Thesis (M. Div.)--St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, NY, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-66).

The issue of gender wage differentials has long been of interest not only to economists, but also to governments and policy makers. In the last few decades, the labour market outcomes for females seem to be improving; however, the gender pay gap persists globally and females still earn significantly less than males. However, labour market discrimination has not received the research attention it deserves in developing countries in general, and in Syria in particular. A wide variety of factors could influence the gender pay gap, such as human capital, job characteristics and social factors. In the Syrian context, social and cultural factors play an important role in determining the position of females in the labour market. However, most previous studies have ignored the effects of social factors on other variables. Therefore, this research investigates the indirect effect of social factors on wages through human capital and job characteristics. This thesis has two main aims: to examine the main determinants of earnings for men and women in Syria, and to investigate the existence and extent of discrimination in the observed gender wage differentials there. To achieve this, two methods were used. Firstly, the Mincerian wage equations were used to analyse gender wage determinants, then discrimination was estimated using Oaxaca’s decomposition. Secondly, General Linear Modelling (GLM) Univariate ANOVA was tested to reveal the main and interaction effects of the factors specified in the theoretical model. The data used in this research came from the Syrian Labour Force Survey (LFS) 2010 conducted by the Government through the Central Bureau of Statistics. The results indicated that human capital variables were vital in explaining individuals’ earnings. Also, job characteristics and social variables explained wages to different degrees. Rates of return to education were, on average, around 5%, with women’s returns being better for higher educational levels. All three groups of variables explained only 17.19% of the earning gap between men and women, leaving 82.81% that could be considered as labour market discrimination. The GLM models revealed that social factors have significant indirect effects on wages as, when adding these indirect effects to the model, the explained variance in wages increased from 35% to 55%. This research makes significant contributions to the field of gender wage differentials and discrimination in Syria. The results of this study could help the Syrian government to develop tailored policies for the Syrian labour market to narrow the gender pay gap as decreasing gender inequality would enhance productivity and foster economic growth.

What are we to understand by the term ‘security’ in international relations? This thesis explores the theoretical foundations of security risks and threats in modern politics. Taking Thomas Hobbes and Michel Foucault as the paradigmatic theorists of modern political power, this thesis explains security as an inherently contingent and contextual phenomenon, intertwined and embedded in socio-historical discourses. Each of the three chapters explain how security manifests and operates as a type of discourse (discursive formation) under sovereignty, working to achieve particular social, political, and epistemological ends. The practical focus of this project is a case study analysis of the Canadian Liberal Government’s #WelcomeRefugees project, a government assisted resettlement project for displaced victims of the Syrian civil war. Drawing on the example of the case study, this thesis investigates the underlying political, historical, and theoretical conditions which mobilize and inform modern political regimes of security and risk management. / Graduate

In March 2011, following the self-immolation of a Syrian man named Hasan Ali Akleh, several demonstrations were staged across Syria, leading to the arrest of many Syrians in the town of Deraa. These demonstrations escalated into an ongoing conflict in most cities and towns, known as the “Syrian Conflict” (aka “Syrian Crisis,” “Syrian Civil War,” or “Syrian Uprising”). The conflict has resulted in the worst humanitarian disaster since World War II and the Rwandan genocide. According to recent published reports by many international organizations (e.g. United Nations, Amnesty International, Europa), 11.5% of Syria’s population has been killed or injured since the conflict erupted in March 2011, more than 500,000 people have died, over 5 million refugees have fled Syria since 2011, and there has been massive destruction in Syrian cities and towns. This dissertation draws on narrative theory, narrative features, narrative framing, media responsibility, and the representation of the Other to provide a theoretical and conceptual foundation and fulfill the dissertation’s objectives. To do this, it has established a theoretical and conceptual model of analysis specific to the event in question to investigate how the quotations and narratives of Syrian citizens, delivered as texts presented in translation in English-language newspapers, narrate, frame, and represent the Syrian humanitarian disaster. This dissertation also scrutinizes media responsibility of the selected English-language newspapers as revealed in the selected and translated quotations and narratives. The dissertation methodologically utilizes a qualitative narrative analysis research design, and analyzes a purposive sample of translated quotations and narratives in 404 news texts from the online versions of the three following English-language newspapers: the British The Guardian, the American The New York Times, and the Canadian National Post. The findings of this dissertation ultimately encourage a better understanding of the crucial role that translation plays in narrating, framing, and representing humanitarian disasters within global media outlets.

This paper investigates the various aspects of the Syrian refugees’ exclusion in Lebanon which contradicts with the basic standards of human rights. Additionally, it investigates the stated motives of the Lebanese politicians that have legitimized the exclusion of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. This paper uses the social exclusion-inclusion theory in order to analyse the aspects of Syrian refugees’ exclusion in Lebanon. Further, this paper uses qualitative research methods of semi-structured interviews and content analysis. The findings of this paper show that the Syrian refugees are experiencing social, economic and political exclusion. More specifically, the exclusion consists of unemployment, the lack of social security system, healthcare system, education and housing. Furthermore, this paper concludes that Lebanese politicians have legitimized and justified the aspects of the Syrian refugees’ exclusion from various angles which led to deprive them of basic refugees’ rights.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are becoming a growing form of designing and implementing humanitarian response in emergency and post conflict areas. This research explores the role ICTs play in the new era of emerging humanitarian spaces, focusing on two main UN agencies, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), that cover a wide range of services in Jordan. This master thesis investigates the different interventions of these two organizations in response to the Syrian refugee crisis in Jordan, asking how ICTs contributed to the efficiency of their service delivery. This study also analyses the changes ICTs brought to UNHCR’s and UNICEF’s humanitarian response in Jordan by comparing the nature of response before and after the integration of ICTs in the different programs. By examining the existing literature related to the use of ICT in humanitarian response combined with fieldwork conducting key informant interviews with UNHCR and UNICEF staff in the field of innovation and ICT, this master thesis aims to provide a critical perspective on the digital development discourse. This study argues that ICT has helped to increase the efficiency of humanitarian services delivery by decreasing the overall cost of interventions and decreasing the time needed to respond to the beneficiaries needs, leading to increase beneficiaries’ satisfaction.

Coping during stress has been a very researched topic within the field of religion and religious psychology. During the Syrian civil war, female journalist Waad al- Khateab decided to film her experience as part of the opposition which turned into the documentary film For Sama. The aim of this study has been to analyze how coping is portrayed in the documentary film. The research questions for this study are the following: How is Waad Al-Khateabs coping process portrayed in her story and documentary film For Sama? How can the portrayal of Waad Al-Khateabs coping process be understood through religious coping theory? The method for this study has been qualitative narrative analysis, while Pargament’s (1997) coping theory has been applied on the material as well. The result of the study showed that Waad’s copingprocess primarily changes due to her new role as a wife and a mother. Her coping process could be understood through religious coping theory in different ways. Not knowing the future was mentally stressful for her, and religion was a part of the coping process while other strategies were also involved.

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