Diss. Northwestern Univ., 2007.

This study examines what experiences female, Muslim pupils have of wearing veil in the Swedish school and their thoughts about the veil and feminism. The method used is a qualitative semi structured interview study based on six pupils at an upper secondary school in south Sweden. The theoretical framework in the essay is based on multicultural education and postcolonial feminism. The results of this study reveal that the respondents have both positive and negative experiences of wearing the veil in school. On the one hand we find that none of the respondents share any story of being seriously discriminated or offended on the grounds of wearing a veil. On the other hand, are the pupils, either in specific situations or in general, feeling alienated through subtle gestures, looks and whispers in school. Regarding the respondent’s thoughts about feminism, the study concludes that all the respondents accept the fundamental values of feminism, that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men. Simultaneously they feel skeptical about the term ‘feminist’ and that feminism entails a certain way of life where the veil doesn’t belong. One important remark on the outcome of the study is that it would be desirable to incorporate discussions about other cultural phenomena in education, as the veil for example, which would not only make the education more pertinent to more pupils but also educate the pupils in intercultural sensibility. Secondly, a more nuanced education about the diversity within feminism could have the potential of including pupils who, for different reasons, are feeling a resistance against feminism.

As distribuições de abundância das espécies (SADs) são consideradas uma maneira informativa e sintética de descrever a diversidade biológica, e revelam um dos padrões mais bem estabelecidos da ecologia, que é a predominância de espécies raras nas comunidades biológicas. A generalidade deste padrão o torna relevante para a análise de outros parâmetros das comunidades. Além disso, ele levou ao desenvolvimento dos modelos teóricos de SAD. Os modelos estatísticos de SAD, por sua vez, passaram a ocupar um papel central na biologia, como principio empírico que sustenta várias teorias ecológicas. Preston sugeriu em 1948 que as SADs das comunidades naturais teriam uma distribuição aproximadamente Lognormal, porém apareciam truncadas devido ao efeito do tamanho amostral, cuja forma real só seria revelada, portanto, em amostras grandes. Esta ideia vai de encontro à propriedade estatística da consistência, que implica que o acúmulo de evidência causado pelo aumento do tamanho amostral favorece a aproximação ao modelo verdadeiro, bem como às estimativas de seus parâmetros. Além do efeito do tamanho amostral, os padrões de distribuição de abundância podem diferir dependendo da medida de abundância utilizada. Estudos sugerem que a biomassa seria uma medida de abundância mais adequada para revelar a distribuição subjacente de uma comunidade biológica em amostras ou escalas menores (differential veiling). Neste contexto, nosso objetivo principal neste trabalho foi investigar e discutir a vantagem de considerarmos a biomassa como medida de abundância nos modelos teóricos de distribuição de abundância das espécies. Avaliamos, então, o efeito do tamanho da amostra sobre a qualidade dos ajustes dos modelos sob duas diferentes medidas de abundância: biomassa e número de indivíduos. Simulamos amostras de diferentes tamanhos a partir de amostragens aleatórias de uma base de dados empírica e as ajustamos a diferentes modelos de SADs . Com isso, pudemos avaliar a eficiência das amostras - com cada medida de abundância - em revelar o modelo correto, bem como a acurácia e precisão das estimativas dos parâmetros desses modelos. Para o presente estudo, utilizamos um grupo com reconhecido potencial indicador e relevância para estudos ecológicos, os besouros Scarabaeinae. Os resultados encontrados neste estudo mostram que a maior eficiência da biomassa para revelar a distribuição subjacente não é tão geral quanto sugerem os trabalhos anteriores Os critérios de análise utilizados não favoreceram consistentemente a biomassa como medida mais eficiente em revelar o modelo correto e apresentar maior acurácia e precisão nas estimativas de seus parâmetros. Assim, a afirmativa de que a SAD de biomassa não é oculta (veiled) em escalas e amostra menores não parece ser geral. Os resultados obtidos no presente estudo também indicam que o padrão de differential veiling entre as SADs de biomassa e número de indivíduos podem variar dependendo da escolha do modelo e do conjunto de dados avaliados. No entanto, se a causa do differential veiling entre as SADs de biomassa e número de indivíduos for principalmente devido ao efeito de escala, uma explicação alternativa é que a escala do presente estudo teria que ser ampliada para podermos demonstrá-lo. Considerando então, os efeitos de amostragem apontados pelos nossos resultados sobre a medida de diversidade, destacamos que, apesar da importância do assunto, há uma escassez de estudos que investiguem o uso da biomassa como medida de abundância nas SADs, cujas implicações de diferentes efeitos sobre esta medida destacam a necessidade de estudos adicionais que possibilitem isolar o efeito de escala do efeito de tamanho amostral / The species abundance distributions (SADs) are considered an informative way to describe the biological diversity revealling one of the most wellestablished patterns in ecology: the predominance of rare species in biological communities. The generality of such pattern made it relevant to the analysis of other biodiversity parameters an to induce the development of theoretical models of SAD. On the other hand statistical models of SAD occupied a central role in biology as an empirical principle that underlies many ecological theories. Preston suggested in 1948 that SADs follow an approximately lognormal distribution, but that may appear truncated by the effect of sample size, being completely revealed only in large samples. This idea is associated with the statistical property of consistency, which implies that the accumulation of evidence - represented by the increase in sample size - approaches the samples distribution to the true model, as well as the estimates of the parameters to their real values. Beyond the effect of sample size, the SADs may differ depending on the measure of abundance adopted. Studies suggest that biomass could be a more efficient measure of abundance to reveal the underlying distribution of biological communities in smaller samples or scales (differential veiling). In this context, our aim in this study was to investigate and discuss the advantage of considering biomass in theoretical models of SAD. Thus we evaluated the effect of sample size on the quality of models fitness under two different measures of species abundance: biomass and number of individuals. We simulated samples of different sizes taken from an empirical database of Scarabaeinae beetles - recognized as a potential and relevant indicator in ecological studies. Further we adjusted the simulated samples to different SAD models and evaluated the efficiency of each kind of abundance index to reveal the correct model, as well as the accuracy and precision of the parameters estimates. Our results show that the efficiency of biomass to reveal the underlying distribution is not as general as suggested by previous works. According to our analysis criteria, biomass was not consistently as far more efficient in revealing the correct model or in providing greater accuracy and precision in parameters estimates than the number of individuals. Thus, the statement that the SAD biomass is not veiled on small scales or samples does not seem to be general. Moreover our results also indicate that the effect of differential veiling on SADs using biomass and number of individuals depends on the choice of the evaluated model and data set. However, if the cause of the differential veiling - between the biomass and number of individuals SADs - is mainly due to scale effects. An alternative explanation is that the scale of this study was not wide enough to show it. Considering the sampling effects studied here in biodiversity evaluation we highlight the lack of studies investigating the use of biomass as a measure of abundance in SADs which the implications of different effects on this measure indicate the urgent call by further studies on this subject, enablying us to isolate the effect of scale from the sample size

