Since the end of the Second World War, the location of most interstate borders has been fixed.This suggests that the common phenomenon of ethnic groups partitioned by internationallyrecognized state borders is permanent. Nevertheless, a recurrent dream of 'redemption' (i.e. thebuilding of a self-ruling polity which unifies the separate segments) is capable of inciting patrioticmobilization even in the face of a very long period of unbroken partition. Little is knownabout this clash between dream and reality. How can an ethnoterritorial group which is apparentlypermanently partitioned between separate, sovereign states be redeemed? In seeking asolution to this puzzle, I attempt a Machiavellian type of analysis, defined as an approach whichcombines a patriotic perspective with a strategic view of the choice of specific means and endsin a way which is free of state-centrism. I also employ Machiavelli's theory-building method,which is a form of abduction.This study focuses on six aspects of the problem of partition and redemption: the territorialsetting, the historical process, partitioning state contexts, perceptions of partition and homelandmythology, strategies, and outcomes. Two instances are selected for case study and comparison:the Sami in northernmost Europe, and the Basques in Spain and France. Both groups arepartitioned between separate states, are a minority in each one, and lack control over all existingstate governments.The analysis reveals the unexpected result that the less numerous, greater dispersed, morepartitioned, and generally weaker Sami have been more successful in redemption than have theBasques. While the Sami have built common bodies which officially represent Sami in all fourpartitioning states, the Basques have only a limited transborder cooperation between the BasqueAutonomous Community (BAC) in Spain and non-Basque regional authorities in France. It ismore important to have compatible building blocks in each state (like the three Nordic SamiParliaments), than to have a single powerful one (like the BAC). Without fairly similar andharmonized partitioning states, like the Nordic countries, it is extremely difficult for transborderpolity-building to succeed. Another main conclusion, which disputes the findings of other research,is that redemption is possible even when a group remains partitioned, given that thegoal of statehood is abandoned in favour of a less ambitious transborder homerule. In order torealize this goal, the most generally applicable method is a stepwise strategy aimed at creatingcompatible building blocks in each state. A variant of this is the blueprint strategy, that is, usingan achievement in one state as a model for the struggle in other states. In contrast to nonparti -tioned groups, partitioned groups can refer to their own achievement in other states.The subject of interest here transcends the domestic-international divide. Similarly, theanalysis transcends academic boundaries, mainly those of political theory, international politicsand comparative politics. This combination provides a starting-point for further inquiry into thepattern of overlapping polities which is emerging, and of partition and redemption in particular. / digitalisering@umu

There are many parallels and points of similarity between the themes of the play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett and the themes explored by Friedrich Nietzsche. This essay examines the play in light of some of Nietzsche’s key concepts, such as the Will to Power, the Übermensch or Overman, the Eternal Recurrence, as well as the aesthetic conception of existence. The essay argues that while Waiting for Godot shares many of the premises and conclusions of Nietzsche’s philosophy, the play can also be interpreted as a critique of the same. The play presents a post-religious world marked by pessimism and resignation rather than affirmation and Nietzschean amor fati. The characters are as far removed from the heroic Overman ideal as can be imagined, unable to harness the Will to Power, which is absent or distorted or even unknowable. Communication is fraught with difficulty and uncertainty. The dynamic of the Eternal Recurrence is present but rather than being affirmed it is a source of crushing boredom, tediousness and existential angst. The characters are unable to embrace the Eternal Recurrence and are in a continual state of mental flight from its implications. They suffer from a vague recollection of the past while projecting their hopes into the future in order to diminish the unbearable suffering of the existing present, or state of perpetual becoming. Beckett can thus be said to be offering a satirical critique of the concept of salvation, both in its traditional religious sense as well as in the sense implied by Nietzsche’s concept of the Eternal Recurrence. However, Beckett does offer a sense of hope by suggesting, paradoxically, that the abandonment of hope of salvation may lead to a sort of salvation of resignation.

