The thesis is a short novel, HeartLand, followed by a critical afterword. / The events of the novel constitute a reconstruction of the first-person narrator's past. Jeffrey Adam Wood is seven years old when he is orphaned and taken to live with his three spinster aunts, who are sectarian fundamentalist Christians of peculiar stripe. Juxtaposed to Jeffrey's episodic recollections are 'dreams' he invents and imposes on his aunts as a kind of apocalyptic and cathartic revenge. Thematically, HeartLand is a contemplation of how time alters memory, belief, and individual identity. / The required critical afterword is in two parts. The first provides a background to fundamentalism, with an emphasis on how American culture influenced its development. The second considers how, in literature, cultural forces encroach upon even the most sectarian individuals; this is done by focusing primarily, and briefly, on Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 291-299).

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Thesis (B.A. Honors)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Timothy Renick, committee member. Electronic text (116 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed July 9, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-116).

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Title from title screen. Christopher White, committee chair; Jon Herman, John Iskander, committee members. Electronic text (57 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Apr. 30, 2007. Includes bibliographical references.

Islamist movements frustratingly criss-cross the boundaries of analytical frameworks that theorists of Islamist movements attempt to mould them in.  This thesis posits that such frustrations and confusions do not result from incoherent strategies or ideologies of the movements themselves, but from attempts to fit them into inappropriate frameworks that rely too heavily upon assumptions contained in the Westphalian model.  This thesis argues Islamists are employing a variety of strategies derived from historical Islamic assemblages which are transforming social, political, and geographic space. The Western imposition of the nation-state did not destroy pre-existing assemblages in Muslim countries, but was superimposed on top of existing political and social arrangements.  Memories of historic Islamic imperial understandings of sovereignty and just governance are being re-awakened by Islamist movements to meet the challenges and failures of specific temporal conditions.  This thesis advocates that in many instances an imperial framework is a more appropriate tool in analysing the motivations and strategies of Islamist movements. Incorporating imperial modes of praxis allows for an expansion on the definition of ‘political’ which, in turn, grants an opportunity to examine the politicisation of movements and activities deemed as merely pious by the logic of the nation-state.  Aspects of the imperial past are remembered and re-imagined to meet specific requirements of Islamist movements in given temporal periods and locations which facilitate explanation of the nuances in Islamisms.  Islamist movements are in various ways de-nationalising key elements of the nation-state.  These elements include nation-state sovereignty, national solidarities, and legitimate violence and by challenging these assumptions Islamist movements are constructing alternative geographies that are transforming the territoriality of the nation-state.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is a transnational Islamic fundamentalist group that operates in more than forty countries with main emphasis in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The group claims to be a political party that proceeds with non-violent means and its ideology being Islam. Its objectives are strictly political, and its main goal is to topple an existing regime to resurrect the caliphate with structures and conditions similar to the ones of early seventh-century (C.E.) Islam. The proposed Islamic state will be responsible for transforming societies in a united Ummah, and for spreading the word of Islam throughout the world. Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) rejects the modern, secular state structures and democracy as something "man-made," humanly derived and "un-Islamic," and therefore, does not participate in any secular electoral process. However, HT does not reject modern technology and its advantages. This research will focus on Hizb ut-Tahrir, its objectives, and its preferences as the group adjust its strategies according to the political environment in which it is embedded. The thesis will investigate how HT often uses a legal framework to spread its Islamist ideology and how this multifaceted phenomenon is context specific. The conclusion will address policy recommendations that reflect area- and context-related specifics with a special focus on the group's major threat--its ideology. / German Navy author.

Det övergripande syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka begreppet radikalisering som process. Med litteraturstudiet som metod har syftet varit att undersöka utvalda forskares uppfattning om vilka faktorer som påverkar till radikalisering, vad som kännetecknad en individ som går in i en radikaliseringsprocess och vilka faktorer som i första hand påverkar vägen ut ur ett radikaliserat tänkande. Syftet har inte varit att finna en absolut sanning i det som studerats, utan undersökningens ambition har istället varit att bidra med en fördjupad insikt och förståelse för att begreppet radikalisering är komplext. Resultatet av studien visar att en extremist eller terrorist inte är någonting en människa föds till att vara, snarare är detta något personen blir genom olika faktorer som påverkar dem på vägen. Majoriteten som radikaliseras är ungdomar mellan 15-30 år. Personer som saknar känslan av identitet och mening i livet, och därför upplever rotlöshet, löper större risk för att radikaliseras och ansluta sig till fundamentalistiska grupper.

This dissertation focuses on religious fundamentalism. For the past two decades, fundamentalism has been discussed in the social sciences as a style of belief by which beleaguered followers attempt to preserve their distinctive identity as a people in the face of modernity and secularization. However, it is my contention that this universalistic approach often undermines religious diversity and oversimplifies cultural particularities. Moreover, I find that the term ‘fundamentalist' is, more often than not, a label for the ‘Other'; one that is invariably negative and thus, dismisses and vilifies. With this argument in mind, in my research I present how different Muslim groups in Madrid and Barcelona understand the concept of ‘fundamentalism'—a term widely used by the Spanish media after the Madrid bombings claimed by Al-Qaeda in 2004. By examining how different Muslim groups repeat, alter, adapt, and argue ‘fundamentalism' in their daily lives, I explore who uses the term, under what circumstances and with what intent. In doing so, we also analyze broader, everyday problematics pertaining to Muslims in Spain. Rather than providing an universalistic definition of ‘fundamentalism' that offers an all encompassing meaning, in my research I present an analysis that is entangled with the individual. Centered on agency, this work first examines the category-construction process of the concept of fundamentalism; second, it explores how Muslims in Madrid and Barcelona understand this concept; and finally, it analyzes the the [sic] how the popular rhetoric of fundamentalism impacts the ways in which some Muslims their religiosity in a Muslim-minority context like Spain.

No description available.