Terrorist activity has come to the forefront of political thought in recent years, especially since the attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington D.C on September 11, 2001. President George W. Bush declared a “war on terror” and governments all around the world have taken steps to enhance national security in efforts to prevent terrorist activity. The steps taken are not unwarranted, and in some cases have been successful. The nature of terrorism modernizes just as the world around it does, and as the global community has benefited from globalization and modernization, so have terrorist organizations. This study analyzes the history of modern terrorism through the comparison of four separate waves: the Anarchist Wave, the Nationalist-Separatist Wave, the Revolutionary Wave, and the Religious Wave. This paper compares each wave’s roots, desired outcomes and goals, strategies and modus operandi, destructive impact, and outcomes. The study identifies a move away from hierarchal organization, modernization in communications and weapon choice, and a significant rise in the lethality of terrorist activity in recent years. Furthermore, there is a connection between globalization and modernization and the increase in terrorist activity and lethality. Economic interconnection has provided opportunities through which terrorists can act by providing them with a shield of anonymity, while cultural interconnection has created situations through which anger and frustration can fester to provide motives and justifications for terrorist activity. Meanwhile, modernization has created new technologies that provide more effective means through which terrorists can act on their motives. Although the Religious Wave has been nicknamed the "jihadist wave" to reflect the prevalence of Islamic groups, this study analyzes social, economic, and historic impacts that have led to this wave rather than assume that Islam is inherently violent.

The last decade has seen a pronounced increase in feminist activism and sentiment in the public sphere, which scholars, activists, and journalists have dubbed the “fourth wave” of feminism. A key feature of the fourth wave is the use of digital technologies and the internet for feminist activism and discussion. This dissertation aims to broadly understand what is “new” about fourth wave feminism and specifically to understand how social media intersect with everyday feminist practices in the digital era. This project is made up of three case studies –Bumble the “feminist” dating app, private Facebook groups for women professionals, and the #MeToo movement on Twitter— and uses an affordance theory lens, examining the possibilities for (and constraints of) use embedded in the materiality of each digital platform. Through in-depth interviews and focus groups with users, alongside a structural discourse analysis of each platform, the findings show how social media are used strategically as tools for feminist purposes during mundane online activities such as dating and connecting with colleagues. Overall, this research highlights the feminist potential of everyday social media use, while considering the limits of digital technologies for everyday feminism. This work also reasserts the continued need for feminist activism in the fourth wave, by showing that the material realities of gender inequality persist, often obscured by an illusion of empowerment. / Media & Communication

The present study examines r/WitchesVsPatriarchy, a subreddit hosted on the popular social media platform Reddit, which centres around the themes of women and witchcraft. This thesis employs a mixed methods approach to investigate various aspects of the subreddit. A critical discourse analysis is conducted in conjunction with a netnographic study. Content that is being analysed consists of a forum thread where users get to describe what witchcraft means to them, an introductory post written by the moderators of the subreddit, as well as content posted to the site by other members. The content that was posted was sorted into five different categories: uplifting content, crafts and marketplace, memes and humour, political content, and magic and rituals. The analysis concludes that the r/WitchesVsPatriarchy community exhibits a distinct feminist undertone, specifically embracing the principles of fourth wave feminism. Furthermore, it also reveals characteristics associated with subcultures.  The role of witchcraft is analysed and what way the users engage with it. Within this context, witchcraft is predominantly perceived as a tool for self-care and empowerment, rather than being strictly associated with religious or magical beliefs. Notably, the majority of users express scepticism regarding the magical aspects of witchcraft. Instead, witchcraft is seen as a tool used for empowerment and even as a symbol for feminism.  Regarding subculture theory, the community can be seen as a part of a larger subculture where members use witchcraft for non-religious reasons. Various forms of aspects relating to subculture theory, such as shared identities, sacred objects, resistance, and marginalization.  The thesis contends that this witchcraft community inherently encompasses a feminist dimension, whereby users harness feminist and political connections with witchcraft to empower both themselves and the broader community. Keywords: modern witchcraft, witchcraft communities, Reddit, fourth wave feminism

