The Orange Order is a Protestant fraternal order within Northern Ireland that has branches across the former British Empire. Since its formation in 1795, it has been described as a brotherhood, definitively male with a triumphalist parade culture maintaining Protestant `civil and religious liberties' by celebrating the victory of King William III at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. My dissertation explores the role of gender within Orangeism. Notions of `brotherhood', `sisterhood', and `family' in the lodges are explored, as are the roles of women within Orangeism. In particular, the `family' nature of Orangeism has played a major role in the inclusion of women and children in Orange demonstrations and parades. Evangelical beliefs in women's moral superiority and the necessity of her influence over her family and community provided women with a public presence via Orange processions and female lodges. Men were forced to accept their utility as political mothers who could inculcate Orange values in children and in the wider community through their influence and philanthropic work. In short, Orangeism was never simply a brotherhood; the familial metaphor enabled women to gain influence as `sisters' and to perform various politicized (and sometimes militarized) domestic roles within the public space provided by the order. Orangeism gave them a political base from which to petition, challenge governmental policies they deemed unfair, and to threaten or commit violence when peaceful methods failed.

Darbas tiria JAV lietuvių organizacijos, Lietuvos Vyčių, organizacinę ir identiteto istorija nuo įsikūrimo 1913 m. iki šeštojo dešimtmečio pabaigos. Unikalūs šios draugijos bruožai lietuvių išeivijos tarpe yra dvilypio identiteto raiška, bei sąsaja su amerikietiška fraternalizmo tradicija. Tyrimas apžvelgia organizacijos istoriją nuo įsikūrimo, kuomet lietuviškumas ir katalikiškumas kaip tapatumo dėmenys Vyčių tarpe buvo įtvirtinti, iki šeštojo dešimtmečio pabaigos kuomet išryškėjo amerikietiškas identitetas. Tiriama daugialypio identiteto raiška ritualo formoje, siejant ritualo tradiciją su JAV egzistavusia fraternalizmo tradicija. Įvertinama ir XIX a. siekiančių reiškinių įtaka. Darbo tikslas – ištirti Lietuvos Vyčių identiteto ir jo raiškos formų raidą, ypatingą dėmesį skiriant JAV kultūrinės ir socialinės aplinkos įtakai. Šio darbo tezėms keliami uždaviniai yra ištirti religijos kaip identiteto dėmens vaidmenį Lietuvos Vyčių įsteigimo kontekste; įvertinti JAV kultūrinės aplinkos įtaką organizacinėms Lietuvos Vyčių strategijoms; aptarti kalbos kaip tapatumo dėmens vaidmenį, Lietuvos Vyčių refleksiją asimiliacijos atžvilgiu; atsekti amerikietiško patriotizmo plėtrą ir dvilypio identiteto formavimąsi Lietuvos Vyčių tarpe; aptarti Lietuvos Vyčių dvilypio tapatumo raišką visuomeninėje ir politinėje plotmėje; ištirti tapatumo dėmenų sintezę ritualo formoje; susieti Vyčių ritualo formą su fraternalizmo reiškiniu; aptarti Lietuvos Vyčių ypatumus JAV fraternalizmo tradicijos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The thesis explores the history of the Knights of Lithuania (K of L) in the USA from the time of their establishment in 1913 to the end of the 1950’s. The K of L is unique among Lithuanian-American organizations in that it consciously articulated a dual identity and can also be related to the American tradition of fraternalism. The study covers the organization’s history starting at the time of its establishment, when the Lithuanian and Catholic dimensions of their identity were firmly defined, to the end of the 1950’s, when the American element was being fully articulated. The manifestation of dual identity in ritual form is analyzed, relating this particular tradition with the phenomenon of American fraternalism. Certain influential phenomena dating back to the XIX century are also evaluated. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the historical development of identity and its forms of expression among the K of L, with particular emphasis on the influence of American cultural and social environment. The thesis is formulated by analyzing the following historical issues: the role of religion as an integral dimension of identity in the context of the K of L’s creation, the influence of the American cultural environment on the operational strategies adopted by the K of L, the changing role of language as an element of identity and conscious reflection on this process, the growth of American patriotism and the development of a dual identity among the K of L, the... [to full text]

