Work, Economy and Organizations Commons^™

Poverty Knowledge, Coercion, And Social Rights: A Discourse Ethical Contribution To Social Epistemology, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In today’s America the persistence of crushing poverty in the midst of staggering affluence no longer incites the righteous jeremiads it once did. Resigned acceptance of this paradox is fueled by a sense that poverty lies beyond the moral and technical scope of government remediation. The failure of experts to reach agreement on the causes of poverty merely exacerbates our despair. Are the causes internal to the poor – reflecting their more or less voluntary choices? Or do they emanate from structures beyond their control (but perhaps amenable to government remediation)? If both of these explanations are true (as I …

[Introduction To] More Than Shelter: Activism And Community In San Francisco Public Housing, Amy L. Howard

Bookshelf

In the popular imagination, public housing tenants are considered, at best, victims of intractable poverty and, at worst, criminals. More Than Shelter makes clear that such limited perspectives do not capture the rich reality of tenants’ active engagement in shaping public housing into communities. By looking closely at three public housing projects in San Francisco, Amy L. Howard brings to light the dramatic measures tenants have taken to create—and sustain and strengthen—communities that mattered to them.

More Than Shelter opens with the tumultuous institutional history of the San Francisco Housing Authority, from its inception during the New Deal era, through …

Reflections On The Metamorphosis At Robben Island: The Role Of Institutional Work And Positive Psychological Capital, Wayne F. Cascio, Fred Luthans

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners from South Africa were imprisoned on notorious Robben Island from the mid-1960s until the end of the apartheid regime in 1991. The stark conditions and abusive treatment of these prisoners has been widely publicized. However, upon reflection and in retrospect, over the years, a type of metamorphosis occurred. Primarily drawing from firsthand accounts of the former prisoners and guards, it seems that Robben Island morphed from the traditional oppressive prison paradigm to one where the positively oriented prisoners disrupted the institution with a resulting climate of learning and transformation that eventually led to freedom …

Human Rights Organizations As Agents Of Change: When Do They Succeed And When Do They Fail?, Kyla Mcentire, Matthew Krain, Michele Leiby

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

As a key actor within the human rights transnational advocacy network, NGOs, such as Amnesty International, strive to shape individuals’ values on such contentious issues as the use of torture and to mobilize them to act on their values. While much has been written describing this advocacy work, little systematic research has been done evaluating its efficacy. We conducted archival research to identify the three most common messaging techniques employed by AI: (1) informational frames, where the focus is to educate the reader by presenting them with core facts and statistics; (2) personal frames, where a personal narrative is told …

The Trajectory Of Warwick Junction As A Site Of Inclusivity In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Kara Van Schilfgaarde Van Schilfgaarde

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Warwick Junction, a thriving trading hub in the inner city of Durban, has long been considered one of the best examples of collaborative urban management practices between the local government and informal traders. In a post-apartheid South Africa, there was a national desire to transform the old systems of governance, which in Warwick translated to city government institutions making an effort to include informal traders in the policymaking and management processes. This paper tracks the history of Warwick Junction, using its oppressive past to frame common perspectives of informal trade. It considers the legacy of the post-apartheid era South Africa, …

Interpretaciones Entretejidas De Justicia: Estudio De Caso De Los Talleristas Bolivianos En Buenos Aires, Argentina, Rebecca Mendoza

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

All over the world, so called, “sweatshops” have become a talking point on the social justice soap box due to some key incidents that have caught the public eye. These sweatshops are known for being informal labor subcontracted by large brand names, paid unsustainable wages – the brands score big as consumers indulge in the cheap fashion clothing. However, fires, disasters and recent discoveries of dangerous slave-like conditions have brought new debates to the surface about what is to be done. Initially one might desire to end the injustice in a rapid sweep of the poorest parts of the world, …

Explaining Political Activeness And Attitudes Toward Unionization Among Nurses In The United States., Crystal L. Lesmeister

Political Science Theses and Capstones

There is no question; nurses play a key role in healthcare. Nurses provide direct care, coordinate health promotion activities, educate, and provide support and advocacy to patients. Today, there are over two million registered nurses in the United States. My research aims to determine the variables that influence some nurses to be more politically active and more engaged in unionization than their counterparts. I analyze The National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses 2004 looking at a variety of potential explanations for union participation. Findings show a strong regional variation in the percentage of unionization, however, some of the conventional explanations …

The Delimitation Of Corporate Social Responsibility: Upstream, Downstream, And Historic Csr, Judith Schrempf-Stirling

Management Faculty Publications

The dissertation abstract and the reflection commentary present the work of Judith Schrempf. The dissertation examines the latest trends in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and advances a social connection approach to CSR to understand and explain those recent trends. The dissertation abstract provides an overview of the research questions and conclusions of the three-article dissertation. The reflection commentary discusses the author’s views of research process as a junior scholar (see Appendix).

