Digital Commons Network^™

Spanish Speaking Institutions And Language Assimilation In The Rio Grande Valley, Alexandre Couture Gagnon, Carlos Gutierrez-Mannix

Political Science Faculty Publications

The Rio Grande Valley in Texas, situated on the US-Mexico border, has a population of more than one million, of which more than 90% is of Latino descent.1 However, no public institutions formally function in Spanish, thus inhibiting institutional completeness2 and challenging long-term preservation of the language. Why does this population of Latino descent not demand Spanish-language service? Contrary to traditional research on institutional completeness, we consider institutions as the dependent variable and argue that the absence of institutions reflects the perception, within the population, of inferior status ascribed to Spanish when compared to English.

“What Sort Of Communists Are You?” The Struggle Between Nationalism And Ideology In Poland Between 1944 And 1956, Jan Ryszard Kozdra

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The period between 1944 and 1956, also known as the “Stalinist period”, is one of the most controversial and turbulent in Polish history. The Polish communist party launched the project of restructuring Polish society, whose historically wellestablished national identity seemed incompatible with the communist project. Firstly, the communists effected a demographic change that resulted in a near monoethnic state. Simultaneously, they introduced a centrally planned economy, transformed state symbolism, initiated a national education system, attempted to reshape popular attitudes to religion, and launched a massive propaganda campaign to reinforce and popularize their objectives.

This study seeks to investigate the communists’ …

A Legal Perspective On Yemen's Attempted Transition From A Unitary To A Federal System Of Government, Paul Williams, Tiffany Sommadossi, Ayat Mujais

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Yemen's 2013-2014 National Dialogue Conference paved the way for Yemen to transition from a unitary to federal system of government. This is a common trajectory for States emerging from conflict as federalism offers the hope for greater democratic governance and inclusivity. Nevertheless, there is a danger in assuming that there is an ideal federal model to emulate or that federalism is itself a guaranteed remedy for political dysfunction and authoritarianism. Transitioning to federalism is an arduous, expensive, and technically complicated process. Such transitions can also renew conflict if, prior to the drafting of the federal constitution, key issues related to …

Janus Realized: The Use Of Social Media As A Means Of Transparency Nuclear Communication To The Public, Frances Bachstein

International Journal of Nuclear Security

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Economic Integration And Political Centralization On Linguistic Diversity - And The New Function And Status Of The English Language In Europe, Demba K. Baldeh

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the effect of economic integration (EI) and political unity on

linguistic diversity and the new function and status of the English language in

Europe. It shows the current sociolinguistic transformation and the growing use of

English both as strong effects and key indicators of the process.

Tempered Experience: The Educational Foundation Of Democratic Ideology, Nicholas J. Schwarm

Philosophy Undergraduate

Democracy is a political ideology, one that requires a person to believe in that ideology for it to exist. The contemporary political landscape is dominated by democracies, and for this reason we need to understand how to build and sustain Them. There needs to be a well educated populace of citizens, who are able to engage in democratic actions, and aid the community. What they need is tempered experience, experience that is understood though the knowledge that a citizen already has.

“Frames” And Bias: How A Lack Of Context In Middle East News Coverage Can Impact U.S. Foreign Policy, Jennifer Lois Moore

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis is a critical examination into how American mainstream news media outlets often neglect to incorporate religious, cultural and historical context into their coverage of the Middle East. I show through my research and analysis that the news coverage of the Middle East, even at the highest echelons of American journalism, is often lacking in sophistication in terms of cultural and religious context, sometimes to the point of affecting its fairness and accuracy. The danger of this is that it has the power to grossly simplify and reduce to an “us versus them” frame an entire contingent of the …

Book Review: A History Of Rwandan Identity And Trauma: The Mythmakers' Victims, James J. Snow

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Introduction To New Work On Immigration And Identity In Contemporary France, Québec, And Ireland, Dervila Cooke

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

No abstract provided for the introduction.

Thematic Bibliography To New Work On Immigration And Identity In Contemporary France, Québec, And Ireland, Dervila Cooke

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

No abstract provided.

