VTechWorks Repository :: Browsing by Author "Zanotti, Laura"

Browsing by Author "Zanotti, Laura"

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Agency in the Barrio: Exploring the Intersection of Participation, Politics and Urban Development in Guatemala City
Brink-Halloran, Brendan Jon (Virginia Tech, 2013-11-19)
Completed as a series of article-length manuscripts, this dissertation reflects four interrelated aspects of my research on the topics of citizen participation, political practices of vote buying and approaches to community development in low-income urban areas, in the collection of neighborhoods known as Ciudad Peronia on the edge of Guatemala City. Together, the four articles in this thesis explore varying aspects of the social and political dynamics present in the interrelated processes of community organization and local development in Ciudad Peronia. The essays survey the complex array of contextual features that influence local outcomes, while also highlighting the important decisions of key actors. I highlight the interplay between context and agency, and in doing so, provide insight into the efforts of individuals and groups to construct meaningful citizenship rights, especially to basic living conditions, by means of a diverse array of self-organization initiatives and a variety of engagement strategies with the state. Despite the many obstacles revealed in this research, numerous individuals made a concerted effort to secure dignity and inclusion for themselves and members of their communities.
American Nationalism in the Early Twenty-first Century: A Discursive Analysis of the Politics of Immigration and National Security
Clark, Deanna Jacqueline Perry (Virginia Tech, 2018-02-16)
This thesis uses Benedict Anderson's theoretical contributions on the topic of national identity and Michel Foucault's contributions toward discourse analysis to perform a discursive analysis of Donald Trump's campaign speeches in which he exploits pre-existing anti-immigration sentiments among certain voters to gain political power. The research question addressed herein is: How has Donald Trump invoked the issue of national security to single out groups of immigrants as threats to U.S. national security, and what conditions exists so that he is able to do so in a way that enlists the support of a sizeable portion of the American public? First, this thesis works to put into context what drove post-World War II immigration in the U.S. to provide insight into what conditions lead to certain groups being encouraged or discouraged from immigrating. Second, I contrast Anderson's concept of nationalism with that of Samuel Huntington, whose idea of nationalism more closely aligns with Trump's nativist sense of national identity. Third, having put the history of U.S. immigration and the concept of national identity into context, I perform a discursive analysis of three of Trump's campaign speeches and tweets that focus on immigration and make problematic his racist, far-right ideology and its purpose toward the de-politicization and de-historicization of immigration as a national security and economic issue. I conclude by reminding the reader that allowing anti-immigrant discourse to become normalized without the burden of proof can lead to curbed freedoms under an authoritarian regime, a direction toward which Trump appears ready and willing to lead the American electorate.
An Analysis of President Trump's Afghanistan Foreign Policy: Through the Theoretical Framework of Walter Russell Mead's Four Paradigms
Santoro, Patrick Thomas (Virginia Tech, 2020-05-26)
The purpose of this thesis was to analyze President Trump's Afghanistan foreign policy and to determine if it fits the mold of one of the four historical foreign policy paradigms as described by Walter Russell Mead in his book, Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World. Mead describes four U.S. foreign policy schools of thought, in which he titles after influential statesmen who embody the specific school's core principles. These paradigms include the Hamiltonians, who believe in a strong relationship between big business and government for foreign policy success. The Wilsonians, who encourage the spread of democratic principles abroad. The Jeffersonians, who favor the protection of domestic liberal democracy over other foreign policy endeavors. Lastly, the Jacksonians, who prioritize the physical and economic security of American citizens above all else. The primary research question in this thesis states, which of the four traditions of U.S. foreign policy identified by Walter Russell Mead helps explain President Trump's Afghanistan foreign policy? President Trump's rhetoric and specific foreign policy actions were analyzed. His rhetoric was examined through his August 2017 Afghanistan Strategy speech and his specific foreign policy actions were measured through various air operation metrics, U.S. aid to Afghanistan, and U.S. troop deployment trends. Overall, this thesis gave support to my hypothesis that President Trump's Afghanistan foreign policy contains various Hamiltonian and Wilsonian principles, but it has proven to be principally Jacksonian.
