published_or_final_version / Chinese Historical Studies / Master / Master of Arts

This dissertation is a study of initiatives to recover the Jewish past and of the emergence of Sephardic Studies in Spain from 1845 to 1935. It explores the ways the Jewish past became central to efforts to construct and claim a Spanish patria, through its appropriation and integration into the nation's official national historical narrative, or historia patria. The construction of this history was highly contentious, as historians and politicians brought Spain's Jewish past to bear in debates over political reform, in discussions of religious and national identity, and in elaborating diverse political and cultural movements. Moreover, it demonstrates how the recovery of the Jewish past connected--via a Spanish variant of the so-called "Jewish question"--to nationalist political and cultural movements such as Neo-Catholicism, Orientalism, Regenerationism, Hispanism, and Fascism. In all of these contexts, attempts to reclaim Spain's Jewish past--however impassioned, and however committed--remained fractured and ambivalent, making such efforts to "recover" Spain's Jews as partial as they were compromised.

Islam and Competing Nationalisms: The Kurds and the Turks in the late Ottoman Era is a work, which traces how religion was intimately intertwined with nationalism during the crucial period of the late nineteenth century in the Modern Middle East. In this approach, I call into question the extent to which the principle of secularism and ethnicity serve as the only foundations of the modern nation state. Within the context of the late Ottoman Empire, my research foregrounds the differences between interpretations of Islam at the center and the myriad understandings of Islam adopted by those on the margins. I demonstrate how diverse Muslim communities (Arabs, Kurds and Turks) have linked their interpretations of 'authentic' religion to claims of 'ethnic superiority' during the process of nation building. I contend that this tension between the normative State interpretation of Islam and alternative visions was critical in shaping modern nationalism in the Middle East. This is significant for establishing how nationalism can in turn affect the range of religious interpretations. My work thus provides a new historically grounded theoretical foundation for recent debates on nationalism that have emerged in recent decades. My dissertation is based on a close examination of British archival records, Ottoman state records, Ottoman journals and other primary sources in Arabic, Kurdish (both Kurmanci and Sorani dialects), Persian and modern Turkish -- most of which I obtained during my yearlong field research as a Fulbright scholar.

Robert Bellah has suggested that there "exists alongside of and rather clearly differentiated from the churches and elaborate and well institutionalized civil religion in America". This religion expresses certain common elements of religious orientation shared by most Americans. It gives, says Bellah, a "religious dimension to all aspects of life including the political sphere". Accepting Bellah's argument, this thesis analyses working mens' secret fraternal societies as one aspect of the institutionalization of the American Civil Religion. It examines how fraternal organizations have fostered public religion as a vital force within American culture. More specifically, it examines the following interrelated questions. What is the nature of American Civil Religion? How is a particular understanding of this religion reflected in the fraternal emphasis of American lodges? Why has its collective expression required the maintenance of a cloak of secrecy? How do the rituals of secret fraternal societies mediate and confirm for their members the ideals of the public religion? Historically, what segment of the population has been most attracted to this interpretation of American Civil Religion? What is the nature of the dynamic relationship between American society, its civil religion and organized secret fraternalism? / Arts, Faculty of / Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, Department of / Graduate

This dissertation explores whether women and men can be empowered through cultural nationalism based on religious/ethnic identities. Religious fundamentalism is typically not associated with women's empowerment. As a patriarchal, Hindu nationalist party that advocates violence, the Shiv Sena is also an unlikely agent of women's empowerment. Yet, the Sena has been attracting numerous women who claim to have gained confidence through the party. Using the Shiv Sena as my case study, I interviewed four male and seven female Shiv Sena members using the biographic narrative method. By examining their biographic narratives and interviews of their families and colleagues, I was able to delineate the different empowerment cycles for men and women in Shiv Sena and determine each participant's level of empowerment. The empowerment framework defined by Jo Rowlands (1997), which distinguishes between personal, collective, and relational empowerment, serves as the basis of my assessment of women's and men's empowerment. As violence is generally disregarded as a means of empowerment, I discuss it in relation to the construction of empowering cultural identities. While establishing theoretical frameworks regarding empowerment, cultural identity and gender, I also examine the disempowerment of Maharashtrians (whom Shiv Sena originally represented) by the socio-economic and historical conditions of Bombay, India. I then demonstrate how Shiv Sena, led by its Chief, Bal Thackeray, has constructed a new hegemonic masculine identity for Maharasthrian men as a means of empowerment. In the final chapters, I examine Shiv Sena's impact on the lives of individual women and men. This analysis revealed that despite the patriarchal constraints imposed by the Sena, women were becoming personally empowered in both the private and public spheres. In contrast, while Shiv Sena men were achieving collective empowerment in the public sphere, they had more difficulty becoming personally empowered in both the home and workplace.

