Social Justice Commons^™

Exit Through The Giftshop: Claims-Making And The Construction Of A Countercultural Brand, Cecil Mcglynn

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Independent, online microcelebrity influencers are increasingly many people’s source of news. A popular group of these influencers, called the Alternative Influence Network (AIN) has come under scrutiny in recent years for collaborating with radical, far-right political actors to advance particular viewpoints (Lewis, 2018). While those within the AIN claim these outputs represent their freedom of speech, some researchers have voiced concern around the possibility of these influencers proliferating or even popularizing radical political ideals. Steven Crowder is among the most popular influencers in the AIN. He performs a daily show, ‘Louder with Crowder’, to his 5.8 million YouTube subscribers. In …

Assessing The Sustainable Development Dimensions Of Environmental Public Policies For Protected Natural Areas In Mexico: A 1970-2018 Perspective, Cielo María Ávila López, José Israel Herrera

Journal of Maya Heritage

Abstract: This abstract discusses the challenges and issues related to the implementation of Environmental Public Policies (EPP) for Protected Natural Areas (PNA) in Mexico from 1970 to 2018. EPPs aim to achieve sustainable development by balancing economic, environmental, and social dimensions while reconciling conservation and the use of natural resources with restrictions on their use and economic compensation to communities. However, the results of this study reveal that the establishment of PNA has been unilateral and without consensus, leading to limitations on communities' use of the environment without granting them economic compensation or productive alternatives. This has resulted in conflicts …

The Pride Pipeline: Violent Nationalism In The United States, Emily Veloz

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

A striking rise in American Nationalism has emerged due to varying factors; however, a particular selection of identities have acted as primary contributors to this phenomenon. This piece navigates the increasing application of violence in the political arena in tandem with the impacts of racial, socioeconomic, and social factors that have fueled this collective aggression. Previous research points toward the hyperpolarization that has been perpetuated by political figures and media outlets, the augmentation of a psychological us-vs.-them mentality, and the perceived threat to American hegemony across the globe. Through an analysis of data provided by the 9th edition of the …

Megaproyectos Y Su Impacto En Derechos Humanos En Una Comunidad De Origen Maya: Yaxhá, Yucatán, México., Gonzalo Manuel Herrera Canché

Journal of Maya Heritage

Abstract: The current development of extractive megaprojects in Latin American countries has had a significant impact on their societies and environments. This research addresses the issue of the impacts of extractive agricultural megaprojects on the environment, society and the economy, specifically the case of a pig farm in the community of Yaxhá, located in the municipality of Muna, Yucatán. The identified impacts are mainly attributed to the lack of strong and committed political institutions, lax environmental legislation, and the absence of an operating system, which facilitates human rights violations related to the environment, society, and access to information. In this …

Casar Public Lecture: The Gaza War: Implications For The United States And Egypt, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

Director of CASAR Professor Mark W. Deets, also a current member of the History department of AUC specialist in African Studies acted as moderator for this Event. CASARs two guest panelists in this discussion were visiting scholar Professor David Dumke and Professor Karim Hagag. Dumke is the Executive Director of the Office of Global Perspectives & International Initiatives at the University of Central Florida (UCF). He teaches Middle East history, U.S. foreign policy, and American politics, and “has written extensively on these subjects.” He also is host and executive producer of WUCF-TV’s award-winning Global Perspectives (Public Broadcasting Service). Dumke spent …

The Permanence Of Racism In Tennessee Public Schools, Jarral Yokley

Dissertations

The qualitative case study exposed the permanence of racism beginning in the antebellum public schools of Nashville and continued in the current actions in the Tennessee legislature with the expulsion of two Black male legislators. Critical race theory is used as the main descriptor for the actions of White politicians and legislators in Tennessee who continue the oppressive treatment of Black people in the state of Tennessee.

White members of the Tennessee legislature have attempted to strategically continue white supremacy in their decision to display a depiction of one of the most deplorable, racists in the history of the state …

Challenges Of Accessibility Of A Community Heritage Tourist Route: The Route Of The Caste War, Cecilia S. Medina Martín, David E. Tamayo Torres, Margarita De A Navarro Favela, Fredi R. Un Noh

Journal of Maya Heritage

This article presents the results of an accessibility analysis of The Caste War Route (RGC), prior to its commercialization as a community heritage product. The analysis consists of a diagnosis of the resource to establish destination-planning strategies. The accessibility diagnosis goes beyond adapting physical spaces for transit, considering that the resource is accessible to all types of people, including economic, spatial and temporal accessibility, criteria on which the research focuses.

