Digital Commons Network^™

Woof, Joseph D. Jaafari

Capstones

About 10 percent of Americans identify as polyamorous, defined as having multiple love affairs within a single relationship. Those relationships are as diverse as they are complicated with some ranging from having multiple people within a relationship to a couple having outside individual relationships.

Within the gay world, polyamory and open relationships has become a norm, and within the gay fetish scene it’s almost a requirement.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_MnWyJVYJneYVAzXzcxU2U3bFE

But polyamory has its own set of complications legally. Because in America we have a system where only one person can receive benefits (be it through marriage or blood), there are complications if, …

India's Dalit Moment, Gabriel Kenneth Carroll Conlon

Capstones

This summer a brutal attack on Dalit youths in the Indian state of Gujarat set off months of street protests. The attack and subsequent protests underscored the persistence of caste-based discrimination in rural India, and the often brutal manner in which Dalits – members of India’s lowest castes – are excluded from everyday society. “India’s Dalit Moment” is a field report examining the causes and protagonists of the revolt. With on-the-ground reporting in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Bihar, this multimedia piece – including print, radio and photo elements – conveys a synthetic, but detailed window into the Dalit community …

Advocate, Fall 2016, Vol. 28, No. 2, Advocate

The Advocate

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Features:

- Trump, Brexit, and the Abject Poverty of Liberalism. Gordon Barnes (p. 3)

Debate:

- Demonetization in India: The Political Economy of Waiting Time. Bhargav Rani (p. 26)

Book Review:

- The Dark Side of the American Revolution: A Review of Robert Parkinson’s “The Common Cause: Creating Race and Nation in the American Revolution.” Evan Turiano (p. 36)

- Writing Resistance in the Age of Survaillance: A Comparative Review of Steven Salaita’s “Uncivil Rites” and Moustafa Bayoumi’s “This Muslim American Life.” Erik Wallenberg (p. 41)

Feeling Political: Affect, Emotion, And Ethics In Western Political Theory, John Mcmahon

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

What conceptual and methodological resources would it take for political theory to be able to more deeply analyze the emotional and affective dimensions of political life? In this dissertation, I articulate interdisciplinary work on affect and emotion into political theory in order to realize four linked objectives: first, to develop a method of reading and interpreting political theory capable of tracing the theoretical work done by affect and emotion in works of political thought; second, to reassess the boundaries of the political theory canon in terms of the thinkers that ‘count’ as part of that canon as well as the …

Internet Access And Freedom: Constructing And Reacting To Transnational Norms About Internet Diffusion And Use, Heather L. Katz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores how demands for Internet access have taken shape in the international system and to what degree a right to access or the Freedom to Connect (F2C) can be said to exist. It also studies how states have responded to demands rel­ated to access and Internet penetration. A review of the literature reveals that most work concentrates on violations of users’ rights on the Web and bypasses questions about whether and how users can access this vital piece of technology. Utilizing discourse analysis, the study shows that the F2C is being framed by a diverse range of actors …

An Analysis Of The Organizational Structures Of New Types Of Children's Associations In Relation To Changing Views Of Children's Capacities As Citizens, Bijan Kimiagar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The goal of this study is to learn how new types of children’s associations around the world are organizing themselves and how their organizational structures reflect contemporary understandings of children’s capacities as citizens. The purpose is to identify different types and qualities of participatory children’s associations and how each affords opportunities for children to exercise their right to freedom of association, develop capacities for self-governance in groups, and promote the principles of inclusion (non-discrimination) and equity (fairness). To this end, I document and analyze diagrams of organizational structures that members of different children’s associations created during the Article 15 Project …

Refractions Through The Secular: Islam, Human Rights And Universality, Zara Khan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Universal human rights (HR) are often theorized as philosophically neutral. Because they do not espouse any particular theory of the human being, it is argued, they can be reasonably appropriated by all. In this thesis, I explore HR’s universality claim, by focusing on the discourse’s secular foundation. In the universal human right to freedom of religion, I find a distinctly modern grammar of ‘religion,’ one that separates ‘religion’ from politics and power, law from morality, and the public and private realms. The modern concept of religion also espouses a secular theory of the human, insofar as the human is defined …

Transnational Indigenous Migration: Racialized Geographies And Power In Southern Highland Ecuador, Victoria Stone-Cadena

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the shifting landscape of social and economic inequalities in the remittance-dominated region of southern highland Ecuador, focusing on the transformations brought about by increased international migration since the early 2000s. The broader question is whether or not transnational migration has facilitated political and social upward mobility among indigenous communities. More specifically I ask: in what ways does indigenous identity figure in contemporary international migration practices, how does transnational indigenous migration complicate bounded notions of rural indigenous life, and how might the strategies employed by indigenous migrants transform social and economic inequalities in two small towns in the …

