Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Is Issa Amro The Palestinian Gandhi?, Micah Danney

Capstones

Issa Amro is a Palestinian activist who practices nonviolent resistance to Israeli occupation. His work has risen him to international prominence, and drawn the ire of the authorities he criticizes. He preaches peaceful action but stands accused of incitement and troublemaking.

https://micahcdanney.atavist.com/is-issa-amro-the-palestinian-gandhi

An Analysis Of The Affirmative Action Program For Ethnic Minority Students At Hexi University In Zhangye, Gansu, China, Caitlin Shea

Capstone Collection

This study investigates and critically analyzes the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) preferential policy for ethnic minority students (少数民族的优惠政策) through the use of a case study conducted at Hexi University in Zhangye, Gansu. This study examines how the national preferential policy for ethnic minority students is implemented at a university level and how it is perceived by teachers and students in order to better understand and assess the impact and purpose of the policy. The study is driven by three questions; how is the PRC’s preferential policy for ethnic minority students implemented at a university level? Is the preferential policy …

Immigration-Related Identity Markers And Well-Being In Academia: Perceptions Of Conflict At Work And Life Satisfaction Among Foreign-Born Professors In The United States, Elena Gheorghiu

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

Although immigrant professionals contribute significantly to the American economy, their processes of adaptation to the host country and integration into work departments has not been sufficiently examined. Based on a survey of 241 immigrant professors in the United States, the current study sought to reveal how immigration-related identity markers, that is acculturation strategy adopted and migrant personality, impact the levels of private life satisfaction, work satisfaction, and perceptions of conflict at work. Results of Ordinary Least Squares regression analyses revealed that maintaining a balance between original cultural values and local ones, as well as scoring towards the lower-end of the …

Governance Challenges In Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case Of Land Guards And Land Protection In Ghana, David Kwasi Bansah

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

Land management policy in many developing nations has been riddled with conflict because of competing land tenure systems. Having transitioned through customary tenure systems to bureaucratic property rights regimes without a complete shift from the former, Ghana’s land management system, over time, has witnessed administrative challenges such that some desperate land protection schemes are taking root, including the use of unregulated security land guards in peri-urban areas. The fundamental objective of this research, therefore, is to explore and better understand the lengths to which people or groups will go to ensure land rights and protection in a regime of statutory …

The Function Of Religion In The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Stephanie Claire Mitchell

Dissertations and Theses

The role of religion in politics has been rising to the forefront of history in the Middle East for a number of decades and more so since 9/11, raising significant questions as to whether religion functions as a catalyst for conflict or peace. This thesis focuses specifically on the role of religion in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the manner in which actors incorporate religion into their national politics. In doing so, the inquiry focuses on the proponents of religion on both the Jewish and the Palestinian sides in addressing a) territorial rights, b) interpretations in the use of deadly force …

Holocaust, Memory, Second-Generation, And Conflict Resolution, Leslie O'Donoghue

Dissertations and Theses

Ten Jewish second-generation men and women from metro Portland, Oregon were interviewed regarding growing up in the aftermath of the Holocaust. The American-born participants ranged in age from fifty-one to sixty-four years of age at the time of the interviews. Though the parents were deceased at the time of this study the working definition of a Holocaust survivor parent included those individuals who had been refugees or interned in a ghetto, labor camp, concentration camp, or extermination camp as a direct result of the Nazi Regime in Europe from 1933 to 1945.

A descriptive phenomenological approach was utilized. Eight open-ended …

What Is The Nature Of The Conflict Experienced By Japanese Workers In International Companies Based In Japan And What Type Of Conflict Management Do They Access?, Tomoko Shinohara Le

Dissertations and Theses

The aim of this thesis was to identify and analyze workplace conflict by enquiring into the nature of conflict, conflict management, and human resources (HR) strategies for conflict management in international companies based in Japan (ICBIJ). This study explores one part of a conflict system comprising cultural issues, HR strategies, conflict, and its effect on retention. The research question is "What is the nature of the conflict experienced by Japanese workers in international companies based in Japan and what type of conflict management do they access?" 16 Japanese workers were surveyed yielding qualitative and qualitative data. Findings indicate that workplace …

Rigs Of Refuge: Spatial Agency And Its Role In Conflict, Brittany Lauren Mcgraw

Masters Theses

Architecture is an inherently political endeavor. As such, designers should carefully consider the spatial dialogue that the built environment creates between those who control spaces and those who use them. In times of crisis, this dialogue often ceases to be an equal exchange, pushing users’ needs aside and exerting authority in the most expedient way possible.

