Thesis (M.A.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2006. / Thesis advisor: Heather Munro Prescott "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History" Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-64). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.T.S.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1994. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaf [62]).

abstract: This thesis focuses on justice, human rights, and migration in Iraq. It explores the ideas of justice and human rights, and how they influence the migration of the Iraqi Assyrians and Chaldeans. Through the use of qualitative methodology, including a review of scholarly literature, personal experience, and semi-formal interviews with ten individuals, this research mainly focuses on the influence that justice and human rights had on migration during the U.S.-Iraq War, from 2003 until 2011. Justice, human rights, and migration before and after the War are examined. The study concludes that justice and human rights are factors that influence the migration of Iraq's Assyrian and Chaldean community throughout the U.S.-Iraq War; however justice and human rights are not the only factors. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Justice Studies 2014

Assyrians are members of a stateless nation with roots in the Middle East, although due to conflict, persecution and instability a majority of Assyrians now live in diaspora in many different countries. The Assyrian community in Sweden now numbers approximately 100.000 individuals, of which approximately 18.000 to 25.000 live in the greater Stockholm area. This thesis utilizes the example of the Swedish-Assyrian community to analyze two research topics: the political engagement of a diaspora within a host country; and diasporic efforts to maintain a distinctive culture and contribute to its own nation building while residing in diaspora, a particularly pressing question for a stateless nation, such as the Assyrian nation. This thesis utilizes ethnographic data acquired via personal interviews with Swedish-Assyrian individuals and participant observation to discuss these research subjects. With regards to diaspora political engagement, the thesis finds that Swedish-Assyrians utilize their rights as Swedish citizens and their voices as Assyrians to engage with both Swedish politics and Assyrian causes. They are motivated by both Swedish political issues and by the Assyrian national cause. The ethnographic data is further used to analyze the discourse on identity and nation-building among the Swedish Assyrian community, including the impact of the host country’s culture and policies on the diaspora group and attempts to create a unified nation through education and placing emphasis on an ethnic, rather than solely religious, identity. These efforts bring Assyrians in Sweden closer together by helping to bridge differences in language and culture, but as Assyrians internationally now find themselves also affected by the cultures of their new nations, new differences and divisions simultaneously appear.

The 1933 genocidal attacks on Assyrians in the Simele region defined the birth of the nascent Iraqi nation and identity. Iraq has ever been in the spotlight of ethnic and cultural strife, especially concerning Sunni-Shia animosity, and more recently in dealing with the Kurdish people and Iraqi Kurdistan. In most cases, however, the Assyrians are completely neglected from scholarship concerning Iraq and its peoples. This work reinserts the Assyrian people into the fabric of Iraq and discusses the violent and non-violent suppression of Assyrian identity and culture through genocide, cultural genocide, and ethnic cleansing. Three fundamental factors emerge from this reinsertion with respect to Iraq and genocide. First, this approach introduces an often-neglected element in Iraqi studies: the inclusion of minorities, or micro-minorities, within the existing discourse on Iraqi studies. Second, it contributes to genocide studies by examining the impact of the non-physical, or cultural, aspect of genocide. Further, it discusses the importance of the Assyrian case in Iraq for understanding Iraqi history, and serves as a case in point of scaling suffering and for understanding how and why a hierarchy of genocide exists.

The 1933 genocidal attacks on Assyrians in the Simele region defined the birth of the nascent Iraqi nation and identity. Iraq has ever been in the spotlight of ethnic and cultural strife, especially concerning Sunni-Shia animosity, and more recently in dealing with the Kurdish people and Iraqi Kurdistan. In most cases, however, the Assyrians are completely neglected from scholarship concerning Iraq and its peoples. This work reinserts the Assyrian people into the fabric of Iraq and discusses the violent and non-violent suppression of Assyrian identity and culture through genocide, cultural genocide, and ethnic cleansing. Three fundamental factors emerge from this reinsertion with respect to Iraq and genocide. First, this approach introduces an often-neglected element in Iraqi studies: the inclusion of minorities, or micro-minorities, within the existing discourse on Iraqi studies. Second, it contributes to genocide studies by examining the impact of the non-physical, or cultural, aspect of genocide. Further, it discusses the importance of the Assyrian case in Iraq for understanding Iraqi history, and serves as a case in point of scaling suffering and for understanding how and why a hierarchy of genocide exists.

