This thesis argues that the end of Soviet Marxism and a bipolar global political imaginary at the dissolution of the short Twentieth Century poses an obstacle for anti-systemic political action. Such a blockage of alternate political imaginaries can be discerned by reading the work of Francis Fukuyama and "Endism" as performative invocations of the closure of political alternatives, and thus as an ideological proclamation which enables and constrains forms of social action. It is contended that the search through dialectical thought for a competing universal to posit against "liberal democracy" is a fruitless one, because it reinscribes the terms of teleological theories of history which work to effect closure. Rather, constructing a phenomenological analytic of the political conjuncture, the thesis suggests that the figure of messianism without a Messiah is central to a deconstructive reframing of the possibilities of political action - a reframing attentive to the rhetorical tone of texts. The project of recovering the political is viewed through a phenomenological lens. An agonistic political distinction must be made so as to memorialise the remainders and ghosts of progress, and thus to gesture towards an indeconstructible justice which would serve as a horizon for the articulation of an empty universal. This project is furthered by a return to a certain phenomenology inspired by Cornelius Castoriadis, Claude Lefort, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Ernesto Laclau. The thesis provides a reading of Jacques Derrida and Walter Benjamin as thinkers of a minor universalism, a non-prescriptive utopia, and places their work in the context of new understandings of religion and the political as quasi-transcendentals which can be utilised to think through the aporias of political time in order to grasp shards of meaning. Derrida and Chantal Mouffe's deconstructive critique and supplement to Carl Schmitt's concept of the political is read as suggestive of a reframing of political thought which would leave the political question open and thus enable the articulation of social imaginary significations able to inscribe meaning in the field of political action. Thus, the thesis gestures towards a form of thought which enables rather than constrains action under the sign of justice.

Cette thèse s’intéresse à l’évolution du rapport à l’histoire et de la conscience historique dans la société canadienne de la première moitié du XIXe siècle et propose une analyse métahistorique de deux principaux corpus de sources : le matériel pédagogique employé dans les collèges classiques, ainsi que les ouvrages historiographiques et politiques marquants pour l’élite canadienne, des réflexions du politicien Denis-Benjamin Viger au Rapport Durham et aux écrits de William Smith, Michel Bibaud et de François-Xavier Garneau. En analysant ces sources à la lumière d’un outillage théorique issu de l’historiographie de la représentation du temps, je propose une relecture de la constitution d’une conscience historique nationale au Canada français. Je démontre que la « nationalisation » de l’histoire est un phénomène graduel qui s’est échelonné sur l’ensemble des trois premiers quarts du XIXe siècle. Si l’histoire nationale a mis du temps à s’imposer, c’est parce que la conscience historique du monde intellectuel canadien au tournant du XIXe siècle était modelée sur les principes philosophiques universalistes de l’humanisme et du christianisme. Loin d’être spécifique aux Canadiens, cette mutation de la représentation de l’histoire s’insère dans un large mouvement occidental qui a été abondamment observé et commenté par l’historiographie. Enchevêtrées dans une histoire commune avec la « disciplinarisation » de l’histoire, la catégorisation des peuples et leur projection dans le temps n’est ni une évidence ni une nécessité, mais plutôt le produit d’une évolution culturelle partagée à travers le monde atlantique. / In this thesis, I discuss the evolution of time experience and historical consciousness in Canadian society of the first half of the nineteenth century and propose a metahistorical analysis of two main corpora of documents : the educational material used in classical colleges, and a number of significant historiographical and political publications for the Canadian intellectual elite, from Denis-Benjamin Viger’s reflections to the Durham Report and to the writings of William Smith, Michel Bibaud and François-Xavier Garneau.By analyzing these historical documents with the use of conceptual tools inspired by the time representation historiography, I suggest a reinterpretation of the advent of a national historical consciousness in French Canada. I demonstrate that the “nationalization” of the past is a gradual phenomenon that spawned over the first three quarters of the nineteenth century. If national history was not prominent around 1800, it is because Canadian intellectuals interpreted the past with the theological principles of Christianity and the universalist philosophy of intellectual humanism. Unspecific to Canadians, this historical representation evolution was observed and commented upon by a rich occidental historiography. Entangled with the disciplinarization of history as a historical phenomenon, the categorization of the Nation and its projection in the past is neither a certainty, nor a necessity, but rather the product of a cultural evolution shared in the Atlantic World.

