Below are abstracts of the thesis research presented by our Undergraduate Associates during the conference. Please refer to the schedule for dates and times for each presentation:

Trevor Bakker (Social Studies), a Rogers Family Research Fellow

Transmitting International Justice: The Hybrid Model of the Special Court for Sierra Leone
My thesis documents the promise and limits of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, an institution designed to try major perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity after eleven years of armed conflict. Bucking the trend toward centralization of international justice at the permanent International Criminal Court, the hybrid Special Court combines foreign and international staff in the Sierra Leonean capital of Freetown, bringing the justice process closer to the war-affected population. My thesis looks outside the courtroom, beyond purely legal aspects of the Special Court, at the details of its outreach to the public, recruitment and training of staff, and interaction with government and civil society in Sierra Leone. Based on eleven weeks of in-country research, my thesis combines participant observation of Special Court staff at work; survey interviews of those attending the Special Court's human rights trainings in six communities; and semi-structured interviews of lawyers, judges, prison guards, government officials, NGO workers, and more. I argue that the Special Court’s hybridity has been a catalyst for transmission of information, skills, and values to Sierra Leoneans, demonstrating its viability as an alternative to purely local or international forms of transitional justice.

Asli Bashir (History and Literature), a Williams/Lodge International Government and Public Affairs Research Fellow

Analyzing the Image of the Girl-Child During Uganda's HIV/AIDS Crisis: When the Discourse of Protection Imperils
In 1987, Uganda embarked on an aggressive campaign against an HIV epidemic that was ravaging the nation’s population. In the effort to combat the virus, both state and independent actors targeted the infection by establishing more open discourses regarding sexual matters. During an era characterized by rapid modernization, a violent and persistent war, and a dramatic shift in power structures, the threat of HIV also precipitated aggressive public debates that were more focused on sexual morality than sexual health. The body of the girl-child became a primary site of contention. The girl-child was depicted as at once uniquely vulnerable to exploitation and an active participant in her own defilement. This thesis focuses on the important and revealing role the image of the girl-child has played in demonstrating how preexisting notions of sexual morality, modern public health imperatives, and conflicting agendas converged on an unstable symbol of tainted innocence during Uganda’s crisis.

Nishchal Basnyat (Government), a Rogers Family Research Fellow

Chasing Utopia: Maoism, Monarchy and Democracy in Nepal
The thesis explores the recent Maoist movement in Nepal and seeks to understand two puzzling issues: First, what factors led the Maoist guerillas in Nepal to unexpectedly enter the political mainstream? Second, why did the Maoist rebels become increasingly democratic after taking power? In explaining the unusual outcome in Nepal, this thesis makes two key claims. First, it argues that the Maoist transformation into mainstream politics resulted not from conventional factors—such as military fatigue, stalemate or international involvement—but rather from the actions of the king. Second, this thesis argues that the Maoist rebels became increasingly moderate after coming to power because of the changes in the international system that occurred after the Cold War. In particular, the i) demise of support from communist superpowers, ii) the increasingly pro-democratic nature of Western foreign policy and iii) the growing transnational human rights movement—all of which took place in the post-Cold War era—raised the political and economic cost of establishing a non-democratic regime in the developing world. Thus, these changes accounted for the unexpected democratic shift of a guerilla group that had once been determined to establish a communist regime.

Sarah Burack (History), a Williams/Lodge International Government and Public Affairs Research Fellow

Riot in the Hill: Afro-Caribbean Identity & Transnational Politics in London, 1958–1965
In the last half of the twentieth century, non-white and non-European immigrant populations in Great Britain grew rapidly. Despite this marked demographic shift, however, few historical accounts exist which chronicle the rise of multicultural and multiracial Britain. My thesis addresses this gap in the literature by providing a historical study of the 1958 race riot in Notting Hill, the first such riot in metropolitan London. It argues that within the city’s Afro-Caribbean migrant community, the riot provoked a heightened sense of race consciousness and encouraged new forms of political activism. In making these claims, further, it stresses the importance of international politics, diaspora, and transnational movements on the creation of new conceptions of Black British identity. Drawing on a range of primary sources—including government documents, newspaper articles, personal papers and memoirs, music and photographs—my thesis attempts to recreate the neighborhood of Notting Hill as it existed in the 1960s and to depict the state of contemporary race relations from the perspective of the immigrants themselves. It further explores the impact of racial tensions, immigration debates, and legislation on the immigrant community.

