The Road to Hell Is Paved with Good Interventions : A Pragmatic Examination of Humanitarian Intervention with Special Reference to Kosovo

Kansainvälisen oikeuden alaan kuuluvassa tutkielmassa käsitellään humanitaarisen intervention oikeutusta ja laillisuutta. Tutkimuskysymyksenä on, missä määrin humanitaarisilla näkökohdilla perusteltuja sotilaallisia toimia tai niillä uhkaamista voi pitää kansainvälisoikeudellisesti hyväksyttävänä ja millainen painoarvo ennakkotapauksena olisi annettava NATO-maiden Kosovossa toteuttamalle väliintulolle. Tutkielmassa perehdytään ihmisoikeusajattelun tiettyjen taustaoletusten kritiikkiin. Tarkastelun kohteena ovat erityisesti kannanotot, joiden mukaan ihmisoikeuksia ei voi pitää luonteeltaan universaaleina, sekä kyseiseen kritiikkiin liittyvät väitteet siitä, että ns. hegemonisessa asemassa olevat valtiot hyödyntävät ihmisoikeusargumentteja oikeuttaakseen voimankäyttönsä. Universaalisuuskritiikkiä voidaan pitää pitkälti perusteltuna, mutta nykyinen kansainvälinen yhteisö tarvitsee kuitenkin tietynlaisia yleismaailmallisia normeja voidakseen toimia tehokkaasti. Kritiikin ei voikaan katsoa pätevän humanitaarisen intervention kannalta keskeisiin ihmisoikeusnormeihin kuten kansanmurhan kieltoon, sillä kyseiset velvoitteet suojaavat kansainvälisen yhteisön toimivuutta ja uskottavuutta. Humanitaarisiin argumentteihin liittyy kuitenkin muita ongelmia: niillä on esimerkiksi aika ajoin pyritty oikeuttamaan sotilaallisia toimia, joissa ihmisoikeusnäkökohdat eivät välttämättä ole olleet etusijalla. Ihmisoikeuksille ei ole syytä antaa kansainvälisessä oikeudessa asemaa universaaleina "superargumentteina", jotka eivät olisi kyseenalaistettavissa. YK:n peruskirjan ja kansainvälisen tapaoikeuden näkökulmasta humanitaarisen intervention kaltaiseen voimankäyttöön vaaditaan turvallisuusneuvoston hyväksyntä, jota ei Kosovo-operaatioon saatu. Interventiota voi tässä suhteessa pitää yksiselitteisesti laittomana, sillä sen tueksi esitetyt oikeudelliset argumentit eivät ole vakuuttavia. Tapaukseen liittyvät ihmisoikeusnäkökohdat ovat kuitenkin siinä määrin merkittäviä, että ongelmaan ei ole perusteltua suhtautua tiukan legalistisesti. Operaation hyväksyminen moraaliargumenttien nojalla voisi kuitenkin johtaa nykyisten voimankäyttörajoitusten marginalisoitumiseen, mikä olisi yllä käsitellyn kritiikin valossa ongelmallista. Tutkielmassa nostetaan suositeltavaksi ratkaisuksi lähestymistapa, jossa Kosovon tapaus ymmärretään yksittäisenä oikeudenvastaisena mutta samalla oikeudenulkoisena poikkeustapauksena. Tällöin peruskirjan mukainen voimankäytön sääntely säilyy entisellään ilman että humanitaariset näkökohdat jäisivät tyystin huomiotta. Ratkaisu ei sulje pois mahdollisuutta suhtautua positiivisesti Kosovo-operaation mahdollisesti luomaan "poliittiseen normiin": suuren mittakaavan ihmisoikeusloukkaukset eivät jää Euroopassa seurauksitta. Ilman turvallisuusneuvoston suostumusta toteutettaviin humanitaarisiin interventioihin liittyvien käytännöllisten ja kansainvälisoikeudellisten riskien vuoksi niihin on kuitenkin aihetta suhtautua suurella varauksella.

