My thesis deals with religion, democracy and differences. My interests are primarily philosophical and theoretical, and I intend to contextualize my research with reference to Canadian issues and debates. This thesis addresses the challenges posed to the normative ideal of multiculturalism. In particular, I intend to discuss the difficulties of adopting normative ideals that meet the democratic principles of political equality and inclusiveness while at the same time promoting tolerance toward minorities in order to sustain their distinctiveness. In dealing with the complex relationship between religion, democracy and differences. I highlight the limitations of multiculturalism and propose a theory of liberation of reason, entitled the theory of Daf’ (Repel), in order to address the myriad challenges spawned by this complex intermingling of political and cultural identities within liberal democratic societies. The theory of Daf’ in the context of a deliberative model of democracy complements the normative ideal of multiculturalism.

Co-dependency is an addiction that has not yet been well-researched and established in South Africa. This concept indicates a person's predisposition to put the dependent family member's needs above that of himself and to do so to such an extent that his own preferences, dislikes, feelings and desires are disregarded or ignored. The co-dependent's opinion and self-image largely depend on the extent to which he is able to satisfy the other person, care for him or solve his problems. The aim of the study is to determine the relationship between the identity of the person and his co-dependency and to accompany the person pastorally toward the restoration of his identity. Research done in the auxiliary sciences indicates that identity-forming is a process that stretches over several years. When a person experiences that he belongs to others, is valuable and has potential, it is possible for that person to develop optimally and associate in a mature and responsible way with himself, his fellow-man and his environment. However, when these experiences are not internalised under the pressure that the dependent family member places on the co-dependent, a negative view of the self is integrated and the person is unable to bind meaningfully with God, himself, others and his environment. An "I" deprivation occurs and the person chooses to use co-dependent thinking and acting patterns to deploy himself meaningfully in societal regard. As a result of the co-dependent's intense need for security, love and acceptance, he drives himself to the outmost in an attempt to attain it. The person becomes caught in a downward spiral of dependency where he is always attempting to obtain control. An empirical survey with five (5) participants has indicated the co-dependent's interaction with his life space. It was found that these persons are inclined to internalise negative thinking and acting patterns under the pressure that is put on them. A basis-theoretical study of Scriptural perspectives has indicated that man was created in God's image, that this identity was distorted by man's sin, and that the person could by virtue of the propitiatory sacrifice of Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost be guided towards restoration of his identity. Practice-theoretical guidelines for the pastoral guidance of the co-dependent were established based on the meta- and basis theory. / Thesis (M.A. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

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This study explores the significant role that Naadam has played, and continues to play, in the creation and maintenance of Mongolian national identity, both within and outside the boundaries of Mongolia. By regularly performing the Naadam festival, the Mongolian people are constantly constructing and restructuring their culture, customs, traditions, values and identity, both to themselves and to the world beyond. Naadam, or more fully Eriin Gurvan Naadam, the ‘Three Games of Men’ is a specifically and distinctively Mongolian festival, comprising a religious, secular, political or social ceremony followed by the traditional three games of wrestling, archery and horseracing. The Games component of the festival is examined drawing on the anthropology of games and sport related to identity, liminality and the use of ritual to engender unity. Also considered is the historical importance of games in ancient religious and celebratory festivals. An overview of Mongolia’s cultural history explores the ancient origins of the festival and its evolution from a simple hunting ritual, to its incorporation into a religious ceremony after the introduction of Buddhism into Mongolia, when the ruling Khans gave tribute to the new Living Buddha. It became a political festival by which to publically display and affirm the location of power, demonstrating the dualistic role of church and state in ruling the Mongol provinces under the Qing (Manchu) Empire. In the twentieth century Naadam became a ceremony of state as it was adopted by the first Mongolia government to demonstrate its new political (theocratic) status. Ten years later, Naadam was instrumental in the construction of nationalism and nation building as the new socialist government sought to impose its communist ideals. The public performance of Naadam successfully articulated the political hierarchy in both the spatial arrangements of the official audience and also in the construction of the festival itself. The 800th Anniversary Naadam dramatically and colourfully reflects and enacts Mongolia’s development into an independent, democratic nation with a spectacular ceremonial re-enactment of Chinggis Khan’s Court on centre stage - displaying pride and identity in Mongolia’s ancient traditions, symbols and rituals while also demonstrating its modernity.

