This in-depth study explores how women navigate corporate careers and take decisions in pursuit of a meaningful work and personal life. It analyzes the lived experiences of female employees working... Show moreThis in-depth study explores how women navigate corporate careers and take decisions in pursuit of a meaningful work and personal life. It analyzes the lived experiences of female employees working at major firms in Japan and South Korea to reveal how women's agency interacts with a changing environment inside and outside the workplace. It applies the comprehensive Gender Organization System's framework and interpretive approach with life story interview method to identify constellations of factors that influence women's work-family behaviors and attitudes over time. The careful analysis of individual interviews with 24 Korean and 39 Japanese women underscores that we must first understand the specific contexts individuals deal with in localized settings and explore women's personal interpretations of broad concepts to advance the increasingly broad theories in the gender and work literature. The findings suggest that dynamics and conditions at the work group level, and particularly the role of immediate supervisors, are of higher significance than the general organizational or socio-institutional context. Show less
Egypt became a province of the Persian or Achaemenid Empire in 526 BC. In the decades thereafter, some inhabitants of the Delta and Nile Valley rebelled against their Persian overlords. Though... Show moreEgypt became a province of the Persian or Achaemenid Empire in 526 BC. In the decades thereafter, some inhabitants of the Delta and Nile Valley rebelled against their Persian overlords. Though these rebellions are well known, they have been little studied. The present thesis provides an in-depth study of the first two rebellions of Persian-Period Egypt: the rebellion that began in ca. 521 BC, and which may have lasted until 519/18 BC, and the rebellion that began in ca. 487/86 BC, and which may have lasted until 485/84 BC. Show less
This dissertation deals with the legitimacy of Muslim women as Islamic scholars (ulama) and the right ascribed to them by society to interpret religious texts and issue fatwas. The study is... Show moreThis dissertation deals with the legitimacy of Muslim women as Islamic scholars (ulama) and the right ascribed to them by society to interpret religious texts and issue fatwas. The study is therefore concerned with the concept of religious authority and how this is modulated through gender. Using a combined anthropological, religious studies, and gender lens, it examines how and why women issue fatwas in different spaces of interaction including women’s branches of Islamic organizations and institutions, local communities, and women’s magazines. The main argument of this dissertation is that, both at the grassroots and in the public sphere, Muslim women in Indonesia play an increasingly influential role as ulama. Although their role is not often recognized by men, once we privilege the perspective of women a completely different picture emerges, one in which women are granted religious authority that turns out to be as strong as that of male ulama in issuing fatwas. Their authority is, on the one hand, a community-based authority contingent on local concerns and networks of knowledge. Yet on the other hand these women also contribute to a larger effort, namely the creation of a national network of Indonesian female ulama. Show less
This dissertation examines the continued, yet hitherto overlooked, engagement of the Greek community in Egypt from the period after the en masse departure of most of its members (1962), until the... Show moreThis dissertation examines the continued, yet hitherto overlooked, engagement of the Greek community in Egypt from the period after the en masse departure of most of its members (1962), until the implementation of the infitāh policies in 1976 by Anwar Sadat. Beyond Departure: The Greeks in Egypt, 1962-1976 explores the Greeks’ multiple personal, local and institutional histories that make up the Greek presence in history after 1962. It reveales the diversity of Greek experiences based on geographical, socioeconomic and individual context. It analyzes the motivations and strategies they employed to respond to the economic and social changes in Egyptian society, such as the end of the Capitulations, WWI and WWII, the formation of the post-colonial state, and the 1961 Nationalization laws, among others, and the relations these events formed between Egyptian nationals and non nationals and the Egyptian state. It also explores how Greeks negotiated their presence, identity and feelings of belonging, in mind and practice, as a diaspora with a transnational agency. Show less
