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1. Youth, God, and Empire: Interview With Dr. Joy Schulz

Author:
Joy Schulz
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Toynbee Prize Foundation
Abstract:
With young activists like Malala Yousafzai, Greta Thunberg, and Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez coming to the fore of headlines and social movements, the present has proven itself to be an opportune moment to reassess the role of youths in historical change. In this vein, Dr. Joy Schulz's book Hawaiian By Birth: Missionary Children, Bicultural Identity, and U.S. Colonialism in the Pacific (2017) stands out as crucial reading. Emphasizing the centrality of American missionary children in the domination of the Hawaiian Islands during the second half of nineteenth century, Schulz's analysis exposes the potency of youth power through a series of chapters that trace the development of these young evangelists into colonizers and revolutionaries. In the process, she draws attention to the complexities born at the intersections of childhood and empire and underscores the capacity of children to record their own histories in ways that may complement or complicate adult ambitions. Dr. Schulz and I discuss these themes, and the challenges and opportunities that children present as the subjects of transnational histories.
Topic:
Religion, Political Activism, Children, Colonialism, Youth, and Empire
Political Geography:
Asia-Pacific and Global Focus

2. In Conversation with Melani Cammett, Ali Asani, and Payam Mohseni

Author:
Michelle Nicholasen
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Centerpiece
Institution:
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
From civil strife in Syria to the war in Yemen to US-Iran tensions, Shi'a groups are emerging as major players on the geopolitical landscape. The 200 million Shi'as around the world comprise 15–20 percent of all Muslims, yet little is understood about their culture, historical legacy, and political dynamics. Shi’as are the majority sect in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain, and comprise substantial minority groups in Africa, South and Central Asia, and countries throughout the Middle East. Last fall, the Weatherhead Center launched the Project on Shi’ism and Global Affairs to support advanced research on the diverse manifestations of Shi’ism, and to encourage rigorous scholarship on the political dynamics of its role in the Middle East. The project supports scholarship that increases understanding of the intersection between religion and politics in Islam by engaging political scientists, historians, policy makers, religious leaders, and other specializations at the WCFIA. It was a busy first year, replete with talks on important events in Islamic history, the geopolitics of Iraq, the US-Iran confrontation, and more. The project launched the online platform Visions, which offers advanced commentary on all aspects of Shi’a thought, politics, and society. Additionally, project members have travelled to Baghdad and Erbil in Iraq for field work and academic conferences, as well as to the United Kingdom to present research and conduct outreach. Team members have also travelled to various cities across the United States to give presentations and interactive workshops—including to Muslim-American communities in Dearborn, Michigan (home to the largest Arab-American population in North America) and Orlando, Florida—on the topic of religious pluralism, youth activism, Islamic thought, and civil society. Directed by Payam Mohseni, lecturer at Harvard University, the project is funded in part by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. We asked Payam Mohseni and project chairs Melani Cammett and Ali Asani about the motivations behind the Project on Shi’ism and Global Affairs.
Topic:
Civil Society, Civil War, Religion, Military Strategy, Political Activism, Domestic politics, and Pluralism
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. Defending Civic Space: Is the International Community Stuck?

Author:
Saskia Brechenmacher and Thomas Carothers
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Since the mid-2000s, civic space has come under attack in many countries around the world. To counter this trend, transnational actors that support civil society have responded in many ways—from exerting diplomatic pressure and building international norms to providing emergency funds for activists. Despite these efforts, governments continue to impose legal and extralegal restrictions amid a worsening larger political environment for civil society. Closing civic space now appears to be just one part of a much broader pattern of democratic recession and authoritarian resurgence. The international response seems stuck: some useful efforts have been undertaken, but they appear too limited, loosely focused, and reactive.
Topic:
Civil Society, Government, Political Activism, and International Community
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. The Ukraine Whistleblowers and the Rise of Partisan Whistleblowing

Author:
Hannah Gurman
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
This moment should spark a conversation about the place of national security whistleblowing in a democratic society.
Topic:
International Security, International Affairs, Intellectual Property/Copyright, Political Activism, and Democracy
Political Geography:
America and Global Focus

