Politics and Social Change Commons^™

Duality In Bouazizi: Appraising The Contradiction, Alec Jacobson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

We know that Mohammed Bouazizi lived in Sidi Bouzid and that he was often the sole income for a poor family. We know that he sold fruit from a cart and that, while vending on December 17^th, 2010, he had an altercation with the police, and later doused himself in flammable liquid in front of the municipal offices and struck a match. There are some who know more – childhood friends, neighbors, customers, cousins – who knew the man and interacted with him over the course of his relatively short life. But for us, the general public of …

The Successes And Shortcomings Of Participatory Slum-Upgrading In Villa 31, Jacob Perten

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In Villa 31, an urban shantytown in the heart of Buenos Aires, a team of technical professionals and community members are working together on a slum-upgrading project. Through a participatory approach, in which community members are involved in all aspects of the upgrading process, this project seeks to better overall conditions through infrastructural and structural improvements. This study investigates the participatory process used in the upgrading of Villa 31, and using theoretical best practices as a basis of comparison, underscores key achievements and limitations of the current project. Based on chosen shortcomings, the final section makes recommendations to maximize participatory …

La Educación Intercultural Bilingüe En Cusco: Un Análisis Crítico Del Discurso De Algunos Sectores Involucrados Con Su Implementación, Maggie Hutchison

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En la segunda mitad del siglo XX en el Perú, la iniciativa de la Educación Intercultural Bilingüe, o la EIB, ha sido una manera importante de promover la revaloración de las lenguas y culturas indígenas y contribuir a un cambio social donde los espacios nacionales políticos y sociales incluyen por primera vez a las poblaciones indígenas sin la discriminación del pasado. La EIB tendrá mayor posibilidad de realizar un cambio social en el Perú si tiene el apoyo de todos los sectores involucrados con su implementación exitosa y más extendida. Cada sector tiene su propio discurso y comprensión de la …

Derechos Humanos Y La Manera De Defenderlos - Human Rights And The Manner Of Defending Them, Savannah Martínez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This short essay revolves around the definitions and defense of Human Rights in the Spanish city of Granada. As a sociology major, I chose this topic because I desired to observe and to learn about a social phenomenon happening in this diverse and rich city. Similarly, while Granada has and is experiencing social issues like immigration, I am from an area of the same multicultural roots. As such, I saw a connection in how the society is grappling with issues of how to enforce and secure Human Rights for those that desperately lack them. This opportunity presented itself and I …

Conciencia Social En Granada: Los Éxitos Y Las Dificultades - Raising Social Consciousness In Granada: Successes And Difficulties, Heidi Hong

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Through my community service project at Granada Insider, an English language tourist magazine, I was encouraged to research upcoming events that may give tourists a different perspective of Granada. As I compiled lists of activities in Granada, I was struck by the quantity of events that promoted consciousness about critical themes concerning gender, immigration, and social justice. At my home institution, I had been involved in various campus organizations that are concerned with social issues. My personal interest led me to investigate the role of the provincial government in raising consciousness in public locations. In my project, I establish …

Building Houses, Making Homes: The Experiencing Of Returning To Post-War Sanski Most, Claire Griffith

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Over half of Bosnia’s population was displaced by the war from 1992-1995. One of the political objectives of the war was the separating of Bosnia’s ethnically intermixed population into homogenous spaces. This was achieved through ethnic cleansing of communities. Broadening the discussion of ethnic cleansing, authors, such as Gearoid O Tuathail and Carl Cahlman, have analyzed ethnic cleansing, as it occurred in Bosnia, within the framework of ‘domicide,’ or the ““he intentional exercise of violence to destroy a particular type of spatiality: homes. It is ‘the deliberate killing of home’” (O Tuathail and Dahlman, 244). Assuming ‘domicide’ rather than just …

A Long Road Home: Housing Rights In South Africa’S Informal Settlement, Joe Slovo, Kaitlyn Bowles

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Most countries legally consider housing to be a necessary human right. But for
millions of individuals in this world, adequate housing is out of reach. Homelessness is evident in different manors throughout the world, but in South Africa, the problem of insufficient housing develops itself in the form of informal settlements. One such settlement, Joe Slovo1, is situated just outside of Cape Town, and is the primary focus of this paper. Recently, Joe Slovo has been a prominent feature in the local news because of its involvement in a Constitutional Court case. On March 30, 2011, 20,000 residents of Joe …

