Thesis (M.Ed.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Education. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-138). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR29569

Proefschrift--Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht. / Vita. Bibliography: p. 195-198.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Marquette University, 2009. / Alan Burkard, Chris Brownson, Lisa Edwards, Advisors.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, School of Philosophy, Anthropolgy and Social Inquiry and The School of Culture and Communications Studies, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (p. [276]-292)

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Mary Doran, for the Master of Arts degree in Political Science, presented on October 30, 2008, Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: A discourse analysis of "Laïcité" and its effects on the integration of Muslim and Arab minorities in France. MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Stephen Shulman. What is the current status of the integration of minorities of Muslim and/or Arab origin in France? In this paper I attempt to answer this question by evaluating the assimilation of these minorities into French society through an examination of the current conception of "Frenchness" as it is understood by the French themselves. Numerous scholarly works have attempted to measure the degree of assimilation of the Arab/Muslim minorities in France; their theses often revolve around problems presented by the often presumed "cultural/religious identities" of the majority and minority populations. Others have studied the effects of discrimination on the assimilation of these populations. Few, however, have addressed the problematic concept of Frenchness itself in order to determine whether it is open enough to welcome these immigrant peoples and their offspring. (Laurence and Vaisse 2006, x) In this paper, I argue that, contrary to popular belief, events such as the 2005 suburban riots, the "Islamic veil affair" and the reaction to the 2006 caricatures of the Islamic prophet Mohammed constitute evidence of minority movement toward assimilation into French society. This movement, however, is not guaranteed. Through an examination of the French discourse surrounding the word "laïcité", which is a central aspect of French identity, I find two major obstacles to the full integration of Muslim and Arab populations in the Hexagon. The first is the contradiction of claiming government neutrality vis-à-vis religions while simultaneously insisting on the Catholic nature of the society. The second is the gap between the greatly revered ideal of "universalism" and the reality of negative discrimination aimed at Muslim and Arab minorities.

This thesis investigates the contested processes of displaying “Turkishness” in competing state museums in Turkey at a time when over the last decade secularist- Kemalist state power has been overturned under neo-Islamist Justice and Development Party government. It poses the question: how are the oppositionary - namely secular Republican and Islamic Ottoman - pasts of “Turkishness” remembered, forgotten, and negotiated in Anıtkabir, Atatürk’s mausoleum, and Topkapı Palace Museum, the imperial house at a time of flux in Turkey? Anıtkabir, under the command of the Turkish Armed Forces, the guardian of secularism, and Topkapı Palace, linked to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, an arm of the government, are more than pedagogical warehouses of the state, displaying contending pasts. They are state institutions, endowed with diverse power sources in exhibiting the binaries of “Turkishness” polarised between West-modern-secular and East-backward-Islam. Through an ethnography of these agencies of the state, this research traces the negotiation processes of exhibiting the competing pasts of “Turkishness”. The focus of this study is twofold. First, it explores how different bureaucratic practices in Anıtkabir and Topkapı Palace museums act as power mechanisms among museum staff and vis-à-vis visitors. Second, it looks at the ensuing representations of “Turkishness”. Competing traditions and national days pertaining to Islamic Ottoman and secular Republican histories are re-invented through museum events, which fall beyond the bureaucracy of exhibition-making. However, formal / informal processes of exhibition-making in both museums reveal that binaries of “Turkishness” are challenged and deliberated through contested exhibitionary practices. In Topkapı Palace Museum, a Westernised-modernised image of imperial life is portrayed, while Anıtkabir simultaneously re-sacralises and humanises Atatürk’s cult. Therefore, this study argues that binaries of “Turkishness” are not irreconcilable; rather they are reversed, negotiated, and transformed in the quest for state power in the everyday practices of these museum bureaucracies.

In this study, I search to explore whether the effect of Protestantism on the level of corruption(understood as the misuse of public power for private gain) withstand when controlled forsecularism. This is done via a series of multiple regression analysis which conclude that theeffect of Protestantism on the perceived level of corruption persists when controlling forsecularism. Though the effect is greatly diminished, even when controlling for classicaleconomic factors. The level of secularization remains statistically significant when predictingthe perceived corruption. / <p>2017-06-01</p>

There is an increasing interest in international relations to engage with religious actors for peacebuilding purposes. This development is an example of what is referred to as a restorative narrative, which responds to a current 'resurgence' of religion in the political sphere by prescribing the restoration of benevolent forms religion in international politics, to counteract 'dangerous' religion. This narrative reinforces secularist dichotomies of 'good' and 'bad religion', or what Elizabeth Shakman Hurd calls 'The Two Faces of Faith' (Hurd 2017, 100). As many peacebuilding efforts take place in the MENA-region, where western secularism and liberalism are often met with suspicion, this thesis aims to investigate how secularist narratives are reproduced and challenged within religious peacebuilding in the region. It does so through discourse analysis of three international and transnational organizations of 'secular' and faith-based character. The result indicates that secularist narratives still set the frames for what role religion is allowed to play in peacebuilding, but also that faith-based actors can challenge secularist narratives in several ways. Furthermore, the result shows that in international discourses, secularist or non-secularist categories are not always clear-cut, and even narratives that challenge secularism might not challenge the liberal peace paradigm at large.

This study examines secular mommy bloggers, a group of women who blog about the difficulties of being a nonbeliever parent in a predominantly religious society. In this study, I explore the rhetorical dimensions of four separate blogs by investigating how each mother builds identity within her personal blog and how her sense of identity enables her to construct individual ethos. Furthermore, I illustrate how the individual ethos of each blogger contributes to a group ethos representing the entire secular parenting community. Ultimately, I show how these mothers rhetorically set themselves apart from other nonbeliever/secular groups. / Master of Arts

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / A presente dissertação tem como objetivo principal investigar o conceito de pós-secularismo na filosofia de Jürgen Habermas. Para tanto, buscamos compreender como a religião aparece ao longo da construção do pensamento habermasiano, pontuando as diversas revisões feitas pelo filósofo e suas escolhas metodológicas, que resultaram numa mudança de perspectiva sobre o papel da religião na esfera pública das sociedades contemporâneas. A discussão de Jürgen Habermas se insere num debate mais amplo sobre o reexame do conceito de secularismo, envolvendo não apenas a filosofia, mas a ampla gama das ciências humanas e sociais. Assim, procuramos apresentar o contexto geral desse debate e os principais interlocutores com quem ou contra quem Habermas constrói sua argumentação. Por fim, tentamos mostrar de que maneira as revisões feitas por Habermas nos seus últimos escritos a respeito da religião, bem como a apropriação do conceito de sociedades pós-seculares, se enquadram na moldura geral da teoria habermasiana, principalmente dentro da estrutura do agir comunicativo e da política deliberativa. / This dissertation aims at investigate the concept of post-secularism in the philosophy of Jürgen Habermas. The work seeks to understand how religion appears throughout the construction of Habermas's thinking, pointing out the different revisions made by the philosopher and his methodological choices, which resulted in a change of perspective about the role of religion in the public sphere of contemporary societies. The Habermasian discussion is part of a broader debate on the revision of the concept of secularism, involving not only Philosophy, but the wide range of humanities and social sciences. Thus, this dissertation presents a general context of this debate and its main interlocutors with whom or against whom Habermas builds his argument. Finally, this work tries to show how the revisions made in his last writings concerning religion, as well as the appropriation of the concept of post-secular societies, fall into the general framework of Habermas theory, especially within the framework of communicative action and deliberative politics.