and Beijing with a temporal boundary from the start of the socialist regime until roughly 20 years after the initial reform of the economy and polity. The key questions this study will attempt to answer are: first of all, what will be the relationship between the political nature of regime and its approach toward structural reforms in housing? (the speed and direction of reform and institutional-policy approach)secondly, what will be the dialectics of institutional-policy approach and social-spatial changes and problems in public housing estates? (changes in urban spatial structure, residential landscape, public housing estates, tenant social composition, and all of its problems)and thirdly, what will be the possible strategies to cope with the existing and speculated problems during the transition from the viewpoint of public intervention? (Urban Renewal VS Urban Rehabilitation). In order to answer these questions, this research will first look at the larger question of system transition and economic reform to understand the structural conditions affecting the national system changes and urban spatial changes. Then it will look at the historical example of each city of Beijing and Bucharest, with its background of national development, housing policy, and spatial changes in both socialist and postsocialist eras. It will then focus on the problems that have arisen out of the system transition/reform and try to provide solutions to the problems. At last, it will try to apply the lessons learned to the historical and current situation facing Pyongyangs public housing developments. The key lessons from the research are that for the public housing provision under transitional context: first of all, Pyongyangs change may more likely follow the path of Romania (Bucharest) than China (Beijing) both politically and economically due to the political nature of the regime change, with the decentralization of government powers by taking on more marketized rolessecondly, mass privatization, capitalization, and commodification of socialist public housing may result in problems of residential differentiation, social filtering, and gentrification of the city centerthirdly, quick privatization of housing assets in a form of public sale to sitting tenants may likely occur within the context of transfer of old communist powers and networks and restitution to former pre-socialist owners will be difficultfourthly, there may be a sharp drop in the provision of social housing in the form of public and private rental housing against the backdrop of massive homeownership campaign with the resulting consequences of housing unit deteriorationfifthly, there may be a breakdown of workplace-residence proximity and the evolution of microdistricts (subdivision, gentrification, and gating) to take on new marketized functions while the middle and lower class groups will continually depend on these socialist public housing estates for their housing welfaresixthly, the issue of incremental urban rehabilitation rather than large-scale urban renewal in the form of wholesale demolition and redevelopment may be more pressing for the lower-income householdsand seventhly, there may be large migration of populations in and out of Pyongyang, resulting in migrant enclaves and shantytowns in inner city and peripheral locations and increasing pressure on social housing.I. Introduction 1. Research Background 2. Research Objective 3. System Transition Vs Economic Reform a) Revolution VS Evolution: Shock Therapy VS Gradualism b) Decentralization and Devolution of State Power – the Rise of the Local Government 4. System Transition/Economic Reform & Housing Reform a) Politics of Housing Privatization b) Common Problems and Goals II. Beijing Chinese Housing Policy: Socialist Period and Beijing 1. Background: Nationalization, Industrialization, Urbanization and the Housing Question 2. The Political History and Policies of Socialist Public Housing a) The Politics and Policies of Socialist Public Housing in Beijng and China: A General Overview b) Periodization of Public Housing Policy and Spatial Developments 3. The History of Socialist Public Housing Developments and its Impacts on Beijing Chinese Housing Policy: Reform Era and Beijing 1. Background: Economic Reform and the Changing Interrelationships between the State, Market and Society 2. Evolution of Housing Policies under Economic Reform a) Transition Strategy of Housing Reform: Privatization, Commodification, and Capitalization b) Housing Institutional Reforms and Policies: A Historical Overview c) Periodization of Housing Reforms d) Social and Spatial Consequences of Housing Reform 3. Housing Governance and Institutional Change: Evolution of Work Units and State Owned Enterprise Reforms a) Work Unit b) SOEs 4. The Fate and Future of Socialist Public Housing in Beijing in the Reform Era a) Transformation of Residential Landscape in Beijing b) Rapid Urbanization and the Floating Population: Increasing Pressure on Housing c) Social and Spatial Conseuquences Left of the Socialist Public Housing Estates: Problems of Urban Renewal d) Future Potential of Socialist Public Housing Estates via Planned Intervention: Urban Rehabilitation III. Bucharest Romanian Housing Policy: Socialist Period and Bucharest Early Socialist Housing Period (1949~65): Modernization, Urbanization and Systemization under the Early Communist Leadership of Gheorghiu-Dej 1. Background a) Industrialization, Urbanization and Systemization: the Romanian National Housing Developments b) Bucharest: from Paris of the East to a Socialist City 2. The Political Economy and History of Socialist Housing 3. Socialist Housing Developments in Bucharest a) Bucharest b) Cvartal c) Microraion d) Case Study: Balta Alba Late Socialist Housing Period (1965~1989): Systemization, Ceaushima and Bucharest 1. Background a) Industrialization, Urbanization and Housing Politics b) Between Beijing, Pyongyang and Bucharest 2. First Phase of Systemization: 1965~1980 3. Second Phase of Systemization: 1980~1989 Romanian Housing Policy: Capitalist Period and Bucharest 1. Background: Politics of Regime Change and Housing Privatization in Romania 2. Housing Policy Changes under System Transition in SEE countries: Strategies, Policies and Problems a) Transition Strategy of Housing Policy: Shock Absorber and Privatization b) Housing Tenure Change and Rental Sector Change c) Problems of Housing Privatization and Maintenance 3. Housing Policy Changes in Transitional Romania a) Background: Privatization Policy b) Public Sale VS Restitution c) Social Housing Policy 4. Fate and Future of Socialist Housing Estates in Romania and Bucharest in the Capitalist Period a) Transformation of Residential Landscape in Bucharest b) Social and Spatial Challenges Left of the Socialist Housing Estates c) Future Potential of Socialist Housing Estates via Planned Intervention IV. Pyongyang 1. Background: Urban Planning and Urban Development in North Korea 2. Politics, Institutions and Policies, and Spatial Strategy of Public Housing Developments in North Korea a) Politics of National Housing Developments b) Institutions and Policies: Planning, Construction, Redistribution and Management c) History: Evolution of Housing Policy and Residential Developments in Pyongyang d) Spatial Strategy: Social Condenser and Microdistrict 3. Pyoungyang: Spatiality, Historicity and Sociality a) Spatiality: Urban Spatial Structure and Residential Areas of Pyongyang b) History: Housing Developments in Pyongyang c) Sociality: Pyongyang Residents V. Conclusion 1. Retrospect: Recapitulation of the Romanian and Chinese Experiences of Socialist and Post socialist Housing Developments 2. Prospect: Anticipation of North Korean Public Housing Management and Developments in Transition 3. Afterword: A Race Back to the Future for Postsocialist CitiesMaste

