Social Justice Commons^™

Social Media As Fragile State, Caroline A. Haythornthwaite, Philip Mai, Anatoliy Gruzd

School of Information Studies - Faculty Scholarship

Social media platforms are grappling with how to respond to hate speech, misinformation, and political manipulation in ways that address human rights, free speech, and equality. As independent ‘states’, they are enacting their own rules of conduct, deriving their own ‘laws’, convening their own extrajudicial self regulatory institutions, and making their own interpretations and enactments of human rights. With the rise of social states such as Facebook, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit, how fragile are they in their ability to achieve outcomes of fair, equitable and consistent application of their own laws? Could an assessment of the fragility of …

Language Barriers Among Immigrant Communities, Rosia Aning

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This research explores the challenges presented by language barriers among immigrant communities. The study focuses on the impact of limited English proficiency on different aspects of immigrant life, including education, employment, healthcare, cultural integration, and social interactions. Immigrants are individuals who have relocated to a foreign country that is not their country of origin, and they face significant challenges due to language barriers. The inability to communicate effectively with native speakers can lead to social exclusion, economic disadvantage, and restricted access to important resources and information. This project aims to shed light on these challenges and provide potential solutions to …

Spa203. ¿Qué Hacemos Con La Lengua? Lenguaje, Diversidad Y Derechos Humanos, Juan Jesús Payán

Open Educational Resources

Descripción del curso

SPA203 - (For native or near-native speakers.) The grammatical structure of today's standard Spanish. Intensive practice in reading, speaking, and elementary composition.

En SPA203 vamos a explorar la relación entre el lenguaje y la diversidad en el marco de los derechos humanos fundamentales. El título del curso, “¿qué hacemos con la lengua?”, nos pregunta dos cosas: qué tipo de prejuicios perpetuamos por medio del lenguaje y cómo hacer para que la lengua albergue de manera efectiva la diversidad de nuestra sociedad. En un contexto actual, sorprendente estancado en la indiferencia, la ignorancia, el prejuicio y estigmatización de …

Exile Garden Of The Uprooted: A Zine About Migration And The Right To Move, Sazia Afrin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Exile Garden of the Uprooted is a digital zine that advocates for a borderless world where migration is treated as an equal and fundamental human right for all. Through critical analysis and experimental forms of art and writing, this zine draws attention to the structural violence used to criminalize the movement of marginalized people, the role nations and individuals play in such violence, and the practical solutions that can be employed to normalize migration and build resilient societies that support fair movement for all. The short essays, found poems, and original art work in this zine are interdisciplinary reflections on …

White Supremacy, Police Brutality, And Family Separation: Preventing Crimes Against Humanity Within The United States, Elena Baylis

Articles

Although the United States tends to treat crimes against humanity as a danger that exists only in authoritarian or war-torn states, in fact, there is a real risk of crimes against humanity occurring within the United States, as illustrated by events such as systemic police brutality against Black Americans, the federal government’s family separation policy that took thousands of immigrant children from their parents at the southern border, and the dramatic escalation of White supremacist and extremist violence culminating in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. In spite of this risk, the United States does not have …

Q&A Tanya Sheehan: On Photography, Human Migration, And What Their Intersection Does And Doesn't Tell Us, Colby College

Colby Magazine

William R. Kenan Jr. Associate Professor of Art Tanya Sheehan is the editor of Photography and Migration, a timely collection of essays about photography and its role in portraying this ongoing humanitarian crisis (See P. 38). At Colby she launched the Photography and Migration Project, which draws connections between global migration and Waterville’s history as a destination for immigrants. She spoke to Colby Magazine Managing Editor Gerry Boyle ’78 about the ways photographs shape our perception of migration.

Justice For Venezuela: The Human Rights Violations That Are Isolating An Entire Country, Andrea Matos

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Roadblocks To Access: Perceptions Of Law And Socioeconomic Problems In South Africa, Kira Tait

Doctoral Dissertations

My dissertation explores ordinary Black South Africans' perceptions of the law and how these perceptions impact their views of the desirability and appropriateness of appealing to courts when they have problems accessing constitutionally guaranteed services. Specifically, I study why people choose not to use courts to secure access to water, healthcare, education, and housing when it is both legal and possible to do so. Since it transitioned to democracy, South Africa has become one of the leaders of socioeconomic rights protection through courts. It is globally recognized for its progressive constitution buttressed by an expansive system of rights and a …

Evict The Speculators: An Analysis Of Moms 4 Housing, Kendra N. Ma

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper contributes to the scholarly work on grassroots housing movements in the United States. More specifically, I explore how Moms 4 Housing’s activism challenged urban displacement regimes and offered pathways towards the human right to housing. My analysis of their movement reveals that they utilized three principle strategies to articulate their movement and push the agenda for the right to housing: 1) the use of corruption narratives to confront the state and urban speculators, 2) the application of “motherhood” as a political identity and a rights-based framework to challenge the capitalist property regime, and 3) direct action to shift …

