Research Project 1

ABSTRACT:On August 9th, 2014, a young black man named Michael Brown was shot by a white police officer, Darren Wilson, in Ferguson, Missouri. The murder of Brown resulted in days of riots and protests by community members protesting the actions of the Ferguson Police Department as well as the U.S’s police force altogether. The unrest from the city was able to grab the political atmosphere of the nation and lead to stronger community and grassroots power, causing change on a national scale. This paper seeks to analyze the relationship between the community and the national effort as a whole, and examine the balance between them, which caused strong political impacts.

 

Research Project 1

Ria Shah

Section 2

Abstract: 

In the current 2016 Presidential election, Republican candidate Bobby Jindal, the current governor of Louisiana, popped on the national political radar. If elected, he would become the first Indian-American President of the United States. This made me think about the immigration of South Asians and their role, if any, in politics. The area that I immediately that came to mind was the town of Edison, New Jersey. This town has a dominant population of South Asians. Growing up as a South Asian in New Jersey, my family and I were frequent visitors to this town. I, like many, thought of this town as “Little India” due to the high increase in South Asian immigration starting from the 1980’s. For my first research paper, I have decided to focus on the South Asian immigration in the specific town of Edison, New Jersey.

South Asian Immigration in Edison, New Jersey

Over the recent year, Stone Brewery has been breaking ground on a new brewery and bistro in the Fulton neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. This is a project that will cost the city 23 million dollars, and has received a lot of scrutiny over the past year. The Richmond City Council, as well as the Richmond Economic Development Authority, exhibited different levels of power over each other, the citizens, existing businesses, and Stone Brewery. This research project examines the ways in which each party had power over another, as well as the types of power the different parties had.

Stone Brewery Co. Project

Solidarity and Recognition Yield Community Power

Abstract:

This cultural content essay focuses on several sources that relate to the hardships faced by undocumented workers and students–DREAMers, specifically, who were brought to the country at a young age–and their families.  It uses documentaries, video clips, and music videos to convey the idea that the elite majority constantly oppresses the group of undocumented minorities and misuses their power to exert force and dominance over them.  These people face several common themes within that greater concept, several of which relate to worker’s rights, rights to education, and more than anything, basic human rights.  The main ideas of the paper revolve around how community organizing and bonding together with the solidarity of fellow group members and also outside allies can cause even the most oppressed groups–like undocumented people, in this case–to prosper and gain power for their own communities, even in the face of harsh oppression from elite leaders and groups.

A community is made up of many different power relations and there are many factors that go into how these relationships work with each other. Privatization of public space in a community can have a considerable effect on the power relations between the citizens and the local government as well as big business owners. Privatization can also impact the local government and city relationship of power when a local government uses privatization for their personal agenda or needs. Public housing can help or hurt citizens’ ability to have power in their city as well as give more power to the local government. Gender is also greatly affected by the privatization of public space. Through these effects of privatization the power among local governments, as in who has the most power, can change. Privatization of public space can impact the power dynamics of a community, government relationship. Research #1 (lit. Review)

This paper will look in depth at the power structure of expansion, as the NHL is considering expanding into two new markets in the coming years, Las Vegas, Nevada and Quebec City, Quebec.  It will look at the current NHL expansion proposals and examine the roles of a number of stakeholders.  Expansion in a major league sport involves many individuals and groups including: Board of Governors for the NHL, private developers, arena owners, NHL Commissioner, other NHL Executives, current NHL owners, coach and players as well as governments of the localities proposed in expansion.  All these groups and individuals have some role in expansion, this paper will show the most of the power lies within the NHL as an organization, and includes the Commissioner, other Executives, and the Board of Governors.  The localities of Las Vegas and Quebec City have some power as government units, but within these communities most of the power lies with the developer(s) who are looking to bring the NHL to these two cities.

NHL Expansion and Power

Foster Care is becoming more and more known and used throughout America each year. It is when a child is taken out of their home and placed into temporary, more suitable housing than what they were originally in. But who makes the decisions when it comes to foster care? Through an analysis of primary sources, and new’s articles, research suggests that the caseworkers from social services have the authority to remove a child from their home and there is a hearing in which the judge has the final say in permanent housing decisions, but the actual placement of the child is done by The Department of Social Services. Power holders in foster care would be not only at the individual level, but at the local level. The Department of Social Services collectively makes the decisions regarding children being placed in foster care.

research project 1

Gentrification has contributed to the displacement of people and the disinvestment of neighborhoods in at-risk cities.  In the last 20 years minorities have contributed to the investment and renewal of urban neighborhoods.  Through these contributions a sense of racial uplift has occurred and the fear of displacement subsides when minority investors pursue the renovations of impoverished neighborhoods.  Through academic literature, I aim to identify the benefits that can occur when minorities that identify with impoverished neighborhoods invest and renew marginalized communities.

Research Project 1 – Gentrification.