Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Witnessing Anew: Human Rights Advocacy For Migrants At The U.S. Southern Border In Covid-19 Times, Ellen Maccarone

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In this paper I provide a case study of transnational migrant advocacy done by the Kino Border Initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shortly before the pandemic I spent a week with KBI for an immersion experience part of which focused on the ideas of human rights advocacy and witnessing. “Witness” in this context has both a spiritual/moral dimension and an experiential one that can form a foundation for advocacy. Using accounts of migrants to inform and humanize changed when interpersonal witnessing became impossible during the pandemic. This increased the levels of human rights abuses experienced by migrants and limited the …

Counter-Diffusion: Does Russian Propaganda Wind Up In America?, Christopher F. Patane, Marc S. Polizzi

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Does the norm diffusion process work in reverse? Specifically, does the success of the Russian government in building counternarratives and counternorms to reinforce its authoritarian government mean they have the ability to diminish successful human rights advocacy in the United States? This project examines whether the rhetoric used to justify anti-LGBT policies in Russia are broadcast and adopted by anti-LGBT groups in the United States. In the United States, public support for LGBT civil rights is often cited as a success story in the adoption and diffusion of human rights norms. Often, this is used as evidence of broadening norm …

Shaming The Truth: Naming And Shaming And Transitional Justice, Christopher F. Patane, Marc S. Polizzi

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

While it is generally recognized that “naming and shaming” carried out by transnational human rights actors can lead to an improvement in aggregate conditions, it is less clear whether this strategy influences more specific behavior. As more states are democratizing, the international community has stepped up efforts at transitional justice to promote accountability and reconciliation. What is unclear is whether this promotion has been positive or negative for the pursuit of transitional justice broadly or if the community prioritizes some mechanisms over others.

In this paper, we examine the role that human rights advocacy plays in the onset of transitional …

The 'Nayirah' Effect: The Role Of Target States’ Human Rights Violations And Victims’ Emotive Images In War Support, Joseph Braun, Kiyoung Chang

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

When a target state violates human rights, how does the identity of the victims and the presence of emotive imagery affect the level of public support for interventionist war? How does the perceived race and gender of victims affect this relationship? We employ a survey experiment to study whether and when information about a target state’s human rights violations affects public attitudes toward the use of force. Specifically, we manipulate a fictional victim’s race (light-skinned vs. dark-skinned) and gender (male vs. female), and explore how these variations affect support for interventionist war. In our experiment, we find that war support …

Participatory Community Action Research In Homeless Shelters: Utilization Of Service-Learning Pedagogy In Research And Advocacy, Roger N. Reeb, Charles Hunt, Sara Wetter, Cassandra Hartman

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Homelessness will be framed as a human rights issue, with reference to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (e.g., Articles 25 and 27).

A participatory action research project (sustained by service-learning pedagogy) in homeless shelters will be described. In the shelters, we implement Behavioral Activation, which is a strategy to (a) transform the shelter environment; (b) empower shelter guests; (c) enhance their coping; and (d) expand their opportunities for overcoming obstacles associated with homelessness. We will present both quantitative outcomes (using validated psychometric measures) and qualitative outcomes (examining written comments of guests using grounded theory methodology) for shelter guests, including …

Multi-Method Research In Partnership With Myanmar Refugee Women In Dallas, Texas: Understanding How Ethnic Diversity Influences The Design And Development Of A Resettlement Community Center, Chie Noyori Corbett, David Moxley

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Founded in 2015, the Myanmar Women's Research Project (MWRP) incorporates multiple participatory methods to help refugee women from Myanmar/Burma conceive of, conceptualize, develop, and sustain a community center devoted to resettlement. The project recognizes the multiple ethnicities and religious groups composing the Myanmar community and is committed to multi-ethnic participation of Myanmar women who form a community with considerable need for resettlement assistance.

Indeed, refugees from Myanmar are some of the most vulnerable in the United States, and they face numerous challenges in accommodating American culture. The city of Dallas hosts one of the largest Myanmar communities in the United …