Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

No description available.

One of the more unusual and unexpected trends to emerge in 21st century international politics has been the proliferation of official apologies issued by European states for violations committed against their erstwhile colonies. Undertaking a detailed analysis of these apologies, this thesis reveals them to be rituals which powerfully capture the anxieties, ambivalences, continuities and ruptures by which contemporary liberal elites wrestle with the colonial past and its implications in the present. In particular, the thesis locates official apologies as crucial textual, symbolic and ritualistic sites where (post-)colonial relations are illuminated, rearticulated and reproduced. Focussing on four case studies, the thesis deploys the concept of collective memory to map out the ways in which government apologies and accompanying texts engage with and recollect the past so as to articulate new, though not always radically different, historical narratives. In sketching these processes, the project conveys the overlapping contours by which, through apology, states both simultaneously impart particular perceptions of the past and, in turn, employ such constructions in their political, economic, diplomatic, and ideational armoury. The central argument of the thesis is that, despite offering discourses that moderate and temper conventional colonial narratives, the performatives nevertheless reconfigure a relationship that resembles patterns and asymmetries forged in the colonial era. This proceeds in two key ways: 1) the apologies advance particular interests of states (or particular people within the states) that historically practiced colonialism and 2) the apologies and adjacent elite discourses are laden with sentiments (paternalism, normative complacency, colonial glorification/sanitisation) that are reminiscent of the core legitimising tenets of the colonial enterprise. The examination and dissection of these ambivalent, multifaceted and peculiarly liberal utterances provides a significant, yet neglected, research platform that adds value to a burgeoning IR and multidisciplinary literature that, influenced by postcolonial study, traces the endurance and ruptures of colonial dynamics in the present.

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1967. / Title from title screen (viewed Mar. 30, 2007). Includes bibliographical references. Online version of the print original.

UN Fact-Finding Inquiry Commissions established for assassination of prominent individuals are unique fact-finding commissions not only because of their international nature but also because they are investigating a crime that could be prosecuted. These commissions resemble domestic inquiry commissions but do not have the same investigative powers as domestic commissions. The role of fact-finding commissions is limited to an investigation of facts; they do not adjudicate issues and determine civil or criminal liability. The commissions investigating assassinations do not replace criminal investigations that would be conducted prior to prosecution to the crime. Such commissions must be cognizant of the impact of the procedures they use to obtain information on the admissibility of evidence at the criminal trial. The increase in the creation of fact-finding inquiry commissions is part of the efforts to end impunity.

UN Fact-Finding Inquiry Commissions established for assassination of prominent individuals are unique fact-finding commissions not only because of their international nature but also because they are investigating a crime that could be prosecuted. These commissions resemble domestic inquiry commissions but do not have the same investigative powers as domestic commissions. The role of fact-finding commissions is limited to an investigation of facts; they do not adjudicate issues and determine civil or criminal liability. The commissions investigating assassinations do not replace criminal investigations that would be conducted prior to prosecution to the crime. Such commissions must be cognizant of the impact of the procedures they use to obtain information on the admissibility of evidence at the criminal trial. The increase in the creation of fact-finding inquiry commissions is part of the efforts to end impunity.

This thesis examines the discourse surrounding the debate over whether the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ought to apply to First Nations governments in Canada. This is a constitutional and legal grey area at present because Section 32 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms stipulates that this constitutional document applies to the federal, provincial and territorial governments, but does not mention Aboriginal governments. The lack of constitutional clarity on this issue has generated a debate involving three schools of thought. The first school proposes that the Charter ought to apply to First Nations governments just as it does to other governments in Canada. The second school of thought argues that the Charter should not apply to First Nations governments because it is an imposition of western liberal values on their governments that could limit their self-governing authority. Proponents of this view assert that recognition of Aboriginal and treaty rights in the Constitution should entitle First Nations to develop their own rights practices, consistent with Aboriginal laws and customs. A third school of thought suggests that there may be alternatives between accepting the Charter as it is and rejecting it altogether. Two options have been advocated by this school. One option is for the Charter to apply with a caveat that it be done in a manner that is consonant with traditional Aboriginal laws and customs. The other option is that a parallel Aboriginal Charter of Rights and Freedoms be developed that better reflects Aboriginal traditions on rights. While this debate has been ongoing, the Government of Canada and some First Nations have entered into self-governing agreements that acknowledge the application of the Canadian Charter to those particular governments. This thesis concludes that there is no easy resolution to the debate, that it may take the courts to resolve the issue in law, and this outcome itself may be unsatisfactory to First Nations communities.

