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This article focuses on the relationship between religion/secularism and national identity through the experiences of converts to Islam. These men and women occupy a controversial position in society: they are often born and raised in Europe and have chosen for a religion that is generally associated with 'foreignness'. In this context, converts are often represented in terms of loss, especially in relation to gender relations. In other words, their conversion to Islam is often read as a turning away from modernity or Western lifestyles, rather than a conscious choice for something new, such as spiritual fulfilment. Coulthard and Simpson however, interpret ' turning away ' in relation to the politics of recognition and decolonization. This understanding makes it possible to read conversion as an active choice for self-determination. Turning away then becomes a refusal to engage in the hegemonic recognition game of being situated and managed and to be politically consumed by the overarching system. The article will investigate how Dutch converts to Islam negotiate the different aspects of their identities and the boundaries connected to those through a politics of refusal. I will argue that by following Coulthard and Simpson, we can understand converts ' turning away '– in an alternative, less negative way. They ' turn away ', as Fanon argues, to find freedom on their own terms and in accordance with their own values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has long been claimed that sport plays an important role in the formulation of national identity. Key to understanding this relationship is Michael Billig's concept of banal nationalism, which is used in this article to examine national symbols that act as daily reminders of the nation. Specifically, the article discusses the relationship between Englishness and sport by drawing upon data from interviews with representative English sportswomen in association football, cricket, netball, and rugby union. The article demonstrates the important role that (men's) sport plays in developing a sense of national identity in England and, in particular, one that is distinct from Britishness. Furthermore, the significance of national symbols is evidenced as banal reminders of national identity for England's sportswomen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few decades, scholars have dedicated much attention to the coverage of sportswomen in the media. However, few of these studies are situated within the Central Eastern European context. In this study, I analyze the textual and visual coverage of sportswomen in the Hungarian monthly sports magazine Presztízs Sport and examine the ways in which Hungarian national identity is articulated through discourses of sport, athletic competence, and womanhood. This sports magazine reflects some of the global patterns in the representation of sportswomen, but also distinguishes athletes based on the sport's historical success in Hungary. Further, it positions the családanya, the "family-mother" as a gender ideal that transcends other representation categories. The maternal athletic body affirms conservative values and contributes to the aspirations of nation-building through both reproduction and elite sporting success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dominant groups (e.g., White U.S. citizens) are more associated with "American" identity and they feel greater ownership over American national identity compared to ethnic minority groups. We extended this perception to gender and tested whether American national identity is constructed in masculine, versus feminine, terms. We examined whether U.S. men feel greater symbolic ownership over the nation and represent what it means to be a prototypical American, more than U.S. women. In Study 1, men and women considered male-associated traits more American than female-associated traits and listed more men as examples of "true" Americans than women. In Study 2, men reported higher levels of nationalism than women. Women's nationalism was moderated by their conception of male-associated traits as American--women who viewed American identity as more masculine were less nationalistic. Men showed a stronger correlation between gender identity and American identity compared to women. However, correlations between gender identity and nationalism did not differ by participant gender. Results suggest men and masculinity are considered more American than are women and femininity. We provide support for the subgroup asymmetry hypothesis through the novel lens of gender. We discuss means of attenuating the gendered construction of national identity in terms of media, policy, and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates how an analysis of fantasy femininity sheds light on how norms of gender, class and national identity reflect global and local cross-cultural currents in post-Soviet Russia. Drawing on a discourse analysis of women’s magazines and in-depth interviews with readers, it shows how, in the globalised post-Soviet cultural landscape, fantasy femininity represents both change and continuity. Feminine archetypes in women’s magazines, from fairytale princesses to Barbie dolls, reflect a wider post-Soviet cultural hybridisation and are an example of how Western women’s magazines have adapted to the Russian context. Furthermore, the article highlights readers’ ambiguous attitudes towards post-Soviet cultural trends linked to perceived Westernisation or globalisation, such as individualism, conspicuous consumption and glamour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts on land use planning topics, including "Historical Amnesia: New Urbanism and the City of Tomorrow," "More Than Sector Theory: Homer Hoyt's Contributions to Planning Knowledge" and "Methodology for the Survival Analysis of Urban Building Stocks."

Presents several abstracts of published studies related to city planning. "Commemorating the Loyalists in the Loyalist City: Saint John, New Brunswick, 1883-1934," by Greg Marquis in the 2004 issue of "Revue d'histoire urbaine"; "Soviet War Memorial in Treptow, Berlin," by Paul Stangl in the 2004 issue of "Geographical Review"; "Multi-level Analysis of Community Coordinating Councils," by Nicole E. Allen in the 2005 issue of "American Journal of Community Psychology."

Extensive qualitative research shows that, even at its best, media coverage of women athletes tends to be ambivalent, meaning that it juxtaposes positive descriptions and images with descriptions and images that underline and trivialize women's efforts and successes. However, researchers have rarely explored the implications of nationalism -- in particular during global sports events -- for coverage of women's sport. This analysis of media coverage of Cathy Freeman during the Sydney 2000 Olympics points to an instance in which gender lost its place as the primary media framing device because of Freeman's importance as a symbol of national reconciliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nations are more than geopolitical entities; they are discursive constructs--constructions of the character, the culture, and the historical trajectory of a people. Such constructions, by their very nature, are acts of inclusion and exclusion. They symbolically delineate membership in the national "imagined community." Recent scholarship suggests that in diverse national contexts, discourses of national identity are gendered and ethnicized. These gendered and ethnicized discourses of national identity at times both reflect current social hierarchies and contribute to the maintenance of these hierarchies by naturalizing the marginalization of women and ethnic minorities within these nations. However, such discourses are inherently dynamic and open to contestation, with the potential to mirror and amplify changes in the status of subordinated social groups. This article examines gendered and ethnicized constructions of Japaneseness, Australianness, and Americanness in the opening ceremonies of the Nagano 1998, Sydney 2000, and Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Games, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]