This study aims to scrutinize Turkey’s uneasy democratization process during the post-Helsinki period (1999-2010). The research design of the thesis takes the form of a single case study as it seeks to critically link Turkey’s democratization problems with the wider theoretical literature on secularism, post-Islamism and democratization. Rather than witnessing the clear-cut victory of liberal democracy over non-democracy as espoused by Fukuyamian eschatology, the advent of the Post-Cold War Era witnessed the proliferation of hybrid grey zone which stood between the continuum of democracy and conventional non-democracy. As a result, many scholars opted to construct ‘hybrid regime typologies’ in order to capture the incongruous yet enduring coexistence of partially democratic and non-democratic features within each political unit. In line with contemporary developments in the democratization literature, this thesis opts to construct a multi-dimensional hybrid regime typology for the case of Turkey. Besides seeking to capture the core regime principles of the Kemalist one-party dictatorship (1923-1946) under the label of ‘laic-ethnocracy’, the theoretical framework of the thesis provides an assessable normative benchmark for delineating Turkey’s democratization trajectory since the initiation of the multi-party era (1946-1950). After demonstrating how Turkey’s successive ‘controlled transitions’ (1946-1997) consistently aimed at perpetuating ethnocratic hegemony and obstructing the democratic transformation of incompatible aspects of the Kemalist laicism, the thesis seeks to scrutinize the impact of the EU candidacy in shaping the pattern and outcome of the recent democratization process in the domestic arena. In this respect, the thesis underlines how the ongoing political ‘transition process’ during the post-Helsinki decade (1999-2009) qualitatively differs from all of the previous transitions which had been guided and forcefully controlled by traditional Kemalist state elites. Yet, the thesis also exposes the limited and partial commitment of the post-Islamist AKP government to forge the democratic transformation of Turkey’s enduring ‘laic-ethnocratic’ regime paradigm namely by assessing its reform performance towards the cultural rights of ethnic and belief-rights of the non-Sunni Muslim minorities (e.g., the sizeable Kurdish ethnic and Muslim-Alevi religious minority). Overall, the thesis characterizes Turkey’s ‘post-Helsinki transition’ process as a case of uneasy democratization. In this context, the term ‘uneasy democratization’ does not only highlight the inconsistencies of main domestic political actors in forging clear-cut democratic transformation of Turkey’s enduring ‘laic-ethnocracy’ regime paradigm, but also to a chronic failure to soothe the deeply-seated cleavages within the socio-political arena.

