This study has explored and described how Religious Education (RE) in Secondary Schools in Zimbabwe has developed in response to pluralism. It has been inspired by my teaching experience in different secondary schools in the country. There has been a growing need in Zimbabwe to expand the horizon for RE as the nation is becoming more sensitive to religious diversity among the learners. The government through its Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has been implementing changes in RE secondary schools with the hope of making it open to pluralism. This study shows that despite the government's efforts, little has changed in the teaching of RE in the classroom. This has been a result of failure by the government to engage teachers in the implementation of the proposed changes. There is a strong relationship between teachers and religious education in schools. They are the main determinant of the quality of education learners receive as they make choices, both conscious and unconscious, in regard to how to structure academic and social relationships in the classroom. Their perceptions towards religious pluralism also influences the way they teach about religion in the classroom. Unfortunately, this relationship between teachers and religious education was not given much attention in the development of the subject in secondary schools in Zimbabwe. This study investigates this relationship and contributes some knowledge in this area for further discussion.

Die wese van Christelike sending is nie die oorwegende faktor in die waarneming van die histories-diakrone nie. Christelike sending, maar ook die ontstaande transkontinentale inheemse sending-onafhanklike Kerke – die begin van die Christelike geloof en om uit dié geloof te lewe –, behels die uitbreiding en begrensdheid in die Sendingteologie van die 20ste eeu. Die globale fenomeen van Christelike sending is omvangryk, vertoon diversiteit en werk met lang tydsverlope in sending-historiese navorsing. Die verhouding en uitdaging tussen Christelike sending en die Kerk in die 20ste eeu berus op twee vlakke, naamlik die institusionele integrasie van Kerke, Sendingkerke en Sendinggenootskappe in die Christenraad van Suid-Afrika – as ‘n voorbeeld – en die integrasie van die Internasionale Sendingraad in die Ekumeniese Raad van Kerke. Christelike sending word uitgedaag om op verskillende kontekste, konfessionele, nasionale en kontinentale perspektiewe te reageer, maar word ook gekonfronteer met verskillende sendingteologiese modelle of insigte. Enersyds substitueer die bewussyn en opkoms van kultuurprotestantisme die ouer paradigmas van kerkvestiging en Christelike godsdiens met missionêre handelinge van die kulturele en die sosiale. Andersyds gee die teleurstelling in die eerste ontwikkelingsdekade tot die besef aanleiding dat die geskiedenis nie evolusionêr, maar konfliktief verloop. Die ontwikkelingsmodel is met ‘n bevrydingsmodel vervang, terwyl nieteologiese faktore of kontekstuele sake ‘n bepalende invloed op ekumeniese prosesse en teologie uitoefen. Wanneer die Christelike sendingbeweging tot die ontstaan van die aanvanklike Ekumeniese beweging bydra, fokus die strewe van die moderne Ekumeniese beweging – met haar drie groot formasies, naamlik die Wêreldsendingkonferensies, die “Beweging vir Geloof en Kerkkonstitusie” en die “Beweging vir die Praktiese Christendom” – op die eenheid van die Kerk, in terme van organisatoriese eenheid en die teologiese begronding van eenheid. Hierdie ekklesiologies-ekumeniese strewe na eenheid bly steeds ‘n onherkenbaar gesig, ondanks die ouer program van “versoende verskeidenheid” en die nuwe konvergensie studie: The Church: Towards a common Vision. Die breë doelstelling van hierdie studie is om komplekse, uiteenlopende en teologieshermeneutiese insigte, handelinge en kontekstuele perspektiewe in die sending en die ekumene uit te lig. Die volgende temas kry o.a. aandag: historiese aktualiteit, sendingteologiese program en model, Sendingwetenskap, Konvivenz, die Evangelikale beweging, Evangelisasie, bekering, barmhartigheid, geloof, heil, vryheid, lewe, getuienis, (sosiale / on) geregtigheid en verantwoordelikheid, etiek, menswaardigheid, nie-teologiese faktore soos byvoorbeeld taal, Swart Teologie, kulturele en religieuse pluralisme, dialoog, entologie, identiteit, opvoeding, skepping, ontwikkelingshulp, sang, vreemdheid, armoede, interkulturele samehange, Christenraad van Suid-Afrika, Internasionale Sendingraad, Wêreld Sendingkonferensie, Afrika Onafhanklike Kerke, die Berlynse Sendinggenootskap, die Suid- Afrikaanse Raad van Kerke, Ekumeniese beweging, die Ekumeniese Raad van Kerke, Kommissie vir Wêreldsending en Evangelisasie, die ERK voltallige vergadering en die PCRprogram. Hierdie studie probeer om ‘n bydrae tot die kennisontsluiting in verstaande Christelike sending, Sendinggeskiedenis en Interkulturele Teologie, asook die Suid-Afrikaanse Kerkgeskiedenis te lewer. / English: The nature of Christian mission is not the predominant constituent when observing the historical diachronic approach. Not only Christian mission but also the genesis of the transcontinental missionary enterprise in die fortification of indigenous Mission independent Churches – the acceptance of Christian faith and living by faith –, imply both expansion and limitation in the Theology of Mission in the 20th century. The extensive global phenomenon of Christian mission is diverse and encompasses long periods of time in the historical research of mission. The relationship between and challenge for Christian mission and the Church in the 20th century have two different levels of requirements, namely the institutional integration of, for example Churches, Church Missions and Missionary Society’s into the Christian Council of South Africa and the integration of the International Missionary Council with the World Council of Churches. The challenge for Christian Mission is to react to the result of different contextual, confessional, national and continental perspectives, besides various models and insights in the Theology of Mission. On the one hand, consciousness and the rising of cultural Protestantism substitutes the older paradigms regarding the establishment of Churches and Christian religion with missionary actions, in a socio-cultural framework, while on the other hand sensing the disappointment in the first decade of development, the realization ignites the idea that the course of history was not an evolutionary progression, but elapsed in a conflictual manner. The liberation model was called on to substitute the model of development. Non-theological factors or contextual issues had an determining influence on ecumenical processes and theology. While the Christian missionary movement contributed to the initial Ecumenical movement, the focus was on the pursuit of the modern Ecumenical movement with her three main formations, namely the World Mission Conference, Faith and Order and Life and Work of which the focus point is the unity of the Church in terms of the organizational unity and the theological justification for unity. This ecclesiastic, ecumenical pursuit towards unity, still remains unrecognizable, notwithstanding the older program, Reconciled Diversity and the new convergence study, The Church: Towards a common Vision. The broad objective in this study is to highlight the complexity, the diverse and theological hermeneutical insight, as well as the action and contextual perspectives in mission and ecumenism. It was necessary to study the following themes, among others historical actuality, program and model on the Theology of Mission, Missiology, Konvivenz, the Evangelical movement, Evangelism, conversion, mercy, faith, salvation, liberty / freedom, life, witness, (social / in) justice and responsibility, ethics, human dignity, non-theological factors for example language, Black Theology, cultural and religious pluralism, dialogue, ethnology, identity, education, creation, development aid, choral music, foreignness, poverty, intercultural coherences, the Christian Council of South Africa, International Mission Council, World Missionary Conference, African Independent Churches, the Berlin Missionary Society, the South African Council of Churches, Ecumenical Movement, the World Council of Churches, Commission in World Mission and Evangelism, the Assembly of the World Council of Churches and the PCR-programme. This research seeks to contribute towards knowledge production, within the framework in the understanding of Christian Mission, Mission History and Intercultural Theology, in addition to South African Church History. / Dissertation (MTh)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Science of Religion and Missiology / MTh / Unrestricted

This study explored assumptions about communication styles used by nationals of countries that share what is perceived as a common native language. Participants were from Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay, and the common native language was Spanish. Data were gathered before and after their attendance at a five-day training event with attendees from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay via surv'ey questionnaires (pre) and interview questionnaires (post). The data were analyzed for participants' assumptions about communication styles and whether these were confirmed or challenged by intercultural interaction. They were also analyzed for ways in which the perception of a shared native language could influence assumptions and interactions. The results revealed four primary communication styles involved in participants' assumptions: 1) Harmony versus Assertiveness, 2) Accessibility versus Exclusiveness, 3) Vocabulary, and 4) Intercultural Conflict Styles, among other insights related to the study questions.

Den här studien använder en pragmatisk analysmodell i syftet att kritiskt granska den gylleneregelns praktiska användbarhet i ett sammanhang där flera olika livsåskådningar ochvärdesystem möts. Individens uppfattning av jaget spelar en central roll i den processen, dåjaget i tillämpningen av gyllene regelns principer ställs i relation till Den andre. Grunden är enteori om människans natur, där individens normsystem ger förutsättningar att anamma dengyllene regelns principer samtidigt som hon agerar och förlitar sig på ett normsystem inomden kulturella kontext hon definierar sig i just nu. Interaktionen leder till olika handlingar därprinciperna för den gyllene regeln används i syfte att få förklaringsmodeller och för individenlogiska beslutsmönster. Med hjälp av fiktiva situationer testas den praktiska användbarhetenav den gyllene regeln enligt förutsättningarna i den pragmatiska analysmodell som skapats.De pragmatiska konsekvensanalyserna ger utrymme för individens och den andres tolkningoch förklaringsmodell till sitt eget handlande inom olika värdesystem, samtidigt somförmågan att kunna byta perspektiv i den processen problematiseras.