Empty Metal Jacket: The Biopolitical Economy Of War And Medicine, Sandra Lee Trappen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Empty Metal Jacket: The Biopolitical Economy of War and Medicine undertakes study of how global conflict and violence shape the entire range of social production, from commodities and culture to social goods and social theory. The research presented in this work draws from cutting-edge theories in body and science studies, in addition to theories of affect and biopolitics to address how war became a problem solving paradigm in medicine. Combat casualties are shown to serve as a material nexus for medical knowledge production. Although the focus here is on medicine and medical innovation in particular, these developments are connected to …

Losing Values: Illiquidity, Personhood, And The Return Of Authoritarianism In Skopje, Macedonia, Fabio Mattioli

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

On May 17, 2015, over 50,000 people took to the streets of Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, protesting against Prime Minister Gruevski and his party, the conservative neoliberal Internal Revolutionary Organization of Macedonia (VMRO). After nine years of authoritarian government, it was the first significant demonstration in which the population demanded accountability for Gruevski's despotic system of rule. This dissertation is the story of how Gruevski's system of power was built and why it lasted for so long. I argue that a series of failing financial processes, which included the use of illiquidity, created the material and …

Better Work And Global Governance, Paul Alois

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a case study of Better Work, a program run by the International Labor Organization and the International Finance Corporation. It aims to improve working conditions and productivity in the apparel industry. The purpose of this case study is to examine the role that international organizations can play in global governance. The research presented here comes from interviews, document analysis, and an examination of quantitative data on factories’ working conditions. In-person interviews were conducted in the United States, Switzerland, Vietnam, and Indonesia; many phone interviews took place with individuals in other countries. Both publicly available documents and internal …

The South African Elderly: Neglect, Social Contribution And The Hiv/Aids Epidemic, Alessia Frisoli

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

With a slowing fertility rate and an increasing longevity, the world population is aging. Both developed and developing countries have seen their elderly become more numerous with an increasing burden on their financial, medical and social system. Many scholars have suggested immediate change of policies to contain the predicted crisis that will affect the health care and the pension schemes in the next decades. However, few have investigated the positive role that the seniors play contributing to society, beyond the complications caused to the economy and welfare system. This thesis will support the argument that the elderly, if appropriately cared …

Mobilizing For Capitalism: How Islamic Civil Society Makes A Market Economy Possible In Turkey, Dean G. Schafer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis asks how international actors – in this case, the IMF and World Bank – advance their neoliberal projects. Specifically, it looks at the local context. How do economic reforms pass from IMF policy into national law? Who does the IMF cooperate with? What strategies are used, and what makes them effective for enacting and legitimizing policy? It starts by looking at the history of political mobilization in Turkey after WWII, when it took its first IMF loan. Turkish political parties have commonly sought electoral success through populist economic policies built on patron-client relationships. However, economic populism is a …

Struggling To Learn, Learning To Struggle: Strategy And Structure In The 2010-11 University Of Puerto Rico Student Strike, José A. Laguarta Ramírez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

From April 2010 to March 2011, the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) underwent a two-phase strike sequence against neoliberal austerity measures. Altogether, that process resulted in the eventual concession of all of the students’ main demands, an unprecedented feat at the UPR, and a rare one in Puerto Rican history in general. In this dissertation I seek to cast light on this improbable event by examining, first, how neoliberalization patterned and contoured the choices facing the century-old UPR student movement. Second, I explore how interactions within the movement, including the framing contest among leadership teams and their interaction with the …

"They Have Sold The Clouds": Queering Indigenous Politics In Colombia, Taylor O. Ramsey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In a study of Colombian politics, I use a queer theoretical lens to explore the relationship between the state and two specific indigenous groups from Northern Colombia to better understand the state and power relations embedded in it. I look for queer temporalities, spaces, and nonnormative practices that arise out of how the law interrogates and interacts with indigenous people using a queer theoretical lens as a critical methodology. I argue that the Colombian state's interactions with indigenous groups create queer spaces/conceptual borders, particularly with regard to law and the state's ability to biopolitically regulate its citizens. It is within …

Long-Term Effects Of Gender Representation Quotas On Political Interest Within Latin America, Lismer E. Ovalle

Theses and Dissertations

This work measures the long-term effects of gender representation quotas within Latin American countries on various measures of political interest. Measuring effects on 18 countries provides a quasi-panel study with control using non-quota countries. Quotas have positive effects on confidence in government but negative effects on political interest.