Currently, in many high schools throughout Canada and the United States, English teachers have been developing literature curricula to meet the needs of their culturally diverse students. However, because in most cases these educators have not had at their disposal the interpretative techniques of such postcolonial literary theorists as Edward Said and Gayatri Spivak, they have been relying, instead, for their reading strategies upon traditional literary theories. Unfortunately, when teachers employ New Critical, archetypal, feminist, or reader-response methods of literary analysis in their reading of multicultural literature, they are often unaware of the Eurocentric biases contained within these perspectives. This lack of understanding of their theoretical frame of reference can then lead teachers to encourage their students to accept uncritically problematic representations of various cultural groups as they encounter these representations in their literary texts. Postcolonial literary theory, on the other hand, encourages students to problematize Eurocentric representations of imperialism’s Others. The advantage to students who use postcolonial reading strategies in order to become aware of the different ways in which people at the margins and centres of empire view each other is that they can thus attain higher levels of multicultural literacy by performing more sophisticated and complex interpretations of their texts than they might have done using traditional interpretative approaches. At the same time, the students’ use of postcolonial reading strategies can help them to become more effective intercultural communicators as they cross cultural borders by carrying out collaborative responses to literary texts with students whose heritage differs from their own. This project, therefore, involves a critique of existing conceptions of the high school multicultural literature curriculum by comparing their key features with those of the postcolonial conception. The principal focus of the investigation is upon how the postcolonial approach can help students to understand, more effectively than can traditional conceptions, the necessarily dynamic and heterogeneous textual representations of dominant and subaltern cultures to be found in both Eurocentric and postcolonial literary texts. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the experiences of North American Muslims (estimated at over 4 million) as their claims for religious tolerance and inclusion in a pluralistic society have emerged. It traces a historical shift in consciousness of a religious minority precipitated by interactions with the legal institutions of the dominant culture. As members of a minority faith living in a non-Islamic context, Muslims have been subject both to what Islam teaches about 'marginality' and what the North American civil tradition promises about religious liberty and racial equality. The focus of this work has been on the gradual transformation of North American Muslims' perceptions and self-identification coaxed by the often subtle ways civil law has penetrated and come to dominate their daily lives. It shows how the normative ordering of Muslim life in North America has replicated certain aspects of the legal order, and where legal mechanisms have been 'subverted' by those at the margins who wish to express their autonomy from the state, to assert and protect their religious freedom. North American Muslims' decisions whether and how to maintain a corporate life in a non-Muslim society have been viewed differently by Muslims over time and through different types of contacts with North American institutions. Chapters of this dissertation examine the erection of immigration and naturalization barriers at the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth in the United States and Canada, and the responses of immigrants from the Muslim world to the emerging standards for citizenship; the religious liberty claims under the First Amendment of Black Muslims in prisons in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s; federal 'hate crimes' legislation at the close of the 1980s and the inclusion of mosques as protected religious property; and municipal zoning practices negotiated by Muslims in two American cities where they built mosques in the 1980s and 1990s.

The number of women joining the work force is greater today than it has ever been in the history of the United States. Between 1960 and 1988, statistics have shown a 37% increase in the number of employed women who are married with children (U.S. Department of Labor, 1989). It is not uncommon for women to postpone marriage and/or childbearing in an effort to attain educational and professional goals (Katz, 1988). Jewish women are a unique ethnic group among the population of women in the United States. As a group, Jewish women are typically well educated, among the highest female wage earners, married or plan to marry, and have or plan to have children (Monson, 1987). The difficult and complex decisions which Jewish women face regarding marriage, motherhood, and career development often create conflicts between values, including education, marriage, childbearing, individual achievement, career development, and gender equality (Monson, 1987; Katz, 1988). Additionally, unclear values or conflicting values can lead to difficulty in decision-making, difficulty in coping, and difficulty in achieving self-actualization (Simon & Kirschenbaum, 1973; Simon et al., 1978). Through in-depth interviews, this dissertation qualitatively analyzed five case studies demonstrating links between ethnicity, career development, and multiple role lifestyle for selected Jewish women. Some of the most interesting findings included: life polarities expressed by the participants; identification with superwoman syndrome; power of career typing, ethnic and secular socialization and both positive and negative messages received from parents, role models, and mentors; and the ability of this research paradigm to link ethnicity, career development and values. The ability of academe to provide research which describes and analyzes women's lifestyle options is tantamount to women's successful integration of marriage, family, career, personal growth and development. This research has important implications for counselors, educators and policy makers who are concerned about appropriate counseling, education, and program development for women who are occupying or may occupy multiple roles. This research further served as a successful pilot study testing the applicability of this conceptualization for replication encompassing women of other ethnic and racial groups.