Diane de Gramont (Social Studies)

Leaving Lima Behind? The Victory and Evolution of Regional Movements in Peru
This thesis examines the reasons behind the triumph of regional political parties over national parties in Peru’s 2006 regional elections, and the subsequent evolution of regional parties in government, using the Andean region of Cajamarca and the Amazonian region of San Martín as the primary case examples. My thesis is based primarily on interviews with journalists, academics, party activists, social leaders, and regional government officials both in Lima and the regions. I argue that regional parties in Peru are unusual as they have emerged primarily as a result of the crisis of national political parties rather than ethno-religious cleavages or strong regional governments. I further argue that regional elections have created incentives for party organization which are not present in national elections, but the limited autonomy of regional governments creates serious obstacles to long-term regional party consolidation and survival. Finally, I consider the implications these regional parties may have for Peruvian democracy and national party organization.

Priya Gupta (Anthropology), a Williams/Lodge International Government and Public Affairs Research Fellow

Environmental Protest and Identity Construction in Argentina and Uruguay
In the past seven years the city of Gualeguaychú, Argentina, has changed considerably. What was once a calm tourist destination and agricultural region has become a site of local environmental activism and collective mobilization. In response to the development of a pulp (or cellulose) mills on the opposite side of the Uruguay River, which serves as the border between Argentina and Uruguay. Residents of the city have formed a community based environmental assembly (the “Asamblea”) through which they have organized multiple marches and demonstrations, as well as a blockade of the international bridge connecting the two countries. In this thesis I analyze how this environmental protest movement operates in the construction of new or altered identity among local residents, creating a new, politically-mobilized relationship with nature and place. I also examine the structure of the movement to understand how the Asamblea emphasizes locality and democracy to build on community and strengthen people’s willingness to participate despite certain failures. Finally, I analyze the way in which the movement engaged with traveling global discourses and the law to ultimately elevate the stakes of the conflict to the international level.

Sarah Hinkfuss (Economics, and Environmental Science and Public Policy), a Williams/Lodge International Government and Public Affairs Research Fellow

Equity in the Informal Water Market: A Case Study of Ayn al-Basha, Jordan
At the heart of the problem of urban water scarcity is the eternally frustrating balance of efficiency and equity. In most cities, such as in Ayn al-Basha, Jordan, there exists an official public utility and a host of supplementary informal actors. Development economists have excluded from formal analysis the elusive informal market, even though in many cases it determines access to and affordability of water. This paper asks to what extent, if at all, the private water market operating in tandem with the public market is superior in efficiency and equity terms to the operation of the public market alone. On the one hand, neoclassical economic analysis suggests that the tanker market results in welfare gains because it exists as a free market response to the inefficiencies of the public market. On the other hand, natural resource economic analysis suggests that by allowing the market-clearing price to be set by private marginal costs and benefits, the informal market has negative externalities that by definition make it inefficient. I model household water demand to evaluate the allocative efficiency and equity of the tanker market. The model predicts that the tanker market better addresses efficiency than the public market, but not equity. I empirically test the model using new household level survey data from Ayn al-Basha, Jordan, and partially confirm the model’s predictions. Finally, I recommend that the public utility investigate absorbing the private suppliers to improve the efficiency of water pricing in line with international mandates and natural resource sustainability, while maintaining equity in water pricing demanded by domestic politics—a win-win situation.

Emily Hogin (Social Studies), a Williams/Lodge International Government and Public Affairs Research Fellow

Counterterrorism in the Classroom: How Competition Between Teachers and Police Officers Shaped the United Kingdom’s “Preventing Violent Extremism” Policy
This thesis explains how the goal of “preventing violent extremism” became policy in British schools. The national “preventing violent extremism” policy asks schools to develop curricula that “challenge extremist views” as well as to identify and “support” individual students who might be “vulnerable” to “recruitment” by “violent extremists.” The policy learning literature illuminates how different factors influence the creation of new policy, and the new institutionalist literature offers insight on how would-be reformers pursue both formal and informal means to affect an existing policy. A synthesis of the policy learning literature with theories of new institutionalism reveals that previous studies have overlooked the process of implementation as an important influence on formal policy. Drawing on 1) analysis of public materials, 2) personal interviews with national and local government officials, Muslim community partners, and opposition leaders, and 3) internal reports and meeting minutes, this thesis demonstrates that policy-implementers, through allegiance to the perceived traditional goals of their policy sectors, play an important and insufficiently explained role in shaping the formal policy itself.

