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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Smarginatura: The Art And Politics Of Elena Ferrante, Ryan A. Lillestrand Oct 2023

Smarginatura: The Art And Politics Of Elena Ferrante, Ryan A. Lillestrand

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

In the Neapolitan Quartet, a sprawling epic following the lives of two women in post-war Italy, the author, Elena Ferrante, explores the intimate relationship between politics and art, pushing at the borders we often construct between the two. At a particularly critical moment in the novels, the central character, Elena Greco, a poor girl from Naples who rises to the position of a successful novelist, is told by her more politically radical friends that she is not doing enough, that “this, objectively, is not the moment for writing novels.” But then, when is? The current political climate in Italy is …


From Franco's Nightmare To A Globalized Spain: A Cinematic Analysis, Claire Maurer Oct 2022

From Franco's Nightmare To A Globalized Spain: A Cinematic Analysis, Claire Maurer

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Spain has had a long history of determining its own identity through successive regime changes, national crises and shifting international alliances. With Las Chicas de la Sexta Planta (Le Guay, 2011), Torremolinos 73 (Berger, 2003), Miente (De Ocampo, 2008) and The Way (Estévez, 2010) as a guide, I examine the distinctive characteristics of Spansh identity across three notable sections of its history: Francoist Spain (1939-1975), “free” Spain (1975-1986), and Spain as a member of the supranational European Union (EU) (1986-), or the European Economic Community (EEC) at that time. These films and time periods help to shed light on important …


Integrated Or Excluded: The Effects Of French Integration Policies On Immigrant Communities From 2000 To 2020, Johanna N. Soleil Oct 2022

Integrated Or Excluded: The Effects Of French Integration Policies On Immigrant Communities From 2000 To 2020, Johanna N. Soleil

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Few issues are as important to European politics as integration, though research into the actual effect of integration policies on immigrant communities is sparse in Europe and especially in France. This paper examines through the data available to researchers how immigrant communities compare to native populations in terms of cultural, health, and economic characteristics. To this end the paper is organized as follows: the first section introduces the French political context and the cultural attitude towards immigrants. Next, the various methods of analysis are presented, and each of the previously mentioned attributes is analyzed in the French context as well …


A Life Absolutely Bare? A Reflection On Resistance By Irregular Refugees Against Fingerprinting As State Biopolitical Control In The European Union, Ziang Zhou Oct 2018

A Life Absolutely Bare? A Reflection On Resistance By Irregular Refugees Against Fingerprinting As State Biopolitical Control In The European Union, Ziang Zhou

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

In a legally transitory category, irregular refugees- experience a double precariousness. They risk their lives to travel across treacherous seas to Europe for a better life. However, upon the long-awaited embarkation on the European land, they are exposed once again to the precariousness of the asylum application. They are “powerless”, “with no rights” and “to be sacrificed” as Giorgio Agamben and Hannah Arendt suggested in their respective understanding of a “bare life”, la nuda vita. In light of the administrative difficulties in managing asylum application, the European Union introduced the “Dublin Agreement”, which stipulates mandatory biometric data collection for …


Paradoxes Of Gender Equality Policies And Domestic Working Conditions In Madrid, Zabdi J. Salazar Oct 2018

Paradoxes Of Gender Equality Policies And Domestic Working Conditions In Madrid, Zabdi J. Salazar

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Madrid has experienced a significant integration of Latin American immigrant women in its domestic service labor market since 2005. The general sentiment among Madrileños is that the phenomenon benefits both Spanish working mothers and immigrant women. We explored the Spanish government’s goals of gender equality and some of the realities of domestic working conditions. Subsequently, we asked the question: Do gender equality policies of Madrid’s local government exclude and marginalize Latin American immigrant women in the domestic service sector or to what extent do they benefit such women? Through survey data, personal interviews with Latin American women in the domestic …


Poetry In A Troubling Time: Analyzing Several Poems Inspired By The Troubles In Northern Ireland, Michael Mccarthy Oct 2018

Poetry In A Troubling Time: Analyzing Several Poems Inspired By The Troubles In Northern Ireland, Michael Mccarthy

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Most of the news about Northern Ireland for the past year has been about what effect Brexit will have on the North’s relationship with the Republic of Ireland. The discussion of eliminating the “soft-border,” and replacing it with a “hard- border,” which would see the reinstitution of checkpoints along the 500-kilometer border, continues to dominate international headlines. The EU has been attempting to allay concerns, and in March, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, traveled to Dublin and reaffirmed the EU’s commitment to avoiding a hard border and maintaining the peace process in the region (Stone, 2018). At the …