The Implications Of Privileged Gay Politics On Queer Aberrations: Interrogating South Africa’S Nongovernmental Industrial Complex, Vijay Sachdev

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The phenomena to address and confront social issues as a career path has shifted the way communities experience the realm of activism. This research addresses the effort emphasized in gay and lesbian activism on the Nongovernmental Industrial Complex as a platform for social transformation. These structures have notably been co-opted by neo-liberalism and the State. In South Africa, the gay and lesbian movement have its roots dug into legal reform which becomes conservative and relies on the rhetoric of identity politics to gain recognition without addressing redistribution and systems of oppression. Through three case studies culminating in a comparative study …

Investing With An Impact: Moving Business Beyond Profits, Graham Pansing Brooks

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

“Impact Investing” is an emerging concept that focuses on developing a common ground between capital investment and philanthropy. This relatively new theory of social entrepreneurialism focuses on creating positive social impacts while also maintaining an economic commitment to investor returns. This innovative concept has been notably championed by Credit Suisse as well as other financially based institutions and NGO’s. The purpose of this paper is to explore and address the defining factors within the developing and growing field of Impact Investment. The increased effort by business towards moving beyond standard methods of Corporate Responsibility has resulted in the catalyzed formation …

Adaptability In Socio-Political Contexts: Moving Beyond Ability And Intelligence, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

The ability to adapt in an ever-changing environment is critical for success, if not, survival. Most people would acknowledge that change management can sometimes be a discomforting and bumpy process. This applies not just with individuals and organisations, but also with governments. While the former two may adapt privately, governments, represented by politicians and public officers, often have the unenviable task of demonstrating adaptability under the watchful eyes of their public. Slip-ups, trips and falls thus come at greater costs, which go well beyond mere embarrassment.

With Heart-Strings Attached: Funding Decisions As Identity Work In Nonprofit Organizations, Jonathan L. Cole

Sociology Honors Projects

Resource dependency theory states that nonprofit organizations’ acceptance of public monies is acceptance of government control. Through detailed grants, government agencies can enact their priorities through willing or unwilling nonprofit organizations that need government grants to survive. To complicate the extant literature on nonprofit autonomy, this study uses an expansion of Viviana Zelizer’s connected lives theory (2005) to ask, How do nonprofits select sources of funding for specific services in reference to their relationship with granting agencies? Using qualitative interview methods the study concludes that nonprofits are agents in relationships with government grant agencies, and that nonprofits use funding decisions …

Does Race And National Origin Influence The Hourly Wages That Latino Males Receive?, Clara E. Rodriguez, Grigoris Argeros, Michael Hajime Miyawaki

Sociology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Emergence Of A Standards Market: Multiplicity Of Sustainability Standards In The Global Coffee Industry, Juliane Reinecke, Stephan Manning, Oliver Von Hagen

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

The growing number of voluntary standards for governing transnational arenas is presenting standards organizations with a problem. While claiming that they are pursuing shared, overarching objectives, at the same time, they are promoting their own respective standards that are increasingly similar. By developing the notion of ‘standards markets,’ this paper examines this tension and studies how different social movement and industry-driven standards organizations compete as well as collaborate over governance in transnational arenas. Based on an in-depth case study of sustainability standards in the global coffee industry, we find that the ongoing co-existence of multiple standards is being promoted by …

The Disappearing Middle Class: Implications For Politics And Public Policy, Trevor Richard Beltz

CMC Senior Theses

What does it mean to be middle class? The majority of Americans define themselves as members of the middle class, regardless of their wealth. The number of Americans that affiliate with the middle class alludes to the idea that it cannot be defined simply by level of income, number of assets, type of job, etc. The middle class is a lifestyle as much as it is a group of similarly minded people, just as it is a social construct as much as it is an economic construct. Yet as the masses fall away from the elite, and changes continue to …

