Book Reviews: Alien Phenomenology, Or What It’S Like To Be A Thing By Ian Bogost, Jet Plane: How It Works By David Macaulay, Andvibrant Matter: A Political Ecology Of Things By Jane Bennett,
2016
Saint Louis University
Book Reviews: Alien Phenomenology, Or What It’S Like To Be A Thing By Ian Bogost, Jet Plane: How It Works By David Macaulay, Andvibrant Matter: A Political Ecology Of Things By Jane Bennett, Nathaniel A. Rivers
Criticism
In this review essay, I review Ian Bogost’s Alien Phenomenology, or What It’s Like to Be a Thing (2012) and Jane Bennett’s Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things (2010) alongside David MacAuley’s Jet Plane: How It Works (2012), which is devoted to a child’s experience of airplanes. While composed for different audiences in traditionally discrete contexts, all three books do critical, speculative work in providing explicit articulations and implicit performances of alternative ontologies from which Critical Air Studies might benefit.
The Ombatse Crisis In Nigeria: Background, Recent Developments And Possible Solutions,
2016
Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Abuja
The Ombatse Crisis In Nigeria: Background, Recent Developments And Possible Solutions, Simeon Onyemachi Hilary Alozieuwa Ph.D.
Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science
This paper focuses on the hegemonic politics between the Eggon and Hausa/Fulani ethnic groups in Nasarawa, North-Central Nigeria, which eventually erupted into the Ombatse crisis of May 2013- a precursor to the 2015 general elections. It addresses four research questions seeking to unravel whether or not: (1a) the crisis truly reflects a spiritual revivalist agenda as projected by the Ombatse promoters or merely espouses Eggon rejection of Muslim-Hausa/Fulani ethnic hegemony- mirroring broadly the identity, hegemonic and exclusionary politics in the area cum the larger Nigerian society;(b) the Eggon-Hausa-Fulani feud has the potential to exacerbate the sectarian strife in Nigeria’s northern …
Book Review: Disposable Futures: The Seduction Of Violence In The Age Of Spectacle,
2016
University of Leeds
Book Review: Disposable Futures: The Seduction Of Violence In The Age Of Spectacle, Jack D. Palmer
Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal
No abstract provided.
Predicting Genocide And Mass Atrocities,
2016
University of Notre Dame
Predicting Genocide And Mass Atrocities, Ernesto Verdeja
Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal
This article examines several current risk assessment and early warning models to predict genocide and mass atrocities. Risk assessment (RA) concerns a country’s long-term structural conditions (regime type, state-led discrimination, etc.) that determine overall risk for atrocities. Early warning (EW) focuses on short/midterm dynamics that can serve as triggers. The article evaluates contemporary RA and EW forecast modeling, and asks: How well can we predict mass atrocities and genocide? What are the strengths and limitations to current predictive modeling? Part I examines several quantitative (statistical) RA models and identifies several strengths and limitations in current research. Part II investigates a …
Politics Between And Within Us: Authenticity And Theatricality In Modern Political Thought,
2016
CUNY Graduate Center
Politics Between And Within Us: Authenticity And Theatricality In Modern Political Thought, Daniel J. Mccool
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
This dissertation details the ways in which two distinct models of politics — the politics of authenticity and the politics of theatricality — have influenced political rhetoric and activity in America and beyond. The focus on authenticity in politics goes back to the ancients, yet it has taken on greater political significance in the modern era. Morally-charged language of “telling the truth”, or “being oneself” in politics has meant that public judgment and analysis has increasingly focused on the interiority of the speaker: one’s intentions, feelings and consistency, rather than on the persuasive case one is attempting to communicate. In …
The Hermeneutics Of International Trade Conflicts: U.S. Punitive Trade Policy Towards China And Japan,
2016
CUNY Graduate Center
The Hermeneutics Of International Trade Conflicts: U.S. Punitive Trade Policy Towards China And Japan, Barry F. Murdaco
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
This dissertation analyzes punitive trade conflicts between the U.S. and two trading partners: China and Japan. Punitive trade conflicts can be defined as trade wars between two states, retaliatory tariffs, or other forms of conflict, e.g. preventing the acquisition of foreign assets or sanctions for an undervalued exchange rate. I will examine several trade conflicts between the U.S. and Japan in the 1980s and several trade conflicts between the U.S. and China from 2001 to the present. This study is situated within a larger debate concerning the resolution of four theoretical "puzzles" in political science. The first concerns the dispute …
