This paper attempts to answer the question of why the war in Syria has been particularly long and violent. To do this, it draws upon the explanatory value of Benjamin Miller’s theory of regional war and peace (2007). The main claim here is that state weakness, a mismatch be- tween state boundaries and national identities, and great power competition in the area can explain why the war has been particularly long and violent. The study concludes that the fol- lowing major factors and their interacting effects have had a major role in protracting and ex- acerbating the war: weak Syrian nationalism; extreme Islamism; weakness of the Syrian state; competition between the West and Russia; and to a lesser extent, Kurdish presence and acts of relative disengagement by the United States.

Nationalism and globalisation are two topics of great debate. In an increasingly connected world, these concepts are contrasted as opposites unable to coexist with a rise in one there must be a fall in the other. In this study, these concepts are explored alongside Olympism through the medium of the Olympic Games. Historically, the Olympics are structured around nations/nation-states, and national teams, while still attempting to promote universalism, internationalism, and the unity of humankind. This work aims to explore how and why nationalism, Olympism, and globalisation are expressed in the Olympic Movement through a case study of the London 2012 Olympic Games and what the outcomes of these actions are. Backed by an interpretivist paradigm, this study focused on selected events in the lead-up to the London Games, starting in the summer of 2011, and culminated with a prolonged period of observation at the London Games, both at Olympic venues and the live site at Hyde Park. Throughout the course of data collection there was a focus on not only the institutions staging the Games but also the spectators taking part in them.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there exists a near total consensus regarding the desirability of democracy. Many see the push towards democracy as encouraged by the increasing interconnectednessusually referred to as 'globalization'-between countries and peoples. Civil societies around the world are often regarded as the primary beneficiaries of globalization. Simultaneously, they are frequently represented by policy-makers, academics and development practitioners, as the new agents of democratization, particularly in the struggle against authoritarian regimes. This thesis seeks to answer two sets of questions: 1. Does civil society contribute to democratization? If so, how? And if not, why not? 2. Does globalization help or hinder the democratization process? In response, this thesis argues that civil society plays a key role in contributing to democratization, but it does not necessarily do so. Indeed, certain sections of civil society playa role in maintaining authoritarianism. Secondly, globalization both helps and hinders democratization. This is nothing to do with globalization's intrinsic qualities, but rather due to the way that actors within civil society perceive glo baliza tion. I present here a case study of Egyptian human rights NGOs, as a sector of Egyptian civil society struggling for democratic governance. Following a survey of the current literature on globalization, democratization and civil society, Chapter 1 introduces the theoretical and conceptual elements of the thesis, which are based on Gramscian notions of hegemony and civil society. Chapter 2 locates the historical problem of democracy in Egypt within the hegemonic power relations that have developed in the post-colonial era. This chapter represents the emergence of Egypt's first human rights organization as pushing the boundaries of the hegemonic consensus. Chapter 3 demonstrates that, despite the shared origins and objectives of the Egyptian human rights NGO community, different human rights NGOs pursue different strategies in attempting to bring about democratization. These different strategies depend upon the positions of human rights activists vis-a-vis the post-colonial hegemonic consensus. Chapter 4 examines the way in which human rights NGOs conflict with other sections of civil society because of the former's resistance to the hegemonic consensus. Furthermore, civil society opposition to human rights NGOs leads to calls for their control and, consequently, the strengthening of authoritarianism. Chapter 5 examines further how authoritarianism may be strengthened as a result of globalization. It also considers the problems faced by human rights NGOs and other civil society actors in building a wide-based coalition for democratization that challenges the bases of the hegemonic consensus underpinning authoritarianism. In the final chapter, I suggest some implications for this research inrelation to how we conceive politics and political strategies in the struggles of non-state groups for democratization

