New states are often born in a volatile environment, in which the survival of the new country is uncertain. While analysis of the nationalizing new governments exists, research focuses mainly on domestic politics. I argue that the treatment of minority that remains in the new states is a function of the interaction of the dual threat posed by the minority itself domestically on one hand and the international threat coming from the mother state to protect its kin abroad on the other hand. Specifically, I argue that there is a curvilinear relationship between domestic and international threat and the extent of discrimination against the politically relevant minority. Most discrimination takes place when domestic and international threats are moderate because in this case there is a balance of power between the government, the minority, and the rump state. With time-series-cross-sectional (TSCS) data analysis this dissertation systematically tests the treatment of Russian and Serbian minorities in all post-Soviet and post-Yugoslav states between 1991 and 2006 and finds statistically significant results for the curvilinear hypothesis. Territorial concentration of the minority and the ratio of national capabilities between the mother and the seceded states prove to be especially important predictors of minority treatment. In addition, with most similar systems (MSS), most different systems (MDS) design methods, and directed case studies I apply the curvilinear hypothesis to the Russian minority in the Baltic States and the Central Asian Republics, and also to the Serb minority in the countries of the former Yugoslavia to present a detailed analysis.

The Serb Creek molybdenite property is 26 miles west-northwest of Smithers, B. C. on the northeast flank of the Howson Range of the Coast Range physiographic province. The property lies within an upper mesozonal to lower epizonal batholithic offshoot of the Coast Range Intrusive Complex. Small irregular plutons and a series of northwesterly-striking dykes intrude the batholith. The rocks are quartz monzonitic and, in texture range from coarse-grained granitic to porphyritic. Plots of optic angle against composition show that feldspars are of intermediate structural type indicating an increasingly rapid rate of cooling from the oldest to the youngest intrusive body. This increase in the rate of cooling is ascribed to smaller size of intrusive body with decreasing age. Plots of normative Q:AbOr ratios suggest that, if one believes the magma to have formed by anatexis, high pressures of volatiles, HC1, or of both were present during crystallization. Two general attitudes—N20° W to N^5°w and N75° E--control the emplacement of intrusive bodies, hydrothermal alteration, and, to a large extent, molybdenite mineralization. Hydrothermal alteration and molybdenite mineralization appear to be related to igneous activity because they are closely associated in time and space. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

The national development of the ethnic groups of the Habsburg Monarchy were influenced by the policies undertaken toward them by their rulers, the Austrian Germans and, after 1867, the Magyars of Hungary. Contrasts can be identified between those groups living in the Austrian part of the Monarchy and those living in the Kingdom of Hungary, a trend that can be identified in the Monarchy's South Slav populations (Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes), as this population inhabited territories on both sides of the dualist border. The present study examines the differences in the nationality policies toward the South Slavs on the part of the governments of Cisleithanian Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary during the decades prior to the First World War. The concluding section examines how these nationality policies influenced the post-1914 development of the South Slav groups.

On July 12th, 1990 the Serb Democratic Party of Bosnia-Herzegovina (SDS BiH) held its founding assembly. Less than five months later, it participated in the November 1990 elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), winning a decisive majority of the vote of ethnic Serbs. Yet, SDS BiH was not an ordinary political party. In the sixteen months that followed the elections, it initiated a series of activities that eroded the power of BiH institutions to which it had been elected. SDS BiH declared its own organs superior to those of BiH and established exclusive control in Serb-majority areas. In early 1992, it united these areas into a single Serb Republic, formed an exclusively Serb armed force, and set out to violently expand the territory that would be incorporated into the new statelet. This study seeks to advance an understanding of the role of ethno-nationalist agents in the outbreak of violent conflicts fought in the name of ethnic nations by analyzing the activities of SDS BiH on the political homogenization of Serbs in the two years leading up to the 1992 onset of violence in BiH. It incorporates the tools of discourse analysis and the recent findings in the studies of human cognition, identifying the agency of SDS BiH in the power of the Party's discourse to produce affective sensibilities that served its nationalist agenda. It argues that this engineering of affect was crucial for constituting the dispersed individuals of Serb ethnic background as a palpable political group, and preparing them for armed mobilization. The analysis also argues that ethno-nationalist agency can be properly understood only by considering the case-specific structural factors with which all agents interact. Toward this point, it draws contrast between the agency of SDS BiH and that of the National Movement in the Republic of Georgia, showing that ethnic structures hold a greater explanatory value in the Georgian case. Rather than departing from pre-given ethnic groups, both case studies suggest that conflict analyses should problematize the dynamic interaction between the dominant ethno-nationalist agents and ethnic structures, which produce ethnic groups, ethnic interests and sides to armed conflicts. / Ph. D.

When immigrants move to another country, their success is determined by acceptance within the new society. Acceptance within the new society is dependent upon removal of the language barrier and thus learning the English language. My question for this study are as follows: 1) are there cultural or environmental barriers which may inhibit the ability of immigrant women to learn and use English, and 2) are there role expectations which may prevent women from taking full advantage of opportunities to learn the new language? Such barriers may arise from the nature of the interpersonal relationships or roles within the family unit, or values held by women or their spouse/partner, such as attitude toward gender equality, which could influence the ability or opportunity to learn English. This research explores the experience of immigrant women from the former Yugoslavia in accessing and learning the English language. These women who are between the ages of twenty and forty-five and their families, have immigrated to a small western Canadian city, since the war in that country in 1990. In addition, this study explores the influence of factors such as educational attainment, efficiency in their first language, motivation and desire on learning and retaining English. My analysis, based on interviews with seven immigrant women, revealed that even though hierarchical structure is evident in their cultural beliefs, women empower themselves through their motivation and desire to learn English, primarily for reasons of economic stability. / v, 112 leaves ; 29 cm.