This dissertation represents an investigation into the changing nature of political power during the final 133 years of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, seeking to understand how power functioned within the Assyrian system through studying the careers of its imperial administrators. How was power distributed between the king and his officials? What sort of relationships existed between officials and the king, and with each other? How did Assyrian officials’ careers progress? Finally, to what extent did the above shape the political history of the Neo-Assyrian Empire? To answer these questions, this dissertation utilizes a combination of old and new approaches. Close readings of primary source documents are combined with aggregate analysis and insights from the fields of social network analysis and organizational communication. Rejecting most previous efforts at studying Assyrian imperial organization as too reliant on hierarchical models of organization, this study utilizes tools such as a Communicative Constitution of Organizations framework and Leader-Member Exchange Theory, which emphasize the importance of informal structure and interpersonal relationships in studying human organizations. Through a social network analysis of 3,864 letters which survive from the years 745-612 BC, it identifies especially influential officials during the reign of each king as well as long term changes over time in communications patterns and the types of officials who achieved prominence. This dissertation argues that Sargon II initiated a wide-ranging reform of the imperial administration, seeking to centralize power in the person of the king and the royal family through greatly expanding the number of provincial governors and other officials who reported directly to the king. These reforms increased the importance of informal hierarchy, as a few officials who managed to build close working relationships with the king could wield significant power. Sargon’s reforms structured the empire in such a way as to promote intense competition between officials for status, both between individuals and between the rival sectors of provincial government, palace administration, and the major temples. However, this competition had unintended consequences: the large number of persons writing to the king made it more difficult for the king to acquire accurate information about conditions in the empire. Essentially a prisoner of the information being provided to them, Assyrian monarchs of the seventh century tried a variety of methods to solve this problem, including employing special agents to provide an independent source of information, consulting experts in divination to check the loyalties of their subjects, and implementing public oaths which enjoined the entire population to inform the king of potentially disloyal elements. None of these attempts were successful, and the problem of information likely contributed to a weakening of imperial control over the course of the seventh century, culminating the dramatic collapse of the empire in 612 BC.

Uppsatsen behandlar Assyrierna/Syrianerna i Turkiet och deras kamp för erkännande som minoritet. Det eventuella turkiska medlemskapet i den Europeiska Unionen har resulterat i en diskussion kring landets minoritetspolitik och dess ovilja att erkänna vissa minoriteter. Assyrierna/Syrianerna utgör en sådan grupp som riskerar att bli utsatt för diskriminering och våld. Syftet med studien är att redogöra för relationen mellan den turkiska staten och Assyrierna/Syrianerna samt att belysa deras kamp för erkännande som minoritet. För att förstå situationen i Turkiet och få en insikt i Assyriernas/Syrianernas erfarenheter utfördes intervjuer under en fältstudie i Istanbul 2007. Det empiriska materialet är indelat i diskussioner om gruppens anspråk vilka innefattar religionsfrihet, kulturella rättigheter, språkliga rättigheter, yttrandefrihet och erkännande av folkmordet på Assyrier/Syrianer samt turkisk minoritetspolitik och Europeiska Unionens krav på Turkiet. Debatten om multikulturalism inom politisk teori används vid analys av resultaten vilken struktureras i diskussioner kring assimilering, nationalism och religion, och innebörden av erkännande. Studiens huvudresultat innefattar att minoritetens medlemmar tvingas till assimilering i huvudsak som resultat av den nationalistiska attityden i landet. Icke-erkännandet av kristna i massmedia och av offentliga personer tillsammans med marginaliseringen av Assyrierna/Syrianerna och den turkiska nationalismen skapar en situation där diskriminering och våld rättfärdigas och därmed intensifieras. / This thesis is focusing on the Assyrians/Syriacs of Turkey and their struggle for recognition in the Turkish context. The potential Turkish membership in the European Union has resulted in a discussion on the country’s minority policies and its reluctance to recognize certain minorities. The Assyrians/Syriacs constitute one of these groups that are at risk of being subjected to discrimination and violence. The aim of the study is to clarify the relation between the Turkish state and the Assyrians/Syriacs and to spread light on their struggle for recognition as a minority. In order to gain an understanding of the situation in Turkey and to get an insight in the experiences and perceptions of the Assyrians/Syriacs, interviews were conducted during a field study in Istanbul in 2007. The empirical findings are discussed in lines of the claims of the group, including freedom of religion, cultural rights, language rights, freedom of expression and the recognition of the Assyrian/Syriac genocide, as well as in terms of the Turkish policies and the demands of the European Union. The debate on multiculturalism within political theory is used to analyze the results, which are discussed in terms of assimilation, nationalism and religion, and the meaning of recognition. The main findings of the study include that the members of the minority are pressured into being assimilated into the larger society, mainly due to the nationalistic attitude in the country. Moreover, the misrecognition of Christians by the mass media and public figures together with the marginalization of the Assyrians/Syriacs and the Turkish nationalism creates a situation in the country where discrimination and violence is justified and thus enhanced.