The diagnosis was prepared through a multidisciplinary investigation that collected information from different sectors with qualitative and quantitative tools that combined the recording of data and the opinion of the …

Can A Modified Model Un Support Civic Empowerment?, Leora Mincer, Jennifer Leger, Lucy Wilson

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

No abstract provided.

Review Of Making Livable Worlds: Afro-Puerto Rican Women Building Environmental Justice, Ava L. Corey-Gruenes

Feminist Pedagogy

Making Livable Worlds: Afro-Puerto Rican Women Building Environmental Justice, by Hilda Lloréns, highlights Black Puerto Rican women’s efforts to create equitable futures for their communities in the face of capitalism, racism, colonization, and ecological collapse. This review covers key concepts in Making Livable Worlds, including matriarchal dispossession, decolonizing ethnography, the myth of a homogenous Puerto Rico, and myths of inherent economic self-interest. Analyses of these concepts through an absence lens are suggested to enrich formal and informal feminist learning spaces.

La Curp No Sirve Para Nada: How The Curp And Other Temporary Documentation Fail To Protect The Human Rights Of Migrants In Transit Through Mexico, Harper Hoover

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This work concerns the use of temporary documentation by migrants in transit through Mexico, specifically an identification known as the Clave Única de Registro de Población (CURP.) In recent years, migrants have employed a strategy entailing applying for asylum in Mexico solely to obtain a temporary CURP, falsely believed to provide safe transit through Mexico. Past research on similar temporary documentation concludes that issuing permission to travel through the country is typically ineffective at providing safety from corruption and crime. Documentation also fails at providing reliable access to human rights guaranteed to all by the Mexican Constitution and Immigration Law …

From Vertical To Horizontal Empowerment Of Women (In) Peace And Security: Toward A Feminist Perspective Of Human Security, Ma. Lourdes Veneracion-Rallonza

Political Science Department Faculty Publications

Human security, a people-centered approach to security, typically seeks to examine vulnerabilities and identify ways of protecting people from threats. However, people are not perennial victims—they also have agency and are capable of acting on their own. This study looks at how the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda has created both the discursive and actual spaces for women's agency, particularly in the case of women's civil society organizations (CSOs), as illustrated by their work on the ground. This chapter investigates how the Gaston Z. Ortigas Peace Institute (GZOPI), Sulong Peace, and Women Engaged in Action on United Nations Security …

Desapariciones De Migrantes En La Frontera: Un Análisis De Factores Influyentes, Reyna Krystal Blakeman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

La migración latinoamericana a los Estados Unidos ha sido prevalente durante casi un siglo. Con una cantidad cada vez mayor de migrantes cruzando la frontera, las medidas de la Patrulla Fronteriza se vuelven más estrictas mientras pasan los años. Pero las consecuencias de estas regulaciones han sido fatales para los migrantes, y han resultado en un aumento en la cantidad de muertes y desapariciones de migrantes. Sin embargo, se ha realizado poca investigación sobre el tema de las desapariciones de migrantes, lo que resulta en que los desafíos que enfrentan los migrantes al cruzar la frontera sean ignorados por los …

The Constraints Within Capitalism: An Evaluation Of Ann E. Cudd's "Enlightened Capitalism" In 'Capitalism, For And Against', Phoebe E. Shown

The Cardinal Edge

There is extreme partisanship in the United States regarding whether or not capitalism should continue to be implemented. This partisanship is apparent in Capitalism, For and Against: A Feminist Debate, by Ann E. Cudd and Nancy Holmstrom. The published debate between Cudd and Holmstrom ultimately discusses whether systemic changes can be placed upon capitalism for an ideal "enlightened capitalism", presented by Cudd, or if the United States should adopt a new economic system altogether, suggested by Holmstrom. I address Ann E. Cudd's argument for an "enlightened capitalism" by summarizing her main ideas, and proceed to refute it on the grounds …

Progress Reimagined: A Generation Z Perspective On Belfast In Relation To The Unsdgs., Lucy Love Haman, Rebecca F. Macleod, Emilee E. Ernster, Camryn Moore, Erin Miller, Daron Baltazar, Ricardo Jackson

[Archive] Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

This research explores a contemporary outsider view of Belfast, through the eyes of Generation Z visiting college students, in relation to how three United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are carried out (Good Health and Well-Being, Climate Action, and Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions). To learn through firsthand accounts, the researchers utilized ethnographic and phenomenological methods, as interacting with locals to gather community inputs, surveying different groups in the city, Abstract: recording quotes said by citizens and displayed at billboards, and For Peer Review applying personal sensory experiences. It was found that a political deadlock plays a major role in the …

Against The Tide: Indigenous Knowledge And Education For Humanization, Arturo Rodriguez, Kevin Russel Magill

