Thesis (D. Min.)--Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 201-203).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2002. / Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 194-202).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-192).

Thesis (M.S.)--Marshall University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 91 p. including maps and illustrations. Includes bibliographical references (p. 39).

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1979.

Thesis (M.U.D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 86).

This thesis considers rap music produced in London. The project employs close textual analysis and ethnography to engage with the formal characteristics of rap and the social relations constructed through its production and use. The black cultural tradition has a considerable history and the thesis focuses upon its appropriation in contemporary London. The study begins with an examination of the process of becoming a rapper. I then consider the collaborative work that rap artists engage in and how these skills contribute to construction of the UK Hip-Hop and Grime scenes. Moving on from this focus on cultural producers, I then consider the practices of rap music’s users and the role of rap in mainstream metropolitan life. I use the public bus as a site through which to observe the ethical relations that are constituted through sharing and playing with rap music. My analysis then turns to the processes through which identity is solicited and produced within nightclubs and concerts. I discuss the production of subaltern masculinities and femininities by the audience in this space. I also consider how MCs orchestrate their audiences in the production of special forms of collectivity and the organisation of a social consciousness. Following this, I examine rap lyrics in a selection of tracks and videos in order to engage with the representation of urban dwelling within the black public sphere. This close analysis allows me to consider rap songs as part of a cultural politics that challenges socio-economic inequality and racist oppression. I then discuss the structural position of the black working classes and the role of cultural production in providing means of avoiding the economic vulnerability of low skill labour. The study concludes with an examination of artists’ efforts to transform their socio-economic positions through their cultural production and self-representation.

Map-making is viewed among many planners, geographers, and anthropologists as a necessary first step in achieving land claims for indigenous communities in Latin America. However, map-making has yet to result in a land claim for any indigenous group, but the effects of establishing boundaries and claiming territories that have been traditionally shared are contentious. Through a literature review and interviews with three practitioners, this paper will critically examine the role of participatory ethnomapping on indigenous communities in Latin America, specifically their efforts to demarcate territory, procure land claims, and use these land claims to plan for social and economic development. / text

This thesis explores the identity formation of three Turkish speaking social groups – Cypriot Turkish, Kurdish and Turkish (CKT) – living in London in a transnational context. The thesis aims to explore how CKT youths negotiate their identity by looking at their everyday experiences. The everyday experiences of CKT youth are observed through their discourses and interpretations of different interactions. By analysing these interactions, this thesis aims to fill some of the gaps in the literature on transnationalism. The theoretical framework of this thesis is based mainly on Giddens’ theory of identity formation and Faist’s concept of transnational social space. By focusing on the concepts of identity and transnational social space, the thesis examines how the experiences, perceptions and social relations of CKT youth are formed by negotiation and dialogue with the country of origin, host culture and individual attachments. Giddens helps us to conceive identity in a dynamic way and as an outcome of the interaction between structural dimensions, social relations and the self. In this thesis, these structural, social and individual dimensions are operationalised through the analysis of CKT youth interaction with their family, community organisations, school contexts, neighbourhood environments and transnational medias. The concept of transnational social space is used to characterise the identity formation occurring across the borders of nation-states and brought into a single social space. The empirical data are based on 45 semi-structured interviews with CKT youth, 16 semi-structured interviews with first generation CKT migrants, one focus group and participatory observation at five community meetings, as well as several social events organised by CKT youth. The thesis concludes that the choices young people make in terms of their ways of life, the sorts of interactions they have, and their social and cultural preferences frame their positioning within society. Their experiences are diverse and transformative, formed through their interactions with various social and structural aspects surrounding them.

This research is an exploration of ethnic narratives of the Circassian community in Jordan, in addition to the nationalist narratives promoted by the state of Jordan, and their reconstruction by the research participants. This research aims to understand how the research participants, as non-Arabs, understand and makes sense of the Pan-Arab ethnonational narratives promoted by the state through the ‘Jordan First’ nationalist campaign and textbooks of national and civic education. It also seeks to understand the ethnic narratives of the Circassian community. It highlights the fact that ethnic narratives are often contextualised, and come to light always in comparison to the other. It also shows how ethnic narratives are gendered, can include or exclude women, and gender relations are ethnicised, or in other words used as markers for group boundaries. The main aim of this research is to unpack the research participants’ conceptualisations of Jordan and the Pan-Arabism, and to understand the strategies they use to include themselves within these narratives. It intends to evaluate whether research participants see themselves as integrated into the Jordanian society or not. Whereas the community itself is often portrayed as integrated into the society, because many of them are in high governmental positions, and the ceremonial guards of the Royal Family are the Circassians, it is also important to examine whether they believe that they are, and how. This thesis contributes to the literature on ethnicity and nationalism based on a minority with unique profile, and also contributes to the overall body of literature on state nationalism in the Middle East. The research has been approached through the use of both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. It is based on the analysis of textbooks of national and civic education, and the ‘Jordan First’ campaign, in addition to 13 interviews and 62 questionnaires.