Inequality and Stratification Commons^™

¿Amigos, Enemigos O Hermanos En Riña?: Cooperación Y Conflicto Entre El Gobierno De Morales Y La Confederación De Los Pueblos Indígenas, Antti Aki Eemeli Isoaho

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este trabajo investiga la relación entre la Confederación de los Pueblos Indígenas del Oriente, Chaco y Amazonía Boliviana (CIDOB) y el actual gobierno, es decir, identifica conflictos, así como áreas de cooperación recientes entre los dos. A través de la realización de ardua investigación literaria, distintas entrevistas y participación directa en la Gran Asamblea Nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas (GANPI 2010), esta investigación propone responder de manera detallada la siguiente pregunta: ¿Cómo es y cómo ha evolucionado la relación entre el actual gobierno boliviano (liderado por un indígena) y los pueblos originarios del Oriente? Este estudio revela que a pesar …

The Incompatibility Of Dependence And Development: A Critical Analysis Of International Development Efforts In The Nicaraguan Context, Molly Dunton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Countries in the Global South have been receiving billions of dollars annually in humanitarian and development aid for the past half-century. But they still remain poor, marginalized, and on the periphery in spite of this massive influx of money into the region. Many would argue that this very aid is in fact working to maintain the economic hierarchies responsible for their poverty. Through the lens of Dependency Theory, I analyze this apparent failure of the International Development Industry in the context of Nicaragua. After researching what was working and what wasn’t in Nicaraguan rural development, I was able to categorize …

“We Can No Longer Declare Ourselves A Multicultural City Until We Start Reacting To Things Like This” : Contextualizing The Violence At The 2008 Queer Sarajevo Festival, Sarah Schrag

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The 2008 Queer Sarajevo Festival was an effort by LGBTIQ activists to raise visibility and educate the public through a series of artistic and cultural exhibitions over the course of five days. However, the Festival was preceded by a month-long media campaign in widely distributed right-wing newspapers, which declared the immorality of the Festival—particularly because of its timing during the holy Islamic month of Ramadan—and a crowd gathered outside the opening exhibition, throwing stones and violently assaulting at least eight Festival attendees. The remaining events of the Festival were cancelled. Government officials, political parties, and religious leaders’ responses to the …

Race, Class, Gender And The Law: A Study Of The Relationship Between Empregadas Domesticas And Their Patroas, Vasti Marilyn Mejía

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research analyzes the intersectionality of race, class, gender and governmental regulations, as they relate to violence against black women who are employed in domestic work. In order to reasonably address this larger issue in three weeks of field research, I have chosen to study this relationship as it relates to violence against black domestic workers, as domésticas and their female employers, as patroas, largely white women. Drawing from existent knowledge regarding the forms of oppression used against the black community during slavery, I conclude that that this hegemonic, dominant societal structure continues to function today in new, yet still …

Sex Trafficking: Social Constructions And Stereotypes Of Recovery In Viet Nam, Linh Huynh

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The research attempts to reveal how labels of victimization of trafficked returnees can actually harm socialization efforts of reintegration. Although men are trafficked for sexual purposes as well, the study will focus only on the acclimization of women in An Giang province, on the border of Cambodia. The paper discusses the stories of three returnees and analyzes their social reintegration through social events such as cooking and through informal conversations. This is turn, is compared to other populations that may be susceptible to trafficking, but have not yet been. All work and research is based on the participant observation form …

Grita. Erga-Se : Colonial Cycles Of Violence In Domestic Labour In Salvador, Bahia, Jessica Nina Pine

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research analyses the multiple forms of violence that Afro-Brasilian domestic workers in Salvador, Bahia face in their profession, and how the origin of this aggression is rooted in slavery, a colonial tool of oppression. This study also serves to highlight how domestic workers are empowering themselves to change this unjust situation. In order to research this dynamic, I worked with Sindoméstico, a domestic workers union in Salvador.