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Power brokers and their market economies enforce education on a global level. According to the United Nations, the effects of global neoliberal capitalism cause human rights violations in all parts of the world, yet democratic countries scoff at these findings (Pogge, 2002 & 2005). People of the world continue to believe that tying minoritized students to existing structures and ensuring enculturation is the best possible outcome for all involved (Suárez-Orozco & Suárez-Orozco, 2015). That is, minoritized children are educated to ensure first-world countries produce a minimally educated and willing labor force. In this paper we argue the following: 1) power …

Freedom Song: Uncovering A Politics Of Dignity In Black Feminist Thought And Praxis, Abegail M. Dobson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This master's thesis delves into Intersectionality as an organizing framework and critical social theory, emphasizing the significance of Black feminist thought to social justice initiatives that challenge prevailing intersectional violence. The central inquiry of this project is uncovering a Black feminist conceptualization of dignity as articulated in foundational texts. I scrutinize the essence of dignity within Black feminist theory and praxis, particularly addressing the question: How valuable is a "right" when societal experiences consistently undermine one's basic needs and protections required to live a dignified life beyond survival?

Black feminist thought, encompassing praxis, is posited as a profound space for …

Opportunity Discrimination: Resettlement Efforts Made By Ngos In The United States, Sarah Rauf

Capstone Collection

Social identity plays a key aspect in life. This research tests whether homogeneity between refugees and their host communities correlates to the immigration process and resettlement success. The analysis helps form a conclusion that people want to help those who look like themselves before those who appear more foreign. This is related to the central theories of social identity and prejudice stemming from stereotyping. Data collection comes from interviews with staff at a number of NGOs in the United States. The immigration and resettlement policies of these NGOs have been researched, and members were interviewed on the reformation of their …

Hoping As A Transformational Imperative In Puerto Rico: A Phenomenological And Grounded Theory Study Within Colonized Space, José Luiggi-Hernández

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the United States continues to restrict Puerto Rico’s self-determination and imposes oppressive institutions such as the Oversight Board, the people of the archipelago live in precarity and hopelessness. Limited psychological research on colonialism has focused on the detrimental impact of oppression and its influence on the development of fatalism and the inferiority complex. On the other hand, existing psychological theories of hope fail to describe how it is lived within the post-colonial context and to explain the ways in which this psychological phenomenon arises even in the face of systematic dehumanization. As Puerto Ricans show evident signs of hope …

Review Of Thorne, Benjamin, The Figure Of The Witness In International Criminal Tribunals: Memory, Atrocities And Transitional Justice, Art Blaser, Trinity Huynh

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

A review of Benjamin Thorne's The Figure of the Witness in International Criminal Tribunals: Memory, Atrocities and Transitional Justice.

The Fall And Rise Of Bengali Muslim Conciousness: Conceptualising The Identity Of The Bangla Universal, Habib Khan

Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of modern-nation states saw the end of the empirical era of exploitation and exercise of inherent racist tendencies towards the 'other'. However, the effect of that colonial system is still ever-present in the creation and governance of these newly independent states. While every new state aims to be 'modern', they adopt the international legal framework of the West as their own - a system they had initially wanted to escape. The concept of Muslim universality in the form of the ummah should have freed Pakistan from the shackles of its former colonial masters. Instead, this phenomenon was replaced …

Historical Trauma: Literary And Testimonial Responses To Hiroshima, Mariam Ghonim

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of trauma is controversial in literature. While one may be able to come up with ways to describe trauma in fiction, representing historical trauma is a hard task for writers. Some argue that trauma can not be described through those who did not experience it, while others claim that, provided some elements are added, one can represent trauma to the reader. This thesis focuses on twentieth-century historical traumas related to a nuclear catastrophe and explores the different literary and testimonial responses to the catastrophic man-made event of Hiroshima (1945). In this thesis, Kathleen Burkinshaw’s historical fiction The Last …

“Handicap Removed”: An Alternative Path To The Social Model, Craig M. Rustici

Journal of Gender, Ethnic, and Cross-Cultural Studies

This article identifies an expression of a social model of disability in a 1966 film promoting Hofstra University’s Program for the Higher Education of the Handicapped and traces that model back to books published by the pioneering rehabilitation physician Henry H. Kessler in 1935 and 1947, decades before the UPIAS (Union of the Physically Impaired against Segregation) Fundamental Principles of Disability (1976). In light of Kessler’s articulation of social and minority models, identification of contrasting religious, charity and medical models, and discussion of disability stigma, this article reassesses Ruth O’Brien’s critique, in Crippled Justice (2001), of Kessler and the twentieth-century …

Reimagining The Theory Of Necropolitics In A Modern Lens: Hate Crimes And Violence, Salma Ahmed Abdulmagied Gheita

