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Rather than separating moral and political virtue through reason of state, the Pax Romana presents a sophisticated moral-political vision of the interrelationships between cosmology, memory, founding, violence, and freedom. Nevertheless, its complex integrative vision is also perilous to humanity, demanding a morality of forbearing the adverse consequences of endless cycles of political violence. Pax Gandhiana presents an alternative integrative vision engaging many of the same concerns as the Romans, such as cosmos, ubiquitous violence, and freedom. By contrast, however, its political vision demands forbearing the adverse consequences of repudiating as opposed to embracing the ubiquity of violence in the cosmos. Hence, Pax Romana and Pax Gandhiana rest on closely related but ultimately very different political visions. Consistent with Gandhi, my objective in this article is to show how the Romans provide us with an object lesson in why we should repudiate such violence, as guaranteeing our downfall into misery, chaos, and even madness.

By examining Gandhi as a political organiser it may be possible to bridge the gap between two interpretations of his importance -- one which focuses on his propagation of nonviolence "as a way of life", the other- which treats him as a pioneer in the use of nonviolence "as a conflict technique. " Gandhi named his philosophy and his method of action, "satyagraha". Between 1915 and 1922 he emerged as the organiser of local satyagraha campaigns in Bihar and Gujarat. He moved quickly, however, to leadership of further struggles at a national level, in particular the hoxlatt Satyagraha in 1919 and Noncooperation eighteen months later. The thesis explores, through a series of case studies, how Gandhi developed his methods as he moved over a period of about five years from local to national scale. At the national level, Gandhi failed to take India by storm as he had hoped through organisations founded by himself to propagate his principles like the Satyagraha Sabha and the Swadeshi Sabha. He therefore forged alliances with political figures from other perspectives within the Khilafat movement and the Indian Rational Congress who nonetheless were prepared to follow his direction. A principal means which Gandhi developed for generating solidarity between the nation's educated "classes" and the "masses" and for mobilising people short of civil disobedience, was the promotion of campaigns of constructive work. This is particularly clear in his planning and leadership of the Noncooperation movement. Presentation of nonviolent action in the West, by overstressing the "conflict" aspect of satyagraha and neglecting the "constructive", has been one-sided. The importance in Gandhi's method as an organiser of a concept of constructive programme and its application in practice suggests that advocates of nonviolent action as a technique should look more closely at the balance between the two aspects in his approach. The thesis concludes with a review'of the rules and stages in Gandhi's satyagraha campaigns which have been proposed in the work of Joan Bondurant. / Long Dene Fund

This dissertation analyzes the problem of political violence in popular struggles for freedom and regime change. It seeks not only to explicate the different arguments for and against the use of violence in political struggle, but also the extent to which these various ways set the conditions for the political landscape after the struggle. To do that, I engage the arguments of Frantz Fanon, M. K. Gandhi, and Hannah Arendt. While these authors diverge with regard to the role of violence in popular struggles, all three conceptualize ways to achieve nonviolent politics or at least to reduce the role of violence in normal everyday politics. While Fanon and Gandhi offer viable diagnoses of the problem of violence and liberation, by stressing the structural and affective dimensions of political violence, Arendt challenges the traditional equation between political power and violence and offers an institutional alternative in her theory of a federated council system. My analysis reconstructs the link between the critique of violence (state, colonial, or mass violence) and the constructive theory of foundation and preservation of stability and effective relations of trust. These relations of trust are necessary to prevent recurring violence and escalation in the period following the struggle. By analyzing the intersections of violence, political action, and ethics in the work of Fanon, Gandhi, and Arendt, I provide a theoretical framework for understanding the role of violence in popular struggles and everyday politics, while avoiding the limitations of each theory. The aim of this study is threefold: first, to provide an alternative to the prominent positions of realism and moralism in political philosophy through an evaluation of ethical argumentation in politics regarding the problem of violence; second, to contribute to debates about political freedom, and sovereignty in democratic theory through examination of different solutions for the conservation of power and freedom in the transition from struggle to ordinary politics; and third, to develop a critical lens with which to examine situations of conflict and popular struggles, the place of violence, and the transition to ordinary politics. By way of conclusion, I demonstrate the relevance of this study through examination of a concrete case from the Middle East: the Egyptian revolution of 2011. The theoretical framework set by the multifocal debate provides a resource to analyze the promise and the ensuing crisis of the Egyptian project. / Philosophy