Through my research, I concluded that the disturbing mentalities of superiority and the false hierarchical binaries that came forth from slavery still exist in modern-day Salvador in the relationship between employer and …

Breaking The Silence: Professionals Of Hera Speak Out About Lesbian Battering, Janelle Thompson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In a heterosexist world, the unique needs of homosexuals are often ignored. Lesbians in the area of intimate partner violence (IPV) are no different. Most organizations that work with IPV only provide services for heterosexual women. However, lesbian battering occurs at almost the same rate as in heterosexual relationships. Therefore, this study seeks to assess if service providers and the organizations that work with domestic abuse in the Netherlands are altering their structure (i.e. health programs, services, attitude) to incorporate lesbian battering and if those alterations carry over in practice to the shelters. Through personal interviews and a questionnaire this …

An Enduring Scourge: The Evolution Of Trafficking In Women For Forced Prostitution In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Elizabeth Longino

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the late nineties, in the post-conflict period of rebuilding and peacekeeping, trafficking in women for sexual exploitation emerged as a major problem in Bosnia-Herzegovina. For years, the country was considered one of the principle destination and transit countries in the region, until a combination of internal and external factors caused the situation to change. Internally, the government passed legislation, created action plans, and designated special police forces to combat trafficking across borders. Apart from these actions, regional political changes and the withdrawal of international troops also contributed to the closure of bars and brothels in which trafficked women were …

Kilombo Do Kioiô: The Use Of An Artesanato Program As A Program Of Social Justice, Anna Losacano

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The women’s artisan group, Kilombo do Kioiô, part of the Ação Social da Paróquia Sao Bras (Sao Bras Parochial Social Action Group) in the neighborhood of Plataforma, Salvador, Bahia, works to insert poor Afro-Brazilian women into the economic market and wider society. This community of women is struggling to survive in a society in which they are marginalized by their gender, race and socio-economic position. They are also struggling to survive two types of violence that are pervasive in Plataforma: domestic violence and violence related to drug trafficking.

This research project studies how working as artisans affects the participants’ social …

“Ahora Es Cuando”: La Lucha Por El Derecho A La Ciudad En La Villa 31 = “Now Is The Time”: The Fight For The Right To The City In Villa 31, Margaret Scott

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the Villa 31, an extensive informal settlement in the heart of Buenos Aires, thousands of precariously constructed brick homes reach four, five or even six stories and stretch shakily toward the sky. Beneath poorly constructed foundations, the land on which the villa’s thousands of homes rest is valued at up to $6000.00 (U.S. dollars) per square meter. Villa 31 finds itself in the “heart” of Buenos Aires, built up against extensive railways (bus and train), a central automobile artery, and the city’s well developed port, all of which give the villa the potential to be some of the city’s …

Combating Educational Inequalities: Afro-Brazilian Youth & The Bahia Street Project, Kimberly Menendez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In her article entitled “Inequity and Human Rights of African Descendants in Brazil,” Lucila Beato insists that Afro-Brazilian rights are violated everyday. Those who experience this violation the most are Afro-Brazilian, or Black, women who are considered to be at the bottom of the social hierarchy. These women are a double minority who are condemned for being both Black and women. Many women, as do men, drop out of school early in life in order to help their families, who live below the poverty line and struggle to make ends meat. Many girls turn to prostitution, pornography, and even sexual …

Baguncaco Cleans Up The Bagunca Of "Racial Democracy", Afro-Brazilian Consciousness And Racial Identity In Alagados, Salvador, Bahia, Monica Mugure

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The 2001 Brazil census reports that of Brazil’s 150 million people, 53 percent of them are Afro- Brazilians and 47 percent are white. Of these, Afro-Brazilians hold a 28.5 percent illiteracy rate compared to the 11 percent held by whites. Income distribution indicates that the poorest 20 percent of the population owns only 2.6 percent of national wealth, while the wealthiest 10 percent command 48.1 percent. These facts are prime examples of the skewed distribution of wealth across Brazil and offer insight to the reality experienced by Afro-Brazilians who are most affected by this disparity. Together with the assumption commonly …

Gaaro: Nepali Women Tell Their Stories, Sarah Cramer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

“In the 1970s, women were discovered to have been “bypassed” by the development interventions. This “discovery” resulted in the growth during the late 1970s and 1980s of a whole new field, women in development (WID), which has been analyzed by several feminist researchers as a regime of representation” (Escobar, 13). This “regime of representation” was a way in which development discourse linguistically, and consequently practically, imposed a homogenized identity on these “bypassed” women, in order to bring them into development programs. This homogenizing discourse was constructed by Western development efforts and takes place by constructing all third world women as …

“Happy Dancing Natives” Minority Film, Han Nationalism, And Collective Memory, Benjamin D. Shaffer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Cinematic representations of China’s ethnic minorities have been prominent in Chinese visual culture and collective memory since the 1950s. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese Communist Party led campaigns to classify China’s diverse range of ethnic groups. These social experiments inspired a number of documentary and narrative films about the ostensibly “exotic” and “colorful” non-Han peoples of China. The audience for these depictions of minorities in visual culture varied considerably. Some early documentaries fueled the rise of Han nationalism and political agendas within the Communist Party. Several narrative films had large audiences in mainstream Chinese …

