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1. Editor's Note

Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
At its inception, Macalester College had a dual dream: on the one hand, to encourage students to cultivate their growth through rigorous study and critical self-reflection; on the other, to educate students for a condition of freedom, civic action, and a vocation of leadership. The pioneering works and lives of Edward Duffield Neill and James Wallace, two of the College's most significant founders and builders, captured this dream. Thus, in its Institute for Global Citizenship, Macalester keeps faith with the dream by creating with and for students, contexts conducive to a distinctive synthesis of intellectual intensity, self-monitoring, and preparation for public usefulness in a multi-civilizational global milieu.

2. Creating a Civic National Identity: Integration Through Immigrant Political Participation

Author:
Maars Beltrandy y Rudquist
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
State citizenship grants the citizen many rights, but the rights most fundamental to a democracy are the right to vote and the right to run for elected office. In the traditional formulations of the nation-state, it has been clear who possesses these rights, but over the last half-century, widespread international migration has complicated the definition of the citizen and has called into question the perceived unity between the nation and the state, between citizenship and nationality, and between civic participation and national identity. In this study, I will examine these complications in the specific case of the Netherlands, a country particularly well known for its recent history of cosmopolitanism. I will examine the effect of these debates on citizenship, and national identity on the ability of migrants to become involved in the Dutch political system as well as the nature of their civic participation. From the basis of this research, I will argue that immigrant political participation is a useful measure of civic integration and that the civic integration that comes with this participation can lead to an increased tolerance of difference within society, which can help to create a new civically, rather than culturally, based national identity. Furthermore, the presence of immigrants and ethnic minorities in local and national politics helps to maintain the relevance of the Dutch state to its population in today's globalized world. For this reason, research on the subject of immigrant political integration is important for understanding both the present and future situations of countries receiving immigrants.
Political Geography:
Netherlands and Dutch

3. Trapped by Narcissism: A Disillusioned Dutch Society

Author:
Anna-Kay Brown
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
The arrival of the well-celebrated and revered Sinterklaas on November 21, 2011, was marked by the brutal and cruel beating of a black man, Quinsy Gario of Curacao, who was forcefully dragged and thrown into the streets by the Dutch police for protesting the racist connotations of Black Pete. The man wore a stencilled T-shirt with the words “Zwarte Piet is racism” and, according to Dutch and Antillean newspapers and other media reports, he yelled “Zwarte Piet is racism” as the group of Black Petes passed by. The beating, videoed by a bystander and posted on YouTube, was both stomach turning and heart wrenching. It shows the police dragging Gario along the road, with the knees of two policemen pressed into his body. He cries, “It is my right to protest,” while “autochthones” Dutch stand by and watch. After all, it was they who had called the police in disgust at the protest of their beloved tradition. This image stands in stark contrast to the image of a liberal and cosmopolitan Netherlands. In particular, in the words of the director of Antidiscriminatie, Johan Dinjens, it depicts “a society in confusion,” and which I will also contend is a disillusioned society.
Political Geography:
Netherlands, Dutch, and Antilles

4. The Dutch Political Experiment: Phase Three

Author:
Omar El Zoheiry
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
In the past two decades, many Western liberal democracies have undergone fundamental political transformations. Faced with the challenges of adapting to globalization and the world's increasingly interconnected financial system, many of these democracies have found it necessary to implement a technocratic form of governance. The distance between the political elite and the people was allowed to grow under these regimes in order to achieve the much-needed efficiency in policy formulation and international integration. This article utilizes the case study of the Netherlands to analyze the implications of this gap, perhaps the most significant of which being the rise of “contemporary populism.” It attempts to make sense of seemingly random and unrelated events that have recently shocked Dutch society and politics within a framework of structural change instead of treating these events as temporal occurrences. It demonstrates how such a framework is necessary in understanding the true reason behind these events and why a temporal argument might lead to superficial conclusions.
Topic:
Democratization, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
Netherlands and Dutch

5. Mother Nature and the Heavenly Father: Christianity and the Environment in a Globalized World

Author:
Wouter Hammink
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Since its conception, theology has been entwined with ecology. Major or minor, extinct or thriving, all religions give relevance to the meaning of the environment and the relationship of human beings with the Earth. The modern Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all revere the environment and recognize its significance within their respective religious texts. The presence of the Abrahamic religions is visible on every corner of the planet. However, within the status quo, Christianity is the dominant religion at the core of Immanuel Wallerstein's “World-system.” The prominence of Christianity within developed countries, meaning in this case countries that emit the largest percentages of carbon into the atmosphere, raises the question of modern Christianity's relationship with the environment.
Topic:
Climate Change and Islam

