This study analyzes the claims-making and counter-claims-making on citizenship and faith by American and Canadian Muslim political actors over the 2001-2008 period. It highlights the interactive processes by which competing discourses on citizenship and faith are negotiated to produce divergent constructions of Muslim citizenship: mainstream, liberal, secular, and progressive. Utilizing insights from theories of citizenship, collective identity and social movements, I show how divergent collective identities are produced within the same categorical group through complex interactions between: a) ideological baggage and biographies of claims-makers; b) demographic patterns of communities; c) historical tensions in the traditions and identities that are being negotiated; and d) the actual political constellations, both proximate and durable, in which such claims and counter-claims are being made. Moreover, such contests about collective identity, citizenship and faith are not only relevant for the group (American Muslim or Canadian Muslim), but also help highlight the inclusions, exclusions and blindspots in national narratives about belonging and hierarchies of obligations and how these are challenged. / Cette recherche analyse les revendications et les contre-revendications liées à la citoyenneté et à la foi faites par les acteurs politiques musulmans américains et canadiens durant la période 2001-2008. Elle met en évidence les processus interactifs par lesquels des discours en concurrence sur la citoyenneté et sur la foi sont négociés et aboutissent à des constructions divergentes de la citoyenneté musulmane, ces constructions étant de type dominant, libéral, laïque ou progressiste. En utilisant des concepts des théories sur la citoyenneté, sur l'identité collective et sur les mouvements sociaux, la recherche explique comment des identités collectives divergentes sont produites au sein d'un même groupe à travers des interactions complexes entre : a) le bagage idéologique et les biographies des revendicateurs; b) les structures démographiques des communautés; c) les tensions historiques par rapport aux traditions et aux identités qui sont négociées; et d) les constellations politiques actuelles et préalables aux revendications et contre-revendications. De plus, ces contestations concernant l'identité collective, de la citoyenneté et de la foi ne sont pas seulement pertinentes pour le groupe étudié (les musulmans canadiens ou américains), mais elles contribuent aussi à mettre en relief les éléments qui sont inclus, exclus et omis dans les discours nationaux sur l'appartenance des citoyens et sur les hiérarchies dans les obligations, ainsi que la façon dont ces discours sont remis en question.

In the process of negotiating land claims, First Nations in British Columbia and Canada face the challenging task of presenting a unified identity without trampling on the inevitable diversity within their communities. This thesis explores the perceived conflict between unity and diversity amongst Native populations. It brings together fieldwork in St6:l o territory in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, performance theory, and contemporary discourse surrounding identity production at this particular point in time. The work examines performance of identity as a form of social action and the variability of identity performances. Data was gathered from interviews with people involved with two sites where educational programmes are being developed for local students: Xa:ytem Longhouse Interpretive Centre at Hatzic Rock, near Mission, and Longhouse Extension Programme/ Shxwt'a:selhawtxw on St6:l o Nation grounds in Chilliwack. The theme explored in this thesis is that just as unity is politically expedient, diversity and its management is an important facet of the performance of identity.

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Drawing on in-depth interviews with migrant caregivers, community workers and government employees, this thesis explores the dream among Filipina women working in Canada's Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP) to build a life in Canada. Uncovering the actions they take on the path to realizing this dream, I first examine the common challenges caregivers encounter while working as temporary workers in the LCP. The analysis deepens to reveal the struggles caregivers engage in to improve their lives, despite institutional obstacles to exercising their rights. Ultimately, the analysis addresses the wider institutional context by examining Canada's contemporary citizenship regime. Throughout their journey to claiming a permanent home in Canada, caregivers are confronted with vulnerabilities rooted in this regime. However, those who experience greater social inclusion in the local community find strength and courage to overcome adversity. / Basée sur des entrevues approfondies avec des aides familiales immigrantes, ainsi que des employés provenant des milieux communautaire et gouvernemental, cette thèse explore le rêve des femmes philippines travaillant dans le cadre du Programme des aides familiaux résidants (PAFR) de s'établir au Canada. Tout en retraçant les actions qu'elles entreprennent pour réaliser ce rêve, j'examine d'abord les défis auxquels ces femmes sont confrontées et ensuite les épreuves qu'elles tentent de surmonter pour améliorer leur vie malgré la présence de plusieurs obstacles institutionnels à l'exercice de leurs droits. Finalement, l'analyse se concentre sur le contexte institutionnel plus général en examinant le régime de citoyenneté du Canada. Tout au long de leur parcours vers l'obtention de la résidence permanente, les aides familiales sont confrontées aux faiblesses de ce régime. Par contre, celles qui sont mieux intégrées à leur communauté locale trouvent la force et le courage de surmonter l'adversité.

Ethnic conflict is the most common type of internal armed conflict in the world. It often involves systematic attacks on civilian populations and is therefore also the major source of most of the world's 9.2 million external refugees and 25 million internal refugees. In 2003, Asia-Pacific was the region second most affected by conflict-induced displacement and in 2004 it had the second largest global number of internal refugees following Africa. Given the likelihood that this trend will continue, it is perhaps surprising that a relative lack of research has been conducted concerning the relationship between ethnic conflict and refugee movements within this region compared to other areas. It is therefore imperative that a comprehensive study be undertaken to fill this void of knowledge. The fundamental question posed by my thesis is why do some ethnic conflicts produce external refugees and others do not in the Southeast Asia/Pacific region? To answer this question, this thesis develops a theoretical model from which to analyse variations in both external and internal refugee numbers as a result of ethnic conflict in the region. It applies the model to specific ethnic conflicts in Fiji, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Solomon Islands during the period 1995 2005 and identifies a common set of factors conducive to creating internal and external refugees. The findings emphasise the interlinked nature of the variables and demonstrate that no single-factor explanation exists that can explain how refugees are created.