Relative Democracy: Rwandan Perspectives On Representative Government, Gabriel C.J.M. Nahmias

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The primary objective of this research is to ascertain, at least in part, the importance Rwandan’s place on different aspects of democracy. This is done with the hope of giving Rwandans more voice in the discussion of the “democratization” of their own country. With Rwanda’s unique culture and history, the application of “democracy” within this nation should be done, in the mind of the researcher, in accordance to the context, and the only people who fully understand this context are Rwandans themselves. The secondary objective is to hypothesize why these aspects have particular importance in the Rwandan context. The tertiary …

The Impact Of Qmm On Social Relations In Fort-Dauphin, Christopher B. Collier

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My interest in this subject began with a general desire to understand how Malagasy society adapts to “outsiders.” We learned throughout the semester about the various external forces that have shaped the culture of the island since the arrival of the first people here thousands of years ago. At first, my ideas were focused more on the experiences of people immigrating to Madagascar. I observed very particular patterns: immigrants of certain ethnicities fill specific socioeconomic niches in specific geographic areas, and with varying reception from the Malagasy community.

I came to realize, however, that similar patterns take place even between …

Policy Analysis In Practice: Lessons From Researching And Writing A “Statenote” For Education Commission Of The States, Dinah J. Frey

Capstone Collection

This capstone will shed light on the various aspects of policy analysis, policy papers and policy change. The focus of this capstone paper is a five-page policy brief, or StateNote, which analyzes one element of Kentucky’s major educational policy reform of 1990. The paper will follow the guidelines of the Policy Advocacy course-linked capstones that focus on a personal contribution to some aspect of policy change. Renowned policy specialists such as Eugene Bardach and Carl V. Patton’s work provide steps to follow to write a policy paper and the pieces to include within the paper.

The action of policy analysis …

The Insecurity Of “Secure Communities”: A Case Study Of An Advocacy Campaign To Protect Immigrant Rights In Santa Barbara, Ca, Tina Pia Peirano

Capstone Collection

This case study describes and analyzes the work of advocacy work of PUEBLO, a human and immigrant rights organization in Santa Barbara, California. The paper focuses on the ongoing campaigns of PUEBLO and its allies, including national and state-level organizations and coalitions, to influence one of the most recent federal immigration policies, titled Secure Communities. It also addresses PUEBLO’s advocacy to change local law enforcement policies or practices which have targeted Hispanic residents, including undocumented immigrants, for traffic citations and car impoundments. Based on knowledge acquired through my six month, full-time internship with PUEBLO and through various forms of primary …

The Campaign For Bias-Free Policing In Vermont: One State’S Resistance To The Localization Of Federal Immigration Agency, Amanda L. Park

Capstone Collection

There are roughly 1,500 immigrants from Mexico and Central America currently working on farms in Vermont, helping to sustain approximately half of all milk produced in the state. But the lack of adequate visa-to-work options leaves these individuals without proper documentation to be in the US. As such, they are vulnerable to exploitation by their employers, susceptible to harassment from the communities in which they live, and under constant threat of deportation by federal immigration agents. Now, the US Department of Homeland Security—in charge of domestic defense and immigration—is attempting to use local and state law enforcement officers in the …

Mobility And Permanence Of Local Ethics: The Case Of Young Adults Involved In The Banco Palmas Economic Solidarity Movement, Lillian Steponaitis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The global capitalist model produces economic centers and peripheries on many scales. In Fortaleza, Brazil this pattern is evident, with the majority of the wealth and capital concentrated in central neighborhoods. As one travels to the edge of the municipality, one encounters economically and socially marginalized communities. One of these communities, Conjunto Palmeira, has attempted to mollify this exclusion by imagining and exploring new modes of existing and finding economic growth outside of the capitalist model. In 1998, the residents created Banco Palmas, a community bank. Operating under the philosophies of economic solidarity, Banco Palmas offers microcredit loans, circulates a …

Semillas Y La Ciudad: La Agricultura Urbana En Oaxaca De Juárez Como Un Aporte A La Soberanía Alimentaria, Katie Oberwager