6. Seeking Global Reform: The United Nations Security Council, the International Criminal Court, and Emerging Nations

Author:
Ezequiel Jimenez
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles created an international tribunal in order to prosecute Kaiser Wilhelm II for initiating the First World War. However, the Kaiser sought refuge in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Queen Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria refused to cooperate with the new tribunal or surrender her cousin to the Allied Powers. Much has changed in the Netherlands since. As a pioneer country in the advancement of human rights, the Netherlands has participated actively in the development and enforcement of multiple treaties and conferences hosted by the United Nations. Today, the city of The Hague is proud to call itself an “international city of Peace and Justice.” Indeed, The Hague is the host of multiple international courts; evidencing the Netherlands commitment to protect human rights. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is one of the most prominent institutions the Netherlands honorably hosts.
Topic:
Human Rights
Political Geography:
United Nations and Netherlands

7. Green Heart Attack: An Environmentalist's Eulogy for the Randstad, Dutch Grand Planning, and the Compact City

Author:
Kate Keleher
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Beneath the drama of current events, a serious paradox, as old as civilization itself, steadily erodes the foundations of modern society: humans rely on Earth to survive, yet their way of life burdens it with increasingly taxing demands. Thus, as humans degrade Earth, they threaten the quality of their own existence. Globalization, the compression of time and space, both exacerbates and alleviates the burden of this environmental paradox. Perceiving time as accelerated and space as condensed alters the ways in which humans interact with their physical environment. For instance, globalization can promote behavior that improves environmental health by fostering creative environmental problem solving and cooperation among groups. It can also construct behavioral patterns that degrade the environment by encouraging resource consumption, waste, and pollution.
Topic:
Climate Change and Globalization
Political Geography:
Dutch

8. Perceptions, Politics, and Peace: The Limits of Globalization in Legitimizing the International Criminal Court

Author:
Aimee Mackie
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
In a globalizing world, the field of human rights has attempted to reach a universal moral consensus that transcends state sovereignty. The creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 1998 provided a new mechanism to support these efforts. Although the jurisdiction of the Court extends across the globe, so far all of the investigations have taken place on the continent of Africa. This fact, along with the details of the cases the Court has taken up, has sparked questions concerning neocolonialism and the political independence of the Court. In order for the Court to improve its reputation in the global community, it must acknowledge, address, and work toward remedying these genuine concerns in a just and open manner. The inability of the ICC to overcome accusations of neocolonialism and the continual obstacle of state sovereignty evidence the complex impact that globalization has had on international criminal law. The ICC has the potential to bring violators of international criminal law to justice, but in doing so it must avoid promoting impunity among the politically powerful and recognize that there are some situations in which arrest warrants and criminal prosecution cannot bring peace.
Topic:
Globalization and Sovereignty
Political Geography:
Africa

9. The Last Frontier of Globalization: Asylum and Citizenship in the Netherlands

Author:
Danait Teklay
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Alla Sarkisyan and Ibrahim Mohammed are Dutch citizens who came to the Netherlands seeking asylum less than fifteen years ago. Today, they have accepted the Netherlands as their new home and their adopted country. Yet, indicative of their transnational journey, they continue to harbor strong feelings for their places of origin and culture. As Alla most poignantly stated, “the Netherlands is my home, but Russia and Armenia are in my blood.” Her sentiment reflects the shift towards a transnational conception of identity and moreover illustrates the changing nature of citizenship within this era of globalization. The mixed identity that she and countless others express poses a challenge to the traditional notion of citizenship espoused by the Dutch state. Alla and Ibrahim are just two examples of the thousands of recently arrived refugees and asylees who are reshaping the political and social landscape of the Netherlands. The stories of their integration into Dutch society exemplify the challenges and achievements of redefining citizenship in this time of globalization.
Topic:
Globalization
Political Geography:
Russia, Armenia, Netherlands, and Dutch

10. Editor's Note

Author:
Ahmed Samatar
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
All phenomena, especially those that are the products of the human imagination and action, have a genetic code, even if the precise delineations and movements are not always easily accessible. Our contemporary concerns over human rights are no exception. In an important sense, the historical roots of our preoccupation with the welfare of the “other” could be linked to the coming of all major religious faiths. Reasserting the potential human capacity for empathy, many religions, in one version or another, attempt to convey to their adherents that sympathetic obligation is a virtue, if not a responsibility to fellow human beings.
Topic:
Human Rights and Human Welfare