The political modernization of Quebec in the 1960s meant that the close identification of French Canadian identity with the Roman Catholic faith was replaced by a new secular nationalism. Using David Martin's A General Theory of Secularization, I examine the reaction of the Catholic Church to its own loss of power and to the rise of this new secular nationalism. Conservative Catholics first condemned the new nationalism; by 1969 some conservative accepted the new society and even supported its state interventionism. Most important Catholic groups, including the hierarchy, the most dynamic organizations, and largest publications came to accept the new society. Inspired by the religious reforms of the Second Vatican Council and new papal social teaching, they affirmed the right of Quebeckers to self-determination and social justice. The Church created a sustained ethical critique of nationalism as a means of redefining its public presence in Quebec society. The consensus around this ethical critique and redefinitions of the Church role is evident in the participation of Catholic groups in the 1980 referendum on sovereignty-association.

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The objective of this research is to analyze the ways in which the conservative,American church has been ideologically and ritualistically shaped by an imperial culture enamored with war, the military, and violence; and how those positions and practices, in effect, legitimate war and the military. While many authors have surveyed historical Christian positions regarding war and the current nationalistic tendencies of conservative Christians, little research has been conducted to assess the effects of violence, nationalism, patriotism, and military enchantment on Christian rituals, practices, and ethos. Within this research, I argue that contemporary, conservative Christians have surpassed previously held nuanced positions of pacifism, just-war, and Christian Realism into a confluence of conservative Christian theology and American nationalism because of the American culture in which it is embedded. I refer to this typology as “church militant.” In addition, ritual practices which indirectly legitimate war and violence, influenced by an adopted position of church militant, are investigated. In order to accomplish this task, I have provided a brief survey of historical Christian typologies as they pertain to attitudes toward war and violence, while paying particular attention to the social context for each of these positions. Second, a typology of Christian hyper-religious patriotism, referred to as “church militant,” will be introduced by locating my argument within personal fieldnotes recorded during multiple visits to three Christian megachurches and current literature pertaining to Christian attitudes and participation in military and war efforts. After establishing the Christian typology toward war and violence, the subsequent sections of the paper detail specific practices of the contemporary, conservative church which serve to justify American military endeavors. Although much more could be stated regarding the militaristic cultural influence on ritual practices of conservative, American Christians, I focus on ritual songs and symbols of protection, a liturgy for religious warriors, and a practice of elevating soldiers as the Christian ideal which all legitimate United States war efforts. My objective is not to defend or attack the religious institutions which were studied; but, rather to augment the growing literature regarding conservative, American Christians vis-à-vis nationalism, patriotism, and militarism by identifying and interpreting the various ways that these ideas have shaped the conservative Christian culture.

The use of violence in the Israel/Palestine conflict has been justified and legitimised by an appeal to religion. Militant Islamist organisations like Ramas have become central players in the Palestinian political landscape as a result of the popular support that they enjoy. This thesis aims to investigate the reasons for this support by analysing the Israel/Palestine conflict in terms of Ruman Needs Theory. According to this Theory, humans have essential needs that need to be fulfilled in order to ensure survival and development. Among these needs, the need for identity and recognition of identity is of vital importance. This thesis thus explores the concept of identity as a need, and investigates this need as it relates to inter-group conflict. In situating this theory in the Israel/Palestine conflict, the study exammes how organisations like Ramas have Islamised Palestinian national identity in order to garner political support. The central contention, then, is that the primary identity group of the Palestinian population is no longer nationalist, but Islamic/nationalist. In Islamising the conflict with Israel as well as Palestinian identity, Ramas has been able to justify its often indiscriminate use of violence by appealing to religion. The conflict is thus perceived to be one between two absolutes - that of Islam versus Judaism. In considering the conflict as one of identities struggling for survival in a climate of perceived threat, any attempt at resolution of the conflict needs to include a focus on needs-based issues. The problem-solving approach to negotiation allows for parties to consider issues of identity, recognition and security needs, and thus ensures that the root causes of conflicts are addressed, The contention is that this approach is vital to any conflict resolution strategy where identity needs are at stake, and it provides the grounding for the success of more traditional zero-sum bargaining methods. A recognition of Islamic identity in negotiation processes in Israel/Palestine may thus make for a more comprehensive conflict resolution strategy, and make the outcomes of negotiations more acceptable to the people of Palestine, thus undermining the acceptance of violence that exists at present.