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este proyecto trata de examinar el movimiento creciente de la agricultura urbana en Oaxaca de Juárez, México como un aporte potencial a la soberanía alimentaria. Las políticas económicas en los Estados Unidos tienen un efecto directo en las vidas mexicanas, y esto es especialmente la verdad con los campesinos mexicanos. Por ejemplo, el Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte ha causado la inundación de México con maíz barato. La mayoría de los campesinos mexicanos no pueden competir con estos precios bajos y han sido obligados a huir de su tierra en busca de trabajo en las ciudades o …

El Futuro De La Inmigración En España - (“Future Of Immigration In Spain”), Joshua Bruno

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following argument is about the highly disputed theme of Immigration. Like all countries around the world, Spain manages a population of foreigners that have turned up in search of a new opportunity. If these migrants are able to enter the European Union, they still face many obstacles, including racism and extreme poverty. Yet, their contributions to a struggling European economy are undeniable. The following paper attempts to highlight these important contributions and demonstrate how in a liberal democratic society, such as Spain’s, a more accepting immigration policy where more sanitary conditions provided to immigrants could work. Furthermore, these arguments …

“Mieux Vaut Prévenir Que Guérir”: The Effect Of Natural Disasters On Water- And Sanitation-Related Infectious Diseases And The Increasing Need For Disaster Preparedness, Naomi Malam

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The world is suffering from an extreme global water crisis. 1.1 billion people in the world lack access to adequate clean water, and 2.6 billion people lack access to water and sanitation. Approximately 10 million deaths per year can be attributed to this water crisis; water-borne infectious diseases play a significant role in this death toll. Diarrhoeal disease accounts for 2.6 million deaths per year and is one of the leading causes of death in many developing countries.

We are entering a period of undeniable climate change which is bringing about more natural disasters and extreme weather events than ever …

Marriage And Other Social Unions: A Study Of Marriage Alternatives And Cultural Trends In The Netherlands, Claire Harris

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This Independent Study Project investigates marriage and varying marriage alternatives available in the Netherlands and how societal norms and cultural taboos have affected these arrangements over the past fifty years. The high levels of acceptance in the Netherlands are used as a framework to explain the toleration of differing lifestyle and relationship choices, such as registered partnership, informal cohabitation, and same-sex marriage rights. Information was collected by conducting seven interviews with Dutch adults from different backgrounds with diverse views of and experiences with marriage and marriage alternatives. Secondary data on marriage rates in the Netherlands since 1960 were also used …

Articulando La Lucha: Los Procesos E Historias De Politización De La Juventud Alteña = Articulating The Fight: Processes And Stories Of The Politicization Of The Youth Of El Alto, Luke Walsh-Mellett

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este proyecto intenta entender el proceso de politización de la juventud alteña, con un enfoque especial en los hechos de octubre de 2003. He trabajado y entrevistado a varios jóvenes de la Universidad Publica de El Alto (UPEA), principalmente de la carrera de sociología. En estas entrevistas me he enfocado en las condiciones de vida en El Alto, sus memorias de su participación en octubre de 2003 y sus pensamientos del proceso político actual. A través de su participación en varias luchas sociales, pero especialmente en el levantamiento social de octubre de 2003, estos jóvenes han formado una identidad política …

Conflicting Or Complimentary? The Varying Approaches To Humanitarian Action, Andre Patzke

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the international humanitarian aid community (IHAC), a group of national, political, public, and private actors, there are many dichotomies. These differences range from the organizations’ structures to their humanitarian philosophies. One philosophical schism amongst the IHAC actors is the seemingly contradictory approaches of the UN’s cluster system and that of the Dunantist organizations. In general, this schism can be characterized as a contrast in humanitarian ideologies; the integrated approach, which includes political development, on the one hand, and strict humanitarian aid that stays removed from issues of development on the other.

