This dissertation argues that the Hudson’s Bay Company depot that was built at Norway House beginning in 1825 created economic opportunities that were sufficiently strong to draw Aboriginal people to the site in such numbers that, within a decade of its establishment, the post was the locus of a thriving community. This was in spite of the lack of any significant trade in furs, in spite of the absence of an existing Aboriginal community on which to expand and in spite of the very small number of Hudson’s Bay Company personnel assigned to the post on a permanent basis. Although economic factors were not the only reason for the development of Norway House as a community, these factors were almost certainly primus inter pares of the various influences in that development. This study also offers a new framework for the conception and construction of community based on documenting day-to-day activities that were themselves behavioural reflections of intentionality and choice. Interpretation of these behaviours is possible by combining a variety of approaches and methodologies, some qualitative and some quantitative. By closely counting and analyzing data in archival records that were collected by fur trade agents in the course of their normal duties, it is possible to measure the importance of various activities such as construction, fishing and hunting. With a clear understanding of what people were actually doing, it is possible to interpret their intentions in the absence of explicit documentary evidence.

Be it the Algerian National Liberation Front, the African National Congress in South Africa or the continued struggle of the Palestinian people, the principle of self-determination is largely central to all projects of national liberation. This paper addresses what is arguably a deficient conception of self-determination by highlighting two factors that contributed to this deficiency. The first is the re-enforcement of dependency in self-determination projects by international institutions, primarily through the Mandate System. The second is a merit-based system of conditionality for the granting of independence, accompanied by a tendency to deformalize the law, relegating self-determination to an empty principle, the substance of which is decided by the negotiations’ context. The case of Palestine is used to demonstrate how those factors are adopted as central means in resolving the Palestinian self-determination problem, which in-turn leads to a deficient conception that does not account for the core content of the right.

Be it the Algerian National Liberation Front, the African National Congress in South Africa or the continued struggle of the Palestinian people, the principle of self-determination is largely central to all projects of national liberation. This paper addresses what is arguably a deficient conception of self-determination by highlighting two factors that contributed to this deficiency. The first is the re-enforcement of dependency in self-determination projects by international institutions, primarily through the Mandate System. The second is a merit-based system of conditionality for the granting of independence, accompanied by a tendency to deformalize the law, relegating self-determination to an empty principle, the substance of which is decided by the negotiations’ context. The case of Palestine is used to demonstrate how those factors are adopted as central means in resolving the Palestinian self-determination problem, which in-turn leads to a deficient conception that does not account for the core content of the right.

This dissertation argues that the Hudson’s Bay Company depot that was built at Norway House beginning in 1825 created economic opportunities that were sufficiently strong to draw Aboriginal people to the site in such numbers that, within a decade of its establishment, the post was the locus of a thriving community. This was in spite of the lack of any significant trade in furs, in spite of the absence of an existing Aboriginal community on which to expand and in spite of the very small number of Hudson’s Bay Company personnel assigned to the post on a permanent basis. Although economic factors were not the only reason for the development of Norway House as a community, these factors were almost certainly primus inter pares of the various influences in that development. This study also offers a new framework for the conception and construction of community based on documenting day-to-day activities that were themselves behavioural reflections of intentionality and choice. Interpretation of these behaviours is possible by combining a variety of approaches and methodologies, some qualitative and some quantitative. By closely counting and analyzing data in archival records that were collected by fur trade agents in the course of their normal duties, it is possible to measure the importance of various activities such as construction, fishing and hunting. With a clear understanding of what people were actually doing, it is possible to interpret their intentions in the absence of explicit documentary evidence.

This thesis re-examines the territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, the so-called “Northern Territories” issue, through a reinterpretation of the role of the indigenous Ainu of Japan. An exploration of Ainu history and historiography reveals that the long-standing emphasis on Wajin-based legitimacy of rule and annexation of northern areas was replaced by historical amnesia concerning the role and status of the Ainu. Discussion focuses on an interpretation of Ainu understandings of local, regional/national and international historical events. This approach underscores the importance of de-nationalising History by integrating the important perspectives of Indigeneity. It asserts, further, that the understanding of these events and processes require a broader disciplinary prism than that provided by the study of history. The preponderance of nation-based studies, and not only in the field of History, has seriously inhibited the analysis of historical phenomena involving Indigenous peoples, in this case the Ainu. The study of the Northern Territories issue offers, then, both a new perspective on the history of this important dispute and an illustration of the importance of broadening traditional academic studies in disciplines such as History, Anthropology, Ecology, Political Science, International Relations and Law to incorporate Indigenous perspectives and experience.

