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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 6 of 6
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Social Evolution Of War And Transformation In Political Organization, Talon J. Powers
The Social Evolution Of War And Transformation In Political Organization, Talon J. Powers
Political Science Honors Projects
Until recently, international relations theory has treated the territorial state as a transhistorical constant. The post-positivist turn, however, revives the question of the state’s origins and future sustainability. By drawing together the contributions of historical sociologists and social theorists of war, this thesis provides a model for change in political organization stemming from foundational transformations in warfare. This model considers not only warfighting practices, but the social and broader historical context in which war is embedded. Through analysis of the feudal and modern cases, I demonstrate why warfare is the best lens through which to evaluate change in political organization.
Weak States And Political Constraints: Experiments With Truth In Liberia And Sierra Leone, Robert Collins Painter
Weak States And Political Constraints: Experiments With Truth In Liberia And Sierra Leone, Robert Collins Painter
Political Science Honors Projects
Focusing on truth and reconciliation commissions in Liberia and Sierra Leone, this thesis examines which political conditions typical of weak states had the greatest impact in deciding the different levels of success between the two cases. Two conditions played a central role in determining each commission’s success: the de-legitimization of the state and political fragmentation. Their presence in Sierra Leone derailed that truth commission’s efforts to carry out its mandate. Conversely, their absence in Liberia allowed its commission to operate relatively free of political impediments, leading to greater success.
The Problem With Eating Money: Remittances And Development Within Senegal's Muridiyya, Rebecca F. Sheff
The Problem With Eating Money: Remittances And Development Within Senegal's Muridiyya, Rebecca F. Sheff
Political Science Honors Projects
Contemporary development theory is poorly equipped to understand remittance-based development occurring in transnational spaces that partially escape the control of the state. An extended case study of the Muridiyya, a Sufi brotherhood in Senegal, reveals how collective remittances from Mouride transmigrants become tools for community-level development when channeled through transnational religious associations. I argue that remittance-based development projects transform the political, economic, and social contexts in which they are embedded, including the relationship between the Muridiyya and the state. Development theory must be reconceptualized to account for how remittance-based development defies conventional understandings of the scales of economic and social …
New World, New War: Understanding Global Jihad, Kabir Sethi
New World, New War: Understanding Global Jihad, Kabir Sethi
Political Science Honors Projects
Scholars tend to explain contemporary conflicts by referring to ambiguously defined processes of globalization. Given this conceptual vacuum, I build a theoretical model that explains the transformation of war through a rigorous analysis of globalization from multiple temporal perspectives. This Braudelian model, which examines the warfighting paradigm, the social mode of warfare, and the historical structure of war, is then used to explain globalist radical Islam. My findings indicate that the emergence of global network societies has had a profound, transformative effect on jihadist violence and, more broadly, on the global mode of warfare.
Timing Justice: Lessons From The Tribunals In Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, And Cambodia, Zoe B. Whaley
Timing Justice: Lessons From The Tribunals In Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, And Cambodia, Zoe B. Whaley
Political Science Honors Projects
Scholarship on tribunals for mass human rights violations overlooks how the presence or absence of conflict influences its effectiveness. I argue that implementing a tribunal during conflict undermines its ability to effectively pursue justice—as I demonstrate with a case study of the Yugoslav Tribunal. Ongoing conflict makes challenges of transitional justice more acute. The absence of conflict eases a tribunal’s ability to carry out certain necessary activities such as collecting evidence. I demonstrate this using a case study of the Rwanda Tribunal. Examining tribunals in Sierra Leone and Cambodia suggests that hybrid structures influence the effectiveness of these accountability mechanisms.
Growing Change: Local Foods Movements And The Emergence Of Global Social Change, Annie S. Virnig
Growing Change: Local Foods Movements And The Emergence Of Global Social Change, Annie S. Virnig
Political Science Honors Projects
Local foods movements increasingly emerge as social movements with the power to challenge global norms. This paper develops around the question: can local foods movements create holistic sustainability at the global level? I begin by analyzing impetuses behind contemporary local foods movements. I then evaluate sustainability in three case studies – Auroville, India; the Twin Cities, United States; and Southern Africa. I ultimately argue that local foods movements can create sustainable change if they: (1) develop organically within their locale, (2) account for ecological, social, and economic implications of their actions, and (3) build translocal connections across multiple geographic scales.