Cette thèse a pour contexte la combinatoire énumérative et décrit la construction de plusieurs bijections entre modèles combinatoires connus ou nouveaux de suites d'entiers et polynômes, plus particulièrement celle des nombres de Genocchi (et de leurs extensions, les polynômes de Gandhi) qui interviennent dans diverses branches des mathématiques et dont les propriétés combinatoires sont de ce fait activement étudiées, et celles de polynômes q-eulériens associés aux quatre statistiques fondamentales de MacMahon sur les permutations ainsi qu'à des statistiques analogues. On commence par définir les permutations de Dumont normalisées, un modèle combinatoire des nombres de Genocchi médians normalisés q-étendus, notés ¯cn(q) et définis par Han et Zeng, puis l'on construit une première bijection entre ce modèle et l'ensemble des configurations de Dellac, autre interprétation combinatoire de ¯cn(q) mise en évidence par Feigin dans le contexte de la géométrie des grassmanniennes de carquois. En s'appuyant sur la théorie des fractions continues de Flajolet, on en construit finalement un troisième modèle combinatoire à travers les histoires de Dellac, que l'on relie aux premiers modèles sus-cités au moyen d'une seconde bijection. On s'intéresse ensuite à la classe combinatoire des k-formes irréductibles définies par Hivert et Mallet dans l'étude des k-fonctions de Schur, et qui faisaient l'objet d'une conjecture supposant que les polynômes de Gandhi sont générés par les k-formes irréductibles selon la statistique des k-sites libres. On construit une bijection entre les k-formes irréductibles et les pistolets surjectifs de hauteur k − 1 (connus pour générer les polynômes de Gandhi selon la statistique des points fixes) envoyant les k-sites libres des premières sur les points fixes des seconds, démontrant de ce fait la conjecture. Enfin, on établit une nouvelle identité combinatoire entre deux polynômes q-eulériens définis par des statistiques eulériennes et mahoniennes sur l'ensemble des permutations d'un ensemble fini, au moyen d'une dernière bijection sur les permutations, qui envoie une suite finie de statistiques sur une autre / This work is set in the context of enumerative combinatorics and constructs several statistic-preserving bijections between known or new combinatorial models of sequences of integers or polynomials, espacially the sequence of Genocchi numbers (and their extensions, the Gandhi polynomials) which appear in numerous mathematical theories and whose combinatorial properties are consequently intensively studied, and two sequences of q-Eulerian polynomials associated with the four fundamental statistics on permutations studied by MacMahon, and with analog statistics. First of all, we define normalized Dumont permutations, a combinatorial model of the q-extended normalized median Genocchi numbers ¯cn(q) introduced by Han and Zeng, and we build a bijection between the latter model and the set of Dellac configurations, which have been proved by Feigin to generate ¯cn(q) by using the geometry of quiver Grassmannians. Then, in order to answer a question raised by the theory of continued fractions of Flajolet, we define a new combinatorial model of ¯cn(q), the set of Dellac histories, and we relate them with the previous combinatorial models through a second statistic-preserving bijection. Afterwards, we study the set of irreducible k-shapes defined by Hivert and Mallet in the topic of k-Schur functions, which have been conjectured to generate the Gandhi polynomials with respect to the statistic of free ksites. We construct a statistic-preserving bijection between the irreducible k-shapes and the surjective pistols of height k−1 (well-known combinatorial interpretation of the Gandhi polynomials with respect to the fixed points statistic) mapping the free k-sites to the fixed points, thence proving the conjecture. Finally, we prove a new combinatorial identity between two eulerian polynomials defined on the set of permutations thanks to Eulerian and Mahonian statistics, by constructing a bijection on the permutations, which maps a finite sequence of statistics on another