This thesis re-examines the territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, the so-called “Northern Territories” issue, through a reinterpretation of the role of the indigenous Ainu of Japan. An exploration of Ainu history and historiography reveals that the long-standing emphasis on Wajin-based legitimacy of rule and annexation of northern areas was replaced by historical amnesia concerning the role and status of the Ainu. Discussion focuses on an interpretation of Ainu understandings of local, regional/national and international historical events. This approach underscores the importance of de-nationalising History by integrating the important perspectives of Indigeneity. It asserts, further, that the understanding of these events and processes require a broader disciplinary prism than that provided by the study of history. The preponderance of nation-based studies, and not only in the field of History, has seriously inhibited the analysis of historical phenomena involving Indigenous peoples, in this case the Ainu. The study of the Northern Territories issue offers, then, both a new perspective on the history of this important dispute and an illustration of the importance of broadening traditional academic studies in disciplines such as History, Anthropology, Ecology, Political Science, International Relations and Law to incorporate Indigenous perspectives and experience.

In this study we have tried to explore what happens when individuals find themselves in a new environment in which the ever-existence of different cultures. The essence of this study is how identity - culture and creativity happens when different cultures meet and what the identity of the role in this dynamic process is. We have chosen to do the survey at the Swedish Migration Board, as authority it is a place where many cultures meet and where different people are in interaction with each other every day. The study is empirically based, where we have interviewed twelve informants who, among other things, held various positions in the Immigration Service in the West. There are the informants statements that we have analyzed with a number of theoretical points that we have had as a tool for this study. The theoretical starting points are colonialism/postcolonialism, creolizing/Creole, ethnicity, stereotyping, intersectionality, identity and culture. Based on these theories, we have been able to think about why our world can still have an element of colonialism and how creolizing not only can occur during colonialism. With the concept intersectionality, we have been able to access more than one factor that affects the individual at the meeting with others. We have also been able to access and illustrate how humans can have multiple identities, cultures, and that culture is not a fixed and a uniform phenomenon.

When European explorers in the 19th century came to East Afiica they found Kiswahili was already established as a lingua franca in the coastal region and along the trade routes from the coast to the interior. One of them, an Englishman, John Hanning Speke, embarked on his second journey, in 1860, from Bagamoyo and travelled inland. When he reached Karagwe on the west side of Lake Nyanza, he was welcomed by Mukama Rumanika, the ruler of Karagwe, who `spoke to Speke in Swahili` (Clerke 1960: 74}. (On his previous journey to the same area, Speke gave the name of Victoria to Lake Nyanza, in honour of Queen Victoria of England) Kiswahili, then, was taken for granted as a language of communication as far inland as Karagwe. Other 19th century European travellers and explorers (Albrecht Roscher, Hermann von Wissmann, Richard Burton, David Livingstone and others) who reached trade centres inland, such as Njombe, Tabora and Ujiji, found Kiswahili was an inrportant language of trade.

TRANSFORMING RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES INTO ETHNIES: THE PROCESS OF LEBANESE NATION-BUILDING 1920-1958 G&uuml / rcan, AySe Ezgi MSc., Graduate Program of Middle East Studies Supervisor: Dr. Erdogan Yildirim August 2007, 100 pages This thesis analyzes the process of nation-building in Lebanon in an historical context, covering the period staring from the declaration of the French Mandate in 1920 until the first civil war of 1958. The thesis defines nation-building as a process of transformation of the pre-modern form of religious identity into the modern ethnic and/or ethno-national identity, which develops along with state-making. In contrast to the claims in the literature that label all non-Western nation-building and state-making as deficient processes emerged as a result of the direct effects of Western colonialism, this study aims to establish an alternative approach in understanding the process of Lebanese nation-building. In this context the thesis evaluates the validity of the premises of the modern nationalism approaches in the literature on questions such as how far colonialism can be labeled as the primary source of Third World nationalism(s), and to what extent the nation-building processes were successful. The thesis claims that the Lebanese case presents a complex case, since nation-building was emerged not only emerged as a result of Western colonialism and power struggles but also did materialize because of the power struggles between and within domestic (Lebanon), regional (Arab states) and international (Europe and Ottoman Empire) actors.

The aim of this study is to investigate characteristics of urban transformation in Antioch and Alexandretta during the French Mandate, 1920-1938. Contending that a purely formal analysis would fail to grasp complex politics of architecture and urbanism promoted by the French administration, this thesis seeks to explore the urban transformation of these cities in its political and representational context. In analyzing the French perception of the urban space especially in Antioch, this thesis devotes an extensive attention to the nineteenth century travelers who visited Antioch, by emphasizing the ways in which they described the urban make-up of the city. Moreover, it situates the case of Antioch and Alexandretta within the broader framework of French colonial architecture and urbanism by occassionally referring to French North Africa on the one hand, and other cities of the French Mandate in Syria and Lebanon on the other hand. Along with an analysis of the changing built environment in Antioch and Alexandretta, other visual and representational strategies such as the colonial exhibition, archeological works, scholarly endeavors, and tourism are discussed. It is the major premise of this thesis that a comprehensive portrayal of the architectural and urban transformation of these cities might be attained only through the inclusion of different forms of political and visual representation.