Politics and Social Change Commons^™

The Future Is Over, Dotan Appelbaum

Masters Theses

History is constructed out of the narratives by which we organize the substance of all that has ever happened. Our understanding of the contemporary moment is determined by how we shape our history. The future is a promise that emerges from how we contextualize our place in time.

This thesis starts by acknowledging that the futurity promised by enlightenment liberalism is inconceivable in the face of contemporary horrors and climate catastrophe. Given this reality, what are we doing as designers? With a Benjaminian understanding of and a Foucauldian approach to history, this thesis constructs a history of design that follows …

Nationalist Sentiments And The Multinational Enterprise: Insights From Organizational Sociology, Jesper Edman, Ilya R. P. Cuypers, Gokhan Ertug, Ruth V. Aguilera

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

International business scholars have recognized the impact of political and economic nationalism on the multinational enterprise (MNE). We complement these approaches by highlighting the sociological manifestations of nationalism and their implications for the MNE. We argue that nationalist sentiments, i.e. widely-shared assumptions of superiority over other nations and cultures, constitute an under-researched but critical element in international business (IB). Drawing insights from organizational sociology, we elucidate how nationalist sentiments manifest in the MNE’s external and internal environment. Specifically, we suggest that nationalist sentiments accentuate national institutional logics, generate status-based categorizations of foreign and domestic firms, and heighten emphasis on national …

Remade Radical: Design Artifacts Of A Third World Future, Yasmine Hassan

Masters Theses

Remade Radical draws inspiration from the existing practices of informal making and reuse prevalent in Black and brown immigrant and working-class communities in order to reimagine maker culture and the field of industrial design as a whole. These improvisational practices–known by a number of different names across the globe, including jua kali (Kenya), gambiarra (Brazil), jugaad (India), and even hood engineering (United States)–are oftentimes viewed as inevitable byproducts of waste and artifacts of besiegement from the world’s wealthiest nations. Yet within these practices lies a tangible counterpoint to the material excess and rampant consumption made possible through the continued exploitation …

Echoes Of War In Lithuania, Jokubas Salyga

Political Science Faculty Publications

The chapter explores the impact of the war on the everyday lives of Lithuanians. It begins by addressing the economic challenges instigated by Vladimir Putin’s military adventurism, and the latter’s burden on workers and the poor. This is followed by documenting the unwavering determination of the Lithuanian government and its people to create a hospitable environment for Ukrainian refugees. Subsequently, the chapter delves into the trials and tribulations faced by Ukrainian arrivals in Lithuania, drawing comparisons with the experiences of Belarusian and Russian nationals who have also sought refuge in the country. The latter are currently viewed as a potential …

Turning Movements Into Markets: How Corporations Co-Opt Cultural Values For Profit, Anthony J. Capote

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I explore how corporations engage in values-based marketing in the 21^st Century. It is hardly a new phenomenon for corporate advertising to co-opt popular cultural values and trends. With the rise of platform capitalism — under which digital platforms generate wealth by cultivating our online data and resell it to advertisers — as well as the political and social context of the Trump Administration, however, major corporations have entered a new phase in the marketing framework that aims to attract consumers based specifically on their cultural and political values. Using a mixed methods approach I explore …

Heteronormativity And Fair Housing: Comparing Housing Opportunities Among Cisgender And Transgender Women, Joseph E. Lara

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the American housing market, gender norms regulate access to safe and stable dwellings. When looking for a home, transgender communities, plagued by multiple vulnerabilities and politicized by conservative politicians, endure vastly different experiences than their cisgender counterparts. Despite an ongoing housing crisis, civil rights laws have widened homeownership opportunities for cisgender women, but transgender women face multiple obstacles to owning a home. How have gender norms influenced the housing market, and how have socially embedded heterosexism and cisgenderism benefited cisgender women over transgender women? This manuscript explores the cultural norms regulating the creation and access to housing, the history …

Understanding Tax Progressivity As A Mechanism Of Gender Difference In Tax Payment Patterns And Post-Tax Income, Morgan A. Richards-Melamdir

