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The central challenge facing countries of the developing world such as Sri Lanka is how to reconcile ethnic and cultural diversity with the concept of mature and cohesive nationhood. This is especially so where a federation is created not by the traditional pattern of independent entities coming together, but by devolution from a unitary state to one involving power sharing. In such situations there arealways fears that federalism is a precursor of dismemberment or disintegration. What is needed is to reconcile competing objectives for a strong and effective centre and for recognition of cultural and ethnic diversity. This may require hybrid or quasi‐federal structures that do not fit neatly into unitary or federal categories. In attempting to achieve this reconciliation practicalities may require asymmetrical devolution, but this in turn may provoke emotional resistance to special or disparate treatment of particular minorities. Nor is devolution by itself sufficient. To be viable there must be suitable mechanisms to resolve intergovernmental disputes. Particularly important if confrontation and polarisation are to be minimised isemphasis upon compromise and proportionality and a public respect for pluralism, secularism, and representative democracy.

The central challenge facing countries of the developing world such as Sri Lanka is how to reconcile ethnic & cultural diversity with the concept of mature & cohesive nationhood. This is especially so where a federation is created not by the traditional pattern of independent entities coming together, but by devolution from a unitary state to one involving power sharing. In such situations, there are always fears that federalism is a precursor of dismemberment or disintegration. What is needed is to reconcile competing objectives for a strong & effective center & for recognition of cultural & ethnic diversity. This may require hybrid or quasi-federal structures that do not fit neatly into unitary or federal categories. In attempting to achieve this reconciliation, practicalities may require asymmetrical devolution, but this in turn may provoke emotional resistance to special or disparate treatment of particular minorities. Nor is devolution by itself sufficient. To be viable there must be suitable mechanisms to resolve intergovernmental disputes. Particularly important, if confrontation & polarization are to be minimized, is emphasis on compromise & proportionality & a public respect for pluralism, secularism, & representative democracy. Adapted from the source document.

Liberation theology's response to global economic processes is investigated, focusing on the Church's attempt to assist poor peoples who have been negatively affected by global economics. Although liberation theology was expected to provide guidance for Christian officials who had to address globalization processes, it is asserted that this perspective failed to adequately articulate its own theory about market economies. In addition, it is contended that liberation theology has fallen short of proffering a comprehensive model for creating a political state. After noting that any future political system can only partially coincide with the Christian vision because of religious pluralism & secularism, two strategies that adhere to Christian scripture for rectifying the problems caused by globalization are presented. The need to not perceive the Church as a civil society organization is subsequently articulated. Despite the Church's success in combating poverty through its debt remission campaign, it is stated that the economic problems experienced through globalization by the world's poorest nations will not be resolved through the remission of debts. The issue of whether globalization processes will change the Church itself is also considered. J. W. Parker

This paper seeks to unpack the ambiguous intersections of gender, Christianity, and kastom , together with place, island, and nation in a modern Melanesian state. It does so through a series of verbal "snapshots," mostly of mundane settings, which chart the ambivalent, mobile interplay of individual and community in the self-representations and actions of ni-Vanuatu, particularly women. The snapshots juxtapose local and wider aspects of ni-Vanuatu women's past and present lives as Christians and citizens, locating them successively in the remote island of Aneityum and in urban and national contexts. Arguing that women's agency deserves the same scrutiny as that of men, I problematize the romantic secularism that slights indigenous women's engagements in apparently banal Christian settings and activities, especially fellowship groups and sewing, because they seem to advance hegemonic agendas of conversion, domestication, and modernization. Instead I see the growing social and economic significance of Christian women's groups in Vanuatu's villages as potentially empowering for rural women. By contrast, women are generally absent from authority positions in the churches and in the nation-state—the latter a mainly male domain experienced as ineffectual by most ni-Vanuatu. Notwithstanding widespread indigenous suspicion of "western feminism," women's issues and gender relations are kept uneasily on the national agenda by the women's wings of the mainline churches and particularly by the umbrella women's organizations, the Vanuatu National Council of Women and the Vanuatu Women's Centre.

The childhood memories of most Turkish citizens are full of images of national holiday celebrations. Loudly recited heroic poems, enthusiastic folk dance performances, costume parades and school shows, anxious teachers, and involuntary laughter during the long, silent moments of commemoration-all are part of these images. A few years ago (in 1998), Turkey celebrated the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Republic, giving us an opportunity to rethink these remembrances as both collective and personal experiences, with all their political and social implications. As in any other country with a state-controlled educational system, the structure of these celebrations had been well established and consolidated over the years, having "an accumulative effect upon successive generations" (Ben-Amos 1994, p. 54). The formalism and the overemphasized nationalism of the celebrations, repeated over and over for years, eventually created a sense of alienation. Nevertheless, when the Islamist Welfare Party assumed power over the municipalities of Istanbul and Ankara in 1994, the revival of the national holiday celebrations was remarkable. Thus began a new approach to celebrating national holidays, with rock concerts, extensive TV coverage, and public interviews. The seventh-fifth anniversary celebrations further revived the national holidays, with contributions from state as well as nongovernmental organizations. After the Welfare Party's assumption of power, the celebration of national holidays symbolized support for the Republic's reforms and secularism, in opposition to rising Islamic fundamentalism.