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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Behind Closed Doors: How Remittance Flows Changed Repression Dynamics In Beneficiary States During Covid-19, Ketevan Tsurtsumia Jan 2023

Behind Closed Doors: How Remittance Flows Changed Repression Dynamics In Beneficiary States During Covid-19, Ketevan Tsurtsumia

Senior Projects Spring 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the global world in a lot of ways. Extensive research has been done on its effect on the economic growth of states, the effectiveness of government responses, the efficacy of different vaccines, and vaccine diplomacy. However, changes in state repression have been a neglected topic in research focused on understanding and analyzing the processes that took place during the pandemic. This paper will take on the topic of state repression dynamics during COVID-19 and further develop this relationship using remittances as an additional variable that affects state repression, taking state repression as a dependent variable. Finally, …


Coup De Grâce, Violet Rea Mass Jan 2023

Coup De Grâce, Violet Rea Mass

Senior Projects Spring 2023

This project, composed of an introduction and a fiction piece, explores the complex power dynamics at play on the university stage put into perspective of the Human Rights study. The fiction follows young Olive as arrives for her first term at a university in a secluded valley where she must come to terms with a darkness greater than she had ever imagined.


Who Is Anointed? The Psychological And Social Justice Implications Of Gifted And Talented Programs In The United States, Emma Caroline Gossett Jan 2022

Who Is Anointed? The Psychological And Social Justice Implications Of Gifted And Talented Programs In The United States, Emma Caroline Gossett

Senior Projects Spring 2022

This paper explores the repercussions of gifted and talented programs in the United States, looking specifically at resulting psychological effects and social justice implications. This analysis is positioned within the discussion of global power struggles for technological advancement. After the success of the Russian Sputnik satellite in 1957, the United States bolstered initiatives in education to ensure they were producing students who could contribute to the prowess of the nation. Gifted programs allowed for a more in-depth focus on those children deemed useful to the labor market. This resulted in additional pressures placed on certain students to excel. The anointment …


Litigation As Integration And Participation: The Role Of Lawsuits In The U.S. Environmental Justice Movement, Tomas Sebastian Forman Jan 2022

Litigation As Integration And Participation: The Role Of Lawsuits In The U.S. Environmental Justice Movement, Tomas Sebastian Forman

Senior Projects Spring 2022

What is, has been, and could be the role of litigation in the U.S. environmental justice movement? To what ends do Indigenous communities, federally-recognized tribes, and rural Black communities choose to engage with the U.S. legal system, an institution which has, over history, consistently subjugated and dispossessed them? How do these groups' particularistic relationships to natural and built environments, conceptions of justice and fairness, and understandings of what effective environmental regulation look like inform that choice? This paper draws from in-depth qualitative research to demonstrate the following things: (1) how environmental justice lawsuits differ from canonical environmental and civil rights …


The Effects Of British Colonialism In India On Indo-Caribbean Communities, Katherina K. Wahi Jan 2022

The Effects Of British Colonialism In India On Indo-Caribbean Communities, Katherina K. Wahi

Senior Projects Spring 2022

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


This Is The Sky That I See, Gavin T. Mckenzie Jan 2022

This Is The Sky That I See, Gavin T. Mckenzie

Senior Projects Spring 2022

This is the sky that I see, a Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College, reflects the power we hold in defining and redefining spaces, and how ordinary places can be reimagined for the Othered body. I produced this show to allow the characters to shape and decide their worlds, centering on their relationships and feelings. This is the sky that I see establishes a completely queer world that centers Queer joy and friendship.


Fragments Of An Anarcha-Transfeminist Sociology Of Sex Work, Veronica Andrek Jan 2022

Fragments Of An Anarcha-Transfeminist Sociology Of Sex Work, Veronica Andrek

Senior Projects Spring 2022

The purpose of this study is to explore ways in which feminist and sociological theory can be expanded by looking at the experiences of transgender women who are engaged in sex work specifically with an eye for transfeminist and anarchist political theory. Based on qualitative interviews with five transfeminine sex workers, I found that transfeminine sex workers, while facing substantial obstacles such as criminalization, transmisogyny, and poverty, are capable of building communities and forging new meanings in their lives. Within sex work are opportunities by which to reimagine labor and its role in our lives, with the possibility of abolishing …