Pandemic, Protest, and Petro Presidente: Rescuing Colombia's Peace

Colombia elected a new progressive government on 19 June. While the COVID-19 pandemic did not play a direct role in the campaign, it has deepened both structural problems as well as pre-pandemic trends such as high levels of social inequality, citizen distrust regarding state institutions, and increasing violence in certain regions of the country. While these social disparities led to a call for change by different groups, reducing violence will be a key policy test for the new government. COVID-19 hit Colombia at a delicate time. A comprehensive peace agreement had been signed in 2016, but the elections of 2018 brought the forces that had run on an anti-agreement platform into government. A half-hearted implementation of the accord resulted, which together with increasing citizen dissatisfaction led to mass protests at the end of 2019. In the wake of the pandemic's onset, around six million Colombians fell into poverty. Despite some social policies such as the solidarity income (ingreso solidario), in many fields the state retreated from the provision of public services - in contrast with an increase in repressive measures, as for instance in the pursuit of coca eradication. After a short decrease in collective forms of violence due to lockdown policies, pre-pandemic patterns resumed. In peripheral and border zones, armed actors strategically leveraged the pandemic to increase their control over illicit enterprises and local populations. The entanglement of deteriorating socio-economic conditions, increasing violence, and an extremely unpopular government opened the door to the election of the first left-leaning president in Colombia's history, Gustavo Petro. The new government offers the historic opportunity to save the peace agreement and initiate the profound changes Colombia desperately needs. External actors need to support the reform agenda. Particularly, the implementation of the structural changes established in the peace agreement as well as reform of the country's security institutions. While the latter are ignored in the peace accord, doing so is a necessary condition to promote trust in the state and to contain violence by means other than repression. In addition, new economic policies for greater social inclusion and the mitigation of climate change are urgent topics on the agenda too

