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This thesis explores the role of hope within the Biden administration’s biographical narrative during the year after the Capitol attack on January 6th. The thesis provides for both an exploration of the case and how hope within national identity representations can be analyzed, as well as the value of hope after a disruptive event with consequences for the nation’s self-understanding. Previous research has focused mainly on fear of the outside or internal anxiety as drivers of state identity representations while implicitly assuming the occurrence of universality or a stable identity within the state. Instead, the theorizing on hope proposed by the thesis suggests that the American subject is unfinished and incomplete within its identity representations and requires hope to move forward, while also immunizing notions of fear and anxiety. While a complete identity can never be reached, American identity representations are sustained by manifesting hope for the future. Even though the American collective subject may never reach its desired unity, the hope that it someday might allow for the continuation of identity representations of the striving subject.

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[pt] A dissertação de mestrado busca explorar a proposta do ex-presidente dos Estados Unidos Donald J. Trump de construir uma barreira física ao longo de toda a fronteira sul durante os anos de sua campanha eleitoral e posterior presidência (2015 - 2020). Mais especificamente, busca-se questionar o papel desempenhado pelo muro fronteiriço, construído apenas parcialmente em termos físicos, mas amplamente fortificado em termos discursivos e simbólicos, considerando a retórica afetivamente carregada de Trump que narrou um cenário de crise existencial nos Estados Unidos, apelando para sentimentos de insegurança ontológica entre seu eleitorado. Enquanto o projeto para construir o muro físico na fronteira encontrava-se cheio de inconsistências e desafios técnicos, o muro simbólico evocado por Trump repetidamente através do discurso parecia desempenhar um papel mais abrangente que ia além da barreira física, tornando-se elemento central na agenda política de Trump ao longo toda a sua presidência no que diz respeito à política de imigração. Quais são, então, os caminhos possíveis para entender como e por que o muro resiste discursiva e politicamente, mesmo quando parece falhar na prática? Para esta tarefa, o trabalho de pesquisa emprega uma abordagem dupla, primeiro sugerindo pensar criticamente sobre os enquadramentos discursivos de Trump sobre o muro de fronteira por meio de uma abordagem lacaniana à segurança ontológica e, em segundo lugar, adotando um olhar mais atento ao contexto sócio-econômico ao qual o muro responde, e que permite que este ressoe tão amplamente através do discurso, explorando as experiências vividas pela parcela dos apoiadores de Trump que encontravam-se empobrecidos e muitas vezes raivosamente ressentidos sob décadas de hegemonia neoliberal progressista. / [en] This Master s dissertation seeks to explore former US president Donald J. Trump s proposal to build a physical barrier along the entire Southern border throughout the years of his campaign and presidency (2015 - 2020). More specifically, it seeks to question the role played by the border wall, built only partially in physical terms but extensively fortified in discursive and symbolic ones, considering Trump’s affectively charged rhetoric which narrated a scenario of existential crisis in America, appealing to feelings of ontological insecurity among his constituency. While the project to construct the physical border wall itself was filled with inconsistencies and technical challenges, the symbolic wall evoked by Trump repeatedly through discourse seemed to play an overarching role which went beyond the physical barrier, and was a core element in Trump’s political agenda throughout his entire presidency wherever immigration policy was concerned. What, then, are the possible pathways for understanding how and why the wall withstands discursively and politically even as it seems to fail practically? For this task, this work of research employs a two-fold approach by first suggesting thinking about Trump s discursive framings of the border wall critically through a Lacanian approach to ontological security and, secondly, by arguing for a more attentive look towards the social and economic contexts to which the symbolic wall responds and which enables it to resonate so widely through discourse, exploring the lived experiences of impoverished and often angrily resentful Trump supporters under decades of progressive-neoliberal hegemony.