The purpose of the study is to investigate if the presence of subcultural pluralism has affected Rwanda’s democratisation negatively. The study’s question is therefore: Are subcultural pluralism an explanation of Rwanda’s low degree of democracy? To answer this, I have chosen to do an explanatory case study and the study is theory consuming. The study’s theoretical framework consists of Robert A Dahls part theory about subcultural pluralism from his work Polyarchy. Other materials used in the study is secondary material which is used to describe Rwanda’s political history. Another important source is Freedom House “Freedom in the world”- reports about Rwanda from the period 1995-2019. The analysis shows that Rwanda do not meet Robert A Dahls three criteria’s about subcultural pluralism. If a country meets his criteria’s they have a good chance of democratization even though they have a high degree of subcultural pluralism. If the country does not meet his criteria’s they have a low chance to democratize. The study shows that Rwanda's leading party RPF has adopted several measures that have complicated the oppositions situation to operate in the country and Rwanda's subcultural groups hutu and twa are excluded from political processes. The result shows that Rwanda has low chances of democratisation. It also shows that subcultural pluralism is one explanation to the country’s low degree of democracy.

Thesis advisor: Mary Ann Hinsdale / The aim of this dissertation is to demonstrate why the theology of Edward Schillebeeckx provides a worthy and valuable resource for negotiating the question of how Christians can maintain their unique Christian identity and uphold the core tenets of their faith, while recognizing the need for and benefit of dialogue with non-Christian religions. In a world where interaction with religious others is inevitable, a perilous sense of superiority that excludes non-Christians from the possibility of imparting wisdom must be avoided. Yet, as this dissertation illustrates, a theory that all religions are equal and that absolute claims that contradict the beliefs of other religions (such as Jesus as God incarnate and the universal savior of humankind) must be given up, is equally as dangerous. I show that Schillebeeckx, although he never identified himself explicitly with one of the three paradigms of the theology of religions (exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism), maintained an inclusivist position but one that is more radical than that of some of his contemporaries. He upheld the unique role of Jesus Christ in human history while regarding religious pluralism, rather than a problem to be solved, as an opportunity for Christians to learn from and expand upon their conceptions of the humanum, or what human wholeness entails. This dissertation critically examines the three major paradigms used to understand the relationship of Christianity to non-Christian religions. It argues that the adoption of a pluralist position that regards all religions to be equal, and relinquishes any absolute claims, is not necessary, and can, in fact, be detrimental to fruitful interreligious dialogue. It traces Schillebeeckx's development of the negative contrast experience and illustrates how it can serve as a universal starting point for interreligious dialogue that does not attempt to essentialize human nature or tie all positive responses to human suffering to a latent Christianity present in every person. This dissertation describes the major components of Schillebeeckx's soteriology: creation as the starting point for soteriology; the unbreakable relationship between fragments of salvation in this world and final, or eschatological salvation; the role of Jesus as the assurance of final salvation; and the communal nature of salvation. It shows how the implication of Schillebeeckx's soteriology, which starts from the premise "there is no salvation outside the world," is "no salvation apart from religious others." This means that our ability to experience fragments of salvation in our everyday lives is dependent on learning from and collaboration with human beings who do not share our religious beliefs, but does not require us to erase religious differences, or tailor our beliefs to "fit" neatly into others' religious views. Finally, this dissertation applies Schillebeeckx's soteriology to concrete struggles faced by Muslim women and Catholic women in order to illustrate how interreligious dialogue can bring persons toward the fullness of the humanum. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Master thesis in Political Science by Alexander Gaber, 2015, ‘Evidence of the BenevolentState?- The Case of the R2P’ The study sets out to analyze the validity of the soldiarist prescriptive hypothesis that a shared understanding amongst the society of states can induce a circumstance where states will act selflessly by willingly subordinating their rights and sovereign prerogatives for the sake of individual rights. For this purpose the R2P legal doctrine is analyzed genealogically to generate an inference on if the dominant consensus within the society of states on the doctrine has generated this circumstance. The analysis concludes that the R2P doctrine has neither in customary - or codified international law enabled the individual’s right to protection to hold precedence over the right and sovereignty of the state. The case study, conclusively does not serve to validate the hypothesis, but neither does it invalidate it as the R2P constitutes a representative case. The intermarriage of the genealogical method with the English School framework is deemed fruitful and new insights into, specifically, the concept of sovereignty is generated which serves to evolve and reinforce the theoretical framework of English School Solidarism.

Sustainable development and education for sustainable development are something that characterizes our society today. Every day we are fed from different media about the future of our world and that we should think sustainably in everything we do. In the curriculum of the compulsory school it is mentioned in several places that the school should work on sustainable development (Skolverket 2019). Today´s teachers have a greater responsibility to teach students to become democratic citizens who are thinking and acting for sustainable development. Students should think sustainably in everything they do. Everything from sharpening a pen just enough to not throwing away food.The purpose of the study was to illustrate the teachers' perceptions of learning for sustainable development and to see how it is implemented in teaching that is education for sustainable development. Based on the purpose of the study, a qualitative study was conducted. Seven teachers, from a school in a mid-Swedish town, that works expcitly with education for sustainable development.The results indicate the importance of cross-disciplinary work with a certain complexity, where professional development and teachers working teams are important parts of the teaching and learning strategy. It also appears that school cultivation and other practicalities are of great importance to education for sustainable development along with the students' impact on the environment in the classroom and their sustainability thinking in everything they do during the school day.

Using data collected in 2007 for Addis Ababa Mortality Surveillance, the paper examines the effect of cause of death/type of illness on choice of health care in adults 12 years and above. The multinomial logit model using bootstrapped standard errors is used to investigate the relationship between dominant type of treatment and the covariates: cause of death, gender, age, education, occupation, ethnicity and religion. Availability of water, television and telephone in the household are used as a proxy for economic status. After controlling for duration of illness (exposure), type of illness, gender and marital status are significant. Those who die of HIV/TB and cancer behave similar in way they seek help, and have high likelihood of using traditional healers as the first point for help compared to those who died as a result of other illnesses. Thus the study concludes that cause of death; gender and marital status affect choice of health service.

In recent years, unmarried women in China face great pressure to marry when they reach their late 20s and beyond. These women are referred to as leftover women, a terminology that plays into the notion that they fail to sell themselves in the marriage market at the best timing. Based on interviews and focus groups with leftover women in China, this dissertation situates their choices in the complexities of social and legal orders in today’s China to make sense of their decisions. Starting with a postcolonial critique of current literature on leftover women, this dissertation revisits leftover women’s decisions and demonstrates how their choices are made after evaluating all the available options rather than decisions made out of false-consciousness. I discuss how societal and parental expectations interact with state law to affect leftover women’s choices in marriage and childbearing. To understand how leftover women navigate through multiple levels of social ordering, I investigate the legal consciousness of these women when they judge which level(s) of social ordering they should follow. My analysis of leftover women’s strategies in engaging with state law challenges the assumption that ordinary Chinese people’s reluctance to use the formal legal system is a result of their lack of legal knowledge. My interviewees’ emphasis on family relations and public attitudes regarding marriage and childbearing complicates and contributes to feminist relational theory by questioning its strong attachment to autonomy. Building on postcolonial feminist legal thoughts, I advocate that feminist relational theorists need to distance themselves from autonomy in order to understand the choices made by women who prioritize familialism over individualism. To unsettle feminist relational theory’s unconditional attachment to autonomy, I elaborate on leftover women’s understandings of the relationship between the self and the family and other people in their social networks. This elaboration is achieved by investigating the impact of societal and parental expectations, as well as leftover women’s participation in constructing the notions of filial piety and motherhood. This dissertation offers a detailed discussion of leftover women’s choices in marriage and childbearing by demonstrating their navigation through multiple levels of social ordering. It also provides a postcolonial analysis of the approach of “blaming culture,” which has been used by many scholars who study leftover women, as well as other issues concerning marginalized populations in authoritarian states such as China. At the same time, this dissertation illustrates a way of analyzing women’s choices without focusing on autonomy, which is of great importance for research on women whose culture prioritizes familialism over individualism. This dissertation also contributes to the areas of legal consciousness and legal pluralism by explaining ordinary people’s reluctance to separate state law and non-state social ordering. This is a timely empirical study aiming to serve as a springboard to invite future research on law and emotions, and law and family relations, relationships and legal consciousness, and postcolonial analysis of the impact of patriarchal Confucian culture and Chinese legal culture in general. / Graduate / 2022-06-02