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2017-10-26T13:28:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Fernanda de Brito Mota Rocha_.pdf: 1259057 bytes, checksum: 8572e5311138aeefea6bcede26dd539a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-26T13:28:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fernanda de Brito Mota Rocha_.pdf: 1259057 bytes, checksum: 8572e5311138aeefea6bcede26dd539a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-31 / Nenhuma / A presente pesquisa contemplou o estudo da Quarta Onda do Movimento Social Feminista, justificando-se diante das mudanças sociais provocadas pela tecnologia da informação na promoção e divulgação dos ideais que constituem essa faceta do Movimento. Enfocando a ação do feminismo na internet, especificamente abordou-se a coleta de dados num blog feminista. Como objetivo geral, pretendeu-se analisar a configuração do movimento feminista na especificidade do ativismo digital, suas proposições de discussão e pautas oportunizadas via ferramentas tecnológicas, especificamente a internet, no processo de disseminação da luta feminista pela ampliação de direitos. Optou-se por verificar um ano de postagens no blog Escreva Lola Escreva e selecionar, por mês, os posts com maior número de comentários para, posteriormente, fazer uma análise das temáticas discutidas. Essa escolha metodológica se pauta no fato dos posts mais comentados terem suscitado maior discussão e interesse. Não foi objetivo dessa pesquisa analisar o teor desses comentários. Eles serviram de critério para seleção do corpus. Diante dos resultados apontados pela análise de dados realizada no corpus documental, o que chama atenção é a interação dos(as) leitores(as) enquanto sujeitos ativos, e eventuais mudanças de opinião e modo de encarar a vida, a partir daquelas interações. Destaca-se como categoria recorrente a crítica ao patriarcado em diversas perspectivas. Isso reforça a ideia da percepção crítica do sistema opressor, centrado no homem. À luz da análise empírica e apoiando-se na literatura pode-se afirmar a existência da Quarta Onda do Movimento Feminista, caracterizado pelo ativismo digital. Por apresentar e oportunizar as discussões e pautas vivenciadas no âmbito social, atesta que os movimentos sociais digitais estão conquistando espaço e representatividade. / The present dissertation contemplated the study of the Fourth Wave of the Feminist Social Movement, justifying itself in the face of the social changes provoked by information technology in promoting and disseminating the ideals that constitute this facet of the Movement. Focusing on the action of feminism on the internet, specifically addressed the collection of data from a feminist blog. As a general objective, the aim was to analyze the configuration of the feminist movement in the specificity of digital activism, its proposals for discussion and timelines opportunized via technological tools, specifically the internet, in the process of dissemination of the feminist struggle for the expansion of rights. It was chosen to check one year of posting of the blog “Escreva Lola Escreva” and select, each month, the posts with the highest number of comments to later make an analysis of the topics discussed. This methodological choice is based on the fact that the most commented posts have generated greater discussion and interest. It was not the purpose of this research to analyze the comments. They served as criteria for corpus selection. Considering the results pointed out by data analysis performed without documentary corpus, what draws attention is an interaction of readers as active subjects and possible changes of opinion and ways of facing life, from those interactions. It is highlighted as a recurrent category the critique of patriarchy in several perspectives. It reinforces the idea of the critical perception of the oppressive system, centered in men. Considering the empirical analysis and based on the literature, one can affirm the existence of the Fourth Wave of the Feminist Movement, characterized by digital activism. By presenting and opportuning the discussions and guidelines experienced in the social sphere, it testifies that digital social movements are gaining space and representativeness.

Vilka erfarenheter har enskilda medlemmar av den svenska separatistiska facebookgruppen Heja Livet? Ur ett feministiskt perspektiv har vi genomfört kvalitativa personliga intervjuer vilket gav ett resultat som visar att gruppen bidrar med något betydelsefullt. Det personliga är politiskt och genom att ta del av andras berättelser kan enskilda kvinnor få ett högre feministiskt medvetande som kan bidra till feministiska handlingar. Det visar sig också att gruppen kan fungera som ett stöd i olika frågor för enskilda kvinnor i deras vardag. Vi presenterar ett teoretiskt resultat, omdefinierar innebörden av ett högre feministisk medvetande och argumenterar för att Heja Livet kan ses som en medvetenhetshöjande grupp. Faktumet att de flesta av våra intervjupersoner inte delar med sig av sina erfarenheter i facebookgruppen hotar dock konstruktionen av Heja Livet som en subalternativ offentlighet som utmanar dominerande offentligheter. Den vita medelklass cis-kvinnan är idealet i gruppen och det bristande intersektionella perspektivet gör att vi kritiserar Heja Livet som ett ett lyckat feministiskt projekt. / What experiences do individual members have of the Swedish separatist Facebook group Heja Livet? We have conducted qualitative personal interviews from a feminist perspective and have come to the conclusion that the group is contributing with something meaningful. The personal is political and by reading other women’s stories, individual women can achieve a higher feminist consciousness which can contribute to feminist actions. Another finding is that the group can also function as a support in different matters for individual women in their everyday lives. We are presenting a theoretical result, we redefine the meaning of a higher feminist consciousness and argue that Heja Livet can be seen as a consciousness raising group. The fact that most of the interviewed did not share their own experiences in Heja Livet, threatens the construction of the group as a subaltern counterpublic that challenges dominant publics. The white middle class cis-woman is the norm in Heja Livet and we criticize it for not being a successful feminist project because of the lack of an intersectional perspective.