The work deals with topic of cultural relativism. The first chapter is concerned with concept of cultural relativism, its understanding, definitions, its connection with other conceptions of relativism, i.e. ethical and cognitive relativism. The second part concentrates on finding of philosophical roots, which became the fundamental presumptions for origin of cultural relativism, whereas the second part contains the chapter about history of cultural anthropology, which treats of establishment of cultural relativism as the one of the most fundamental concept of cultural anthropology. The third section foreshadows current debates dealing with cultural relativism. The critical perspective is applied to arguments and objections for or contra cultural relativism appearing in the work. And equally there is the treatise of role of cultural relativism in anthropological practises.

The purpose of the study was to explore multiculturalism as a "fourth force" position complementary to the forces of psychodynamic, behavioural, and humanistic explanations of human behaviour. In an effort to develop a multicultural approach that could contribute to school counsellor training, literature on school guidance and counselling and the literature on multicultural guidance and counselling were consulted. The major findings of the literature study: The first part of literature review (Chapter 2) covers a number of aspects that are essential in school guidance and counselling in contemporary society. The second part of literature review (Chapter 3) is devoted to multi-faceted aspects of multicultural education and counselling. Multicultural guidance and counselling forms the basis of this study. The empirical investigation was conducted using The Modified Version of the Multicultural Awareness-Knowledge-Skills Survey. The findings from the survey were that participants of the study perceived themselves as being more aware of cultural/ethnic/racial issues that are prevalent and have a direct impact when people of different cultural /ethnic/racial orientation meet in counselling situations as evidenced by results on the Awareness Subscale. As reflected by results of the Knowledge Subscale, the participants, especially college and university students, showed that they still need training that would promote their knowledge base in the area of multicultural issues and basic concepts that are prevalent in their day to day interactions with people of diverse backgrounds (see subsection 5.5.2.). The most important finding that emerged in this Skills Subscale is the perception that the participants need training that would enhance their skills and competence in handling multicultural issues when they engage in guidance and counselling with students from different cultural/ethnic/racial backgrounds. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Text in Afrikaans / Die Baha'i-geloof is 'n nuwe onafhanklike wereldreligie en is redelik onbekend onder die bree Suid-Afrikaanse publiek. Hierdie kwalitatiewe studie (gebaseer op die fenomenologiese metode) het ten doel om die Baha'i-fenomeen op 'n nie-veroordelende wyse sander vooroordele te beskryf en om die Baha'is se eie Suid-Afrikaanse ervaring te registreer. Dit geskied eerstens deur 'n bespreking van die Baha'ise historiese gebeure (deel 1). Op hierdie wyse word die geloof in sy religieuse familiegroepering geplaas. Terselfdertyd verklaar hierdie deel die ontstaan en ontwikkeling van die Baha'i-geloof wereldwyd en in Suid-Afrika. Dit herdefinieer die verbondsgedagte en toon hoe Baha'is die eenheidsgedagte en die uitlewing van Baha 'u' llah se boodskap via die skepping van 'n Administratiewe orde vormgee. Sentrale Baha'i-konsepte (deel 2) aangaande die geestelike dimensie van die geloof word hierna aangestip. Dit word uitgebou met ongestruktureerde onderhoude met versigtig gekose deelnemers, waarin Baha'is dus self hul geloof in terme van die Baha'i-administrasie, wette, byeenkomste en bepalings, Godsbegrip en eskatologie sowel as hul antropologie en geskiedenis uitspel. Dit word ooreenkomstig die sentrale temas bespreek sodat 'n Baha'i-geheelbeeld gekonseptualiseer kan word. Dit word afgesluit met 'n bespreking van die Baha'i-wereldstaat as die vervulling van die profesie van die nuwe hemel en aarde. Verskeie gevolgtrekkings word uit hierdie data gemaak. Dit toon hoe die Baha'is Baha'u'llah se boodskap as sleutel gebruik sodat die moderne mens na die vestiging van 'n nuwe wereldkultuur gelei word. Hierdie strewe bekragtig die Baha'i-strategie en motto van eenheid in die verskeidenheid, en word as die oplossing vir die