A Shared European History? Perceptions of Imperialism and Islam in Matriculation Examination Essays and History Textbooks

The European Union (EU) is faced with a continuous decrease in public support. There is a tension between the growing Euroscepticism and the concurrent academic discourse of a shared European identity. Informed and inspired by the current debates, this Master’s Thesis investigates the potential of a shared past to create shared identity. It also addresses the logic of cultural exclusion that is often connected to collective cultural identities. The source material is a combination of exam essays, written as answers to the history tests in the Finnish matriculation examinations of 2005-2008, and upper secondary school history textbooks. From the sources, current perceptions of Islam (as Europe’s Other) and the age of imperialism (as a debated period from Europe’s past) among the youth are studied. Through the analysis the thesis aims to indicate the level of consensus within the pupils’ identification with the past and with Europe. This objective is pursued through examining the pupils’ perceptions of Europe’s past and its relationship to non-European cultures and countries as they are manifested in the essays, and reflecting upon the level of influence that history textbooks as representatives of national hegemonic historical narratives might have on the contents, framings and emphases with and through which the pupils approach, imagine, and reproduce Europe’s past. The approach is based on previous research on the presence of history and the field of textbook research. The theoretical categories with which the sources are analyzed are derived primarily from literature on identity, European integration, history and memory, postcolonial criticism, and theorizations of European identity. Results of the research project suggest that the rhetoric of European superiority, despite its apparent demise, still resonates in contemporary understandings of Europeanness. Dominant perceptions of imperialism comprise of European agency and colonial submission, dominant perceptions of the Islamic world of fundamental difference. Identification with European history among the Finnish youth is rather shallow when examined through perceptions of imperialism; the Islamic world is perceived as Other and its representations are dominated by recent and contemporary international relations.

But if you desire God and His Messenger : The concept of choice in Sahih al-Bukhari

The aim of this dissertation is to discuss the concept of choice in the most important collection of Islamic traditions, Sahih al-Bukhari. The author of the collection, Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari, lived between 810-870. My starting point is the collection of texts as it is now in its normative, established form. I read the hadiths as pieces of reality, not as statements about reality. The historicity of the texts has no role at all in my analysis. Part I sketches out the hagiography of the life and work of the author and provides a short history of the development of hadith literature and the processes of collecting and classifying the texts are discussed briefly. Part one ends with the presentation of my way of using rhetorical analysis as a methodological tool. Part II introduces my analysis of the concept of choice. It is divided into ten chapters, each concentrating on one hadith cluster. Part II ends with a discussion of the philosophy of free will and predestination in early Islam. Hadith literature is often considered as a representative of predestinarian theology compared to the Qur'an which emphasises the reponsibility of people of their own acts. In my conclusions I suggest that accoding to the texts in Sahih al-Bukhari, people do deal with real choices in their lives. The collection includes both strictly predestinarian texts but it also compises texts which claim that people are demanded to make real choices, even choices concerning life and death.

Kansankirkon varjossa : Uskonnollisen tasa-arvon toteutuminen Suomessa – vähemmistöjen näkökulma

Työ pyrkii selvittämään miten Suomessa toimivien vähemmistöuskontojen (islam, juutalaisuus, katolisuus) muodostamat yhdyskunnat kokevat oman asemansa suhteessa valtioon, viranomaisiin ja evankelis-luterilaiseen kirkkoon. Toteutuuko vähemmistöjen omasta mielestä Suomessa uskonnollinen tasavertaisuus ja uskonnonvapaus käytännön tasolla. Sopiiko luterilaisen kirkon ja valtion läheinen suhde monikulttuurisen yhteiskunnan ideaan ja vaikuttaako tämä kyseinen suhde siihen, miten muita uskontoja kohdellaan Suomessa. Näiden lisäksi tarkastellaan suomalaisen yhteiskunnan yleistä suvaitsevaisuutta, median vähemmistöjä koskevaa uutisointia ja kuinka valtaväestöstä poikkeaviin uskonnon edustajiin suhtaudutaan arkipäivän kohtaamisissa. Työssä tuodaan myös esille miten perinteiset vähemmistöt (juutalaiset ja tataarit) ovat pystyneet sopeutumaan suomalaiseen yhteiskuntaan ja samanaikaisesti säilyttämään oman kulttuurisen identiteettinsä ja erikoislaatuisuutensa ilman valtion viranomaisten järjestämää kotouttamista. Aineisto työhön on kerätty viiden rekisteröidyn uskonnollisen yhdyskunnan jäsenelle tehdyllä teemahaastattelulla. Perinteiset mukana olevat vähemmistöyhdyskunnat ovat Helsingin juutalainen seurakunta, tataarien Suomen Islam-seurakunta ja Katolinen kirkko Suomessa. Uudempia yhteisöjä edustavat sunnimuslimien Islamic Multicultural Dawah Centre ja shiiojen Resalat Islamilainen yhdyskunta.