Comparing Political Implications Of Punitive Paradigms In Digital Surveillance And Data Driven Algorithms Between The Polities Of The United States Of America And The People's Republic Of China, Shedelande Lily Carpenter Jan 2022

Comparing Political Implications Of Punitive Paradigms In Digital Surveillance And Data Driven Algorithms Between The Polities Of The United States Of America And The People's Republic Of China, Shedelande Lily Carpenter

Senior Projects Spring 2022

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


The Elusive Rainbow Nation: Assessing Post-Apartheid Reconstruction Strategies In Johannesburg, South Africa, Ashley May Eugley Jan 2022

The Elusive Rainbow Nation: Assessing Post-Apartheid Reconstruction Strategies In Johannesburg, South Africa, Ashley May Eugley

Senior Projects Spring 2022

This paper examines how South Africa’s political and economic orientation following the nation’s democratization in 1994 enabled a continuation of Apartheid-era patterns in the City of Johannesburg. In particular, it contends that governmental decentralization, neoliberalism, and global city aspirations—enshrined in both local and national policy documents—turned attention away from addressing internal deprivations. Rather than redistributing social and economic power, uplifting the Black-majority, and allowing urban stakeholders to play a central role in policy formation and decision-making, Johannesburg’s City Government catered to elite outside interests, effectively introducing new forms of segmentation and disenfranchisement. Although the African National Congress committed to transform …


How Aesthetics Shape Our Ethics: Exploring Nazi Germany, The Soviet Union, And Digital World, Nika Kokhodze Jan 2022

How Aesthetics Shape Our Ethics: Exploring Nazi Germany, The Soviet Union, And Digital World, Nika Kokhodze

Senior Projects Fall 2022

Every day, we encounter numerous amount of images, films, news and propaganda. The different forms and manifestations of aesthetics haunts our lives daily. What if I told you that Aesthetics has immense amount of power? This project aims specifically at that as it explores authoritarian states and the liberal democracies alike. How could the moral compass that we all cherish and hold dearly be predicated and shaped by something so remote as aesthetics? Exploring through examples from the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and the digital world we all live in, one might find some answers and the right questions to …


Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: How The Growing Treatment Is Altering The Landscape Of Modern Medicine Along Racial And Class Lines, Joshua Marteen Lopez Jan 2022

Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: How The Growing Treatment Is Altering The Landscape Of Modern Medicine Along Racial And Class Lines, Joshua Marteen Lopez

Senior Projects Fall 2022

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


Pleasure, Politics, And Patriarchy: Women’S Intimacy In An Authoritarian Egypt, Sadia A. Saba Jan 2021

Pleasure, Politics, And Patriarchy: Women’S Intimacy In An Authoritarian Egypt, Sadia A. Saba

Senior Projects Spring 2021

This research project explores the question: To what extent is Egypt’s patriarchal household structure, especially in regards to its treatment of female sexual autonomy, a pillar of authoritarianism and therefore an obstacle to democracy? This paper takes a deep look into the intimate sexual lives of Egyptians and explores its implications for regime type in the country. Widespread practices such as virginity testing, hymen reconstruction, female genital mutilation, etc. along with phenomena such as sexual dysfunctions, community morality policing and other normalized behaviors demonstrate the different ways in which women’s sexual autonomies are widely hindered. This is the result of …


From The Black Panther Party To Black Lives Matter: Lessons From The Arab Spring And The Prospects For Social And Political Change In The Post-Ideological World, Raphael Lewis Jan 2021

From The Black Panther Party To Black Lives Matter: Lessons From The Arab Spring And The Prospects For Social And Political Change In The Post-Ideological World, Raphael Lewis

Senior Projects Spring 2021

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


Mentality Of The German Middle Class And Nazism: The Activation And Transformation Of Existing Antisemitic And Anti-Liberal Tendencies By Rapid Social Changes, Zhengyang Ji Jan 2021

Mentality Of The German Middle Class And Nazism: The Activation And Transformation Of Existing Antisemitic And Anti-Liberal Tendencies By Rapid Social Changes, Zhengyang Ji

Senior Projects Spring 2021

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


From Belief To Action: Histories And New Directions Within The Youth Climate Movement, Christian Sabharwal Jan 2020