hedendaagse probleme van die moderne mens aangebied. Daar word dan met die Suid-Afrikaanse Baha'i-toekomsbeskouing afgesluit. / The Baha'i Faith is a new independent world religion and is vastly unknown to the South African public. The purpose of this qualitative research (based on the phenomenological method) is to describe the Baha'i phenomenon in an unbiased, non-judgemental way so that the own South African Baha'i experience is registered. The Baha'i history (part 1) is discussed first in order to place this faith in its own religious framework and to explain its origin and development worldwide as well as in South Africa. It establishes the message of the Covenant and shows how Baha'is are proclaming the unity idea and the message of Baha'u'llah via the establishment of the Administrative order. Central Baha'i concepts (part 2) concerning the spiritual dimension of the Baha'i faith are explored. It is expanded via unstructured interviews with carefully selected participants in order to let Baha'is explain their own administration, laws and regulations, concepts about God and their escatology as well as their anthropology and history. This is done in accordance to the central themes so that a total picture of Baha'i could be conceptualised. It ends with a discussion of the Baha'i worldstate as the fulfillment of the new heaven and earth prophecy. Different conclusions are made from these data. It shows how the Baha'is are using Baha'u'llah's message as the key in order to lead man to the establishment of a new modern world culture. This culture will be the fulfillment of the Baha'i strategy and motto of unity in diversity and serves as the Baha'i answer to the modern day problems. The thesis ends with the South African expectations of the future / Religious Studies and Arabic / D.Th. (Religious Studies)

I have outlined some objections to soteriologies that presume that only some are given a chance of eternal life. Such soteriologies can include or exclude those mentally competent but lacking human evangelisation. Fundamental to evaluating soteriologies I have looked at both what sin is (being and doing) and what salvation consists in, as regards divine and human interaction. On the one side I have considered God's goodness - would such a being act unethically regarding man's eternity? On the other hand I have looked at whether, and if so in what way, man is required to respond - in what way or ways is chance (if at all) given. Finally I have considered views about those who die in infancy. Here I have tentatively suggested my own theory which seeks to presume that before death every human being may choose to accept of reject God, a choice integral (I suggest) to salvation. / Department of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Systematic Theology)

The aim of this study is to analyse the Swedish state´s ambition in achieving equality among its citizens. By studying the new urban policy introduced by the government in 1998 from a theoretical perspective the purpose of this essay is to understand the ideational dimensions in this policy project, in regard to established understandings about equality. The theoretical framework on which this study is based consists of two different parts. The first presents dominating models on welfare states, mainly focusing on the socialdemocratic welfare state. The second introduces influential theoretical views on equality, primarily discussing universalism and a differentiated equality view. It also presents theoretical views on how to understand the relationship between the state an its citizens. This essay is taking its departure from a perspective based on constructionism, by asking how the problem was constructed and what the policy tells us. It is a case study using a discoursive approach in analysing the policy from an understanding of policies as arguments shaped by normative assumptions made by actors whose assumptions are limited by the discourse in which they exist. The main result of the study is that since the policy was created while the socialdemocratic party was in government, the normative assumptions, on which the party base its analysis on society, therefore had a main influence on the policy. Even though the analysis of the policy shows a tendency in Swedish welfare politics moving away from universalism towards a differentiated view on equality, with the state still marked by communitarian ideals, there appears to be a resistance towards including the perspective of cultural recognition next to the traditional view on economic redistribution based on a class theory.

