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Macalester College

2019

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Articles 1 - 26 of 26

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Notoriously Ruthless: The Idolization Of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Lucille Moran Sep 2019

Notoriously Ruthless: The Idolization Of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Lucille Moran

Political Science Honors Projects

It is now a fixture of mainstream commentary in the United States that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has become a popular idol on the political left. Yet, while Justice Ginsburg’s image and story has reached an unprecedented level of valorization and even commercialization, scholars have yet to give sustained attention to the phenomenon and to contextualize it: why has this idolization emerged within this context, and what is its impact? This paper situates her portrayal in the cultural imagination as the product of two political forces, namely partisanship and identity politics. Considering parallel scholarly discourses of reputation, celebrity, …


Men At The Intersection Of Race And Class: Identity, Centrality, And Privilege Attitudes, Bailey Haas Sep 2019

Men At The Intersection Of Race And Class: Identity, Centrality, And Privilege Attitudes, Bailey Haas

Psychology Honors Projects

While previous research has determined that people who have subordinated identities in one domain are more likely to view their dominant identity in another domain as a privilege (Rosette & Tost, 2013), the effect of class identity on privilege awareness at the intersection of race, class, and gender, has not been investigated. Additionally, the centrality of these identities has not been considered as a possible moderator, despite the fact that identity centrality has been shown to moderate the relationship between stereotype appraisals and disidentification with an ethnic or racial identity such that people whose racial or ethnic identities were more …


“Trying To March Less And Organize More”: Culture, Capital, And Structure In Civic Engagement Among College Students, Bailey Haas Sep 2019

“Trying To March Less And Organize More”: Culture, Capital, And Structure In Civic Engagement Among College Students, Bailey Haas

Sociology Honors Projects

This study explores volunteerism and activism in tandem under the umbrella of civic engagement and questions the importance of intergenerational transmission of forms of capital and cultural models of agency in how and why college students choose to be civically engaged. This study utilized a mixed-methods design with a survey to determine base rates of engagement and semi-structured interviews to identify differences in engagement based on class culture and capital. Overall, there were not differences in rate of participation by social class, but students volunteered more regularly than they engaged in activism. The interviews illustrated how students theoretically distinguish activism …


The Impact Of Immigrants’ Entries On Destination Countries’ Economies, Qingyu Zhu May 2019

The Impact Of Immigrants’ Entries On Destination Countries’ Economies, Qingyu Zhu

Economics Honors Projects

Whether immigration brings benefit or harm has always been controversial. In this paper, I develop a Real Business Cycle model with a search-based labor market to examine how an unexpected influx of immigrants impacts destination economies. I divide households and firms into two types, namely natives and immigrants, and conduct a general equilibrium analysis. The simulated results suggest that even though natives face a temporary rise in unemployment after the shock, recovery occurs quickly, and levels of aggregate output and consumption become higher.


The Effects Of Conflict On Household Agricultural Investment In Nigeria, Harrison Mitchell May 2019

The Effects Of Conflict On Household Agricultural Investment In Nigeria, Harrison Mitchell

Economics Honors Projects

While the negative effects of conflict on health and education are well established, studies identifying the effects of conflict on household agricultural investment are sparser. I combine a household panel dataset from Nigeria’s Living Standards Measurement Survey - Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) with detailed data on conflict events from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED). Using an event studies framework, these data allow me to estimate the effects of conflict on a variety of household agricultural decisions. I find evidence that conflict involving Fulani pastoralists reduces a household’s cattle holdings in the following season. Additionally, I find …


The Gretzky Externality: An Analysis Of The Superstar Effect And Age Curves In The National Hockey League, Jed P. Buchholz May 2019

The Gretzky Externality: An Analysis Of The Superstar Effect And Age Curves In The National Hockey League, Jed P. Buchholz

Economics Honors Projects

No abstract provided.


The Unrecognized Role Of Parental Incarceration On In-School Suspension Rates, Meg Hinson May 2019

The Unrecognized Role Of Parental Incarceration On In-School Suspension Rates, Meg Hinson

Sociology Honors Projects

Due to the rise of mass incarceration in the United States, a large number of children now have incarcerated parents. While research shows an array of compounding disadvantages of parental incarceration that reverberate through children’s lives, little discussion has gone into how the incarceration of a parent might feedback to how students experience school discipline. My research addresses this gap by analyzing a statewide Minnesota student survey to examine possible explanations for why students who experience parental incarceration also experience higher rates of in-school suspension. High in-school suspension rates persist through expected controls and intervention techniques, showing a unique effect …


The Purple Wave: Gender And Electoral Outcomes In The 2018 Midterms, Semilla B. Stripp May 2019

The Purple Wave: Gender And Electoral Outcomes In The 2018 Midterms, Semilla B. Stripp

