The title of this thesis gives away little beyond an engagement with the visual and the implication of some sort of trouble: Agitating images. In many ways it is a project defined by trouble: trouble that is analyzed and historicized but also trouble that is expected and invited. The agitation refers initially to the project of communist agitators working in the 1920s and 30s among indigenous Siberian peoples. Soviet society was at war with illiteracy, at war with backwardness and, in central Siberia it was at war with shamans and wealthy reindeer herders. In relation to images, agitation is something altogether different and my metaphorical leap from a communist agitator to image as agitator can only exist through analytical fiat. What are agitating images? I argue that all photographs are actually agitating, even the most mundane and transparent images are agitating. They pose as media amenable to interpretation and the ascription of meaning; in fact they undermine meaning and they undermine interpretation. I demonstrate this in three distinct parts of the thesis. Part I offers a comprehensive articulation of my project. It is illustrated in a more or less conventional manner with archival photographs from Siberia. Part II is a demonstration of history and photography in conflict. I show how the Soviets—faced with an enormous inland territory and what was perceived as a culturally anterior population—developed the Culturebase, a unique technology to facilitate the shaping and manipulation of indigenous cultures. Part III of the thesis presents an altogether different approach. In this section I eschew the conventions and limitations of the printed page and offer a digital alternative. The format of Part III is agitating as well. As a website it is a performative act of perpetual openness. Agitating images is ultimately not about the end of interpretation, ethnography, or history. Rather, it is a generative work that reflexively apprehends its own place in the production of knowledge.

Revideret udgave af disputats 1999. / Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--Universität Hamburg, 1999.

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This thesis argues that a theory of religion can be constructed upon a close reading of Jürgen Habermas' The Theory of Communicative Action. While influential in many diverse fields of scholarly research, Habermas' thought has been relatively neglected in the area of religion, especially around the time of the above publication. I address this gap in research by (a) considering Habermas' main arguments in terms of rationality, society, and communication, (b) tying these to his engagements with the work of Max Weber and Émile Durkheim, then (c) formulating a Habermasian theory of religion, before finally (d) offering both a critique and suggestions for future research.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed October 2, 2007). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 338-345).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Peter Trifonas.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Politics, 1998? / Bibliography: leaves 308-316.