Unholy Union: The Convergence Of Agendas Between The Gay Community And The Political Right-Wing In The Netherlands, Michael Wayne Perry

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The introduction of immigrants from traditionally Islamic countries has created a new dynamic within the Dutch social system. Seemingly clashing with the established facade of Dutch “tolerance”, this group of Muslim immigrants has logically found a natural enemy within right-wing political parties. However, on a more interesting level, we see that the political agenda of the gay movement has seemingly converged with the agenda of those right-wing groups. In a sense, this convergence of agendas seems odd considering the general association of the gay movement with leftist, more progressive political movements. This study intends to examine this convergence of agendas; …

The Politics Of Engagement: The Influence Of Identity On The Experiences Of Activists Involved With The Roma Community In Serbia, Becca Gardner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Debate and mystery surrounds the origin and culture of the Gypsies in Europe; however, there is no question that the space they inhabit today reflects their position of marginalization and discrimination. During the last five years, there has been a surge of activism and interest in the experiences of the Roma, largely due to the implementation of the Decade for Roma Inclusion . The Decade is a commitment among governments, intergovernmental, non-governmental organizations, and Romani civil society to address the inequality of Roma in Europe by focusing on employment, education, health, and housing within the specific context of each participating …

Unemployment, Women, And Taxis: A Study Of The Taxi-Sister Program In Its Test Phase, Mackenzie Israel-Trummel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In May of 2007, the Senegalese Ministry for Family and Female Entrepreneurship in collaboration with a private car dealership, Espace-Auto, announced plans for the Taxi-Sister program, which introduced ten women into the taxi driving profession. The first ten women, who hit the streets in September 2007, are considered a test-run for the program, as the Ministry seeks to expand women’s roles in Senegalese society and presence in the economic sector. The program is considered to be both an effort to address women’s poverty and to establish a feminine presence in professions formerly reserved for men.

This study attempts to describe …

Helping Women Help Themselves: Sex Work, Health, And Development In Mahajanga, Madagascar, Rachel Pryzby

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Poverty is an inescapable reality in Madagascar, a force that permeates the lives of many Malagasy people. Approximately 75 % of the population lives below the poverty line, defined as one United States dollar per person per day . This poverty proves to be particularly cruel to women who are often illiterate, unmarried, and have children to support. In cases such as these, often the quickest and most lucrative type of work available is sex work. The proportion of sex workers (called makorelina in Malagasy and travailleuses de sexe in French ) in the city of Mahajanga is quite large—approximately …

Leprosy: A Study Of Identity Through A “Marginalized” Population, Aarti Bhatt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

People of all different cultures use identity as a way of mediating with surrounding institutional structures and personal communities. Identity however, is not a concrete idea but a multidimensional and dynamic condition. For communities of so called "marginalized people" an identity perceived or created from the outside and imposed can have drastic implications on a person's capacity to act as an agent. Stefen Ecks argues for the value of ethnographic study from the point of view of the marginal people, going on to say that "this is of critical importance since marginality puts health most under stress when it is …

Creating Dreams, Fighting For Rights: A Study With Centro De Cultura Negra Do Maranhão, Brazil, Laura Jenks

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The history of race in Brazil is a long and complicated one which has resulted in a contemporary racial climate fraught with hidden racism and the systematic oppression of the entire black population. Because of this complex history, black movements in Brazil have struggled to gain political power and unified support from the black population. Today, the black movement is made up of many independent organizations, working in their own way to fight racism and inequality within Brazil. This research project looks at the work of one such organization of the Brazilian black movement, the Centro de Cultura Negra in …

What’S A Girl To Do: Repatriarchalization And Croatian Women’S Reproductive Freedom, Brittany Rast

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Croatia is a country in transition. After decades of officially minimizing differences between itself and the rest of the former Yugoslavia, Croatia is now fiercely fighting to establish its own unique identity. As part of that battle, Croats have embraced their folk traditions, and they have brought the Catholic Church back into prominence. Approximately 85% of Croatians are Roman Catholic, and the Croatian government and the Catholic Church have very strong ties (Drakulic 1993: 125). As is the case in many transitional countries, the embracing of folk culture and its norms, coupled with the resurgence of the Catholic Church has …

A Caldron Of Militancy: Construction Of Feminine Consciousness In The Movimento Sem-Terra: A Community Study In Palmares Ii, Caroline Lamar Pihl

