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Masculinity is a set of meanings, and also an aspect of male identity. Understanding masculinity in history, therefore, requires attention to culture and psychology. The concept of a "crisis of masculinity" cannot address these dimensions sufficiently and is of little use to the historian. / This analysis of evidence from late medieval England begins with the social world. Legal records show men defending, and therefore defining, masculine identity through interaction among male peers and with women. Defamation suits suggest a fifteenth-century identification of masculinity with "trueness": an uncomplicated, open honesty. A "true man," in late medieval England, was not just an honest man, but a real man. / Social masculinity constituted honest fairness, permitting stable social relations between men. Transparent honesty, good management of the household ("husbandry"), and self-command preserved males' social substance, their metaphoric embodiment represented tangibly by money and property. Lawsuits and personal letters show how masculine social identity took shape through competition and cooperation with other men. "Power," "dominance" and self-fulfilment were less important than sustaining this network of relations. / Men's relations with women are best understood within this homosocial dynamic. Men's adultery trespassed on other males' substance, while women's adultery indicated poor management of one's own. Sexual slander against men could injure their social identity, but was unlikely to demolish it, as it would for a woman. The celibate minority of men shared these concerns. / Medical texts, late medieval men's clothing, satirical poems, and courtesy texts prescribing self-control show that the male body provided important meanings (phallic and otherwise), through failure, inadequacy or excess as often as not. Sexual activity, and other uses of the body, might be managed differently as self-restraining or self-indulgent discourses of masculinity demanded. / A psychoanalytic reading of medieval romances reveals fantasized solutions to the problem of males' desire for feminine and masculine objects. Romance literature displays a narcissistic subjectivity created in defensive fantasies of disconnection. Such features derive from a culture demanding incessant social self-presentation of its men, which permitted very little in daily life to be kept from the scrutiny of others.

This thesis traces the roots of women's honor killings in the tribal areas of Pakistan from the British rule in South Asia. The British colonial presence gave the tribal areas autonomy through landmark colonial legislations. The colonizers needed a harmonious relationship with tribal and rural notables in order to gain from the land. Thus, the British gave precedence to the tribal legal structure and as a result we see the beginnings of tribal autonomy in today's Pakistan. Women's honor was also dictated by tribal laws thus tribal councils dictated women's mobility and rights. / After the creation of Pakistan in 1947 much colonial legislation was preserved in the Constitution. The tribal areas maintained autonomy and their legal systems also gained legitimacy on a national level. Therefore, cases of women's honor killings were dealt with in the rural areas but moreover, were justified in Pakistani law as well. Thus this thesis seeks to trace this legacy to the modern period and look at the evolution of the relationship between tribal autonomy and women's rights in the context of the pre and post-independence periods.

Understanding the processes that allow all students to successfully learn mathematics has been an important objective for most education systems including those in Canada. Educational systems however, have not achieved this goal as many students with low socioeconomic status, females, and minority students fail to achieve an adequate knowledge of mathematics. Much of the discussion regarding this lack of achievement concerns classroom resources and practices, school policies within educational systems, and the specific domain of mathematics achievement considered. This study conceptualizes a successful mathematics classroom in terms of its level of mathematics achievement and how equitably achievement is distributed. The study employs multilevel models and the Canadian data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study to address three main research issues: 1) the extent to which differences in mathematics achievement is attributable to gender, family background, classrooms, and the province where a student attends school; 2) whether the variation in achievement is specific to a mathematics domain; and 3) whether the variation among six provinces (Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec) in the levels of their mathematics achievement is associated with various aspects of school policy and practices. The analyses indicate a slight male advantage in mathematics achievement, and a large, significant gap in achievement associated with the socioeconomic status (SES) of the students' families. Students from low SES backgrounds are disadvantaged as they tend to have relatively low achievement in mathematics within classrooms, especially in Proportionality, Measurement, and Fractions. The most successful classrooms are those in which students from disadvantaged backgrounds excel in mathematics. Disadvantaged students excel in mathematics classrooms in which there are fewer groupings, the mathematics teachers are specialized, and in schools with lower pupil-teacher ratio. Mathematics achievement is equitably distributed in provinces with high mathematics achievement levels. Provincial achievement levels are stable across mathematics domains; that is, provinces with high achievement levels in one domain also tend to have high achievement levels in other domains. On average, Quebec's mathematics achievement is higher than the other provinces in all mathematics domains, and at all levels of SES. This high achievement level in Quebec is partially attributed to higher teacher specialization, lower pupil-teacher ratio, and lower withinschool remedial tracking. The study recommends a comprehensive longitudinal study employing multilevel models with a focus on what other provinces can learn from Quebec's advantage in mathematics. Such a study should conceptualize successful mathematics classrooms as those in which an average student excels in mathematics and where mathematics achievement is equitably distributed.

