This dissertation project examines the role of identity, the politics of identity contestation and domestic political structures as part of the mechanisms and processes that may be involved in the decisions that states make regarding disengagement from their colonial and territorial possessions. Specifically, it focuses on the following questions: Why do intransigent states back down on previously entrenched territorial policies? And why, even when states decide to disengage from their territories, are some of these processes peaceful while others are scenes of prolonged, bloody and violent struggles? Focusing on Britain and its reaction to Indian calls for independence from 1929-1935, and Indonesia's withdrawal from East Timor in 1999, this project argues that the processes and mechanisms involved in identity construction, maintenance and change can play an important role in how states approach the issue of territorial disengagement. At the same time, it also argues that the structure of a state's domestic political system may also affect the way in which disengagement takes places. Based on its empirical findings, this dissertation also argues that identities are constructed at both the domestic as well as the international levels, and against an Other, and through narratives. Further, identities do not acquire 'substance' once they have been constructed. Rather they are continually constituted by processes, relations and practices as identities are defined, recognized and validated in an actor's interaction with and in relationship to others. Finally, identity does not only influence human actions through enabling or constraining actions but also through the need to perform who we are or who we say we want to be.

abstract: In 1915, a bear slew and consumed seven residents of a farming hamlet in Hokkaido, Japan. The circumstances surrounding these killings are laden with semiotic gravitas. A comprehensive analysis of the millennia of historical forces that preceded and begat Japan's modern shift is impractical. Rather it is through the identification of the ideal précis of change, and a Thick Analysis thereof, that I arrive at an understanding of how, and precisely when, Japan crossed modernity's rampart. The attacks perpetrated by, and the hunt and dispatch of, the bear include aspects of separation from the past vis a vis their relationship to religion, the Ainu, and the artifacts of daily life. The bear's presence and anthropophagous propensity relate to the primal human urge to practice arctolatry, and Japanese patterns of relationship between men, land, and animals. So too is the gory nature of the incident analytically valuable insofar as macabre events resonate in the breasts of men. Finally, the presence of a monster indicates, as per Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, an epochal liminality. Thus through a disarticulation of this incident, I arrive at a cogent understanding of what sundered Japan from her past. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis History 2020

In the history of the U.S.-Japan relations, Commodore Perry’s expedition can be considered both as a great destination for the U.S. westward expansion and a watershed for Japan’s modernization. The previous scholars on this historical event have built a basis for understanding its political intentions, historical significance, and influence on Japan’s social transformation. Considering the historiography of the U.S.-Japan relations in Commodore Perry’s expedition, this study will examine the encounter of the U.S. and Japan by focusing more on the complexity and diversity of the agencies from various people’s perspectives. In order to accomplish the goal, this study firstly demonstrates the chronological study of the U.S. encounters with Japan/the Ryukyu Kingdom (Okinawa). The second chapter will integrate several accounts of members in the expedition and Japanese officials/intellectuals/commoners to investigate a variety of experiences and perspectives in terms of the following three ideas: race, gender, and Christianization/Civilization. The final chapter will include the Ryukyuan and Japanese perspectives into the narrative of Commodore Perry’s expedition to include various viewpoints from all three, the Americans, Japanese and Ryukyuans.

No description available.

Morocco occupies an unrivalled position in North Africa. It faces both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and thus dominates the Strait of Gibraltar, the gate into the Mediterranean, end, thus, ultimately, into the Red Sen. and the Indian Ocean.. The area of Morocco.is about 172,104 sq. miles, or about 20,000 sq. miles larger than California. The basic population is Berber, or pre-Arab, but has been Arabized to varying degrees. All population figures for North Africa are estimates because no accurate census of the Moslem population has been made. However, the approximate figure is bine million. According to the Etude demographics et social, "It would be fruitless to give for the Moslem population a picture similar to that for the non-Moslem population. The registration for birth and death has been very incomplete."

The name "Ramdas," which will be used extensively throughout this paper to refer to the principal subject, is an example of the Indian custom of using only one name for great men. Usually it is the first name, or a name used after taking up "the new life." Another custom practiced is that of having the name carry religious connotations. In Ramdas' case, the first part, "Ram," stands for God, and the "das" stands for servant. Ramdas' name in his early life was Vittal Rao.