This dissertation investigates the arts of the book in the Abū’l-Khairid dynasty. Often and inaccurately called Shībānid, the Abū’l-Khairids occupied what would become Uzbekistan and surrounding... Show moreThis dissertation investigates the arts of the book in the Abū’l-Khairid dynasty. Often and inaccurately called Shībānid, the Abū’l-Khairids occupied what would become Uzbekistan and surrounding territories across the sixteenth century. It focuses on specific illustrated works of battles and biographies composed in Persian and Turkish; the manuscripts encompass Shāhnāma productions and other works of epic poetry and dynastic history. The political and artistic strength of the Abū’l-Khairids was short-lived, but significant. Their leaders exchanged embassies with the Ottomans in Turkey and Mughals in India, and sparred with the Safavids in Iran. Although the official dates of the Abū’l-Khairid dynasty span 1500–1599, the examination extends the margins by two decades on either side. The focus is on the copyists and illustrators who contributed to the book creations, even if they worked in other artistic centers and political regions at other times.These manuscripts, and the scribes and painters contributing to them, fostered extended cultural exchanges between khans in Central Asia and their regional counterparts: Safavid shahs, Ottoman sultans, and Mughal emperors. These interactions were not confined to high echelons, however, and the study also traces the migrations of artistic talent across courts and commercial hubs during periods of dynastic rivalry and economic strain. Ambassadors, pilgrims, merchants, scholars, and artisans transported the objects. In the analysis, art is not separate from political, religious, economic, or intellectual matters but synthesizes art, history, geography, politics, economics, the movement of manuscripts, and the social relationships of the individuals engaged in their manufacture and transit. Show less
This thesis examines how innovation is practiced, imagined, mobilized, and reinterpreted by China’s local developers and its subjects. The Chinese innovation movement is not the same as the ... Show moreThis thesis examines how innovation is practiced, imagined, mobilized, and reinterpreted by China’s local developers and its subjects. The Chinese innovation movement is not the same as the “disruptive innovation” of recent years mainly driven by digital technology in the European and North American contexts. The state plays a very salient role in innovation, investing in the social and economic system to provide a constant demand for innovation to unleash the dynamism of development.The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of the state’s role in socio-economic transformation and its governance model in innovation activities. This thesis discusses the state-market-society relationship not merely from an institutionalist perspective that focuses on the interplay between the state, the market, and society. I discovered that the state creates a range of government institutions to regulate and shape society. Further, in recent years the local state has been an important producer of the emergence of China’s new civil society that drives innovation and entrepreneurship as ways to enhance social mobility. Show less
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the "landscape theory" (Fukei-ron), which has given rise to much debate. This theory was proposed by the anarchist film critic Matsuda Masao at the end of... Show moreThe purpose of this thesis is to examine the "landscape theory" (Fukei-ron), which has given rise to much debate. This theory was proposed by the anarchist film critic Matsuda Masao at the end of 1969 and developed by the director Adachi Masao, the screenwriter Sasaki Mamoru and the photographer Nakahira Takuma, among others. She wishes to re-study this theory of landscape not only to re-evaluate it from an artistic point of view or within the framework of the history of cinema, but also to bring out its political and revolutionary value. The "landscape theory" was born following the film A.K.A. Serial Killer (1969), co-directed by Matsuda, Adachi and Sasaki. This work is a documentary about Nagayama Norio, a nineteen year old man who never appears in the film although he was the author of a series of indiscriminate shootings in the cities of Tokyo, Kyoto, Hakodate and Nagoya between October 1968 and April 1969. This documentary is entirely composed of all the landscapes that Nagayama is said to have seen during his wanderings from his birth to his arrest. This thesis attempts to demonstrate the context in which the term and concept of "landscape" (fukei) was introduced into Japan to translate the Western word "landscape" into Japanese during the modernization process of the Meiji Restoration in the late 19th century, as well as the peculiarity of the "landscape theory" developed by Matsuda and Adachi in a totally different approach from the existing one. Show less
The Comité de conservation des monuments de l’art arabe [Laǧnat Ḥifẓ al-Āṯār al-‘Arabiyya al-Qadīma] was established in Egypt in December 1881 under the Ministry of Awqāf [Islamic religious... Show moreThe Comité de conservation des monuments de l’art arabe [Laǧnat Ḥifẓ al-Āṯār al-‘Arabiyya al-Qadīma] was established in Egypt in December 1881 under the Ministry of Awqāf [Islamic religious endowments] and operated under it until 1936, when it was transferred to the Ministry of Public Instruction. It was the body in charge of the conservation and restoration of Islamic (and later also Coptic) monuments and remained active till the 1950s. Its members were European and Egyptian specialists, alongside ex-officio officials. This dissertation scrutinizes and analyzes the Comité’s interventions on minarets, domes and minbars [pulpits] of Mamluk mosques, examining the restoration and reconstruction methodologies, approaches and the rationale for the decisions taken. Through the art-historical lens, this research shows that the analysis of the Comité’s modern layer raises questions on the ‘conservation’ or ‘reinvention’ of these historic buildings and their ‘authenticity’. It argues that such an endeavor is indispensable for the comprehension of these architectural palimpsests composed of historic and modern layers. The dissertation explores the information that could be obtained when moving beyond the post-colonial discourses through which the Comité has generally been studied so far. The research demonstrates that the factual and careful investigation of the specificities of the Comité’s actions and actors in a contextualized manner and without making a posteriori judgements reveals significant information on its work modalities as well as new nuanced narratives and interpretations. Show less
