published_or_final_version / Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

This thesis explores the experiences, encounters, responses and reactions to Islamophobia through a narrative study of forty female Pakistani and British students with a Pakistani heritage in universities across England. In exploring Islamophobia as a ‘racialised’ phenomenon, the participant narratives locate the experiences and encounters of Islamophobia within their ‘intersubjective’ realities, across various ‘communities’ of ‘discourse.’ These realities are informed by the wider socio-political milieu of a war against Al Qa’ida and its affiliates that ‘securitizes’ the Muslim and Pakistani identity(s) particularly in Britain. The university is also implicated in the counter terrorism agenda of the state, depicted as a ‘vulnerable’ space for radicalizing students. However, females in this discussion are predominantly absent within the academic and public narratives. Therefore, this research will explore the experience of Islamophobia, the way it is perceived by the British/Pakistani/Muslim/female student, and the way students respond and react to it within the university. The research employs a narrative method of inquiry. The narrative analysis is informed by a Bakhtinian notion of ‘dialogics’ to explore the multiplicity of ‘meanings’ that emerge through individual accounts of Islamophobia located within their public and private realms. In exploring these narratives the thesis illustrates how ‘degrees of religiosity’ influences encounters and experiences of Islamophobia, and highlights responses and reactions of students to such experiences, that include individual and group activism to challenge Islamophobia and the insecure meta-narrative about Muslims and terrorism. The research further focuses on both the religious identity of the Muslim student, and their problematic ethnic identity, Pakistani demonstrating how in a securitized socio-political milieu Muslim students are further vulnerable to experiences of Islamophobia, in the form of Pakophobia, where both their religious and ethnic identities are held suspect. These narratives have implications for the emerging understanding of Islamophobia as a ‘racialised’ phenomenon. They further have implications for universities that are encouraged to participate in the government’s counter-terrorism agenda. The narratives by locating the research within the particularities of a wider socio-political milieu that ‘racialises’ and ‘securitizes’ Muslims raises critical questions about the nature of discrimination in a post 9/11, 7/7 era that may have repercussions for other Muslim minority groups.

The purpose of this study was to examine sociocultural and psychological correlates of bulimic symptomatology and drive for thinness in a sample of nonclinical female adolescents.

This study sets out to understand the position of Turkish women in gendered jobs and jobs with different levels of prestige from the 1980s to the 2000s, and to compare this position to that of women in similar countries where possible. Although Turkish women's enrolment rates in traditionally male subjects in higher education is above the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average and despite the fact that they exceed their male counterparts in their graduation rates in most of the university subjects, this success is not reflected in the labour market. Turkish women are mostly trapped in female occupations with medium level of prestige and are particularly excluded from top-ranked jobs. This study argues that the vicious circle of society's expectations of women in the private sphere and the statistical discrimination based on the fulfilment of these expectations affect women's likelihood to be in these jobs negatively. While increasing educational level strongly improves women's position in male-dominated jobs (within 'professional, scientific and technical jobs' category in particular) and their prestige levels, evidence also shows that there is still a drastic lost potential in respect of highly qualified women's employment considering that still in 2010s, there is a remarkable proportion of highly educated women who are not in paid work. It is observed that in 2012, women expanded their attainment in relatively low-prestige jobs and increased their participation further in professional jobs in accordance with their rising higher educational attainment, yet still only 3% of working women are in managerial jobs (TurkStat, 2012). This implies that the prescribed gender roles that saddle women with the heavy burden in the private sphere, which also affect highly educated women's career trajectories, could even be more persisting than the influence of the traditional social structure on women's work that is expected to cause low qualified women to be represented at low rates in (less prestigious) jobs with non-traditional conditions. Considering that women withdraw from the labour market mostly due to marriage, and the findings show that marriage and having children have a negative impact on women's careers at large, attention should be focused on the private sphere. Looking at Turkish households, it is found that the gender segregation at work is reflected in the private sphere: women undertake the demanding traditionally female housework and while there are more potential sources of support for childcare compared to household chores, women's employment status and level of income also do not make a substantial difference in terms of the former also the unbalanced domestic division of labour unlike it is for the latter. Results demonstrate that Turkish men do not have a particularly traditional gender ideology regarding women's paid work. However, their lack of involvement in female chores creates a barrier for women's careers in a semi-direct pattern. The findings refer to the need for a faster increase in Turkish women's higher educational attainment and a stronger external support system via social policies at work and at home. It is also important to reinforce a more egalitarian gender ideology regarding men's roles as spouses and fathers as well as to promote the importance of women's different roles in private and public spheres, not only as wives and mothers but also as individuals, citizens and employers/employees.

