International and Area Studies Commons^™

Mineral Taxation And Resource Nationalism In Zambia, Sangwani Patrick Ng’Ambi

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

This article examines the resource nationalism cycle in Zambia. The resource nationalism cycle has episodically plagued investors in resource rich nations. Host states, lacking the financing and technical know-how, invite foreign investors to explore and exploit their vast natural resources. The former offer all sorts of fiscal incentives to appear attractive to the latter. Once operations commence and the resource experiences a sustained upward growth trend, the host state may retract the fiscal incentives previously offered, or simply nationalise assets, in a bid to exercise greater control over their natural resources and maximise the benefits accruing from high prices. The …

Homegrown Or Imported? Frugal Innovation And Local Economic Development In Zambia, Iva Peša

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

Innovation and entrepreneurship have the potential to stimulate economic growth. Yet it remains unclear whether top-down or bottom-up innovations are more likely to lead to local economic development. By looking at three cases of frugal innovation on the Zambian Copperbelt, in the spheres of housing, water and energy, it will be argued that polycentric innovation (which connects local and international actors) is most likely to generate inclusive development. Yet even a polycentric approach does not guarantee desired outcomes, as innovation remains context specific.

The Impact Of Labour Productivity On Economic Growth: The Case Of Mauritius And South Africa, Jack Jones Zulu, Benjamin Mattondo Banda

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

This study explores the impact of labour productivity on economic growth in Mauritius and South Africa. We establish that investments in physical capital have a positive effect on labour productivity and by implication on economic performance. Labour employment in industry is counterproductive, while the cumulative effect of new technologies on labour productivity is negligible in the three-year intervals. It is the initial stock and subsequent accumulation of human capital that stimulates faster output growth in both countries.

Review Of “Interventions: A Life In War And Peace”, By Kofi A. Annan, Njunga Michael Mulikita

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

This book offers a highly informative account of the life story of the seventh UN Secretary-General, Kofi Atta Annan, the first Sub-Saharan African UN Chief to emerge from within the vast bureaucracy of the United Nations. It is a riveting account narrated by the consummate UN diplomat who served in all the Organisation’s major duty stations ranging from Geneva, Switzerland, through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to a peacekeeping mission in the hot and dusty Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, and ultimately the 38th Floor of the UN Headquarters, New York.

Vikram Hemanathan, Linda J. Hanes

International Alumni

When Vikram Hemanathan came to Western Michigan University in 2006, he initially planned for an engineer’s life of logic and analytics, but a lifelong love of the theater became his greater calling.

Alexander Cannon, Carol Barber

International Faculty Researchers

A chance introduction to a largely unknown genre of Vietnamese royal court music that Dr. Alexander Cannon experienced while majoring in economics and music as an undergraduate forged an interest that changed the trajectory of his intended career path from analyzing economic trends to becoming an ethnomusicologist and an expert on don ca tai tu.

Ed Roth, Margaret Von Steinen

International Faculty Researchers

Can listening to and making music be effectively used in the treatment of people diagnosed with neurologic and psychiatric disorders? This is the primary question Professor Ed Roth, director of WMU’s music therapy program, is attempting to answer in collaboration with colleagues from around the world to improve treatment for people experiencing post-traumatic stress and other acute anxiety disorders. He is a co-founder and director of WMU’s Laboratory for Brain Research and Interdisciplinary Neurosciences (BRAIN) (article) and a Fellow in the Academy of Neurologic Music Therapists, who specializes in the application of music in the treatment of neurologic disorders and …

Leon Sun, Linda Hanes

International Faculty Researchers

Living and working in two countries provided a cultural contrast that has greatly inspired and influenced the art and design of Yuanliang (Leon) Sun, an associate professor of art at Western Michigan University.

Patrick Wilson, Christine Lena

International Faculty Researchers

New urban developments in the growing city of Chongqing, China have captured the imagination of Artist Patrick D. Wilson, a Western Michigan University assistant professor of sculpture and integrated media, whose art work is often influenced by architectural imagery.

Wmu International News Fall 2015, Haenicke Institute

WMU International News

• Internationalizing the arts
• Friends from Kurdistan find musical home at Western
• 5 Music lessons from South Vietnam
• Note taken on this WMU trombonist on an international stage
• Flutist composer coins new genre, Universal Americanism
• Music WMU professor takes worldly approach in researching the healing power of music
• Dominican Republic art calloborative brings interactive exhibit to WMU
• Cross-cultural graphic designer and artist conjoins east and west technology and creativity
• Coupling art and architecture opens doors to China for WMU professor
• Book Arts in Venice study abroad program
• Engineering alumnus masters theater in India
• Dancer becomes vehicle for social change in Panama

Sarah Mills, Linda J. Hanes

Study Abroad Alumni

Orphanages in Panama are overflowing with kids wishing they had homes and a loving family, and often there’s an unmet need for a creative outlet for these atrisk children. One WMU student spent her summer to help rectify that situation through teaching orphaned children about expression through movement.

