This thesis explores how Islamophobia is institutionalised in British universities. Focussing on Muslim students, this question is largely explored through empirical research using two case study universities. Each university was examined through key university functions; namely, 'ethnic' monitoring data under the Race Amendment (2000), union politics and welfare/observance provisions. The research involved semi-structured interviews with Muslim students who were in some way 'active' on campus, as well as university/union staff between 2004 and 2006. It also included some document analysis. It is argued that Islamophobia is institutionalised through its govermentalising function and is reflected in three key modes of 'managing' Muslim students; 'absence' (invisibility), 'presence' (hyper-visibility) and 'inclusion' (liberal multiculturalism). 'Absence' refers to the absence of Muslim students as a recognised collectivity within the formal structures of the university. Thus, it is argued, Muslim student concerns about racism fail to be formally registered and remain trivialised at anecdotal levels. 'Presence' refers to the hyper-visibility of Muslim students as a troublesome 'fundamentalist'/'extremist' cohort. This is exemplified through numerous historical and contemporary sector and state interventions, but also in student union politics. 'Inclusion' refers to liberal multicultural practices that regulate Muslim students. This is observed in equality practices (e.g. university provisions) in the university and the way they function to minoritise rather than equalise the status of Muslim students. What these modes of governance emphasise is the way Muslim students are the subject of and subjected to processes of racialised management, that is, regulation, discipline and normalisation. Each of these modes are explored through interviewee accounts/documents, and (in)formed by a recursive engagement with theories of racialised governmentality. It is argued that together, these modes of racialised governmentality signify the transgressive status of Muslims. They are also seen to reflect the broader political (in)visibility of Muslims in Britain and their awkward place within British multiculturalism. Influenced by 'de-colonial' thinking and activist-based research, the thesis has sought to develop a critique of dominant and racialised discourses about Muslim students in universities. This has involved the selective use of discursive techniques and a reflexive awareness of my own positioning with research. It has also involved cognizance of the way Muslim students and Muslim communities generally, have been perceived as 'suspect' and subject to increased securitisation. In the main however, the thesis has troubled the equality practices of universities and highlighted the way they are part of, not separate from, the problem of Islamophobia.

[pt] O propósito desta pesquisa foi refletir sobre a revelação de um Deus transcendente e a sua relação com um ser humano finito a partir de Paul Tillich. Ao se perguntar sobre essa relação, a pesquisa se norteou pela a ideia de como é possível o conhecimento de Deus, condicionado pela finitude humana, e como esse conhecimento corre o risco de se tornar um conhecimento como outro qualquer. Pois a única maneira de o ser humano conhecer a realidade a sua volta é sempre através da estrutura sujeito-objeto. Porém, Deus não pode ser um objeto entre outros. Sendo assim, a pesquisa propôs a estudar a teologia de Paul Tillich, um teólogo que postula o conceito de símbolo como linguagem da fé, sendo um caminho para que a revelação de Deus seja acolhida, sem tornar Deus objeto de idolatria e fanatismos. Para responder a esses questionamentos, no primeiro momento a pesquisa perpassou os limites da razão humana, através da contribuição de alguns filosofos, fazendo uma relação entre finitude e existência humana. Num segundo momento a pesquisa se estabeleceu sobre a relação entre a revelação de um Deus transcendente e a experiência humana, no cotidiano. A experiência de uma revelação que exige aproximação, que não é algo fora, objetivo, mas existencial. Por último a pesquisa se deteve sobre a fé como uma dimensão inerente ao ser humano, uma fé que se comunica através de símbolos, mediada pela linguagem e que tenta fugir de todos os propósitos fundamentalistas de dominação e imposição. / [en] The purpose of this research was to reflect on the revelation of a transcendent God and his relation with a finite human being in Paul Tillich. When asked about this relationship, the research is lead by a the idea of how can the knowledge of God, conditioned by human finitude, and how that knowledge is in danger of becoming a knowledge like any other. For the only way of man to know the reality around you is always through the subject-object structure. But God can not be an object among others. Thus, research aimed at studying the theology of Paul Tillich, an existentialist theology, which posits the concept of language as a symbol of faith as a way for the revelation of God is welcomed, without making God an object of idolatry and fanaticism. To answer these questions, the first time the research pervaded the limits of human reason, through the contribution of philosophy, making a relationship between human existence and finitude. In a second time the research established the relationship between the revelation of a transcendent God and human experience in everyday life. The experience of a revelation which requires approximation, which is not something outside, objective, but existential. Finally the search was halted on faith as an inherent dimension of the human being, a faith that communicates through symbols, mediated by language and tries to escape all the purposes of fundamentalist domination and imposition.