Social Media And Political Communication In The 2014 Elections To The European Parliament, Paul Nulty, Yannis Theocharis, Sebastian Adrian Popa, Olivier Parnet, Kenneth Benoit

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Social media play an increasingly important part in the communication strategies of political campaigns by reflecting information about the policy preferences and opinions of political actors and their public followers. In addition, the content of the messages provides rich information about the political issues and the framing of those issues during elections, such as whether contested issues concern Europe or rather extend pre-existing national debates. In this study, we survey the European landscape of social media using tweets originating from and referring to political actors during the 2014 European Parliament election campaign. We describe the language and national distribution of …

A Theoretical Analysis Of Isis Indoctrination And Recruitment, Trevor Hawkins

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper is an attempt to use various theories in the social sciences as a tool to understand the mechanisms employed in ISIS indoctrination and recruitment tactics. There is a discussion of theories that have been developed in the field of influence psychology, rationalizing the context of indoctrination within this area of study. There is a discussion of proposedly relevant materials in philosophy, specifically simulacrum and linguistic deconstruction. These components are extrapolated to interpret a first person account of ISIS indoctrination, the first-ever ISIS recruitment film, and a Radical-Islamist periodical Inspire Magazine. Using a form of propaganda film analysis, and …

Advances In Research Using The C-Span Archives, Robert X. Browning

The Year in C-SPAN Archives Research

This book is a guide to the latest research using the C-SPAN Archives. In this book, nine authors present original work using the video archives to study presidential debates, public opinion and Congress, analysis of the Violence Against Women Act and the Great Lakes freshwater legislation, as well as President Clinton’s grand jury testimony. The C-SPAN Archives contain over 220,000 hours of first run digital video of the nation’s public affairs record. These and other essays serve as guides for scholars who want to explore the research potential of this robust public policy and communications resource.

Interactive Democracy: The Social Roots Of Global Justice, David Reidy

International Dialogue

In this book, Carol Gould tries to envision a future for democracy that is both faithful to what she takes to be its philosophical and normative ground and well-matched to the political challenges of advancing global justice. These challenges arise because the social and institutional world is increasingly complex, with the relevance of state boundaries diminishing significantly in recent decades when it comes to identifying and evaluating agents, acts and effects on the global stage. I begin by reconstructing and summarizing what I take to be her central line of argument.

’A Beautiful Bridge’: Chinese Indonesian Associations, Social Capital And Strategic Identification In A New Era Of China Indonesia Relations, Charlotte Setijadi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In Indonesia, Chinese voluntary associations took on a new level of importance after the fall of Suharto’s New Order regime in 1998 that ushered in a revival of Chinese identity politics. At the same time, Sino-Indonesian relations are blossoming, and the rise of China as a global power means that Indonesia can only benefit from stronger ties with China in the future. In this new atmosphere of cooperation, I argue that Chinese Indonesian individuals and voluntary organizations play a crucial function as trade and cultural intermediaries. Drawing on both empirical and qualitative fieldwork data, in this paper, I examine how …

Book Reviews

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

The Concept Of A Boundary Between The Latin And The Byzantine Civilizations Of Europe, Piotr Eberhardt

Comparative Civilizations Review

The article reviews, first, the essentials of the literature devoted to the origins and spatial reaches of the particular civilizations. Then, the boundary dividing Europe into two parts is outlined. This boundary runs from the Barents Sea in the north to the Adriatic Sea in the south. On its western side nations are associated with the Latin legacy, while on the eastern side are those that relate to the Byzantine tradition and later on, to Moscow. Views as to the course of this boundary are discussed.

Administrative Narratives, Human Rights, And Public Ethics: The Detroit Water-Shutoff Case, Richard K. Ghere

Political Science Faculty Publications

This inquiry focuses specifically on administrative (local official) narratives that speak to contentious issue contexts of social conflict. Specifically, it draws upon a theoretical connection between hermeneutics and the sociology of knowledge to interpret narrative passages of local officials and others related to a contentious public action—the Detroit Water and Sewerage District’s stepped-up water-discontinuation efforts (2014 and 2015) that left thousands of inner-city residents with “delinquent” accounts and no access to water service. Selected narratives from this case are interpreted on the basis of their literary and social functions. The interpretations support a subsequent determination of whether and how the …

Power And Proximity: The Politics Of State Secession, Elizabeth A. Nelson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

State secession is a rare occurrence in the international system. While a number of movements seek secession, the majority fail to achieve statehood. Of the exceptional successes, many have not had the strongest claims to statehood; some of these new states look far less like states than some that have failed. So what accounts for these secessions? I argue that the politics of regional actors drive the process. If a secessionist movement does not have the support of actors in the region, it will not achieve statehood. There are three mechanisms through which regional actors can determine outcomes: (1) they …

Transnational Indigenous Migration: Racialized Geographies And Power In Southern Highland Ecuador, Victoria Stone-Cadena

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the shifting landscape of social and economic inequalities in the remittance-dominated region of southern highland Ecuador, focusing on the transformations brought about by increased international migration since the early 2000s. The broader question is whether or not transnational migration has facilitated political and social upward mobility among indigenous communities. More specifically I ask: in what ways does indigenous identity figure in contemporary international migration practices, how does transnational indigenous migration complicate bounded notions of rural indigenous life, and how might the strategies employed by indigenous migrants transform social and economic inequalities in two small towns in the …

