My thesis, then, proposes to examine an often-overlooked field in which tensions relating to immigration also occurs: health care. It aims to better understand how Germany’s health care system, particularly its emergency facilities, have responded to the increasing ethnic and cultural diversity of patients as a result of these demographic shifts, and what still must be done to provide equal and satisfactory health care for all patients.

This study offers a critical assessment of Letty Mandeville Russell’s contributions to feminist theology with a view to gleaning wisdom for Muslim women who also wrestle with the issue of justice for women. As a liberation theologian, Russell’s definition and construction of feminist theology is based on two elements: commitment to Christianity and strong advocacy of feminism. Russell believes that in human communities, marginalized people, particularly women, are kept down and disempowered in society, history, and the church. Russell recognizes tradition as the key challenge for feminists and she struggles with “all oppressive expressions of Christian tradition.” She notes the androcentric and sexist elements of the Bible, but she refuses to leave the church. Rather, her attempt is to proclaim the “prophetic- messianic” message of the gospel while advocating a critical approach to the biblical text. Thus this thesis will explore the question: Is it possible to reconstruct a theology in a systematic way that is faithful to religious convictions while advocating feminism. In addition to Russell’s books and articles, which form the primary sources for this study, two other Christian feminists (Fiorenza and Harder) will be drawn into the discussion in order to further illuminate the various building blocks that women use to link faith and feminism. Chapter one provides a background for the feminist movement and introduces feminist theology, in order to position Russell within the wide spectrum of feminist theologians who attempt to reconcile their Christian faith and their convictions and vision for women. Chapter two looks Russell’s claim that she is both Christian and feminist. Russell’s definition of feminism, faith, and their inter-relationship will be illuminated as a key to her identity as a feminist theologian. The chapter shows not only how Russell understands these two commitments, often understood as contradictory, but also shows how Russell’s roots in liberation theology have aided her in building a bridge between faith and feminism. Chapter three deals with the methodology that Russell uses to build a bridge between faith and feminism. She proposes a process of action-reflection in which women gain a new understanding of faith and add new perspectives to Christian theology. Chapter four analyzes Russell’s contributions in dealing creatively and faithfully with tradition while being both a Christian and a feminist. She proposes a paradigm shift for the community that does theology; a shift from a paradigm of domination to a paradigm of partnership. She believes that through this shift, all marginalized people, including women, can find their own voices and thus be included in the promises of God to his people. The concluding chapter, chapter five, offers a grandstand view of all of the building blocks that Russell uses to construct a bridge between faith and feminism, thus making apparent how it is possible to advocate feminism and also be committed to Christianity. At the same time, this chapter will also consider whether the same building blocks can be used to build the same kind of bridge for Muslim women.

Västerländska icke-muslimer har sedan 2000-talets början fått en allt mer negativ attityd gentemot islam och muslimer. På grund av faktorer som medias negativa förmedling av religionen genom upprepade associationer med terrorism har en förvanskad bild av islam som en politisk ideologi snarare än en religion och muslimer som ett enhetligt folkslag spritt sig hos Europas icke-muslimer. Muslimer kategoriseras som en massa där alla enskilda individer ska passa i samma lilla kostym, oavsett om den i verkligheten är för lång eller kort. Även i Sverige märks den allt mer påtagliga och inte sällan accepterade islamofobin, inte bara genom nyhetsmedias negativa förmedling av religionen och dess utövare utan även genom att islamfientliga partier som Sverigedemokraterna vinner allt större gehör hos så väl skolungdomar som hos den röstberättigade befolkningen. Den här uppsatsen har som syfte att ta reda på hur två lokala muslimska församlingar arbetar med att förmedla en mer positiv bild av islam och muslimer till samhället. Det visade sig att de två intervjuade imamerna båda ansåg att det bästa sättet att förmedla en positiv bild av islam på är att vara en så god muslim som möjligt. Genom att med sin blotta närvaro kunna bevisa att den negativa bilden är felaktig menar de att den icke-muslimska befolkningen kommer att uppleva sann kunskap om islam och muslimerna och då få en förändrad attityd till dem. Syftet var också att ta reda på hur arbetet med ungas tankar kring islam ser ut, och det visade sig att det arbetet ser ungefär likadant ut oavsett vilket åldersspann som är målgrupp. Återigen är det genom att sprida sann kunskap om islam och därmed öka förståelsen för muslimer och islamisk kultur.