The position of the Roman Catholic Church to Islamic extremism Abstract The present thesis deals with the attitude of the Pope, those spiritual state performing the function in individual institutions of the Holy See, theologians and a selected group of people from the Czech general public Roman Catholic Church to religious extremism, focusing on the ultimate form of extremism - terrorism - of individuals or groups espousing to Islam. Since religious extremism often associated with fundamentalism, radicalism and fanaticism, is the first chapter to analyze the basic characteristics of these concepts, with the emphasis on analyzing the meaning and essence of their grasp. A comparison of them found what they have in common and what they are different. Following the above leads to analysis of how extremism reflect the religious and intellectual personalities of islam, with attached description and comparison of the attitudes of these figures, and militant-minded muslims to the jihad by the sword "al-džihád bi̕ s-sajf". In connection with this armed form of jihad work briefly compares the concept of martyrdom in islam and the roman catholic church and the result in the summary analyses. It is also a brief look into the history of religious extremism, as an integral part of the development of Christianity and...

The diploma thesis "Salafi Jihadism in Germany: Radicalizing Messages in Lectures of a German Jihadi Preacher Denis Cuspert" deals with the analysis of the internet video messages disseminated by Denis Cuspert - the most significant German-speaking Jihadi-Salafi leader, in terms of the radicalization potential that is spread through his lectures. The aim of the thesis is firstly to identify the basic radicalization formulas relevant for the given research, which are to be found in the models of radicalization. In the analytical part, these radicalization categories will be applied to the argumentation strategies present in the lectures of Denis Cuspert. In order to analyse the given messages, a qualitative content analysis along with a framework analysis will be used. In connection with aims of the thesis, the framework analysis appears to be a fitting method, as it focuses on the issue of communication in terms of its mobilization potential, with an emphasis on the strategic use of language. This method can therefore be a good indicator of the extent to which the statements succeed in addressing the sympathizers of the movement and making them act. In addition to the analysis of the radicalization messages, the thesis also deals with the character and dynamics of the German Salafi movement, with...

This diploma thesis embraces the development of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) emphasizing the Alliance's capability to adequately adapt and react to the rapidly growing number of security challenges in our globalized world. Using the historical turning points and the experiences gained during the various conflicts the dissertation's focus is on the future of NATO in the "era of unpeace" where it is required to "defend against known unknowns" (Jankowski and Stepniewski (ed.) 2021). The first chapter of the thesis consists of an overview of the four main stages of the Alliance's development. The first phase (1949-1990) is the Cold War period, when the member states' emphasis was to build a strong collective defence strategy but at the same time, they established a liberal democratic system and accepted common values from the institutional point of view. The new members have adopted these governance standards and institutions, proved the effective assertion of the liberal institutionalism doctrine but never gave up military realism. The second stage (1990-2001) was represented by emerging new security challenges due to the fact that the bipolar world order had came to an end and the Alliance reacted to this by spreading the "security umbrella" with crisis management policies and...

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / In this study, ideological criticism combined with use of muted group theory are employed to analyze four Quiverfull mothering blogs in order to unveil the models of mothering and maternal messages that emerge from the discourse. The Quiverfull, comprised of fundamentalist Christians who advocate prolific birth rates and strict traditional gender norms, propose a very narrowly defined view of motherhood. Therefore, the goal of this study is to analyze how Quiverfull mothers choose to construct and maintain their own rhetorical vision of motherhood through mommy blogs, in an effort to understand if Quiverfull mothers also struggle to “get it right” like so many other contemporary mothers, faced with cultural contradictions. The findings unveil that Quiverfull mothers struggle with many of the same ideological pressures that mainstream mothers endure such as being almost entirely responsible for childrearing, wanting to find time for themselves amidst society’s demands that children become a mother’s “everything,” and negotiating their role as mothers in the public sphere. However, Quiverfull mothers’ primary difference from mainstream mothers is through their relationship with God. They relinquish all control to God’s will, challenging the notion that good mothers must always be in control. Additionally, Quiverfull mothers distance themselves from feminist ideology by promulgating the need for male authority and criticizing all pro-choice sentiment. Moreover, through the exploration of these online artifacts, this study acknowledges the ideological differences between mothering groups, yet exposes that both mainstream and Quiverfull mothers find success as a mother almost unattainable. As a result, this study proposes that mommy blogs have the rhetorical ability to challenge mothering models that destine many mothers to “fail,” imbue value into motherhood, and unite women of competing and polarized ideologies as a way to question the “timeless truth” of what constitutes good mothering.

