Author: miztoritravers

By: Tori Travers

In the article, Islam and the West: Narratives of Conflict and Conflict Transformation, Funk and Aziz write that narratives move many people to conflict dynamics. When someone believes a narrative that wither highlights exclusivity and promotes negative images of adversaries they are more likely to not reach conflict transformation. When it comes to the narrative that The West and America’s views of the Islam, the narrative is split. On both sides there is an existence of a leaning towards intercultural peace, which is likely due to an “agreement on matters related to intercultural relations and historical memory,” (Funk and Aziz). Having views such as slurring historical facts lead to a single story or intercultural confrontation on both sides of the narrative as well. As “Westerners” begin to more frequently regard Muslims in the Middle East as the “other,” something opposite of an “American” or someone from the West, then the more frequently and willing Middle Easterners will adopt a similar language of the West. For Muslims in the Middle Easterners, their negative views of the West manifests toward their sexuality, family lifestyles, misconduct and treatment of public safety. According to Islam and the West: Narratives of Conflict and Conflict Transformation, “Muslims and Westerners who narrate the story of confrontation seek to place Islamic-Western relations within an ‘us versus them’ framework..” Intercultural compatibility works to counterbalance the ideas of misperceptions across cultures. This means stopping the views that lead to comparison and beginning to advocate for thinking of the similarities and gaining cultural empathy.

 

According to Frum, immigration is a good thing but comes with both social and political costs. Immigrants cost taxpayers a lot of money, cost the government money and don’t benefit lower class Americans. It’s not just in recent times in America that a population has felt that there are too many immigrants in their country. Frum wrote, “One-third of the British people who voted in 2016 to leave the European Union cited immigration as their primary reason. In Germany, 38 percent rate immigration as the most important issue facing their country.” Frum believes that the U.S. has not planned in the past and is not planning for the number of immigrants entering our country. The number of people living in America is expected to exceed 400 million by 2050 if the same immigration policies are kept. Overpopulation leads to more pollution and an increased carbon footprint. I agree with Frum in that the number of people in our country can have negative impacts on the Earth and in particular, the U.S. The hard part is, to be a humane and just country, taking in immigrants is crucial. Life in the U.S. can give many people opportunities such as cheaper housing and better living standards. I’m not sure if there is a “right level” of immigration. I agree that immigration should not be thought of as a symbol, such as a wall, but as a system. We need to work on improving our language of immigration, which follows with learning more about those who are entering our country. Frum believes that shifting the focus away from family and more toward talent, knowledge and skill-level would help the perceived thoughts of American acceptance. I also agree that deporting a mass number of already housed and comfortable immigrants is serving no one and harming our country rather than helping. We need to see all who call America home as having a shared identity rather than pointing out our differences.

 

Post Ten, Week 11

By: Tori Travers

a) Although Muslims received their independence in the 1950s, they felt suppressed and controlled by the Westernized elites and believed they were not being treated equally. Muslim ideals and traditions were ignored by the Western leaders, which eventually resulted in a lot of tension between the oppressed Muslims and the Western civilization. After the militant jihad’s decided to take action and defend themselves against the Soviet Union, the Islamic revolution resulted in 1979. In Contemporary Issues written by Sardar and Davies, they state that they believe that this sudden feeling of power led to the establishment of the Taliban. The creation of the Taliban was a way for the Jihadi to create an idealistic Islamic state. However, current tension between the Jihadis and the West is extremely high, as both sides perceive each other as threats and enemies.

b) Sharia law, Sharia means “path” in Arabic, is an Islamic law created by the fundamentalists who are extremely strict about their Islamic views. This was also a major reason for the Islamic Revolution. The fundamentalists believe that in order to make an idealistic Islamic state, everything must be revolved around Islamic law. The Sharia Law is not the equivalent of the Qur’an, yet it is still perceived as “laws from God.” Sharia laws do the opposite of liberating women, as it signifies the objection of women’s rights. Another key characteristic of the Sharia law is the way it has punishments. The most extreme characteristics of punishment are known as the Hubud laws, which are demonstrated when someone commits a certain kind of crime. Beheading and stoning are some examples of punishment given by the Hubud laws. Just days ago, gay sex became officially punishable by death and stoning according to the laws. The Puritan fundamentalists are concerned with Hubud laws because they want the punishments to reveal that the “state is enforcing the whole of Islam,” (Sardar and Davies, 118). The fundamentalists use these punishments as a way for people to behave and to demonstrate how they would like to be viewed as strong and serious.

c) I do not believe Islamic law has always been consumed with “punishment”. According to the No-Nonsense Guide to Islam, Puritan Fundamentalists are the only ones worried about punishment and crime laws. A while back, The Muhammad talked down on punishment, explaining how everyone is equal and nobody deserves punishment. I think that the recent Islamic fundamentalists believe in these punishments, such as cutting one’s hands off as compensation for what they have done. I believe what has changed is Puritan Fundamentalists are concerned about never being able to go fully practice their religion because of the restraints from society. In this way, Puritan Fundamentalists could be afraid of never returning to what is pure, so they are implementing these scary rules.

 

d) Musawah means equity in Arabic and is a global organization that advocates for equality and justice in Muslim families. Their website says that their vision is “a world where the basis for all human relations is equality, non-discrimination, justice, and dignity.” I think that it’s very important that Muslims, especially women, are teaming up to connect and push for equality. This drastically differs with the way that Sharia Laws work to bind women away from basic human rights. Rather than saying that Islamic ways are superior, the Musawah platform works to combine Islamic principles with standards taken from many different nations laws and constitutional guidelines.