First Nations peoples in Canada are increasingly referred to as an ‘at risk’ population for the development of poor health outcomes. While these health inequalities are well established in the literature, there is a lack of understanding of how health is both defined by First Nations peoples. This thesis describes a community-based participatory research project with First Nations girls in the Battlefords Tribal Council region. The purpose of this project was to explore the ways in which these girls negotiate different meanings of health and the body, as guided by their words and stories. The project design incorporated various methods including individual interviews, sharing circles, photovoice, and art collages. The participants were given cameras with which to take photographs that represented their understandings of health in their communities; they also completed art collages that further explored the healthy body and body image. Following the completion of the photovoice and art projects, the girls discussed their photographs and their understandings of the healthy body and body image in further detail in both individual interviews and sharing circles. This research has been informed by feminist and sociological theories of the body, which acknowledge social and historical influences on health and the body and the agency of individuals. The thesis is organized in a manuscript style format and, as such, contains three analysis chapters comprised of manuscripts either published in or submitted to academic journals. The findings of this study reveal that the girls have both insightful and holistic definitions of both the healthy body and body image. The first manuscript discusses findings of the girls’ perceptions of health as a holistic concept. The second manuscript details findings of the girls’ personal resilience showcased in their narratives of the healthy body and body image. The third and final manuscript discusses in detail the undertaking of this community-based participatory project, focusing on the strengths and challenges of this particular research project. The discussions and knowledge created by the girls make a valuable contribution to the literature by increasing our collective understanding of how the healthy body and body image are defined by First Nations girls living on-reserve. In this thesis, I argue, as guided by the words of the girls, that health needs to be understood in a more holistic manner, particularly in the design of health promotion materials, programs, and services designed for First Nations youth. This compliments recent literature that views health in a holistic manner. I also discuss the empowering potential that a community-based participatory project presents when working with First Nations youth.

This thesis examines the discourse surrounding the debate over whether the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ought to apply to First Nations governments in Canada. This is a constitutional and legal grey area at present because Section 32 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms stipulates that this constitutional document applies to the federal, provincial and territorial governments, but does not mention Aboriginal governments. The lack of constitutional clarity on this issue has generated a debate involving three schools of thought. The first school proposes that the Charter ought to apply to First Nations governments just as it does to other governments in Canada. The second school of thought argues that the Charter should not apply to First Nations governments because it is an imposition of western liberal values on their governments that could limit their self-governing authority. Proponents of this view assert that recognition of Aboriginal and treaty rights in the Constitution should entitle First Nations to develop their own rights practices, consistent with Aboriginal laws and customs. A third school of thought suggests that there may be alternatives between accepting the Charter as it is and rejecting it altogether. Two options have been advocated by this school. One option is for the Charter to apply with a caveat that it be done in a manner that is consonant with traditional Aboriginal laws and customs. The other option is that a parallel Aboriginal Charter of Rights and Freedoms be developed that better reflects Aboriginal traditions on rights. While this debate has been ongoing, the Government of Canada and some First Nations have entered into self-governing agreements that acknowledge the application of the Canadian Charter to those particular governments. This thesis concludes that there is no easy resolution to the debate, that it may take the courts to resolve the issue in law, and this outcome itself may be unsatisfactory to First Nations communities.