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11. Millennials, Human Rights, and Returning Home

Author:
Christy Dehus
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
Millennials that leave their home country, are raised in the west, then return to their home countries leave an impact on both countries. It’s similar to the brain drain phenomenon, but this generation has the potential to positively impact both countries: their home countries by returning and the countries they are raised in by educating from afar via social media. Ugaaso Boocow is an example of this. She uses Instagram to document her journey back home to Somalia after spending the majority of her childhood and young adult life in Canada. Through this process she depicts the Somalia that the media doesn’t portray: a country full of rich heritage and geographical diversity. Her friends in the west learn about life in Somalia and Somalia is positively impacted by the education she obtained in the west. How does the influx of millennials returning to their home country after living in the west mold their understanding of universal human rights? In Somalia, as in other war-torn countries, human rights are violated on a daily basis. International humanitarian law, which provides laws to protect civilians and combatants during armed conflict, is violated. The spirit of humanity is captured through Ugaaso’s Instagram pictures, providing hope for failed states. Perhaps the return of these young people will create pressure for failed states to change. They are the champions for their countries.
Topic:
Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, Social Movement, and Youth
Political Geography:
Global Focus

12. Cyberactivity in Postmodern Revolutions / El ciberactivismo en las revoluciones posmodernas

Author:
Dario Cortés and Tannia Garzón
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
Institution:
International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
Abstract:
Bearing in mind the technological context in which the action of global society revolves around and the influence that the digital age has on human daily life, it can be inferred that the technological component has become an influential factor within social phenomena, according to the search for structural social changes and at the same time can produce some concerns and risks to the stability of the ruling systems of government, for which this research has been proposed, in order to demonstrate the actions and factors that make these facts tangible, which are exposed above.
Topic:
Social Movement, Revolution, Insurrection, and Identity
Political Geography:
Global Focus

13. An Economy For the 1%: How privilege and power in the economy drive extreme inequality and how this can be stopped

Author:
Deborah Hardoon, Ricardo Fuentes-Nieva, and Sophia Ayele
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Abstract:
The global inequality crisis is reaching new extremes. The richest 1% now have more wealth than the rest of the world combined. Power and privilege is being used to skew the economic system to increase the gap between the richest and the rest. A global network of tax havens further enables the richest individuals to hide $7.6 trillion. The fight against poverty will not be won until the inequality crisis is tackled.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, International Trade and Finance, Poverty, and Social Movement
Political Geography:
Global Focus

14. Disability Rights in Global Perspective

Author:
Karen Nakamura
Publication Date:
04-2016
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues
Abstract:
Grassroots disability movements such as mad pride and crip pride have pushed themselves to the forefront of conversations across the world about diversity and inclusion, but there has also been considerable setbacks in recent years. Karen Nakamura discusses disability rights social movements and how they have fundamentally changed the social contract and fabric in various countries.
Topic:
Health, Human Rights, Social Movement, Health Care Policy, Social Justice, Disability, and Mental Health
Political Geography:
Japan, Asia, North America, Global Focus, and United States of America

15. Banners, Barricades, and Bombs: How Social Movements Affect Public Opinion

Author:
Amanda Pearson
Publication Date:
05-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
It’s an argument we’ve heard before: governments should not negotiate with terrorist organizations that engage in violent activity. This idea is pervasive throughout the academic and policy worlds, but what about public opinion? Do citizens think the government should shun social movements that adopt extreme tactics often associated with terrorist organizations? Social protest takes various forms, and organized social movements have various intentions—from benign disruption to purposeful violence. In their forthcoming paper for Comparative Political Studies, Connor Huff and Dominika Kruszewska look at how the tactical choices of social movements affect public opinion about whether or not—and to what degree—governments should negotiate with social movements.1 In research involving 2,000 Polish citizens, Huff and Kruszewska document what many already believe: people were approximately 30% less likely to support government negotiations with organizations that use bombs compared with occupations. “Our results show that public support decreases for both separatist organizations and social movements that adopt bombing as a tactic when compared against occupations and demonstrations,” they write. The researchers find mixed support for whether respondents think organizations that use bombings should receive fewer concessions once negotiations begin.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Terrorism, Social Movement, Protests, Violence, and Demonstrations
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16. Pitching a Level Playing Field: Women and Leadership in Sports

Author:
Barbara Kotschwar and Tyler Moran
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
While women's presence in the leadership ranks of international sporting bodies has increased over the past decade, women continue to be underrepresented relative to their involvement in sports. Seeing qualified women in sports leadership positions can serve as a strong motivator for female athletes, which is important given the strong link between girls' participation in sports and positive outcomes in education, health, and positioning in the workforce. The important multiplier effects that sports can have for girls and women, and the important effects that positive female outcomes can have for economic growth, makes promoting gender equality in sports leadership a wise societal investment.
Topic:
Education, Gender Issues, Human Welfare, and Social Movement
Political Geography:
Global Focus

17. 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

18. Capitalist Dynamics: Fictional Expectations and the Openness of the Future.

Author:
Jens Beckert
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
Capitalism is an economic and social order oriented toward the future. In this paper, I describe the unfolding of the temporal order of capitalism and relate it to the restless dynamism of capitalism we have observed since the Industrial Revolution. Since the future is open, actors are confronted with the uncertainty of the outcomes of their decisions. What can expectations be under conditions of uncertainty? To answer this question, I introduce the notion of fictional expectations which can be used to describe decisions made under conditions of an open and uncertain future. In the paper’s penultimate section, I apply the concept of fictional expectations to the analysis of four crucial processes of capitalism: money and credit, investments, innovation, and consumption. The main thrust of the paper is that in order to understand economic action in capitalism, actors’ perceptions of the future need to take center stage. Not only “history matters,” but also the “future matters.”
Topic:
Economics, Markets, Socialism/Marxism, Social Movement, and Capitalism
Political Geography:
Global Focus