On Paper, Off The Records, Valen Iricibar

Capstones

Argentina’s new non-binary ID cards (DNI in Spanish) were highly celebrated when they were announced in July 2021 via a presidential decree. Government agencies had until November 18th to update systems and databases to include the new gender marker “X.” But that didn’t happen, so those with the non-binary DNI are unable to access essential services. The Argentine government cited the national 2012 Gender Identity Law, which guarantees a DNI that fully reflects a citizen’s gender identity, as the basis for the measure. However, for many in the trans*, non-binary and gender non-conforming community, the decree was unnecessary to enforce …

Hasta Que Haya Justicia: Responses To The 2014 Forced Disappearance Of The Students Of Ayotzinapa, Mexico, Olivia Mozdzierz

Senior Projects Fall 2020

This paper examines responses to the 2014 forced disappearance of 43 university students from Ayotzinapa, Guerrero by Mexican authorities and criminals working together, for reasons that remain unknown. Rather than accept the losses as yet another consequence of official corruption and impunity, Mexican civil society rebelled. The people sustained protests, enlisted the support of international organizations, and exposed the government’s crimes and attempted cover-up. This study concludes that, despite the failure in the following years to locate the missing and bring the perpetrators to justice, the victims’ families and their allies demonstrated their power to hold the government to account …

A Little Respect, Please, Christina Cerna

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Simon Tisdall suggests that last month, when Mohammed Bouazizi (twenty-six years old), “an unemployed graduate, set himself on fire outside a government building in protest at police harassment,” his act became the “rallying cause for Tunisia’s disaffected legions of unemployed students, impoverished workers, trade unionists, lawyers and human rights activists.” The reaction to his act of self-immolation and death on January 4th led to the flight of President Ben Ali ten days later to Saudi Arabia and to the end of Ali's twenty-three-year rule of Tunisia. Time reported the event as follows: “When Mohamed Bouazizi set himself alight on Dec. …

Human Trafficking And Minorities: Vulnerability Compounded By Discrimination, Heidi Box

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Human trafficking is an extreme human rights violation that impacts all populations across the globe and is characterized by force, fraud, and coercion intended for exploitation (Palermo Protocol 2000). Currently, human trafficking research is particularly limited by non-standard terminology and a clandestine research population. While estimates of the number of trafficked persons vary widely and are notoriously unsubstantiated, we can still arrive at some conclusions regarding the overall number of trafficked persons. One low estimate suggests that in 2005, at least 2.4 million people had been trafficked into forced labor situations and approximately 12.3 million people were victims of forced …

Indigenous Political Participation: The Key To Rights Realization In The Andes, Stephanie Selekman

Human Rights & Human Welfare

"There is no way back, this is our time, the awakening of the indigenous people. We'll keep fighting till the end. Brother Evo Morales still has lots to do, one cannot think that four years are enough after 500 years of submission and oppression,” said Fidel Surco, a prominent indigenous leader, reflecting on Bolivia’s first indigenous president entering his second term (Carroll & Schipani 2009).

The Andean region is particularly appropriate for examining indigenous political rights because 34-40 million indigenous people reside mostly in this region. The actualization of human rights for Andean indigenous groups is an inherently complex issue, …

Latin America’S Indigenous Women, Courtney Hall

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Latin America’s indigenous women are as diverse as the land they inhabit. Their uniqueness is shaped by belonging to groups that have their own distinct history, traditions, and identity. Yet despite this diversity, indigenous women confront the same human rights challenges: racial, gender, and socio-economic discrimination. Without ignoring the diversity of indigenous women, a better understanding of their fundamental struggles can be gained by weaving these issues together in a comprehensive narrative.

Untouchability Today: The Rise Of Dalit Activism, Christine Hart

Human Rights & Human Welfare

On July 19, 2010, the Hindustan Times reported that a Dalit (“untouchable”) woman was gang-raped and murdered in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The crime was an act of revenge perpetrated by members of the Sharma family, incensed over the recent elopement of their daughter with a man from the lower-caste Singh family. Seeking retributive justice for the disgrace of the marriage, men from the Sharma family targeted a Dalit woman who, with her husband, worked in the Singh family fields. Her death was the result of her sub-caste status; while the crime cost the Singh family a valuable …

Combating Discrimination Against The Roma In Europe: Why Current Strategies Aren’T Working And What Can Be Done, Erica Rosenfield

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In the summer of 2010, the forced expulsion of many Roma from Western to Eastern Europe captured headlines and world attention, yet this practice simply represented the latest manifestation of anti-Roma sentiment in Europe. Indeed, the Roma—numbering over ten million across Europe, making them the continent’s largest minority—face discrimination in housing, education, healthcare, employment, and law enforcement; widespread prejudice against this group shows no evidence of receding. There is, however, certainly no shortage of national and supranational policies aiming to promote inclusion and equality for the Roma.

