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71. Lingering Borders in the European Union: Migrant Workers in Spain and the Netherlands

Author:
Andra Bosneag
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
With the two European Union (EU) Enlargements of 2004 and 2007, an understanding of the antiquated and modern challenges, fears, and contradictions surrounding the inclusion of accession countries, as well as the respective rights of the “old” member states, has become essential to any contemporary analysis of current EU dynamics. This work incorporates my two semesters abroad in Barcelona, Spain, and Maastricht, the Netherlands, with the intended approach of further clarifying the Program's mission: “intensive interrogation and observation of globalization in comparative perspective.” Before embarking on my study abroad, I was profoundly marked by an incident that solidified my resolution to study Eastern and Central Europe. In an effort to skip the bureaucratic visa process, I attempted to use my Romanian passport instead of my American passport to enter Europe. After inquiring at five different Spanish embassies as to whether my Romanian passport, after EU accession, would eliminate the need for a visa, I left the country still not knowing if my passport was yet functional in the realm of the European Union. Upon entering Spain, a border patrol officer enthusiastically informed me that the EU required no entry papers (besides a passport) for its citizens studying abroad; my Romanian passport had ceased to be just a sentimental souvenir. This incident was one of many that attested to the lack of general knowledge surrounding the new EU members and it contributed to my decision to study the interactions between the old and new member states. Furthermore, both Spain and the Netherlands have generally been viewed as “different.” While Franco's authoritarian regime emphasized the popular slogan, “España es diferente,” it is currently employed as a tactic to garner tourists. In contrast, the political and cultural dynamics of the Netherlands have traditionally been perceived as anomalous in their liberalism, compelling many to label the country as “different.”
Political Geography:
Europe, Spain, Netherlands, and Barcelona

72. From Neo-Enlightenment to Nihonjinron: The Politics of Anti-Multiculturalism in Japan and the Netherlands

Author:
Jack Eisenberg
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
On September 6, 2007, politician Geert Wilders addressed the Dutch Parliament, boldly proclaiming that “multiculturalism” was destroying European civilization: Madam Speaker, the Islamic incursion must be stopped. Islam is the Trojan Horse in Europe. If we do not stop Islamification now, Eurabia and Netherabia will just be a matter of time. One century ago, there were approximately 50 Muslims in the Netherlands. Today, there are about one million Muslims in this country. Where will it end?...No Islamic tra-dition must ever be established in the Netherlands: not now and also not in a few centuries' time.
Political Geography:
Japan, Europe, and Netherlands

73. Somali Immigrants and Health Care: Neo-Liberal Globalization in the United States and Holland

Author:
Hye Won Hong
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Proper health care is important for everyone. According to Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well being of himself and of his family. It states that health care is an essential right for everyone regardless of their social, cultural, and economic status. However, recent studies have shown that providing proper health care has not been well addressed, especially with regard to immigrants.
Political Geography:
United States and Holland

74. The Rise of English: The Language of Globalization in China and the European Union

Author:
Anne Johnson
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
It is everywhere. Some 380 million people speak it as their first language and perhaps two-thirds as many again as their second. A billion are learning it, about a third of the world's population are in some sense exposed to it and by 2050, it is predicted, half the world will be more or less proficient in it. It is the language of globalisation—of international business, politics and diplomacy. It is the language of computers and the Internet. You'll see it on posters in Cote d'Ivoire, you'll hear it in pop songs in Tokyo, you'll read it in official documents in Phnom Penh. Deutsche Welle broadcasts in it. Bjork, an Icelander, sings in it. French business schools teach in it. It is the medium of expression in cabinet meetings in Bolivia. Truly, the tongue spoken back in the 1300s only by the 'low people' of England, as Robert of Gloucester put it at the time, has come a long way. It is now the global language.
Political Geography:
China, Europe, and England

75. Power, Morality, and Self-Interest: The United States and European Union Foreign Policy Impact on Human Rights in Colombia

Author:
Federico Segura Molina
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
This essay examines the impact of the foreign policy of the United States and the European Union (EU) on the human rights situation in Colombia. Not only was this project an essential component of the Macalester-Maastricht Globalization in Comparative Perspective Study Abroad Program, but a variety of factors also motivated my study: • Colombia is an anomaly in the study of foreign policy and human rights. As a region with uncommon political, economic, and social realities, Colombia is a country where two distinct approaches to foreign policy and human rights, those of the U.S. and EU, are simultaneously at work. Despite their significant ideological and philosophical differences, however, both the U.S. and the EU strongly support Colombia's administration and its national policies. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the human rights situation in Colombia and to create effective policies in the future, it is important to understand the unusual impact international action has had on national policy and the fate of human rights. It is imperative to reconcile these two different approaches to for-eign policy, as well as the myriad perspectives and accounts of the current human rights situation in Colombia. It is my desire to inspire reflection upon how past and current actions of the U.S. and the EU have ameliorated or deteriorated the human rights situation in Colombia. In addition, I hope to contribute to the search for a long-lasting solution to the political, economic, social, and ideologi-cal chaos that has wreaked havoc upon Colombian society. Finally, I have a strong personal connection to the topic. As a citizen of Colombia who is pursuing an undergraduate degree in Interna-tional Studies in the United States and the Netherlands, I have a deep interest in exploring the complex connections between Colom-bia, the United States, and the European Union.
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and Colombia