'Somalia lives with me' : Homeland and Religion in the Lives of Finnish Somalis

The purpose of this thesis is to examine Somalis who live in Finland through their memories. These memories are interpreted as subjective experiences emphasizing the significance of the past and religion in these memories. On the other hand, these memories are understood as a part of collective social memory of Somalis. This study also constructs a comparative perspective for practising Islam in Somalia and Finland. The methodological framework is based on theories of social memory, oral history and narrative analysis. The empirical data is collected by interviewing Somalis living in Finland. The interviews were conducted by using the method of half-structured thematic interview. The data consists of seven interviews. The interviewees are in the focus of this study since their experiences are considered as the main sources of information for this study. The empirical data of the study reveals that Somalis have maintained strong relations to Somalia. The relationship to Somalia is mainly constructed on positive memories. Memories from Somalia have acquired a significant role in the lives of the interviewees. Those memories will define their relation to both past and the present. In the context of religious memories, Islam is described as a way of living which provides advice and defines the terms of everyday life. As a part of those religious memories, the transmitting of Islamic and Somali values plays a significant role in the lives of Somalis in Finland. In such transmitting process of the values, the social religious memory has acquired a significant role. In the context of Islam in Finland, the religious education of children is mentioned as one of the most important features of the Islamic faith by the interviewees. In general, the practice of Islam does not create any major problems for the interviewees in Finland. The interviewees describe their practice of Islam quite similar when compared to their religious life in Somalia. The empirical data also points out the fact that the meaning of Islam has not changed after moving to Finland. Keywords: Somalis, Somalia, Islam, oral history, narrative research

"Four Ways of Writing the City" : St. Petersburg-Leningrad as a Metaphor in the Poetry of Joseph Brodsky

The present study discusses the theme of St. Petersburg-Leningrad in Joseph Brodsky's verse works. The chosen approach to the evolving im-age of the city in Brodsky's poetry is through four metaphors: St. Petersburg as "the common place" of the Petersburg Text, St. Petersburg as "Paradise and/or Hell", St. Petersburg as "a Utopian City" and St. Petersburg as "a Void". This examination of the city-image focusses on the aspects of space and time as basic categories underlying the poet's poetic world view. The method used is close reading, with an emphasis on semantical interpretation. The material consists of eighteen poems dating from 1958 to 1994. Apart from investigating the spatio-temporal features, the study focusses on exposing and analysing the allusions in the scrutinised works to other texts from Russian and Western belles lettres. Terminology (introduced by Bakhtin and Yury Lotman, among others) concerning the poetics of space in literature is employed in the present study. Conceptions originating from the paradigm of possible worlds are also used in elucidating the position of fictional and actual chronotopes and heroes in Brodsky's poetry. Brodsky's image of his native city is imbued with intertextual linkings. Through reminiscences of the "Divine Comedy" and Russian modernists, the city is paralleled with Dante's "lost and accursed" Florence, as well as with the lost St. Petersburg of Mandel'shtam and Akhmatova. His city-image is related to the Petersburg myth in Russian literature through their common themes of death and separation as well as through the merging of actual realia with the fictional worlds of the Petersburg Text. In his later poems, when his view of the city is that of an exiled poet, the city begins to lose its actual world referents, turning into a mental realm which is no longer connected to any particular geographical location or historical time. It is placed outside time. The native city as the homeland in its entirety is replaced by another existence created in language.

