In an effort to define which country will succeed in being the first of the two, I have given much attention to the East India Trade Company (EIC) and its influence on both India and China and the impact it has had on the social, political and economic change in both countries. While both countries have started off the same in the first half of the 20th century, their economic difference began with Xiaopings' rule in the late 70's of the 20th century. He is the one responsible for the opening of China, allowing it to have a steady takeoff and accelerate post-Cold War. India on the other hand has been in fear of foreign exploitation due to the EIC, making their development substantially slower. Religious and regional issues are a reason for India to not have enough focus on their human capital and their multi-party government, resulting in an inability to focus on the necessary reformation of the 'red tapes'. Another domestic policy missing in India, but strong in China is human capital, which is a private matter in India, while China has highly invested in it since The Great Leap Forward. Understanding the governance and economic policies of both countries provides an insight to both countries and supports my reasoning as to why I believe that China will - despite its' slowdown, be ahead of the race.

There is no consensus on whether Church of Sweden should comment on political issues and participate in the political debate or not. The opponents argue that religion and politics should be kept apart, while others claim it is the duty of the church to raise its voice on political issues when it witnesses injustice and oppression. As an Evangelical Lutheran church, Martin Luther's two kingdoms doctrine is a part of the theological tradition in which Church of Sweden stands. The purpose of this essay is to analyze parts of the debate about Church of Sweden as a political actor during the 21st century, based on Luther's two kingdoms doctrine and later interpretations and comments on it. Debate articles from Swedish newspapers have been the primary source in the study of this debate, along with both historical and contemporary Lutheran documents on the two kingdoms doctrine. The outcome of this argumentation analysis shows that the arguments defending a politically active church are to be considered the strongest. A prophetic political theology can be partially supported in the 16th century interpretation of the two kingdoms doctrine. The Lutheran World Federation, in its document The Church in the Public Space, speaks even more in favour of this view of the relationship between church and politics. The Lutheran tradition of keeping an ongoing interpretation and exposition of the faith in each new era is also an important factor in assessing what can be considered a reasonable view of the Church of Sweden's role as a political actor. To legitimize its political commitment, it is crucial for the church that this always derives from and is motivated by its faith. The 16th century reformists as well as the Lutheran World Federation of today identifies the political task of the church to be to take action motivated by its faith, when the governing power pursues a policy incompatible with the word of God. Thus, it is crucial that the church can motivate its political commitment theologically. If the church does, it can justifiably act as an non-governmental organization in political debates.

This study explores the semiotic development of Islamic nationalism as a form of political theology during its formative period of 1857-1947 as articulated in the writings of prominent Urdu-speaking theologians. The study presents Islamic nationalism as a project of Muslims’ collective emancipation from colonialism and the possible subjugation of Islam and Muslims to the post-colonial secular state. Islamic nationalism’s constructive task is to interpret Islamic symbols in political terms toward articulating a modern Muslim nationalism. Its critical task is to critique the modern ideas of secularism, nationalism, and colonialism, on the one hand; and Muslim history with respect to a historiography centered on the primacy of caliphate as a spiritual-political institution, on the other hand. Politically, Islamic nationalism seeks, albeit in modern forms, Muslims’ religio-cultural autonomy and/or political sovereignty. In semiotic terms, Islamic nationalism integrates the Islamic symbols of islām, God, Prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an, qaum, sharīʿat, millat, ummat, and khilāfat with the symbols of secular nationalism, namely, nation, freedom, equality, and popular sovereignty. The extent and nature of the integration is determined by the internal consistency of the Islamic symbolic system which requires the national symbols to be interpreted in light of Islam’s sacred symbols. Islamic nationalism thus amounts to the desecularization/decolonization of Muslim imagination and the public sphere. Among the different forms of Islamic nationalism, the study explores the proto-nationalist Sayyid Ahmad Khan; the proponents of a secular post-colonial India, Abul Kalam Azad and Jamʻiyyatul ʿUlamā Hind; the critics of secular nationalism, Muhammad Iqbal and Sayyid Abu’l Aʻlā Maududi; and the advocates of separatism Jamʻiyyat ʿUlamā-i Islām. The study concludes that, despite the diversity of approaches to Islam and nationalism, nearly four decades of political theology proved decisive in popularizing the idea that Muslim nationality (qaumiyyat) was based on religion, that Islam as the consummate religion brooked no division between private-religion and public-politics, and that the obligation to implement Islamic law and ethics (sharīʿat) necessitated territorial sovereignty.

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The growing patriotism of the Catholic population, the Church's vigorous support of the “Social Gospel,” and the accommodation of Catholics to American democratic institutions -- all of these factors helped to make the Church of Rome more acceptable to the majority of Americans. Nonetheless, there was still a considerable amount of latent anti-Catholic feeling in the country, especially in the South. Therefore, when Alfred E. Smith, a Catholic, became the Democratic presidential candidate in 1928, animosity towards the Catholic Church, which hitherto had been submerged, came to the surface during the campaign. Some people, especially Catholics, went so far as to maintain that it was religious prejudice that cost Smith the election. The purpose of this essay will be to determine the veracity or falsity of this interpretation of the cause of Smith’s defeat in the election of 1928, in the hope that a careful representation of the past will enable us to understand the living present and to predict the uncertain future.