This thesis argues that the age of steam and print—more specifically, increased access to the steamship, railway, printing press, and telegraph—played a crucial role in the extended dynamic... Show moreThis thesis argues that the age of steam and print—more specifically, increased access to the steamship, railway, printing press, and telegraph—played a crucial role in the extended dynamic challenges of the ideas of the Caliphate, Wahhabism and Mahdism vis-à-vis each other. It aims to illustrate how these three concepts took on global dimensions by spilling over Ottoman borders and how they affected the Ottoman centre’s reactions to these developments after the revolution in communications and transportation in the second half of the nineteenth century. Ideas about the Caliphate, Wahhabism and Mahdism had already existed for a long time. However, their spheres of influence had remained limited to a certain area and timeframe, not attaining a global scope until the advent of the new age. The centuries-old Islamic concept of the Caliphate assumed a new global dimension under the banner of Pan-Islamism, and the Ottoman Caliphate claimed spiritual sovereignty over all of the multinational Muslim communities that lived under the control of various authorities, including the British, Dutch, Russian, and French empires. Wahhabism, as the ideology of a doctrine-oriented movement that came into being in the previous century but had remained local, spread all around the world in this new era and thus became a global concern for state rulers. Likewise, the Mahdi creed had existed throughout Islamic history but it became a widespread ideology in the case of the Sudanese Mahdi movement, garnering attention in distant lands and drawing in many Muslims in a short period of time. Show less
By the eleventh century, communities of religious practitioners in China had developed a theory and practice of self-cultivation that combined elements from the so-called Three Teachings: Daoism,... Show moreBy the eleventh century, communities of religious practitioners in China had developed a theory and practice of self-cultivation that combined elements from the so-called Three Teachings: Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. Since their doctrines make abundant use of alchemical metaphors, they have become known as masters of “inner alchemy,” an umbrella term that covers a variety of lineages. By the seventeenth century, one of these masters, Wu Shouyang (1574–after 1641), synthesized what he thought to be the best elements from the various lineages of inner alchemy and combined them with elements from Buddhism and Confucianism. By the late nineteenth century, his writings had become best-sellers in the genre and his interpretation of inner alchemy became representative of the standard account of this tradition. This study aims to accomplish two things. First, it provides a thorough presentation of Wu Shouyang’s life and works, filling a gap in the scholarship on this important figure. Second, it aims to use Wu’s writings to answer some fundamental questions about the standard account of inner alchemy as it developed in late imperial China. Show less
This thesis is a philological study of redemption as it was practiced in Mesopotamia in the Old Babylonian period (c. 2000-1600 BC). It reconstructs, edits, and analyses texts and private archives... Show moreThis thesis is a philological study of redemption as it was practiced in Mesopotamia in the Old Babylonian period (c. 2000-1600 BC). It reconstructs, edits, and analyses texts and private archives showing the working of this traditional right in a number of local traditions in the Old Babylonian period. It contributes to the study of redemption of persons a philological treatment of key technical terms. The traditional right of redemption also had a royal analogue, and chapter 4 of the thesis provides a critical treatment of a putative royal edict from the kingdom of Larsa mandating redemption based on a new classification of the text. Show less