Thesis (MMus (Music))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Current musicological discourses in South Africa seldom engage with Afrikaans content and contributions, even though there is an acknowledged large body of writing on music in Afrikaans. These writings could significantly inform music and general historiographies in South Africa. This study discusses music-related articles in the following Afrikaans magazines and newspapers of the early twentieth century: Die Brandwag (1910-1921), Die Burger (1915-1948), Die Huisgenoot (1916-1948), Die Nuwe Brandwag (1929-1933), Die Brandwag (1937-1948) and Die Transvaler (1937-1948). The subject matter of a large proportion of these music-related articles comprises the history of Western European music. This includes biographies of composers and histories of stylistic periods, genres and instruments. Despite the physical distance between Europe and Africa, Afrikaners‘ attraction to Europe borders at times on a feeling of belonging to this tradition. This cosmopolitan notion of belonging has received little attention compared to themes of race, language and nationalism in twentieth-century South African historiography. A neglected Afrikaans discourse on music, however, presents an opportunity to explore the possibilities of cosmopolitanism in a further interpretation of Afrikaner identity and understanding of South African history. It is for this reason that the current study is primarily concerned with tracing the role of musical discourse in Afrikaner society between 1910 and 1948 by investigating notions of cosmopolitanism. The two theoretical strands of cosmopolitanism that will guide this study concern the work of Friedrich Meinecke (an early twentieth-century German scholar), and Kwame Anthony Appiah (who is still active in the field of philosophy). Meinecke‘s work is mainly concerned with the role cosmopolitan values played in the development of the National State, with specific reference to Germany from the late eighteenth century to the late nineteenth century. What attracts Appiah to cosmopolitanism is the freedom it provides for the individual to create her own identity. To be a citizen of the world need not be a rootless existence, but allows anyone to be a patriot of the country of her own choice. Meinecke‘s and Appiah‘s theories of cosmopolitanism, and their different positioning of the intersecting points between the spheres of the individual, the nation and the globe, will provide two theoretical frameworks informing the present author‘s attempt to interpret some of the materials collated for this study. The present writer believes that cosmopolitanism will prove an appropriate theory to uncover some elements of Afrikaner identity that has hitherto been ignored. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ten spyte van die omvang van Afrikaanse tekste oor musiek is daar in die hedendaagse tyd min musiekwetenskaplike diskoerse in Suid-Afrika wat bemoeienis maak met inhoude en bydraes wat in Afrikaans gemaak is. Hierdie Afrikaanse tekste besit die potensiaal om nie net musiekhistoriografie nie, maar ook algemene historiografie in Suid-Afrika meer geskakeerd in te klee. Die studie handel oor die musiekartikels in die volgende Afrikaanse tydskrifte en dagblaaie van die vroeg twintigste eeu: Die Brandwag (1910-1921), Die Burger (1915-1948), Die Huisgenoot (1916-1948), Die Nuwe Brandwag (1929-1933), Die Brandwag (1937-1948) en Die Transvaler (1937-1948) 'n Groot gedeelte van hierdie musiekverwante artikels bespreek onderwerpe uit die geskiedenis van Wes-Europese kunsmusiek. Dit sluit onder meer in komponis-biografieë, sowel as geskiedenisse van stilistiese periodes, genres en instrumente. Die Afrikaner se belangstelling in Europa grens soms aan =n gevoel van Europese solidariteit, ten spyte van die fisieke afstand tussen Europa en Afrika. Hierdie kosmopolitiese denkwyse verdwyn dikwels op die agtergrond ten gunste van ander temas soos ras, taal en nasionalisme in twintigste eeuse Suid-Afrikaanse musiekhistoriografie. 'n Verwaarloosde Afrikaanse diskoers oor musiek bied 'n geleentheid om moontlikhede van kosmopolitisme te ondersoek in 'n verdere interpretasie van Afrikaner identiteit en Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis. Dit is om hierdie rede dat die huidige studie idees van kosmopolitisme wil ondersoek ten einde die rol van die musiekdiskoers in die Afrikaner gemeenskap tussen 1910 en 1948 te bepaal. Die huidige studie steun op twee teoretiese modelle van kosmopolitisme soos afgelei uit die werk van Friedriech Meinecke ('n Duitse geskiedkundige van die vroeg twintigste eeu) en Kwame Anthony Appiah (hedendaagse filosoof). Meinecke se werk fokus hoofsaaklik op die rol wat kosmopolitiese waardes gespeel het in die ontwikkeling van die nasie-staat, met spesifieke verwysing na Duitsland van die laat agtiende eeu tot die laat negentiende eeu. Wat Appiah aantrek tot die idee van kosmopolitisme is die vryheid wat dit aan die individu bied om haar eie identiteit te skep. Om 'n wêreldburger te wees dui nie noodwendig op 'n ongewortelde bestaan nie, maar laat enigeen toe om 'n patrioot te wees in die land van haar keuse. Meinecke en Appiah se teorieë van kosmopolitisme, hul onderskeie posisionerings van die individu, die nasie en die wêreld en die snypunte tussen hierdie sfere, bied twee teoretiese raamwerke vir die huidige skrywer se interpretasies van die materiaal wat vir hierdie studie versamel is. Die argument word gemaak dat kosmopolitisme 'n gepasde teorie bied om voorheen geïgnoreerde elemente van Afrikaner identiteit te ontbloot.