No description available.

Evangelical Protestant Christians have been one of the primary groups opposing Mormons since the beginnings of Mormonism in the 1820s. This thesis is an examination of the historical basis for Evangelical opposition to Mormonism and the impact of that opposition on Mormon identity. This study is divided into three chronological chapters representing the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries in America. Evangelical animosity towards Mormonism was grounded in the Christian heretical tradition begun in the second century AD. Because of this tradition, Evangelicals were inherently afraid of heresy for two main reasons: temporal treason and eternal damnation. Due to the heterodox claims of a new prophet and new scripture, Mormonism was quickly labeled as dangerous, not only to Christianity, but to America as a whole. This perceived danger only grew as Mormonism continued to differentiate itself further with the practices of polygamy, communalism, and theocracy. In the nineteenth century, Mormon assimilation of Evangelicalism primarily affected the social structures of marriage, economics, and politics. In the twentieth century, Mormon assimilation of Evangelical identity would focus more on the incorporation of Evangelical ideology and theology. As Fundamentalism and Neo-Evangelicalism protested Mormonism as a cult, Mormonism became more Fundamentalist and Evangelical by nature, especially as the Church of Jesus Christ of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognized how such opposition negatively impacted American public perceptions. Such changes included the development of Mormon neo-orthodoxy with its emphasis on the sovereignty of God, the depravity of man, and salvation by grace. In the twenty-first century, a group of Mormon and Evangelical scholars engaged in the practice of interfaith dialogue developed by Liberal Protestants and Catholics. As part of their dialogue, Evangelicals retained the purposes of evangelism and apologetics thereby qualifying the dialogue as a new more subtle form of Evangelical opposition to Mormonism in the twenty first century. As Evangelicals continuously opposed Mormonism as a Christian heresy, such opposition effected changes within Mormonism, changes that have led to some degree of assimilation and even adoption of several elements of Evangelicalism. The most recent part of this assimilation process has been the development of Mormon progressive orthodoxy that emphasizes anti-sectarianism, anti-liberalism, and revised supernaturalism.

No description available.

Title: “Holy” War on Human Rights - A hermeneutic study of the complex situation of human rights activists in Afghanistan Author: Zandra Bergman Supervisor: Maud Eriksen Examiner: Johanna Romare Department of TheologyMaster program of Religion in Peace and ConflictMaster’s thesis, 15 credits  In September 2020, the latest attempt to bring peace to Afghanistan, the intra-Afghan peace talks formally began. The opening of the peace negotiations failed to produce the long-desired ceasefire. Instead, it marked an increase of violence: a sharp number of deliberate killings of human rights defenders. The purpose of this study is to examine lived experiences of human rights activists in Afghanistan and the complex situation in which they are operating and to gain a deeper understanding of why they have increasingly been subject to violence. Furthermore, it is an attempt to explore the meaning of violence against Afghan human rights activists promoting women's rights. This is a hermeneutic study primarily based on data collected through interviews with two Afghan human rights activists. Rather than touch every topic and present data about an objective reality or truth, the aim is to shed light on the shared experiences of the respondents, providing snapshots of the current situation of Afghan human rights defenders, and to discuss their stories in the light of selected theories. The following research questions have been used to guide the study: (1) How can we understand the complex situation of human rights activists in Afghanistan, and (2) What are the underlying reasons they are being targeted? By adopting mainly, the concepts of hegemony: to decode underlying dimensions of power struggles, and a critical feminist approach: to grasp the gender dimensions of the conflict, I have exposed how my respondents in their positions of human rights defenders bring new life to a historical conflict of interests impinging on the future nature of Afghanistan. Moreover, they expose a recurrent clash between opposing hegemonic aspirations: a struggle over the maintenance of social order in the Afghan society, in which they are being placed at the center.