This thesis is the first large-scale study of Buddhist and Hindu metal statues (i.e. bronze, gold and silver alloys) from the western islands of the Indonesian Archipelago (Java, Sumatra,... Show moreThis thesis is the first large-scale study of Buddhist and Hindu metal statues (i.e. bronze, gold and silver alloys) from the western islands of the Indonesian Archipelago (Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Bawean, Bali, Lombok) since the publication of the catalogue Divine Bronze 31 years ago (Lunsingh Scheurleer & Klokke 1988). To overcome limitations of past studies, I use a network approach inspired by De Casparis’s idea of a “complicated network of relations” linking maritime Southeast Asia and India (1983). Additionally, I apply a multidisciplinary methodology combining art historical methods of stylistic and iconographic analyses with archaeometallurgy (visual examinations, X-ray radiography, neutron tomography, elemental analyses), archaeology for mapping find-spots, as well as religious studies to understand the history of use and ritual functions of sacred images. Examining five case studies drawn from the largest corpus ever considered of Indonesian metal images from museum collections today kept in Indonesia, Europe, and the U.S., my study highlights connections between the Archipelago and other Asian regions—including not only South Asia, but also East Asia—within a large cosmopolitan sphere of interaction and over a long period of time. Show less
The clandestine revolutionary politics for women was marked by an environment in which gender roles and expectations were constantly challenged and reproduced as a result of the extraordinary... Show moreThe clandestine revolutionary politics for women was marked by an environment in which gender roles and expectations were constantly challenged and reproduced as a result of the extraordinary conditions under which they had to live and operate. These conditions were not stable but evolved and transformed in a dynamic environment in which not only various political actors were involved and interacted, but also the repercussions of their actions were influential on various levels. This study claims that, what the women involved in the clandestine revolutionary movements in Turkey and Iran in the 1970s experienced at the micro level was directly related to and influenced by both the macro level developments and political settings, and the meso level processes and mechanisms. Instead of holding only certain characteristics of the regimes, societies, or organizations responsible for the character of the women’s experiences, this study argues that causal mechanisms which played a significant role in the radicalization processes of the leftist movements in Turkey and Iran could also help us account for the similarities and differences between the women’s experiences in the two cases. Show less
The thesis has been an attempt to make sense of the political discourse in Kashmir from the early 1940s till the emergence of the popular uprising in the Valley towards the late 1980s. The thesis... Show moreThe thesis has been an attempt to make sense of the political discourse in Kashmir from the early 1940s till the emergence of the popular uprising in the Valley towards the late 1980s. The thesis has tried to underscore the fragmented nature of the political in Kashmir, and the implications it has had on the politics of the region, particularly on the politics of rai-shumari (self determination) and aazadi. These inner fragments or contradictions that underline the political life in Kashmir may be attributed, as the thesis has sought to argue, to the multiple political subjectivities that constitute ‘Kashmiri people’ as a community. Show less
This thesis retrieves theworking and everyday life experiences of oil workers in 1973-83, and explorestheir cultural, religious and political ideas and activities during the socialtransformations... Show moreThis thesis retrieves theworking and everyday life experiences of oil workers in 1973-83, and explorestheir cultural, religious and political ideas and activities during the socialtransformations of this period that ends with the the Iranian Revolution andthe Iran-Iraq War. It analyses the historical process of class formation in theIranian oil industry and argues that a number of developments such as theexpansion of the oil industry, internal migration and the changing ideologicallandscape of the 1960s re-formed the working class in the oil industry indramatic ways, which helps to understand the mass participation of oil workersin the revolution.Looking at the oil strikes, the thesis argues that they played not only acrucial role in the downfall of the monarchy but that they also made anessential contribution to the emergence of the institutions that underpinnedthe post-revolutionary state, which in turn was challenged by the oil workersshowras (councils) in 1979-82. It is argued that although the showras wereideologically diverse and had a great democratic potential, they wereeventually repressed and integrated into the corporatist arrangements of thepopulist post-revolutionary state that consolidated its power after the startof the Iran-Iraq War. Show less
Ever since the seven so-called earliest Chinese Christian manuscripts were removed from Dunhuang Cave 17 in 1900 and published by the first generation of scholars, they were quickly recognized... Show moreEver since the seven so-called earliest Chinese Christian manuscripts were removed from Dunhuang Cave 17 in 1900 and published by the first generation of scholars, they were quickly recognized as sources used by the Tang church, an offshoot of the Church of the East that entered China in 635 and allegedly disappeared after 845. This empirical, technical and philological work, however, finds: The putative earliest manuscripts made in the 640s, The Messiah Sutra and On One God, might be the latest sources that were created between 800-1010s. The only two dated sources, Kojima Manuscripts A and B, are modern forgeries. Only two manuscripts, Mysterious Bliss Sutra and Sutra of Origins of Daqin Jingjiao, are actual Tang documents that may be made between 745 and 787. Manuscript P.3847 is the work of post-Tang Christians. All the findings, as a whole, give us food for thought, encouraging us to rethink the traditional historiography of Christianity in China before 1200. It compels us to draw a picture of a local Dunhuang Christian community. It also prompts us to alter our current thinking about the institution known as the Tang church. Moreover, it challenges the present consensus that Christianity was extinguished after 845. Show less