Political Science Honors Projects

This thesis offers an analysis of the relationship between gender and electoral outcomes in the 2018 midterm elections. What role did gender play in the success of candidates for the House of Representatives? In answering this question, I quantify women’s success by analyzing the extent to which female candidates’ vote shares can be attributed to their gender. I find that, while controlling for various electoral and biographical factors, female challengers and open seat candidates performed better than their male counterparts, while female incumbents had no advantage over male incumbents. These outcomes also divided along party lines, with Democratic women performing …


“Being Able To Breathe Publicly:” Trans And Gender Nonconforming People Healing Through Embodied Activity, Kp Blake-Leibowitz May 2019

“Being Able To Breathe Publicly:” Trans And Gender Nonconforming People Healing Through Embodied Activity, Kp Blake-Leibowitz

Sociology Honors Projects

Sociological research on transgender and gender nonconforming (gnc) people has emphasized the interplay between identity and institutional contexts as constraining through hegemonic norms and dominant ideologies on sex and gender. Research in feminist trauma studies focused on insidious and embodied trauma has demonstrated numerous prospects for healing. In bridging these two fields of study through a socio-phenomenological lens, this paper shows how consciousness emerges in ways that facilitate the development of a type of bodily agency. Empirically, the paper examines whether trans and gnc people can use movement-based activities for healing, and how that healing occurs in particular spaces. In …


Uber Effort: The Production Of Worker Consent In Online Ride Sharing Platforms, Ruotong Wang May 2019

Uber Effort: The Production Of Worker Consent In Online Ride Sharing Platforms, Ruotong Wang

Sociology Honors Projects

The rise of the online gig economy alters ways of working. Mediated by algorithmically programmed mobile apps, platforms such as Uber and Lyft allow workers to work by driving and completing rides at any time or in any place that the drivers choose. This hybrid form of labor in an online gig economy which combines independent contract work with computer-mediated work differs from traditional manufacturing jobs in both its production activity and production relations. Through nine interviews with Lyft/Uber drivers, I found that workers’ consent, which was first articulated by Michael Burawoy in the context of the manufacturing economy, is …


Roads Diverge: A Comparative Study Of Eu Accession And Lgbt Human Rights In Former Yugoslav States, Hannah Maycock May 2019

Roads Diverge: A Comparative Study Of Eu Accession And Lgbt Human Rights In Former Yugoslav States, Hannah Maycock

Political Science Honors Projects

Kosovo’s first Pride parade on October 10, 2017 was an important landmark for Kosovo’s LGBT community. The event was remarkable both as the first event of its kind and in that it occurred without violence. While the Western Balkans have seen significant progress on LGBT rights, differences in degree of homophobia are clear across the former Yugoslav states. Slovenia and Croatia have become the least homophobic in the region while Serbia and Kosovo are the most. Where other arguments fail to adequately justify this disparity, EU accession explains the emergent differences in LGBT human rights since the breakup of Yugoslavia.


Superhybridity And The Swallowing Of Subculture: Collisions Of Afro-Asian Cross-Cultural Production And Consumption In Post-Internet American Popular Culture, Valentia Sundell May 2019

Superhybridity And The Swallowing Of Subculture: Collisions Of Afro-Asian Cross-Cultural Production And Consumption In Post-Internet American Popular Culture, Valentia Sundell

Media and Cultural Studies Honors Projects

Responding to a recent resurgence in Afro-Asian imagery in the American consciousness, this paper examines the meaning and direction of the contemporary Afro-Asian relationship in post-Internet American popular culture. To investigate these questions, this paper constructs a brief history of the American Afro-Asian relationship through the performance of racial identity and cross-cultural production and consumption from the 1850s through the 2000s. An increase in American Afro-Asian imagery has not come from a place of abstraction, but rather stems from a lengthy and complex history of cross-cultural collisions, collaboration, and convergence along with a post-Internet that allows for the ready flow …


Why We Hear About It, And Why We Don't: Power Dynamics And Sexual Harassment Reporting In Us State Legislative Bodies, Halley Norman May 2019

Why We Hear About It, And Why We Don't: Power Dynamics And Sexual Harassment Reporting In Us State Legislative Bodies, Halley Norman

Political Science Honors Projects

The rise to prominence of the #MeToo Movement in October 2017 opened the floodgates to sexual harassment and assault allegations in all fields and levels of employment, across the United States and the world. This movement has crucially revealed is that women often wait months or even years before reporting, if they report at all. Looking at US state legislative bodies, I argue that gendered power dynamics between men and women suppress allegations and promote harassment. Using interviews and data analysis, this paper identifies different factors that may delay or hinder reporting, with a specific focus on gendered power dynamics …


Chacra Farming, Peasant Livelihood Portfolios And Identities In The Peruvian Andes, Anna C. Bebbington May 2019