This thesis explores the relationship between gender policy, gender culture, and political participation in unified Germany. It investigates the extent to which political regimes shape citizens' attitudes towards gender roles and examines the effect of such attitudes on women's participation in politics. The thesis is divided into three parts: The first part explores the differences in gender regime types between the former German Democratic Republic and Federal Republic of Germany during the Cold War period. Building on existing studies, the analysis considers how generations that were socialised in the divided Germany differ in their attitudes toward gender roles. It finds that citizens from West Germany are more socially conservative than citizens from the East. The second part of the thesis tests the effects of these traditional gender attitudes on citizens' participation, focusing on party membership. The analysis highlights that gender gaps in formal political participation in unified Germany still exist, but that these gaps are smaller in the new federal states. The investigation further shows that traditional gender attitudes exert a negative effect on women’s political engagement beyond the predictive power of socio-economic and demographic factors. The final part of this thesis casts a critical look at the political controversy in Germany over the introduction of a cash-for-care subsidy (the so-called Betreuungsgeld). It explores the normative assumptions and ideas about gender roles that have been promoted by Germany's main political parties throughout the policy negotiation process. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, the research presented in this thesis draws on, and contributes to, studies on gender, welfare states, political socialisation, and political participation.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of the Arts (Media Studies) in the Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand, March, 2017 / Many young black aspirational South African women are involved in the construction of their identities, and their ideal selves, through their self-display on Instagram. Within the framework of certain hegemonic structures, these women are seen exercising their ‘freedom’ within a post-feminist setting, as neoliberal citizens, and thus striving for a sense of empowerment from this engagement. This project explores the self-display of 10 of these young women that have each accumulated more than 10,000 followers on Instagram. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each of them, and their Instagram images were analysed, in order to find out how their online performances relate to consumption and global celebrity culture, and how these ideologies are depicted in their images. They draw inspiration from certain black female celebrities such as Beyoncé and Rihanna, and their emulation of these celebrities is used in their identity construction. They do this by displaying a lifestyle of glamorous consumption by incorporating certain exclusive brands and fashionable items into their online presentation. Additionally, they modify and model themselves to fit a specific beauty ideal, which is characterized by long straight hair, fair skin and a curvaceous body. By doing all of this, these young women are, by their own definition attaining a level of ‘success’, and achieve the status of ‘Insta-Celeb’ by the Instagram community. The ideological frameworks on which this construction is built, involves a collective imperative to be liked and accepted by their online followers, the desire for status, and the contradictory creation of a faux idea of female empowerment that is, in reality, not actually as free as it seems. / XL2018

A large body of research has documented the deleterious relationship between work stress and health and wellbeing. This research has also examined which factors intrinsic and extrinsic to the individual create variations in this pattern of relationship. Two notable factors in this regard are gender and social support. Previous research has indicated that gender and social support can lead to variations in the way individuals perceive, cope with and react to stress. This research has also indicated that gender can influence the extent to which individuals will effectively utilise different sources of social support. However, much of this research has focused on a dichotomous conceptualisation of gender, restricting the exploration of gender to that which is biologically defined. Research advances have been made utilising Bem’s (1974) Theory of Psychological Androgyny. This theory has acknowledged and explored socially constructed ‘within gender’ differences of masculinity and femininity, proposing that androgyny, defined as an equal balance of masculine and feminine traits within an individual, independent of biological sex, is the ideal with regard to experienced optimal health and wellbeing. While this theory has enjoyed a vast empirical base that indicates that those with an androgynous sex role identity