Book Reviewed By Yvonne Y. Kwan: Katharya, Um. (2015). From The Land Of Shadows: War, Revolution, And The Making Of The Cambodian Diaspora. New York And London, Ny: Nyu Press. 329 Pp. $28.00 (Paperback). Isbn: 978-1-4798-0473-3., Yvonne Y. Kwan

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

Book reviewed by Yvonne Y. Kwan: From the land of shadows by Katharya Um

Does Oppressed Religious Liberty Cause An Uprising In Terror Attacks?, Ansley N. Miller

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

The political community's research comes across as inconclusive in regard to the relationship between liberty and terrorism, given the differing opinions on what defines 'liberty' and 'terrorism.' Having stated that, this research tries to the idea of religious liberty in regards to overall terrorism. Most research up to 2016 has been done on terrorist data after 2001 until 2010 (in some cases 2012.) This research expands to the year 2014 to analyze the connection between religious oppression by country governments and their effect on the number of terror attacks in each country in the span of one year. My research …

Contributors To Indian Catholicism: Interventions And Imaginings, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

Contributors to Indian Catholicism: Interventions and Imaginings, the inaugural issue of the Journal of Global Catholicism.

The Tying Of The Ceremonial Wedding Thread: A Feminist Analysis Of “Ritual” And “Tradition” Among Syro-Malabar Catholics In India, Sonja Thomas

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article presents a feminist analysis of patriarchy persisting in Catholicism of the Syro-Malabar rite in Kerala. The article specifically considers the impact of charismatic Catholicism on women of the Syro-Malabar rite and argues that it is important to interrogate this new face of religiosity in order to fully understand how certain rituals are allowed to change and be fluid, while others, especially concerning female sexuality, are enshrined as “tradition” which often restricts the parameters for women’s empowerment and may reinforce caste and patriarchal hegemonies preventing feminist solidarity across different religious- and caste-based groups.

Dalit Catholic Home Shrines In A North Indian Village, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article examines three Catholic home shrines in a Dalit community in North Indian and argues that it is misleading to think that home shrines and other collections of material objects are somehow static conveyors of meaning. “Meaning” can mean many things or nothing at all, depending upon the terms we are using and the scholarly methods we deploy. The crucial aspect of Dalit Catholic home shrines is that they are literally open to interpretation and reinterpretation, to touching and being touched. Their significance—their meaning—depends not on decoding their structure or symbolic logic, but interacting with them as part of …

In Continuity With The Past: Indigenous Environmentalism And Indian Christian Visions Of Flora, James Ponniah

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article considers whether Indian Christianity can be said to have a distinctive ecological vision. The first two parts of the article examine Christian environmentalism in two native forms of Indian Christianity: Tamil Christianity and Tribal Christianity. Continuing with the theme of conformity to the local culture—though of the elite—the third part of the article investigates how Christian Ashrams function as dynamic centers for ecological praxis. The last part of the article considers how contemporary Indian Christian communities can respond to the ecological challenges confronting them.

Rethinking Counterinsurgency: A Case Study On Boko Haram Insurgency In Nigeria, Abdulqadir Muhammad Buba

Capstone and Graduation Projects

The Boko Haram issue in Nigeria has become a threat to both internal and international security with ever-growing violence and attacks on security forces, civilians, places of worship, media houses as well as international bodies such as the United Nations. With the increased numbers of squads, improved and sophisticated weaponry, suicide bombing and well organized guerrilla tactics, Boko Haram’s challenge to the Nigeria stretches across the entire 36 states of Nigeria, thus affecting its economic and social-political growth. With an aim of finding a solution that could lead to success in fending off the Boko Haram insurgency, this project explores …

Abused, Abandoned, Or Neglected: Legal Options For Recent Immigrant Women And Girls, Meaghan Fitzpatrick, Leslye Orloff

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

No abstract provided.

Violence Against Women Symposium And Collected Works

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

No abstract provided.

The Cost Of Inter-Ethnic Conflicts In Ghana’S Northern Region: The Case Of The Nawuri-Gonja Conflicts, Emmanuel Debrah, Seidu Alidu, Isaac Owusu-Mensah

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

The article assesses the socio-economic and human repercussions of one of the fiercest ethnic conflicts in Ghana’s Northern Region on people and society. While Ghana remains a stable democracy, sporadic ethnic and chieftaincy conflicts have been a recurrent feature of the political process. Analyzing data from survey opinions and interviews from wide spectrum of respondents, the study noted that the Nawuri-Gonja conflicts have destroyed the fabric of the society leaving behind squalor, breakdown of healthcare, education and psychological trauma. Women and children have suffered rape assaults and unprecedented high rate of mortality due to malnourishments respectively. The plights of these …