Deus vult: Images of crusader violence c. 1095-1100.

This study sets out to provide new information about the interaction between abstract religious ideas and actual acts of violence in the early crusading movement. The sources are asked, whether such a concept as religious violence can be sorted out as an independent or distinguishable source of aggression at the moment of actual bloodshed. The analysis concentrates on the practitioners of sacred violence, crusaders and their mental processing of the use of violence, the concept of the violent act, and the set of values and attitudes defining this concept. The scope of the study, the early crusade movement, covers the period from late 1080 s to the crusader conquest of Jerusalem in 15 July 1099. The research has been carried out by contextual reading of relevant sources. Eyewitness reports will be compared with texts that were produced by ecclesiastics in Europe. Critical reading of the texts reveals both connecting ideas and interesting differences between them. The sources share a positive attitude towards crusading, and have principally been written to propagate the crusade institution and find new recruits. The emphasis of the study is on the interpretation of images: the sources are not asked what really happened in chronological order, but what the crusader understanding of the reality was like. Fictional material can be even more crucial for the understanding of the crusading mentality. Crusader sources from around the turn of the twelfth century accept violent encounters with non-Christians on the grounds of external hostility directed towards the Christian community. The enemies of Christendom can be identified with either non-Christians living outside the Christian society (Muslims), non-Christians living within the Christian society (Jews) or Christian heretics. Western Christians are described as both victims and avengers of the surrounding forces of diabolical evil. Although the ideal of universal Christianity and gradual eradication of the non-Christian is present, the practical means of achieving a united Christendom are not discussed. The objective of crusader violence was thus entirely Christian: the punishment of the wicked and the restoration of Christian morals and the divine order. Meanwhile, the means used to achieve these objectives were not. Given the scarcity of written regulations concerning the use of force in bello, perceptions concerning the practical use of violence were drawn from a multitude of notions comprising an adaptable network of secular and ecclesiastical, pre-Christian and Christian traditions. Though essentially ideological and often religious in character, the early crusader concept of the practise of violence was not exclusively rooted in Christian thought. The main conclusion of the study is that there existed a definable crusader ideology of the use of force by 1100. The crusader image of violence involved several levels of thought. Predominantly, violence indicates a means of achieving higher spiritual rewards; eternal salvation and immortal glory.

Pathet : Musiikin symboliikka jaavalaisessa varjoteatterissa

The aim of this study is to define and analyse the symbolism hidden in the gamelan music of the Central Javanese, especially in the Yogyakartanese wayang kulit shadow theatre. This dissertation is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the theory, history and practice of Central Javanese shadow theatre. It also presents the tone symbol theory on which this study is based of B. Y. H. Sastrapustaka, the court servant and musician of the sultan s palace of Yogyakarta. For historical comparison, other theories and phenomena that seem to have some connections with the previously mentioned tone symbol theory are presented here as well as the equipment of the shadow theatre, its music, musical instruments and the shadow theatre in general in literature. The theoretic-methodological basis of the study is an enlarged model of research of cultural music, in which a person in the centre of the model with his/her concepts and by his/her behaviour creates a work of art and receives criticism through feedback, while the process of reciprocal action dynamically affects the whole development of the culture in question. In connection with the concepts of the work of art, the manner of approach of this study is also semiotic as the tone symbol theory gives a particular meaning to each musical note. Thus the purpose of this study is to find answers to how the tone symbol theory manifests itself in practical music making, what its origin is, if it is well known or not, and whether shadow theatre music supports this theory. The second part of this dissertation deals with material collected through interviews and observations as well as representative samples of musical pieces for shadow theatre and their analyses. In relation to this a special tool for analysing gamelan music, developed for the purpose of this study, is also presented. Sufficiently versatile material on the essence and meaning of the shadow theatre collected from many puppet masters of an older generation, many of whom are no longer with us, constitutes an important part of this study. This study proves that the tone symbol theory of Sastrapustaka is of tantristic tradition from the Hindu-Javanese period before the 16th century and before the appearance of Islam in Java. The variants of the previously mentioned theory can be found also in other fields of Javanese advanced civilization, such as architecture and dance. But it seems that knowledge about the tone symbolism connected to the shadow theatre especially has only been preserved in the sultan s palace of Yogyakarta and its intimate circles. The outsider puppet masters surely follow the theory, but they do not necessarily know its origin. As a result of the musical analysis, it is obvious that the musical pieces used for the shadow theatre bear different kinds of symbolic meanings which only an initiated person can feel and understand. These meanings are closely related to the plot of the play at the moment.