Neagheen Homaifar (Social Studies), a Williams/Lodge International Government and Public Affairs Research Fellow

Microfinance Mothers: A Generational Transmission of Gender Perceptions and Cooperation
Since its inception in the 1970s, most published work about microfinance has either praised the power of small loans for transforming women’s lives, or raised concerns that such small loans are further retrenching society’s traditional gender divides. In these works, metrics for measuring empowerment have ranged from levels of domestic bargaining power to the client’s actual control over a loan. In my thesis, I examine whether women’s microenterprise activities in two Mexican communities have a positive influence on their children’s perception of the female role as a novel way of engaging and moving forward the stalled debate. I investigate this by conducting one-on-one interviews with women and their children in a microfinance community and a similarly-situated non-microfinance community, and then comparing their responses. Additionally, I conducted microfinance simulations in both communities to see if client children are more likely to exhibit economically cooperative behavior than non-client children.

Lillian Khoury (Government), a Williams/Lodge International Government and Public Affairs Research Fellow

The Rule of Law in the Context of the French Mandate of Syria (1920–1946)
This research project aims to explain the success of the French Mandate in Syria, not in creating a state able to “stand alone” as postulated in article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations but also in applying the most democratic system that Syria has seen in its long history. Based on the archival research I have conducted so far, the specific factor the project focuses on is the establishment of the rule of law as being the primary factor in fostering trust in the government, allowing a democratic spirit and a civil society to flourish as well as empowering the democratic institutions which were put in place. In particular, the reorganization of an independent judiciary, the undertaking of large-scale projects such as the cadastre as well as the protection of minority rights can only be explained by the acknowledgment of the genuine idea of a civilizing mission and the refutation of the current consensus on the Mandate which perceives it as merely another guise for European imperialism.

Eugene Kim (History), a Program on Transatlantic Relations Undergraduate Fellow

A Deafening Silence: American and British Responses to the Warsaw Uprising, August-October 1944
The Warsaw Uprising of 1944 lasted more than two months and resulted in the deaths of over 150,000 civilians. The tragic narrative of the Polish Armia Krajowa’s outnumbered forces is fairly well-known in the Western world. However, the diplomatic consequences of the Warsaw Uprising have been less well explored. In particular, the American and British role in the Polish government’s planning and execution of the Uprising, as well as Anglo-American diplomatic and foreign policy during the course of the Uprising, have not been adequately examined. The thesis will analyze three important narratives that all blend together to make the Warsaw Uprising an absolutely fascinating case study. First, I will construct a sustained analysis of the historical personalities and decision-making processes of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill and their respective governments. Second, I will use primary sources (obtained using the Weatherhead Center’s financial assistance) to provide a measured and critical analysis of the traditional historiography surrounding the Warsaw Uprising. Finally, I will include a far broader narrative—one that encompasses four governments, four nations, and a multitude of policymakers in its sweep—in order to understand whether or not, as Norman Davies writes, that “the tragedy of the Warsaw Rising resulted from a systemic breakdown of the Grand Alliance.”

HyunJin Kim (Social Studies), a Williams/Lodge International Government and Public Affairs Research Fellow

Tuvalu and climate change: Disappearing Islands and the Obligation to Help— Reassessing the International Community’s Obligation to Help Small Island-states with Climate Change Impacts
My thesis evaluates climate adaptation policy for small island-states through a case study of Tuvalu—a small country in the South Pacific—that I conducted through interviews and participant observation in Funafuti, Tuvalu’s capital. Due to sea-level rise and other climate change impacts, countries like Tuvalu are experiencing myriad challenges and face two types of adaptation strategies: relocation—moving to another location—or in-country adaptation—adapting to the changes within their country. In order to determine the nature of the international community’s obligation to help with adaptation in terms of these two strategies, I frame my discussion through political theory literature on climate change policy. I argue that the literature inadequately explores the nature and extent of the international community's obligation to help island-states like Tuvalu with adaptation and makes the assumption that it consists of a basic level of providing a relocation option. Primarily using interviews with residents, government officials, and representatives of NGOs in Tuvalu, I explore a series of moral claims made by Tuvaluans to argue that the international community has a much greater obligation to provide for their challenges than merely a relocation option.

Rob King (History)

Academic Scribblers: Reports and the Making of American Strategy on Latin America, 1948–1980
Many discussions about U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America focus on intervention. Guatemala in 1954, the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 1960s, and Nicaragua and Chile in the 1970s are some of the oft-repeated names and dates. The literature on the subject is dominated by phrases like “business-interests”— the idea that U.S. government officials were responsive to opportunities for financial advantage in the region—and points frequently to North-South colonial impulses. Though these literatures are rich, there is still significant room for improvement. There is a complexity to U.S. foreign policy in the region during the second half of the twentieth century which overarching theories fail to register. For example, there is a series of policy reports which outline visions for policy in Latin America that go unremarked, or at best, ill-characterized. Four particularly notable reports were compiled and delivered to the secretary of state or the president, respectively, by George Kennan in 1949, Milton Eisenhower in 1958, Nelson Rockefeller in 1969, and Sol Linowitz in 1976. Policy reports, like those I am studying here, play only a peripheral role in existing grand narratives, and within these texts they are often simplified to their most basic impulses or entirely ignored. The marginalization of these reports obscures the historical narrative about U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America. If one delves a little deeper, the reports can provide views of the shifting frameworks and intellectual roots of foreign policy and also reveal the political machinations involved in its creation that might otherwise go undiscovered.