Research In Brief - Can They Teach Each Other? : The Restructuring Of Higher Education And The Rise Of Undergraduate Student “Teachers” In Ontario,
2016
Memorial University
Research In Brief - Can They Teach Each Other? : The Restructuring Of Higher Education And The Rise Of Undergraduate Student “Teachers” In Ontario, Jennifer Massey, Sean Field
Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs
Changes to public funding regimes, coupled with transformations in how universities are managed and measured have altered the methods for educating undergraduate students. The growing reliance on teaching fellows, teaching assistants, and increasingly undergraduate peer educators (administering Supplemental Instruction [SI] programs) is promoted as a means toachieve a greater “return on investment” in the delivery of postsecondary education. Neoliberal discourses legitimating this downloading of teaching labour suggest it offers a “win-win” solution to the “problem” of educating growing numbers of undergraduate students. It proposes universities can deliver the same curricula, and achieve the same “outcomes” (primarily measured through grades and …
Natural Law And Agonistic Pluralism,
2016
Northwestern College - Orange City
Natural Law And Agonistic Pluralism, Daniel E. Young
Northwestern Review
John Rawls’ account of political liberalism posits the necessity of a metaphysically neutral “public reason” to avoid privileging any comprehensive doctrine in the public square. The natural law tradition has been claimed by some as meeting this standard. However, thinkers such as Tracey Rowland criticize the attempt to make natural law a secular, neutral ground; she believes it must be rooted in an overtly Trinitarian and Christological theology. However, such theological assumptions are not shared by those of other comprehensive doctrines. Chantal Mouffe has also challenged Rawls’ consensus conception, focusing rather on the inevitable ideological conflicts to be found in …
Evocative Objects: A Sexual Violence Primer,
2016
Western University
Evocative Objects: A Sexual Violence Primer, Sharon Sliwinski
Data and Test Instruments
This commentary on Nina Berman’s series, “Object Lessons,” examines the photographer’s strategy of photographing trial evidence from cases of sexual slavery and human trafficking as a study in object relations.
The Decisive Kingdom From Soft To Hard Power,
2016
Marshall University
The Decisive Kingdom From Soft To Hard Power, Abdullah Ali Asiri
Theses, Dissertations and Capstones
This is a political science thesis that traces a transition in the foreign policy of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia from reliance on soft power to reliance on hard power in cases where the Saudi state is in confrontation with Iran. In theory, the research contextualizes this transition based on Joseph Nye’s concepts of soft and hard power. The thesis uses case analysis approach to manifest the transition in reading and analyzing six cases based on one major hypothesis that measures Iran threat as prominent in those cases. It concludes that since 2010, Saudi Arabia foreign policy began to shift …
On Community, Justice, And Libraries,
2016
Seton Hall University
On Community, Justice, And Libraries, John Buschman, Dorothy Warner
Library Publications
At the core of terms such as “inclusion,” “civic engagement,” “social participation,” and “social justice”—terms that this special issue is built around—are political concepts that have been plumbed deeply by political theorists. Two concepts that underwrite much of this terminology are community and justice, both robustly debated within political theory. It is the premise of this article that exploring those debates—definitions of justice and community put forward and argued—and proposing specific versions of those core concepts will provide a defensible basis for research deploying these terms and a practical raison d’état for the institutions of library and information science. Defensible …
Rethinking Linkage To The West: What Authoritarian Stability In Singapore Tells Us,
2016
Butler University
Rethinking Linkage To The West: What Authoritarian Stability In Singapore Tells Us, Su-Mei Ooi
Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS
Recent regime change literatures compellingly assert that linkage to the West has been a significant factor in democratisation where the organisational capacity of authoritarian incumbents has overwhelmingly weakened pro-democracy forces. Detailed case studies confirming these findings have not included Singapore although high levels of linkage to the West suggest that democratisation should have taken place there. This qualitative case study fills the empirical and theoretical gap by explaining why linkage has so far failed to raise the cost of authoritarianism for Singapore's government. By eschewing the current structural approach, which conceptualises linkage as mere channels of external pressure or influence, …
"A Foucauldian Theory Of American Islamophobia",
2016
Butler University
"A Foucauldian Theory Of American Islamophobia", Shyam Sriram
Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS
No abstract provided.