European Fertility: An Examination Of Shifting Fertility Trends In Italy, Spain, And Sweden, Alicia Carducci Sep 2017

European Fertility: An Examination Of Shifting Fertility Trends In Italy, Spain, And Sweden, Alicia Carducci

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Total fertility rates throughout the European Union have fallen and are now below the replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman. Maintaining a sustainable population size is crucial for the future of the EU, and this concerns both politicians and scholars. This paper will examine three countries to represent the broader EU and discern causal factors in this fertility crisis. Italy and Spain are two southern states experiencing sharp fertility decline, while Sweden is a northern nation with a more modest change. I argue that women’s economic stability and experience of gendered norms within the domestic sphere are the two …


Integration Policy And Outcomes For The Russian-Speaking Minority In Estonia, Silviu Kondan, Mridvika Sahajpal Sep 2017

Integration Policy And Outcomes For The Russian-Speaking Minority In Estonia, Silviu Kondan, Mridvika Sahajpal

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Estonia’s integration policy vis-à-vis its Russian-speaking residents was developed and reformed several times since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. While comparative data from the international community certainly indicates that Estonia has progressed in the realm of social, political and societal integration, the ‘success’ for each individual policy is now increasingly measured—and contested— within broader considerations of geopolitical security and minority rights. The authors converge interview-based data compiled from various representatives and scholars of nongovernmental organizations, government agencies, and think tanks with secondary research on the topic of Russian minority integration in Estonia. The report will seek to …


Dividing Germany, Accepting An Invitation To Empire: The Life, Death, And Historical Significance Of George Kennan's "Program A", John Gleb Sep 2017

Dividing Germany, Accepting An Invitation To Empire: The Life, Death, And Historical Significance Of George Kennan's "Program A", John Gleb

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This paper will attempt to reinterpret the early Cold War moment in Euro-American relations that gave rise to and ultimately destroyed George Kennan’s plan to reunify and neutralize Germany—the so-called “Program A” of 1948–49. Kennan envisioned his Program as the first and decisive step towards creating a “free European community” capable of acting as a non-aligned “third force,” thus ending the Cold War on the Continent. But before it could be presented to the United States’ European allies, Britain and France, some of the plan’s principal features were leaked to the New York Times. These features, as described in …


The Cultural Politics Of Eurovision: A Case Study Of Ukraine’S Invasion In 2014 Against Their Eurovision Win In 2016, Jordana L. Cashman Sep 2017

The Cultural Politics Of Eurovision: A Case Study Of Ukraine’S Invasion In 2014 Against Their Eurovision Win In 2016, Jordana L. Cashman

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Politics is officially banned from Eurovision, and songs that are too political can be prevented from being performed. However, the complete separation of culture and politics is impossible, and cultural performances often carry both indirect and explicit political messages. Eurovision is no exception. Established in 1956, the cultural-political goal of the contest was to unite European countries after the devastation of WWII, and it is one of the hallmarks of the cultural and political integration Europe has pursued since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951. Now, since contestants are based on members of the European …


Spatial Transgressions, Anxiety, And The Discourse Of Pussy Riot's "Punk Prayer, Katherine Schroeder Jan 2015

Spatial Transgressions, Anxiety, And The Discourse Of Pussy Riot's "Punk Prayer, Katherine Schroeder

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

The 2012 performance of Pussy Riot’s “Punk Prayer” in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, their subsequent release of an extended and edited video, and their ultimate arrest for committing “hooliganism” generated a large amount of interest both within Russia and on an international scale. While Western accounts and analyses were marked by their tendency to frame the political content, Russian responses were framed by references to tradition and history. Significantly, there was disagreement amongst the latter with regard to the activist value of Pussy Riot. I argue that this ambiguity arises from a profound socio-spatial anxiety that …


Union Royale Belge De Sociétés De Football Association Asbl V. Jean-Marc Bosman: The Evolution Of Labor Law In Professional Soccer And Its Implication, Marvin Smith Feb 2012

Union Royale Belge De Sociétés De Football Association Asbl V. Jean-Marc Bosman: The Evolution Of Labor Law In Professional Soccer And Its Implication, Marvin Smith

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.