Assessing the Boundaries of Participatory Democracy within an Emancipatory Political Framework: The Case of Parish Development Committees in Jamaica
Thomas, Marc Anthony (Virginia Tech, 2015-06-17)
This dissertation empirically expands the existing knowledge on participatory democracy through a study of Jamaica's Parish Development Committees (PDCs). These groups offer an avenue for Jamaicans to inform government policy, and this analysis explored the extent to which supportive institutional, infrastructural and superstructural (referring to the society's culture and power configurations) conditions for robust implementation of this democratization initiative existed. This inquiry involved observing more than one hundred hours of PDC activities at locations across Jamaica and conducting sixty key informant and four focus group interviews with relevant stakeholders. The analysis was bolstered by an appreciation of emancipatory politics employed by the country's general population since slavery not only to survive oppression, but also to influence the nation's political agenda. Riots during slavery and in the present day, for example, have offered citizens an avenue towards self-determination. This study found that the emergence, survival and thriving of PDCs in Jamaica is determined largely by the extent to which emancipatory political tactics are successfully applied by PDC stakeholders to combat a number of continuing challenges in these committee's environments. The democratization initiative symbolized by the PDCs promotes inclusiveness yet is led predominantly by older, educated middle class individuals with talents and capacities garnered from several years of experience in various fields. The dissertation argues that the opportunity cost of a more inclusive order explains this fact, in that Jamaica's finite resources mean there is limited space for a learning curve and the cash strapped committees have only been able to survive when their members could help to defray the cost of their operations. The dissertation explores other central challenges confronting the PDCs and the strategies these participative organizations have employed to address each. Primarily, this analysis provides a micro-scale view of the interaction of the factors that have shaped the power and possibility of Jamaica's democratization initiative.
Biopolitical and Disciplinary Peacebuilding: Sport, Reforming Bodies and Rebuilding Societies
Zanotti, Laura; Stephenson, Max O. Jr.; Schnitzer, Marcy H. (Taylor & Francis, 2015-03-25)
The peacebuilding political rationality established in the first years of the current century broadened the target of such efforts from state institutions to populations and adopted an array of disciplinary and biopolitical techniques aimed at changing individuals and the ways they live together. This article explores international organization discourses on sport and peacebuilding and argues that the broad consensus on sport as a peacebuilding strategy is most fruitfully explored in light of the intensification of the biopolitical and disciplinary trajectories of the liberal peace.
Borders, Art, and Imagination: Journeys with 'Maré from the Inside' and 'The Frontera Project'
Todd, Molly Frances (Virginia Tech, 2023-09-28)
This dissertation analyzes the possibilities and limits of art to perform upon borders in the Americas, and to open space for individuals to encounter, experience, and imagine them otherwise. I share the story here of my journeys with two touring transnational art groups working at and across borders: The Frontera Project and Maré from the Inside. The Frontera Project is a community-engaged bi-national performance of varied stories about the U.S.-Mexico border, that aims to complicate simplistic narratives of that border and build connection across difference. Maré from the Inside is an evolving multimedia exhibition addressing the Maré favela complex in Rio de Janeiro that grew out of a collaboration between 'outside' researchers and artists living in that neighborhood. I ask: how are artist/scholars experiencing and imagining borders? How does art perform and (re)shape social, cultural, and political borders? To this end, I place border/lands studies, performance studies, and feminist international relations in dialogue and draw on my ethnographic fieldwork across different sites in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil to examine the ways that politically engaged artists seek to navigate and shape multi-scalar borders. Overall, I argue that Maré and Frontera valorize artistic expression as a form of thought and open space for alternate border imaginaries that challenge existing social frames. They do this through varied performance strategies and processes of collective artmaking that involve careful consideration of the content of their work (whose stories to tell, what the stories contain, what images to use), in tandem with embodied performances that facilitate encounters at and across difference. I utilize collaborative, arts-based methods, drawing on the artists' insights, and further reflect on the possibilities of these methods to challenge prevailing approaches in international relations.