In the last few years, there has been an explosion of Facebook groups specifically directed at a female audience. One topic that seems to organize and interest Swedish women especially is money. This study explores the biggest Swedish financial group of them all: Economista – women who enjoy stocks and private economy, currently hosting 146 thousand members.  The group is studied through a theoretical lens of fourth wave feminism, characterized by the use of digital tools for feminist action, as well as a revival of the feminist collective action from the second wave feminism, and a continuation of a feminist individual empowerment of third wave feminism. The study aims to investigate how feminism, and the empowerment of women is negotiated within the group. It also investigates what defines and delimits the female discursive object of the Economista. Methods used are a critical feminist discourse analysis and an explorative netnography, combined with focus group discussions with members of the group. The study shows that Economista can be seen as a collective space as members experience the group as a safe space where they educate each other about the stock market – a field historically dominated by men, that many are reluctant to enter. It also functions as a space for consciousness raising about patriarchal structures playing out in their everyday economic lives. However, the group can also be viewed as a limited emancipation, as it only includes a limited scope of individuals. The economically liberated subject that comes forth – The Economista – is a neoliberal, feminine version of a Homo economicus, who is responsible for making deliberate, rational decisions regarding her economy. In this postfeminist discourse, feminist analysis is no longer needed, as women have all the possibilities in the world to live a rich and happy life – if they just put their minds into it. The study shows that it is precisely these instances of “empowerment” that are important to dissect, as these often conceal limiting structures. In this case, the implications that this notion of freedom and “lack of governance” has for feminist struggle is that it masks norms, hierarchies and structural power relations producing economic inequality. Economista thus becomes part of the problem that it sets out to solve, as the group pictures itself as a solution to women’s economic inequality, at the expense of other solutions.

The heart of Pentecostal practice has always been an experience of the Holy Spirit. These experiences are often claimed to have the direct guidance of the Spirit and form the decisions and actions that result in the ongoing of the development of practices and doctrine. It is my contention that the third and fourth so-called waves of the Spirit are not truly waves of the Spirit, neither are they new. They are the rebirth, albeit in a new manner, of three disappointing and tragic movements of past Pentecostal history, namely the (New) Latter Rain, the Shepherding Movement, and the Prosperity Movement. I maintain that these two waves do not follow a solid Pentecostal doctrinal stand of an experience in the Holy Spirit of separability and subsequence, neither do they draw their doctrinal stand from the book of Acts, but rather the Synoptic gospels. Unfortunately, even though Pentecostal scholarship is on the rise, the majority of the prolific writers of these last two waves are extremely eisegetical in regards to their dealing with the Word of God. They claim vision and direction from Heaven, as opposed to an exegesis of the canon of Scripture. I maintain that these two, so called waves of the Spirit are not Heaven sent but man conceived and thus dangerous heresy to the church. `I believe that courage is the most important virtue, the foundation that underlies and gives realty to all other virtues and personal values. Without courage we become conformists. Conformity is not the fibre good and courageous leaders are made of… Do not be frightened by the aloneness that may come with your holding unpopular positions. It is in aloneness that wisdom will visit you and smile upon you'. These are not, as a theologian might be entitled to expect, the words of Elijah or Jeremiah. They are quoted from a speech given in 1999 by Mamphela Ramphele, vice chancellor of the University of Cape Town. Her context was the silence that has so often fallen on African societies once liberation has taken place. It is just such silent acquiescence, she insists, that allow former `heroes of the struggle' to become despots and dictators. Her words are challenging to Pentecostal theologians for at least two reasons. The first and more mundane is that Pentecostalism is most vibrant today in precisely those countries, which can be termed `postcolonial'. The second, and to my mind the most relevant to the movement, is that Pentecostalism was at its beginning a powerful spiritual force because it inherited an ethos of radical difference and because its proponents were unflinching in refusing to be co-opted into any other agenda than the one for which they knew they had been empowered by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. In this sense it was a prophetic religion, a religion similar to that of Elijah and Jeremiah. It is my plea then in this presentation that the so-called `postcolonial' countries will not swallow this new error, which has been called the new Pentecostal rhema from Heaven, which stems, as do so many new theological trends from the Western world. The new emerging Pentecostal Charismatic churches, particularly of the Third World need to have the courage not to be conformists, for such is not the fiber good and