Northern Iraq's Christians are a second-order minority. That is, they are a minority within a minority. They occupy a tenuous position between the Arab-dominated central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government. All Christians in northern Iraq desire to remain in their historic homelands. Yet efforts to advance a common political goal have been rare. Differences within the Iraqi Christian community center on three interrelated points: 1) the adoption and advancement of the Assyrian ethno-nationalist identity; 2) the struggle for leadership of the community between secular parties and church officials; and 3) the securing of group rights through either Baghdad or Erbil, which is typified by the debate over a province for minorities in the Nineveh Plain. The Islamic State's invasion in June 2014 made this dynamic even more complex. This dissertation explores how a second-order minority mobilized to protect its homelands during state breakdown and state recalibration. It examines how an Iraqi Christian political party, the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM), responded to the rise and spread of the Islamic State. More specifically, it analyzes the ADM's creation of a self-defense force, the Nineveh Plains Protection Units (NPU), and how the party positioned itself for the post-conflict state. Data generated through ethnographic fieldwork, combined with existing primary and secondary sources, reveals a detailed process whereby security threats shaped mobilization. Notions of historic homelands and distrust of both the central government and KRG were the central factors shaping this outcome. The ADM created the NPU to liberate occupied lands. More importantly, the NPU was created to ensure Christians retained a place in their historic homelands after the Islamic State was evicted. The use of the name "Nineveh Plains Protection Units" held strategic importance. The binding principle of the NPU was an indigenous-based attachment to the Nineveh Plain, including the right to defend it, and Christianity in Iraq. Both elements captured the common threads among all Iraqi Christians and the claim they make on the state. The ADM, therefore, was particularly attuned to Iraq's pre-Islamic ancient Mesopotamian heritage. This ironically echoed earlier efforts by the Ba'ath regime to instill a Mesopotamian identity among citizens by glorifying a common Assyrian and Babylonian heritage all could presumably share. Second-order minority status meant the ADM had to eventually align with either Baghdad or Erbil. The ADM chose Baghdad, effectively balancing against ISIS and the KRG in the Nineveh Plain. Baghdad proved a willing partner for a time. The ADM, however, was left alone to navigate the Nineveh Plain's position in the September 2017 Kurdistan referendum on independence. / PHD / This dissertation examines the Assyrian Democratic Movement’s response to the Islamic State. It analyzes the ADM’s creation of a self-defense force, the Nineveh Plains Protection Units, and how the party positioned itself for the post-conflict state. Data generated through ethnographic fieldwork conducted in northern Iraq combined with existing primary and secondary sources reveals a detailed process whereby security threats shaped mobilization. Homeland claims and distrust of both the central government and KRG were the central factors driving this process. Second-order minority status meant the ADM had no choice but to pick sides between Baghdad and Erbil. The party eventually aligned with Baghdad. However, it was left alone to navigate Nineveh Plain’s position within the Kurdistan independence referendum.