Letter From The Editor, Joao J. Rosa

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

No abstract provided.

Cape Verde And Its Diaspora: Economic Transnationalism And Homeland Development, João Resende-Santos

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

This study examines the historical role of the diaspora in Cape Verde’s socioeconomic development. It analyzes the prospects and limitations of its diaspora as a transnational economic development resource. While it is policy oriented, the study offers a conceptual framework to analyze its diaspora engagement policies and efforts since 1975. Cape Verde has emerged as a success story. The diaspora’s contribution was one of the four essential factors behind this relative success: migration and remittances, overseas development assistance, large scale public investments, and reasonably sound policies and stewardship of public finances. Today Cape Verde confronts an adverse set of conditions …

“This Country Does Not Have My Back!”: Youth Experiences With A Parent Threatened By Deportation, Leila Rosa

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

Using exploratory case study methodology and a critical theoretical perspective, this study examined the impact of parental deportation on three Cape Verdean youths, in one of the largest Cape Verdean immigrant communities in Southeast New England. A particularly focus is given to their schooling experiences following parental deportation as well as their understanding of the event of parental deportation. Participants expressed feeling isolated and disconnected in school and from extended family following their parents’ involvement with Immigration services. They questioned or denied their American identity despite being citizens by birth. They described fears and feelings of uncertainty about their future. …

Histoire De L’Immigration Capverdienne En Côte D’Ivoire, Jean-Baptiste Tavares

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

No abstract provided.

Mutually Assured Survival: An Analysis Of Globalization’S Influence On Nuclear Disarmament, Ryan Zehner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Nuclear arms have revolutionized the ways by which human beings are able to harm one another. Omnipresent in the status quo is a nuclear tension, and whether subtly or more overtly, this tension underlies a great many international relationships. While Westphalian paranoia and neorealist power perceptions encourage populations to continue placing their faith in nuclear umbrellas and deterrence strategies, scholars and activists increasingly claim that without the realization of universal disarmament, humanity concedes to the inevitability of future nuclear detonation.

New disarmament initiatives concentrate heavily on the implications of nuclear weaponry in a sense that supersedes the security of only …

Working With Locals To Restore Biodiversity To A Rubber Dominated Landscape, Francis Commercon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Xishuangbanna, in Yunnan,China, contains the country’s highest concentration of biodiversity. Since the 1980s,rubber plantations have replaced a significant portion of the prefecture’s lowland Seasonal Tropical Rainforest, leading to wildlife habitat loss and other environmental issues.Monoculture farming practices also leave farmers economically vulnerable to market fluctuations. To learn the best solutions for increasing ecosystem services and income stability in rubber-dominated areas, the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) project Green Rubber engages smallholders directly in establishing and maintaining scientifically rigorous intercropping experiments in their villages.

Using Man’e village and the Green Rubber project as a case study, I asked to what degree and …

Afrochilenos En Rumbo Al Reconocimiento Como Pueblo Tribal Una Investigación Sobre Los Factores Históricos Y Culturales De Los Afrodecendientes En Arica, Sandy Milien

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Afrochileans have been in the dark for several centuries due to the efforts of the Chilean government to completely ignore the existence of people of color in the country. Since the beginning of the 21st century cultural and political organizations of afrochileans have been created to fight against the invisibility of the black community in Chile, aiming to be recognized as a tribal group by the state. In this study, I researched the historical and cultural factors that influence the recognition of the afrochileans as a tribal group according to El Convenio 169 of the International Labor Organization. To accomplish …

Exploring Cape Malay Identity Through The Lens Of Food, Allyson Ang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study explores the construction of Cape Malay identity through the lens of food. Made up of descendants of slaves from India, Madagascar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mozambique, and other places, “Cape Malay” is a very contentious identity. Although people who fall under the label of Cape Malay today are hundreds of years removed from their slave ancestors, there are still distinct remnants of these origins in Cape Malay culture. One of the ways in which this is most evident is Cape Malay cuisine. Cape Malay dishes such as bobotie, samosas, bredie, and beryani have become staples in South African …

Environmental Law In Madagascar: The Nagoya Protocol On Genetic Resource Use, Access And Benefit Sharing, Sarah Sanbar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The rapid expansion of the biosciences has led many to turn to nature in search of genetic resources of commercial value. Bioprospecting, or the search for plants and animals from which commercially valuable compounds can be obtained, is often a transnational activity. Four-fifths of the world’s biodiversity is found in developing countries, and those searching to exploit the biodiversity of these nations overwhelmingly tend to come from developed, wealthy countries. This asymmetry, when coupled with the lack of institutional legislative frameworks and regulation, creates a plethora of user/host conflicts. This paper seeks to examine the current state of affairs regarding …