Muslimioppilas suomalaisessa peruskoulussa : Tapaustutkimus kahden muslimitytön sopeutumisesta suomalaiseen peruskouluun

Tutkielma on etnografisella tutkimusotteella toteutettu tapaustutkimus, jossa oli tutkimuskohteena yksi pääkaupunkiseudun peruskoulun neljäs luokka. Tutkimus suoritettiin kevätlukukaudella 1998. Luokalla oli 24 oppilasta, joista kaksi oli somalialaisia muslimityttöjä. Aineistonkeruumenetelmiä olivat osallistuva havainnointi, teemahaastattelut, keskustelut ja luokan oppilaiden kirjoittamat kirjoitelmat. Tutkimustehtävänä oli kuvata ja ymmärtää muslimityttöjen olemassaolon vaikutusta luokan arkipäivään luokan eri osapuolien kannalta. Kiinnostuksen kohteena oli, miten opettaja ja luokan muut oppilaat suhtautuivat muslimityttöihin ja millaisia olivat muslimityttöjen omat kokemukset luokan elämästä ja miten heidän uskontonsa, islam, näkyi koulupäivän aikana. Tutkimustuloksista: Islam näkyi koulupäivän aikana konkreettisimmin muslimityttöjen pukeutumisessa ja ruokailussa. He saivat myös islaminuskon opetusta, harjoittelivat paastoamista paastokuukauden aikana ja heillä oli lupa olla pois koulusta muslimien juhlapyhinä. Luokan muut oppilaat tiesivät, että muslimitytöillä oli eri uskonto kuin heillä, mutta he eivät uskoneet sen vaikuttavan muslimityttöjen koulupäivään kovinkaan paljon. Muslimitytöt olivat solmineet ystävyyssuhteita luokan suomalaisiin tyttöihin ja he viihtyivät hyvin heidän kanssaan. Muslimityttöjä oli kuitenkin kiusattu enemmän kuin luokan muita oppilaita, mutta kiusaaminen oli vähentynyt ajan kuluessa. Muutamilla luokan pojilla oli halveksiva tai vihamielinen suhtautuminen muslimityttöihin. Muslimityttöjen koulunkäyntiin liittyi joitakin vaikeuksia, kuten oppimisvaikeudet muutamissa aineissa ja vaikeudet sopeutua tiettyihin koulun sääntöihin. Luokanopettaja koki yhteistyön muslimityttöjen vanhempien kanssa vaikeaksi. Näistä ongelmista huolimatta muslimitytöillä oli myönteinen suhtautuminen koulunkäyntiin. Tässä tapauksessa muslimitytöt olivat saavuttaneet integraatio-vaiheen Berryn akkulturaatio teorian mukaan. Sopeutuminen peruskoululuokkaan oli onnistunut heiltä hyvin lähinnä luokanopettajan toiminnan johdosta. He puhuivat hyvin suomen kieltä ja olivat asuneet Suomessa jo usean vuoden ajan, mikä myös helpotti sopeutumista. Muslimi, islam, kulttuuri, peruskoulu, maahanmuuttajaopetus, etnografinen tutkimus, tapaustutkimus Muslim, islam, culture, comprehensive school, teaching of migrants, ethnographical research, case study