This thesis proposes that amidst settings of conflict, hyper-responsive architectural systems can counteract landscapes of authority by returning spatial agency to users. As the means of providing such a system, oil rigs should be repurposed as a network of deployable crisis response hubs.

Combining Grievance And Feasibility: Improving Our Understanding Of Civil Conflict Onset, Kimberly Fletcher

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

This study seeks to improve our understanding of the drivers of civil conflict through a synthesis of the grievance and feasibility approaches. It begins with two premises. The first is that the proponents of the feasibility explanation of conflict onset—who suggest that civil conflict will occur where it can happen—did not use theoretically justified measures of grievance in making their determination that motives have little bearing as drivers of conflict. The second premise is that the grievance literature that improved upon those measures did not fully consider feasibility in their models, leaving questions remaining regarding whether and to what degree …

Factors That Shape Arab American College Student Identity, Abdul Rahman F. Jaradat

Doctoral Dissertations

Arab American identity has not yet received the research attention and scholarship that it deserves. In this dissertation, I have qualitatively studied the narratives of young Arab American college students and recent graduates. The research questions that I explored include what makes them Arab Americans, and what are the factors that help them identify as such. By focusing on Arab Americans and their identity factors, I have presented the narratives of those women and men who self-identify as Arab American and quoted their accounts of how they navigate this undervalued, misunderstood, and stereotyped identity. I have used ethnic and racial …

The Power Of Prayer, Victoria Dawn Thompson

Capstone Collection

If words are arbitrary, how does prayer have power?” is the question of inquiry in this paper. An unobtrusive Content Analysis inquiry methodology was used to answer this question. The answer lies in the finding that words and thoughts are not the same thing, and our thoughts expand beyond the audible and visible. The implication for professional practice these findings present is that a deeper awareness of “Self” is needed to understand people’s miraculous way of resolving conflict via prayer.

San Francisco's Response To Sexual Assault: Pathways To Creating A Survivor-Centered Criminal Justice System, Bianca Rosen

Master's Projects and Capstones

This research examines the process when adult sexual assault survivors in San Francisco decide to pursue legal justice and how survivors experience the local criminal justice system. My analysis exposes the mistreatment of survivors who participate with local law enforcement and recommends survivor-centered policies that could support the wellbeing of survivors pressing charges. The purpose of this research is to encourage law enforcement practices that prioritize survivors’ self-determination and welfare.

The Demilitarization Of Costa Rica, Patrick Buscone

College Honors Program

Costa Rica is one of the few developed countries in the world to be completely demilitarized. In the first chapter, this thesis explores why the country decided to demilitarize and how effective their demilitarization has been. Further statistical analysis is applied in Chapter 2 to determine the effect military spending has on growth in Latin America. With Costa Rica experiencing great stability and growth following their demilitarization and the statistical analysis showing military spending to have a negative impact on growth in Latin America, the third and final chapter explores other Latin American countries that could benefit from demilitarization.

Mergers In Higher Education: A Case Study Of Organizational Culture, Communication, And Conflict Management Strategies In The University System Of Georgia, Jia Min

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

Abstract

By 2018, the University System of Georgia will have 18 institutions merged with each other. This qualitative case study focuses on how organizational culture, communication strategies, and conflict management strategies affect a merger in higher education in the state of Georgia. This study attempts to answer the following questions: How is organizational culture preserved and/or changed in the process of consolidation? How was information about consolidation communicated to various group of people? How do various groups of people make sense of the information provided regarding consolidation? What aspects of consolidation generated the most conflicts? What conflict management strategies were …

Rebuilding Relationships After Civil War: Relational Justice And Ex-Combatant Reintegration In Liberia, Ferdinand Kwaku Danso

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

Contemporary civil wars occur in the context of eroded state capacity, marked by the absence of effective formal institutions. At the same time, these wars occur in relational contexts where relationships are important. While institutions and relationships matter, ongoing approaches to peacebuilding give insufficient attention to the relational dimensions of conflict and peacebuilding. When relational imperatives are considered, the transitional justice mechanisms employed often prove unsuitable or insufficient to restore justice and reconcile estranged individuals and groups, as the Liberian case amply demonstrates. This exploratory and grounded theory research was conducted in response to the call by the Truth and …

Warrior To Civilian: The Impact Of Social Identity And Emotional Well-Being On The Community Reintegration Of Us Service Members And Veterans, Mary E. Fortson-Harwell

