This qualitative study examines the participation of post-Katrina residents in neighborhoods of New Orleans’ Upper 9 th Ward. I examine respondent self-concepts and attachment to the community to gain understanding of how individuals participate in voluntary helping behavior in their locality. Interview data, brief economic and cultural examination of the area, and my observations as a resident of the Upper 9 th Ward inform analysis. The experiences of respondents suggest that there is a tension between an individual’s need to seek selfverificationand their understanding of themselves and others within their own neighborhood. Respondents’ understanding of the impact of their own actions and those of their neighbors reinstates theories of displaced attachment to local context in regards to local community involvement. Findings incite further research as to the division of individuals from their locality within the modern urban context.

The Natural Hair Movement is changing how women of colour make sense of their hair and what they do with their hair. By encouraging women of colour to embrace the natural - afro, kinky or curly - texture of their hair, the Natural Hair Movement produces social representations of natural hair that reproduce, challenge and transform prevailing social representations of Black hair. Using the Natural Hair Movement as a starting point, this social psychological study draws on hair as a window through which to explore the bi-directional relationship between women of colour in England and Germany and their social world as the site of meaning making and identity construction. The theoretical framework underpinning this study is informed by social representations theory as well as Mead's work on the formation of the self and Honneth's theory of the struggle for recognition. However, as a study interested in women of colour in England and Germany, this project is also deeply grounded in the Black feminist thought literature. In researching social representations and identities, this study has taken a multi-method approach that involves photography, ethnographic observations at hair salons and hair events, as well as interviews with women, hair dressers, bloggers and other experts in England and Germany. Data collected in this way were triangulated and analysed according to the principle of thematic analysis as outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006). Moreover, a geospatial analysis of social media data was performed to study the spread and growth of the Natural Hair Movement on a global scale. As a whole, this thesis offers us a way to understand how representations are dialogically re/produced and signified by and on the body. Moreover, it demonstrates how women of colour's identities and sense of self are negotiated, expressed, embodied and performed in and through hair textures and styles. Taken together, these findings allow us to complicate and refine existing theories and provide new avenues for social psychological research to engage with the global challenges and social issues of today.

This study intends to present a critical outlook to the position of an architect: Vedat Dalokay as a social agent. In this respect, it examines him through his multidimensional identity. Within this framework, the purpose is to interpret Dalokay, who formed his identity as a practicing architect, an administrator, a mayor, a politician, a writer and a literature admirer. In this respect, the thesis questions his unique personal standpoint in terms of: commodity production (as a typical member of the society reproducing the system), creative agency (caused by the architecture&amp / #8217 / s already existing capacity of symbolic representation with the architectural object) and social agency (generating projects for the construction of the community). Focusing on these dimensions, the survey proceeds over this togetherness, in order to decipher the role of Vedat Dalokay as a catalyst in the social transformation processes, in the light of social, economic and political conditions of Turkey.

The aim of the current thesis was to investigate the relationship between Alevis and Sunnis through the lenses of Social Identity Theory, Social Dominance Theory, and Contact Hypothesis to understand whether they see the current situation stable and legitimate, and perceive discrimination. It was expected that Alevis and Sunnis will differ in ingroup identifications, social dominance orientations, quantity, and quality of intergroup contact, perception of legitimacy and stability, and perceived discrimination against their ingroup. Moreover, the relationship between the dimensions of religious group identification, social dominance orientation, social contact and legitimacy, stability, and perceived discrimination is expected to differ between groups. The sample was consisted of 157 Sunni and 172 Alevi participants living in Amasya, Turkey. Participants completed a questionnaire package including the measures of religious identification, social dominance orientation, social contact, legitimacy, stability, and perceived discrimination. Results revealed that there were significant differences between Alevis and Sunnis in public religious identity, alienated religious identity, opposition to equality, contact quality, perceived legitimacy of the group status, and perception of discrimination directed against ingroup and outgroup. Moreover, religious group identification and social dominance orientation significantly predicted the perception of legitimacy and stability in both Alevi and Sunni groups. Examination of the associations among the major variables revealed that the relationship between perceived discrimination and ingroup identification was slightly stronger for Alevi group compared to Sunni group. The power of group based dominance was stronger than opposition to equality in predicting the perception of discrimination, especially for the Sunni group. Finally, intergroup contact, especially the quality of contact, had a positive effect on intergroup relations. Considering that this thesis is the first attempt to empirically examine the fundamental social psychological processes underlying the Alevi issue in Turkey, findings were discussed on basis of sociological and political aspects as well as previous work in Western cultures.

The purpose of this dissertation is to answer &lsquo / if we can live together?&rsquo / , through establishing a historical approach towards the concepts of Europeanization, European identity and the rights of minorities. The main argument reads that within the historical understanding of Europeanization, it is theoretically impossible to speak of a common European identity that European peoples and societies could agree upon. The problem is that such impossibility cannot be explained by the mainstream political identity and Europeanization literature. In this thesis, in order to account for the late-modern European self-definition which is distinguished with its banal character that carries elements from post-modernity yet at the same time is situated on the modern necessities and inventions, &lsquo / social identity&rsquo / and &lsquo / social categorization&rsquo / conceptualizations of Henri Tajfel are addressed. The aim is to communicate between the studies of Europeanization and European identity and the Social Identity Theory that proposes an instant gathering of people through social ingrouping without developing a certain sense of common culture, identity or belongingness. Having set the theoretical ground, the practical consequences of European ingrouping are examined by employing a historical perception of the development of the idea of minorities in Europe. Minorities are the traditional others of European nation-states and they are the outgroups of any social ingrouping for that matter. There are observed two fundamental results of the current European ingrouping-outgrouping on the development of minority right regimes in Europe. On the one hand, there is still the traditional security-oriented perception of national minorities in Europe that is simultaneously exposed to Europeanization and some level of improvement / yet, on the other hand, the European ingrouping itself is causing the minoritization of certain groups, excluding them from the very agenda of Europeanization.

Architecture and urban design are often powerful expressions of political desires to support and legitimise specific regimes. In many postcolonial cities, architecture and urban design are set out to construct national identity and affirm a political power that departs from the former colonial rule. Architecture and urban design may be used by successive postcolonial regimes to compete with each other to legitimise authority and symbolise power. While such concepts of national identity are established through a constellation of urban forms, national identity is always contested. Places may be used and interpreted in ways that differ from what is intended. Attempts to control the meaning of architecture and built form may conflict with the ways in which spatial practices undermine intended meanings.

Architecture and urban design are often powerful expressions of political desires to support and legitimise specific regimes. In many postcolonial cities, architecture and urban design are set out to construct national identity and affirm a political power that departs from the former colonial rule. Architecture and urban design may be used by successive postcolonial regimes to compete with each other to legitimise authority and symbolise power. While such concepts of national identity are established through a constellation of urban forms, national identity is always contested. Places may be used and interpreted in ways that differ from what is intended. Attempts to control the meaning of architecture and built form may conflict with the ways in which spatial practices undermine intended meanings.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 53-60). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: Paul E. Resta. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available from UMI.

Theses (M.S.)--University of Hawai'i at Hilo, 2009. / Advisor : Brian Kim. Bibliography : p.86-91.