Bücher von Kaia Smith

Academic Paper from the year 2010 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict Studies, Security, grade: 1:1, , language: English, abstract: Looking across the globe at the many different nationalistic conflicts, one can see that the case of Quebec is very distinctive. In this struggle, the Québécois have received a significant amount of control of their region and have done so without violence. The nationalism of Quebec within Canada can be explained by historical, political and economic factors, and although Canada has avoided violence by successfully enacting preemptive remedies to conflict, there are a few lingering problems in relation to the Canadian minority of Quebec that must be dealt with in order to ensure the continuation of non-violence.The divergence of Canadian and Québécois interests dates back to the times of North American settlement in the 1700s and, in its beginnings, was predominantly based on a deepening gap in the economy. As a portion of the population that was predominantly English-speaking came to reap a majority of economic benefits, the other portion that was mostly French-speaking were behind a deepening line of class division that led to resentment, which they could most easily direct at the most recognizable difference between the groups: language. [...]

Essay from the year 2011 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Globalization, Political Economics, grade: 1:1, , language: English, abstract: As individuals, we are quickly and emotionally affected by knowledge of the difficult economic conditions that inhabitants of the developing world must deal with. We may feel relief in knowing that our national governments are making an effort to share their wealth through bilateral aid to these struggling countries; we may also make our own individual efforts to donate our own time and resources to international organizations that specialize in economic development. However, how often does the average citizen question the sincerity of these efforts? Can we trust that our efforts are translated effectively into effective aid once it reaches the receiving country? It seems that there are many complicated and veiled issues behind the simple image that most donor governments and aid organizations project to citizens of the developed world. In other words, although it is commonplace to imagine that aid efforts and good intentions go hand in hand, it may be important to separate these two variables in looking at the result of aid effectiveness or ineffectiveness. In order to look more closely at this issue, I would like to explore the question: What explains the motivation of developed countries in giving financial aid to the Third world? This should give insight on the issue of whether changes need to be made in the ideology, planning and structure of development economics.

Essay from the year 2017 in the subject Sociology - Social System, Social Structure, Class, Social Stratification, grade: 2:1, London School of Economics (International Inequalities Institute), language: English, abstract: (Gramscian) Marxism helps us to uncover the systemic and epistemic conditions that create and reproduce inequalities by critically reflecting on the exploitative mechanisms that govern them and the institutionalized hegemonic power discourses that naturalize exploitation. It is therefore apt to debunk 'trickle-down' as the neoliberal elite narrative that it is and to place the working class individual, and its communal and class self-awareness, at the center of a solution to inequality. In order to do that, first the exploitative nature of the capitalist mode of production is sketched to attain an economic foundation for a socio-cultural argument and then it is shown that Gramscian cultural hegemony theory offers a more compelling explanation for the persistence of such a capitalist logic premised on exploitation, with no effective resistance by those which are exploited under it.

Thèse de Bachelor de l¿année 2011 dans le domaine Politique - Sujet: Union européenne, note: 1, , langue: français, résumé: The utility of music tends to be undervalued by states. To examine this topic, I focused on the potential for shared musical experiences to reinforce national identities and bolster intercultural dialogue. In exploring music policy, I looked at the consequences and dynamics of music's potential to unify people under political communities in the collective setting of festivals, particularly La Fête de la Musique in France. This project also examines two other important music festivals: European Music Day in Greece and The Varna Music Festival in Bulgaria. These cases illustrate the utility of national music festivals in reaching individuals at a personal level, especially when they emphasize individual creativity and participation; these interactive musical experiences can then be connected to a single, macrocosmic source where they are institutionalized. Moreover, music's unique ability to communicate ideas and emotions across linguistic barriers creates linkages that transcend the nation. I then took these analyses of national music festivals to the European level. Along with the potential replication of the benefits of national music festivals, a European music festival would be able to strengthen the idea of unity of diversity of citizens under the European Union. My project suggests that public music festivals can serve not only as forms of entertainment but also as potential tools for adapting political identities to the current social context within the global system.

Essay from the year 2011 in the subject Economics - Other, grade: 2:1, , language: English, abstract: Although Robert Klitgaard¿s book "Tropical Gangsters" is a "compelling and entertaining account of the author¿s two-and-a-half year adventure in Equatorial Guinea," its deeper exploration of the failure of economic development offers a realistic and in-depth description of the difficulty in transferring the Western model of economic theory to the developing world. From this book, one can draw various conclusions in reference to the reasons for this failure; the possibility of these criticisms is founded upon Klitgaard¿s own neoclassical explanations and other alternative economic theories in reference to conditions of the country¿s life and political processes. Although the neoclassical reasoning prevails, as it does in all other IMF and World Bank policies, the general lack of variety in global developmental approaches brings up the possibility of more significant and complex factors than traditional theory proposes. Both neo-Marxism and humanism offer points of view that address some of these overlooked issues. The former stresses the significance of ulterior motives of such aid organizations as the IMF and World Bank; the latter delineates the importance of non-traditional economic variables and outcomes in the overall success of economic development. In regard to the explanatory and prescriptive power of both of these policies, I find that humanism portrays more clearly the problems within the current paradigm of economic development and shows potential correctives for the future in order to increase effectiveness of foreign development efforts.

Essay from the year 2011 in the subject Communications - Media and Politics, Politic Communications, grade: 1:1, , language: English, abstract: In looking at the reasons behind detrimental effects of humanitarian aid, I attempt to explore the following question: how does the media affect the success of humanitarian aid intervention efforts in large scale political violence? I hypothesize that high levels of media coverage of such situations will lead to decreased effectiveness of humanitarian intervention. Much important information is lost and extraneous information is added throughout the life and travels of a news story. This, in turn, leads to faulty public opinion and thus unsound demands and views on humanitarian action. Depending on the influence of actors¿ self-interest(s), this negative relationship may be magnified; however my hypothetical relationship does not depend on such political interests.The cases I have chosen to test this hypothesis are Kosovo and Tajikistan. I chose these cases for multiple reasons. First, they are both internal, violent conflicts. Since both of these conflicts occurred in areas close to developed countries in Western Europe, these cases should be relatively equal in terms of opportunities for foreign interest in intervention. Both instances of violence in Kosovo and Tajikistan involve political conflict in which foreign humanitarian intervention was implemented. All cases illustrated high levels of civil violence between different political and ethnic groups (with at least 15,000 deaths). Interventions all took place during the 1990s, so media communications can be evaluated from a similar technological standpoint: the first interventions in Kosovo took place in 1999, and Tajikistan in 1992.

Master's Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Sociology - Work, Profession, Education, Organisation, London School of Economics (International Inequalities Institute), course: Inequalities and Social Science, language: English, abstract: On 22 August 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), the most significant reform of the US welfare state in half a century. Since then, the press has generally claimed welfare reform to be a success despite complicated trends illustrating that for many in need of social assistance, life has gotten harder, especially for ethnic/racial minorities. As minority populations on the welfare rolls increase and become more diverse, and redistribution becomes increasingly essential to low-income individuals, it is important to analyze the ideologies and values of the US welfare state in comparison with their context. To do this, I analyze the social construction of welfare recipients in US news discourse from 1996 until 2012 using an integrated content and discourse analysis testing for presence of and patterns within stigamtizing, otherizing, and/or racialized associations with welfare recipients. Generally, my findings illustrate that stigmatization, otherization, and racialization remained prevalent within welfare discourse over the period of analysis; although functioning separately, they reinforced each other to ultimately portray welfare recipients, especially Blacks and Hispanics, as unlikely to warrant public support.