In response to recent calls in the literature for a more contextual analysis of the influence of social support processes (e.g., Rook, 1997; Sarason, Sarason, & Pierce, 1992), the current study explores the relationships of spousal support, spousal strain, and well-being among husbands and wives, both within the same day and across days. In addition, the moderating roles of interpersonal and situational contexts within which support and strain are provided are examined. One hundred and sixty-six husbands and wives in stepfamilies were interviewed and then asked to complete a structured diary twice daily for a week. Participants reported their stress, supportive and problematic spousal interactions, mood, and dyadic adjustment. A multi-level hierarchical model was used to estimate average within-person relations among the daily variables, while at the same time controlling for the influence of between-person differences in these variables. Lack of daily spousal support and the presence of spousal strain were both significantly associated with increased negative affect across the same day, although the magnitude of the effect of spousal strain was greater. However, these associations were mitigated for participants who perceived their marriages to be well-adjusted. In addition, daily stressors were directly associated with increased same day negative affect, however daily stressors did not interact with support or strain to predict distress. In contrast, the pattern of the findings for the prediction of negative affect across days was quite different. Of the daily variables, only spousal support, but not spousal strain or daily hassles, was a significant direct predictor of negative affect the next morning. Furthermore, spousal support and spousal strain were found to have a multiplicative association with negative affect the next day. Specifically, the presence of spousal strain attenuated the beneficial impact of spousal support on mood. Further, dyadic adjustment was a direct predictor of decreased negative affect the next day. The findings from this study suggest an interplay among social support, social strain, and well-being. In particular, the importance of considering differential influences over time for support and strain, as well as the moderating roles of proximal and distal relationship factors, was highlighted.

The beginning of the twenty-first century is a time of far-reaching global changes; these changes have tremendous implications for the meaning of citizenship. Increasing connections of all kinds across borders and between cultures demand the reevaluation of traditional understandings of the relationship of individuals to the state and to each other in the public sphere. This thesis uses the testimony of Mexican immigrants to Vancouver, Canada, (a largely unresearched group at the forefront of these global changes) to query their experiences of the meaning of citizenship. Semistructured interviews in English and Spanish were conducted with twenty-seven respondents. Three dimensions of citizenship were found to be particularly important to this group. First, these immigrants operate within the structure of neoliberal nation-building projects of both the Mexican and the Canadian states. Two examples of such biopolitical mobilization (the National Solidarity Program in Mexico, and the federal multicultural policy in Canada) are examined in detail. Second, citizenship for Mexican immigrants is transnational; it is characterized by multiple, simultaneous economic, social, and political involvements in both Mexico and Canada. However, the actual extent of such transnationalism was found to be rather more limited than much transnational literature suggests. Third, belonging to a community is a central element of citizenship; these immigrants were found not to form a single cohesive community, but rather multiple, dispersed communities split along lines of class and other identity axes. This research demonstrates the challenges and opportunities that increasingly common hybrid identities present for the meaning and function of citizenship, particularly for an ethnic minority immigrant group maintaining strong ties to their country of origin.

Feminist community organizing involves members of a geographic locale or social network coming together to address a shared issue or problem affecting the lives of women in order to find a collective solution (Dominelli, 1995; Israel, Checkoway, Schulz & Zimmerman, 1994; Selsky, 1991). While the organizational theory literature has traditionally focused on the exchange of financial and material resources as the main reason for forming partnerships (Gulati, 1998; Kanter, 1989; Oliver, 1991), a growing body of feminist literature (Acker, 1995; Brown, 1992; Eisenstein, 1995; Feree and Martin, 1995; Reinelt, 1994) and community development literature (Dominelli, 1995, Israel et al., 1994; Kretzman & McKnight, 1993; Minkler & Wallerstein, 1997; Selsky, 1991) emphasizes the importance of other types of resources such as skills, lived experience, knowledge, information and social networks. In addition, feminist collectivity offers a promising alternative to hierarchy in terms of valuing and mobilizing the diverse pool of resources brought to a feminist community-based initiative by participants from varied social locations (Callahan, 1997; Dominelli, 1995; Reinelt, 1994). The purpose of my study was to investigate participant understandings of the resources they brought to a feminist community organizing initiative designed to increase the access of women on low-incomes to community recreation, and how emergent organizational practices affected resource utilization. A case study analysis of 'Women Organizing Activities for Women' (WOAW) that is comprised of a diverse group of women on low incomes, community partners, and university-based researchers was conducted. The research methods for this project included the analysis data obtained in Interactive Research Meetings (n=3) with each of the WOAW participant groups to determine individual and collective resources. Observations of Phase I WOAW meetings (n=9) were recorded using fieldnotes and verbatim transcripts and served as the data source for examining patterns of resource utilization given emergent feminist collective organizing practices. Fieldnotes and transcripts were analyzed using Atlas.ti data computer software. Participants from the three groups identified over 200 examples of resources they were bringing to WOAW and described a number of connections between resources, as well as multiple meanings of single resource types, which differed based on their roles and locations in the organization. These findings contribute to the literature by linking resource identification in new ways to the process of resource utilization. The results also contribute to practice by challenging assumptions about the types of resources brought by different collaborators and by identifying organizational practices that enhance or inhibit resource utilization. My analysis revealed that there was ambiguity between participant groups about who was bringing what resources, which led to assumptions being made about who would take on certain tasks in the group. I also found that while feminist collective organizing practices enabled participants to name and share resources in an empowering and respectful environment, that time constraints, ambiguity about roles and participants' lack of familiarity with the process were challenges to mobilizing available resources.