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

In this dissertation, the author explores the relationship between the social identity and emotional well-being of military service members and veterans when transitioning to civilian roles following deployment(s) and/or the end of military service. This mixed-methods study uses participant observations, survey measures, and semi-structured interviews to answer the following questions: How does social identity impact the emotional well-being of military service members when transitioning to civilian roles following deployment(s) and/or end of military service? How does participation in formalized or ad hoc community reintegration “rituals” influence the service member’s felt sense of return? By combining Social Identity Theory with Maslow’s …

Education As Counter Terrorism In Iraq, Thanaa Sulaiman

English (TESOL) Master Theses

There is not much research written about the relationship between education and the rise of terrorism. Some scholars have urged for educative response to end terrorism (Krueger and Maleckova, 2003; Brockhoff et al., 2015; Malazada, 2016; Illiteracy rates drop in Iraq: Government, 2014) In his study, Brockhoff et al., (2015) found that when country specific factors like the economic situation and political representation were unfavorable, education is the reason some individuals become terrorists. Abrifor (2008) concluded that abuse of students in Nigeria lead them to get involved in criminal activities, suicide bombing and terrorism. In light of these studies, it …

Sweden’S Floating Refugee Camp: A New Form Of Spatial Segregation?, Miranda L. Weinstein

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This paper looks at the structure of discrimination and marginalization of refugees and asylum-seekers. The paper investigates a new form of housing –– floatels –– which was seen in Sweden in 2016. This paper explores the relevant literature on identity, biopower, and spatial segregation, to make the case that floatels are contemporary forms of encampment. Floatels are clear examples of the State’s use of biopower to spatially segregate certain undesirable populations. By providing a case study of the situation in Sweden, the overall goal of the paper is to highlight the issues and complexity involved in refugee housing. In particular, …

Building An Inclusive Peace: Lessons From El Salvador, Patrick C. Seed

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This paper argues that the peace created after a conflict becomes more sustainable when peace processes are inclusive. The Salvadoran peace process shows how including certain actors reduced political violence while excluding other actors allowed for social and economic marginalization to continue. Based on secondary literature, this paper addresses who was involved in the peace process and how their involvement shaped the evolution of violence within El Salvador. While the peace process erased political violence, not including the unique needs of women and men led to continued social and economic exclusion and marginalization of vulnerable populations. The lessons from El …

Freedom And Unity: Examining The Individualized, Community-Based Process Of Restorative Justice In Vermont And What It Can Teach Other States, Through A Trainer's Lens, Megan Grove

Capstone Collection

How can communities and law enforcement embrace a cultural shift to address conflict in a way that restores relationships and makes amends instead of one that punishes and criminalizes certain behaviors and individuals? How can we create spaces where those who commit harm, those who are impacted by harm, and other affected parties can come together with equal voice, have their needs met, and communicate in healthy ways? This Course-Linked Capstone in Training, situated in Brattleboro, Vermont, looks at the power of restorative justice and restorative processes to heal relationships and empower communities to care for one another and address …

Peace Museums On The Land Of Victims And The Land Of Perpetrators: Analyses Of Curation And Design Of The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum And The Information Center Under The Field Of Stelae In Berlin, Yuka Kitajima 17

Honor Scholar Theses

This paper examines if, how and to which degree, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Nakajima District of Hiroshima, Japan and the Information Center under the Field of Stelae in Berlin, Germany, transform a Culture of Violence and a Culture of Neutrality into a Culture of Peace. I analyzed sponsors, mission statements, exhibits, topographical and architectural designs, and geographical factors as a reflection of the degree of these selected museums’ contribution to the cultural transformation. The two selected museums stand on the soils with a complex history involving mass tragedies. Hiroshima became the first-ever victim to the atomic bombing which …

An Examination Of John Burton’S Method Of Conflict Resolution And Its Applicability To The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, John Kenneth Steinmeyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper argues that the interactive problem-solving workshops created by political scientist John Burton and applied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by social psychologist Herbert Kelman, while not, as yet, resulting in a just and permanent peace agreement, are effective in resolving intractable conflict, and, if persistently used, can significantly help to produce such an agreement. This is done by closely examining two books of Burton and a series of articles by Kelman to describe their process; the characteristics of intractable conflict are also reviewed from the work of social psychologist Daniel Bar-Tal. It is then argued that the psychological elements …