One of the novel aspects of the European debate in the post-Cold War era is the deliberate attempt by scholars and policy-makers to articulate a more meaningful idea of Europe. Such an idea, it is hoped, would enhance the legitimacy of the European Union and could provide the basis for a European identity capable of mitigating against the rise of nationalist and racist violence in Europe. After more than a decade, however, a compelling vision of Europe that would fulfil these aspirations is still widely deemed to be lacking. The question that arises, therefore, is why, in fact, it is proving so difficult to articulate a more meaningful idea of Europe in the post-Cold War era, and how, concomitantly, this difficulty might be addressed. In response to this question, the present thesis offers a detailed analysis of the largely unexplored European thought advanced by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche towards the end of the nineteenth century. For, the thesis argues, Nietzsche's thinking about Europe can still significantly illuminate our understanding of the current impasse by contextualising the latter within the larger problem of European nihilism, or meaninglessness, resident in the cultural configuration of European modernity. On the basis of this understanding, moreover, the thesis subsequently turns towards a consideration of Nietzsche's own idea of the 'good European' which he developed in response to the experience of meaninglessness in modern European culture. This idea of what it means to be a 'good European,' the thesis concludes, can assist contemporary scholars of European affairs in delineating a response to the current impasse which neither posits an essentialist idea of Europe, nor falls back onto a technical and functional approach to European governance.

This thesis is concerned with local concepts of kinship and personhood in a small Miskitu village named Kakabila in eastern Nicaragua, and examines how gender identities are organised around a culturally specific variant of the set of practices which anthropologists have glossed as 'brideservice'. Personhood in Kakabila is focussed on the establishment of a stable conjugal partnership. Men usually attach themselves to the households of their conjugal partners, and attempt to legitimate their claims to their wives by uxorilocal postnuptial residence and the practice of long term brideservice. The central concern of many Kakabila men therefore is with demonstrating that they conduct themselves with their affines harmoniously in accordance with village ideals. For many men, however, the eventual objective is to detach their wives from the influence of consanguineal kin, and this produces a tension between the need to project affinal harmony and the concern that actions may be construed in terms of elopement. Kakabila women, however, tend to be much more concerned with constructing networks of symbolic exchange and mutual assistance among themselves, particularly with their consanguineal kinswomen. In many cases, therefore, women resist the attempts of husbands and sons-in-law to disrupt these networks, and organise their actions around ensuring that errant husbands and junior male affines adequately supply them with sufficient symbolic capital to adequately maintain and cultivate these networks. This thesis, therefore, suggests a very specific formulation of the logic of gender identities in Kakabila, where brideservice is as much a style of distribution as it is a 'style of consumption' (Collier and Rosaldo 1981: 275), based on a particular disjunction between men's and women's motivations. This thesis also considers the changes in Miskitu kinship in terms of changes which have taken place among the Miskitu during the last three hundred years, particularly the marked trading and political imbalances brought about by long term contact with the English speaking Caribbean countries. The disappearance of the historically attested distinction between cross and parallel cousins and the serial exchange of offspring and siblings, and the emergence of uxorilocal postnuptial residence, are analysed in terms of a gradual historical reformulation of Miskitu notions of affinity which owes a great deal to these regional contacts. An ethnographically and historically informed analysis for these transformations is considered, which in turn is used to shed light on gender identities and the practice of brideservice in present day Kakabila.

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The thesis investigates the <i>unconscious transference</i> phenomenon which has been implicated in cases of mistaken identity. When an eyewitness to a crime misidentifies an innocent, but previously encountered person as the perpetrator in response to a lineup which does not include culprit, it has been speculated that the eyewitness confuses the two people by <i>transferring </i>their identities across contexts. This traditional definition of unconscious transference was investigated in one of two experiments. A videotaped, staged theft scenario was shown to 770 participant witnesses who attempted to identify the perpetrator from a photographic lineup. Those who viewed an innocent bystander prior to the crime scenario, were more likely to mistake that familiar person for the perpetrator when the latter was absent from the lineup, compared to control participants who were not shown the bystander. Bystander misidentifications obtained indicate that transference did occur. A significant minority of participants consciously inferred that the bystander and the perpetrator were the same person seen in different settings. Others realised that the two confederates were different individuals but misattributed the source of their memories. In a second experiment, evidence of another type of unconscious transference, characterised as a <i>commitment effect, </i>was obtained. Three months after the initial lineup, a second lineup administered to 505 participants from the first investigation indicated that an innocent person initially misidentified is likely to continue to be misidentified even if he/she was unfamiliar to the eyewitness prior to his photograph being shown. Further, a repeat misidentification is likely even when the perpetrator is included in the subsequent lineup. Cognitive mechanisms implicated in the transference effects include some monitoring and memory blending. However, relative judgements, demand characteristics and changes of presentation media were also implicated. The ramifications for forensic eyewitness situations are such that unconscious transference demands increased attention from eyewitness researchers.