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This dissertation offers an analysis of two American religions–the Church of Christ, Scientist (CS), and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS)–and the ways that their particular/peculiar ideologies regarding the body govern the everyday realities of their respective memberships. Biopower is the political power used to control bodies and bodily actions, such as the care of oneself, and the details of personal family life. Belief can act as an especially powerful agent of biopolitical power as it inspires a lived faithfulness through its various theologies. What is more, the effects of biopolitical belief are often complicated by the mixed interests of Church and State, leaving the territory of the individual body a disputed claim. To better understand these disputes, this project utilizes a Foucaultian interpretation of the CS and LDS churches to better understand the roots of the biopolitical conflicts they confront. Specifically, the histories and contemporary practices of these religious organizations are analyzed through a genealogical method, using Foucaultian interpretations of the biopolitical, pastoral, and psychiatric powers they use to effectively govern the minds, bodies, and spirits of their people. A historical background of the CS and LDS churches traces the emergence of the biopolitical practices of each group by evaluating their groundedness in their current social-political milieus, and by making connections between their respective religious beliefs, practices, and government and the broader Jacksonian American political culture into which they were born. Additionally, this particular form of analysis poses important questions for the study of religion and politics today. Although most of the examples used in this study are historical, both the LDS and CS churches continue to hold on to many if not all of the theologies and doctrines which historically brought them into conflict with the US government. What has changed is not the belief itself, but the embodiment of it, and also the state and federal government reaction to it. Therefore, the theological histories and founding stories of these religions remain relevant to their contemporary status as extra-statal biopolitical forces within the US today. / Ph. D.

This study is a literary and ethnographic examination of The Vision of Theophilus, a fourth century Coptic narrative, as influential counter-narrative and source of counterdiscourse against the narrative created by the historically dominant Egyptian Arab Muslim state. It shows that The Vision has provided the Copts with the means to articulate their identity as different from their oppressors through its function as a repository of Coptic ideology, history and knowledge. Specifically, it has helped them resist the erosion of those aspects of their cultural identity targeted by colonial practices through its promotion of the Coptic language, pride in Coptic history, and Christianization of the landscape. This study also suggests that The Vision tradition has helped alleviate the conditions of material and economic oppression of Copts. Drawing upon theories of Foucauldian genealogy and postcolonialism my research examines the development of Coptic identity and subjectivity in relation to assimilation practices. Using oral studies and ethnopoetics, this study traces the process of composition, transmission, stabilization and systemization of The Vision over sixteen hundred years and its dispersion over a wide geographic region from Egypt to Ethiopia, Syria, and the US. My research suggests that the resilience and effectiveness of The Vision as oral tradition lies in the stability of its core message and its ability to absorb and adapt peripheral changes to the needs of each given historical period. Close analysis of this core message as gleaned through comparative manuscript study also supports important revisions to its datation, and enables us to claim its Coptic authenticity. Previously, the only academic scholarly work concerning The Vision centered on its diffused Syrian and Ethiopian variants while its Coptic manuscript history remained largely unknown. / This study, which emphasizes the specifically Coptic origins, history and significance of The Vision of Theophilus, therefore fills a vital scholarly gap: Locating cultural resistance and agency in orality, this study shows how The Vision has historically acted (and still acts today) as a repository of Coptic history and culture enabling Copts to articulate a separate identity over long periods of time, and amidst a wide range of historical and socio-economic factors. / by Fatin Morris Guirguis. / Vita. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

1Lothar von Falkenhausen, Chinese Society in the Age of Confucius (1000-250 BC): The Archaeological Evidence (Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, 2006). / Furthermore, differentiation of jades used among different social classes is also considered throughout these discussions. Finally, this research concludes with the discussion of the discourse of the existence of regional differences of jade from the Eastern Zhou period; the outcome of the "Restructuring" and the characteristics of jade excavated from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng. This research is the only in-depth study of the Marquis Yi's jades known to date and should fill a major gap thirty years after their excavation. / Lothar von Falkenhausen proposed that a political movement occurred around 600 B.C., which resembled the Late Western Zhou Ritual Reform (circa 850 B.C.). He entitled this movement "the Middle Springs and Autumns Ritual Restructuring." 1 This "Restructuring" was advocated by a group of rulers of local polities who wished to strengthen their newly established kingdoms and reinstate social order through the restoration of religious and ritual ceremonies of the Western Zhou period. The "Restructuring" was characterized by a shift of social hierarchy and a change in religious content which had significant impact on people's lives in Eastern Zhou society. The main intention of this research is to find out the characteristics of jades from the Eastern Zhou Period and their relationship with the "Restructuring". / The focus and starting point of this study is a group of jades excavated from the tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng (died 430 BC). This undisturbed tomb yielded nearly three hundreds pieces of jade; they were well preserved and were highly representative for their remarkable quality and workmanship. / The third section will look at the issues surrounding the use and understanding of archaic jades during this period. The "Restructuring" advocated the restoration of religious cult and ritual of Late Western Zhou period, which lead to the employment of archaic jade and motifs borrowed from bronzes as potent political symbol and legitimacy. The fourth section discusses the ways in which the emergence of new religious ideologies affected the manufacturing of jades for burial. The belief of the afterworld and the existence of soul affected the production of burial jades in terms of functions, form and style. These burial jades show that the religious transformation of the Qin and Han Dynasty was, in fact, originated during the Warring States Period. / This investigation proceeds from four major perspectives. The first section studies how the set of sumptuary rules in the ceremonial system established after the "Western Zhou Ritual Reform" have been restored by the ruling class after the "Restructuring". This research has revealed that a new ceremonial system has been established after the "Restructuring" to justify users' political and social status. The second section examines the changing roles of jade in everyday contexts after the "Restructuring", from the perspectives of its value, function, and significance in society. The research has shown that although the feudal system has collapsed gradually with rapid social mobilization, jades were mostly confined to the upper class during the entire Eastern Zhou period. Their marvelous craftsmanship and enormous size were used to display users' political power, extraordinary taste and wealth. / 邱嘉汶. / Adviser: Jenny F. So. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 72-01, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-315). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Qiu Jiawen.