Ambedkar’s role as an Indian political leader during the late colonial period has attracted increased attention politically and historically. However, there is a startling disconnect between the modern, often mythological, construction of Ambedkar and the near forgotten historical figure. His broader programme for social uplift of the underprivileged is often lost in the record of his conflict with M. K. Gandhi and the Indian National Congress and their role as the dominant nationalist group in India at the time. The deification that has resulted from his use of Buddhism as an emancipatory identity has obscured his interpretation of it as a secular political tool in a political debate shaped and dominated by religious identity. This thesis will argue that the Buddhist conversion was a continuation of his political and social programme, not, as some have suggested, a retreat to religion after failing to secure reforms to Indian law and society. / February 2009

This thesis investigates if Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks constitute a valid form ofcivil disobedience online. For this purpose a multi-dimensional framework is established,drawing on Brownlee’s paradigm case and classical theory of civil disobedience. Threedifferent examples of DDoS attacks are then examined using this framework - the attacksfrom the Electronic Disturbance Theater in support of the Zapatista movement;Anonymous’ Operation Payback; Electrohippies’ attack against the World TradeOrganization. Following the framework, none of these DDoS attacks are able to constitute acivilly disobedient act online. The thesis then goes on and identifies four key issues, drawingon the results from the examples: The loss of 'individual presence', no inimitable feature ofDDoS attacks, impeding free speech and the danger of western imperialism. It concludes thatDDoS attacks cannot and should not be seen as a form of civil disobedience online. Thethesis further proposes that online actions, in order to be seen as civilly disobedient actsonline, need two additional features: An 'individual presence' of the protesters online tocompensate for the remoteness of cyberspace and an inimitable feature in order to berecognizable by society. Further research should investigate with this extended framework ifthere are valid forms of civil disobedience online.

Religious Studies is making possible a scholarly study of many aspects of human religious traditions and practices, but the field has yet to articulate fully the ability of such study to affect the creation of new approaches to intractable social and political problems. Many of these problems have as their basis religious justifications, yet the rigor of academic thought has only barely begun to clarify the underlying religious reasoning. Through this essay I intend to provide clarity to some of the underlying religious justifications for war and violence by examining the religious writings of two widely recognized theologians that firmly oppose war and violence, John Howard Yoder and Mohandas Gandhi. The result is an examination on the utility of using religious ideas as sources of insights and strategies for addressing social and political issues such as war and violence.

The current trend of global violence and their impact on families and communities as well as the field of university education is scary for a society that is struggling with this false sense of apathy and complacency. How did the ordinary people get seduced to the idea that there is no way out of this global assault? How then do we extricate ourselves from this “tortured consciousness” (Asante, 2007) and this false sense of “nihilism” (West, 1994) and recoup this “incommensurable loss” (Simmons, 2010) to global violence? Even more crucial, where is the place of education in retrieving this incommensurable loss while providing hope and possibility for a better future? Provoked by the desire to have answers to these questions, the dissertation relies on the knowledge and experiences of twenty qualitatively selected university activists and existing literature to critically examine the non-violent praxes of Gandhi and King, Jr. and their pedagogical implications for transformative university education. The dissertation further draws on the knowledge of Frantz Fanon and Malcolm X to bring complex and nuanced readings to violence and non-violence. The dissertation notes that violence and non-violence are not mutually exclusive as already known. The dissertation also notes that while resistive violence may be justified, it does not necessarily guarantee true transformation, reconciliation, and healing. Instead, love, humility, truth, dialogue, non-violent direct action, discipline, and spirituality are salient in achieving true transformation in university activism. The dissertation further observes that educational activism is more than walking on the street with placards to protest against institutional violence. Sometimes, the secret activism that is done strategically within the corridors of power can achieve more far-reaching results than the open protest against power on the street. The dissertation concludes with six key non-violent strategies that can help in social and political mobilization of university students for transformative university education.

Ambedkar’s role as an Indian political leader during the late colonial period has attracted increased attention politically and historically. However, there is a startling disconnect between the modern, often mythological, construction of Ambedkar and the near forgotten historical figure. His broader programme for social uplift of the underprivileged is often lost in the record of his conflict with M. K. Gandhi and the Indian National Congress and their role as the dominant nationalist group in India at the time. The deification that has resulted from his use of Buddhism as an emancipatory identity has obscured his interpretation of it as a secular political tool in a political debate shaped and dominated by religious identity. This thesis will argue that the Buddhist conversion was a continuation of his political and social programme, not, as some have suggested, a retreat to religion after failing to secure reforms to Indian law and society.