courageous leaders have. The hermeneutical pneumatology of the Pentecostal tradition has always been questioned. The early Pentecostals did not even bother to develop a theological hermeneutical position of a subsequent experience of the Spirit; they accepted their experience as from God . When they did begin to develop a Pentecostal theology it was often ridiculed as being primarily experiential, thus in the minds of most, devoid of Biblical theology. Fifty years after the outpouring of the Spirit at Azusa Street many Pentecostal scholars began to re-examine the pneumatology of Luke's writing. In the latter part of the 20th Century many Pentecostal scholars came into their own, examining and challenging many of the previously accepted conclusions of theologians, in regards to the Classical Pentecostal doctrinal position . Their position was that there was a separable and subsequent experience of the Spirit following salvation, which was accompanied by the initial evidence of speaking with other tongues. The initial evidence was for a few, and still is for some, questionable evidence. Such a position stood in opposition to those who declared that there was no second experience of the Holy Spirit for any person other than salvation. If those who believed in the `conversion-initiation, which included the baptism in the Holy Spirit' were indeed correct, then everything that Luke talks about in relation to pneumatology in his two-volume work is totally in relation to salvation. This was the theological pneumatological position prior to Classical Pentecostalism. It did and has resulted in many theological challenges. Scholars who take this position do so on the premise that Pentecost is more of a historical situation for the church. However scholars convinced of the Classical Pentecostal position are refusing to accept this position and have and are continuing to develop an exegetical position for a secondary work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life. This is my personal position made vitally real for me since I did not grow up in a Pentecostal church setting, but rather came into the Pentecostal experience in my early 20's. It is my contention that the theological impact of Christ's ascension prior to the public ascension witnessed in Acts 1 has not been fully examined. Few scholars have dealt with the typological fulfillment firstly, of the work of the High Priest as seen completed in the life of Jesus Christ, or secondly, of His fulfillment of the first four feasts which the Jews were commanded to keep. Both of these aspects very clearly enhance and form a clear indication that the classical Pentecostal theology was and is correct in speaking of a separable and subsequent work of the Spirit following a clear salvation experience. I will seek to elucidate this by an examining the historical background of the first two waves of the Spirit, followed by a preview of the work of the Holy Spirit as seen in the canon of Scripture with emphasis on the New Testament. I will follow this by the development of the idea of regeneration in the New Testament. Finally I will examine Lukan writing in regards to the experience known as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. These chapters will then serve as a base for comparison with the material, which will follow. In the late 20th and early 21st century the Classical Pentecostal doctrine has been challenged by the last two charismatic waves of the Spirit, both of which have spawned a plethora of writings. It is my contention first; that the traditional Pentecostal understanding of the authority of Scripture has been abandoned in that now experience takes precedence over Scripture. Secondly it is clear that these last two waves do not fall within the same parameters as the first two waves in their understanding of a doctrine of separability and subsequence, since they revert to a pre-Classical Pentecostal theological position of only one experience of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, in a day when Pentecostal scholarship is seeking to become acceptable in their exegesis, the authors of these waves are almost totally eisegetical. The question needs to be asked `Have they subtly taken on a title to glean a following?' It is thus my contention that a survey of these waves shows that they have no common ground with the initial two waves of the Spirit. The indication is that they have deliberately chosen a different Biblical basis and thus disqualify themselves from the Pentecostal Charismatic stream. I will seek to elucidate this by examining the historical background of the last two waves of the Spirit, followed by an examination of the Pentecostal hermeneutic and their lack of hermeneutics, as seen so clearly in their writings. This will be done by pointing out the comparisons to the latter two waves of the Spirit both in theory and in the voluminous writing, which are largely based on eisegesis. The stated desire to `have church without making anyone sick' has broached and taken the movements far into left field. Finally, it is my contention that the third and fourth waves of the Spirit are not new at all. They are simply a rebirth of three disappointing and tragic movements in Pentecostal history. Thus I hope to clearly substantiate that the third and fourth wave of the Spirit are not really waves of the Spirit at all. They are not such in terms of their Biblical theological basis, neither are they such exegetically. They are simply the result of those desirous of the moving of the Holy Spirit who have reached back into the past and reintroduced past aspects of renewal, which unfortunately were man centered and resulted later in much havoc among Christians. I will seek to elucidate these facts by an examination of the history and practice of the (New) Latter Rain, which still haunts Saskatchewan, Canada where tragedies still exist, and the Shepherding movement out of Florida, which after a few years was denounced even by the leaders and finally totally disbanded. Then, finally the Prosperity Movement, which rose and fell as an unacceptable, illegitimate deduction of so called truth of the canon. One hopes and prays that the tragedies in lives will not live to haunt the church if Jesus tarries. We do not want the "heroes of spiritual struggles" to become the despots and dictators of the Pentecostal churches in the Third World. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Church History)