Affirmative Action Debates In American Government Introductory Textbooks, Sherrie L. Wallace, Marcus D. Allen

Publications and Research

Affirmative action debates remain hotly contested across America. Given how the topic is presented in respective disciplines and core textbooks, students are often misinformed. Introductory textbooks may be one of the few places where students are exposed to significant discussions on affirmative action. In this study, we examine affirmative action policy in American government introductory textbooks published between 2005 and 2014. Our study is modeled on previous, similar analyses of introductory textbooks. We use content analysis to examine the extent to which affirmative action discussions challenge or reinforce affirmative action myths and meritocracy. We conclude that textbook discussions that emphasize …

Advocate, Spring 2016, Vol. 27, No. 2, Advocate

The Advocate

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Editor’s Note:

- The DSC Votes to Boycott Israeli Academic Institutions. Bhargav Rani (p. 3)

CUNY News:

- Inside the CUNY Pipeline. Makeba Lavan (p. 5)

- State of Your Public-School Education. Carlos Camacho and Cecilia M. Salvi (p. 7)

Debate:

- Elitism in Supreme Court and Presidential Politics. Shawn Simpson (p. 9)

- Harmony and Mayhem in Somalia. Denise Rivera (p. 14)

Features:

- Combating the Neoliberal University with a Strike. Gordon Barnes (p. 18)

Reviews:

- Stokely: A Life Through the Lens of Kwame Ture’s Autobiography. Rhone Fraser (p. 26)

Advocate, Spring 2016, Vol. 27, No. 1, Advocate

The Advocate

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editor’s Note. Dadland Maye (p. 3)

CUNY News:

- Locked in Battle: The PSC, CUNY, and the Governor. Andrew Caringi (p. 6)

Debate:

- PSC Refuses to Bargain on Behalf of Adjuncts (p. 9)

Conversations:

- CUNY’s Largest Crisis in Forty Years. Conor Tomás Reed (p. 11)

Features:

- History at the Altar of Nationalism: The Stakes of the Student Resistance in India. Bhargav Rani (p. 16)

- The Signs They Should be Changing: Bringing All-Gender Bathrooms to The Graduate Center. Paul L. Hebert (p. 28)

- When Outsiders Are Not Outsiders: Enforcing Standards of Education in …

Advocate, Spring 2016, Vol. 27, No. 3, Advocate

The Advocate

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

CUNY News:

- This Article is Banned by the CUNY Policy on Expressive Conduct. Stefanie A. Jones and Dominique Nisperos (p. 3)

Debate:

- The Attitude Toward Homelessness in America. Shawn Simpson (p. 7)

Features:

- What led to the Impeachment of Brazil’s First Female President? Denise Rivera (p. 16)

- CUNY by the People, for the People. Rachel J. Chapman and Conor Tomás Reed (p. 21)

Reviews:

- From Freedom to Suppression: The Problem of Jamaica’s Maroon Heritage in Queen Nanny. Gordon Barnes (p. 26)

Empowerment From Within: Supporting Palestinian Women’S Struggle Against Violence, Ortal Bensky

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Recent reports by the United Nations and local non-governmental organizations present a troubling increase in incidents of violence against Palestinian women in Palestine. These are cases of domestic violence, where the attackers are Palestinians, and political violence, where the attackers are Israeli settlers and soldiers. These violent incidents include attacks on body and property. Most incidents are neither dealt with by the Palestinian authorities nor by the Israeli government and judicial system. There is not sufficient international pressure to enforce justice. The purpose of this study is to offer alternative ways to prevent violent crimes, enforce relevant laws, and provide …

Through The Gateway: Marijuana Production, Governance, And The Drug War Détente, Michael Polson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Since the 1996 voter approval of medical marijuana laws in California, marijuana policy has become increasingly liberalized. Producers, however, have remained in the greyest of grey market zones. Federal anti-drug laws and supply-side tactics have intensively targeted them even as marijuana has become more licit. In this legally unstable environment, marijuana patient-cultivators and underground producers have articulated and asserted themselves politically and economically, particularly as the likelihood of full legalization has increased. This dissertation explores how producers navigated the nebulous zone between underground and medical markets. I argue that even as producers supplied marijuana to a formalizing, regulated medical industry …

South African Marriage In Policy And Practice: A Dynamic Story, Michael W. Yarbrough