From Belief To Action: Histories And New Directions Within The Youth Climate Movement, Christian Sabharwal

Senior Projects Spring 2020

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


"Made In Bangladesh", Joya Alia Syed Jan 2020

"Made In Bangladesh", Joya Alia Syed

Senior Projects Spring 2020

The 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh was the worst industrial disaster in modern times and began a turning point for change in the garment sector. This paper will uncover human rights violations such as the exploitation of garment workers, verbal and physical abuse as well as the right for workers to collectively bargain. The paper will begin with a brief background of the Bangladeshi garment sector, then the pressure of the “Fast Fashion” demand for the industry and gender dimensions. It will conclude with remediation efforts from local and international levels from social movements, campaigns, and programs such …


The Race For Time: Experiences In The Temporality Of Blackness, Eboni Cymone Grooms Jan 2020

The Race For Time: Experiences In The Temporality Of Blackness, Eboni Cymone Grooms

Senior Projects Spring 2020

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


Beyond Repair: An Investigation Of The Experiences, Interpretations, And Self-Construction Of Black Women Welfare Recipients In The Deep South, Eniyah C. Willingham, Eniyah Willingham Jan 2019

Beyond Repair: An Investigation Of The Experiences, Interpretations, And Self-Construction Of Black Women Welfare Recipients In The Deep South, Eniyah C. Willingham, Eniyah Willingham

Senior Projects Spring 2019

Based on six in-depth interviews with Black women in the Metro-Atlanta area who have at some point in the past ten years received welfare assistance, this project serves to understand how Black women relate to the welfare system in the current moment. To best understand their circumstances, I set forth a three-part question: how do Black women welfare recipients experience the welfare system in the current moment?; how do they interpret these experiences?; and lastly, how do these experiences and interpretations lend to how they conceptualize, construct, and/or manage their identities as Black women welfare recipients? I argue that my …


In Fear We Trust: Anxious Political Rhetoric & The Politics Of Punishment, 1960s-80s, Stella Michelle Frank Jan 2019

In Fear We Trust: Anxious Political Rhetoric & The Politics Of Punishment, 1960s-80s, Stella Michelle Frank

Senior Projects Spring 2019

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


A Hundred Houses: Pauline Leader And The Spatial Poetics Of Disability, Carl Robert Nelson Jan 2019

A Hundred Houses: Pauline Leader And The Spatial Poetics Of Disability, Carl Robert Nelson

Senior Projects Spring 2019

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


Delivering Identities: A Symbolic Interactionist Study Of Doulas And The Decline Of Medical Professional Dominance, Madeline Lucie Firkser Jan 2019

Delivering Identities: A Symbolic Interactionist Study Of Doulas And The Decline Of Medical Professional Dominance, Madeline Lucie Firkser

Senior Projects Spring 2019

Doulas are non-medically affiliated people who provide emotional, physical, and informational support to people before, during, and after childbirth. The purpose of this study is to understand the role of the doula beyond its typically-assumed value as a superficial or consumerist entity and in relation to the broader maternal health care system available within the United States. Through six in-depth interviews with doulas about their conceptions of their personal identities, as well as their relationships with their medical counterparts and their clients, this project contributes to extant literature on symbolic interactionist linkages between identities and occupations. I examine how doula …


Punishing Assemblages: A Queer, Decolonizing Theory Of The American Prison, Liam Hopkins Jan 2018

Punishing Assemblages: A Queer, Decolonizing Theory Of The American Prison, Liam Hopkins

Senior Projects Spring 2018

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


South Side, World Wide: The Fusion Of History And Literature In Richard Wright And James T. Farrell's Chicago, Malachi Zachary Hayes Jan 2018

South Side, World Wide: The Fusion Of History And Literature In Richard Wright And James T. Farrell's Chicago, Malachi Zachary Hayes

Senior Projects Spring 2018

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


Evolving Environmentalism: Contentious Partnerships And Transformational Relationships Between The Environmental Justice Movement And The Mainstream Environmental Movement, Xaver Chaim Kandler Jan 2018

Evolving Environmentalism: Contentious Partnerships And Transformational Relationships Between The Environmental Justice Movement And The Mainstream Environmental Movement, Xaver Chaim Kandler