Lydia Lo (Social Studies), a Williams/Lodge International Government and Public Affairs Research Fellow

Modern NGOs, “Traditional” Government and HIV/AIDS Policy in Malawi
In Malawi, one in six people are infected with the HIV virus, but Malawians have not appeared to respond vigorously. In this thesis, I explore this seeming contradiction by focusing on one international NGO concerned with HIV/AIDS in Malawi, along with how and why people work for this NGO. I show that the western idea of affective humanitarianism does not seem compatible with the depersonalizing effects of NGO bureaucracy and the constraints of the limited employment opportunities in Malawi. To show this, I use a medical anthropological perspective, analyzing ethnographic data from interviews and participant observation. I also use historical analysis to provide context. The results suggest that the apparent contradiction is much more complex. Though humanitarianism among these NGO workers does not follow a traditional paradigm where emotions are at the fore, the NGO workers appropriate bureaucratic mechanisms to affect humanitarian change.

Joanna Naples-Mitchell (Social Studies), a Simmons Family Research Fellow

Experiment in Universality: The “Special Procedures” Mechanisms of the United Nations Human Rights Council and the Challenge of Human Rights Implementation in Sovereign States
This thesis explores the challenge of human rights implementation at the national level through a study of the “Special Procedures,” particularly the “Special Rapporteurs,” of the United Nations Human Rights Council. As unpaid, independent experts, the 39 Special Procedures mandate holders—whose titles range from Special Rapporteur on Torture to Independent Expert on Sudan—report on human rights issues and country situations worldwide. This thesis, informed by interviews with mandate holders and their support staff at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, identifies the political and logistical constraints faced by the Special Procedures. Then, through case studies and formal reports of country visits, this thesis illustrates some of the innovative approaches individual mandate holders have adopted toward States in the face of these constraints. The cases demonstrate the tension between the ethical demands of universal human rights norms and the political challenge of State sovereignty in the twenty-first century.

Elizabeth Nichols (History and Literature), a Williams/Lodge International Government and Public Affairs Research Fellow

Creating an Espace Propre in La Goutte d’Or: Creativity, Plurality and Agency in a Multicultural Parisian Neighborhood
This thesis focuses on a multicultural neighborhood in the north of Paris called La Goutte d’Or. It begins with an analysis of the neighborhood’s “sense of place” as a way of understanding how the history of La Goutte d’Or interacts with its contemporary cultural and social environment. The neighborhood has become known for many urban social problems, such as poverty, crime, drugs and prostitution, which, highlighted by the media have given La Goutte d’Or a largely negative reputation. In 1983, the local government implemented plans for urban rehabilitation, which has successfully improved the quality of housing. However, these “top-down” urban projects emphasized the rehabilitation of space over people, which ultimately marginalized many of its inhabitants and threatened the neighborhood’s identity. In response to these projects, community-based organizations, such as Echomusée, Espoir Goutte d’Or and De Meme Nature, have worked from the “bottom up” to preserve the neighborhood’s sense of place and restore dignity and agency to its inhabitants. A commonality among many of these organizations is their use of creativity and the arts as a way of opening communication among the neighborhood’s inhabitants, reinforcing a social bond and allowing them to take ownership over their immediate urban environment.

Elizabeth Powers (Sociology), a Canada Undergraduate Fellow

How Can Government Policy Affect Support Networks? South Asian Immigrant Women in Toronto and Boston
Immigrants face countless obstacles when moving to a new country. In this paper, I analyze the challenges that South Asian women face immigrating to the U.S. and Canada and how formal support agencies affect their experiences. I interviewed a total of 41 South Asian immigrant women: twenty-two women in Toronto and 19 in Boston. Toronto provides an interesting comparison to Boston because of extensive government support for ethnic groups. In Toronto the government-funded South Asian Women’s Centre (SAWC) has a large building with twelve full time employees volunteer organization; in Boston Saheli: Friendship and Support for South Asian Women meets in public spaces and is run by volunteers. The differences between these organizations reflect an institutional difference between the U.S. and Canadian governments: Canada has an official policy of multiculturalism that recognizes ethnic groups and funds ethnic organizations while the U.S. does not. Through this comparative lens, I evaluate how each formal support organization helps South Asian immigrant women confront obstacles. My findings suggest that while both organizations help women face settlement challenges, build marketable skills, and recover from domestic abuse. However, the SAWC helps isolated women build informal social networks while Saheli does not.