It was not the focus of my research …

Una Lucha Por Valor Y Dignidad: La Situación Actual De Trabajadoras De Hogar En Bolivia = A Struggle For Value And Dignity: The Current Situation Of Domestic Workers In Bolivia, Jenny Kauffman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El gobierno actual de Bolivia tiene una retórica de cambiar el poder en el país para dar más capacidad y una voz más fuerte a la gente marginalizada. Esta investigación entra a este tema para entender cómo estas ideas e ideologías del estado han afectado las vidas de los bolivianos. Para examinar la relación entre los ciudadanos y el estado, la investigación explora las realidades de las vidas de trabajadoras de hogar. La situación actual de trabajadoras de hogar es muy pertinente porque ellas viven los efectos de una confluencia de tensiones entre Bolivia. Basado en entrevistas con varias trabajadoras …

Ngo’S: The Voice Of The People: The Relationship Between Government And Civil Society In A Samoan “Democracy”, Dani Karnoff

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project examined the meaning of civil society, both in its true form as well as in the Samoan context, the roles of civil society, and whether civil society is used as a modem to converse with the Samoan government on behalf of the people. The purpose of this study was to formulate a more complete understanding of the term “civil society”, how civil society works within the Samoan Democracy, and the relationship between civil society and government. Research for this study was completed through interviews, surveys, secondary research, and field based observations. The interviewees for this study were either …

¿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 …

Transforming Society, Transforming Leadership, Aqeel Tirmizi Phd, Associate Professor, Azim Ahmad Phd, Academic Director, Marla Solomon Edd, Professor, Ken Williams Edd, Assistant Professor

Fostering Multicultural Competence and Global Justice: an SIT Symposium

For several years, SIT Graduate Institute worked with the Ford International Fellows Program (IFP) to provide IFP fellows worldwide with training and reflection on their engagement as leaders for social justice. Out of this effort grew a conceptual framework on “leadership for social justice” and a capacity-building resource manual derived from the Leadership for Social Justice (LSJ) Institutes we carried out. Since that time, a few members of the LSJ project team have been undertaking further research on social justice leadership from varied perspectives. In addition, SIT Study Abroad Academic Director Azim Khan is an IFP and LSJ Institute alumnus, …

Educating Policy Advocates – Current And Potential Roles For Sit And World Learning, Jeff Unsicker Phd, Professor, Charlie Curry-Smithson Phd, Professor

Fostering Multicultural Competence and Global Justice: an SIT Symposium

The session will focus on ways that we are now engaged and could become more engaged in educating students and civil society leaders to influence the policies of governments, international organizations, corporations and other institutions of political and economic power – in local, national and global contexts. Presentations will focus on the Policy Advocacy concentration, courses and field-based learning within the SIT Graduate Institute; Civil Society and Governance programs managed by World Learning; any similar courses or programs connected with SIT Study Abroad (e.g., host country universities and capacity building organizations, such as the Democracy Center in Bolivia); and our …

“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 …

Civil Society And Inequality In Jordan: A Study On The Effectiveness Of The Community Development Center In Ashrafiyah, Mary-Katharine Johnson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Poverty exists across the globe, in almost every region and area there is present a form of social injustice. This inequality comes from several different factors and is caused by a multitude of both domestic and foreign affairs alike. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is no exception to the rule. This study is aimed at measuring the effectiveness of the Community Development Center in reducing the inequalities that exist in the town of Ashrafiyah, however, through the method of teaching civil society. Civil society, originally a western, democratic concept, is not often spoken about in Jordanian society. However, with the …

El Muralismo: El Papel De Los Murales En La Lucha De Los Organismos Sociales En La Ciudad De Buenos Aires = Muralism: The Role Of Murals In Social Organizations, Loren Crosier

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

There are an ever-growing number of social movements in the city of Buenos Aires, and a number of these groups are using art in the streets in an attempt to “recuperate” urban neighborhoods. Muralism is an art form and a concept that has a long legacy of militancy and vanguardism. This paper will address the breach between art as a product and a social reality by analyzing the meaning of muralism. What is the role of the muralist and what is the social function of the mural? Or more importantly, what is the social function a social organization or movement …

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 …

The Transition Movement In Australia: An Analysis Of The Progress, Challenges, And Future Of Transition Initiatives, Mia Goldwasser

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The threats of climate change and peak oil have roots in our society’s dependence on the availability of cheap fossil fuels for its function and design. In order to both decrease greenhouse gas emissions and significantly lower the demand on fossil fuels, our settlements –built when oil was cheap and abundant- must ‘relocalize’, or develop the systems which will enable the local production of food, energy, materials, employment, and goods. The Transition Movement has developed as a grassroots, community-based response to these challenges, grounded in the belief that a higher quality of life has the opportunity to emerge from a …