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Peoples’ practising of religious ritual is never isolated from the social and political setting in which it takes place. It is therefore inevitable that ritual practice somehow contends with the current social context. Examining Muslim ritual practices across the Middle East, the authors of the articles in this special issue discuss religious ritual as a tool for accomplishing something in the real world. They provide examples of which social concerns are addressed in ritual practice, who is involved and how the ritual practice is affected. The studies show that current ritual practices are embedded in multi-actor social spaces, and they also reflect on the ritual as a multi-actor space where the power to define ritual form, meaning and importance shifts between different categories of actors.

In this chapter, we discuss the significance of journeys to sacred sites, in search of blessing and fortune, within the rich sacred landscape of Bosnia’s Muslims. First, we argue that the study of pilgrimage should be opened to a discussion of the place of pilgrimages in a larger sacred geography of visitations and ritual activities. Second, we are critical of the exclusive attention to identity politics in recent studies of Islamic practices in Bosnia and propose to focus on the web of relations between Bosnian Muslims’ cosmologies, the notions of selfhood and ongoing histories of sacred spaces.

The thesis focuses on the role of youth members in political opposition parties in the Arab Republic of Egypt. The parties, as well as the state, are authoritarian in structure. The thesis discusses possibilities for youth participation in the upper-levels of political parties, and their subjective opinions of being included or excluded in internal debates and decision-making processes. In particular, the thesis discusses the parties’ use of internet and whether the internet arena is a space in which young people can contribute in the development and working of the parties. The analysis is based on data from first-hand information obtained through interviews with members of several Egyptian parties. The discussion is situated within academic debates on the nature of agency within authoritarian party and state structures. The conclusion suggests that youth members in Egyptian opposition parties may influence the working of the parties. However, due to the domination of structural phenomena, such as authoritarian structures, patron-client relations and a patriarchal system, youth’s presence does not affect the parties in a substantial manner. Youth possess agency but do not produce organizational change, because the structural phenomena are used to control people and social entities. It is further concluded that the internet is an arena in which mainly youth members participate. The internet gives youth a larger room for involvement, but does not contribute at a general party level. This situation is not a result of structural phenomena, but is caused by the age gap between leadership and active youth members. The analysis suggests that Egypt experiences a situation of negative peace.

Peace researchers aim to reduce violence “by analyzing different types of violence and its causes, predicting in order to prevent, and acting preventively and curatively”(Galtung 1996:50). This thesis addresses the issue of physical violence against women in contemporary Iraqi Kurdistan. Violence against women in Iraqi Kurdistan can be defined as structural violence, cultural violence and direct violence. The project introduces and discusses the strategies and measures implemented to combat the violence against women. In particular, I discuss the work done by local women’s organizations and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and analyze their roles in improving the status of women and in ending violence against women. A central issue to discuss is the role of women’s agency in a society characterized by patriarchal structures, in which the social roles of women submit to customary codified tribal systems that naturalize the idea that women are inferior. Through concepts developed in social theory, I will discuss different challenges and solutions to violence against women in Iraqi Kurdistan. How can women’s organizations contribute to free women from structural violence? What are their aims and objectives? What do they perceive as challenges? With whom do they collaborate? Which factors inhibit female victims in seeking help? In addition to women’s organizations, the government is involved in combating violence against women. What are the challenges facing the government in ending the violence? What is impeding government success? The outcomes of this work are encouraging, despite strong socio-cultural barriers. The theories and practices that may alleviate women’s suffering and lead to their empowerment have come to the fore. Women’s organizations have achieved important progress, and they have the potential for more. The findings suggest that local women’s organizations and international NGOs know that combating violence against women presupposes “conscientization”. This “critical consciousness” cannot be imposed on people, and it does not come from outside. But it can be developed through dialectical interaction and start within citizens who are in “limit-situation” which, according to Pinto, are the boundaries where all possibilities begin (Vieira Pinto in Freire 2003:99).