<p>Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka ett relativt outforskat område, nämligen missbruk bland assyrier/syrianer. Trots att folkgruppen har levt i Sverige i drygt 40 år och utgör en av landets större invandrargrupper, har det bedrivits väldigt lite forskning gällande missbruk bland populationen. Förhoppningen med studien är att den kan tillföra ytterligare kunskap som kan vara av betydelse för de som på något sätt kommer i kontakt med assyriska/syrianska missbrukare, exempelvis sociala myndigheter, behandlingsinstitutioner med flera, men även att studien kan frambringa en konstruktiv debatt, som författaren anser saknas bland den assyriska/syrianska folkgruppen, och belysa temat missbruk ytterligare.</p><p>Med hjälp av den kvalitativa metoden har fem före detta missbrukande assyrier/syrianer, med en bakgrund i ett narkotika- och/eller spelmissbruk studerats. Huvudfrågan har varit att studera hur respondenterna hamnat i ett missbruk, tiden under missbruk, samt hur man därefter tagit sig ur missbruket. Empirin insamlades via fyra enskilda intervjuer i det fysiska rummet samt en via e-mail. Resultaten har relaterats till de olika teorierna avvikande beteende, stämplingsteorin samt Goldbergs avvikarkarriärmodell.</p><p>Studiens huvudresultat är att respondenterna, i varierande grad, har upplevt en svår uppväxt. För flera har den ena föräldern gått bort i tidig ålder och i andra fall att föräldern helt enkelt varit frånvarande. Vidare har även några fått utstå fysiskt våld i olika former, hot, mobbning eller diskriminering, antingen i skolan, i hemmet eller ute i samhället. Det har visat sig att respondenterna upplevt en eller flera kriser kombinerat med sorg, vilket skapat en otrygghet i deras liv.</p><p>Vägen till att bryta sig ur missbruket har sett olika ut för individerna. Gemensamt för dem alla är att närmaste familjen fungerat som ett stöd. En av respondenterna kom att bli frälst och en annan genomgick diverse terapibehandlingar. Övriga har tagit sig ur på egen hand med stöd från familjen.</p> / <p>The purpose of this study is to investigate a relatively unknown domain, namely the one of abuse amongst Assyrians/Syriacs. Although the community has lived in Sweden for more than 40 years and yields one for the countries larger immigrant groups, there has been little research performed addressing the question of abuse within the community. Hopefully this study will provide useful knowledge to those whom in one way or another deal with abusing Assyrians/Syriacs, such as for instance rehabilitation institutes or social welfare authorities. It might also promote a constructive debate on the issue within this specific community, which the author thinks is lacking, and to further shed light on the question of abuse in general.</p><p>By the method of qualitative study, five former abusing Assyrians/Syriacs, with backgrounds in drug substance abuse and/or gambling addiction have been studied. The primary questions have been those of how the subjects got into abusing, the time during the abuse, and how the abuse was overcome. Empirical data was collected through four individual face-to-face interviews and one via e-mail, and the resulting conclusions were drawn by relating the data to the theories of deviant behavior, labeling theory and Goldbergs deviant career model.</p><p>The main result of the study is that the respondents to various degrees have suffered a difficult childhood. In the case of many of them one parent was deceased prematurely or for others the parent was largely absent. Furthermore, some had to endure physical violence in different forms, threats, bullying, or discrimination, either in school, at home or by society. It became evident that the respondents have experienced one or several crisis in combination with grief, which has created a sense of insecurity on their lives.</p><p>The path away from abuse has been different for the individuals, although they all share having had the support from the closest family. One of the respondents became a born-again Christian and another went through various therapy rehabilitation treatments. The others have managed on their own with the support from family.</p>