Chacra Farming, Peasant Livelihood Portfolios And Identities In The Peruvian Andes, Anna C. Bebbington

Geography Honors Projects

Nearly fifty years after land reform in Peru, and in the face of dramatic climatic and social change, small-scale, high-altitude agriculture and the livelihoods of peasant households have fundamentally changed.Nonetheless, low-input subsistence agriculture, known as chacra agriculture, remains a prominent feature in Andean landscapes and peasant livelihoods. Drawing on research conducted in two agro-pastoral communities in the Ancash region of Peru, this thesis seeks to show how and why households in these communities continue to rely on the chacra as part of their livelihood strategies. While seeking to understand the role of the chacra in peasant livelihood portfolios, I consider …


Game Time:" Not Too Much, Nor Too Little", Xuemeng Yao May 2019

Game Time:" Not Too Much, Nor Too Little", Xuemeng Yao

Sociology Honors Projects

The amount of time young adults spend on online gaming has drawn attention from governments and academics. While these concerns posit a spatial separation between the game world and reality, they fail to understand the gaming activity in relation to individuals’ overall life. An alternative framing of gaming as leisure activities can yield greater insight. This research examines the temporal experience and the meaning of playing online games within a community of Chinese full-time college students. Observing their gaming routine, I try to answer: how do college students interpret the time they devote to gaming? In addition, how does the …


Constructing And Destructing The Peace: Models Of International Engagement In Post-Conflict States, Colin Churchill May 2019

Constructing And Destructing The Peace: Models Of International Engagement In Post-Conflict States, Colin Churchill

Political Science Honors Projects

Variance in the stability of post-conflict states presents an interesting predicament. What causes this variance in states two or three decades removed from civil conflict? In this paper, I argue that the type of engagement that international actors take towards post-conflict states explains differences in stability. I draw out four distinct models of international engagement from three case studies of Lebanon, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Northern Ireland that present the different ways that international actors have constructively and destructively engaged in these states. Furthering this analysis is an examination of the transition or possible transition between models in the cases.


The Political Economy Of American Military Aid And Repression, Lukas Matthews May 2019

The Political Economy Of American Military Aid And Repression, Lukas Matthews

Political Science Honors Projects

No abstract provided.


Disruptive Innovation: The Rise Of The Knowledge-Sharing Market In China, Yaqing Lan Apr 2019

Disruptive Innovation: The Rise Of The Knowledge-Sharing Market In China, Yaqing Lan

International Studies Honors Projects

Innovation is a major subject of international political economy, but mainstream discussions focus on scientific research and development and detach innovation development from their social contexts. In response to this view, this project reveals the importance of cultural and social factors in influencing innovation development by examining the rise of the knowledge-sharing market (KSM) -- a social-network-site-based economy in China. It suggests the KSM is a disruptive innovation not only because it is pioneered by a latecomer in the global innovation market, China, but also because its emergence from the changing Chinese consumer demands disrupts the mainstream thinking of innovation.


Los Angeles' Riparian Renaissance: Rethinking The Geographies Of Gentrification Through Green City-Wide Infrastructure Projects, Henry Nieberg Apr 2019

Los Angeles' Riparian Renaissance: Rethinking The Geographies Of Gentrification Through Green City-Wide Infrastructure Projects, Henry Nieberg

Geography Honors Projects

The neoliberal restructuring of global cities has allowed larger scales of investment that has catalyzed and enlarged gentrification processes. The impacts of gentrification today have the potential to transcend individual communities and affect the whole city. Building on the “rent gap” theory, I examine the reasons and ways capital is injected in capital-deficient neighborhoods, and how the inflow of capital affects the spatial scales in which the process of gentrification is occurring today. While there are studies on the impacts local green infrastructure-spending and greening initiatives can have on neighborhood gentrification, we know less about how large, arterial green infrastructure …


Does Family Size Negatively Affect Child Health Outcomes In The United States?, Ji Sue Song Apr 2019

Does Family Size Negatively Affect Child Health Outcomes In The United States?, Ji Sue Song

Economics Honors Projects

This paper explores the relationship between family size and child health outcomes in the United States. More specifically, it attempts to determine if the number of siblings has a causal effect on child health. Becker’s Quantity-Quality tradeoff suggests that more children (quantity) results to unhealthier children (quality). The main estimation strategy is the use of instrumental variables, for family size and health outcomes can be jointly determined by parental characteristics unseen and unaccounted for. In addition, a sub-analysis on families below the poverty line is conducted to see the additional effect of another child under more constricted circumstances. Lastly, the …


One Nation, One Race: An Analysis Of Nationalist Influence On Japanese Human Rights Policy, Garrett J. Schoonover Apr 2019

One Nation, One Race: An Analysis Of Nationalist Influence On Japanese Human Rights Policy, Garrett J. Schoonover

International Studies Honors Projects

Nationalism has continued to be prevalent in Japanese society, the legacy of Japan’s period of modernization. This thesis examines the relationship between nationalism and human rights in Japanese policy, focusing on the question, “How do nationalist organizations in Japan influence government policies related to human rights?” It begins with a historical analysis in order to determine the remaining influence of nationalism in Japanese society at large, before determining the direct influence nationalism, through nationalist organizations and individuals, influence Japan’s laws and policies. I argue that much of Japan’s policy making is influenced by the nationalist movement, and as result, human …


Understanding The Construction Of Accessibility And Mobility: Non-Car Transportation In St. Louis, Missouri, Hannah N. Shumway Apr 2019

Understanding The Construction Of Accessibility And Mobility: Non-Car Transportation In St. Louis, Missouri, Hannah N. Shumway

Geography Honors Projects

This research examines disadvantaged populations’ accessibility and mobility in the non-car transportation system in St. Louis. By employing mixed methods, this research investigates accessibility and mobility through three distinct scholarly lenses: physical infrastructure and proximity, individual experiences, and political processes. The thesis synthesizes the analyses from these three approaches in order to provide holistic policy recommendations for creating more equitable transportation systems in St. Louis and beyond. Empirical findings show that neighborhoods with lower median incomes and lower percentages of white population in St. Louis are less accessible for biking and walking, with highly variable public transit accessibility. Bike system …


Self As Gem, Fursona As Facet(S): Constructions And Performances Of Self In Furry Fandom, Jake Dunn Jan 2019

Self As Gem, Fursona As Facet(S): Constructions And Performances Of Self In Furry Fandom, Jake Dunn

Award Winning Anthropology Papers

This ethnography explores constructions of selfhood in Furry Fandom, the organized body of people fascinated with anthropomorphism and zoomorphism. I argue that furs, who are members of the Fandom, construct the self similarly to a “gemstone,” using their fursonas—personally created (re)presentational entities imbued with a sense of personhood—to (re)present different facets of that gemstone. Through the performance of this (re)presentational entity, furs embody socioculturally sanctioned values they associate with their fursonas, and thus, their “true” or “ideal” senses of self. When this performance is validated by other furs, these socioculturally sanctioned values are reinforced in the construction of the self-as-gem, …


Class And The Classroom: The Role Of Individual- And School-Level Socioeconomic Factors In Predicting College Students’ Academic Behaviors, Cari Gillen-O'Neel, Emily Roebuck, Joan Ostrove Jan 2019

Class And The Classroom: The Role Of Individual- And School-Level Socioeconomic Factors In Predicting College Students’ Academic Behaviors, Cari Gillen-O'Neel, Emily Roebuck, Joan Ostrove

Faculty Publications

This study examines how, for emerging adults attending residential colleges, family incomes and the SES composition of high schools are jointly associated with academic behaviors in college. Using a one-time survey, daily surveys, and additional data collection on high school SES composition, this study measured 221 college students’ (17-25 years old) SES backgrounds and academic behaviors. Findings indicated that three academic behaviors (study time, in-class engagement, and help-seeking) were predicted by an interaction between family income and high school context. Among students who attended high schools that serve many low-income students, higher family income was significantly associated with more beneficial …


Soldiers, Activists, Legislators: Democratization And Women's Representation In Bolivia And Nicaragua, Margaret Mischka Jan 2019

Soldiers, Activists, Legislators: Democratization And Women's Representation In Bolivia And Nicaragua, Margaret Mischka

Political Science Honors Projects

In 2018, Bolivia and Nicaragua contain 53 and 46 percent women in their national legislatures respectively, while other countries, including the United States, lag behind with proportions around 20 percent. Why do some countries have higher levels of women in office? A preliminary answer points to gender quotas, which have increased numbers of women in legislature in numerous cases. Rather than beginning and ending the story of women’s representation with gender quotas, however, this project analyzes the processes that lead a country toward the adoption of such quotas. By tracing the political histories of Bolivia and Nicaragua through crises related …


The Business Of Fatherhood: Professional Fathers' Parental Leave Experience In The U.S. And Sweden, Linnea Fox Jan 2019

The Business Of Fatherhood: Professional Fathers' Parental Leave Experience In The U.S. And Sweden, Linnea Fox

Sociology Honors Projects

This project examines the cultural differences and similarities between middle class professional fathers in the U.S. and Sweden. These men face extremely different state structured programs, which may or may not provide benefits to ease the pressures of the early years of parenthood. We might expect that differences in welfare state policies result in differences in how people experience parenthood. On the other hand, some welfare state policies of more recent origin may reflect common gendered dynamics. Although experiencing different cultural norms and structures, these fathers’ experiences look relatively similar, their experiences with the family, their descriptions of their role …