Building Governance Capacity in Rural Niger: A Study of Decentralization and Good Governance Policy as Experienced in a Local Village
Lyon-Hill, Sarah (Virginia Tech, 2012-05-10)
Niger, a northwest African country with several systemic barriers to development, has made education a priority. In an effort to improve the national education system, Niger has implemented a decentralization program. This study examines the perceptions of local school actors concerning this decentralization policy, which prescribes improving access and quality to education and strengthening institutional capacity. Local interviews and an analysis of relevant policy documents reveal limited policy implementation at the local level accompanied by a lack of state capacity, accountability and responsiveness to local school needs. Moreover, interviewees perceive a decline in education quality due to these reforms. While policy review documents focus on building institutional capacity at the central and regional government levels, the locality examined has responded as best it can to the needs of its schools. These local efforts are hampered by few resources, limited capacity and understanding of the importance of education by citizens, as well as a mistrust in government institutions, including schools, among local community members. Community leadership, development of participatory public space and trust building, could improve local education capacity to a certain extent, however, strong central government that provides additional resources and builds the capacities of school staff is necessary.
The Commodification of Nature: Power/Knowledge and REDD+ in Costa Rica
Mosley, Evan Christopher (Virginia Tech, 2018-06-29)
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) is a global carbon trading program intent on mitigating or reversing carbon emissions from forestry in the global south. REDD+ was negotiated at the 2005 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and is coordinated by the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), administered by the World Bank Group. In this project, I explore REDD+ activity in Costa Rica, drawing on Michel Foucault's concept of governmentality. Costa Rica became a participant in the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility in July of 2008. Since then, indigenous peoples throughout the country have contested the program. This project is a single-case study of the Bribri contestation of REDD+ schemes, one of the larger indigenous communities in Costa Rica. Bribri argue that REDD+ disrespects their worldview and further endangers their local rights to land and forestry. This project argues that REDD+ and Bribri have different perceptions of nature, enabling disagreement on REDD+ goals. Whereas REDD+ perceives nature as commodifiable for the purposes of neoliberal climate policies, Bribri express a spiritual, harmonious relationship with nature. I conclude by noting that REDD+ can pose negative implications for indigenous life and culture. This is not only because REDD+ draws external and domestic actors to land and forestry for incentive-based purposes. But also because REDD+ defines 'rightful behavior' among forestry resources, challenging indigenous conceptions of environmental management. However, the Bribri are resisting REDD+ imposition and, particularly, the program's external governing of indigenous behavior amongst forests.
The Danger of Following Rules: Reflections on Eichmann in Jerusalem
Zanotti, Laura (Virginia Tech Publishing, 2014-09-01)
In this article I build upon Hanna Arendt’s reflections on the “banality of evil” to elaborate on the dangers of unreflectively embracing abstract norms and bureaucratic reasoning as guidelines and justifications for behavior. By offering validation for our actions (or the lack thereof) regardless of their likely effects, abstract norms and rules harbor the danger of appeasing consciences and relieving us from our responsibility towards other human beings. I exemplify the effects of bureaucratic reasoning through the United Nations’ failures in Rwanda and Srebrenica. In Eichmann in Jerusalem Hannah Arendt warned against the banal evil hidden in the uncritical following of accepted norms and rules of behavior. I conclude that in order to avoid the danger of becoming Eichmanns of some sort we need to carefully and prudently assess the potential effects of our actions and embrace responsibility for the consequences they may produce in the concrete circumstances we engage with.