Throughout the 1920s, America was marked by a series of fundamental political, social and economic shifts that defined the decade. The rise of the Second Ku Klux Klan was just one of the many results of the underlying tensions produced by the radical changes of the period. This fervently patriotic and nativist organization has captivated onlookers and academics because of its peculiar customs and its mysterious resurgence following the First World War. Historians have thoroughly analysed this group’s ideology, and have presented detailed case studies of the growth and decline of individual chapters of this vast organization. The 1920s Klan has been studied from practically every possible angle. However, researchers have neglected to study the order’s fraternal traditions and their relationship with other fraternities. This thesis hopes to address this oversight by offering a critical evaluation of the Ku Klux Klan’s role as a fraternity. This thesis will analyse how this order functioned as a fraternity, and how these traditions helped recruit followers to the movement. This study will also discuss how the Klan interacted with other fraternities, particularly the Freemasons. These two fraternities shared a complex relationship with elements of both cooperation and conflict, and their interactions will help us comprehend how the Ku Klux Klan managed to become the foremost fraternal movement of the 1920s. This thesis will analyse a number of different aspects about the Ku Klux Klan, from their ideology and rituals to their sales methods and public relations campaign. This study hopes to re-evaluate a number of key assumptions about this group by critically assessing the Klan from a different perspective. By investigating the response of fraternities like the Freemasons to an intrusive and aggressive order like the Klan, we can gain a better understanding of how the nation as a whole perceived and reacted to this peculiar organization.

Geochemical samplers carry out manual labour in difficult and dangerous conditions while largely unsupervised. This paper explores questions regarding the labour effort provided by these workers which often goes above and beyond the level necessary to maintain employment and at times endangers their personal safety. This extra effort is provided despite relatively high levels of worker autonomy, low levels of supervision, and little apparent economic incentive. Analysis of worker-level interviews using a number of possible theoretical frameworks indicates that more coercive factors such as direct managerial control and employment insecurity are unable to fully explain sampler behaviour and, instead, participant accounts indicate a form of active worker consent to increased labour effort and risk taking. This is a gendered worker consent based on a form of contingent upon the specific context of geochemical sampling. These specific contingent factors are: a working class masculinity derived from the hard manual labour of the work; the wilderness context that facilitates tropes of ‘man versus nature’ reinforcing the masculine workplace culture and obscuring the appropriation of surplus by more easily allowing the workplace to be interpreted as non-capitalist; and a fraternal masculinity resulting from the crew-based workplace organization and highly male dominated workforce composition, intensified by the conforming pressure of isolated camp life. This specific masculinity forms a basis of consent by which the autonomy afforded to workers by the labour process of geochemical sampling helps rather than hinders the imperative of management to encourage workers to exert the maximum effort. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

This paper explores which role textile has in the staging of masculinity through an investigation of fraternal groups. The project combines the themes textile craft, gender studies and men only secret societies and in this paper I explain the key concepts of my theoretical interests of my artistic practice which is performativity, masculinity and ritualization.

The dissertation examines African American Freemasons throughout the South during the Jim Crow era. The secret nature of Prince Hall Affiliated Freemasonry (PHA) has hidden the contribution and activism of the organization and its members. I argue the organization is part of a web of networks that fought for civil and human rights for African Americans. Through PHA, members are cultivated into leaders, activists, businessmen; over the years, the members have created an initiatic identity that connected them to the African American community and humanity. The significance of my study is that I analyze PHA through a womanist lens and argue the organization has a diarchal gender relationship that allows women and men to take on leadership and activist roles that differed from the normative gender relationship of their time.