This study builds a meta-theory of International Relations (metafunctionalism) by which to assess African state behavior and relations utilizing the most commonly applied and descriptive conventional and non-conventional theories within the discipline. Metafunctionalism combines multiple theoretical approaches while negating the contradictions between them that would limit their relative explanatory capacity. It employs the theories of functionalism, evolution, realism, liberalism, neomarxism(international class theory). The presentation of a metafunctional model of African International Relations will provide an alternative lens by which to view African state behavior and relations and address the fundamental problems of “description” and “consensus” within African political discourse.

Widely differing perceptions exist as to the essential character of these relations. Some commentators see them as a substantial reformulation, in the direction of greater equality, of past unequal relations between Western Europe and its former colonies. Other commentators see these relations as an updating and continuation of European imperialism. The general thesis of our research into these relations is that the present EEC-Third World relationship is an updating of past realities. As we see it, the relationship continues and sustains an unequal economic dependency; it is not a harbinger of any fundamentally different political economic relationship between the two blocs.

In order to substantiate our thesis, we investigated three major dimensions of the EEC-Third World relationship: preferential trading arrangements; export earnings stabilization schemes; and the impact of treaty provisions on the activities of EEC-based multinational corporations in the Third World.

Our research strategy involved both (1) the quantitative task of collecting and analyzing a significant body of statistical data relating to, notably, the volume and composition of EEC-Third World trade, the operation of the export earnings stabilization schemes, and the sectoral distribution of EEC private investment in the Third World, and (2) the qualitative task of locating the empirical trends revealed by the data within a theoretical framework pertaining to the historical and contemporary dynamic of political economic relations between the two blocs.

Our findings in all three broad areas of research concern substantiated our general thesis, in that they revealed, among other things, that a) preferential trade arrangements have had little, if any, impact in terms of increasing the volume and diversifying the composition of Third World exports to the EEC; b) the export earnings stabilization schemes speak to the needs of EEC manufacturing and processing industries ~in terms of seeking to guarantee supplies of mineral and agricultural raw materials from African, Caribbean, and Pacific states, while at the same time, the schemes bolster the historically fashioned international division of labor between the two blocs; and c) many of the treaty provisions encourage the further penetration of Third World economies by EEC-based MNCs (and small and medium-sized firms), and provide these MNCs with a competitive advantage over their United States and Japanese rivals.

This study was based on the premise that some African-American women continue to resist control of their reproduction, by empowering themselves using a variety of folk medicines practices. A case study analysis approach was used to analyze data gathered and it reflected that the collective reproductive resistances stemmed from a shared memory known as the African Ancestral Maternal Memory.

The researcher found that selected urban African-American women utilized several forms of folk healing medicines to gynecologically resist control of their reproduction. The conclusions drawn from the findings suggest that the need for continued gynecological resistance by African-American women was not only rooted in the reproductive oppression of enslaved African women, but correlated with the systematic gynecological control of urban African-American women.

The research also proved that it is necessary to further define the traditional black church as a necessary shaper of public policy. In fact, what can be inferred from the research is that the traditional black church must reflect in its leadership persons who are active participants in the life of the community. In this regard, the research is emphatic about the role of the traditional black church that it is to continue to be an advocate for community needs, expectations, and system change. This research reemphasized the role of the church as a public conduit for relating community needs and engaging societal issues.

The researcher found evidence that African Consciousness and African identity and culture were apparent in school and community activities. The rural citizens were aware of their black identity and they shared information about the positive accomplishments of black people with each other. Traditions, practices, and customs that affirmed worth, dignity and integrity were passed on in the communities; furthermore, they helped each other learn the traditions. Racial oppression was resisted in the communities. Cultural activities were provided by the schools and the communities in mutually beneficial endeavors.

Exploration of the education provided to rural African Americans before the Brown decision was significant for several reasons. First, it allowed an examination of an under-researched segment of the American educational system. Second, African Americans, including the researcher, who were part of the segregated educational system were able to give their own descriptions and interpretations of their educational experiences. Third, positive interactions and supports that promoted student survival in the segregated system were identified.

Girl, Brownstones; The Color Purple; and When Rocks Dance. Employing the

scholarship of women writers of the Diaspora, I contend that the works dismantle and

(re)construct gender identities. Where traditional notions of sexuality depict men as

masculine and women as feminine, this analysis interrogates and subverts the traditional

paradigm. Methodologically, the dissertation combines literary analysis, post-colonial

studies, and gender schema theory into an interdisciplinary approach. I begin by

exploring gender construction to establish a theoretical perspective for characters who

reject traditional heteronormative paradigms. I then extend recent critical discussions on

gender and post-colonialism by examining the relationships between the men and women

in each literary text. I contend that traditional notion of characters as homosexual or

lesbian is dismantled and (re)constructed, thereby resulting in characters who embrace

their femininity or masculinity in a more balanced construction of personality, which is

the key to their self-actualization.

when it is that women, too, deserve the title. After all, save is what women do. Because

of the Biblical and subsequent patriarchal paradigm, men only are attributed the title, but

what we fmd in certain texts is that women are saviors as well. It is through women’s

somewhat magical feminism that she is able to heal, make sacrifices, and save, even

when others are not aware it is necessary. The writer re-presents the notion of Savior

whereby Savior as Woman is constructed culturally with the women saving not only their

families, but the community at large. She has to step outside of herself and concern

herself with the well-being of others. Using the Savior as Woman theory is a viable

textual approach to literature that allows the women in the text to be seen in a more

flattering light and one that they deserve but have been deprived of for numerous reasons.

It is one that is viable and can help one get a deeper textual understanding.