Democratizing Refugee Governance Through Critical Reflexivity
Barry-Murphy, Emily C. (Virginia Tech, 2015-04-28)
This dissertation considers how refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are conceived in international relations, and how they are understood in relation to the global refugee regime complex. This research explores how cognitive frames are impeding fair/democratic governance of IDPs/refugees and employs two case studies to investigate how the practice of critical reflexivity can lead to the creation of democratic spaces for refugees/IDPs to enact protection preferences. The first case analysis argues that Sarvodaya Shramadana's Deshodaya initiative in Sri Lanka has enabled IDPs in that nation to embrace critical reflexivity to re-constitute/reimagine themselves as governing agents who can redefine state and international organization-based definitions of their protection. The second case examines asylum adjudications at the Department of Homeland Security and is an exploration of how that agency's responsible officials can employ critical reflexivity to recognize seemingly hidden governance structures that condition their decision-making and limit refugee choices. Finally, this inquiry offers a new, organic model for conceptualizing both refugee/IDP governance and strategies for democratization of refugee/IDP governance institutions and systems.
The Discursive Construction of National Security Threats from 2001-2018
Stieper, Erica Marie (Virginia Tech, 2018-06-29)
This thesis seeks to explain the discursive construction of national security threats facing the United States from 2001-2018. The driving argument is that the nation's perception of threats and conceptualization of itself are vulnerable to Presidential rhetoric. Presidents convey threats through rhetorical frameworks, a simplified means to present a manipulated perception of reality to a wider audience, which intentionally provoke reactions from the nation to garner consensus towards executive decision-making. Presidents apply frames from prior administrations as well as new frames to define adverse states, organizations, groups of people, etc., and to justify disciplinary practices, military action, or policy implementation against threats. Primarily, they portray threats as the binary opposite of the American national identity to reinforce the country's legitimacy in national security decision-making. This discourse influences how the public internalizes major issues facing the nation and triggers emotions that can either unite or divide the national identity. This research maps variation among the rhetorical frameworks and strategies of President George W. Bush, President Barack Obama, and President Donald J. Trump to evaluate: how national security threats are constructed, how the nation interprets threats, and the resulting social and political effects.
Diseased Identities: How the American Media Constructed the 2014 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa
Appleby, Margaret Fannon (Virginia Tech, 2016-06-29)
This thesis explores representations of Africans in the American media coverage of the 2014 Ebola outbreak and the differing policy solutions they sometimes elicit. I hypothesize that there is a connection between identity construction and policy solutions that can be explored along two major trajectories. First, I find sources that prefer "othering" stereotypes of Africans in their coverage often produce "securitized" solutions. I explore this trend through literature that links identity, geography, and infectious diseases constructing an image of an "infectious other". From the "French" disease to the "Spanish" flu, the association of disease and geography is a longstanding one that again is manifested with the Ebola virus (Harrison 2014). "Othered" from "civilized" and healthy populations, the people that inhabited these "dangerous" and "infected" areas became similarly stereotyped. In comparison to the first category, I find sources in the second trajectory that undertake a societal and structural analysis of the outbreak often favor approaches aimed at improving access to healthcare for the affected populations. Doctor Paul Farmer's work informs this section of examination. I conclude the thesis by briefly posing a few questions for future research as well as examining the Ebola virus in relation to the Zika virus.
Encountering Agency with Decolonial Thought, New Materialism, and The Vegetarian
Eggleston, Julia Dale (Virginia Tech, 2019-04-16)
In this thesis, I bring into conversation two political theoretical frameworks -- decolonial thought and new materialism – with the South Korean novella The Vegetarian. I suggest that the novella, especially through its protagonist, performs a form of agency which calls for a reading that hinges not on the pursuit of definitive analysis but on the recognition of a personal, affective interaction with violent status quo sensibilities. I demonstrate that there exist understandings of agency within decolonial thought and new materialism which could be attuned to this call. I suggest a method that relies upon two thinkers in these frameworks for reading the novella, and after reading the novella through this method and transparently reflecting on my own role in these texts' encounter, I demonstrate that this way of simultaneously reading the novella and the theoretical texts has the capacity to affirm the open and uncertain mutual changes that happen at their encounter.