The Loss Of Egypt’S Children, Cindy Ragab

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Under the fierce rays of the desert sun, in the heat of the summer, young children are forced to remove pests from cotton crops for eleven hours per day, search for recyclable goods among animals and the pungent stench of city dumps, and are sold to elderly male tourists through temporary marriages by their parents. This is the hideous reality for millions of child laborers in Egypt. Child labor is a manifestation of the pains of extreme poverty on the world’s most vulnerable population. Childhood is lost. Children are forced to take on responsibilities that in normal circumstances push adults …

The Materialization Of Human Trafficking In The Middle East And Impediments To Its Eradication, Mindy Mann

Human Rights & Human Welfare

As a continental hub that connects Asia, Africa, and Europe, the Middle East offers a strategic location for the trafficking of persons from poor to richer states. Extreme poverty, coupled with the corporate and royal wealth of the Gulf States, creates a regional dichotomy in which Middle Eastern states serve as ‘source,’ ‘transit,’ and ‘destination’ countries for human trafficking. Discrepancies in defining human trafficking within the region, as well as the controversial and illicit nature of the practice, cause research to be sparse and with very few first-hand sources. Nevertheless, this paper examines available literature on the subject and addresses …

Dying For Love: Homosexuality In The Middle East, Heather Simmons

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Today in the United States, the most frequent references to the Middle East are concerned with the War on Terrorism. However, there is another, hidden battle being waged: the war for human rights on the basis of sexuality. Homosexuality is a crime in many of the Middle Eastern states and is punishable by death in Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar, Kuwait, and Iran (Ungar 2002). Chronic abuses and horrific incidences such as the 2009 systematic murders of hundreds of “gay” men in Iraq are seldom reported in the international media. Speculation as to why this population is hidden includes the …

Richard Burchill On Synergies In Minority Protection: European And International Law Perspectives. Edited By Kristin Henrard And Robert Dunbar. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 462pp., Richard Burchill

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Synergies in Minority Protection: European and International Law Perspectives. Edited by Kristin Henrard and Robert Dunbar. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 462pp.

Joyce Apsel On To Plead Our Own Cause: Personal Stories By Today's Slaves. Edited By Kevin Bales And Zoe Trodd (Ithaca, Ny: Cornell University Press, 2008). 260pp., Joyce Apsel

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

To Plead Our Own Cause: Personal Stories by Today's Slaves. Edited by Kevin Bales and Zoe Trodd (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2008). 260pp.

Josiah Marineau On Housing, Land, And Property Restitution Rights Of Refugees And Displaced Persons: Laws, Cases, And Materials . Edited By Scott Leckie (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007). 592pp., Josiah Marineau

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Housing, Land, and Property Restitution Rights of Refugees and Displaced Persons: Laws, Cases, and Materials . Edited by Scott Leckie (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007). 592pp.

Seductions Of Imperialism: Incapacitating Life, Fetishizing Death And Catastrophizing Ecologies, Anna M. Agathangelou

Human Rights & Human Welfare

“China’s Olympic Delusion” is a great piece which gestures to the ironies and/or contradictions of political systems in bed with imperialist-capitalism as we know it at this time: the tensions between a dominant idea that liberal democracy is the best political system to pay attention to and address human rights, and capitalism with no limits, can go hand-in-hand. This is merely the delusion, and also the fantasy, that keeps “us” (i.e., citizens, intellectuals etc) put, and from thinking critically.

Beijing's Olympics: Pride, Appearance And Human Rights, Thomas Beal

Human Rights & Human Welfare

One lazy summer evening in Beijing, about fifteen years ago, my wife and I were strolling down Jianguomenwai, the bustling street adjacent to our flat in the Qijiayuan Diplomatic Compound. The day had been sweltering, and as the sun began to set the sidewalks filled with pedestrians who, like us, had escaped their stuffy apartments to take in a cool, soothing breeze.

Slavery And "Abuse Regeneration", Christine Bell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Skinner’s depiction of modern day slavery is graphic and challenging. Anyone viewing prohibitions on slavery, or abolition, as historical anachronism, or requiring reinterpretation for modern-day practices, must think again. Skinner persuades us that slavery in its most old fashioned sense is alive and well and, worse than that–on the rise.

Slavery: From Public Crime To Private Wrong, Alison Brysk

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The fight against slavery was the first international human rights movement, and the elimination of legalized bondage represented a hallmark of Western civilization. But the persistence and revival of this ancient evil shows that in an era of globalization, a prohibited public crime has morphed into a massive private wrong.

April Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“A World Enslaved" by E. Benjamin Skinner. Foreign Policy (March/April) 2008.

Forget Me Not: Bodies As Last Colonies Of Capitalism?, Anna M. Agathangelou

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Slavery is one technology of imperialism that serves to generate more profits worldwide. Skinner brings this issue to our attention, arguing that many people think that slavery ended in the 19th century, but the current turning of peoples into slaves proves otherwise. Skinner points out that since 1817, there have been more than a dozen international conventions signed banning the slave trade and yet, the number of people sold as slaves is in the millions. He calls modern day slavery a “monstrous crime” and proceeds to provide us with insights from his research. He begins making his point through what …

Combating The Slave Trade: Why Governments Are Not Good At Governing, Eric A. Heinze

Human Rights & Human Welfare

It is difficult to read Benjamin Skinner’s revealing piece on the international slave trade and not feel revolted that we still live in a world where so many people live in bondage. What is particularly disturbing is that much of the modern-day slave trade takes place with the full knowledge, and even acquiescence of, state governments.