This thesis investigates global fight against terrorism in North West Pakistan and Afghanistan from a 21st century perspective in 2018. It focuses on local attitudes towards the War on Terror and their interplay with geo-strategic, regional, international and Pakistan’s domestic landscapes. In doing so, it questions the efficacy of existing academic and policy approaches towards achieving sustainable peace in North West Pakistan in particular and South Asia in general. It also evaluates the impact of regional rivalries especially in between Pakistan and India on the achievement of US foreign policy interests. Part-1 reviews existing literature on terrorism especially in post 9/11 setting. It examines the international discord of agreeing on a single definition of terrorism and its ramifications. It sequentially focuses on character of security in North West Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan since colonial times. It also identifies various traditional, religious and societal angles of Pashtun tribes; which always inspired them to fight against external powers. Part-2 combines academic investigations with empirical evidence. The results are correlated with current discussions on modern terrorism, geopolitical pulls and regional rivalries to create a holistic picture. It identifies local attitudes and regional rivalries as major impediments towards achievement of sustainable peace. Research findings indicated that predominant Western academic debates on the conflict were foreign policy inspired with little local and veteran input. By adapting a pragmatic approach the terrorism challenge can be addressed and the region can contribute towards the continuation of ‘Rules Based Order’ within the current phase of Great Power Rivalry.

There is currently a global trend of democratic backsliding. The term democratic backsliding refers to the process in which a country undergoes a transition towards more authoritarian values and behavior. This process can weaken the democratic norms and institutions and can occur in democratic, hybrid, and nondemocratic regimes. Many countries around the world have been displaying nondemocratic tendencies for decades, but democratic backsliding is also transpiring in countries that have been democratic for an extended period of time. One country that has experienced forms of democratic backsliding is the United States of America, especially under the presidency of Donald Trump. The aim of this essay is to determine what authoritarian behavior Donald Trump engaged in during his presidential term from 2016 to 2020.  The theory on democratic backsliding by Bermeo as well as the four warning signs of authoritarian behavior by Levitsky and Ziblatt will be applied to conduct the research. The study is a qualitative case study, investigating each year of Donald Trump’s presidency. The results of this study indicate that Donald Trump did engage in authoritarian behavior during his presidential term.

Buddhist prison outreach is a relatively recent development, in the United States of America and elsewhere, and has yet to be chronicled satisfactorily. This thesis traces the physical, legal and social environment in which such activities take place and describes the history of Buddhist prison outreach in the USA from its earliest indications in the 1960s to the present day. The mechanics of Buddhist prison outreach are also examined. Motivations for participating in Buddhist prison outreach are discussed, including Buddhist textual supports, role models and personal benefits. This paper then proposes that volunteers active in this area are members of a liminal communitas as per Victor Turner and benefit from ‘non-player’ status, as defined by Ashis Nandy. The experiences of the inmates themselves is beyond the scope of this thesis. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Religious Studies)

In recent years, criminal justice reform has become a hot-button issue in public policy realm. Public officials, academics, and activists alike have brought issues like police brutality, mandatory sentencing laws, and illicit drug policy to the forefront of the American political conversation. In an effort to contribute to this ongoing conversation, this thesis will explore three main topics within the criminal justice reform debate in the United States and provide potential solutions that policymakers can implement. The topics include illicit drug policy, mass-incarceration, and policing methods.

This thesis explores the role of constituent congregations of Church World Service (CWS) in the process of resettling refugees in the U.S. It is based upon case studies built around a series of interviews conducted with members of three congregations who sponsored African families for resettlement in Minnesota. Reflecting upon the experiences of those interviewed, the discourse considers the efficacy of refugee resettlement as a means for Christian congregations to extend hospitality to strangers. The thesis explores the broader theme of Christian hospitality as a particular activity of the church. Hospitality is approached using the scriptural theme of welcoming the stranger as it is taken up by contemporary theologians. Christine Pohl, author of Making Room, is regarded as a leading authority on hospitality. Much of her research is based on the work of Jean Vanier, founder of the L’Arche communities. This thesis suggests that Pohl’s treatment lacks both a usable definition of hospitality and a sufficient theological framework in which to locate it. In redressing these omissions, Pohl’s work is examined in light of Vanier in order to establish an understanding of what comprises a particularly Christian approach to hospitality. Finally, the thesis proposes that as hospitality is understood as an act instituted by the person of Christ and imbued by the Holy Spirit, it is to be considered an act constitutive of the Church itself. Therefore it is an act necessary to the life of the Church as the Body of Christ. While contemporary research engages with hospitality as such an act, little work has been undertaken how it can be applied at the congregational level. CWS’s model of refugee sponsorship provides congregations with the tangible means by which they may offer hospitality to strangers.