Razing Lafitte: Defending Public Housing From A Hostile State, Leigh Graham

Publications and Research

The contentious politics of the demolition of Lafitte public housing in post- Katrina New Orleans and its replacement with mixed-income properties is a telling case of the strategic conflicts housing advocates face in public housing revitalization. It reveals how the qualified outcomes of HOPE VI interact with local institutional and historical circumstances to confound the equity and social justice goals of housing and community development advocates. It shows the limits to public housing revitalization as an urban recovery strategy when hostile government leadership characterizes a region, and the state is recast as an adversary rather than revitalization partner. This case …

Welfare Reform Policies And Their Effect On Poverty Rates Across The United States, Luke N. Welle

Political Science Theses and Capstones

We have all heard the arguments on the pros and cons of welfare reform, its effect on recipient’s lives, and its effectiveness in achieving its goals. In concluding whether or not it is effective in achieving its goals, the actual goals are broad and difficult to define. I consider the goal being reducing the number of citizens living in poverty. My research focuses specifically on how variations in the welfare system perform in reducing poverty rates across the United States. I investigate what governmental policies each state has in place and their effect on poverty. Those states, in which poverty …

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 …

Ua23 Spirit Of Engagement 2011, Aurelia Spaulding, Alive Center, Western Kentucky University

ALIVE Center Publications

No abstract provided.

Oppositional Identities: The Military Peace Movement’S Challenge To Pro-Iraq War Frames, Lisa A. Leitz

Peace Studies Faculty Articles and Research

In the United States, rhetoric in support of the Iraq War often focuses on discourses of patriotism and supporting the troops. These discourses hold enormous sway over the American public because of the discursive legacies of the Vietnam War and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In response, members of the peace movement who are veterans, soldiers, and military families stress their military identities during activism. These individuals have organized as an important branch of the U.S. antiwar movement that challenges the pro-war framing of patriotism and troop support by strategically deploying 'oppositional identities.' The oppositional identity strategy involves highlighting …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Changing To Win? Threat, Resistance, And The Role Of Unions In Strikes, 1984–2002, Andrew W. Martin, Marc Dixon

Dartmouth Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Interview With Helen Shiller, Jacob Martin Lingan

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 50 minutes

Oral history interview of Helen Shiller by Jacob Martin Lingan

Ms. Shiller first outlines the path that led her to forming the Anti-Apartheid Ordinance, beginning with her work with the Minister of Information for ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union) and a trip to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa, which led to her interest in the latter. She recalls how, when she returned to Chicago, she was motivated to strengthen legislation against the Apartheid government. She describes the process they went through to force Chicago banks to divest from South Africa, which happened to coincide with Nelson Mandela’s …

Review Of “Sisters Outside: Radical Activists Working For Women Prisoners, By Jodie Michelle Lawston”, Lisa A. Leitz

Peace Studies Faculty Articles and Research

Book review of Jodie Michelle Lawston's "Sisters Outside: Radical Activists Working for Women Prisoners".

Gossip At Work: Unsanctioned Evaluative Talk In Formal School Meetings, Tim Hallett, Brent D. Harger, Donna Eder

Sociology Faculty Publications

This article uses a form of linguistic ethnography to analyze videotaped recordings of gossip that took place during formal school meetings. By comparing this gossip data against existing models of gossip based on data collected in informal settings, we identify eleven new response classes, including four forms of indirectness that operate to cloak gossip under ambiguity, and seven forms of avoidance that change the trajectory of gossip. In doing so, this article makes three larger contributions. First, it opens a new front in research on organizational politics by providing an empirically grounded, conceptually rich vocabulary for analyzing gossip in formal …

Of Sweatshops And Human Subsistence: Habermas On Human Rights, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this paper I argue that the discourse theoretic account of human rights defended by Jürgen Habermas contains a fruitful tension that is obscured by its dominant tendency to identify rights with legal claims. This weakness in Habermas’s account becomes manifest when we examine how sweatshops diminish the secure enjoyment of subsistence, which Habermas himself (in recognition of the UDHR) recognizes as a human right. Discourse theories of human rights are unique in tying the legitimacy of human rights to democratic deliberation and consensus. So construed, their specific meaning and force is the outcome of historical political struggle. However, unlike …

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