Le regard de l'autre est ce qui fait de nous des êtres humains. L'homme se nourrit de l'homme. Voiler son visage c'est priver l'autre de son image, c'est-à-dire de son identité naturelle et culturelle. Les motifs de femmes aux visage voilé apparaissent à Athènes au début du Ve siècle sur des vases à figures rouges. Des « mantel dancers » aux femmes trônantes différentes façon de voiler son visage ont été représentées. Ces images ont été découvertes de l'Asie mineure à l'Italie et de la mer Noire à la Cyrénaïque et à l'Egypte et dont les significations sont peu connues. La prise en compte des informations fournies par les documents d'autres natures, qui présentent un programme iconographique complet (céramiques, fresques, bijoux) a permis d'isoler sept groupes autour des différentes façons d'être voilé. Ils ont été datés et contextualisés. La prise en compte de toutes les variations que présentent les motifs, ainsi que des données fournies par les documents d'autres natures ont permis de donner un sens à un matériel, parfois issu de fouilles anciennes au contexte archéologique imprécis, et surtout de faire émerger des associations récurrentes porteuses de sens. Associée à un travail sur la valeur du geste et le sens du voile dans la société grecque, cette étude a permis de lier ces statuettes, longtemps objets d'interprétations différentes (femmes mariées, danseuses professionnelles, etc.), à des cérémonies féminines post-nuptiales liées à la fécondité, ainsi qu'avec certaines pratiques de cultes de type mystérique, comme celles du culte de Déméter ou de Cybèle. / The way the others perceive us is what makes us human beings. Humans feed off each other. To veil one's face is to deprive others from one's image, i.e. of one's natural and cultural identity. Veiled women first appear in Athens in the early 5th Century on red-patterned vases. From « mantel-dancers » to enthroned women, several ways of veiling one's face have been depicted. Between the 4th century and the 1st Century BCE, earthworks reveal an important number of works dedicated to various types of veiled women, found in as many different locations as Asia Minor, Italy, the Black Sea, Cyrenaica and Egypt, the meaning of which is little known. The consideration of documents of other types, thus offering a complete iconographic program (ceramic, frescoes, jewellery) has allowed to identify seven types of veiling. They have been dated and contextualized. Considering all the variations of these patterns, as well as the data obtained from documents of other types, has allowed to derive meaning from the material – sometimes originating from old excavations with precious little in the way of archaeological context – and, particularly, to reveal recurring, meaningful associations. Combined with work on the importance of gesture and the significance of the veil in Greek society, this study allows for the establishment of a connection between those statues, which for a long time have been subject to various interpretations (such as married women, professional dancers, and so on), and post-nuptial feminine ceremonies related to fecundity, as well as with some aspects of mysteries, such as those devoted to Demeter or Cybele.