Publications and Research

Law forms one of the major structural contexts within which family lives play out, yet the precise dynamics connecting these two foundational institutions are still poorly understood. This article attempts to help bridge this gap by applying sociolegal concepts to empirical findings about state law's role in family, and especially in marriage, drawn from across several decades and disciplines of South Africanist scholarly research. I sketch the broad outlines of a nuanced theoretical approach for analysing the law-family relationship, which insists that the relationship entails a contingent and dynamic interplay between relatively powerful regulating institutions and relatively powerless regulated populations. …

Affirmative Action In American Government Introductory Textbooks, Sherri L. Wallace, Marcus D. Allen

Publications and Research

The history of affirmative action policy consists of a broad collection of executive orders, bureaucratic decisions, course cases, and state legislation designed to eliminate unlawful discrimination of applicants to educational programs or professional employment, to remedy the results of such prior discrimination, and to prevent discrimination in the future. Although targeted legislation has expanded protections beyond underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in education and employment to include women, people of a certain age, people with disabilities and veterans, the actual policy intent of affirmative action remains a source of confusion for students, particularly when college textbooks define the topics within …

Shirley Chisholm Collection, Brooklyn College

Finding Aids

Within this collection, researchers will find roughly 300 photographs, typed and handwritten correspondence between Chisholm's constituents and members of her campaign team (including James Pitts), magazines and newspapers, various forms of media including CD’s, video cassette tapes, DV-Cam’s, and a DVD, as well as ephemera from Chisholm's historic Presidential campaign. The bulk dates of this collection are from 1968-1982, and the inclusive dates are from 1944-2012.

The Records & Papers Of The New York State Women’S Political Caucus, Brooklyn College

Finding Aids

The New York State Women’s Political Caucus is a thriving branch of the national organization. Adele Cohen, the creator of this collection, was highly involved with the organization on the state and national level and served as the president of the New York State caucus from 1992-1994. She began her association with NWPC in the 1980s and remained actively involved after her presidency.

The documents in this collection range in date from the late 1980s to the early 2000s and include information on the governance and activities of the organization as well as correspondence, newsletters, and endorsements.

Reconstructing Education In Post-Conflict Sierra Leone, Grace Pai

Publications and Research

This study finds that by prioritizing universal development programmes instead of employing a conflict-sensitive approach rooted in attending to the specific inequities present in Sierra Leone, the current education system is ignoring the needs and desires of certain subpopulations of youth. Specifically, although the state has been very successful in increasing overall access to basic education for both boys and girls in rural Sierra Leone, the current focus on improving the quality of academic education has sidelined the growth of technical and vocational education that many youth desire. Instead, sectors such as tertiary education are prioritized above all else.

Furthermore, …

The Effects Of Grameen-Model Microfinance Institutions And Self-Help Group Microfinance On Women’S Economic Empowerment In Rural India, Forrest Weaver

Dissertations and Theses

Women in rural India suffer from pervasive gender inequality and disempowerment. One road to equality is economic empowerment through microfinance. Economic empowerment consists of an increase in savings, income, ownership of property or a microenterprise, and access to social services and training. I compile studies of two most common types of microfinance models used in India in order to determine if there is a general trend indicating that microfinance as a whole has a positive impact on women’s economic empowerment. The two types of microfinance examined are Grameen-model microfinance institutions (MFIs) and Self-Help groups (SHGs) through the SHG-Bank linkage model. …

Globalization, Tourism And Sustainable Development: The Multifaceted Impact Of Tourism On Development And Poverty Alleviation In Brazil, Gaëlle Lopes Saraiva

Dissertations and Theses

Globalization is a popular concept deeply embedded in our era that represents the widespread intensification of transnational connections emblematic of this century. In general, this study aims to clarify the contradictory effects globalization exerts on development by specifically analyzing the particular impact of tourism in the emerging economy of Brazil. It is argued that the unequal distribution of tourism activities between urban and rural areas, and the prevalence of specific sizes and types of tourism are the main factors involved in sustaining unequal patterns of development across the country. The study concludes that public-private partnerships in tourism should prioritize the …

Desecularization Of The State As A Resistance To The Globalization: A Case Study Of The Criminalization Of Blasphemy In Russia., Artem Profis

Dissertations and Theses

A cultural aspect of westernization remains in the shadow of widely discussed economic and political ones. While many states are conforming to the Western rules of the global market game, the cultural characteristics and differences are less mutable and thus less easily compromised and resolved than political and economic ones. The dissolution of the U.S.S.R. has left behind a void in the Russian identity. After unsuccessful attempts to assume a Western liberal identity during the first half of the 90s, Russia has opted for tried and tested Orthodox Christianity to fill that void and to form a new post-Soviet Russian …