This study examined the alleged prevalence of Satanism in Zambia, with a particular reference to the Kabwe District during the period 2010-2013. The overall objective was to ascertain the claims and speculations on the alleged prevalence of Satanism in the district of Kabwe. The claims about the alleged prevalence of Satanism and the satanic scare were found by this study to be a reality in Kabwe, with eighty-eight per cent (88%) of the respondents acknowledging the alleged prevalence of the phenomenon. People’s knowledge of Satanism was mainly through rumours, messages from Churches and the electronic media. Studies on rumours (by Stephen Ellis, Gerrie Ter Haar and Jeffrey Victor) have shown that rumours can be investigated in the search for facts, especially rumours that offer plausible explanations for people’s shared anxieties. The above mentioned scholars argue that with efforts at corroboration, such as by interviewing key informants, the researcher can seek credibility on prevailing rumours by verifying or dismissing mere rumours from true stories. The assertions from scholars above justified the use of rumours as a methodological tool in this study. From sources of information the study relied on, claims about the alleged prevalence of Satanism in the district were investigated. The study refuted the satanic claims in a number of cases that were analysed, because they were mostly based on ‘pious legends’ hence lacked objective evidence. From the few incidents that suggested the prevalence of Satanism, there were still two basic problems faced in assessing their credibility: the first being the difficulty in determining the reliability of the confessions from informants who in this case either claimed they were ex-Satanists or served on behalf of Satanists. The second problem consisted in what seemed to be the inconsistency in the explanations of motives behind human killings found in the ritual murders. Some explanations did not suggest satanic motives. One example of refuted claims concerned the two locations within Kabwe district which were highly rumoured to be sites for Satanists, which were found by this study to be Freemasonry Lodges, contrary to what was rumoured.From the findings of this study, it was believed that people joined Satanism either because of the greedy for riches or to avoid poverty. It was also believed that other peoples joined Satanism unconsciously through luring methods used by Satanists. The study also found the satanic scare to have effects on the lives of people in the district. For example, it caused some people to become more committed Christians in their defence against the alleged satanic forces. Because people had associated riches to Satanism, certain individuals avoided getting rich for fear of being labelled ‘Satanists’. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D. Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies)

La thèse représente une première tentative de construire un narratif sur la Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Canada (fondée en 1923) pendant la période de l'entre-deux-guerres, jusqu'ici absente des recherches existantes sur le communisme ou le socialisme canadiens. La thèse porte sur l'évolution des relations entre la Ligue de la jeunesse communiste (LJC), l'Internationale communiste (ou Komintern) et l'Internationale des jeunes communistes, où les communistes soviétiques ont joué un rôle prédominant. Cette recherche met en lumière de nombreux changements mineurs et majeurs dans la politique de la LJC, façonnés par les contextes nationaux et internationaux dans lesquels l’organisation a dû agir. La thèse soutient que malgré un enthousiasme sincère pour la ligne de l'Internationale et l'expérience soviétique, les jeunes communistes canadiens souvent avait de la difficulté d’appliquer les directives de l'Internationale au Canada. Ni le Komintern, ni le mouvement communiste au Canada n'étaient monolithiques. Au contraire, il y a eu de nombreux conflits à trois niveaux: entre le mouvement communiste international et la Ligue; entre la Ligue et le Parti communiste du Canada (PCC); et entre les groupes locaux ou linguistiques de la Ligue et son leadeurship national. La répression de la gauche par l’État dans les années 1920s et 1930s, les problèmes de financement et le nombre de membres dérisoire ont également entravé la mise en œuvre des politiques de l’Internationale. En même temps, le faible niveau de contrôle permettait un certain degré de flexibilité et d’autonomie dans les politiques de la Ligue canadienne. Suivant la position de l’International des jeunes communistes, la jeunesse communiste canadienne a mis un accent particulier sur le militantisme anti-capitaliste et anti-impérialiste, puis anti-fasciste et anti-nazi. Cependant, la Ligue semblait avoir agi de manière indépendante en ce qui concerne les revendications immédiates de la jeunesse canadienne et les politiques culturelles, en particulier pendant la Grande Dépression. La Ligue s'est engagée conjointement avec d'autres organisations de jeunesse pour promouvoir les demandes immédiates des jeunes, même lorsque Moscou n’encourageait pas une telle stratégie. Les initiatives venaient souvent