In this study, a specific group of religiously active Muslim women is investigated about how they are treated in Swedish society and what they consider the role of women in Islam. Predictions that Islam would be a women-threatening religion is common in the media, but also among the majority of Sweden's population, according to respondents in this study. Therefore, the intention of the study has been to gain a better understanding of the Muslim women's lives in Sweden. The study has a qualitative approach based on a comparative hermeneutic interview study where five, active Muslim women to a varied extent have been interviewed. The result shows that all women have been subjected to violations in society and that they consider that the majority of Swedish society's individuals are prejudiced by Islam as religion assuming that Muslim women are oppressed, are abandoned against their will, have to wear veil and must obey their men - who are formed as aggressive and violent.

Les voiles du Sacrifice d’Iphigénie de Timanthe et du Rideau de Parrhasios problématisent le regard antique et font naître un au-delà qui stratifie la représentation. Le silence qu’ils introduisent dans l’image génère une activité « phantastique » fondatrice d’une poéticité visuelle. La Pala di San Marco adapte à un espace pictural unifié la structure du Tabernacle des Linaioli déjà empruntée au Tabernacle mosaïque. Séparant des espaces de sacralité croissante qui font écho à la lecture exégétique en vigueur au Couvent, les voiles y épaississent l’espace et le sens de l’œuvre, exigeant à chaque étape une transformation du regard. L’exégèse identifiant Marie à l’Arca Dei, le XVe siècle développe autour d’elle diverses formules tabernaculaires susceptibles d’annexer l’espace profane du spectateur. Au fond des Annonciations du Quattrocento le voile révélait le thalamus virginis, ventre métonymique de la Vierge. Cette symbolique s’effrite quand la scénographie se charge de l’évocation du Mystère. Le voile prend des accents métapicturaux ou révèle le vulgaire, la vanité, l’intime, la chair. Il les sacralise alors comme il avait sacralisé l’Arca Dei ou la figure de l’empereur. Aléatoire, il ouvre les œuvres à de surprenantes transgressions, comme l’érotisation des Virgo lactans. Les métaphores visuelles se multipliant pour évoquer ce qui pose problème à la représentation, le voile finit par prendre en charge l’image de ce qu’il cache. L’émergence du caché s’assume comme projet de l’œuvre. Contournant le précepte albertien, ce commerce avec l’invisible relie le motif à l’antique approche, ravivée par La Pléiade, d’une poésie qui n’a d’autre raison que d’en-visager l’ineffable. / Veils in Sacrifice of Iphigenia by Timanthes and Curtain by Parrhasius signify a problematisation of the Antiquity’s gaze and engender a hereafter which stratifies representation. The silence these works introduce within the image generates a phantastic activity, the founding basis of a visual poetry.Pala di San Marco adapts to a unified pictorial space the structure of Tabernacolo dei Linaioli already borrowed from the Tabernacle of Moses. Separating spaces of increased sacredness and in accordance with the exegetic reading, veils thicken the space and the meaning of the masterpiece, demanding at each stage a transformation of the viewers’ gaze.The exegesis identifying Marie to Arca Dei, the 15th century develops around her numerous forms which are epigones of the Tabernacle’s and become liable to encompass the viewer’s profane space. Deep within Annunciations of the Quattrocento, the veil revealed the thalamus virginis, metonymical belly of the Virgin Mary. This symbolism becomes eroded when the stage design evokes Mystery. The veil conveys metapictorial allusions or reveals vanity, intimacy, flesh. It « sacralizes » them as it did of Arca Dei or of the emperor. Unpredictably, all works become opened up to surprising transgressions, such as the eroticisation of Virgo lactans. Multiple visual metaphors alluding to what is problematic about representation, the veil supports the image of what it is hiding. The surfacing of the concealed becomes the artwork in itself. Skirting around Alberti’s precepts, this trade with the invisible connects the motif with the ancient concept, revived by La Pléiade, of a poetry whose motive is no other than to en-visage the ineffable.