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The role of women in the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-Terra is a unique discourse connected to agrarian reform movements and Brazilian machismo. Current literature on women in the MST reveals conflicting levels of participation. During occupations and the building of acampamentos women are remembered for their aggressive fighting and high levels of involvement. However, once acampamentos become established assentamentos history has shown levels of participation to dramatically drop, as women return to traditional roles. Sexism and machismo have both been identified historically as problems in the landless movement. The objective of this paper was to contribute to the debate …

El Movimiento De Mujeres Y Anamuri: Un Estudio De Caso, Stephanie Roberts

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the past century, societies around the world found themselves confronting the cultural and political double standards that existed (and still do) with respect to women’s rights and participation. While many countries have tried to include women equally and without bias, the truth is that women’s participation continues to be below mark. In Latin America, as well as many other regions of the world, women fulfill an interesting double role—on one side, the very center of society itself, on the other, an underrepresented and often ignored majority. This essay investigates the role that women’s organizations play in Chile, focusing on …

Living In The Margins: The Male Homosexual Experience In Salvador, Silvano Gonzalez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Gay men across the world suffer through a reality of discrimination, violence, and hate. Academic literature supports this to be the case in Brazil, considered among many to be the world champion in the number of gay, lesbian and transsexual murders each year. Looking at the specific community of Salvador, Bahia, I have found this same homosexual reality to be the case. Though not experienced as directly as in other locations throughout Brazil, due in large part to the cities vast population and political activism, the effects of homophobia and prejudice are clearly demonstrated in this community.

My goal in …

Struggle, Revolution, And The Mst: Reflections On The Meaning Of Resistance, Andrew Cole

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following is an ethnographic account of the motivations, attitudes, and ideology of several residents of Lenin Paz II, a Brazilian land-reform settlement in the northeastern state of Ceará. The particular focus of the study is on the reasons these individuals decided to get involved with the social movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra) that brought them to the settlement after a 2-3 year process of land occupation. Theoretically, the paper focuses on the development of a collective sense of social or class consciousness amongst the landless who were interviewed, drawing heavily on James Scott’s theory of resistance outlined …

Self-Employed, Self-Empowered: Working Women In Benares, Madeline S. Oatman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

“Economic independence is the password to women’s empowerment.”

Sathi Nair, a Senior Administrative Services official in Andhra Pradesh.

Twenty or so women sit peacefully on a cool cement floor at the Kutumb program center in Benares, India. The room floats like an oasis above the dusty heat of the street, and unobstructed light pours in through a large window. The women, heads bowed, black hair shining, are stitching and measuring, brows furrowed in concentration despite the lull of the lazy afternoon. They have come to learn a skill in order to make extra income, to be around women, exchange advice …

A Separate World: Conflicts Between Malagasy Society And The Mentally Handicapped, Jesse Travis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

Uma Doença Esquecida: A Falta De Conhecimento Da Hanseníase No Brasi, Anders Gustafson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Hansen’s Disease is one of the world’s most misunderstood and stigmatized illnesses. Its patients are often discriminated against, and marginalized from society. This study examines what role a fault in information regarding technical knowledge plays in perpetuating this prejudice. Data is based on interviews collected from patients, family members, and persons from the most affluent sections of society, all from the city of Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil. In addition, medical professionals provide their input. This information is referenced against sociological theory and historical precedence, to examine the role society and government have played in formulating the situation today. The study concludes …

Contemporary Slavery In The Amazon Of Maranhão: Reality And Response, Landen Romei

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research project addresses the reality of contemporary slavery in the Amazon of Maranhão. Through observations at the Center of Defense of Life and Human Rights (CDVDH) in the municipality of Açailândia, it gains a sense of the combat against the usage of slave labor today. Interviews with staff members at the Center and its Cooperative explain their objectives and methods in this struggle. In addition, interviews with former slaves allow for a deeper understanding of the day-to-day life of a modern slave. Over the course of three weeks of field research, the hypothesis of the gravity of slavery and …

Knowledge And Social Movements: Promotoras Populares And Social Transformation Beyond The Classroom Of Grupo De Mulher Maravilha (Gmm), Shanna Devine

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

I spent approximately one month researching the relation of Projecto Promotoras Legais Populares (PPLP) with its Subjects, Promotoras Legais Populares (PLP). It is a course aimed to foster political growth amongst marginalize groups in society through the exploration of their Rights. I explored the methodology used by PPLP in order to address the local needs of its Subjects --mainly black women with a poor/working-class background. How did this methodology facilitate the creation of a political space where they can voice these needs? I then looked at how this spread of legal knowledge has impacted Brazil’s most marginalized people in minimizing …