The heart of Pentecostal practice has always been an experience of the Holy Spirit. These experiences are often claimed to have the direct guidance of the Spirit and form the decisions and actions that result in the ongoing of the development of practices and doctrine. It is my contention that the third and fourth so-called waves of the Spirit are not truly waves of the Spirit, neither are they new. They are the rebirth, albeit in a new manner, of three disappointing and tragic movements of past Pentecostal history, namely the (New) Latter Rain, the Shepherding Movement, and the Prosperity Movement. I maintain that these two waves do not follow a solid Pentecostal doctrinal stand of an experience in the Holy Spirit of separability and subsequence, neither do they draw their doctrinal stand from the book of Acts, but rather the Synoptic gospels. Unfortunately, even though Pentecostal scholarship is on the rise, the majority of the prolific writers of these last two waves are extremely eisegetical in regards to their dealing with the Word of God. They claim vision and direction from Heaven, as opposed to an exegesis of the canon of Scripture. I maintain that these two, so called waves of the Spirit are not Heaven sent but man conceived and thus dangerous heresy to the church. `I believe that courage is the most important virtue, the foundation that underlies and gives realty to all other virtues and personal values. Without courage we become conformists. Conformity is not the fibre good and courageous leaders are made of… Do not be frightened by the aloneness that may come with your holding unpopular positions. It is in aloneness that wisdom will visit you and smile upon you'. These are not, as a theologian might be entitled to expect, the words of Elijah or Jeremiah. They are quoted from a speech given in 1999 by Mamphela Ramphele, vice chancellor of the University of Cape Town. Her context was the silence that has so often fallen on African societies once liberation has taken place. It is just such silent acquiescence, she insists, that allow former `heroes of the struggle' to become despots and dictators. Her words are challenging to Pentecostal theologians for at least two reasons. The first and more mundane is that Pentecostalism is most vibrant today in precisely those countries, which can be termed `postcolonial'. The second, and to my mind the most relevant to the movement, is that Pentecostalism was at its beginning a powerful spiritual force because it inherited an ethos of radical difference and because its proponents were unflinching in refusing to be co-opted into any other agenda than the one for which they knew they had been empowered by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. In this sense it was a prophetic religion, a religion similar to that of Elijah and Jeremiah. It is my plea then in this presentation that the so-called `postcolonial' countries will not swallow this new error, which has been called the new Pentecostal rhema from Heaven, which stems, as do so many new theological trends from the Western world. The new emerging Pentecostal Charismatic churches, particularly of the Third World need to have the courage not to be conformists, for such is not the fiber good and courageous leaders have. The hermeneutical pneumatology of the Pentecostal tradition has always been questioned. The early Pentecostals did not even bother to develop a theological hermeneutical position of a subsequent experience of the Spirit; they accepted their experience as from God . When they did begin to develop a Pentecostal theology it was often ridiculed as being primarily experiential, thus in the minds of most, devoid of Biblical theology. Fifty years after the outpouring of the Spirit at Azusa Street many Pentecostal scholars began to re-examine the pneumatology of Luke's writing. In the latter part of the 20th Century many Pentecostal scholars came into their own, examining and challenging many of the previously accepted conclusions of theologians, in regards to the Classical Pentecostal doctrinal position . Their position was that there was a separable and subsequent experience of the Spirit following salvation, which was accompanied by the initial evidence of speaking with other tongues. The initial evidence was for a few, and still is for some, questionable evidence. Such a position stood in opposition to those who declared that there was no second experience of the Holy Spirit for any person other than salvation. If those who believed in the `conversion-initiation, which included the baptism in the Holy Spirit' were indeed correct, then everything that Luke talks about in relation to pneumatology in his two-volume work is totally in relation to salvation. This was the theological pneumatological position prior to Classical Pentecostalism. It did and has resulted in many theological challenges. Scholars