National multicultural and multiracial pluralism is a reality of modernity. In Canada multiculturalism has been an official policy since 1971. As a settler society the concepts, values and principles entrenched in multiculturalism, citizenship and immigration reflect a history of racialization. Uncritical views of nation building and citizenship assume that all Canadians have equal opportunity to participate and contribute to the social, economic, cultural and political life of the country. Given the current milieu of globalization, transnationalism and internationalism in an era of interconnectivity, market economies and of focus on economic capital, there is a challenge for Canada to consign a sense of place and equal participation to all its citizens. This is a conceptual thesis that looks at how government policy and dominant hegemony in Canada mediate relationships and identities within and among immigrant communities and other marginalized communities be they bound by geography, economics race, gender, religion or sexuality. Personal-narratives from my own experience as an immigrant are used to highlight how social relations are constituted, synthesized, merged, enacted, intersected, transpired and inspired. The objective is to interrogate the ubiquity of racially esssentialized and exclusionary practices that continue to inform and guide our development as a settler society, no matter how rigorously we may deny or how we frame the practice of racialization. The key issues to be examined are, first, the development of group and individual identity in its relational, political, historical and cultural contexts. The second issue is the development of social relations between marginalized communities as they are affected by government policies in areas of immigration, multiculturalism and citizenship. And finally the thesis examines the practice of Adult Education as contributing to social relations between communities. Identity and identity politics circumscribing the Canadian psyche provides a powerful location for adult learning in general but particularly in situations serving immigrant and newcomers. This thesis develops a lens that contributes to a critical approach to the provision of Adult Education in settlement services, health education, work place training, language acquisition and other services that shape social relations between communities. These programs should incorporate critical theories to make transparent the 'real' history of Canada and students place in the nation.

This thesis examines the social history of the Vancouver Korean community from 1965 to 1997. Within the Canadian context, first generation immigrant Koreans have experienced two key phenomena which have challenged their social status and made for a unique immigrant experience in Canada. First, there has been a negative estimation of Korean cultural merit by the host society. Second, first generation Koreans were highly educated professionals who could not find employment commensurate with their educational and professional backgrounds. Prestige is extremely important for all individuals and groups. In light of the two challenges of cultural devaluation and downward occupational adjustment, the question that this thesis investigates is how Vancouver Koreans have historically reestablished lost prestige within their own community. It is concluded that immigrant generation Koreans have contested for personal status in two ways: by promoting Korean cultural heritage and by pursuing positions of authority within the structure of the Korean community.

Interpretations of the Nationalist Revolution in modern Chinese history, especially the so-called “Nanjing decade” (1927-1937) are dominated by theoretical notions which see the state as autonomous in its relationship to society. This autonomous state model, the dissertation argues, finds its roots in the voluntaristic ideas of Talcott Parsons. Arguments based on Parsons’s ideas view the Nationalist Revolution as abortive. The dissertation rejects these views and develops an alternative perspective based on the construction of a quasi-market model of social relations. The theoretical underpinnings, in contrast to Parsons’s ideas, are termed “de-voluntaristic.” These arguments suggest that individuals participate in, and have influence on, the operation of the state. The application of a quasi-market model suggests that there was a major transformation in Chinese society during the Nationalist period. The dissertation argues that the Nationalist Government after 1927 did not continue to achieve the initial objectives of the Nationalist Revolution which, it is suggested, aimed to build a quasi-market society. The revolution, however, was not abortive. It transformed the political system. In the Imperial tradition of government, local elites protected local communities against state encroachment through their involvement in property management. After 1927, the Nanjing Government adopted a “free market” approach to political affairs, and centralized the use of military and legal power to protect property against labour and the peasants. Peasant demands for rights to the land they tilled, a key element in Sun Yat-sen’s programme for the revolution, questioned the brokerage market economy, in which local elites acted as the intermediaries of contractual partners. Workers, in the context of industrialization, and with support from Communist organizers, attempted to improve working conditions. Peasants and workers contested the power of active elites that grew in the new political order established by. the Nationalist Government. The Nationalist State abandoned the traditional role of the Chinese state to protect the well-being of society. Deeply influenced by new elites, it protected capital accumulation and safeguarded the sanctity of contracts. The Nationalist Revolution ultimately failed as it was unable to resist the invasions of the Japanese, or the alternative social formulations of the Communist movement.