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Gender difference in taxation is generally understudied. However, existing scholarship, largely country case studies, suggests men pay higher tax rates where income tax progressivity is higher, due to their higher average income. Men’s higher rates should then increase gender equality in income post-tax. However, many rich countries reduced income tax progressivity starting in the 1980s-90s during “taxing for economic growth” reforms, including over half of the high income countries included in this study. These changes have previously unexplored implications for the extent to which the current (versus past) tax systems of rich countries reduce, leave unaffected, or compound gender disparities …

A Dream No Longer Deferred: The Power And Limits Of Conditional Integration On The Social Mobility Of Undocumented Young Adults, Hyein Lee

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Who are undocumented college graduates and how do they transition into the workforce upon graduation? This dissertation examines the diverse trajectories and social mobility patterns of 1.5 generation, undocumented Latinos, Asians and blacks with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Temporary Protected Status (TPS), or the “truly undocumented” across the country. Although millions of undocumented young adults, closely resembling their 1.5 generation, documented peers are coming of age firmly rooted in American society, little is known about this population due to the lack of credible data. This project employs a mixed methods approach to analyze both qualitative and quantitative data …

Raven Sentry: Employing Ai For Indications And Warnings In Afghanistan, Thomas W. Spahr

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article examines Raven Sentry, a project that employed artificial intelligence to provide advance warning of insurgent attacks in Afghanistan. During 2019 and 2020, the Resolute Support Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (J2) benefited from a command culture open to innovation, the urgency created by the US drawdown, and a uniquely talented group of personnel that, aided by commercial sector experts, built an AI system that helped predict attacks. The war’s end cut Raven Sentry short, but the experience provides important lessons on AI and the conditions necessary for successful innovation.

Contributor Guidelines, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

The Combat Path: Sustaining Mental Readiness In Ukrainian Soldiers, Oleh Hukovskyy, James C. West, Joshua C. Morganstein, Eugene F. Augusterfer, David M. Benedek, Oleg Boyko, Robert J. Ursano, Amy B. Adler

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

In Ukraine, soldiers’ psychological resilience is of paramount concern. Therefore, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have developed a new intervention, Combat Path Debriefing, designed to address combat stress and promote unit readiness for soldiers returning to combat. This article outlines the components of Combat Path Debriefing and discusses how it is rooted in principles of combat and operational stress control and the unique characteristics of Ukrainian military life. This perspective offers US and allied leaders real-world experience that can inform future efforts to support soldiers’ mental health and combat performance.

From The Editor In Chief, Antulio J. Echevarria Ii

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Summer 2024 issue of Parameters. We open this issue with a special “In Memoriam” by General Charles A. Flynn, Commander US Army Pacific, honoring the life and legacies of our director and consummate colleague, Carol V. Evans. We dedicate this issue to her. General Flynn’s memoriam is followed by an In Focus commentary on China’s Belt and Road Initiative. We then feature three forums covering the Russia-Ukraine War, the Middle East, and Professional Development. This issue also contains special essays on the role of professional writing, the US Army War College’s Civil-Military Relations Center, …

The Dynamics Of Us Retrenchment In The Middle East, Paul K. Macdonald, Joseph M. Parent

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article argues that conditions favor American retrenchment from the Middle East because the United States can shift burdens to capable states in the region, there are few areas where US commitments are interdependent, and the local conquest calculus favors defense. Forward military deployments do not positively influence potential threats in the Middle East, and maintaining deployments there will detract from meeting challenges from China. Through comparisons to prior cases of great-power ordinal decline, this article puts America’s modest decline in historical perspective and finds that retrenchment policies will likely have positive consequences.

Preference Conflict And Peace Studies: The Line Between Disagreement And Violence, Frederic R. Kellogg

Peace and Conflict Studies

Broadening the definition of conflict defines more comprehensively the condition of peace, focusing on how unresolved shared disagreements can lead to, or avoid, polarization and violence. The line between general disagreement and violent conflict lies in the adjustment of shared preferences. Matters like reproductive rights, medically assisted death, race and gender discrimination, while subject to political polarization, are open to peaceful redress through what John Dewey called the transformative continuum of inquiry, in which the crucial social response to shared problems includes dispute and conflict. Resolution of controversial social problems requires preference adjustment and habit change, often, if not always, …

Animals In Prison: Is There Value In Inmate-Animal Rehabilitation Programs?, I. H. C.

