This thesis is a theoretically framed and historically informed political analysis of ethnicity in the Bamyan Valley, Afghanistan. Existing literature o ethnicity in Afghanistan is conceptually fragmented and lacks sufficient empirical analysis. To address this, I draw on theoretical literature, the Afghan ethnicity literature, and twelve months of fieldwork (2010-2012) to present a coherent analysis of the emergence and working of ethnicity, and also a much-needed empirical account of ethnicity in the Bamyan Valley. I view ethnicity as relational, interactional and context-dependent. Moreover, to accomodate the intersectional and punctuated nature of identity I perceive ethnicity as operating through ethnic categories. I also adopt a constructionist approach to ethnicity acknowledging that it is (re)-constructed by broad structural forces, the state, political elites and ordinary people. Additionally, I view ethnicity as (re)-constructed through "everyday ethnicity". In this regard, I take ethnicity to be experienced in commonplace social situations in Bamyan Valley. Ethnicity is embodied, performed, expressed in interpersonal interactions; and variably emphasised in different institutional settings. Methodologically, I adopt a critical realist standpoint and utilise an ethnographic method, incorporating a range of qualitative research techniques. My empirical findings demonstrate the differential impacts of post-2001 political reconstruction and socio-economic development in the Bamyan Valley. I explain the acquisition of productive resources by Hazarahs, their improving status, and the corresponding nature of tensions between Hazarahs and Saadat and Tajiks, respectively. Two case studies demonstrate this dynamic, whilst also exemplifying the role of individuals in the (re)-construction of ethnicity. The first illustrates the increasing salience of sectarian identity between Hazarahs and Tajiks, which has emerged since recognition of the Jafari school of Islam in the 2004 Afghan Constitution. The second concerns the use of ethnicity to legitimise, contest and violently enforce unequal marriage arrangements between Saadat and Hazarhs.

This thesis examines the relationship between segregationist organisations, publications and individuals in the United States and their pro-apartheid counterparts in southern Africa. It uncovers a sustained and extensive foreign policy of segregationists that has hitherto been overlooked and a relationship between the countries that goes beyond existing analyses of Cold War cooperation or comparative studies of the countries' racial systems. When the civil rights movement began, steadfast segregationists in the American South looked further afield for support, inspiration and ideological affirmation of their belief in white supremacy. They found this in South Africa and its apartheid policies as well as in other right-wing organisations and individuals outside the American South. Through the archives of segregationist organisations, civil rights organisations, anti-communist groups, individuals, governmental records and newspapers, this thesis charts the journey southern segregationists took from the creation of massive resistance in 1954 – a movement focused on regional problems – to a dramatically less isolationist standpoint one decade later. By 1965, white southern Africa had really captured the imagination of segregationists, alliances had been forged and when massive resistance failed, segregationists did not retreat from their international agenda. Although South Africa was a focal point of segregationists' attention during massive resistance, they also became committed to white rule in Rhodesia after 1965. This thesis examines the groups across America that supported the isolated bastions of white supremacy in southern Africa and demonstrates that the Cold War alliance between U.S. and southern African governments inadvertently helped to maintain and conceal the racism that drove segregationists to form fruitful links in southern Africa. The tangible and ideological links segregationists made abroad internationalised a concept of white supremacy in which race trumped nationality. This global white supremacy has endured and reveals that segregationists were not insignificant reactionaries with a short lived movement but people who affected race relations in the long term.

This study explores how Turkish Cypriot identity is defined by Turkish Cypriot opinion leaders and Turkish Cypriot media in view of the longstanding interethnic dispute prevailing in the island. After a short historical review of the problem with reference to interethnic conflict and theoretical considerations pertinent to identity formation, short theoretical account of media and opinion formation, the state of the press in TRNC is displayed. This is followed by the analysis of the indepth interviews conducted within a sample of opinion leaders in TRNC and the press content in the Northern Cyprus at times which can be considered as turning points in the course of the unification negotiations. As for a conclusion, in the light of the findings, the question of whether or not the controversy around the national identity is self reproducing is tried to be answered.

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This thesis questions the effectiveness of anti-racial discrimination mechanisms in France, particularly in relation to the national political culture. Considering the overall import of republican ideology in France, which emphasizes values of universalism, colour-blindness, and laïcité, there are significant implications for how institutional, legal and civil society actors have traditionally approached issues of racism in France. From primary data, gathered through fieldwork in France (consisting of a series of semi-structured interviews with key antiracist and anti-racial discrimination actors), this thesis highlights the ways in which the political culture impacts the anti-racial discrimination agenda. By taking into account the various levels of antiracism in France, this thesis constitutes a unique, holistic and race critical analysis whereby legal, civil society, institutional and non-conventional mechanisms are considered in conjunction with each other, instead of separately. Using “race” as an analytical tool for understanding the French context, this thesis offers a critical re-reading of French history, linking an ethnicized and racialized formation of national identity throughout key historical moments to contemporary forms of racism. This research thus argues that certain antiracist approaches based on republican ideology result in a limited understanding of racialized processes, which appears to constrain actors from producing effective mechanisms for challenging racism and racial discrimination.

ABSTRACT THE SURVIVORS: ROMA UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN TURKEY Diler, Melike M.Sc., Department of Sociology Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. AySe G&uuml / nd&uuml / z HoSg&ouml / r December 2008, 147 pages This study has two aims regarding the Roma university students in Turkey. First, it attempts to discover the characteristics of their life courses in order to identify the success factors paving the way for their participation in higher education, specifically when the low education level of the Roma people, including even their own families, is concerned. Therefore, their socio-economic environment, early childhood years and school experiences are focused and analyzed respectively to expose the actors and processes making their life stories appear as success stories. Second, it aims to expose whether there are differences between the ones involved in the Roma Rights Movement and the ones not involved in terms of their ethnic identity status. That is, most of the better-off Roma, previously, preferred hiding their ethnic identity not to be excluded from participation in social, economic and political spheres. However, the Roma university students participating in the Roma Rights Movement refuse to hide their identity as they do not want to be assimilated, but integrated into the majority society. That point has a first-rate importance, as the low educational level of the Roma people, especially that of the Roma children, are closely associated with the lack of positive role models showing them how and what education pays off. On the basis of the conclusions drawn from the data analysis collected through in-depth interviews, it is exposed that these Roma youngsters demonstrate high levels of agency for their own social inclusion through education. Although they are all supported by their families / most of their Roma school peers dropped out of either primary or high school due to poverty and discriminative attitudes of their teachers and school administrators. The stigma of inferiority attached to the Roma is so strong that the survivors, who manage to attend the high school, hide their ethnic identity from this point onwards. Therefore, the demand of the Roma university students, participating in Roma Rights Movement, for integration into the majority society appears as an exceptional case among the well-educated Roma, but making them the pioneers of a new Roma identity in Turkey: Roma intelligentsia.

The current thesis extends research in the area of multiple social identities and identity conflict by focusing on both intergroup and intraindividual process underlying structures of identities, namely, religious, ethnic, and societal (national) identifications. In addition, it examined the influence of political trust, and perceived discrimination the relationship between ethnic and societal identification for disadvantaged ethnic groups in Turkey. Two studies were conducted to evaluate the process of identity organization both inter group and in group. While, the first study addresses intergroup differentiations of these identities, second study focused on intraindividual process of these identities&#039 / structure. Supporting hypothesis stemming from Social Identity Theory and Optimal Distinctiveness Theory, political trust and perceived discrimination have roles of mediation in the relationship ethnic and societal identification, by contrast with secular and religious identities in the relationship. Results were discussed for their implications to politic context of the Turkey.