5. Civil Resistance against Coups: A Comparative and Historical Perspective

Author:
Stephen Zunes
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC)
Abstract:
Nations are not helpless if the military decides to stage a coup. On dozens of occasions in recent decades, even in the face of intimidated political leaders and international indifference, civil society has risen up to challenge putschists through large-scale nonviolent direct action and noncooperation. How can an unarmed citizenry mobilize so quickly and defeat a powerful military committed to seizing control of the government? What accounts for the success or failure of nonviolent resistance movements to reverse coups and consolidate democratic gains? This monograph presents in-depth case studies and analysis intended to improve our understanding of the strategic utility of civil resistance against military takeovers; the nature of civil resistance mobilization against coups; and the role of civil resistance against coups in countries’ subsequent democratization efforts (or failure thereof). It offers key lessons for pro-democracy activists and societies vulnerable to military usurpation of power; national civilian and military bureaucracies; external state and non-s
Topic:
Political Activism, Democracy, Protests, Coup, Resistance, and Civil-Military Relations
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6. Normalisation campaigns do not prevent radical online cultures: Avoid the pitfalls of counter narratives

Author:
Tobias Gemmerli
Publication Date:
11-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Counter-narratives and campaigns promoting normality, are often highlighted as universal means against online propaganda from militant movements. However, such campaigns are driven by a number of unfortunate assumptions and are difficult to apply in practice. We often turn to information campaigns to inform and instruct the general population. Such campaigns are also pointed to as possible tools, to combat radical and militant counter-cultures on the internet. However, reaching broad segments of the population is one thing. It is more challenging, to direct communication at a smaller audience.
Topic:
Politics, Political Theory, Political Activism, and Radicalization
Political Geography:
Global Focus

7. Against the Grain: Student Movement in Private Universities

Author:
Ismail Fayad
Publication Date:
06-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
Research focusing on non-formal political and social stakeholders/activists has been generally side-lined as a subject of political, sociological, and economic studies in the Arab world. This has been the case since the emergence of these sub-fields in the post-independence period of the 1960s, as Arab universities and research centres were founding their academic fields, until today. The exception that confirmed the rule was the Marxist approaches that succeeded in fostering a small but steady number of research groups interested mainly in workers’ and labor movements, and in particular unions, or in rural sociology as a reflection of the expression of class struggle within Arab societies.
Topic:
International Organization and Political Activism
Political Geography:
Global Focus

8. The Complexities of Global Protests

Author:
Thomas Carothers and Richard Young
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Major protests have occurred around the world with increasing frequency since the second half of the 2000s. Given the superficial resemblance of such events to each other—especially the dramatic images of masses of people in the streets—the temptation exists to reach for sweeping, general conclusions about what is happening. Yet it is in fact the heterogeneity of this current wave of protests that is its defining characteristic. The spike in global protests is becoming a major trend in international politics, but care is needed in ascertaining the precise nature and impact of the phenomenon.
Topic:
Civil Society, International Security, Political Theory, and Political Activism
Political Geography:
Global Focus

9. What Others Think of Us: Social Esteem and Participation in Contentious Politics

Author:
Gwyneth McClendon
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Taking a look at recent episodes of social unrest, public protest, and other forms of contentious politics around the globe will tell you a lot about 2014. The year opened with violence in Kiev as thousands took to Independence Square in the Ukrainian capital to remove the Yanukovych government from power. Gay rights activists in St. Petersburg, Russia—but also throughout the world in a display of solidarity—protested the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in light of Russia’s controversial laws on “non-traditional” sexuality. Beginning in February, a wave of anti-government demonstrations—the largest in Venezuela in over a decade—demanded justice, protection, and economic changes from President Maduro. In August, Governor Jay Nixon declared a curfew and deployed the National Guard in response to growing unrest in the town of Ferguson, Missouri, over the shooting of Michael Brown by a local police officer. In September, thousands took to the streets in Hong Kong to stand for election reform. And in December, the people of New York City shut down the Brooklyn Bridge chanting “I can’t breathe,” in remembrance of Eric Garner.
Topic:
Social Movement, Political Activism, Protests, and LGBT+
Political Geography:
Global Focus

10. Gender and Elections: Temporary Special Measures Beyond Quotas

Author:
Renata Segura
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Social Science Research Council
Abstract:
Gender parity in elected office has become a central goal of national gov- ernments and international organizations around the globe. The roots of this demand extend back to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, which enshrined “the equal rights of men and women,” including the right to participate in government.1 Delegates to the United Nations World Conference on Women, held in Mexico City in 1975, called on governments to “establish goals, strategies, and timetables” to increase “the number of women in elective and appointive public offices and public functions at all levels.”2 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN Gen- eral Assembly and ratified by nearly every member state, reiterated that women must be ensured the right “to hold public office and perform all public functions at all levels of government.”
Topic:
Gender Issues, Political Activism, and Elections
Political Geography:
Global Focus