Thresholds Of Atrocity: Liberal Violence And The Politics Of Moral Vision, Kristofer J. Petersen-Overton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

All political communities set normative limits to the acceptable use of force. A threshold of atrocity indicates the point at which acceptable violence meets the boundaries of the unacceptable. In liberal democratic states such norms are ostensibly set higher. Hence, there is a theoretical threshold to the modern state’s ability to act in ways that violate norms it claims to uphold. Paradoxically, thresholds of atrocity are almost never breached and unconscionable violence occurs regularly. This study seeks to explain the persistence of extreme violence by developing a theory of atrocity grounded in moral vision. Liberal democratic nation-states are able to …

In A Material World: Analyzing Religious Peacebuilding In Lebanon And Bosnia-Herzegovina, Catherine Ruth Orsborn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While intergroup peace is statistically far more common than is intergroup or inter-religious conflict, there has been a rise in recent years in conflict framed in religious terms. Peace and development practitioners have, in response, become increasingly interested in engaging religion, in various ways, in peace and development work. A theoretical field of religious peacebuilding has emerged simultaneous to this increased practitioner engagement of religion. Despite this increase in religious peacebuilding, at both practical and theoretical levels, we have not seen a measurable increase in social cohesion in contexts plagued by so-called religious conflict, as I show in my comparative …

Public Discourse And The Securitization Of Conflict, Gilda Raizel Edelman

Senior Projects Spring 2017

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Mainstreaming Gender: The Influence Of Women's Networks On Prosecuting Sexual Violence At The International Criminal Court, Jessica Maryanne Zaccagnino

Senior Projects Spring 2017

The fall of the Soviet Union in combination with the failures of the international community to intervene in the genocides of the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda spurred a new enthusiasm for human rights as a wholly independent movement, termed the human rights wave. This paradigm shift, identified by Stefan-Ludwig Hoffmann, was an embrace of human rights rooted in the redemption of past wrongs. This project is structured as a jurisprudential genealogy that will explore the human rights wave in the context of the Women’s Caucus for Gender Justice, a facet of the transnational women’s network, and their quest to mainstream …

Sustainable Mining For Long Term Poverty Alleviation In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Ellen Perfect

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the poverty alleviation and peace-spoiling power of the mineral extraction sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to arrive at a set of strategic goals for the country moving forward. Although subterranean minerals are often a source or perpetuator of violence, the potential to lift the country’s rural communities out of extreme poverty makes the mining industry an essential part of the nation’s development strategies. Lessons from Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Uganda and Sierra Leone to arrive at best practices for increasing the multiplier effect of large-scale mining, formalization, beneficiation, capital …

Competition, Compromises, And Complicity: An Analysis Of The Humanitarian Aid Sector, Fiona Bare

CMC Senior Theses

This paper analyzes humanitarian assistance to complex humanitarian emergencies to understand why suboptimal outcomes result even when humanitarians have ethical principles and good intentions. It focuses on the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations, and Médecins Sans Frontières to understand their core principles before looking at how these principles operationalize during emergencies. Challenges arise due to complex relationships with donors, local actors, and recipients, along with issues of marketization and competition. This paper’s case studies of the post-genocide Rwandan refugee crisis and post-9/11 Afghanistan explore how humanitarian principles clash with such dilemmas. In the end, humanitarian organizations …

Consociationalism And The Compromised Peace: Lessons From Northern Ireland, Mosea Esaias , '17

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

The conflict in Northern Ireland is best characterized as a political struggle between those who strive for the north of Ireland to be reunified with the south and those who wish for the north to remain within the United Kingdom. Unionists tend to be Protestant, identify with England and believe that Northern Ireland should remain within the United Kingdom. While Nationalists, or Republicans, tend to be Catholic, identify with Ireland and believe that Northern Ireland should be reunified with the south. Hundreds of years of competition between these two groups eventually culminated in a three-decade long war known colloquially as …

The Socio-Political And Economic Causes Of Natural Disasters, Nicole Southard

CMC Senior Theses

To effectively prevent and mitigate the outbreak of natural disasters is a more pressing issue in the twenty-first century than ever before. The frequency and cost of natural disasters is rising globally, most especially in developing countries where the most severe effects of climate change are felt. However, while climate change is indeed a strong force impacting the severity of contemporary catastrophes, it is not directly responsible for the exorbitant cost of the damage and suffering incurred from natural disasters -- both financially and in terms of human life. Rather, the true root causes of natural disasters lie within the …