tend to enjoy the greatest health and wellbeing; the research on psychological androgyny has not been without its limitations. Competing models of gender identity, such as the ‘Differentiated Model have suggested that gender identities are made up of both socially desirable and socially undesirable sex-typed behavioural traits; this model promoting a ‘new prescription’ for gender in the 21st century. This new prescription requires the acknowledgement of both types of sex-based behavioural traits, expanding the conceptualisation of gender to take into account both negative and positive sex-based feminine and masculine traits, that is, traits that are both socially desirable and undesirable in terms of masculinity and femininity. This new prescription thus intends to segregate and explore the relationship between socially desirable and socially undesirable sex- typed behavioural traits to health and wellbeing. Consequently, the present study adopts this prescription in order to examine this expanded conceptualisation of sex role identity, utilising a South African sample of female managers. More specifically, the present study examines the relationship between socially desirable and socially undesirable sex role identities and perceptions of work stress, social support, psychological wellbeing and self-esteem. In addition, the present study examines the moderating effect of social support in the relationship between indicators of work stress and wellbeing. The Extended Personality Attributes Questionnaire (EPAQ) was revised and utilised to assess the expanded conceptualisation of both socially desirable and socially undesirable sex role identities within a South African sample of 1477 female managers accessed from two national financial institutions and one tertiary institution. Results of the study indicate that the socially desirable, positively valenced identities fare better on health indicators than the socially undesirable, negatively valenced identities. In all instances positively valenced sex role identities perceive the least stress and have the highest level of psychological wellbeing and self-esteem as compared to the negatively valenced identities. Clearly those with negative identities, more particularly those that were negatively feminine or negatively androgynous are significantly worse off in terms of health and wellbeing than those with positive identities. Overall, the hypotheses proposing significant differences between positive identities, that is, positive androgyny and the negative femininity and negative androgyny, with a few exceptions, were supported. Three sources of social support, that is, colleague, supervisor and partner support had a main effect on psychological wellbeing while all five sources, that is colleague, supervisor, partner, family and friend had a main effect on self-esteem. With regard to moderating effects, both colleague and supervisor support interacted with work stress to moderate the relationship between work stress and psychological wellbeing to reduce the impact of work stress on wellbeing. None of the non-work sources of support interacted to moderate the effect of work stress on psychological wellbeing. In addition no interaction effects for all sources of support were observed for self-esteem with the exception of friend support which moderated the relationship between work stress and self-esteem. However, this interaction effect was in an unexpected direction, in that friend support exacerbated the relationship; indicating that the higher the social support the lower the self-esteem. Based on the results of the study and the methodology utilised, a number of strengths and weaknesses of the present research are identified. With regard to strengths, the present study has added to the literature on sex role identity and its implication for female managers within a South African context by identifying specific positive sex role identities and specific negative sex role identities and their relationship to health and wellbeing indicators within an occupational context. In addition, the findings of the present research suggest that there may be specific contingencies pertaining to stressor situations, the contexts within which they occur and the domains upon which they predict, which may prescribe which sex role identity may be most or least beneficial in terms of health and wellbeing. Study limitations have both theoretical and methodological implications for future research. In particular, issues pertaining to the measurement of gender are outlined that need to be resolved by future researchers in order to effectively measure the construct of gender and its relationship to wellbeing. In addition, in order to determine which sex role identities will have the most or least beneficial health effects, future researchers need to develop and explore specificity hypotheses that enable the examination of gender in relation to specific stressors within specific socio-cultural contexts and the relationship thereof to particular predictor domains.

