Digital Commons Network^™

Chilean Media And Public Opinion (1973-2013), Tara Schoenborn

Honors Capstone Projects - All

In this thesis, I examine the extent to which the media censorship of the Pinochet dictatorship, which ended over 20 years ago, continues to influence Chilean public opinion and policy today. The dictatorship’s control, penetration and censorship of the press in the 1970s and 1980s appears to have created a lack of pluralism in the media that helped the dictatorship retain political power for 17 years. However, it seems that the dictatorship’s influence did not end with its reign and that this lack of media pluralism still exists today and could be correlated with a widespread conservatism in Chilean public …

Addressing Modern Slavery In Haiti And The Dominican Republic: The Evolving Role Of Nongovernmental Organizations, Meghan Schneider

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This project examines the forms of modern day slavery that are most prevalent in Haiti and the Dominican Republic: domestic servitude and forced prostitution for the purpose of sex tourism, respectively. This paper seeks to answer the following questions:

What is the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in combatting trafficking in persons (TIP) and modern day slavery in Hispaniola? How should NGOs work with national governments, especially in states with a weak rule of law? How have the presence and scope of NGOs evolved and/or expanded over time to address modern forms of slavery?

In this paper I argue that …

“Adelante, Con Todas Las Fuerzas De La Historia": An Exploration Of The Chilean Student Movement For Education Reform Within Its National And International Contexts, Maisha Fabliha Shahid

Honors Capstone Projects - All

In the past several decades, Chile has been regarded an “economic miracle” and praised for its transition from a brutal dictatorship that lasted nearly two decades to the current democracy. While the state has made much progress, it remains highly unequal in terms of opportunities and services available to the middle and lower classes. This structural inequality is most visible within education. Dictatorship-era policies and long-standing economic and political structures have commoditized education and established an educational system that essentially excludes large sections of the population from receiving quality education.

It is thus not surprising that a potent, influential student …

The Development Of The Maquila Industry In Honduras: A Holistic Approach To The Industry’S Effect On Women And Honduran Society, Andrea Mencia Viery

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The maquila industry in Latin America has received much attention due to its predominant presence in Mexico and several Central American countries. Numerous studies explore the nuances of the maquila industry in Mexico, yet few studies focus on other nations. This project concentrates on Honduras, the country where I was raised for eighteen years. Many Communities affected by this industry believe maquila owners prefer to employ young women over male applicants. This is also true for Honduras. Many scholars believe the owners’ motives lie behind the so-called docility characteristic of these young females. Critics of the industry argue that maquilas …

The Rights-Based Approach To Development In Latin America, Catherine Divita

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Many scholars and practitioners believe the rights-based approach represents a significant step forward in the development field towards the eradication of poverty. In lieu of blind service provision, aid organizations implementing the rights-based approach use human rights to address underlying causes of poverty such as exclusion, discrimination and corruption. However, integrating human rights into the development process is no clean, simple task. The rights-based approach has been conceptualized and implemented in many different ways around the world since its emergence in the 1990s. Scholars and practitioners now ask: Which rights-based approach is the most successful? I examine the rights-based approaches …

Ecuadorian Migration: An Ethnographic Approach To Analyzing Socio-Cultural Influences On Migration, Michele S. Cantos

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This research project is about national and transnational migration, as experienced by one Andean Ecuadorian family, currently living in the New York Metropolitan area in the United States. Through the collection of their life histories and an analysis of literature on this particular migrant group, I explore the different cultural trends that played a role in their migration from; rural Andean towns to large urban centers, from rural communities and urban centers into the Amazon jungle and their later migration to the United States of America.

Using Social Network Theory as an analytical framework, I am focusing on these individuals’ …

Dirty War: Across Borders And Generations, Robert Douglas Solonick

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The term “dirty war” has been applied to various periods of political violence and armed conflict around the world: the dirty wars of Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s, the dirty war in Chechnya, and even the dirty war in Israel. Yet, given its broad spectrum of application, there is no established definition explaining what a dirty war is. These conflicts all titled “dirty wars” occur in different times, different locations, and for different reasons. Such ambiguous use of this term in such different environments is extremely confusing.

This project set out to establish a working definition for …

The Informal Economy And Women In Latin America, Maria Rein

Honors Capstone Projects - All

My project addresses the issues surrounding the informal economy in Latin America specifically as it pertains to Latin American women. Though my biggest difficulty was the lack of official statistics of an informal economy, I was able to perform my research through an in depth analysis of many other documents concerning social, cultural, economic and political factors. The first part of my research addressed the definition of an informal economy and how it is measured. Importantly, it distinguishes between an “illegal” informal economy and a “proper” informal economy, with most of my research relating to the “proper” informal economy. I …

The Pinochet Project: A Nation’S Search For Truth Memory Struggles In Post-Pinochet Chile, Christine Mehta

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Chile has fought for 21 years to overcome General Augusto Pinochet’s violent legacy, but moving past the pervasive influence of Pinochet’s 17-year reign is a difficult task, even today. The following work is an investigation on memory, and Chile’s struggle to come to terms with its memory of the dictatorship. The key questions asked are: How do Chileans remember the dictatorship? What does each individual’s memory mean to the collective whole? Why is confronting the past important to Chile’s future?

