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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

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Politics and Social Change

Journal

2013

Institution
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Articles 1 - 22 of 22

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

How (And Why) Nclb Failed To Close The Achievement Gap:Evidence From North Carolina, 1998-2004, Roslyn Mickelson, Jason Giersch, Elizabeth Stearns, Stephanie Moller Nov 2013

How (And Why) Nclb Failed To Close The Achievement Gap:Evidence From North Carolina, 1998-2004, Roslyn Mickelson, Jason Giersch, Elizabeth Stearns, Stephanie Moller

The Bridge: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Legal & Social Policy

Recent state and national policy changes for public education are premised upon the idea that high-stakes tests can improve student outcomes and close achievement gaps. Opponents maintain that such policies fail on both counts. Using a unique longitudinal dataset from North Carolina, we find that high-stakes tests have failed to close achievement gaps associated with social class and race, and that the persistence of these gaps is related, at least in part, to academic tracking. Such findings add to the questions being raised about such policies as No Child Left Behind.

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The Lost Opportunity For Ethiopia: The Failure To Move Toward Democratic Governance, Theodor Vestal Oct 2013

The Lost Opportunity For Ethiopia: The Failure To Move Toward Democratic Governance, Theodor Vestal

International Journal of African Development

During the critical five year period leading up to the velvet revolution and the overthrow of Haile Selassie’s regime, there were missed opportunities to bring about peaceful change in Ethiopia’s governance. This paper analyzes the events of this period that led to the rise of the Derg and the revolutionary changes that followed and speculates on when strategic steps could have been taken to avoid the catastrophic events that ensued in 1974.

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With An Eye On A Set Of New Eyes: Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Kette Thomas Oct 2013

With An Eye On A Set Of New Eyes: Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Kette Thomas

Journal of Religion & Film

This article focuses on how, Beasts of the Southern Wild, represents both divergence and transgression from paradigmatic structures that determine how certain visual representations are to be used. Specifically, the cinematic detours taken by the filmmakers, Lucy Alibar and Behn Zeitlin, do not lead to alien places for most viewers; on the contrary, ancient myths, legends, heroes and prehistoric references are recalled in total isolation from current social and political discourse. In this way, Beasts of the Southern Wild, effectively, highlights mythological structures operating in contemporary American society. Mircea Eliade, Roger Caillois and G.S. Kirk define mythology as a …

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The Respectability Trap: Gender Conventions In 20th Century Movements For Social Change, Georgina Hickey Jul 2013

The Respectability Trap: Gender Conventions In 20th Century Movements For Social Change, Georgina Hickey

Journal of Interdisciplinary Feminist Thought

An analysis of how a variety of women in 19th and 20th century movements for social change in the United States negotiated normative gender expectations in both their activism and their personal lives. While challenging norms or using traditional norms as a part of a movement tactic are both common in social movements, women leaders still sometimes found themselves in a ‘respectability trap’ when they reflexively applied the dictates of respectable behavior. In these moments, the often invisible privileges attached to the social recognition of a woman’s respectability – and implied morality – become visible. Women who eschewed traditional norms …

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The Scholars' Initiative, Charles Ingrao Jun 2013

The Scholars' Initiative, Charles Ingrao

Purdue Policy Research Institute (PPRI) Policy Briefs

The Scholars’ Initiative addresses the need to break the cycle of nationalist discourse that perpetuates divisions between ethnic groups by (1) creating a common narrative that discredits proprietary myths, while validating “inconvenient facts” that must be acknowledged before mutual recognition and reconciliation can begin, and (2) enlisting regional media and political leaders to acknowledge (and hopefully) endorse) the existence of a common account co-authored by their own scholars.

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Intimacy And Inequality: The Changing Contours Of Family Life, Richard R. Banks Jun 2013

Intimacy And Inequality: The Changing Contours Of Family Life, Richard R. Banks

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

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Du Chaâba À La Banlieue : Espaces Et Négation De L’Autre Chez Azouz Begag Et Thomté Ryam, Lise Mba Ekani Jun 2013

Du Chaâba À La Banlieue : Espaces Et Négation De L’Autre Chez Azouz Begag Et Thomté Ryam, Lise Mba Ekani

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

This article concerns itself with the representations of space in the novels of Azouz Begag and Thomté Ryam. The author observes that from the chaâba to the banlieue, one can assert that the distribution of space suggests the exclusion and the negation of France’s postcolonial other. Ultimately, the article contends that if Beur fiction was pivotal in shedding light on injustice, the banlieue novel blends aesthetics and politics to call for a different France, one in which assimilation and difference can be transcended.

