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- Creators: School of Politics and Global Studies
Description
I argue that the most important value put in jeopardy by the Muslim Brotherhood's rise to power in post-Mubarak Egypt is not democracy but liberalism. Further, I find that that the lens of religion is insufficient to explain and understand the Brotherhood's illiberal tendencies. A review of the group's rhetoric, along with an examination of the literature on collectivism and individualism, reveals that the Brotherhood's collectivist worldview is at the heart of its opposition to liberalism, an inherently individualistic value. I conclude that viewing the Brotherhood as a movement motivated by a collective sense of morality would provide policymakers and academics with greater insight into the group's behavior and policy positions, facilitating deeper comprehension and greater predictability.
ContributorsColthart, David Anthony (Author) / Gallab, Abdullahi (Thesis director) / Halverson, Jeffry (Committee member) / Simhony, Avital (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
An analysis of the role which music played in shaping communities which remained peaceful and intact during the siege of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, during the war of the 1990s. Based on field research, this thesis concludes that music greatly strengthened communities through the building of musical capital, a synthesis of the many positive effects of music further analyzed in the work. Implications of the research suggest that music should be used in post-conflict community building, civic society development, and peace-building efforts.
ContributorsLamphere-Englund, Galen Jaymes (Author) / Puleo, Thomas (Thesis director) / Saikia, Yasmin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
In this essay, I discuss Islamic feminism from the point of view of its proponents. By this, I hope to engage Muslims and traditionalists. Islamic feminism is the fight for gender equality, as a challenge to the way traditional Islam has perpetuated patriarchal power structures in the Muslim world. Today, feminist sentiment is on the rise in the Islamic world as more and more women are becoming engaged in this fight for gender equality. Islamic feminism reclaims the Quran as its justification and involves the struggle for gender equality grounded in this justification. I divulge into two linked claims: a normative one where gender equality is justified in Islam, and a descriptive one which posits that male domination over interpretive powers has distorted the way Islam has been practiced traditionally, thus placing women in a disadvantaged position. Islamic feminists, I have found, seek to reject the widespread patriarchal interpretation of the Quran by first, reinterpreting the Quran as an equalizing force, and then implementing Islamic feminism in the public sphere. I show that they do this by engaging politically and civically through activism, education, and political involvement — this I refer to as civic Islam, highlighting that public engagement is an inherent Islamic duty. For this end, I cite several countries — including Iran, Yemen, Tunisia — in which Islamic feminists have taken up the mantle as activists, and what their impact has been through brief case studies. In the end, I include my reflection on Islamic feminism as a college-educated Muslim woman having grown up in a Western, liberal society.
ContributorsAhmed, Lubaba (Author) / Simhony, Avital (Thesis director) / Lennon, Tara (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Throughout modern culture and the political arena religious intolerance and misinformation runs rampant. Recent presidential elections have brought two minority religions (in the U.S.) to the forefront of national media attention and national dialogue-leading to presumptions, misunderstandings, and personal opinions that don't necessarily address the realities of the religions. Brought to the forefront by presidential candidates religions or by candidates targeting individual religions for their "connections" to terrorism, the LDS Church and Islam have become targets of religious bias and attacks. Even further attacked have been the women within these religions-who have often been deemed as objectified and oppressed as a result of their religions. This thesis examines religious text and scholarly work to take an objective examination of the religions and describes the realities of the life for the women-separating actual doctrine in the religion from what is a cultural norm and not a representation of the religion itself. By looking at women's roles and the dress code within Islam and Mormonism, this thesis compares Mormon and Muslim women and shows that they are integral parts of their religion with agency, not objectified victims of a system.
ContributorsWarren, Annie Michelle (Author) / Ali, Souad T. (Thesis director) / Daughtrey, Doe (Committee member) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
An analysis of recent historical trends demonstrates that, while a large part of the twentieth century was dominated by a secular movement away from faith-based governance and societal norms, there exists now in the twenty-first century a developing global movement on the part of a burgeoning, international religious community to again find and clarify a place for faith in the public square. While much of the current international conversation revolves around the more radical elements of this movement, there is a more dominant mainstream, rational desire that is currently being overlooked and ignored, as modern, secular nation-states now grapple to balance freedom of religion and expression with a perceived constitutional and legal mandate to remain secular and neutral. This thesis will provide a study of the Republic of Kosovo as an example of such a conflict between the secular state and religious communities, highlighting its shift towards secularism, observing the religious community in Kosovo advocating for religious freedoms and a presence in the public sphere, and analyzing case law and social theory surrounding recent confrontations between this community and Kosovo's government and legal structure at large. The conclusion of this investigation will establish Kosovo as a local case study with global application, arguing that a misunderstanding of secularism to mean the crowding out of religion from the public sphere is an unsustainable approach for modern governments to take, and prescribing a model for equal representation and civil society that provides religious communities with opportunities to translate their values into more normative societal language with broad application.