Elisha Rivera (Government)

Understanding Policy-Making: An Examination of the Family-based Immigration Policies of the United States and Australia
The thesis examines the marked divergence in immigration policies in the United States and Australia in recent years. Public sentiment and debate about immigration issues are very similar in these two countries, but while United States policy maintains an expansive approach to admissions based on family reunification, Australia has placed more restrictive conditions on such admissions. A formal spatial model is used to show how differences in political party unity and law-making systems play a major role in determining policy outcomes. The implications are tested qualitatively with a comparative case analysis examining attempts to reform family reunification immigration policies in the United States and Australia from the 1970s to the present.

Dimitrije Ruzic (Economics), a Samuels Family Research Fellow

The European Union and the Eurozone: Intra-industry Trade and Economic Convergence
European unity, still an oxymoron half a century ago, has driven much of the continent’s political and economic transformation since World War II. More recently, the introduction of the Euro in 1999 re-sparked debate on what has constituted European integration thus far, and what shape future integration might take. At about the same time, the academic world experienced a shock with the publication of an article on the “Rose effect,” the claim that currency union membership vastly increases trade (Rose 2000). This thesis project makes two principal claims: (1) the Euro has indeed increased trade in Europe, both for Eurozone and non-Eurozone countries, and (2) in evaluating European economic integration, we should not look solely at aggregate trade, but its component parts. Consequently, this paper first re-estimates the Euro’s effect on European trade using the methodology of Micco, Ordonez, and Stein (2003). Thereafter, looking at the patterns of intra-industry trade in Europe, it argues that both the overall increase in trade, and the increase of intra-industry trade as a share of total trade reflect greater European economic integration from 1999–2008.

Megan Shutzer (Social Studies), a Rogers Family Research Fellow

Operation Return Home: The Resettlement of Kenya’s Internally Displaced
This thesis explores the politics behind the humanitarian response to Kenya’s 2008 post-election violence and the resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs). I first examine the history of Kenya’s violence through the lenses of land, labor and ethnicity, revealing the unique opportunity that the election violence presented for the re-evaluation of historical land injustices and inequalities inherited from the colonial period. Next, using interviews and primary sources, I look at Operation Rudi Nyumbani (Return Home), the government’s program for the resettlement of IDPs, in order to expose the relationship between government policy towards IDPs and the human rights abuses associated with the operation. I argue that the timing and implementation of Operation Rudi Nyumbani reveal its underling intentions: to dissipate the opportunity for a re-evaluation of historical land injustices and to preserve the status quo within which an elite few control the majority of Kenya’s wealth. By situating Operation Rudi Nyumbani in its political and historical context, this thesis challenges the current Oxbridge School, which I argue glosses over the critical connection between colonial land injustice and post-colonial land alienation and policy in Kenya.

Melissa Tran (Sociology), a Samuels Family Research Fellow

Transnationalism Online: How a Social Networking Website Connects Mexican Migrants
A popular topic of study within the field of immigration is transnationalism, or the ability for migrants to maintain connections and ties to their countries of origin, even after settling in their new places of residence. In my thesis, I study a “new” form of transnational communication, a website that targets people from the region of Los Altos in the Mexican state of Jalisco. This website, by catering to those with a connection to this specific geographical location, serves as a meeting and reunion point for people still living in this region as well as for migrants throughout the United States. Through an analysis of 36 in-depth interviews and an online survey of 172 website users, I find that website has amplified the amount and degree of communication among people from Los Altos. I also find that people in both Mexico and the U.S. use the website to reunite with old friends and classmates, stay up to date on news and events happening on the other side of the border, and share a sense of collective history, while migrants and their children in the United States in particular use the website additionally to feel close and connected to their hometown in Mexico.

Kevin Zhou (Government), a Samuels Family Research Fellow

Two Faces of History: The Evolution of Sino-Japanese Relations
This thesis will analyze the evolution of historical memory in the context of Sino-Japanese relations. Specifically, I focus on the striking changes in the bilateral relationship between China and Japan in two periods: first, the Cold War era, and second, the post-Tiananmen era. Through a content analysis of official propaganda and cultural instruments, I argue that the Chinese government has actively shaped historical memory from the top-down in order to achieve regime objectives regarding status.