The subject of "women in development" has received some attention from both the African governments and donor agencies, but the focus needs to shift to African women in educational leadership. While some work has been done, most of it has concentrated on women in agriculture, health, and primary education. African women in higher education and girls in secondary schools have received little, if any, attention. Education at these levels is highly competitive and not many women and girls attain it. Hence, few women have made it to top- and middle-level administrative management positions, while the majority continue to fill teaching and support staff positions. This study was designed to investigate issues and factors that affect African women in educational leadership positions. To better understand the phenomenon, it was necessary to explore what happens to girls while in school up to employment stage. The study was guided by research questions centered around: factors and issues affecting African women educational leaders, the role of education in promoting and hindering women's advancement, the African woman's role in the public domain, and strategies for planned change. Qualitative methods of inquiry were used, and data gathering techniques included literature review, interviews, observation and photography. Kurt Lewin's Forcefield Analysis was utilized to organize recurrent issues and factors. The findings included: a high drop out rate for girls due to social problems; that girls receive marginalized attention when parents have financial constraints; girls' educational attainment is lower than that of boys; the education system contributes to low levels of girls' and women's education and training through curricula and sitting arrangements that segregate girls from boys, and policy that perpetuates the problem of underrepresentation of girls. The study also found that girls' and women's success is dependent on such factors as the girls' and women's perception of their own future, their willingness to break the traditional barriers that are detrimental to women's success, support from people around them, ambition, and perseverence. The study concludes with some pertinent recommendations and an action plan. They include changing women's attitudes toward their roles, educating society on the value of educating girls and women, creating opportunities to enable more women to get further education and training, encouraging and preparing women with potential for leadership positions, providing enabling services such as day-care facilities, workshops, forums, summer institutes, organizing task forces, opening a women's center where women in education can begin to critically discuss women's issues, creating a roster for women in educational management, encouraging continued analysis of educational policy, inclusion of more women in policy-making positions and training of educational policy makers.

The proposed work is grounded in research from two areas: (a) stress-resistant or resilient youth, and (b) victimology. These literatures have been combined to address the issue of resilience in Black college students, given their ethnic heritage of oppression. This cultural heritage is thought to produce assumptive world beliefs in Blacks similar to those of persons who have experienced individual incidents of victimization. Blacks as a group view the world as less benevolent than do Whites and report less felt control than do Whites over the distribution of good and bad events. The question arises then of characteristics of the individual or environment that allow a subset of young Blacks to maintain a high self-esteem and personal efficacy, particularly in the face of mainstream culture which continues to devalue Black status? The present research will attempt to explore Afrocentrism, presence of a close/confiding relationship, attributional style and family environ as variables which contribute to resilience in Black college students. Participants in the study will be Black undergraduate students. More versus less resilient subjects will be discerned on the basis of grade point average, leisure activities, social relationships, self-esteem and personal efficacy. Paper and pencil questionnaires will be utilized by this investigator in several group administrations. A group aggregate analysis will be used to report the results. It is predicted that Black students characterized as more resilient will manifest a more integrated personal (high self-esteem) and group (high racial esteem) identity, be more likely to have a close/confiding relationship with a significant adult figure, and have a more well defined sense of their own efficacy, than will Black students characterized as less resilient.

The dissertation is an exploration of the allure and limitations of success in America at the turn of the century (roughly between 1880-1920), and includes both canonical and non-canonical texts, with an emphasis on the non-canonical. The proliferation at the turn of the century of novels which feature a "rags to riches" theme highlights in fresh ways many familiar sociological and historical problems, concerns, and conditions. Looking at issues of race, class, and gender difference, as well as the impact of the industrial revolution, and the emergence of consumer culture, this study explores the reasons behind the desire for financial and social success in America, and exposes the contradictions and limitations at the center of the American ideal of success. The dissertation addresses the cultural and historical anxieties inherent in the success myth, which are especially clear in the stories of successful immigrants, African-Americans, Native Americans, and women.