This study offers a critical assessment of Letty Mandeville Russell’s contributions to feminist theology with a view to gleaning wisdom for Muslim women who also wrestle with the issue of justice for women. As a liberation theologian, Russell’s definition and construction of feminist theology is based on two elements: commitment to Christianity and strong advocacy of feminism. Russell believes that in human communities, marginalized people, particularly women, are kept down and disempowered in society, history, and the church. Russell recognizes tradition as the key challenge for feminists and she struggles with “all oppressive expressions of Christian tradition.” She notes the androcentric and sexist elements of the Bible, but she refuses to leave the church. Rather, her attempt is to proclaim the “prophetic- messianic” message of the gospel while advocating a critical approach to the biblical text. Thus this thesis will explore the question: Is it possible to reconstruct a theology in a systematic way that is faithful to religious convictions while advocating feminism. In addition to Russell’s books and articles, which form the primary sources for this study, two other Christian feminists (Fiorenza and Harder) will be drawn into the discussion in order to further illuminate the various building blocks that women use to link faith and feminism. Chapter one provides a background for the feminist movement and introduces feminist theology, in order to position Russell within the wide spectrum of feminist theologians who attempt to reconcile their Christian faith and their convictions and vision for women. Chapter two looks Russell’s claim that she is both Christian and feminist. Russell’s definition of feminism, faith, and their inter-relationship will be illuminated as a key to her identity as a feminist theologian. The chapter shows not only how Russell understands these two commitments, often understood as contradictory, but also shows how Russell’s roots in liberation theology have aided her in building a bridge between faith and feminism. Chapter three deals with the methodology that Russell uses to build a bridge between faith and feminism. She proposes a process of action-reflection in which women gain a new understanding of faith and add new perspectives to Christian theology. Chapter four analyzes Russell’s contributions in dealing creatively and faithfully with tradition while being both a Christian and a feminist. She proposes a paradigm shift for the community that does theology; a shift from a paradigm of domination to a paradigm of partnership. She believes that through this shift, all marginalized people, including women, can find their own voices and thus be included in the promises of God to his people. The concluding chapter, chapter five, offers a grandstand view of all of the building blocks that Russell uses to construct a bridge between faith and feminism, thus making apparent how it is possible to advocate feminism and also be committed to Christianity. At the same time, this chapter will also consider whether the same building blocks can be used to build the same kind of bridge for Muslim women.

The aim of this thesis was to examine how Islam and Muslims are represented in the daily newspapers in Luleå, Sweden. How are Muslims and Islam described and which representations appear in the newspapers? How are women represented compared to men? I examined texts from the two daily newspapers in the Swedish city Luleå. The method I used was a qualitative discourse analysis. I mainly looked for aware and unaware constructions of Muslims and Islam. I also looked for discursive themes with similar stories, choice of words, stereotypes and so on. I only examined written texts, not pictures. The result showed that the newspapers rarely write about Islam and Muslims and when they do, they write about them in a negative way. The newspapers represent Muslims as violent, different and evil. Not even one article describes a Muslim weekday or a nice and sane Muslim. There is also a lack of women in the articles, only one text includes a woman and she is represented as a victim in contrast to the men, who are described as evil and violent.

The focus of this study is to analyze the relationship of change in Thailand¡¦s southern policy and separatist movements, or the relationship between the Bangkok regime¡¦s policies toward Malay-Muslims in southern Thailand and the Separatist Movement. The research approach is to explain the root causes for Malay-Muslim in southern Thailand in armed resistance against the central government, moderation and radical periods in the Separatist Movement. According to historical institutionalism, the process of institutional and historical development is a ¡§punctuated equilibrium,¡¨ and historical contexts evolve according to ¡§path dependency.¡¨ Except when crises in the external environmental changes cause ¡§punctuated equilibria,¡¨ it would basically cause those in power to establish new coping strategies that cause change or collapse to the old system. In late 19th century, expansion by the English and French colonialism and imperialism in Indochina caused King Chulalongkorn to accelerate reform in national territorialization and power centralization. In turn, the Kingdom of Patani was transformed from a vassal state to a province in southern Siam, ending the power of Malay Rajas, which motivated the historical origins of southern Thailand separatism. A review of the Thai historical development found that, after Chulalongkorn the crises in external environmental change frequently lead the ruling regime in Bangkok to establish new southern Thailand policies. In sum, the external environmental changes in the temporal sequence of colonial empires fighting for their interests against each other, threat of the Communist Party, Democratization, Globalization and war on counter-terrorism affected the new southern policies of Thailand by Rama VI, Phibun Songkram, Sarit Thanarat, Thanom Kittikachorn, Prem Tinsulanonda, and Thaksin Shinawatra. It is also intimately connected to the radicalism or moderation of the Malay-Muslim Separatist Movement.

After 9/11, American stand-up comedy includes an increasing presence of Arab and Muslim comedians whose humor engages some of the recurring Islamophobic stereotypes circulating in the United States. These comedians combine self-deprecating humor and critique of American society. In doing so, they continue a rich tradition of American ethnic comedy, first used by other minorities to negotiate positive recognition of their ethnicities in American society. Although Arab and Muslim American stand-up comedy continues to grow, there is little academic analysis of it. My research attempts to fill this gap. I examine two video-recorded comedy tours, Allah Made Me Funny and The Axis of Evil, and draw on my experiences as participant observer at the 8th annual edition of the New York Arab American Comedy Festival. In my examination, I explore Arab and Muslim American stand-up comedy after 9/11 as a set of performances that challenge Islamophobic political discourses and contest stereotypical representations of Arabs and Muslims circulating in the media and popular culture. I begin this thesis with a discussion that defines Islamophobia after 9/11 as a pervasive ideological formation and explores the relationship between Islamophobia and stereotypical representations of Arabs and Muslims in the media and popular culture. Second, I identify political activism, personal narrative, as well as both artistic and historical opportunism as complex and interrelated dimensions of this stand-up comedy. Third, I examine how Arab and Muslim American comedians use humor to navigate the poles of their hyphenated identities and negotiate their belonging in American society. Finally, I examine the ways in which stand-up comedy reverses the discourses and representations of Islamophobia by drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of the carnivalesque.

Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2009. / Thesis Advisor(s): Borer, Douglas A. Second Reader: Berger, Mark T. "December 2009." Description based on title screen as viewed on January 27, 2010. Author(s) subject terms: Land ownership, migration and settlements, Muslim secessionist conflict, colonization. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-73). Also available in print.

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on March 17, 2010). The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Thesis advisor: Dr. Barbara Martin. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, December 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 440-483). Also available on the Internet.