This dissertation analyzes Esmāʻil Fasih’s war novel, The Winter of 1983 (Zemestān-e 62, 1985) from a narratological standpoint to illuminate how this novel differ from other Iranian wartime novels... Show moreThis dissertation analyzes Esmāʻil Fasih’s war novel, The Winter of 1983 (Zemestān-e 62, 1985) from a narratological standpoint to illuminate how this novel differ from other Iranian wartime novels, since it explores numerous themes and perspectives on the war not explored by the war novels of this period. Whereas many wartime novels describe the active role of the working class in participating in the war, The Winter of 1983 chiefly portrays the upper class’s role, and especially their outlook on the war. In addition, Fasih’s war novel exposes the war the Iranian cities end up in ruins due to the war, an oft-neglected aspect of the war. This dissertation also considers how The Winter of 1983 might be differently categorized, as a novel with a moderate or neutral outlook on the war, the central reason being that the novel features both positive and negative aspects of the war. Show less
The study addresses and explains the issue of negative descriptions of the Arab Other in modern Iranian thought. It attempts to understand and illustrate what the notion of the Arab means for... Show moreThe study addresses and explains the issue of negative descriptions of the Arab Other in modern Iranian thought. It attempts to understand and illustrate what the notion of the Arab means for Iranians and how Arabs are portrayed and by examining how they depicted, It describes why they depicted in modern time in such a way, linking this portrayal to a range of ideologies in modern Iran. In doing this research, the researcher has limited his analysis to a certain body of fiction and non-fiction texts. he has selected writings produced by prominent Iranian authors of a variety of ideological affiliations, including literary works such as short stories, novels, historical stories and works published in academic or semi-academic journals, as well as some works in the field of historiography, all of which were written in Persian by Iranian writers between the 1850s and the 1950s. In a broader sense, the study offers an analytical model for the understanding of the Iranian notions of Self and Other in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It investigates the ethnic and racial attitudes of a number of Iranian writers and thinkers toward Arabs, contributing to an understanding of the way in which the Iranian identity has been shaped in modern times. Show less
Spiking neural P systems are a class of distributed and parallel computing models inspired by the neurophysiological behavior of neurons sending electrical impulses (spikes) along axons to other... Show moreSpiking neural P systems are a class of distributed and parallel computing models inspired by the neurophysiological behavior of neurons sending electrical impulses (spikes) along axons to other neurons. In this thesis, we consider that the spiking neural P systems are universal even if the systems work in limited asynchronous mode. And we also investigated different variants of spiking neural P systems with other additional features, such as the axon functioning, the growth of dendritic trees in neurons, the positive or negative weights on synapses, and the astrocytes having excitatory and inhibitory influence on synapses. Show less
Papyrologie is een van de zeldzame vakgebieden diesteeds nieuwe informatie aanleveren over het leven in de oudheid. Het merendeelvan de papyri die vooral in Egypte zijn teruggevonden, is geschreven... Show morePapyrologie is een van de zeldzame vakgebieden diesteeds nieuwe informatie aanleveren over het leven in de oudheid. Het merendeelvan de papyri die vooral in Egypte zijn teruggevonden, is geschreven in deGriekse taal en stamt grofweg uit de periode tussen 300 voor en 800 na Chr.Veel conclusies die op basis van deze teksten zijn getrokken, kunnen ook wordentoegepast op andere delen van de toenmalige wereld, waarvoor dit soort bronnenveelal ontbreekt. Het blijft van belang nieuwe papyri te ontcijferen,publiceren en interpreteren om conclusies die eerder zijn getrokken te toetsenaan nieuwe gegevens en om lacunes in onze kennis op te vullen. Dit proefschrift bestaat uit tien reeds gepubliceerdeartikelen waarin Griekse teksten op papyrus worden ontcijferd, vertaald enbecommentarieerd. De teksten bieden nieuwe dan wel aanvullende informatie overRomeins en Byzantijns Egypte. Ze zijn vooral juridisch enbestuurlijk/administratief van aard: het gaat om contracten (verzoening naconflict, koopcontracten van huis, land, slaaf), een correctie op de aangiftevoor een volkstelling, brieven (ambtelijk en privé: melding van hettegenhouden, door een gezant van de keizer in Constantinopel, van schepen vaneen grootgrondbezittter) en een verzoekschrift aangaande een meningsverschilover de rechten een veerdienst te onderhouden. Show less