ContributorsYentzer, Zachary Thomas (Author) / Batalden, Stephen (Thesis director) / Kader, David (Committee member) / Berisha, Shahin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Political Notes is a podcast that explores the history of music and musicians over the past several decades and their influence on the political spectrum. Using the case studies of The Chicks and Taylor Swift, Political Notes displays the integration of politics in music and its acceptance by the public, giving musicians the power to change the opinions of their listeners. Political Notes exposes a politician's worst nightmare, as we can expect to see a future where musicians collaborate with politicians to help certain individuals get elected and others to be left behind.
ContributorsDubey, Neha (Author) / Schmidt, Peter (Thesis director) / Broberg, Gregory (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
This podcast highlights the voices of organizers and activists across the nation. Representatives from various organizations and individual activists provide their experiences in working within reproductive health activist spaces. By listening to their stories and expertise, the hope is for listeners to center Reproductive Justice as a point of view. The goal is to encourage the audience to join an organization, support their local organizations, or at the very least, learn about resources provided to them by local and national organizations.
ContributorsPerez, Maya Isabella (Co-author) / Adversario, Kim Alexis (Co-author) / Quan, H.L.T. (Thesis director) / Brian, Jennifer (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor, Contributor, Contributor, Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
This podcast highlights the voices of organizers and activists across the nation. Representatives from various organizations and individual activists provide their experiences in working within reproductive health activist spaces. By listening to their stories and expertise, the hope is for listeners to center Reproductive Justice as a point of view. The goal is to encourage the audience to join an organization, support their local organizations, or at the very least, learn about resources provided to them by local and national organizations.
ContributorsAdversario, Kim Alexis (Co-author) / Perez, Maya (Co-author) / Quan, H.L.T. (Thesis director) / Brian, Jennifer (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
There has been great debate regarding the place of public religious worship in France in recent years. With each new instance of terrorist violence, discussion over France's changing religious landscape rears. Elemental to this conversation is the concept of Laïcité, France's unique version of secularism. Laïcité is often used to support discriminatory bans on hijabs, niqabs, and burqas in public spaces. I argue that French colonial history in the Maghreb region demonstrates that Laïcité is a form of national state-building and opportunism in practice. It is a concept that developed alongside the establishment of colonial empire. An examination of this colonial history explains much of the current tensions in France over Islam, secularism, and public space.
ContributorsGurr, Alexandra (Author) / Sivak, Henry (Thesis director) / Ripley, Charles (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor)
Created2022-12
Description
Traditional forms of news distribution are rapidly dying out. Newspaper revenue continues to decline, while internet alternatives, accurate or otherwise, gain traction. One of the fastest growing forms of "new media" is the podcast. Everyone from comedians to organizations like National Public Radio is launching their own, and they are increasingly becoming legitimate sources of income when supplemented with advertising. Video podcasts have also exploded into the mainstream, generating millions of views on platforms like YouTube. However, it is rare to find a video podcast series with one journalist and a guest, and even less common for a show to be hosted by a college student. The "Tell it Like it is" video podcast is an attempt at bringing college journalists into the world of video podcasting. It examines the extent to which a single person can have a successful podcast while in college and what resources are necessary for the task. The following paper contains the history of podcasting, its growth in the 21st century, the inspiration for this project, an in-depth description and background of each episode, challenges, successes, future endeavors, and a conclusion. An accompanying website serves as the headquarters for the five-part video podcast series. The website also hosts additional information about the subjects and their careers. All episodes have been uploaded to YouTube.
ContributorsDowd, Kyle Christopher (Author) / Knudson, Syleste (Thesis director) / Sandoval, Mathew (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12