The European Union and Peacebuilding: A Sysyphean but Essential Responsibility
Stephenson, Max O. Jr.; Stivachtis, Yannis A.; Zanotti, Laura (Canadian Center of Science and Education, 2013)
Euroscepticism: A Cross-National Perspective: Germany, The Netherlands, and The United Kingdom
Hawley, Tina Louise (Virginia Tech, 2015-05-19)
This master's thesis examines public euroscepticism in three case studies: Germany, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It argues that relevant literature lacks consistency and continuity because of the narrow scope in which the phenomenon has been observed in terms of the factors related to euroscepticism. The aim of this thesis is to solve this problem by performing a more holistic examination; by marrying previously accumulated knowledge on euroscepticism, public opinion data provided by the Eurobarometer and European Union Parliamentary Election results all in an effort to demonstrate the variability both in the factors related to euroscepticism and relevant attitudes over time This thesis examines euroscepticism from a multidimensional perspective. It does this by performing a cross-national longitudinal trend study, observing factors related to euroscepticism: political parties, economics, migration, national identity and national sovereignty from 1994 to 2014. Compiling and observing this body of data, it is expected, will confirm or reject the argument that the causes and degrees of euroscepticism fluctuate over time and amongst member states. Having confirmed this fact may spur further investigation of the phenomenon and encourage the European Union to identify policy areas which could nurture closer relations with its European citizens in an effort to gain further legitimacy. Democratic legitimacy also means a Europe which listens to the expectations of its citizens and addresses their concerns through adequate policies. For any of its policies, including enlargement, the EU has to win the support of its citizens.European Commission, Enlargement report (2006: 23)
Evolution of U.S. Strategy in Latin America After the Cold War
Guasch, Mark (Virginia Tech, 2017-01-11)
In the years after the Cold War it appears that the U.S. distanced itself from Latin America. The region has begun to integrate itself in the world political economy without exclusively depending on the U.S. The integration has included engagement with extra-hemispheric states, such as China and Russia, and the creation of regional institutions. Some of these advancements may oppose U.S. interests in the region. The research aims to identify how the U.S. strategy for addressing key national interests in Latin America evolved since the end of the Cold War and how it should approach the region in the future. The research provides an overview of U.S. policies towards Latin America from the Spanish-American War through the collapse of the Soviet Union; and from the post Cold War era through Barack Obama's presidency. The focus is on the U.S.-Latin American policies during and after the Cold War. There is a review of China and Russia's engagement of the region both during and after the Cold War. Finally there is a case study on the change of the U.S-Cuba policy and possible consequences.
Exploring the Connections between Community Cultural Development and Sustainable Tourism in Central Appalachia
Moayerian, Neda (Virginia Tech, 2020-04-10)
During the past several decades, globalization forces in general and mechanization of coal mining jobs more specifically have sharply changed the economic and social conditions of many of the coal towns in the Central Appalachian region of the United States. Efforts to identify and seek alternatives to replace the ongoing decline of their traditional way of life are deeply entangled with community identity and culture due to the historical hegemonic role and power of coal mining and other extractive industries and their critical role in forming residents' identities. Many of the small communities in this region are pursuing initiatives to highlight their natural and cultural assets in efforts to develop tourism as a new foundation for their economies. However, to avoid tourism simply becoming another extractive industry, researchers and practitioners have suggested that these communities must develop capacity to participate in and take ownership of tourism-related decision-making processes. In an effort to examine the dynamics of one such effort in detail this study drew on Community Capacity theory as interpreted by Chaskin (2001a) to explore the relationships between Community Cultural Development (CCD) and the sustainability of tourism in a small town located in Central Appalachia seeking to transition to a visitor-based economy. This dissertation explored whether and in what ways engaging in CCD projects and community capacity are related and identified ways such interactions influence the sustainability of tourism. Along with personal observation and a review of relevant archival data, I conducted 10 semi-structured interviews with a sample of individuals from a community cultural development organization regarding their efforts to build possibilities for sustainable tourism in their rural jurisdiction. This study's findings contribute to the existing literature by suggesting Chaskin's framework of community capacity as an apt model for charting progress towards sustainable community-based tourism. Moreover, this research found that employing CCD methods can enhance community capacity by encouraging a sense of shared identity among the group's members and through them among a broader cross-section of residents. Lastly, this inquiry suggested that CCD contributed to the sustainability of tourism in the case study community by increasing residents' effective participation in decision-making processes concerning such efforts, encouraging locals' partnership and ownership of tourism development projects and providing space for negotiating the tourist gaze in guest-host relationships.