This thesis performs a social mapping of the field of British-Asian independent film between 1976 and 1996. Through a practical application of Pierre Bourdieu's methodological approach to reading cultural production, this research examines a series of film production contexts as a means of revealing refracted homologies between particular texts, the cultural field and the broader field of power in Britain. The empirical core of the thesis identifies and examines five different film practices: an excluded film practice, an institutional film practice, a theoretical film practice, a successful film practice and contemporary film practices. The selected films are primarily analysed as cultural "barometers" of the given social contexts, providing for each of the empirical chapters a basis from which to map the genesis of a particular film practice. By mapping the relations between cultural production, the key social events and forces for change as actualised within the films, each empirical chapter aims to reveal the dominant logic which informed given film practices. Ethnicity, instead of functioning as the essential object of analysis, provides this research with a starting point and the key sampling device to map the British independent film field. In principal, this thesis examines the ways in which images of "ethnic minorities" in the British independent film field have been both liberated and regulated through the presence of dominant dispositions which have structured the field generating, and consecrating particular film-making practices over and above others.

The loyalties of immigrant groups have often been questioned, particularly when they are considered to be suspect minorities whose loyalties to their homelands may outweigh their loyalties to their countries of settlement. As such, the concept of "conflicting allegiances" is built on the premise that the two loyalties are mutually exclusive, and that one must be prioritized over the other. However, this dissertation argues that the narratives that second-generation members of the Sri Lankan Tamil diasporic community hold regarding their homeland and their country of settlement opens space for the adoption of a hybrid Canadian-Tamil/Tamil-Canadian identity, as well as dual loyalties for both their homeland and their country of settlement. In conceptualizing their homeland as a "bleeding homeland", with a history of discrimination and victimization, this diasporic community is motivated to engage in homeland politics and to identify strongly with their Tamil ethnic identity. This loyalty to their homeland is further reinforced by conceptualizing their country of settlement as a "safe haven", where the Canadian identity is centred on tolerance, diversity and multiculturalism. This dissertation draws on interviews conducted with second-generation members of the Sri Lankan Tamil community in Toronto as well as their age-cohort in Sri Lanka, and argues that while there may be concerns about immigrants as suspect minority groups who hold conflicting allegiances, the story of Canada as conceptualized by second-generation immigrants actually encourages the development of a hybrid identity and the maintenance of dual loyalties. / La loyauté des groupes immigrants a souvent été questionnée, particulièrement lorsqu'ils sont considérés comme des minorités suspectes dont la loyauté envers leur pays d'origine peut être plus importante que leur loyauté envers leur pays d'accueil. Ce concept d' « allégeances conflictuelles » est basé sur la prémisse que les deux loyautés sont mutuellement exclusives et que, par conséquent, l'une doit avoir la priorité sur l'autre. Cependant, cette dissertation soutient que la conception que les membres de la seconde génération de la communauté diasporique Tamoule du Sri Lanka ont de leur pays d'origine ainsi que de leur pays d'accueil ouvre un espace qui permet l'adoption d'une identité hybride de Canadien-Tamoule/ Tamoule-Canadien, ainsi qu'une loyauté double à la fois pour leur pays d'origine et leur pays d'accueil. En conceptualisant leur pays d'origine en tant que « terre natale qui saigne », comportant un historique de discrimination et de victimisation, cette communauté diasporique est motivée à participer à la politique de leur pays d'origine et ainsi s'associer fortement avec leur identité ethnique Tamoule. Cette loyauté envers leur terre natale est de plus renforcée en conceptualisant leur pays d'accueil en tant qu' « havre de paix » où l'identité Canadienne met l'emphase sur la tolérance, la diversité ainsi que le multiculturalisme. Cette dissertation utilise des entrevues conduites avec des membres de la seconde génération de la communauté Tamoule du Sri Lanka vivant à Toronto ainsi que des membres correspondant à ce même groupe d'âge vivant toujours au Sri Lanka. Cette dissertation soutient que, bien qu'il puisse exister des inquiétudes concernant la loyauté de certains immigrants considérés comme étant des minorités suspectes qui possèdent une allégeance conflictuelle, ce projet démontre que l'histoire du Canada telle qu'elle est conceptualisée par cette seconde génération d'immigrants encourage le développement d'une identité hybride et la persistance d'une loyauté double.

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This thesis investigates the creation of Afrikaner identity, more particularly the role of an individual in the shaping of public consciousness, in order to help comprehend how 'Afrikaner' identity was propagated. The focus is on Eugene Marais's career from 1890 to 1936, a period in which the Afrikaner language was standardised and changing socio-economic forces produced the conditions under which class and regional fragmentation yielded to pan-South African Afrikaner identity. This thesis does not retell the story of Marais's life. Neither does it give an overview of the rise of Afrikaner nationalism. Instead, it lies between these two poles. Marais represents two important foci of research: those who assisted in the self-conscious construction of Afhkanerdom and those who came to be seen as ware Afrikaners (true Afrikaners) and volkshelde (heroes of the people). This thesis tells a story woven from two contrapuntal narratives. The first speaks of an individual's life and work, the second, of a wider context of culture-brokers and the process of creating ethnic consciousness. The initial two chapters trace the workings of Afrikaner identity from the pre-South African War interaction between politics and those coming increasingly to define themselves as Afrikaners, to the interplay of ethnicity and language within the divided cultural elite. The discussion then turns to the use of popular science by this elite, in the making and propagation of an Afrikaner identity. The following two chapters consider the interaction of the Afrikaner with other groups, exploring cultural osmosis between ethnic communities and the image of another race in Afrikaans literature. Finally, the myth-making of the Afrikaner, particularly the creation of a volksheld, is considered, to examine the interplay of ethnicity, politics and memory.

No description available.