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The Crisis Of Secularism: How Democracy Fuels Moral Panics And Religious Fundamentalism, Pedja Ilic May 2013

The Crisis Of Secularism: How Democracy Fuels Moral Panics And Religious Fundamentalism, Pedja Ilic

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

While identifying humanity’s most cherished ideals, there is one notion that ultimately supplants all others: the notion of freedom. The concept itself and its encompassing rhetoric have been utilized ad nauseam by virtually all contemporary social orders to validate the levels of civilizational maturity and, perhaps more importantly, to set goals to which the same should strive. However, irrespective of its categorical position at the very summit of conscious human existence, its interpretational elasticity allows for a diminishing number of concessions. This paper offers critique and examines interactions between multiculturalism, cultural relativism, religion, and secularism within contemporary Western societies. It …

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Immigration, Integration, And Public Opinion In The European Union, Andreas Jozwiak Apr 2013

Immigration, Integration, And Public Opinion In The European Union, Andreas Jozwiak

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

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Peer Pressure: Social Psychology And The Political And Security Committee, Bryce Comstock Apr 2013

Peer Pressure: Social Psychology And The Political And Security Committee, Bryce Comstock

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

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Same-Sex Marriage On The Iberian Peninsula: The Church And Franco’S Competing Legacies, Noah Jennings Apr 2013

Same-Sex Marriage On The Iberian Peninsula: The Church And Franco’S Competing Legacies, Noah Jennings

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

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The Use Of Rhetoric In Anti-Suffrage And Anti-Feminist Publications, Artour Aslanian Mar 2013

The Use Of Rhetoric In Anti-Suffrage And Anti-Feminist Publications, Artour Aslanian

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

After decades of struggling to gain the right to vote, women were finally granted that right with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment on August 18, 1920. While it would seem that most, if not all, women would be in favor of gaining the right to vote, the women’s suffrage movement did not represent the wishes of all women within the United States. Scholarship in this area largely focuses on the historical developments of the suffrage movements, with the presence of female opponents of suffrage and anti-suffragist organizations receiving less attention.1 These anti-suffragists were vocal in their opposition to the …

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Common Sense And Civic Virtue: Institutional Investors, Responsible Ownership, And The Democratic Ideal, Marcy Murninghan Mar 2013

Common Sense And Civic Virtue: Institutional Investors, Responsible Ownership, And The Democratic Ideal, Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

On matters of governance, the people’s good is the highest law, as Cicero said two millennia ago. Unfortunately, these days personal greed has trumped the people’s good, enflaming the current governance crisis affecting our public, nonprofit, and private spheres. The spate of corporate governance scandals over the past several years jeopardizes equity investments, harms beneficiaries, and weakens global capital markets. The remedy is not just more laws and regulation but revitalization of the system of corporate checks and balances that already exists. To get better corporate governance, corporate shareowners, especially institutional investors, need to assert their rights and responsibilities more …

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Seeking Peace In The Niger Delta: Oil, Natural Gas, And Other Vital Resources, Darren Kew, David L. Phillips Mar 2013

Seeking Peace In The Niger Delta: Oil, Natural Gas, And Other Vital Resources, Darren Kew, David L. Phillips

New England Journal of Public Policy

Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region has seen little benefit from the billions of dollars earned from oil over the last four decades, prompting a growing but disorganized insurgency across the region. Irresponsible oil companies and government officials have reduced the Niger Delta to one of the most polluted environments on earth. Corrupt local and national politicians, many of whom came to power through rigged elections, have colluded to manipulate ethnic divisions amid poverty to loot the region’s wealth. Consequently, the people of the Niger Delta have no formal political voice in Nigeria’s nascent democratic system, increasing the appeal of militias …

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A Field Study Of Consociationalism In The Northern Ireland Assembly: A Moderating Influence Or Threat To Democracy?, Ellen Noble Mar 2013

A Field Study Of Consociationalism In The Northern Ireland Assembly: A Moderating Influence Or Threat To Democracy?, Ellen Noble

The Macalester Review

This paper is the outcome of a month-long exploratory study on whether consociationalism has a moderating influence on politics in Northern Ireland. I analyzed the impact of consociationalism on policymaking, party platforms and voter choice to determine if it strengthens and enlarges the middle ground or bifurcates the political community into two extreme and conflicting political agendas. Data was obtained through a literature study and eight interviews with academics as well as political representatives and advisors. This research tested two competing theories of consociationalism: David Horowitz’s theory of consociationalism as a centrifugal force and John McGarry’s and Brendand O’Leary’s theory …