76. The Allure of the Radical: Understanding Jihadist Violence in the West

Author:
Kabir Sethi
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Grand proclamations of world peace and prosperity, so famously made by scholars and politicians alike in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War, today seem naive and almost laughable. Francis Fukuyama, writing as the Berlin Wall came down, believed that we were witnessing “Not just the end of the Cold War…but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.”1 For better or worse, that has not been the case. To use Benjamin Barber's words, we seem to be witnessing “retribalization” rather than “McWorld.” The fall of Communism as a global political movement did not bring an end to anti-Western sentiment in the world, as testified to by annual riots in India on Valentine's Day, anti-American rallies in South Korea and Japan, and Peru and Venezuela's explicitly anti-Western regimes. One violent movement in particular, though, has especially caught the imagination of the West, the movement that is commonly referred to as “Islamic terrorism,” “global jihad,” or “contemporary jihadist violence.” Part of what makes this movement so noticeable is its seemingly global reach and appeal. From bombings in Bali, Indonesia, to attacks in India, the Middle East, Europe, and all the way to the United States, “Islamic terrorism” seems to have spread across the world. This essay addresses the appeal of radical and violent interpretations of Islam in continental Western Europe and the United States.
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, India, and South Korea

77. Understanding "Spanglish" and "Flemch": A Comparative Analysis of American and Belgian Language Politics

Author:
Urvashi Wattal
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Globalization has been defined by various scholars, such as David Harvey and Ulrich Beck, as a rapid dissemination of information, ideas, and even people across the world. The process of globalization is witnessed on various platforms, including the economic, the political, and the cultural. Under pressure from global forces and institutions, the role of traditional nation-states is continuously being challenged. A prime example of such a force is the increasing influence of the European Union (EU) in shaping domestic policies within its member states. Globalization has not only made the world smaller in a technological sense, it has also highlighted issues of conflict and resurgent nationalism, while at the same time furthering the cause of Cosmopolitanism.
Political Geography:
America, Europe, and Belgium

78. Sites of Solidarity: Ethnic Belonging in Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, and a World of Difference

Author:
Eleni Zimiles
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Arriving on European soil in August 2007, my perception of globalization was largely comprised of the extensive and intangible tides of contemporary macro-institutional forces, such as that of the global economy or international governing bodies. Over the course of the year, another face of globalization was revealed, one that was a “much wider and deeper rendez-vous.” I began to more fully comprehend globalization as a historically deep conglomeration of overlapping global and local processes that affect individuals on an intimate level. However, while definitions are indispensably parsimonious, they are not sufficient. It is the anthropology student's role to open these compressed understandings and expose the full details of globalization's universalities and particularities, in effect creating a global “ethnography of the particular.”
Political Geography:
Europe, Netherlands, and Ireland

79. Appendix - Globalization in Comparative Perspective

Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
The Macalester Globalization in Comparative Perspective program consists of a first semester at Macalester or abroad in a student's own area of academic focus, following the guidelines long established by Macalester College. (Macalester's international students fulfill the first semester abroad requirement by their study at Macalester; Macalester U.S. students are required to study abroad or away elsewhere in the U.S. during the fall semester as part of this program.) This would mean, for example, that interested and qualified students, in any relevant field of study throughout the College, would individually spend the period of September–December studying international issues and liberal arts courses (earning 12–18 credits, depending on the program and the coursework) and gaining a strong local and regional perspective on globalization in any one country throughout the world.
Political Geography:
United States

80. On Musical Cosmopolitanism

Author:
Martin Stokes
Publication Date:
08-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Two broad areas of consensus reign on matters of musical globalization: one I will refer to as “popular” and the other “critical.” The popular consensus goes something like this. Advances in communication technologies over the last four decades—by which I mean increases in their power, capacity, and reach, coupled with their miniaturization and distribution across the social field—have wrought fundamental changes in the way music circulates. Music once confined to localities now circulates across the globe. Music that languished in archival obscurity can now be accessed at the click of a mouse. Music once perceived as foreign and outlandish has become familiar. Isolated musical practices now interact with others, producing energetic new hybrids, global “soundscapes.” Cultural hierarchies have been toppled as societies reckon with unexpected new sounds coming from without or below. Once we were locals; now we are cosmopolitans. Today we have choice, agency, and democratic possibilities for exchange and interaction—and a pleasurable vantage point on the musical goings-on of the world, a feast to enjoy.