This thesis focuses on issues of multi-layered identities within a social space. It analyzes ritual (or ceremony) as one of the codified displays of culture within which collective ideas and attitudes regarding identity are manifested, shared, and strengthened. Bosnian Serbs - due to political and social change - were forced to redefine their position in society, as well as their (collective) identities and social ties. Slava is a fundamental ritual seen as an attribute of "Serbianness", and in the context of this study, manifests itself as an indicator of establishment and validity of collective identities. Slava is a traditional celebration practiced by Orthodox believers in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Bulgary, Albania, and Macedonia. It is a festivity of either a family, village, or local church patron. At the center of this research will be an individual slava of a family patron saint, krsna slava, or krsno ime. For Bosnian Serbs, krsna slava is currently a revitalized ritual concurring with local tradition and convening with social ambitions of current inhabitants in the region (otherwise it would not be revitalized). The pertinence of this research subject is given by the nature of ritual itself as it is founded on collective sharing and the manifestation of common ideas1 ....

Ever since Kosovo’s declared Independence in 2008, the nation has opted for a multi-ethnic approach by adopting a legal framework that contains several laws promoting and protecting minority rights, although these have remained rather stagnant in implementation. The minorities in Kosovo have furthermore been affected by the Serb-Albanian relations and inter-ethnic tensions by creating divisions and societal challenges. The purpose of this study is to examine the current situation for minorities in Kosovo, along with studying the limitations and possibilities of the implementation of minority rights and societal opportunities. Additionally, this is a case study based on the experiences and views of Torbeshis being a minority in Kosovo which exemplifies the situation of how minority rights are expressed in a social and political context. The  methodological approach of semi-structured interviews was applied which provided the primary data consisting of empirical findings and results from interviews. The data was then analyzed with the assistance of the theoretical framework of social constructivism, along with the intersectionality concept as a complementary tool with an applied narrative analysis. The results indicated that the inadequate implementation of rights is the common denominator concerning minorities' situation, possibilities, limitations and experiences. The focus of the international community on Serb-Albanian relations has further shifted the attention from minority issues. Although the legislative framework is advanced, minorities generally seem to face more limitations than possibilities, with potential for a positive turn. Minorities face limitations such as security concerns, freedom of movement caused by linguistic obstacles, together with restricted participation and access in political life. The Torbeshis face similar issues as mentioned, together with forms of discrimination, ethnic redefinition, assimilation and interrelationship between to major ethnic groups. / Sedan Kosovos förklarade självständighet 2008 antog konstitutionen en lagstiftningsram innehållande flera lagar som främjar och skyddar minoritetsrättigheter, men trots implementeringen har dessa lagar förblivit relativt stillastående i praktiken. Kosovo definierar därmed sig själva som ett multietniskt samhälle i samband med fastställandet av dessa lagar. Minoriteterna i Kosovo har dessutom påverkats av Kosovos efterkrigstid och den Serbisk-Albanska dynamiken där spänningar mellan etniska grupper förekommer i landet och skapar diverse splittringar och samhällsutmaningar för minoriteterna. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka den aktuella situationen för minoriteter i Kosovo, tillsammans med de existerande begränsningar och möjligheter som finns för implementeringen av minoritetsrättigheter och samhällsmöjligheter. Studien tillämpar en fallstudie som utvärderar Torbesjers erfarenheter av att vara en minoritet, vilket illustrerar hur den nuvarande situationen av minoritetsrättigheter uttrycks i en viss social och politisk kontext. Det metodologiska tillvägagångssättet som tillämpas är semistrukturerade intervjuer och utgör det primära materialet bestående av resultat från intervjuer samt empirisk data. Datan analyserades sedan med hjälp av det teoretiska ramverket social konstruktivism med intersektionalitetskonceptet som ett kompletterande verktyg, och slutligen applicerades en narrativ analys för att behandla datan. Resultatet av studien visar på att den otillräckliga implementeringen av rättigheterna är den gemensamma nämnaren när det kommer till minoriteters situation, möjligheter, begränsningar och erfarenheter. Det omfattande fokus som läggs på relationen mellan serber och albaner av det internationella samfundet skiftar ytterligare uppmärksamhet från minoritetsfrågorna. Trots den avancerade lagstiftningsramen verkar minoriteter i Kosovo möta fler begränsningar än möjligheter, med potential för en positiv förändring. De begränsningar som minoriteter bemöter i Kosovo är säkerhetsproblem, rörelsefrihet, språkliga hinder, samt ett begränsat deltagande och tillgång i det politiska klimatet. Torbesjer står inför liknande problem, tillsammans med former av diskriminering, etnisk omdefiniering, assimilering och ett mellanförskap i förhållande till de etniska majoriteterna i landet.