Senior Projects Spring 2018

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


Modernization Losers, Political Winners: Assessing The Role Of The Declining Position Of Labor In Right-Wing Electoral Successes Across Western Europe, Eva-Marie C. Quinones Jan 2017

Modernization Losers, Political Winners: Assessing The Role Of The Declining Position Of Labor In Right-Wing Electoral Successes Across Western Europe, Eva-Marie C. Quinones

Senior Projects Spring 2017

This Senior Project advances the modernization losers thesis, wherein the electoral successes of the far right in Western Europe are attributable to neoliberal fiscal policy, labor market shifts, and the institutional structure of the euro. Building on an existing body of literature that primarily assesses voting behavior through survey research, this paper assesses the relationship between right-wing electoral successes and the socioeconomic status of semi-skilled, blue-collar laborers thought to comprise the core voting base of extreme right parties, by using panel data at the national and provincial levels to answer the question, “To what extent has the declining position of …


Gender Empowerment In The Development Economics Literature: The Language Of Choice, Preferences And Agency, Pranay Panday Jan 2017

Gender Empowerment In The Development Economics Literature: The Language Of Choice, Preferences And Agency, Pranay Panday

Senior Projects Spring 2017

In my project, I try to trace how our present understanding of gender empowerment is formed, and how mainstream economics literature has accommodated feminist contributions to the concept. I look at neoclassical household models, feminist critiques of the same models, foundational ideas on gender empowerment, and finally the current development economics literature on empowerment. I find that the concept of choices and preferences, and in particular the formation of preferences, is central to understanding gender empowerment. I deduce that a) empowerment is both a process and an outcome, b) that the end goal of empowerment is the access to resources …


An Exceptional Nation: Why The United States Lacks Universal Health Insurance, Sebastian Bernard Spitz Jan 2017

An Exceptional Nation: Why The United States Lacks Universal Health Insurance, Sebastian Bernard Spitz

Senior Projects Spring 2017

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


(In)Hospitable: Refugees As "Guests" In Germany Today, Rebecca Jade Lapoint Jan 2017

(In)Hospitable: Refugees As "Guests" In Germany Today, Rebecca Jade Lapoint

Senior Projects Spring 2017

This project aims to examine how refugees in Germany are conceptualized by the government and the larger population as ‘guests’, and are seen as beneficiaries of German hospitality. Using Jacques Derrida’s Of Hospitality and Mireille Rosello’s Postcolonial Hospitality as a theoretical framework, and guided by interviews conducted by myself with young male refugees living in Berlin, this project deconstruct the selective hospitality offered by Germany and demonstrate how refugees are conceived as impermanent in German society, and are forced to adhere to set notions of guesthood.


Combatting The Core Of Sexual Assault: Training Youth To Become Transformational Leaders In Sexual Assault Perpetration Prevention, Sage Marissa Warner Jan 2017

Combatting The Core Of Sexual Assault: Training Youth To Become Transformational Leaders In Sexual Assault Perpetration Prevention, Sage Marissa Warner

Senior Projects Spring 2017

Sexual assaulters develop from a culture of learned norms, misunderstanding of consent, and inefficacy in bystander intervention. The most significant sexual assault prevention programs teach individuals to dissociate from this culture, by changing their perceptions, knowledge, and behaviors. However, the lack of long-term effects in these programs depicts a vital loophole in their design. In order to change the culture that breeds sexual assaulters, a program cannot focus solely on individuals’ growth, but must ensure a movement of change in the culture itself. Transformational Leadership (Bass, 1985), a style of leadership in which leaders inspire their followers to become leaders, …


Fit To Print: Hudson’S Gentrification In The New York Times, 1985-2016, Nora F. Cady Jan 2017

Fit To Print: Hudson’S Gentrification In The New York Times, 1985-2016, Nora F. Cady

Senior Projects Spring 2017

“Fit to Print: Hudson’s Gentrification in the New York Times, 1985-2016” is a content analysis of 80 New York Times articles that investigates the way that the City of Hudson N.Y. has been covered by the paper between 1985 and 2016. Findings from this content analysis are presented in 10-year increments. In the first phase of coverage, New York Times reporting primed Hudson for gentrification by depicting it as a site of urban decay hoping to revitalize. In the second phase (1997-2006) New York Times coverage promoted growth regime activities and minimized social problems in the city. In the last …