Digital Commons Network^™

Santa Muerte: A Transnational Spiritual Movement Of The Marginalized, Armando Rubi Iii

Open Access Theses

The mass media have recently brought to public light the new religious movement of Santa Muerte, or “Holy Death”. The depictions of Santa Muerte in news coverage, television and film have also swayed public perception through highly exoticized representations of the belief system, particularly in relation to violence and criminality. Separating sensationalization in the media from the actual practices of Santa Muerte serves to demonstrate that many devotees are non-violent practitioners. By using an ethnographic study of botanícas and documenting Santa Muerte related objects available to practitioners, this study nuances the multilayered components of this emergent religion.

Violence As An Obstacle To Livelihood Resilience In The Context Of Climate Change, Beth Tellman, Ryan Alaniz, Andrea Rivera, Diana Contreras

Ryan C. Alaniz

Central America continues to be a violent region and is prone to increasing climatic shocks and environmental degradation. This paper explores the non-linear feedback loop between violence and climate shocks on livelihood resilience in El Salvador and Honduras, two countries experiencing high rates of violence. The nature of this complex feedback loop is examined by analysing case studies on the community scale, which include challenges in reconstructing community social capital post-Hurricane Mitch (1998) in Honduras and the importance of social capital in community resilience to Hurricane Ida (2009) in El Salvador. We conclude that social capital is central in communities …

North America Time For A New Focus, Daniel Cassidy

Daniel Cassidy

The United States, Canada, and Mexico are bound by a shared geography, history, and environment. In the twenty years since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the continent’s three economies and societies have become deeply intertwined, making relations between the United States and its immediate neighbors more important than ever. In 2005, in conjunction with counterpart organizations in Canada and Mexico, the Council on Foreign Relations published Building a North American Community, which proposed the establishment of a North American economic and security community by 2010, the boundaries of which would be defined by a common external …

Mining In Peru: Indigenous And Peasant Communities Vs. The State And Mining Capital, Jan Lust

Class, Race and Corporate Power

The Peruvian economy depends for its growth on the export of natural resources and investment in the mining and hydrocarbon sectors. Peruvian governments and mining corporations have confronted anti-mining protests in different ways. While the current government has introduced policies of social inclusion to soften the negative effects of the operations of mining capital and policies of dialogue to engage social actors with the essence of governmental policies, mining companies use corporate social responsibility programs as a cover for the devastating effects of their operations on the environment and the livelihoods and habitats of the indigenous and peasant communities. Curiously, …

Ebola Sets Off Alarm In Central America But Experts Say Region Prepared To Avert Arrival Of Virus, George Rodrã­Guez

NotiCen

No abstract provided.

Guerrero Tragedy Reopens Debate On Legalizing Drug Production, Carlos Navarro

SourceMex

No abstract provided.

Who Cares About Small Arms Anyway? An Evaluation Of Research And Policy, Joel Raffety

Political Science Theses

This research explores the various security and post-conflict complications that are in part a result of the global proliferation of small arms — including organized crime, rebellion, civil war, and fractionalization of the state. The paper 1) defines the issue, 2) contextualizes why the issue matters, and 3) evaluates the effectiveness of policies at the international level. I define the actors in the debate, defines the solutions at regional and international levels, and draw conclusions about the effectiveness of weapons collection, destruction, disarmament, tracing, import and export control, and associated legislation. I find that serious violence-reducing measures should include: increasing …

Is Ip Law Modernization Possible? Assessing Approaches In Acta, Sopa, And Bill C-11, Lauren Gray Farrar

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Understanding And Taming Public And Private Corruption In The 21st Century (November 2014)

Conferences and Workshops

ATTENTION: Venue has been changed to Moot Court, Room 1005.

Conference Registration

New Details Emerge Of Political-Criminal Links In Guerrero, Carlos Navarro

SourceMex

No abstract provided.

Honduran Police-Evaluation Authority Hands In Files On Cops Investigated For Crimes, George Rodrã­Guez

NotiCen

No abstract provided.

Social-Media Activist Killed For Reporting On Activities Of Criminal Organizations In Tamaulipas, Carlos Navarro

SourceMex

No abstract provided.

Rights Relationships And The Experience Of Children Orphaned By Aids, Jonathan Todres

Jonathan Todres

The global AIDS pandemic has left more than fifteen million children orphaned. These children constitute one of the most vulnerable populations, yet their situation has received relatively little scrutiny from legal scholars. This Article intends to fill that void by explicating the experience of children orphaned by AIDS, situating it in the broader context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and evaluating protections available under international human rights law. Analyzing human rights law as applied to children orphaned by AIDS exposes the extent to which rights are interrelated, particularly for marginalized populations. In current scholarship, the interrelationship among rights, for the most …

Massacre Of Students Exposes High Levels Of Corruption In Guerrero State, Carlos Navarro

SourceMex

No abstract provided.