The investigation is divided into two parts: a journalistic portion in which individual accounts are highlighted, and an academic thesis …

Women’S Rights To Contraception And Abortion In Chile And Spain, Erin Kosalwat Elzo

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Abstract

Women’s reproductive rights, particularly the rights to contraceptives and abortions, have been a contentious issue that often divides people into different political spectrums. The objective of this research was to examine women’s rights to contraception and abortion inChileandSpain. The majority of the population in these two countries is Roman Catholic (94% inSpainand 70% inChile). Both countries ratified the United Nation’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) as well as signed the Optional Protocol to the CEDAW. This research was based on an extensive review of literature that involved documents from government and non-government …

Zapatismo’S Otra Campaña: Its Efforts For Autonomy And The Construction Of An Anti-Capitalist Social Coalition In Mexico, George J. Williams

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This paper examines the extent to which La Otra Campaña (The Other Campaign) has succeeded in constructing anti-capitalist social coalitions in Mexico. Through a social movement theoretical lens, I analyze the dynamics of three distinct movements within La Otra: (1) the indigenous Zapatistas of Chiapas, (2) the CNUC, a campesino group from Tlaxcala, and (3) the Pancho Villas, an urban housing organization from Mexico City. Based on personal interviews, field notes, and participant observation, this paper compares the tactics and organizing techniques employed by each movement. It explores the ways in which the Zapatista project of “autonomy” has been appropriated …

Mapu Lahual: Ecotourism And Indigenous Rights In Chile, Danielle Dean

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Abstract: This thesis will assess the efforts of international organizations (IGOs) and international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) to facilitate self-determination and economic independence for the indigenous Mapuches peoples in Chile. My hypothesis is that both IGOs and INGOs to a great extent have helped indigenous peoples gain substantive rights in Chile. When analyzing Chilean progress in indigenous rights, three topic areas were identified. The first considers how the constitutional frameworks support indigenous rights and what rights are guaranteed or hindered due the Chilean 1980 constitution. The second is the economic inclusion and independence of the tribes or communities. Ecotourism projects have …

The Identity And Integration Of The Quichua-Speaking People Of Highland Ecuador, Marie-Genevieve Sasseville Babecki

Honors Capstone Projects - All

In 1990 a massive pan-indigenous uprising occurred throughoutEcuador. This uprising paralyzed the nation and brought the newly politicized ethnicity of indigenous people as political actors to national attention. This led to an increasingly contentious struggle for power, related to the historical verticality of classes based upon ethnicity. But why did ethnicity now become politicized in such an explosive manner and how is this politicized identity formed?

Examining historical context, we trace the evolution of state discourse which greatly shapes identity from one of separation and segregation of indigenous peoples and Hispanic elites, to greater inclusion of all populations as citizens. …

Indigenous Mobilization And Its Effects On The Political Process: The Transformation Of Indigenous Identities In Peru, Ecuador And Bolivia, Sarah Brigham

Honors Capstone Projects - All

For my Capstone Project, I compared and contrasted indigenous movements in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru. In my preliminary research of Latin American indigenous movements, I noted that Ecuador and Bolivia have had the most successful indigenous movements at the national level in the region while Peru’s indigenous groups have lagged behind the mobilization fervor. Although Peru has a large indigenous population, even higher than the proportion of indigenous groups in Ecuador, its indigenous movement has not transpired passed the local level.

To help explain this anomaly, I consulted several texts to compare theories about what made indigenous movements in Bolivia …

Maroon Societies In Brazil, Jamaica And Mexico, Amanda Moore

Honors Capstone Projects - All

While many scholars concentrate their research on the enslavement of Africans, there are other stories to tell of Africans peoples in theWestern Hemisphere. The Maroons were fugitive slaves who developed their own communities throughout theAmericas. They were diverse peoples unified by their goal of freedom and self-determination.

This Honors Thesis Project explores the historical situation of the Brazilian, Jamaican and Mexican Maroons and elucidates the similarities and differences between them. The aspects of Maroon life explored here are: lifestyle, leadership and politics. These three countries were selected to illustrate the diversity within the experiences of enslaved Africans throughout the Americas. …