Lo Yi. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-115). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / 論文摘要「性別與國家建構：獨立後的烏克蘭」 --- p.iii / Acknowledgments --- p.iv / Transiiteration and Translation --- p.vi / Table of Contents --- p.vii / List of Figures --- p.ix / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter I. --- Background --- p.1 / Chapter II --- . Theoretical Framework --- p.6 / Chapter III --- . Significance --- p.15 / Chapter IV. --- Outline of Chapters --- p.16 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Nation Building in the Post-Soviet Ukraine --- p.18 / Chapter I. --- Introduction --- p.18 / Chapter II. --- Ukraine: Historical Statelessness --- p.20 / Chapter III. --- The Cossack State --- p.30 / Chapter IV. --- Nation Building in Post-Soviet Ukraine --- p.35 / Chapter V. --- Conclusion --- p.46 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- "Gender, Nation and the cult of Berehvnia" --- p.47 / Chapter I. --- Introduction --- p.47 / Chapter II. --- Feminism and Nationalism: Historical Acquaintance --- p.49 / Chapter III. --- Revitalized Present Goal --- p.53 / Chapter IV. --- Berehynia: The Perfect Ukrainian Woman --- p.55 / Chapter V. --- Gendered National Duties --- p.61 / Chapter VI. --- Conclusion --- p.68 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Women's Responses and Organizations --- p.69 / Chapter I. --- Introduction --- p.69 / Chapter II. --- "The Revival of the ""Ukrainian Matriarchal Culture""" --- p.70 / Chapter III. --- Women's Organizations and Their Responses --- p.73 / Chapter IV. --- Mass Media --- p.77 / Chapter V. --- Practical Reasons for Promoting Berehynia --- p.81 / Chapter VI. --- """Double Burden"" Still" --- p.88 / Chapter VII. --- "Gender, Nation and Post-colonialism" --- p.93 / Chapter VIII. --- Conclusion --- p.97 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Conclusion --- p.100 / Chapter I. --- Women's National Duties --- p.100 / Chapter II. --- Suffering: Hope for a Better Future? --- p.102 / Appendix --- p.104 / Bibliography --- p.109

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:31:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jose Hercilio Pessoa de Oliveira.pdf: 2025351 bytes, checksum: a22e4243d56955eb7a51d041996a2a7c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-11-24 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / We aim to understand how multiple dimensions of group participation enabled a Mothers Club to remain in time. Our research tries to recognize learning and sharing skills through exchange practices in that group. We also attempt to the affection involved and how it nurture relationships within and outside the group. We highlight the ways by which assemblages and debates within the group may extend spaces for participants to claim for their rights and foster their commitment and influence in actions developed by the State. We assume a constructionist perspective, which leads us to focus on the specific ways by which the group organize conversation and make it easier between participants. We moved our focus from group as a phenomenon to group practices and we propose an understanding of group as a social construction. The group we focused as case study is Lady Mila s Mothers Club, created in the 1969. We engaged in conversations within the group in order to understand how participants worked together in the group and also to recover the group timeline, which gave us visibility to the diversity of historical moments shared by the participants. We also performed four individual interviews in order to give visibility to discursive positioning and dialogues in speeches which were analysed using dialogic maps. The maps we produced made it possible to identify two major themes related to the group history: the operational characteristics of the group and the support of the group during regular activities. We conclude that the possibility of sharing emotions and abilities, the coexistence of activities within and outside the group, the exchange of knowledge and the ability to generate income, contributed to the group permanence over the past 45 years / Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo entender as múltiplas dimensões da participação grupal que sustenta a permanência no tempo de um Clube de Mães. Busca reconhecer no grupo estudado, a aprendizagem das habilidades e o compartilhamento das mesmas com as trocas de saberes. Busca também entender os afetos presentes e como estes alimentam as relações dentro e fora do grupo. Ainda destacamos os modos como as articulações e discussões grupais possibilitam ampliar os espaços do exercício de direitos, bem como de construção ou influência nas ações do Estado. Pauta-se na perspectiva construcionista que nos leva a entender o grupo numa abordagem focalizada nas formas específicas de organizar e facilitar a conversação. Nos deslocamos do