<p>This dissertation explores the meaning of art and religion in fin-de-siècle Vienna through the symphonies of the composer Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) and the philosophical and dramatic works of the poet Siegfried Lipiner (1856-1911). Using as a framework aesthetic discourses concerning the ability of music to be "read" as a narrative text, this study highlights the significant role of both poet and composer in the cultural and intellectual world of Vienna at the end of the nineteenth century. In this study, I compare and contrast Lipiner's vision of religious renewal with the redemptive narratives in the programs of Mahler's first four symphonies, which were composed during a period when the poet and composer shared a close friendship and intellectual exchange. Furthermore, I also discuss Mahler and Lipiner's works in relation to the writings of the Polish Romantic poet, Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1835), the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), and the composer and cultural critic, Richard Wagner (1813-1883), demonstrating how the images of the heroic martyr, the Übermensch and the Volk, play a role in the re-conception of man's relationship to the divine, which is central to Mahler and Lipiner's idea of redemption. However, I also claim that the political and cultural climate of Vienna around 1900 played an important role in their interpretation of these ideas. Despite their public conversion and cultural assimilation, Mahler and Lipiner's Jewish heritage distinctly shaped their interest in artistic-religious redemption both to cope with their own personal feelings of alienation in the society in which they lived, and as a cure for the existential malaise of their time. This study demonstrates not only the significant impact of Lipiner's aesthetic-religious philosophy on Mahler's music, but also portrays their vision of redemption as an re-envisioning of man's relationship to God, which stands in contrast to the modern trend of secularism, and reflects a little-explored dimension of aesthetic and religious culture in fin-de-siècle Vienna.</p> / Dissertation

From recent year(2008), restaurant, retailing, credit card services industry have began focusing on frequency reward promotion activity to increase business and customers¡¦ loyalty. How do consumers like the activities? Actually, not all customers can be rewarded from their accumulated frequency. Failure of the accumulated frequency to obtain reward may cause consumers negative emotions. And, eventually the bad feeling impacts on their attitude toward the store. The current research developed two types of consumer emotional scale in adjective and in Chinese idioms . Through a 3x2x2 factorial design, 84 participants, 42 students and 42 rank-and -file people, took parts in the experiment, while 3 situations of frequency activities, 2 types of reward, and 2 kinds of business were manipulated, and two categories of criterion measure, emotion and attitude towards store, were implemented. ¡]1¡^Customers who get reward promotion will have higher positive emotions than who failed to redeem. ¡]2¡^People with high degree of loss, in the activities have much negative emotions, comparing to these without. ¡]3¡^Consumer emotions will affect the consumer's willingness to repeat purchase, likening and emotional attitude towards the store. ¡]4¡^Different industry will moderate the effect of redemption situations on consumer emotion. ¡]5¡^The original product type frequency rewards, in certain condition, may solicit more positive emotion than other type of product reward. Keywords: frequency promotion activities, redemption situations in promotion, consumer emotion, measurement for emotion

The present essay concerns Walter Benjamin’s thought regarding history and temporality as he articulated it in his last work that was only published posthumously: ”Über den Begriff der Geschichte”. The purpose is to analyze Benjamin’s construction of historical materialism and to suggest a reading of it as directed towards an opening of history. For Walter Benjamin, every moment presents itself as a possibility of radical otherness: a possibility for things to be different. In this essay, I therefore want to concentrate on key concepts constituting such possibility, namely, remembrance [Eingedenken] and redemption [Erlösung]. I will further examine their relation to the specific experience of the past. Following Benjamin, in this essay I am constructing a critique of positivist concepts of linear time and Marxist teleology in regard to history and temporality. Another purpose is to establish an alternative concept of history and temporality as it is to be found in Benjamin’s own thought. Furthermore, the essay seeks to engage in a dialog with Benjamin’s historical reflection in an attempt of capturing the Benjaminian concepts of dialectical image and now-time [Jetztzeit] and by doing this to envisage a genuine break from the notion of historical progress. In presenting such a break as a possibility of opening up history, I seek to raise the question of political action [Aktion]. As demonstrated in the essay, the notion of action, its ethics and politics, is to be found, both implicitly and explicitly, in the way Benjamin develops the persona of the historical materialist and in his concept of redemption, but the analysis must start with a thorough investigation of the concept of remembrance [Eingedenken], without which Benjamin’s meaning cannot be understood.

Thesis (M. Div.)--Cincinnati Christian University, 2005. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-175).

Zugl.: Bonn, Univ., Diss.

Thesis (M.C.S.)--Regent College, Vancouver, B.C., 1993. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-112).

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity International University, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-175).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-135).