Lähi-itä - mielikuvat, media ja konflikti : Tutkimuskohteena opettajaopiskelijat

This study examines Finnish student teachers' images of The Middle East conflict and its parties and medias' influence on these images. The research problems are 1) how student teachers understand the Middle East as a geographical and a cultural area 2) what kind of conceptions they have of the Middle East conflict and its parties; Israelis, Palestinians and Arabs and societies and religions closely connected to them and 3) how the media has influenced on these conceptions. Theoretical background of this study concerns with different mental images, their construction and meaning, stereotypes, intercultural competence, media and its influence as well as media literacy. The methods used in this study were survey and theme interview. Also headlines of the news were analysed. The survey was directed at student teachers of the University of Helsinki (n = 75). Six of them were interviewed. The survey was conducted in February and interviews were made in the turn of May and June 2003. The headlines analysed dealt with the Middle East conflict in the newspaper "Helsingin Sanomat" in January, April and July 2003. Main results: Images of the Middle East area differed largely from respondent to another. Student teachers didn't know much about the Middle East conflict. Stereotypes occurred in the conceptions connected to the parties of the conflict. Stereotypes appeared especially in the negative conceptions of islam and muslims and one-sided conceptions of Arabs. The influence of the conflict was noticeable in conceptions related to Israelis, Israel and Palestinians. Palestinians were sympathized. Attitudes towards Israelis, Palestinians and Arabs were negative to some extend and their societies were not valued very equal, open or modern. On the basis of the research, student teachers' intercultural competence was not good enough. Media had influence on the conceptions. Also skills in critical use of media varied largely. Some trusted strongly in the objectivity of a picture and the news. It can be argued, on the grounds of the results, that teacher education should concentrate more on themes of intercultural competence and media literacy. These two are interrelated and are both needed in understanding and conceptualising the world.

Ei oo kahta samanlaista siskoo: Yksilöllisyys Suomessa asuvien musliminaisten pukeutumisessa

Tutkimuksessa etsittiin vastauksia kysymyksiin, mistä yksilöllisyys muodostuu ja miten se ilmenee musliminaisten pukeutumisessa. Vastauksia tutkimuskysymyksiin haettiin teorian ja aineiston vuoropuheluun perustuvalla fenomenologisesti orientoituneella sisällönanalyysilla. Analysoitava aineisto on hankittu haastattelemalla yhdeksää Suomessa asuvaa musliminaista. Tutkimuksessa yksilöllisyyttä pukeutumisessa on tarkasteltu prosessina. Prosessiin vaikuttavina tekijöinä on tarkasteltu yksilön olemusta, personallisuutta, minuutta, identiteettejä, uskontoa, kulttuuria ja sosiaalisia suhteita. Prosessissa keskeistä aineiston perusteella oli positiivisen minuuden kokemuksen tavoittelu, joka tarkoitti naisille intuitiivista oman itsensä tunnistamista ja tyytyväisyyttä peilin heijastamaan kuvaan. Yksilöllisen pukeutumisen voikin sanoa olevan seurausta positiivisen minuuden kokemuksen tavoittelusta, koska jokaiselle naiselle erilainen pukeutuminen antoi tunteen sopivuudesta itselle. Esimerkiksi uskonnolliselle musliminaisille pään peittäminen merkitsee oman minuuden toteutumista, koska hän kokee tuon pukeutumisen olevan uskon mukainen pukeutumistapa. Toiselle musliminaiselle pään peittäminen voi merkitä positiivisen minuuden kokemuksen menettämistä. Yksilöllisyys pukeutumisessa ilmeni monin tavoin. Osa naisista peittää julkisuudessa koko päänsä ja vartalonsa, osa ei peitä päätään ja jotkut pukeutuvat jopa tiukkoihin tai paljastaviin vaatteisiin. Suomessa on myös kasvonsa peittäviä musliminaisia, joita ei kuitenkaan ole mukana tässä tutkimuksessa. Yksilöllisyyttä ilmeni kuitenkin myös samalla tavalla pukeutuvien musliminaisten ryhmässä. Yksilöllisyys pukeutumisessa ilmeni erilaisina vaatekappaleina, hiustyyleinä, valintoina, yksityiskohtina ja väreinä. Yksilöllisyydessä ei kuitenkaan ole kyse vain havaittavasta pukeutumisen erilaisuudesta, vaan siitä, miten kukin musliminainen kuuluu tähän maailmaan ja toteuttaa omaa minuuttaan pukeutumisella. Tämä tarkoittaa sitä, että tutkimuksessa yksilöllisenä pukeutumisena voidaan pitää sitäkin, mikä monen suomalaisen mielestä ei näytä yksilölliseltä. Avainsanat: Yksilöllisyys, minuus, pukeutuminen, islam, naiset, prosessi, kokemus

