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Migration is a complex experience that differs from one migrant group to the other. Migrants have often been mistakenly seen as one homogenous group with shared experience, overlooking the diversity that exists within their visa conditions, cultural backgrounds and gender category. The generalization of the migration experience among all migrant groups usually overlooks the very specific issues arising within different types of migration and within different migrant groups. Generally, research on migrant women often portrays a victim image of them and neglects their strength and resilience. This paper addresses some of the gaps in the literature concerned with generalization and concepts of resilience. Utilizing a qualitative feminist methodology, conversations were made with eight Iraqi sponsored women living in Adelaide who arrived in Australia holding a Temporary Spouse Visa (TSV), with no specified period of entry. Within the focus on Iraqi women, the paper explores two concepts: challenges of a TSV within marriage migration and patterns of resilience amongst Iraqi sponsored women. The core argument of this paper is that the Australian TSV category which facilitates marriage migration is politically discriminative against women and significantly contributes to women's vulnerability to abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the study of social movements and their impact by approaching the topic through a discussion of the framework of political-opportunity structure. While there is a lack of research on the impact of movements, and few theories have yet been developed, there is a healthy debate on the elements that configure a movement's political-opportunity structure. This paper aims to contribute to these debates by first analysing the political opportunities of the anti-war movement in Spain (2002–2004) and, second, noting its impact in terms of the subsequent withdrawal of troops from Iraq after the elections in March 2004. After reviewing the literature on impact in social movement theory, the analysis then presents the elements of a movement's political-opportunity structure, explaining which elements should be considered variable and which stable. The paper closes by exploring which of these elements explains most powerfully the policy impact of movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-burning and self-immolation are forms of self-harm found across the Eastern Mediterranean region and South and Central Asia. The majority of those choosing these methods of self-harm are young women. Using data from 100 young female survivors of suicidal attempts in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, this article analyses the phenomenon in the context of a life-course progression arguing that the period around first marriage is a time of particular trauma to women. We suggest that self-burning should be understood as a communicative act with an indigenous semiology which functions as an expression of subordinated agency within a male-dominated society, in which marriage is a major source of conflict between generations and genders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to provide a brief and concise account of the state of sociology in Iraq. The article hopes to address itself to two questions: how sociology emerged as a separate discipline worthy of independent status within the family of social sciences; and secondly, the state of sociological research as it is manifested in the writings of persons specialized in sociology. The 1950s were a milestone in the development of sociology in Iraq. In this decade it became recognised as a separate social science discipline warranting a field of specialization. Thus a department of sociology came into being early in the decade at the College of Arts. Subsequently a department of social work was set up in the Girls College. There were many reasons which underlined and brought about this major development. Another significant factor that accounts sociology in Iraq is what might be called intellectual heritage, which contains many on human behaviour. This heritage includes for the development of the Arab cultural and sociological observations the work of Ibn Khaldun, who is regarded by many Western sociologists as the founding father or as one of the important fore-runners in the field of sociology.