Female Democratic Agency: Lessons from Rural Haiti
Simeunovic, Sara Lynn (Virginia Tech, 2019-02-07)
Rural Haiti provides an excellent case to study the human security crisis threatening women. Haitian women are often single mothers, leading average households of 4-6. In elected positions, female leadership is seldom recognized. With only 3.5% of parliament comprised of female leaders, policies decided at the state level seldom address the challenges women face in the countryside (HDI, 2017). Haiti has the highest mortality rate for children below the age of 5 and expectant mothers in the Western Hemisphere (WHO, 2017). This crisis is a significant one. When a mother struggles, both her life and her child's are threatened. Yet the human security crisis is not all we can learn from rural Haiti. We can also examine the unique ways women have chosen to respond to this crisis and the potential for female democratic agency. There is a significant lack of elected female officials in Haiti. This fact invites us to consider the impact rural Haitian females, such as the famn chay, are potentially making in Haiti. Famn chay are traditional birth attendants who assist mothers in their home deliveries. They are also first responders in times of crisis, providing meals to hungry families and using their collective resources to benefit children in need. Some famn chay, I suggest, are promoting an innovative form of democratic agency through their local community council, konsey kominote. Such form of agency does not focus on formal mechanisms of representation. Instead, threatened by growing social and income inequalities, this particular group has chosen to organize to address the human security crisis currently threatening women in rural Haiti.
From Display of Force to Normalization: Exploring the Transformation of Power in China
Venteicher-Shulman, Bryceon P. (Virginia Tech, 2012-02-08)
In the period since Tiananmen the People's Republic of China has deployed new controlling mechanisms in society to better integrate minorities. These mechanisms of control are more subtle and use elements of discipline, panopticism, and bio-power; rather than the spectacle of power associated with sovereigns and gristly punishment. This study uses Foucault to analyze the transition that seems to be occurring in China, in order to show that it should no longer be viewed singularly as an authoritarian power that uses force to control its population. To do this two groups are analyzed, the Uyghur people of Xinjiang, and the Tibetan people. Within each case this thesis explores the development of disciplinarity in the educational system, panopticism and its deployment in religion, and bio-power in birthing and migratory policies. Upon analysis, it is argued that China must be viewed as an authoritarian state that has adopted subtle methods of control, like those found in Western liberal democratic states. Because of this the international community must adapt their views of China in order to better understand how minorities are integrated into Han culture in more highly developed ways.
Getting Smart in the 21st Century: Exploring the Application of Smart Power in Deterring Insurgencies and Violent Non-State Actors
Shabro, Luke Sweeden (Virginia Tech, 2017-01-18)
In the 21st Century, violent non-state actors continue to pose an asymmetric threat to state actors. Given the increasing proliferation of lethal technologies, growing global social connectivity, and continued occurrences of failed or failing states, the quantity of violent non-state actors posing threats in global hotspots is likely to increase. The United States, already facing strategic overreach due to conflicts in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, will face enormous difficulties in engaging militarily against a multitude of violent non-state actors. Smart power, a selective employment of hard and soft power applications, presents an opportunity to limit and deter violent non-state actors in a resource-constrained environment. Smart power, previously viewed through a largely state-on-state lens must be looked at through the paradigm of containing and engaging violent non-state actors.

Browsing by Author "Zanotti, Laura"

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