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Pushing The Boundaries: What Youth Organizers At Boston's Hyde Square Task Force Have To Teach Us About Civic Engagement, Meredith L. Mira Mar 2013

Pushing The Boundaries: What Youth Organizers At Boston's Hyde Square Task Force Have To Teach Us About Civic Engagement, Meredith L. Mira

Democracy and Education

Across the United States, researchers and youth workers alike have identified an increasing number of civically engaged youth who are organizing to improve their communities and schools. By taking an action-oriented approach, these youth are speaking back to the notion that they are uninvolved in society. This interview-based study explores the meaning-making experiences of youth organizers at Boston’s Hyde Square Task Force (HSTF) to better understand how they engage. Findings suggest that HSTF is engaging two broad groups of youth by focusing on both their personal development and their sense of community awareness. The study introduces an organizing model of …

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Shadows Of Kabul: Qiam Amiry Now Ponders Afghanistan's Troubles From Afar, John Campbell Mar 2013

Shadows Of Kabul: Qiam Amiry Now Ponders Afghanistan's Troubles From Afar, John Campbell

Colby Magazine

A few years ago, Qiam Amiry ’09 was walking the streets of Kabul working as an interpreter for the British military. Now, on Mayflower Hill, Amiry has found sanctuary but has not escaped the issues facing his country.

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A Better Place: Graduates Follow Their Ideals Into The Expanding World Of Organizations Dedicated To Helping Others, Ruani S. Freeman Mar 2013

A Better Place: Graduates Follow Their Ideals Into The Expanding World Of Organizations Dedicated To Helping Others, Ruani S. Freeman

Colby Magazine

From the Congo to New Orleans, Colbians are fanned out across the globe, working with nonprofit organizations that want to leave the world a better place. Read about what they do and why they do it.

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Water, Water Everywhere Nor Any Drop To Drink: Activists Use Social Networks And Digital Video In Pleas For Rivers And Groundwater, Lauren Pongan Feb 2013

Water, Water Everywhere Nor Any Drop To Drink: Activists Use Social Networks And Digital Video In Pleas For Rivers And Groundwater, Lauren Pongan

Colby Magazine

A new generation of activists, including Colbians in India and Mexico, is using video skills and social media to alert the world to environmental crises.

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‘Headmasters Become Noblemen’: Mainland Chinese Teachers’ Perspectives On Changes In Education In The Post-Mao Era, Lorin G. Yochim Jan 2013

‘Headmasters Become Noblemen’: Mainland Chinese Teachers’ Perspectives On Changes In Education In The Post-Mao Era, Lorin G. Yochim

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

In this article I report findings of research into the lives and work of Mainland Chinese teachers of English in a broader context characterized by market economic reform. I draw on transcriptions of group interviews to describe and discuss teachers’ lives and work, and forward a critical analysis that posits a connection between teachers’ accounts and the re-structuring of social relations in post-Mao China. The article details one of several themes treated in the study, specifically the broad category of ‘effects of educational reform.’ I suggest that the compliance and resistance apparent in these accounts reveals Chinese teachers to be …

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Challenges Of Postmodern Thought In Christian Higher Education Institutions: Implications For Ethical Leadership, Dean A. Darroux Jan 2013

Challenges Of Postmodern Thought In Christian Higher Education Institutions: Implications For Ethical Leadership, Dean A. Darroux

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

"The study investigated the question: What is the process that Christian higher education administrators and faculty members used when understanding the challenges of postmodern thought at the institutions, and what are the challenges for ethical leadership? Utilizing a grounded theory methodology, the researcher sought to develop a theory that examined how fifteen Christian higher education administrators and faculty understood the challenges of postmodern thought at their institution and determined what were the implications for ethical leadership. The findings of this study revealed the following theory: The study identified six categories that served as the framework for understanding the process Christian …

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Managing The Polarities Of Democracy: A Theoretical Framework For Positive Social Change, William J. Benet Jan 2013

Managing The Polarities Of Democracy: A Theoretical Framework For Positive Social Change, William J. Benet

Journal of Sustainable Social Change

People around the globe have embraced democracy to bring about positive social change to address our environmental, economic, and militaristic challenges. Yet, there is no agreement on a definition of democracy that can guide social change efforts. The Polarities of Democracy model is a unifying theory of democracy to guide healthy, sustainable, and just social change efforts. The Polarities of Democracy model consists of ten elements, organized as five polarity pairs: freedom & authority, justice & due process, diversity & equality, human-rights & communal-obligations, and participation & representation. In this model each element has positive aspects and negative aspects and …

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