Imperial Janus: Patterns Of Governance In The Western Borderlands Of The Tsarist Empire, Nicklaus Laverty

Doctoral Dissertations

Why did the Tsarist Empire opt for different governance strategies in each of the territories of the Western Borderlands (here defined as Poland-Lithuania, the Baltic territories, Finland, and Hetman Ukraine)? The existing political science literature tends to reduce such a question to a distinction between direct and indirect rule, usually developing in the context of a Western European maritime empire. This literature falls short of explaining the Tsarist case and requires the addition of intervening variables concerning the role of local elites and leadership choice. Employing an interdisciplinary literature combining sources from political science, sociology and history, this dissertation develops …

A Brief Introduction To The Relationship Between Sexuality And Rights, Oliver Phillips

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Advocates Give Human Rights Ombud Raãºl Plascencia Poor Grades, Seek To Prevent Reappointment, Carlos Navarro

SourceMex

No abstract provided.

Dipl 6801 Us Foreign Policy In Latin America And The Caribbean, Benjamin Goldfrank Phd

Diplomacy Syllabi

This seminar examines the major foreign policy doctrines applied by the United States in Latin America from the Monroe Doctrine through the Good Neighbor Policy and the Alliance for Progress until the recent agendas combining the “War on Terror” and “Free Trade.” We will ask questions such as how US policy is shaped, why it has changed over time, which policies are most effective in securing mutually beneficial relationships, and what the policy options are with regard to key issues such as trade, immigration, drugs, and democracy promotion. The seminar focuses on developing analytical, writing, and presentational skills.

Motivations And Implications Of Community Service Provision By La Familia Michoacána / Knights Templar And Other Mexican Drug Cartels, Shawn T. Flanigan

Journal of Strategic Security

Research demonstrates that service provision by violent organizations can be an effective strategy for coercing the local community to accept and conceal a group’s violent activities, and for creating loyalty to these groups. This has been most frequently explored among political organizations such as terrorist groups, with organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas very visibly engaged in providing social welfare in addition to their violent activities. Recent reports indicate that criminal organizations in Mexico also are involved in instances of public service provision in local communities. This article explores the extent to which drug cartels operating in Mexico are involved in …

Glimmerglass Volume 74 Number 03 (2014), Destiny Mitchell (Executive Editor), Thalyta Swanepoel (Advisor)

GlimmerGlass

Official Student Newspaper

Issue is 16 pages long.

All In The Family: The Influence Of Social Networks On Dispute Processing (A Case Study Of A Developing Economy), Manuel A. Gómez

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Criminal Authorities And The State: Gangs, Organized Crime, And Police In Brazil, Michael Wolff

Political Science ETDs

Drug gangs and organized criminal groups rarely evolve into structured authorities governing their resident communities. Where this occurs, however, they may effectively replace the state in its most basic functions, and consequently exclude subject populations from the rights and protections supposedly guaranteed by the state. Employing qualitative research methods, this study compares criminal development and state public security policies in Rio de Janeiro and Recife, Brazil. The research is primarily concerned with the development of criminal authority structures, and asks when, where, why, and how they develop. Arguing that the extant literature on organized crime fails to adequately explain this …

Zetas And Three Other Criminal Organizations Reportedly Meet To Discuss Alliance, Carlos Navarro

SourceMex

No abstract provided.

Exploring Cooperation Among The Brics: Organizational Implications Of Growing Brazil-China Business Relations, Jeffrey A. Kappen

Doctoral Dissertations

The early 21st century has witnessed the beginnings of change in the dominant patterns of global trade. For instance, the nations known as the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have intensified the coordination of their economic, political and social agendas, including increased trade among their own firms. To date, however, scholarship in organization studies has yet to examine the theoretical and empirical implications for international management of these integrative processes. Intending to close some of this gap, the dissertation explores the formation of new transnational business relationships between firms of two BRICS members, Brazil and China. Building …

President Enrique Peã±A Nieto Announces Creation Of New Elite Police Unit, Carlos Navarro

SourceMex

No abstract provided.

Hannibal At The Gate: Border Kids, Drugs, And Guns – And The Mexican Cartel War Goes On, Arthur Rizer

Arthur L. Rizer III

This article argues that the current cartel war in Mexico represents a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States. Some have estimated Mexico, one of the United States’ closest allies, has lost more than 60,000 people in its drug war. That is approximately a murder every hour related to cartel violence. Some experts claim the death toll has been greatly soft-pedaled, with the government reducing violence by simply not reporting it, and that the actual death toll is over 100,000. These numbers do not even include the nearly 40,000 Americans who die each year from …

Honduras’ Sexually Diverse Community Is Target In Post-Coup Violence, George Rodrã­Guez

NotiCen

No abstract provided.

Sinaloa State Imposes Controversial Gag Order On Journalists, Carlos Navarro

SourceMex

No abstract provided.

U.S. - Asean Organized Crime Cooperation As Part Of Washington's Rebalancing Policy Toward The Asia-Pacific, Tuan Anh Luc

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This research addresses the reasons why the United States of America (U.S.) has been involving in the effort of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to combat transnational organized crime. The author argues that Washington has been doing so because: first, it wants to prevent and suppress negative influences of Southeast Asian organized crime and protect national interests; second, it wants to increase regional capabilities, sometimes at the Association's request, and narrow differences so as to effectively deal with transnational organized crime; and third, it wants to justify its presence in the region and pave the way …

2014 Fifa World Cup Display, Maggie Mason Smith

Maggie Mason Smith

No abstract provided.