Tredway Library Prize for First-Year Research

This paper demonstrates the benefits of animal rehabilitation programs in alleviating the mental harm of incarceration and improving outcomes for individuals upon their release. I.H.C. details the overwhelming mental health crises and conditions that inmates face in prison, arguing to redefine rehabilitation to center both practical preparations and on healing the underlying traumas and mental health concerns before release. His numerous examples drawn from prisons around the world thoroughly uphold the evidence that animal rehabilitation programs improve inmate wellbeing, decrease violent incidents in prison, enhance vocational and employment opportunities post-incarceration, and overall change inmates’ behavior – all benefits that ultimately …

A Trauma-Informed Socially Just Approach To Working With Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth Utilizing Expressive Arts Therapy, Ciara Carr

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Youth involved with the juvenile justice system often have a history of trauma and oppression resulting from their positionality and circumstances. Most juvenile justice-involved youth are boys, youth of color, low-income, LGBTQIA2S+, disabled, and traumatized. This literature review explores the history of the juvenile justice system, issues with the present-day model, and trauma-informed and transformative justice approaches to practice. The implementation of socially just, trauma-informed expressive arts therapy programs is proposed as a more equitable practice to replace commonly used punitive practices across the United States. More research is needed to understand the impact of such programs on this population …

“Bad Hombres”: Trump Era Politics And Media In Shaping The Perceptions Of The Mexican Diaspora In The United States, Angelica Soria

Master's Theses

My research delves into the anti-Mexican immigrant rhetoric spread throughout the United States under Donald Trump’s presidency by himself, mainstream media news outlet Fox News, and the U.S. government. Furthermore, examining the social identity of ethnic Mexicans in the United States in response to and as a consequence of the negative rhetoric. This thesis analyzes discourse including the harmful rhetoric and its impact on policy formulation, public perception, and the lived experiences of Mexican immigrants and ethnic Mexican communities. By looking at existing discourse, this research provides a critical discourse analysis of political speeches, media coverage, and ethnic Mexican testimonios. …

Labors Of Love And Loss: Exploring Relationships In Remitting Latine-American Families, Sequoyah Sv Hilton

Master's Theses

This paper examines the impact remittances have in Latin-American families across borders through qualitative interviews. Remittances, or international transfers of money, are a common support strategy of global migrant communities. There are divergent opinions on remittances, either positioning them as a great potential for developing lower and middle-income countries, or critiquing them as too heavily depended on by states and created as a survival support mechanism by communities to compensate for state neglect. While they are a massive cash flow at the international level, there is a greater need to blend analyses of remittances at the international level at the …

Knowledge Production And The Unthinkable: Weaving Stories Of Art, Gender, And Land, Christin Huntsman

Master's Theses

Colonialism is deeply and violently embedded in Western knowledge formation—dominant power structures produce epistemes that uphold and perpetuate colonial narratives. This kind of knowledge production forecloses other possibilities. Western discourse of truth becomes universalized to the point that other worldviews, other knowledges that do not conform to hegemonic norms, are suppressed or silenced. This thesis examines three areas of hegemony and erasure: art, gender, and land. First, the history of art clearly marks a delineation between Western elitist artistic masterpieces and non-Western ethnographic artifacts. Eurocentrism of art in the academy determines what counts as art and how art is categorized. …

Lgbtq+ Municipal Equality Index In Mountain West Cities, 2022, Zachary Billot, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Cities & Metros

This fact sheet examines the status of LGBTQ+ legislation, policy, and services as defined by the Municipal Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF). Data are included for “large cities” in the Mountain West, defined as cities with estimated populations larger than 250,000 people according to the United States Census Bureau’s April 1, 2020 Decennial Census population data. This fact sheet includes data on 13 large cities in the Mountain West including five in Arizona, three in Colorado, four in Nevada, and one in New Mexico.