La transparence des personnes morales en droit administratif se présente comme un argument visant à faire prévaloir la réalité de la situation d’une personne morale sur sa forme. L’argument de transparence entraîne une modification du rapport d’altérité entre deux personnes morales dont l’une est entièrement contrôlée par l’autre : alors qu’elles sont distinctes l’une de l’autre, le juge assimile l’organisme dépourvu d’autonomie à un service de la personne publique. La transparence n’est toutefois pas dotée d’un régime juridique stable et cohérent. L’opération de qualification est accessoire à sa mise en oeuvre, de sorte que les rapports juridiques entre les personnes morales varient. La personne morale n’est regardée comme « transparente » qu’à l’occasion d’un litige pour la résolution d’un problème juridique précis ; elle peut à nouveau être regardée comme distincte de la personne publique lors d’un nouveau procès. Avec cette technique, le juge administratif met en échec les effets de contournement des règles du droit administratif sans créer de règles ou d’exceptions jurisprudentielles nouvelles. Aux côtés du mandat administratif, l’argument de transparence permet de compléter l’arsenal de protection de la compétence du juge administratif et du respect des règles propres à l’administration, dont les effets et la portée peuvent être mesurés et adaptés aux situations. Il permet également aux requérants d’envisager une stratégie juridique susceptible de faire sauter l’obstacle de la personnalité morale de l’organisme que maîtrise totalement l’administration. / Piercing the veil of corporate entities in French administrative law appears as an argument which aims at letting the reality of the situation of a corporate entity prevail over its form. This argument of transparency modifies the relation of alterity between two corporate entities in which one is completely controlled by the other: while they are distinct from each other, the judge assimilates the organization devoid of autonomy to a service belonging to the public entity. However, transparency is not provided with a stable and coherent legal regime. The operation of qualification is incidental to its implementation, so that judiciary relations between corporate entities vary. The corporate entity is only regarded as “transparent” in the course of a litigation concerning the resolving of a precise judiciary problem; it can be considered as distinct again from the public entity at a new trial. With this process, the administrative judge defeats the bypassing of the rules of administrative law without creating any new rule or jurisprudential exception. Together with administrative mandates, the argument of transparency allows to complete the arsenal of protection of the administrative judge’s authority and to enforce administrative rules, whose effects and reach can be measured and adapted to situations. It also allows petitioners to consider a legal strategy that may overcome the obstacle posed by the corporate entity of the organization which is completely controlled by the administration