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Biological Sciences / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Analyzing how nationalism influenced Japanese-American internment.

This paper explores how Scottish-Americans have contributed to Scottish national dialogues by laying roots for future generations in the form of early ethnic organizations as well as religious and social practices, engaging in discussion about what it means to be both white and ethnic, sustaining forms of traditional culture through Scottish Highland Games, and interpreting their personal experiences with ethnic and national identity as a way of negotiating their relationships with Scottish nationalism. The 2014 referendum on Scottish independence offered historical circumstances that were both relevant and exhilarating to explore these topics under. This exploration incorporates both interview and survey data gathered from Scottish-Americans.

In Russia and Argentina modernism arrived well before the advent of socioeconomic modernization, and found societies with restricted civil liberties, only nascent middle classes, and virtually non-existent public spheres. Despite these factors, within a span of some fifty years, Petersburg and Buenos Aires turned into vibrant literary capitals rivaling London, New York, and Paris as centers of literary modernism. This dissertation offers a new understanding of the period by exposing the critical role of publishers and cultural patrons in this extraordinary cultural advancement. I argue that they were able to reformulate their countries’ historically ambivalent positions vis-à-vis Western European civilization by working closely with avant-garde literary groups and viii promoting their literary works that combined sometimes contending, sometimes complementary cosmopolitanism and nationalism. My analysis of the interrelated processes of the development of print culture, national identity, and the literary public sphere in Russia and Argentina is informed by Benedict Anderson’s thinking about nationalism and print culture, Pierre Bourdieu’s treatment of publishers as key participants in cultural production, and the concept of the public sphere as seen by Jürgen Habermas. Close reading of select literary works of the 1920s shows that Russian and Argentine “peripheral” experiences, once transformed into artistic creation, became consonant with cultural practices of international modernism precisely because they combined both cosmopolitan and nationalist tendencies. Each of the writers considered—Jorge Luis Borges, Roberto Arlt, Veniamin Kaverin, and Konstantin Fedin—was able to formulate highly original and yet unmistakably national response to modernity. Following the writers’ trajectories from early literary experiments to the works of the late 1920s, when they renounced their youthful deviations and joined the literary (and sometimes even political) establishment, I show how these literary texts renegotiated the issues of national identity by reworking diverse and often “foreign” literary traditions into authentically Russian and Argentine prose. / text

Abdul Haq was the secretary of the Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Urdu from 1912 to 1961. He was also a founder of Osmania University, one of the first universities in India to provide instruction in an Indian vernacular. He had a lifelong devotion towards improving the status of Urdu and of the Indian Muslim community at large. He was the figure most involved with the standardization of Urdu and establishment of this language as a symbol of Muslim identity. Through an analysis of Abdul Haq’s involvement in language reform movements and the politics of the early 20th century, especially considering the fallout after the 1936 meeting of the Bharatiya Sahitya Parishad, I seek to show the nature of language as a nationalist tool. I argue that language is not inherently associated with the nation-building process, but that it must first be standardized into a form which can be used as a political tool and a point of identification for the community rallied behind it. / text