The main argument in this dissertation is that changes in male nuptiality in rural India between 1921 and 1981 was a form of household adaptation to wage dependency and proletarianization in the countryside. The male nuptiality in rural India in 1921 was characterized by extremely early marriage throughout the country. Under conditions of high mortality of that period, early marrying men had an advantage in forming joint households (with both parents present). Male nuptiality in rural India grew more diverse in 1981, and came to be characterized by at least two distinctive nuptiality regimes: One which strongly resembled peasant nuptiality of the early 20th century and the second represented an emergent adult pattern of nuptiality among males in rural India. The variation in marriage age of males in rural India was significantly related to the level agricultural proletarianization in 1981. Regions characterized by early male nuptiality were generally dominated by household-based or peasant production, while regions of later marriage among males were more likely to have a substantial wage labor sector. Due to declines in mortality, the possibility of young men living in a joint household with both parents rose between 1921 and 1981, regardless of age at marriage. But within each level of mortality, early marrying men still had better chances of being able to form a joint household (with both parents). Marriage postponement among males in some parts of rural India may have modified many aspects of the household development process. More important, it may have allowed greater flexibility with respect to the timing of household formation, and also ensured that men were financially able to support a family when they married.

Both critics and defenders of socialism often regard socialism as the full negation of all capitalist social structures. However, a careful analysis of socialist practices in the Third World reveals that the construction of socialism depends not only on the pre-revolutionary structure, but also on the specific dynamics of the domestic and international opposition. A realistic understanding of socialism requires an examination of the interactions between domestic and international political forces and the socio-economic factors constraining this relationship. This comparative analysis of the transitionary processes in Cuba and north Korea during the period of 1959 to 1970 and 1945 to 1961, respectively, confirms the importance of these interactions in shaping socialist societies. Among the conditions favorable to the socialist transformations of both Cuba and north Korea were the large number of wage workers and landless peasants, the discrediting of the bourgeoisie for their collaboration with neo-colonial or colonial forces, the strong leftist sentiment among the masses, and the decision by anti-socialist forces to flee their country rather than remaining to fight. These factors enabled both regimes to avoid the repressive use of force and to develop a more humane socialism, despite the severe technical and financial losses inflicted by the exodus of the bourgeoisie. The legitimacy of the north Korean and Cuban regimes is based upon the role of Kim Il-Sung and Fidel Castro, respectively, in each revolutionary struggle. Their background in guerrilla movements contributed to the widening of their perspectives beyond narrow class-biased communism. In each country, power was then centralized to maintain unity against "imperialist" aggressions and to secure the power of the hegemonic leader and group. Both Cuba and north Korea experienced U.S. intervention, blockades, and a sudden isolation from the world capitalist system during their transitionary period. Although aid from socialist allies was received, Cuba was forced to reduce its revolutionary internationalism to secure Soviet aid, whereas north Korea succeeded in resisting Soviet interference through successful industrialization. Thus, a fair understanding of Third World socialism requires much more than a static conception of socialism. Instead, a study of the effect of historical constraints on the evolving vision of socialism is necessary in any study of Third World socialism.

This paper examines the economic aspects of Buddhist monasteries in Chinese history in chronological order. The focus is on the problems related to land and taxes, which were crucial factors for the economic situation of monasteries and sensitive issues in the governing of every dynasty. By looking into the interaction among Buddhist monasteries, state/local government, great families and elites regarding land estates and tax policies in different time periods, the study reveals that despite the lasting criticisms that Buddhist monasteries were harmful to the economic wellbeing of society and effected the revenue of the state, monasteries in fact actively engaged in economic activities, and could be utilized by the state as a tool to centralize wealth from society, contributing to the state economy in its own way. The role of Buddhist monasteries was largely decided by their subject position in front of the state. The study shows that the prosperity of monastic economy was of different levels under the different social and political environment in each dynasty, but even in its most prosperous time, the scale of monasteries could be easily reduced by the state and their resources could be appropriated by government when it was considered necessary. Besides, the study also depicts the process of Buddhist monasteries gradually becoming taxed by the state, showing the general tendency that the Buddhist monastic economy was in the process of becoming more incorporated into or controlled by the state across time. / Master of Arts (MA)

This thesis investigates the dynamics between devadasi women and judges in the Anglo-Indian court in the Madras Presidency of 19th-century colonial India. The thesis focuses on how the devadasis navigated the colonial legal system and the strategies they utilized as well as the role of the judges' preconceived notions and prejudice in determining the decisions they made.