Politics and Social Change Commons^™

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 …

Rompiendo El Espejo Invertido: La Búsqueda Para Autosuficiencia Y Una Vida Campesina Y Digna, Tara Brian

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

La vida campesina e indígena ha sido amenazada por siglos de explotación y marginalización. Ahora neoliberalismo, el último capitulo en la historia de dominio, está creando cada vez más pobreza, vulnerabilidad y dependencia en el campo. En el intento, las diversas culturas rurales están perdiendo su autosuficiencia, costumbres, sabiduría y relación con la naturaleza. Se enfrentan un dilema: tratar de entrar en el mundo “moderno” a costa de perder su cultura, o quedarse en el campo empobrecidos y olvidados. En este proyecto yo exploro como comunidades campesinas e indígenas están luchando para crear una tercera opción: un futuro en que …

‘Everything Is For Him’: Mothers Of Autistics As Agents Of Social Change At Casa Da Esperança, Alexandra Levin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research project explores mothers of children with autism as social actors. I conducted the research at Casa da Esperança, which is school and therapy intstituion, and social organization, for autistics in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. A group of mothers founded Casa da Esperança based on a policy of inclusiveness towards autistics and their families. Casa da Esperança’s structure reflects its collective and communal philosophy, as demonstrated by the family program. Many mothers of autistics participate in this program on a daily basis when they stay at Casa da Esperança while their children are in class. Casa da Esperança is a …

Fijian Art: Traditional Roots, Contemporary Expression, And A Source Of Livelihood, Emma Scanlan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research study presents a comprehensive overview of the art scene in Fiji and explores the ways in which art in a small scale society acts as a vehicle for expression and social change. The term “art” is one that is not easily defined as it is highly personal and subjective to artist and patron alike. There has been a cross-cultural and ongoing debate in trying to answer to question “what is art?”. However despite this it is unanimous in belief by those with an affinity for the arts, that the expression of a society’s people in any form creates …

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 …

O Movimento Dos Atingidos Pela Barragem De Tucuruí: Uma História Oral, Susan Beaty

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project presents a critical oral history of the movement of communities affected by the Tucuruí Dam in Tucuruí, Para. Like the many other hydroelectrics constructed during the 1970s and 80s, the Tucuruí Dam was built to deliver power and profits to influential economic entities, namely nearby bauxite and aluminum mines, while local communities incurred the costs. Due to inadequate pre-project studies and irresponsible resettlement and indemnification programs, the construction of the dam and its reservoir brought devastating social and environmental impacts to the surrounding region. In the wake of this devastation, a social movement emerged to defend the rights …

Transnational Anti-Imperialism: A Case Study Of Witness For Peace And Their Relationship With El Regadío, Estelí, Sam Menefee-Libey

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Nicaragua: Revolution, Transformation, and Civil Society

Hambre Cero And Its Impact On The Holistic Health Of Its Female Beneficiaries, Chelsea Duttweiler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This investigation focused on the study of Hambre Cero (meaning “Zero Hunger”), an anti-poverty program funded by the Nicaraguan government which gives voucher packages to poor rural women. Items given include pregnant cows, pigs, chickens, seeds, and technical assistance with the goal of generating profit for use by the families and women’s cooperatives. The study of this program is important for government accountability, and will also add to the body of knowledge concerning rural development, sustainable health programs, and the feminization of poverty so that more effective development programs can be developed in the future. I specifically studied the program’s …

La Lucha Por Una Comunidad Sustentable Los Campesinos Tonocote De Breayoj: Manejo De Recursos, Desarrollo Y Elecciones, David Flannelly

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

A study about the environment and sustainability has to be soley about topics solely relating directly to nature, right? With this preconception in my mind I went off to study an indigenous subsistence farming community in the northwestern region of Argentina. Initially I solely wanted to focus on the management of resources of the community, the trees, water, and animals. Fate had other plans for my indepent study project. I arrived in the community right in the middle of the last week of historical elections for the province and the community. A new political party of farmers and other poor …