This dissertation explores the many-faceted, and somewhat elusive question: "What is American Jewish feminine literary identity?" Working from the premise that no one set of writers, themes, or literary forms constitutes a centralized identity, I suggest that Jewish feminine "collective" identity is heterogeneous and involves multiply-voiced debate. Drawing on feminist criticisms that emphasize both form and social context, as well as on Bakhtinian dialogism and theories of Otherness, I approach the problem by focusing on three prominent, yet diverse writers--Cynthia Ozick, Grace Paley, and E. M. Broner--who construct multiple and mutable selves rather than fully-integrated personae. Rejecting rigid dichotomies, I probe the tensions both among and within their identities as Jews, women, and Americans. I first illustrate how Paley, resisting any firm or didactic explanation of her Jewishness, widens American Jewish identity by depicting diverse immigrant women's voices--all too often subsumed in a "world of our fathers." For Paley, Jewish identity is inextricably enmeshed in feminism, social activism, and empathy with the Other. Next, I explore how Ozick employs literary strategies rooted in what she terms forbidden, "pagan" magic in order to carve a place for herself in male-dominated Jewish literary and religious traditions. I argue that despite her resistance to the term "woman writer," Ozick's identity as a woman is a major driving force shaping her identity as an American Jewish writer. I then examine how Broner rebels vehemently against Jewish patriarchal frameworks and at the same time patterns her Jewish feminism after them. While the dissertation focuses on issues specific to Jewish women writers, the same problems of dual (or multiple) identities also bear upon the work of other women who identify both as feminists and members of ethnic groups. Thus, my last chapter offers a comparison between black and Jewish women's literary identities, showing that frameworks which attempt to essentialize race almost inevitably break down when viewed across borders of ethnicity. Seen in a broader perspective, the dissertation serves to integrate further the fields of Jewish, feminist, and ethnic studies.

Many Puerto Ricans living in the United States have underused mental health facilities. Addressing the problem requires knowledge of the clients' perspective, which has not been obtained. This writer studied clients' perspectives on mental health and their expectations of those who help them. Included in the study was a view of Espiritistas and Santeros, practitioners of traditional religions in Puerto Rico, the former religion of French, the latter of African origin. They have functioned as therapists among Puerto Ricans, so the reason for clients' choice of help was important to a study of the problem as a whole. A survey of 100 Puerto Rican subjects in Springfield and Holyoke, Massachusetts, and Hartford, Connecticut, showed that while many clients liked the opportunity to talk about their problems and be understood at a mental health facility, the folkloric practitioners' concentration on and promise of concrete results and delivery of those results, together with the social networking through those practitioners, were a powerful attraction to clients. Men and middle class respondents generally did not use mental health facilities, but did go to the folkloric practitioners.

This dissertation investigates the migration experience of Puerto Rican women, their connection to the native culture and their perceptions of the role of this connection in their intercultural marriages. Critical issues such as; the degree and quality of involvement that is maintained with one's culture and heritage, and the ways of responding to, and dealing with, a second culture emerge upon migration. Intercultural marriage (Rohrlich, 1988), the marriage where partners are of differing ethnic origins, has been associated with the process of second culture acquisition. It has been visualized as an indicator of minority assimilation and weakening of the cohesion of an ethnic group (Murguia, 1982). Marrying outside one's ethnic group could imply a loss of connection to the native culture, which encourages the person to move more rapidly toward the majority culture. Using a qualitative-descriptive design, data was gathered through in-depth interviews with five interculturally married migrant Puerto Rican women. Data from this study revealed that these women see themselves as competent, assertive, mature, and strong women who are culturally different from their North American counterparts. The women indicated that they constantly draw coping strategies and behaviors from two different cultural contexts (Puerto Rican/North American) and that they feel effective and competent within the majority culture because they have achieved a sense of internal balance where decision making and survival strategies are bicultural. Nevertheless, they feel restrained when they express some feelings and ideas in the presence of North Americans. They also sustain a sense of not belonging in the American culture. Women indicated that they need to feel connected in one way or another to their primary culture. Besides other aspects of connection to the Puerto Rican culture; e.g. the use of Spanish, perpetuation of familism, maintenance of friendships with compatriots, listening and dancing to Hispanic music, and cooking Puerto Rican food, some women reported a metaphysical dimension of connection. Suggested areas of disconnection from the primary culture were related to rebellion towards values that perpetuate parental and male preponderance. Findings indicated that women validate their opposition to these values (disconnection) within the context of their intercultural marriages. The use of some nonverbal behaviors, the relationship with the in-laws, different views in parenting, time and financial planning emerged as areas of marital conflict. Implications for research and practice were discussed.