Future Journal of Social Science

This research paper is testing the validity of the Necropolitics theory and how we can reintroduce its definitions in a modern lens. Though the theory of Necropolitics is extreme and historically was a terminology and paradigm that was used towards more catastrophic and traumatizing events. The main argument that this paper is discussing is how did the idea of Necropolitics evolved into a more institutional, systematic, and legalized manors of exclusion. This is made through critical discourse analysis of the text presented on the term Necropolitics to highlight on the history of this term and what it stood for in …

Understanding The Afghan Diaspora: Exploring The Factors Driving Migration And The Impact Of Migration Policies On Recent Afghan Evacuees Resettling In The United States, Aya H. Mohamed

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Afghanistan has been at war with the West since the late 1900’s, remaining in a state of constant turmoil. During the Cold War (1979), Afghanistan had fought a war with the Soviet Union, known as the Soviet- Afghan War. During this time, Afghanistan was invaded by both the Soviet and US, creating a ground for terrorism and the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. In order to then eradicate the terrorist regime, the Taliban, the United States went to war with Afghanistan in 2001. The Taliban were suppressed by U.S. forces until August 2021, during which President Biden executed a …

Conservative And Cultural Clashes With Comprehensive Sexuality Education, Bryan Z. Anderson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis analyzes the multifaceted debate over the use of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in United States public schools, while also emphasizing the ways in which withholding CSE is a strategy to uphold the white supremacist patriarchy. The work begins by historically framing the evolution of sexuality education through the United States’ history. This leads to the current discourse around CSE and the ways in which it is the optimal support for American youth today. After setting this foundation, the thesis looks at conservative figures and groups who are seeking to prevent public school adoption of CSE standards, as well …

Women Parliamentarians In India Since 1991: Challenges And Opportunities, Vatsala Bhusry

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

India gained a new economic orientation in 1991 following the policy of economic liberalization. It offered the opportunities to close the gender gap in various fields including the political field as visualized in the original goal of the Indian constitution. However, there is an acute underrepresentation of women at the national political level and there is a lack of evidence-based research studies to analyze this gap. This study maps the political trajectories of 13 elected women leaders holding offices at the national level since 2019. To better understand the challenges and opportunities at both macro and micro levels they came …

Dance/Movement Therapy Used As An Intervention To Heal Racial Trauma Within The Black Community: A Literature Review, Jennifer Noboise

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The history of dance within the black community has served an important role while living through a racist and discriminatory society. Dance has been used to express anger, grief, and joy during hardships and moments of rejoicing from the black experience. African American people have endured years of trauma and abuse from oppressive systems. Research has been conducted to demonstrate that dance/movement therapy has been effective in treating those who have experienced a form of trauma since the trauma is stored in the body. Examining trauma symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and substance use, the research found these symptoms diminished …

Ambigú Trashumante Barra De Café Ambulante Ambigú Trashumante Barra De Café Ambulante, Augusto Martin Rivero

Master's Projects and Capstones

Ambigú Trashumante Barra de Café Ambulante is an applied research project which took shape over the course of a calendar year from May 2022-2023. A six-person team evolved including the personified project itself, united as one communal entity in collaboration. The project entailed creation of a bicicargo, or cargo bike–useful art becoming a mobile coffee bar and literal vehicle embodying justice through coffee offered freely in México, as facilitated through decolonized ethnography and Mesoamerican Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR). The project’s theoretical framework centers on Bruguera’s (2012) arte útil conceptualization. Five core patterns emerged, including the right to thrive in …

Prostitution And Pornography: Reforming A Perspective, Mayce Combs

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

Happiness is a subjective emotion that can quickly be twisted by the depravity of humanity’s sinful nature. Human trafficking deprives an individual’s natural right to life, liberty, and their pursuit to happiness. Of the two divisions of human trafficking, sex trafficking, especially involving children, is the most despicable and most evolved. The United States and further the state of Virginia is a crucial player in combating human trafficking. While there are currently many successful tactics state governments and nonprofit groups are utilizing in order eliminate human trafficking there are further more intense strategies the Virginia State Government should implement. One …

Playing With Policy: What Insights Arise From Transgender Adults After Participating In A Legislative Theatre Exercise, Skylar A. Stratemeyer

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The transgender community is underrepresented in the current body of academic research, underserved in the current clinical model of healthcare services, and legislatively oppressed on a state and federal level in the United States. As of March 2023, more than 400 anti-LGBTQI laws have been introduced on a state level in 2023 alone (ACLU, 2023). In response to the hostile Western sociopolitical climate, this thesis will focus on what insights arise from transgender adults and cisgender allies (N = 12) after participating in a dramatherapeutic group therapy session that explored current anti-trans legislation and highlighted the legal needs of …