Narrating anger and sympathy in the condition of england: the role of emotion in mid-nineteenth-century politics and fiction

The Condition-of-England Question - a series of discussions that involve commentary on the state of relations between disparate groups and classed subjects - contains a nexus of competing and overlapping discourses, as well as an attention to feelings such as anger and to the comnumication of feeling that comprises sympathy. It evolves through the interrogative methodologies of moral philosophy, Romantic idealism, political radicalism, and the cultural assumptions that guide literary production and consumption. Condition-of-England novels, such as Elizabeth Gaskell' s Mmy Barton (1848) and Charles Kingsley's Alton Locke (1850), demonstrate the Carlylean premise that moral and social improvements within the body politic require a mediated reaction to the escalating discontent that characterized the nation in the period surrounding the reform acts. In this dissertation I analyze how authors and political leaders are impelled to address social and political problems through the representation of feeling and its communication. This dissertation affirms that anger, existing as a potentially corrective call for attention and action, is elemental for the formation of collective identities based on class or political beliefs. As such, it remains pertinent to Victorian debates of political reform and representation. In literary culture, anger and sympathy are conceptualized as narrative forces by which to address the declining spiritual and material conditions of England; they become considerations in the organization of plot lines or episodes, and they exist, whether named or not, in descriptions of literary protagonists, political leaders, and philosophers. Using an interdisciplinary approach that includes social history, philosophy, theories of emotion, close readings, and rhetorical analysis, I examine the epistemology of feeling and its relation to social and political critique by comparing the philosophical and practical continuities between discourses of the sentiments and passions in the eighteenth century with discourses of feeling in the mid-nineteenth century. This includes extending my scope not only to include novels, but also philosophical treatises, periodical publications, and serialized fiction. My focus does not lie with envisioning anger as something adversative to sympathy, as much philosophical and sociological critique has implied, but in whether antisocial feelings such as anger have acknowledged social benefits. If sympathy is not any one feeling, but the interpersonal communication of feeling, then the changing discourses of sympathy in the nineteenth century imply a rethinking of the social functions of all emotion, including anger

Promoting development and land reform on South African farms

The issue of social development for farm workers has always been a contentious one, primarily due to a history of development being one of repression and exploitation. Decades of exploitative control have left a social situation characterised by poverty and extreme inequality of power, between farmer and worker, black and white people, and between men and women. The legacy of this brutal past is not only to be found in the conditions under which farm workers now live, but rather the psychological and institutional barriers preventing their achievement of a better life though effectively utilising the opportunities available to them. Poverty and marginalisation is a formidable barrier to overcome in this environment. In becomes clear that any development programme aimed at providing farm workers with support in their struggle for a better life - the essence of “development” - will of necessity need to address these factors. The complexity of the farm situation, with its myriad of historical, social and economic problems, requires an innovative approach which represents a combination of, and compromise between, the priorities for farmers and those of workers, and mechanisms which promote broad based minimum standards as well as innovation and leverage for longer term benefit. The Land and Agricultural Bank of South Africa has initiated a number of products and programmes to promote development and land reform for farm workers. The intention of these is to stimulate farm based development through leveraging the various governmental development programmes and the commitment of landowners. In particular, Land Bank is to introduce a Social Discount Product to provide incentives for the Bank’s clients to implement development projects on their farms. This article explores some of the issues Land Bank has experienced in developing its products to promote farm based development, and specifically the Social Discount Product. It examines in "brief the current development context for farm workers, and in particular their conditions of life and work. It also reviews some of the current mitiatives to promote farm-based development by a variety of actors, governmental, private sector, and civil society. An outline of the Land Bank’s Social Discount Product and other programmes is then presented. Finally, issues and challenges are identified which are critical to the success of development and land reform for farm workers. The article contends that land reform for farm workers cannot be viewed separately from the broader process of development on farms. The reason for this is partly that land reform, or redistribution, will only affect a minimal number of farm workers, while the majority still seek improvement in their life conditions and opportunities. For this reason, it is important to identify the challenges to development on farms, and the spectrum of measures and interventions necessary for promoting overall development.Paper presented at the SARPN conference on Land Reform and Poverty Alleviation in Southern Africa Pretori