“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 …

Surfistas For Change: Building New Identity And Community In Poor Brazilian Communities Through Sport And Education, Stephanie Miller

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of my research was to test the hypothesis that sports can be a preventative method for youth risk behaviors such as gang membership. My hypothesis was that sports could provide some of the same benefits as gang membership and other risk behaviors, but in a more healthy and productive way. To test this thesis, I spent three weeks researching the work of ARCA, the Associaçao Recreativa e Esportiva para Crianças e Adolescentes in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. While I studied all the projects of ARCA, I focused my research on their Escola do Surf, in the poor beach community …

Responsibility, Reconciliation, And Remembrance: Serbian Youth Perspectives In Dealing With The Past, Erica Getto

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Dealing with the past is a process in which a society determines truthful facts of previous events, and with the support of civil society and its leaders, undergoes a transformation from a culture of conflict to one of peace, through reconciliation and depolarization . Youth between the ages of 18-30 are the future of Serbia. They grew up in the midst of war, under a regime that greatly affected the economical, social, and political stability of the newly independent country. Because of these factors, their perspectives and opinions become critical in determining how this country is approaching topics of the …

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 …

“How To Change The World”: Writing An Online Sustainability Leadership Manual For Young Australians, Nina Sherburne

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Under the direction of the Centre for Sustainability Leadership (CSL) in downtown Melbourne, VIC, three articles were written for the CSL online manual entitled “How to Change the World”. These articles contain straightforward, easy-to-read answers to questions young people have regarding sustainability and leadership in their community. The three questions include: “Should I register my not-for-profit? If so, how do I?”, “How do I fundraise for my organization? And do I need to register as a Fundraiser?”, and “How to I sell the idea of sustainability (or change in general) to my boss?”.

This online manual will remove the barriers …

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 …

Liberation Theology In The 21st Century: The Catholic Church, The Cpt, And Rural Movements In Southern Pará, Eleanor Sharp

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study explores the present-day manifestation of liberation theology in the south of Pará, Brazil. Liberation theology has been widely recognized as an important development in theology and Latin American history that helped spark social movements across South and Central America in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. In the Brazilian Amazon, progressive Church workers (mainly Catholic) have been historically aligned with movements to protect and regain land rights for poor rural workers. Because these movements and organizations are the primary defenders of human rights in this part of Brazil, researching the changing role of religion in their work is important …

La Recuperación De Ex-Centros Clandestinos De Detención Como Espacios De La Memoria: Un Estudio Acerca Del Caso Del Ex-Centro “Olimpo” En Buenos Aires, Katherine Jensen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The last military dictatorship in Argentine history, from 1976 to 1983, implemented an institutionalized system of state terrorism that by the dictatorship’s end had permanently disappeared 30,000 of its citizens, as well as individuals from the rest of Latin America. The core of this system was the use of centros clandestinos de detención, tortura y extermino (clandestine centers of detention, torture and extermination) in which sequestered persons were tortured and then either disappeared or liberated. In the last few years, a movement has emerged to convert this former centers into espacios de la memoria (sites of memory). One such ex-center, …

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 …

Resistant Cultures: Punk Identity And Anarchist Resistance In Three Yugoslav Successor States, Jeff Lambert

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project attempts to discover the roots of the anarchist movement and reveal any connections to the punk subculture (both historic and contemporary) that emerged in Slovenia in the late 1970s and propagated throughout the federate republics. Given the unique economic history and geopolitical significance of the SFR Yugoslavia, there is a discussion of how anarchism differs in the Yugoslav successor states today (specifically Croatia) from other countries on the European continent. Punk is discussed as an alternative to nationalism and personal stories of anarchist identification are recorded herein.

