In most texts about Hawaiian history, the Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown in 1893. Hawai'i, as a result, was then governed first by a Provisional Government, then by the Republic of Hawai'i. Such texts further note that in 1898, Hawai'i was annexed to the United States and, subsequently, became the State of Hawai'i through a vote of the people in 1959. This dissertation examines Hawaiian history from a different perspective, one based on the issue of 'legality', and on documentation that surfaced in the 1990s that challenges the United States' claim to annexation of Hawai'i. The illegality of the takeover by haole businessmen, the resistance of Queen Lili'uokalani and her loyal subjects to the takeover, statements by then-President Grover Cleveland referencing the overthrow as an "Act of War," in many ways set the tone for the present-day sovereignty movement. Highlighted are some of the activities within the Hawaiian sovereignty movement during the 1990s and the first few years of this century that are turning points in the struggle for Hawaiian sovereignty. Identified spokespersons for the movement are extensively cited, as well as individuals with strong but thoughtful opinions. Many of the citations used were gathered and saved from emails or from relevant websites. Prophecy, and the acknowledgement of spirituality as a grounding force in a unified movement, is a significant element, and serves to remind activists, and especially Hawaiian activists, that the work to re-establish the nation can only succeed if it is based in Hawaiian cultural concepts that are pono (correct or in proper relationship). Maintaining 'right relationships' between the people, the heavens and the earth is necessary to successfully carry forward the reclaimed Hawaiian nation and the identity of the people as Hawaiian nationals, as the Queen directed a century ago. Most importantly, it allows those involved in the struggle to see themselves, not as victims, but as masters of their own fate.

Depuis la défaite du Oui au référendum de 1995, nous observons une perte de vitesse du mouvement souverainiste québécois. Cette dernière est d’abord perceptible d’un point de vue électoral où nous observons une baisse constante des appuis aux partis souverainistes, et ensuite relativement au fractionnement social et idéologique du mouvement souverainiste. Dans un tel contexte, nous nous attardons, dans le cadre de ce mémoire, à l’engagement des jeunes âgé-e-s de 20 à 26 ans au sein du Parti québécois (PQ). Ces personnes ont commencé à s’impliquer dans ce parti alors que le mouvement souverainiste était déjà caractérisé par une perte de vitesse et n’ont jamais connu les moments effervescents de celui-ci. Suite à seize entrevues semi-directives réalisées avec des militant-e-s du PQ, ce mémoire a pour but de comprendre les processus d’engagement de ces personnes. À l’aide d’une analyse sociologique des parcours d’engagement, nous démontrons d’abord que plusieurs types de parcours ont pu mener ces jeunes à s’engager au PQ. Ensuite, nous soulignons le fait que des éléments du passé, notamment par l’entremise des cours d’histoire et de la socialisation familiale, ont eu une plus grande importance que ceux d’actualité pour leur prise de conscience souverainiste. Nous montrons aussi que ces jeunes appartiennent à une génération politique pour laquelle les grands évènements de l’histoire du mouvement souverainiste ne peuvent plus être considérés comme étant des moments critiques des parcours d’engagement. Nous démontrons finalement que l’analyse des orientations politiques des personnes permet de mieux comprendre les différences entre les différents processus d’engagement. / Since the defeat of the Yes campaign in the 1995 referendum, the Quebec sovereignty movement has been in decline. We can demonstrate this by analyzing the electoral results of the different sovereignist parties as well as the social and ideological division of the sovereignty movement over the past 20 years. This thesis seeks to analyse the involvement of Parti québécois (PQ) members between the ages of 20 and 26. These members began their involvement while the movement was already in decline and therefore have not lived through the most significant events of the Quebec sovereignty movement. With 16 semi-structured interviews, this study seeks to understand the political commitment processes of these individuals. Through a sociological analysis of their experiences of involvement in politics, we demonstrate that different types of processes can lead a person to join the PQ. We then argue that elements from the past, such as history classes and family socialization, have greater influence on a person’s awareness of the sovereignty issue than do current events. We proceed to establish that these individuals belong to a political generation for which the major events of the sovereignty movement cannot be considered as critical junctures in their political involvement. Finally, we demonstrate that the analysis of the individuals’ political orientations can help us better understand the differences between the different political commitment processes.

One of the foremost reasons for the success of the Northern Irish Peace Process has been the ability of the national leadership of the Provisional Republican Movement to bring the majority of their membership away from the armed campaign and towards the acceptance of peaceful politics. This dissertation analyses how they were able to achieve this. This is carried out by considering the processes of the four major splits in modern day Irish republicanism from 1969 to 1997. Each split was analysed so as to derive why the split took place and why one side was more successful than the other in the aftermath. The cases were used to test a stage-based process model of split designed by the author. The data from thirty-eight semi-structured interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). This analysis treated the three Provisional splits as three micro-processes within the macro-process of Provisional Republican involvement in the ‘Troubles', as it did the two Official splits with respect to the Official macro-process of involvement. The results of the analysis showed that the success of the later Provisional leadership was significantly tied to their method of changing strategies, tactics and policies one step at a time rather than by attempting to implement a variety of substantial changes within a short space of time as the leadership of the 1960s endeavoured to. This research outlines how the acceptance of peaceful politics for a terrorist organisation is a gradual stage-based process and that in order to be successful the significant changes must be implemented in a patient manner.