fenômeno grupal, para os estudos da prática grupal e propomos o entendimento do grupo como uma construção social. O foco foi o Clube de Mães da Dona Mila, criado em 1969. Foram realizadas visitas ao grupo para entender seu funcionamento e coconstruir uma linha do tempo, que deu visibilidade aos diversos momentos históricos vividos pelo grupo. Também foram realizadas quatro entrevistas individuais, que foram analisadas utilizando como ferramenta os mapas dialógicos; que nos permitiu dar visibilidade aos posicionamentos e à dialogia presente nos discursos analisados. Os mapas possibilitaram identificar dois grandes temas: as características operacionais do grupo e a sustentação do grupo no tempo por meio das atividades desenvolvidas. Concluímos que o compartilhamento dos afetos e de habilidades, a convivência nas atividades dentro e fora do grupo, a troca de saberes e a possibilidade de geração de renda, contribuíram para a permanência do grupo ao longo dos últimos 45 anos

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:16:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marisa Andrade.pdf: 2632631 bytes, checksum: 6d72e3ca9651de94ed7cbcde81345798 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This thesis aims to present the integration into the labor market and living conditions of refugee women in São Paulo . To achieve this purpose it was necessary to thoroughly investigate the reality of refuge in the world and in Brazil , considering the homeland legislation , international conventions and treaties to which Brazil is subsidiary . Accordingly, we sought to first identify the different groups of people moving in search of refuge , were considered as refugees only those people that according to Law 9474 of July 22, 1997 in art . I were forced to flee their homes in conflict situations , for religious, ethnic , political , among others . Conflicts endanger the life, liberty and security of the population suffering threats and persecutions effective , triggering the refuge . This situation forces the flight of people from their countries in search of a better life in another that receives . But to survive in another country need to work and this triggered the research in question , in which we investigated the inclusion of these women in São Paulo labor market , considering the work category and the changing world of work in the context of the capitalist system , linked intrinsically conditions such inclusion as a determinant for survival and reflect on the living conditions of these women in their educational background , professional qualifications and consequently the mode of insertion in the labor market factor. Accordingly, we proceeded to literature , which supported the theoretical study on the topic . The theoretical appropriation in relation to history and legislation was essential to initiate the study. Through qualitative research , based on critical and analytical examination of reality investigated , we proceeded to the analysis of the object of study , as well as field research by providing information necessary to the description and interpretation of the studied phenomenon . Thus , we proceeded to the examination of this particular reality through the use of standardized techniques for data collection , such as questionnaires and in-depth interview. The contact with four organizations active on the issue of refuge provided the data and conditions for contact with the refugees . We selected a representative sample of 53 refugee women living in the city of São Paulo , which provided information relevant to the analysis developed in this work . In the research process sought to unveil the concept of work , changes in this universe , the world of work and its transformations over the historical process of capitalist society , inter - relating them to the reality of refugee women . In this process , we sought to uncover the life story of refugee women, their living conditions, as it has been given its survival . However , despite having centered his focus of interest regarding the integration into the labor market and living conditions of this social group , this study was not limited solely to describe such conditions , but investigate what the state agency responsible for acceptance and permanence of these people have done and can do to accomplish what is already structured in speech , true hospitality to refugees , in the present study to refugees . As a corollary to this line of argument , we have that without the active presence of the state as a structuring agent , the country will hardly able to guarantee social protection to this group , which , as already mentioned , has grown every day . Considering the aspects sometimes punctuated , it is expected that this work can serve as an additional source of research and interest to all those who have refuge in their area of expertise , especially for those who