Diasporic virginities: social representations of virginity and identity formation amongst British arab muslim women

This study compares how practising and non-practising British Arab Muslim women position themselves in relation to representations of virginity. Overall, in our qualitative study, we found that representations of culture and religion influenced social practices and social beliefs in different ways: non-practising Muslim women felt bound by culture to remain virgins, while practising Muslim women saw it as a religious obligation but were still governed by culture regarding the consequences of engaging in premarital sex. Interestingly, some practising Muslim participants used Mut’a (a form of temporary ‘marriage’) to justify premarital sex. This, however, did not diminish the importance of virginity in their understanding and identification as Arab women. In fact, this study found that virginity, for the British Arabs interviewed, embodied a sense of ‘Arabness’ in British society. Positioning themselves as virgins went beyond simply honour; it was a significant cultural symbol that secured their sense of cultural identity. In fact this cultural identity was often so powerful that it overrode their Islamic identities, prescribing their behaviour even if religion was seen as more ‘forgiving’

The politics of moving beyond prejudice

Dixon et al have highlighted the importance of a political conceptualisation of intergroup relations that challenges individualising models of social change. As important this paper is for the development of critical debates in psychology, we can detect at least three issues that warrant further discussion: a) the cultural and historical conditions of structural inequality and its perception, b) the marginalisation of post-colonial works on collective mobilisation and c) acknowledging the complex perspectives and politics of those targeted by prejudice

Secularism and religion in multifaith societies: the case of India

This Brief looks at the illustrative case of the Hindu-Muslim conflict in India, with the aim of understanding the dynamics of lived secularism as it exists in traditional multi-faith societies such as India. The data analyzed in this Brief comprise many interviews, conducted amidst Hindus and Muslims, with respondents of both sexes living in slum and middle class regions in the city of Mumbai. The volume begins by giving a brief summary of the historical and cultural background to the present situation in India. It then traces complementarities and similarities of opinions across diverse constituencies which cluster around three main anchoring points: communication, re-presentations and operationalizing of a shared dream. The first point explores the need to understand and to be understood, encourages processes of mutual acculturation, and describes the sensitive decoding of cultural symbols such as dress codes. The second point discusses changes in mind sets and mutual perceptions, where Muslims and Islam are portrayed in a balanced way and exploitation of religion for political purposes is stopped. The third main point is the involvement of the common, regular person, and a focus on children, as the unifying hope for the future. Throughout the volume, emphasis is on moral maturation, cultural interpretation in lieu of cultural imposition and creation of a sensitive media policy. The issues raised may help craft interdisciplinary and international frameworks, which address conflict resolution in culturally diverse multi-faith societies. Accordingly, the book concludes with policy recommendations for supporting the peaceful coexistence of secularism and religion in society from a peace psychological perspective

Solitary benign fibrous mesothelioma of the peritoneum: A rare entity in a 2-year-old child

Solitary benign fibrous mesothelioma (BFM) is uncommon and is termed as solitary fibrous mesothelioma or localized fibrous mesothelioma. Although the most common site for its development is the pleural region (65%), it has also been reported in the peritoneum. They are mostly seen in adults (average age: 54 years). Herein, we present a case of BFM in a 2-year-old male child, who presented to our hospital with abdominal pain and a lump in the abdomen. Differential diagnosis included solitary fibrous tumor, gastrointestinal stromal tumor, and benign fibrous lesions of mesentery. Establishing a preoperative diagnosis is difficult on the basis of clinical parameters or imaging studies and final diagnosis can only be assessed based on the results of histopathological and immunohistochemical examination

Solitary benign fibrous mesothelioma of the peritoneum: A rare entity in a 2-year-old child

Solitary benign fibrous mesothelioma (BFM) is uncommon and is termed as solitary fibrous mesothelioma or localized fibrous mesothelioma. Although the most common site for its development is the pleural region (65%), it has also been reported in the peritoneum. They are mostly seen in adults (average age: 54 years). Herein, we present a case of BFM in a 2-year-old male child, who presented to our hospital with abdominal pain and a lump in the abdomen. Differential diagnosis included solitary fibrous tumor, gastrointestinal stromal tumor, and benign fibrous lesions of mesentery. Establishing a preoperative diagnosis is difficult on the basis of clinical parameters or imaging studies and final diagnosis can only be assessed based on the results of histopathological and immunohistochemical examination

Representing World History in the 21st Century: The Impact of 9/11, the Iraq War, and the Nation-State on Dynamics of Collective Remembering

Following open-ended methodology used in an earlier research by Liu et al., social representations of world history were assessed among university student samples in 12 countries: China, India, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, East Timor, Turkey, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Spain, and Portugal. Findings confirmed that across cultures, transcending boundaries of political ideology, civilization age, or youthful statehood. (a) World history is represented as a story about politics and warfare, with World War II the most important event in history and Hitler its most influential individual. (b) Recency effects are pervasive in young adults' collective remembering, with events and figures from the past 100 years accounting for 72% and 78% of nominations on average. (c) Representations were primarily Eurocentric, with events and figures in Western societies accounting for 40% of nominations overall, but this is tempered by nationalism, especially in the prevalence of local heroes instrumental to the founding of the current state. The representational hegemony of the victorious Western powers of World War II is being challenged by negative evaluations of the American presidency following 9/11 (September 9) and the Iraq War, with George Bush Jr. perceived as more negative than Hitler in four out of six samples where they were both nominated as important. Results are interpreted within a theoretical framework of history and identity, where collective remembering of the past is dynamically interlinked to political issues of the present.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio