International and Area Studies Commons^™

Approaching Contemporary Terrorism, Jonathan Marcus

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper aims to analyze how governments of the modern era can better engage with contemporary terrorist organizations. It argues that nations and governments must alter their strategy on terrorism in light of its increasing prevalence and lethality in the modern era. Proclamations of non-negotiation, made with false perceptions that terrorists are simply irrational radical actors, are no longer viable if governments truly seek to reduce terrorist violence. In fact, it’s the ambiguity of terrorism and the major differentiation in the practices of various organizations which necessitate a more flexible strategy. Simply, the one-size-fits all solution of unequivocal no-negotiation is …

Humanitarian Negotiations & Humanitarian Principles: The Interaction Between Humanitarian Negotiations For Access And Organizations' Ability To Adhere To Humanitarian Principles, Gabriela Gil

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Aim: To examine how do humanitarian organizations apply, or fail to apply, the humanitarian principles through humanitarian negotiations in modern conflict settings.

Methods: A literature review identified relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature on international humanitarian norms and law, the landscape of modern conflict, and existing guidelines on humanitarian negotiations. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts in humanitarian negotiations chosen on the basis of their relevant background. A coded analysis of these interviews was conducted to identify major themes and subthemes in responses.

Background: Multiple international mechanisms outline the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence and States, non-State …

Supplying Slaves: The Disguise Of Greener Pastures: An Exploratory Study Of Human Trafficking In Uganda, Kyla Johnson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study was to evaluate labor migration in Uganda with a specific focus on the role labor recruitment agencies play in transporting people and how certain circumstances such as lack of knowledge of safe migration can leave people vulnerable to human trafficking. Labor externalization is beneficial specifically for developing countries because it provides jobs for the robust and available labor in these countries. Nonetheless, when reports appear that young girls are stranded abroad in the middle east after being taken there for work, labor recruitment agencies are first to receive the blame. Although Uganda issued a ban …

Humanitarian Assistance In Protracted Emergencies: Rethinking The Role Of Food Aid In Adjumani, Victoria Puglia

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Humanitarian food assistance is incredibly susceptible to funding cuts, which reduces the quantity of food available to refugees. If refugees depend solely on food aid for survival, the implication of reductions is increased food insecurity at a household level. The Government of Uganda champions a self-reliance strategy that has failed to support refugees to the desired extent, especially when food rations are low. This study aims to assess the impact of humanitarian food assistance on the socioeconomic structures of refugee settlements in Adjumani, Uganda to understand the consequences of unstable food aid. The research was conducted over a four-week period. …

Examining The Culture Of Poverty Argument In Morocco: How Development, Criminalization, Education, And The Makhzen Craft Perceptions, Raegan Loheide

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper explores if and how stakeholders in Moroccan poverty reduction invoke the culture of poverty argument. The thesis originally proposed by Oscar Lewis has been used and transformed to justify a variety of policies or lack thereof over the past several decades and varies according to history and cultural context. We understand the notion of what it means to be poor in Morocco through the lens of NGOs working with vulnerable populations. The organizations interviewed in this research were all connected to government or foreign aid funding, which inserts a particular development and Western oriented lens to solutions. Although …

Post-Colonial Restructuring Of Human Rights Systems In Morocco, Kristen Hansen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

A surge of academic criticism has followed the NGO corporatization trend (‘NGOization’) of the 1980s. NGOs have been called an extension of neoliberal ideology as they are pressured to depoliticize and corporatize their structures. NGOs have been forced to fit into an international schema of aid work that compromises their ability to bring about impactful change within their own communities. This trend has been cultivated by shrinking neoliberal governments and an intensified reliance on NGOs to fulfill international human rights requirements. This project examines the role of Rabat women’s rights organizations within the context of Morocco as a neoliberal state …

La Construcción De Espacios Para La Memoria: El Rol De Los Actores En Tres Ex Centros Clandestinos De La Ciudad De Buenos Aires, Quentin Bernhard

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En esta investigación, cuento la historia como espacios de memoria de tres ex centros clandestinos en la ciudad de Buenos Aires y noto aspectos importantes de ellos que me conocí a través de entrevistas con trabajadores en los sitios en visitas ambas formales y informales. Analizo el rol de los actores sociales como el gobierno, el barrio y los visitantes en el funcionamiento de cada sitio, y a partir de eso exploro la identidad única de cada uno y cómo construyen la memoria por medio del espacio de memoria.

Este trabajo se base en parte en la cantidad de obras …

Tracing Race Through The Narrative Of A Oaxacan Ex-Bracero, Carlina Green

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

On March 21st, 2019, I was at a birthday lunch for my host mother at her parents’ house in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico, where I am currently studying abroad. Her father began to ask me about the normal meal times in the United States, and shared that he had witnessed this cultural difference firsthand during his time as a migrant worker in the United States. I asked him more questions and learned that he had first gone to Chesterfield, Missouri as a participant in the bracero program in 1953 and later to Los Angeles as an undocumented migrant in the …

The Understandings And Human Cost Of ‘Prevention Through Deterrence,’ As Seen Amongst Advocates In The United States And Mexico, Margaret Edwards

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the last two years of President Donald Trump and his administration, immigration and border regulations between the United States (US) and Mexico has become one of the most decisive and hottest political issues. This political struggle has brought into question US border practices and strategies such as physical barriers, denial of entry, detention, and, most importantly, how the US should respond to immigration. In reality, though, this question has existed since immigration along the US-Mexico border began.

In this paper, I examine a 1994 US Border Strategy, first introduced under President Bill Clinton, called ‘Prevention Through Deterrence.’ This border …

Gambaru-Ando: Las Familias De Los Desaparecidos De La Colectividad Japonesa (Fdcj) Y Su Lucha Por La Memoria, Verdad, Justicia, Y Visibilidad / Embodying Gambaru: Nikkei Families Of The Desaparecidos And Their Fight For Visibility In The Movement For Memory, Truth, And Justice, Mieko Kuramoto

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En los años del último gobierno militar en la Argentina, 30.000 mil personas fueron desaparecidas en una campaña de terrorismo de estado. Entre esos miles, 17 de los desaparecidos eran argentinos de ascendencia japonesa, o ‘nikkei.’ Este proyecto estudia la lucha de sus familias para ganar visibilidad y borrar el estigma que rodeó a los desaparecidos dentro de la colectividad japonesa, a la vez de luchar por su reconocimiento en la sociedad argentina. Para estudiar su “doble- lucha,” este proyecto también toca temas de interseccionalidad, identidad y traumas nacionales sufridos por las comunidades minoritarias, y examina el trabajo que hizo …

La Vulneración De Los Derechos E Invisibilización Sobre Lxs Migrantes Senegaleses En Caba / The Violation Of Human Rights And The Invisibilization Of Senegalese Immigrants In The Autonomous City Of Buenos Aires, Madeline Doane

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Antes de que Argentina fuera una estado-nación oficial, ha habido una invisibilización de lxs afro-descendientes y afro-argentinxs que continúa hoy bajo la negación de la existencia y los derechos de lxs inmigrantes senegaleses. Desde la década de 1990, ha habido una progresiva afluencia de migrantes senegaleses, por lo general de varones jóvenes, a Buenos Aires, Argentina, con el sueño de prosperidad económica para compartir con sus familias en Senegal. A su llegada, se enfrentan a varias barreras lingüísticas y culturales para adaptarse al estilo de vida argentino. Debido a las leyes de inmigración actuales, no son capaces de obtener trabajos …

La Radio Es Más Fuerte Que La Espada : La Percepción De La Eficacia De La Radio Comunitaria De Familiares Y Amigos De Luciano Arruga En La Visibilización Del Problema De La Violencia Institucional. / The Radio Is Mightier Than The Sword: The Perception Of Efficiency Of The Community Radio Of Familiares Y Amigos De Luciano Arruga In Making Visible The Problem Of Institutional Violence., Isabel Torres

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este trabajo investiga la percepción de la eficacia de las radios comunitarias en la visibilización de su lucha contra la violencia institucional. En particular, examina las percepciones de la eficacia que los miembros de la organización Familiares y Amigos de Luciano Arruga tienen sobre la radio comunitaria de su organización, Radio Zona Libre. A través de entrevistas semi-estructuradas y la investigación archivística, indagué como los objetivos de la organización y la radio han cambiado con el tiempo, y con esos cambios surgió un cambio posterior en los tipos de visibilidad que querían lograr y sus percepciones sobre el éxito que …

El Poder Del Sonido: La Radio Comunitaria En La Resistencia Contra Los Proyectos Extractivistas En La Patagonia / The Power Of Sound: Community Radio In Resistance Against Extractivist Projects In Patagonia, Dora Segall

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Desde finales de la última dictadura militar, la radio comunitaria fue utilizada por las personas cuyas voces no se representaban en los medios masivos de comunicación (Gerbaldo 2012). A fines de la década de 1980, surgieron nuevos medios populares para expresar las opiniones de quienes habían sido silenciados. Este desarrollo ha continuado hasta hoy en día. En junio de 2017 se registraron 416 estaciones de radio sin fines de lucro en Argentina (Galay 2017).

Siendo medio de comunicación alternativo utilizado en todo el país, la radio comunitaria funciona con una gestión horizontal o democrática. La Ley de Servicios de Comunicación …

Entre El Júbilo Y El Horror: Un Análisis De La Prensa Nacionalista Creada Por La Última Dictadura De Argentina Durante La Copa Mundial De 1978 Y Las Micro Resistencias En El Buenos Aires Herald / Between Jubilation And Horror: An Analysis Of The Nationalistic Press Created By The Last Dictatorship In Argentina During The 1978 World Cup And The Micro Resistances In The Buenos Aires Herald, Catherine Mathias

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper analyzes the nationalistic rhetoric used during the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. The dictatorship during this time heavily censored the press in order to maintain a favorable image, so, this paper will analyze three sources that supported the dictatorship and one that resisted the censorship instilled by the dictatorship. To achieve this analysis, I utilized various archives in Buenos Aires to find material from one newspaper and two magazines that supported the dictatorship: Clarín, Para Ti, and El Gráfico and articles from the newspaper, the Buenos Aires Herald, which continued to criticize the government despite intimidation. In this …

Voices Unheard: Women And Their Children In Nepal’S Incarceration System, Aune Nuyttens, Mikayla Rose

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research project focused on women in Nepal’s incarceration system. Our goal was to hear and share their stories with the hopes of humanize and de-stigmatize perceptions of female prisoners in and outside of Nepal. A central component to these stories, as we learned, was also the story of prisoner’s children and the NGOs who provide assistance to this vulnerable group of women and their children. The researchers travelled to the east and west of Kathmandu to visit rural and urban prisons in Nepal, and visited various children homes, however the research was based out of Kathmandu, where many of …

"Baby Factories": Exploitation Of Women In Southern Nigeria, Jacinta Chiamaka Nwaka, Akachi Odoemene

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Despite the writings of feminist thinkers and efforts of other advocates of feminism to change the dominant narratives on women, exploitation of women is a fact that has remained endemic in various parts of the world, and particularly in Africa. Nigeria is one of those countries in Africa where women are largely exposed to varying degrees of exploitation. This paper examines the development and proliferation of baby-selling centers in southern Nigeria and its impacts on and implication for women in Nigeria. It demonstrates how an attempt to give protection to unwed pregnant girls has metamorphosed into “baby harvesting” and selling …

Hurricane Maria's Aftermath: Redefining Puerto Rico's Colonial Status, Pedro Caban

Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino Studies Faculty Scholarship

The devastation wrought by a historic storm posed the damage already inflicted by decades of economic policies that have treated the island like a second-class territory.

Forced Labor In Hong Kong, Kylan Rutherford

Marriott Student Review

Domestic workers are among the most exploited groups, composing 24% of the estimated 45.8 million forced laborers worldwide. The market for domestic workers has expanded especially rapidly in the Asia-Pacific region; in Hong Kong alone, there are currently 360,000 domestic workers—about 10% of Hong Kong’s workforce—mostly originating from the Philippines and Indonesia (Hincks, 2017). 94% of these workers show signs of exploitation or forced labor (Kang, 2017). The nature of their work in a foreign country limits their access to government protection, forces them to comply with illegally high recruitment fees, and can push them to submit to abuse in …

Post Colonial Studies, Nashieli Marcano, Kyle Brooks

Research Guides & Subject Bibliographies

No abstract provided.

The Venezuelan Crisis Within The Context Of Us Interventions In Latin America, Gloria D. Bravo

2019 Symposium

Venezuela, due to economic and political sabotage, has been experiencing a humanitarian crisis since the late part of 2018. This oil-exporting nation was faced with economic decline after 9/11, the 2008 economic recession and again in 2014; as a result of oil prices tanking. Under Cesar Chavez’s presidency the Venezuelan Bolivar faced destabilizing inflation rates surged in part by the ‘economic war’ against private enterprise and the bourgeoisie class, as well as a lack of diversification of exports and a dependency on imported goods. After Chavez's death in 2013, Nicolás Maduro took office and social unrest intensified.

Since 2014:

• Over …

Educator Perspectives On Suggested Changes To The Jordanian Education System As A Result Of The Syrian Refugee Crisis, Sara Sydney Caplan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The research investigates the question: How do teachers believe the Jordanian education system should change in order to best meet the needs of all students given the recent influx of Syrian refugees? The researcher interviewed seven teachers in Amman and Madaba, Jordan to gather qualitative data on their perspectives on the current Jordanian education system. Educators interviewed represented a vary of different school populations, grade levels, environments, resources and subject areas. Teachers interviewed and material culture demonstrated that the current education system is in need of multifaceted reform. The primary issue raised by many interviewees is enhanced discrimination and inequitable …

Confronting The Ngo: Struggling For Agency And Approximating Freedom Through The Works Of Michel Foucault And Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Samantha Coss

Pitzer Senior Theses

This project aims to consider the proliferation of the NGO in the 21st century and the implications that this model has for justice, freedom and social change. The nonprofit, or nongovernmental organization, will be examined using theorists and thinkers Michel Foucault and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, in hopes of understanding the ways in which the NGO limits freedom and perpetuates violence. There will be an exploration of struggling for agency beyond the nonprofit, including an introduction to examples of other change-making models from the United States and Latin America. The goal of this project is to critically examine the current frameworks …

Surpass, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Where is China going? How will it influence world politics in the twenty-first century? Such questions currently vex commentators not only in the West, but within the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as well.¹ In his first month as China’s leader in 2012, Xi Jinping addressed this concern when he proposed the ‘China Dream’ (zhongguo meng) as his vision of the PRC’s future direction. Such discussion of directions and dreams is actually part of a broad and ongoing debate about the ‘moral crisis’ that China faces after four decades of economic reform and opening up. Public intellectuals from across the …

Prevention Of Violence Against Children: A Systems Readiness Assessment In Côte D’Ivoire, Marie-Kaye Soletchi Seya-Sery

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Violence against children (VAC) is a global problem with significant consequences. Recognizing the need to better understand the problem of VAC in Côte d’Ivoire (CI), the government of CI recently completed a survey on violence against children. The recent data will support an evidence-based national action plan for the prevention of VAC. Research shows that initiatives tackling specific problems will only be as successful as the community’s readiness to take action. This study applied the community readiness model to assess the readiness of the multisectoral task force (MSTF) to implement the national action plan in CI. Eight MSTF participants’ interview …

Terrorism In The Middle East: Implications On Egyptian Travel And Tourism, Tamer Z.F Mohamed, Tamer S. Elseyoufi

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper attempts to shed the light on challenging issues affecting travel and tourism industry especially in the Middle East such as political, socio-economic and security instability. Due to its geopolitical and historical importance, the paper focuses on the situation in Egypt as a descriptive case study. The methodology relies on historical review and impact assessment to understand the roots and extended branches of instability in the Middle East that led to the Arab Spring, by focusing on the Egyptian case in the last half century. The assessment explains the negative effect of Western and Egyptian policy on extending the …

Islam & Interfaith Dialogue: Innovative Diplomacy Between The United States And Islamic Republic Of Iran, Kristyn Rohrer

Honors Student Research

This meta-communicative study provides an analysis of global interfaith dialogue as it pertains to peace and conflict, with a primary focus on Islam. The Islamic Republic of Iran and United States have a complicated history. Their diplomatic relationship is rife with manipulation, radicalism, and a disregard for human dignity. Currently, the US is imposing hundreds of sanctions and restrictions on Iran, from nuclear energy to medicine, as a result of President Trump’s decision to back out of the Iran Deal. However, other forms of dialogue are affecting positive relations between the two countries. Interfaith dialogue between North American Mennonites and …

The Spirit Is Willing, But The Flesh Is Weak: Contemporary Pan-Africanism And The Challenges To A United States Of Africa, Adesola Adeyemo

Master's Theses

Establishing a ‘United States of Africa’ to the average individual is deemed as a mythical idea in contemporary Africa, irrespective of the popularity of this idea several years ago. Today, the idea is idealized as overambitious – considering the balkanized state of the continent post-colonialization. Because of this, attempts made since then have favored enforcing regional integration over continental integration. Undeniably, this idea would not have come into being if it wasn’t for the concept of Pan-Africanism - which has for long guided the political and socio-economic policies created on the continent. The goal of this research is …

Bureaucracy, Civil Society And Ideology In Latin America, Grazielli Faria Zimmer Santos, Paula Chies Schommer

Gobernar: The Journal of Latin American Public Policy and Governance

This essay analyzes how political and ideological changes affect public bureaucracy and its relationship with civil society regarding different strategies of openness to participation. We suggest a theoretical-conceptual framework to discuss aspects of the political situation in Latin America. First, we discuss the changes that occurred over time, in the state-civil society relationship, which strengthen the latter and amplify a discourse for more participatory democracy. The focus is the role of the public bureaucracy in mediating the relations among the several actors in society, and we examine the way different political and ideological strands influence how open to participation the …

Wellness And Prevention Program Sustainability Design For Clark University Athletics Department, Emily Corbett

Sustainability and Social Justice

The purpose of this work is to design a wellness based prevention program that is tailored to fit the campus community within Clark University, Worcester, MA, called the Peer Athletes Advocating for Wellness (PAAW) initiative. This paper first presents the current research on wellness related issues within a college campus, specifically surrounding sexual violence. It then outlines the current sexual violence prevention programming that takes place yearly for incoming first year students at Clark University, as well as a one-time initiative during which student athletes participated in the sexual violence prevention programming. There is a review of the current most …

Intersectional Invisibilization: Black Female Movement Leaders In Mexico And Their Private Sphere Resistance, Lindsay Fasser

Undergraduate Honors Theses

International attention drew to Afro-Mexican individuals in 2015, when the Mexican inter-census survey first allowed Black Mexican people to self-identify as Afro-Mexican. The Black movement in Mexico revolving around recognition rather than liberation had been stirring in Coastal regions for decades prior, fueled by the work of incredible activists across the gender spectrum. However, the representation of such activists in public discourse is largely male. In analyzing this particular movement, the importance of intersectional theory becomes apparent, in unpacking both gendered and racialized forms of hierarchy and invisibility. By exploring the intersections between social movement and social suffering, as well …