Genom en komparativ diskursanalys undersöks i uppsatsen hur media gestaltat två olika humanitära katastrofer. Analysen baseras på ett urval av ledarartiklar som skildrat de båda händelserna. Genom det diskursanalytiska angreppssättet förs mycket textnära resonemang om vad texterna uttrycker. Fokus ligger på hur de olika händelserna omtalas, på vilket sätt händelserna byggs upp och vad de gestaltar. Jämförelsen av två olika händelser är till för att tydligare kunna visa på olika sätt att gestalta händelser samt att studera vilka olika utfall de olika skildringarna kan få. Analysen utgår från teorier om nationen som gemenskap, och problematiserar utifrån dessa tendenserna till att överfokusera den egna nationens medborgare medan andra nationers och människors lidanden hamnar i skymundan. Utifrån postkoloniala teorier problematiseras de stereotypa gestaltningar av andra nationer och dess medborgare som görs genom artiklarna, och resonemang förs kring vilka konsekvenser sådana gestaltningar får för engagemang och intresse. Ett tydligt maktperspektiv blir här tydligt. Public journalism är den övergripande teori som används för att studera medias roll och vikt i allt detta. Uppsatsen centreras kring begrepp som närhet och avstånd, allmänmänsklighet och nationella intressen och diskussionen rör främst vilka positioner de olika aktörer tilldelas genom texterna samt vad dessa positioner innebär för handlingsmöjligheter. Vem är det som har rätt och vem har fel? Vem fårtala och vem förblir tyst?

Est-il encore légitime de distinguer, d’une part, la « simple raison », apte à convaincre n’importe quel penseur honnête et lucide, et d’autre part, le domaine de la foi religieuse, où les différences de conviction seraient a priori irréductibles, parce que soumises à des conditions de validité sui generis? Dans quelle mesure ce « partage des voix » entre la raison et la foi, que commandait au siècle des Lumières l’« exigence de l’émancipation » ou de l’affranchissement des tutelles autoritaires (le Selberdenken, le « penser par soi-même »), est-il encore d’actualité pour nous? Les temps ne sont-ils pas mûrs pour une autre attitude de la raison philosophique par rapport à la foi religieuse, qui se proposerait de mettre en question la théorie qui opposait la raison et la révélation comme deux « sources » irréductibles de vérité? Le présent travail poursuivra trois objectifs principaux, dont la visée commune consistera à clarifier les tenants et aboutissants de la critique de la « simple raison » (reason alone) chez Charles Taylor, au regard de la totalité de son œuvre. Dans un premier temps, nous soulignerons que notre auteur récuse le paradigme épistémologique de la philosophie moderne au nom d’un paradigme herméneutique, plus sensible à la finitude langagière et historique de la raison humaine. Notre auteur reconnaît en effet au « débat herméneutique » (hermeneutical debate) une importance cruciale dans le contexte de la sécularité (ou de notre « âge séculier »), qui se caractérise par la coexistence d’une pluralité croissante de perspectives éthiques et spirituelles. Dans un deuxième temps, nous soutiendrons que ce paradigme herméneutique admet une distinction fondamentale entre deux modes de réflexion, l’argumentation transcendantale et la quête d’authenticité, et montrerons que l’argumentation transcendantale peut à son tour être comprise comme une modalité particulière de la « simple raison » dans le contexte du paradigme herméneutique. Ces deux premiers moments de nos analyses, de nature essentiellement exégétique, constitueront la majeure partie de notre thèse. Dans un troisième temps, nous examinerons la distinction entre l’argumentation transcendantale et la quête d’authenticité de façon à mettre en question les limites assignées par notre auteur à la première. Plus précisément, notre intention est de démontrer que la critique herméneutique de la simple raison proposée par Taylor présuppose elle-même la viabilité d’une « éthique transcendantale » et, par conséquent, la viabilité d’une conception transcendantale de la simple raison dans la sphère de la rationalité pratique. Cette éthique transcendantale affleure en plusieurs lieux dans son œuvre sous la forme d’un « humanisme » de type néo-aristotélicien, solidement ancré dans ses analyses des conditions d’arrière-plan inéluctables (ou transcendantales) de l’agir humain, sans toutefois être explicitement conçue et assumée en tant que telle. / Is it still legitimate to distinguish, on the one hand, ‘‘reason alone’’ or nonreligiously informed reason, whose conclusions are in principle able to satisfy any honest and lucid thinker, and on the second hand, the domain of religious faith, where differences of conviction would be a priori irreducible? Is this divide between reason and faith, which was prompted at the time of the Auflkärung by a great call to ‘‘emancipation’’ (to ‘‘think for yourself’’, Selberdenken), still relevant for us today? Are the times not ripe for another philosophical attitude in relation to religious faith, which would call into question the theory that opposed reason and revelation as two irreducible ‘‘sources’’ of truth? This dissertation will pursue three main objectives, whose common aim is to clarify the motives and implications of the critique of ‘‘reason alone’’ in Charles Taylor’s work. First, we will show that Taylor rejects the ‘‘epistemological’’ paradigm of modern philosophy in the name of a hermeneutic paradigm, more sensitive to the linguistic and historical finitude of human reason. Our author maintains, indeed, that ‘‘hermeneutical debates’’ are now obligatory in our secular age, characterized by the coexistence of a growing plurality of ethical and spiritual perspectives. Secondly, we will argue that this hermeneutic paradigm admits of a fundamental distinction between two modes of reflection, that of ‘‘transcendental arguments’’ and the ‘‘quest for authenticity’’, and will show that transcendental arguments can in turn be understood as a specific modality of ‘‘reason alone’’ in the context of the hermeneutic paradigm. These two first stages of our analysis, mainly of an exegetical nature, will constitute the major part of our dissertation. Thirdly, we will examine the distinction between transcendental arguments and the quest for authenticity, to challenge the limits assigned by Taylor to the first domain. Specifically, we intend to demonstrate that the hermeneutical critique of reason propounded by Taylor presupposes the viability of a ‘‘transcendental ethics’’ and, therefore, the viability of a transcendental conception of reason in the domain of practical rationality. This transcendental ethics emerges at several occasions in his work as a kind of neo-Aristotelian ‘‘humanism’’, firmly anchored in his analysis of the inescapable background conditions of human agency, without being explicitly recognized as such.

Sur fond de revendications sociales et culturelles, l’émergence d’une « conscience noire », mobilisant très activement la mémoire de l’esclavage et les thématiques de discrimination et de visibilité politique et médiatique, s’est produite dans les arènes publiques françaises au début de l’année 2005. Dans une société qui fait de son principe universaliste son crédo, cette apparition pose question. Identifiée par les médias comme étant l’expression d’une « question noire », ces mouvements revendicatifs, émis par un ensemble d’acteurs organisationnels, interrogent sur leur contenu, sur les raisons de leur émission et sur le profil des personnes qui les ont exprimés. Cette recherche sociologique, dont l’objectif est de mettre en évidence la diversité de cette problématique noire, repose sur une enquête de terrain menée sur cinq organisations ayant alimenté cette question et dont l’objectif était d’amener leurs revendications sur le terrain politique. Désignées comme noires, ces organisations, par leur auto-définition et par leurs discours, révèlent l’absence d’unification autour d’une « conscience noire » commune réfutant alors toute idée d’unité de la « question noire ». Les facteurs et les conflits qui opposent notamment les différentes mémoires noires, selon qu’elles concernent les Antillais ou les migrants africains, témoignent de l’existence de plusieurs questions noires. Ces mémoires sont différemment construites et valorisées selon les demandes et les critiques sociales émises par chacun des collectifs. De même, ces derniers, n’aspirant pas à représenter la même population selon qu’ils se revendiquent Antillais, Noirs, Africains ou descendants d’esclaves et de colonisés, combinent et hiérarchisent à leur manière des logiques d’action à partir de leur propre expérience sociale. Deux observations complètent alors cette étude : d’une part le hiatus qui s’est cristallisé entre ces collectivités militantes et les populations noires qu’elles affirment représenter, d’autre part la transformation de l’imaginaire national français qui est interrogé sur sa capacité à intégrer les spécificités propres aux populations noires françaises qui affectent le récit républicain national. / In 2005, a black consciousness arise from social and cultural claims reaffirming “slave memory” and discrimination in public sphere and questioning political and media-related visibility of the ones mobilised. This movement, described as the expression of “la question noire”, interrogates the protagonist’s profile and their involvement. This sociological research underlines the diversity of this question. An investigation has been carried out on five organizations with political claims and reveals the non-unification around a common black “consciousness”, disproving the idea of a “black question” unity. The different conceptions of “slave memory”, according to French carribean or Africans migrants concerns, shows several black questions reality based on different social criticism. As a consequence, a diversity of actions exists according to the social experience of these groups. Finally, the study reveals two tendencies. Firstly, the presence of a hiatus between these activist groups and black populations they consider that they represent. Secondly, the transformation of French national imaginary and the reassessment of its capacity to integrate black French populations.