L’eau est chez Terrence Malick une figure emblématique de la nature, ce dans une certaine continuité avec l’ensemble du cinéma américain le plus populaire (Steven Spielberg). Malick, en dépit d’une formation en philosophie, n’apparaît pas comme une figure isolée dans son pays.La nature se cache (Héraclite). Elle présente un visage insouciant à l’enfance avant de revêtir le masque de l’indifférence à l’âge adulte. Mais l’invisible de la nature traduit moins de l’effroi que du mystère (Jacques Tourneur). L’indifférence cède la place au véritable étonnement philosophique, celui de la création du monde (naissance de Vénus). Le voile de la nature peut susciter de la violence (le monde de la technique de Heidegger). Y renoncer au profit de la contemplation est possible (Henry Hathaway et le film Peter Ibbetson). La posture du retrait sera privilégiée à la force (Minnelli au cinéma, Marc Aurèle ou Leibniz en philosophie). La piscine et le pont illustrent le rapport de distance existant entre l'individu et l’eau. S’agissant de l’eau prise comme symbole de l’écoulement temporel, l’écueil est de l’appréhender comme un motif de dislocation entre les âges de la vie. Elle est dans le même ordre d’idées une figure privilégiée de la mort. Cette illusion peut être écartée par une appréhension renouvelée des âges de la vie, qui ne se succèdent pas mais s’unissent en permanence en une union qui rappelle la leçon de Proust et bien avant lui d’Héraclite, avec son enfant qui joue présenté comme symbole du temps. Le pont figure là encore un symbole de ce temps retrouvé capable de soigner des maux souvent rencontrés dans le cinéma américain (syndromes de Carlotta et Lolita). / Water constitutes with Terrence Malick a fundamental figure representative of nature, in the lineage of the most popular American cinema (Spielberg). Malick, despite the importance of his philosophical culture, appears the contrary of an isolated figure in his country.The main characteristic of nature is to hide (Heraclitus). Nature presents a friendly face to the child and becomes indifferent for the adult. The invisibility of nature in water conveys less fright than a sense of mystery (Jacques Tourneur). Indifference gives way to philosophical wonder linked to the creation of the world from water (the birth of Venus).Violence can respond to the veil (the technical world of Heidegger). But contemplation can replace cold reason (Henry Hathaway and his movie Peter Ibbetson). The idea is not to force nature to deliver its message, but to step back in a way announced by philosophers Marcus Aurelius and Leibniz, and movie maker Minnelli. The swimming pool and the bridge represent two space figures which permit to illustrate the distance between the individual and water.As to water as a symbol of time flowing, the mistake is to understand time as fragmented periods of life without any connection. Water is also a symbol of death. The illusion can vanish when apprehending time in a renewed manner. The ages of life do not follow each other but are permanently combined in a union reminiscent of Proust’s teachings. The bridge represents once more this time newly found able to heal psychological diseases often encountered in American cinema (syndromes of Carlotta and Lolita).

The aim of this thesis was to map the specific phenomenon of 18th century Italian sculpture called "figura velata". It is a female figure with a face veiled in a thin transparent drapery (veil), under which the features of her face are drawn. Illusional treatment of drapery plays with the viewer's vision and creates the impression of something that is not really there. Figura velata was codified as a term especially in connection with the work of the Venetian sculptor Antonio Corradini and his sculptures of this type. The veiling of the human face has been a motif known in the visual arts since ancient times, and in the history of art has played an important role in some cultures and has been associated with various symbolic interpretations. The introduction focuses on clarifying the relationship between the terms of veiling and unveiling or visible and invisible. It is followed by a chapter for which the use of the term veiling in connection with the element of the veil as a bearer of meaning has become the mainstay. A substantial part of the thesis focuses not only on the study of selected sculptural realizations through formal analysis, but also on the meaning of the figure in the over-all iconographic concept. The final part of the thesis is devoted to the reflection and subsequent...

The bachelor thesis examines the protection of religious freedom in Sweden and France, with a main point on the right to wear religious symbols and clothing. The subject is processed in relation to the Member States obligations in accordance with the freedom of religion, provided for in Article 9 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. The right to wear religious symbols and attire has a broad meaning, and in this thesis special focus is placed on the right to wear a religious veil, as the Swedish legal situation is in stark contrast to the French law's restrictive view on the subject. In order to answer the thesis main question, a legal-judicial and comparative law approach is applied. Legislation that has been dealt with in its entirety, is the second chapter in the Swedish regeringsformen (1974:152), the European Convention, the French principle of laïcité, the French Education Act (Article L141-5-1 du Code de l’éducation), the French law on the prohibition of veils in public environments (Loi n° 2010-1192  du 11 octobre 2010 interdisant la dissimulation du visage dans l'espace public) and the French Constitution (Constitution of October 4, 1958). Finally, the authors orientation in the research questions of the essay has been emphasized, and a remark about the French legislation has been made.