Sectarianism And Social Capital: Community Development In Northern Ireland, Becky Alhadeff

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

There is a prevailing belief within the majority of the community sector and indeed, amongst many politicians and policy makers that there is a gap between Catholic and Protestant community development. However it is also argued that the Catholic community has more calculated social need than the Protestant community. It was not my desire, nor within my ability with my limited time frame to measure the capacities of the two communities and determine if there is presently a gap, but simply to look at the reasons put forth by community developers, politicians, and academics for the reason this gap exists. …

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 …

Spectator To Actor To Multiplier: Edisca’S Humanizing Methodology, Hannah Mcdowell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Augusto Boal, a Brazilian theater theorist and practitioner, transferred the means of production of theater to the oppressed. The oppressed, formally passive spectators filled by the elites’ images of the world, became liberated participants in the creation of dramatic action. Through “people’s theater,” Boal encouraged participants to critically analyze their relationships with the world and in the world through onstage action. EDISCA (Escola de Dança e Integração Social para Criança e Adolescente [School of Dance and Social Integration for Children and Adolescents]), located in Fortaleza, Brazil, introduces artistic languages to children and adolescents from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The youth then …

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 …

Construyendo Un Nuevo Modelo: Un Estudio De La Relación Entre Los Piqueteros K Y El Gobierno, Daniel Lesser

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the last ten years, the piquetero movement has emerged as the new representative of the popular class in Argentina. Rising from the disarticulation of the neoliberal reforms in 1990s, the movement positioned itself as the main canal for protest of the popular class. Between the years 1995 and 2003, the piqueteros were defined for their use of the road block (piquete) as a means to get government concessions. However, with the election of Néstor Kirchner, the relationship between the government and many of the piquetero groups has begun to be redefined, as the government has incorporated some of the …

La Economía Solidaria: Las Limitaciones, Las Contribuciones, Y Los Valores Comunes De Una Respuesta Inherentemente Local Dos Estudios De Campo, Alissa Kimmel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Economía solidaria is an alternative method of development that has sprung up in the last two decades in Latin America as a response to the devastating effects of neo-liberal policies. The questions that I was interested in exploring with this investigation were: How is economía solidaria defined in theory? How does it manifest in practice? What explains this discrepancy, if one exists? What do these answers tell us about the limitations, potentials, and unique contributions of economía solidaria? To search for these answers I studied two organizations of economía solidaria, where I utilized qualitative methods of observation, interviews, review of …

Piecing Together Social And Environmental Priorities In The Ongoing Process Of Community Development In The Mst Assentamento Of Palmares Ii, Clara C. Ward

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Over the last twelve years the Amazonian MST assentamento, Palmares II, in the Southeastern state of Para, has experienced many successes in terms of advances in education, health care services, community organization, and physical infrastructure in general. This progress in community development is often considered to support the theory of agrarian reform as an effective mechanism for achieving greater social equality and stability. Despite these relative successes, community development to date has not supported the concept of agrarian reform as a mechanism of environmental preservation and sustainable land use. This is due in part to the failure of the community …

Volviéndose Rebelde: Participación Política Juvenil La Historia De Participación Política De La Juventud Nicaragüense: 1975-2006 Recurring Rebellion: Youth Political Participation In Nicaragua, Julia Beaufait

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Youth act as both reflections of and protagonists within history and society. This is even more apparent in Nicaragua, where the 1979 triumph of the Sandinista revolution was sustained by the high levels of youth participation. In the following two and a half decades, youth have continued to play a defining role both following the example of and rejecting the proceeding models of participation. This essay is an exploration of the history of youth political participation in Nicaragua in the years between 1975 and 2006: from the insurrection to the most recent elections. I work under the assumption that the …

Making Space For Critical Discourse: The Daily Resistance Of Acampamento Luiz Carlos, Nicholas Detlef Salmons

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study explores the implementation of MST’s pedagogy of conscientização (conscientization) within Acampamento (camp) Luiz Carlos in order to better understand the role that dialogue plays in raising the collective consciousness of peasants newly engaged in the occupation of the land. The approach I took to understanding this process was heavily influenced by Paulo Freire’s works on literacy and revolution, as well as James Scott’s theories of the quotidian resistance of peasants and other subordinate groups. Due to his theories and the subsequent realities encountered in the field, the focus of the study was expanded to include a better understanding …