Situating Political Obligation In Political Ontology: Ethical Marxism And The Embedded Self,
2016
University of Central Florida
Situating Political Obligation In Political Ontology: Ethical Marxism And The Embedded Self, Chris A. Chambers
Honors Undergraduate Theses
Though various obligations typically affect our behavior without being recognized, they have a substantial impact on how we operate as human beings. The relationships we have between, say, our parents when in their household obligate us to take out the trash at certain times and wash the dishes after dinner. The relationships we have between our closest friends often oblige us to hear them out when they have undergone a traumatic experience. Upon reflection, it may be easy to point out a number of the obligations which inform our social behavior. What is not so easy, however, is pointing out …
The Somewhere We Wish Were Nowhere: Dystopian Realities And (Un)Democratic Imaginaries,
2016
The College of Wooster
The Somewhere We Wish Were Nowhere: Dystopian Realities And (Un)Democratic Imaginaries, Benjamin B. Taylor
Senior Independent Study Theses
How do political practices influence mass culture? Conversely, how does mass culture influence political practice? This project addresses these questions by turning to the concepts of utopia and dystopia. Imagined utopic and dystopic visions express both the hopes and anxieties of the societies producing them. Dystopias also highlight the mechanisms of power that function within particular social orders. Through readings of Lois Lowry’s The Giver and Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, I demonstrate how utopia and dystopia function and how we can respond to dystopic realities by theorizing solutions that are more conducive to the …
The Importance Of Strong Governmental Institutions In Military Subordination: Mexico And Argentina, A Comparative Study,
2016
Claremont McKenna College
The Importance Of Strong Governmental Institutions In Military Subordination: Mexico And Argentina, A Comparative Study, Eli Landman
CMC Senior Theses
This paper examines the history of civil military relations in Mexico and Argentina in an attempt to understand why Mexico was able to subordinate its military following the fall of the Porfírian military regime, while Argentina experienced decades of military intervention into the civilian sphere. It argues that strong governmental and political institutions in Mexico were the key to subordinating the Mexican military to civilian control, while patterns of populist political movements in Argentina hampered the formation of strong governmental institutions that would have enabled the subordination of the military to civilian control.
Faith In A Changing Planet: The Role Of Religious Leaders In The Fight For A Livable Climate,
2016
Pitzer College
Faith In A Changing Planet: The Role Of Religious Leaders In The Fight For A Livable Climate, Morissa Zuckerman
Pitzer Senior Theses
Progressive religious leaders are playing an increasingly important role in the effort to combat climate change. Through a combination of unstructured in-depth interviews and primary source analysis, this thesis highlights nine U.S. religious leaders from various denominations of Christianity, Judaism and Islam who are actively involved in working on climate issues. Drawing on literature in social movement theory, I explore how clergy are uniquely influential in climate issues because of the organizational advantage and moral authority they hold through their positions as religious leaders, granting them the ability to highlight social justice implications of climate change with distinctive legitimacy. Clergy …
When Society Becomes The Criminal: An Exploration Of Society’S Responsibilities To The Wrongfully Convicted,
2016
Pitzer College
When Society Becomes The Criminal: An Exploration Of Society’S Responsibilities To The Wrongfully Convicted, Amelia A. Haselkorn
Pitzer Senior Theses
This thesis explores how society can and should compensate those who have been wrongfully convicted after they are exonerated and how we can prevent these mistakes from happening to others in the future. It begins by presenting research on the scope of the problem. Then it suggests possible reforms to the U.S. justice system that would minimize the rate of innocent convictions. Lastly, it takes both a philosophical and political look at what just compensation would entail as well as a variety of state compensation laws.
The Polis Artist: Don Delillo’S Cosmopolis And The Politics Of Literature,
2016
Bryn Mawr College
The Polis Artist: Don Delillo’S Cosmopolis And The Politics Of Literature, Joel Alden Schlosser
Political Science Faculty Research and Scholarship
Recent work on literature and political theory has focused on reading literature as a reflection of the damaged conditions of contemporary political life. Examining Don DeLillo’s Cosmopolis, this essay develops an alternative approach to the politics of literature that attends to the style and form of the novel. The form and style of Cosmopolis emphasize the novel’s own dissonance with the world it criticizes; they moreover suggest a politics of poetic world-making intent on eliciting collective agency over the commonness of language. As a “polis artist,” DeLillo does not determine a particular politics but shapes the conditions and spaces …
Corporations And The Limits Of State-Based Models For Protecting Fundamental Rights In International Law,
2016
University of Johannesburg;
Corporations And The Limits Of State-Based Models For Protecting Fundamental Rights In International Law, David Bilchitz
Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies
At the heart of international law lies a central tension. On the one hand, the fundamental rights recognized in international treaties protect the fundamental interests of individuals, obligating all actors who can affect these rights. One the other hand, international law has often been conceived of as a system in which the only legitimate actors are states. In turn, only states can be bound by the fundamental rights obligations in international treaties. To address this tension, two models have been proposed. The first is an "Indirect duty" approach, whereby the state remains the primary duty-bearer and must itself "create" the …