who take this position do so on the premise that Pentecost is more of a historical situation for the church. However scholars convinced of the Classical Pentecostal position are refusing to accept this position and have and are continuing to develop an exegetical position for a secondary work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life. This is my personal position made vitally real for me since I did not grow up in a Pentecostal church setting, but rather came into the Pentecostal experience in my early 20's. It is my contention that the theological impact of Christ's ascension prior to the public ascension witnessed in Acts 1 has not been fully examined. Few scholars have dealt with the typological fulfillment firstly, of the work of the High Priest as seen completed in the life of Jesus Christ, or secondly, of His fulfillment of the first four feasts which the Jews were commanded to keep. Both of these aspects very clearly enhance and form a clear indication that the classical Pentecostal theology was and is correct in speaking of a separable and subsequent work of the Spirit following a clear salvation experience. I will seek to elucidate this by an examining the historical background of the first two waves of the Spirit, followed by a preview of the work of the Holy Spirit as seen in the canon of Scripture with emphasis on the New Testament. I will follow this by the development of the idea of regeneration in the New Testament. Finally I will examine Lukan writing in regards to the experience known as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. These chapters will then serve as a base for comparison with the material, which will follow. In the late 20th and early 21st century the Classical Pentecostal doctrine has been challenged by the last two charismatic waves of the Spirit, both of which have spawned a plethora of writings. It is my contention first; that the traditional Pentecostal understanding of the authority of Scripture has been abandoned in that now experience takes precedence over Scripture. Secondly it is clear that these last two waves do not fall within the same parameters as the first two waves in their understanding of a doctrine of separability and subsequence, since they revert to a pre-Classical Pentecostal theological position of only one experience of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, in a day when Pentecostal scholarship is seeking to become acceptable in their exegesis, the authors of these waves are almost totally eisegetical. The question needs to be asked `Have they subtly taken on a title to glean a following?' It is thus my contention that a survey of these waves shows that they have no common ground with the initial two waves of the Spirit. The indication is that they have deliberately chosen a different Biblical basis and thus disqualify themselves from the Pentecostal Charismatic stream. I will seek to elucidate this by examining the historical background of the last two waves of the Spirit, followed by an examination of the Pentecostal hermeneutic and their lack of hermeneutics, as seen so clearly in their writings. This will be done by pointing out the comparisons to the latter two waves of the Spirit both in theory and in the voluminous writing, which are largely based on eisegesis. The stated desire to `have church without making anyone sick' has broached and taken the movements far into left field. Finally, it is my contention that the third and fourth waves of the Spirit are not new at all. They are simply a rebirth of three disappointing and tragic movements in Pentecostal history. Thus I hope to clearly substantiate that the third and fourth wave of the Spirit are not really waves of the Spirit at all. They are not such in terms of their Biblical theological basis, neither are they such exegetically. They are simply the result of those desirous of the moving of the Holy Spirit who have reached back into the past and reintroduced past aspects of renewal, which unfortunately were man centered and resulted later in much havoc among Christians. I will seek to elucidate these facts by an examination of the history and practice of the (New) Latter Rain, which still haunts Saskatchewan, Canada where tragedies still exist, and the Shepherding movement out of Florida, which after a few years was denounced even by the leaders and finally totally disbanded. Then, finally the Prosperity Movement, which rose and fell as an unacceptable, illegitimate deduction of so called truth of the canon. One hopes and prays that the tragedies in lives will not live to haunt the church if Jesus tarries. We do not want the "heroes of spiritual struggles" to become the despots and dictators of the Pentecostal churches in the Third World. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Church History)

This is a study about the transition process and the consolidation of power in Belarus. In this paper the concept of "authoritarian state building and the sources of regime competitiveness in the fourth wave" is the major theory used. After giving a description of the theory‟s concepts a short historical background of Belarus follows. Chapters four describes and explain the political situation in Belarus during five periods. After each period I analyze the situation on the basis of the suppositions from the theory. The thesis also tries to explain the conditions needed for an authoritarian regime to be established. The result of the concluding discussion shows that the major theory in this thesis presents important factors that can help to explain why and how the autocratic rule in Belarus has been consolidated.

No description available.