Patriarkkana ikuisuuden performanssissa : Maskuliinisuuden ja miehen ruumiillisuuden rakentuminen mormonien Duties and Blessings of the Priesthood -opetuskäsikirjassa

The material I analyze for my master's thesis is a teaching manual used by the Mormons (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), called "Duties and Blessings of the Priesthood". This work includes numerous lesson plans, each one with a separate topic. The manual is intended especially for teaches, but can also be used for individual study. The main target of my research is to find out how men and their bodies are constructed in the manual. Prescriptive texts together with narrative stories and illustrations create a multifaceted picture of Mormon notions of masculinity and corporeality. I approach my research material from a constructivist perspective. I build my interpretative reading upon Critical Discourse Analysis. I am especially interested in how the manual interprets and understands connections between gender, embodiment and religion. I understand gender in Judith Butler's terms, as a performance of styled and repeated gestures. Some of the discussions I raise in my work draw upon the disciplines of Critical Men's Studies and Sociology of Religion. In Mormonism, gender is thought to be an elementary part of human ontology. It is an eternal trait inherited from God the Father (and God the Mother). The place of men in Mormon cosmology is determined by their double role as patriarchs, fathers and priests. The main objective of mortal life is to gain salvation together with one's family. The personal goal of a Mormon man is to one day become a god. Patriarchs are responsible for the spiritual and material well-being of their family. The head of a household should be gentle and loving, but still an unconditional authority. In the manual, a Mormon man is depicted as a successor of mythical and exemplary men of sacred history. The perfect and sinless body of Jesus Christ serves as an ideal for the male body. Mormon masculinity is also defined by priesthood - the holy power of God - which is given to practically all male Mormons. Through the priesthood, a Mormon man serves as the governor of God on Earth. The Mormon priest has the authority to bind the immanent and the transcendent worlds together with gestures, poses and motions performed with his body. In Mormonism, the body also symbolizes a temple or a space where the sacred meets the profane. Because the priesthood borne by a man is holy, he has to treat his body accordingly. The body is valuable in itself, without it one cannot be saved. Men are forbidden of polluting their bodies by using stimulants or by having sexual relations out of wedlock. A priesthood holder must uphold healthy habits, dress neatly, and conduct himself in a temperate manner. He must also be outgoing and attentive. The manual suggests that a man's goodness or wickedness can be perceived from his external appearance. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a hierarchical and man-led organisation. The ideals of gender and corporeality are set by a homogenous priesthood leadership that consists mainly of white heterosexual American men. The larger Mormon community can control individual men by sanctioning. Growing as a Mormon man happens under the guidance of one's reference group.

How Can Sustainable Agricultural Systems Promote Food Security in a Changing Climate?

A theoretical framework of the link between climate change, rural development, sustainable agriculture, poverty, and food security is presented. Some options to respond to climate change are described. Current knowledge and potential effects on agricultural productivity is discussed. Necessary conditions for successful adaptation includes secured property rights to land, institutions that make market access possible and credit possibilities. The options of mitigation and enhanced adaptive capacity and the requirements for their implementation are discussed.

Religion´s role in Development, Ecology & Climate Change

Islam, Development, Ecology,