dedicate themselves to the study of issues related to the rights of refugees , given still seeking to apprehend about living as refugees in São Paulo megalopolis . It is estimated that this research guidance for other researchers in the social service area and that it , unlike become a production on the shelves of academia , creates new discussions and debates in the new area of concern in some and in others , awakening " new looks " toward a more critical social and political refuge and about the reality of refugee / A presente dissertação tem como objetivo apresentar a inserção no mercado de trabalho e as condições de vida das mulheres refugiadas no município de São Paulo. Para atingir tal intento fez-se necessário uma investigação minuciosa da realidade do refúgio no mundo e no Brasil, considerando a legislação pátria, as convenções e tratados internacionais dos quais o Brasil é subsidiário. Nesse sentido, buscou-se inicialmente identificar os diversos grupos de pessoas que se deslocam em busca de refúgio, consideraram-se como refugiadas somente aquelas pessoas que de acordo com a Lei 9.474 de 22 de julho 1997 em seu art. I são forçadas a abandonar seus lares em situações de conflitos, por questões religiosas, étnicas, políticas, dentre outras. Os conflitos colocam em risco a vida, a liberdade e a segurança da população que sofre ameaças e efetivas perseguições, desencadeando o refúgio. Essa situação obriga a fuga das pessoas de seus países em busca de uma vida melhor em outro que as receba. Mas, para sobreviverem em outro país precisam trabalhar e isso desencadeou a pesquisa em questão, na qual se investigou a inserção dessas mulheres no mercado de trabalho paulistano, considerando a categoria trabalho e as mudanças no mundo de trabalho, no contexto do sistema capitalista, vinculada intrinsecamente às condições dessa inserção como fator determinante para a sua sobrevivência e refletem nas condições de vida dessas mulheres, na sua formação educacional, qualificação profissional e consequentemente no modo de inserção no mercado de trabalho. Nesse sentido, procedeu-se a pesquisa bibliográfica, que subsidiou o aprofundamento teórico sobre o tema. A apropriação teórica em relação ao histórico e à legislação foi essencial para dar início ao estudo. Por meio de pesquisa qualitativa, com base em exame críticoanalítico da realidade investigada, procedeu-se a análise do objeto de estudo, assim como a pesquisa de campo, fornecendo elementos necessários à descrição e interpretação do fenômeno estudado. Assim, procedeu-se ao exame dessa realidade particular mediante a utilização de técnicas padronizadas de coleta de dados, tais como o questionário e entrevista aprofundada. O contato com quatro organizações atuantes na questão do refúgio forneceu os dados e as condições para contato com as refugiadas. Selecionou-se uma amostra representativa de 53 mulheres refugiadas residentes na cidade de São Paulo, as quais forneceram as informações pertinentes às análises desenvolvidas neste trabalho. No processo de investigação buscaram-se desvelar o conceito de trabalho, as mudanças ocorridas nesse universo, o mundo do trabalho e suas transformações ao longo do processo histórico da sociedade capitalista, inter-relacionando-as com a realidade das mulheres refugiadas. Nesse processo buscou-se também desvelar a história de vida da mulher refugiada, suas condições de moradia, como tem se dado sua sobrevivência. Entretanto, a despeito de haver centrado seu foco de interesse no que concerne à inserção no mercado de trabalho e a condição de vida desse grupo social, não se limitou este estudo a descrever tão somente tais condições, mas investigar o que o Estado, órgão responsável pela acolhida e permanência dessas pessoas tem feito, e pode fazer para efetivar o que em discurso já está estruturado, a verdadeira acolhida aos refugiados, no estudo em questão às refugiadas. Como corolário dessa linha argumentativa, tem-se que sem a presença ativa do Estado como agente estruturador, dificilmente o país terá condições de garantir a proteção social a esse grupo, que, como já mencionado, tem crescido a cada dia. Considerando os aspectos ora pontuados, espera-se que este trabalho possa servir como fonte adicional de consulta e interesse para todos aqueles que têm no refúgio sua área de atuação, mormente para os que se dedicam ao estudo da problemática relacionada aos direitos dos refugiados, atendendo ainda aos que buscam apreender sobre como vivem as refugiadas na megalópole paulistana. Estima-se que esta pesquisa sirva de orientação para outros pesquisadores na área do serviço social e que a mesma, diferentemente de se tornar mais uma produção nas prateleiras da academia, suscite novas discussões e novos debates na área, inquietando alguns e, em outros, despertando novos olhares em direção a uma realidade mais crítica, social e política acerca do refúgio e das refugiadas