des organisateurs locaux, même si les autorités canadiennes étaient convaincues que Moscou était à l'origine de chaque action de la Ligue. Dans les années 1930 en particulier, la LJC, à travers un réseau d’organisations sociales et culturelles, a eu accès à des jeunes de différentes orientations politiques - la gauche socialiste, le centre-gauche et même les «forces bourgeoises». L’impact et la portée de la LJC ont encore été renforcés par la fait que les sympathisants de l'organisation appartenaient à des milieux sociaux divers et incluaient non seulement des jeunes travailleurs et fermiers, mais aussi les étudiants du secondaire et de l'université, les artistes, les sportifs et les jeunes cols blancs, dont beaucoup appartenaient à des organisations religieuses de jeunesse. Pour ces jeunes, la LJC était le lieu qui fournissait les solutions marxistes à des questions brulantes de l’époque, telles que le chômage des jeunes et l’absence de sécurité sociale, l’injustice sociale ou encore la montée du fascisme et de l’impérialisme au Canada et à l’étranger. / The dissertation represents the first attempt to construct a narrative about the Young Communist League of Canada (founded in 1923) during the inter-war period, so far absent in existing research on Canadian communism or socialism. The thesis focuses on the evolution of the relationship between the Young Communist League (YCL) and the Communist International and Young Communist International where Soviet Communists played a predominant role. It sheds light on numerous minor and major changes of policy shaped by the national and international contexts in which these organisations had to act. The dissertation argues that despite genuine enthusiasm toward the International’s line and the Soviet experience, Young Canadian Communists often found it difficult to implement the International’s directives in Canada. Neither the International nor the communist movement in Canada was monolithic. On the contrary, there appear to have been numerous conflicts on three levels: between the International and the League; between the League and the Communist Party of Canada; and between local or linguistic groups in the League and its national leadership. The state repression of the left during the whole inter-war period, derisory level of funding and membership numbers also impeded the implementation of the International’s policies. At the same time, the International’s weaker levels of control allowed for a certain degree of flexibility and autonomy in the Canadian League’s policies. Following the position of the Young Communist International, the Canadian communist youth placed special emphasis on anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist, and later anti-fascist and anti-Nazi, militancy. However, the League appeared to have acted independently as far as immediate demands of the youth and cultural policies were concerned, especially during the Great Depression era. The League engaged in joint activism with other youth organisations, even when Moscow did not encourage such strategy. The initiatives often came from local grassroots organizers, although Canadian authorities were convinced that Moscow was behind each and every action of the League. In the 1930s in particular the YCL, through a network of social and cultural organisations, gained access to youth of different political orientations – the socialist left, centre-left and even “bourgeois forces.” The YCL’s impact and outreach were further increased by the fact that the organisation’s sympathizers, if not members, belonged to diverse social backgrounds and included not only young workers and farmers but also High School and University students, artists, sportsmen, young white collars, many of them belonging to religious youth groups. For these young people, the YCL was the place that provided Marxist solutions to burning questions of the time such as youth unemployment and absence of welfare, social injustice, growth of fascism and imperialism in Canada and abroad.

The ONE Exhibition explores an era in American history marked by intense government sponsored anti-gay persecution and the genesis of the LGBT equality movement. The study begins during World War II, continues through the McCarthy era and the founding of the nation’s first gay magazine, and ends in 1958 with the first gay Supreme Court case in U.S. history. Central to the story is ONE The Homosexual Magazine, and its founders, as they embarked on a quest for LGBT equality by establishing the first ongoing nationwide forum for gay people in the U.S., and challenged the government’s right to engage in and encourage hateful and discriminatory practices against the LGBT community. Then, when the magazine was banned by the Post Office, the editors and staff took the federal government to court. As such, ONE, Incorporated v. Olesen became the first Supreme Court case in U.S. history that featured the taboo subject of homosexuality, and secured the 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech for the gay press. Thus, ONE magazine and its founders were an integral part of a small group of activists who established the foundations of the modern LGBT equality movement.