Post 8, Week 9: Islam In France

In the chapter one of the book Islam, Europe’s Second Religion, Shireen T. Hunter. talks about the background of Islam in France.

There where two significant movements that led Muslims to immigrate into European cultures. The first was the migration of laborers and their families to fill low wedge jobs. This occurred in the 1950’s to 1970’s when the economy downturned and forced the immigration to the states. The second movement was after the end of the cold war; this was caused by the economic insecurities and conflict in their home countries, which led them to flea and migrate to Western Europe. These movements led to what Shireen T. Hunter calls failures of integration.

Zemni and Parker explain the “failure of integration” of Muslims in Europe of reasons. The first reason that European segregate Muslims into a different category then themselves. “…As a failure to adapt styles and practices of daily life considered compatible with the more of hegemonic national cultures,” (Hunter, 2002). An example of this would be that in 1970 “others” referred to a number of different guest workers from different countries like Turkey and Morocco. Today the “others” group are all Muslims. Migrants, whose “problems” had been seen as a consequence of their low socioeconomic status during decades, were perceived as “culturally different” (Hunter, 2002). The other reason explained to be a contributing factor of “failure of integration” is the lack of successful immigrants in European society. This attributes to the failure of conforming to the European norm of the culture.

The French and Islamic gender system is very different in what they believe in specifically sexuality. The French believe in freedom of expression and feel the veil is hindering them to express their freedom. “…The French system celebrates sex and sexuality as free of social and political risk,” (Scott, 2007).

The French are very passionate about their human rights, regardless of religion, background, sexual orientation, etc. That is why the headscarves are being seen as oppressive because it doesn’t give women the ability to show their bodies in a way that a non-Muslim French woman would. Scott argues that in France, wearing a headscarf devalues a woman’s identity because she is not validated by other men (and women) who can see her for her sexuality. In the Muslim viewpoint of headscarves and modesty, sexuality is an issue that influences political and social interactions, so by using a closed policy, the reactions and effects of sex can be minimized.

“It is a recognition of the threat sex poses for society and politics,” (Scott, 2007). Muslim women wear veils to stray the need to sexualize woman as well as men. The women who wear headscarves view them to be signified as unavailable.

The Islamic headscarf poses a challenge to the French republic’s ideal of “abstract individualism” and “laïcité”. This is further explained the book Politics of the Veil by Joan Wallach Scott. She says, “ The French system of gender was offered as not only the best but the only acceptable, way to organize relations between the sexes. Those who did not conform to it were by definition inferior and therefore could never be fully French. The issue of covered or unconverted sexuality … gave the headscarf affair both its resonance and its intensity,” (Scott, 2007). The headscarf is seen by many as a threat to Western culture because it is viewed as a contradiction to Western democratic values.

References:

Scott, Joan W. The Politics of the Veil. Princeton University Press, 2007. Print.

Shireen, Hunter T. Islam, Europe’s Second Religion. Westport: Praeger, 2002. Print.null

by: Tori Travers

Banerjee and Duflo argue that microcredits beneficial to the poor because it is a way to give an opportunity for them to become entrepreneurs and smarter workers. The authors shared many stories, many of those involving women, which showcased times when these microcredits assisted to lift people out of poverty. I agree with the authors when they stated that “Moving the goalposts closer may be just what the poor need to start running toward them” (204). In other words, the authors argue that, if the poor are given the opportunity under the right circumstances and with the correct resources, they will most likely take advantage of the situation. As we have seen in their stories, the poor are often resourceful in their ways to make a living, so they do not lack ingenuity; they lack startup funds to become entrepreneurs.

On the other hand, the authors argue that we simply do not have enough information and statistics to know whether microcredits are effective. They also state that large MFIs (Micro Financial Institutions) have yet to have a “powerful argument in their defense” and produce reports to the public (Banerjee and Duflo, 169). The authors also state that sometimes, these MFIs do not have the borrowers’ best interest at heart, and those borrowers are not well informed of the terms of repayment of their loans (170). In addition, these MFIs have a sign-up rate and are very selective in choosing their borrowers (219). I agree with the authors in that these large MFI are flawed often because they are tied to larger banks that are not willing to support small business owners in the long run.

Microcredit has had a significant presence in Nigeria for several decades.  Global Corporations, as well as smaller entities, have entered the country with hopes of eradicating global poverty through the progression of local business ventures.

For example, Shell’s website explains “Micro Credit is a key component of our economic empowerment program. Implemented in the Niger Delta since 1998, its main purpose is to establish new micro and small businesses and expand existing ones in the communities.”  Through this initiative, over 30,000 people have been able to establish or expand their businesses.  This included over 2,700 young people and women in 2009.

While it’s true that some initiatives and projects have seen great success, there is some criticism for the concept as Poor Economics explained, especially in the realm of digital technology.  Continuous digital investments and advancements around the world have brought more jobs, more money, and more growth to countless nations, providing “choice, convenience, access, and opportunity” to impoverished communities worldwide.  As the Conservation article explains, digital technology/connectivity and micro-credit success of business ventures often can tie hand in hand, offering people in poor communities more resources and more opportunities to grow their business to success.  While poor people around the world are increasingly gaining connectivity and access to these resources, many more are falling behind as they lack this opportunity due to the availability of digital technology.  The realization of such a reality drives the World Banks championing of connectivity and the general consensus that an investment in technology is just as essential as other resources in the developing world.

By: Tori Travers

Part 1:

a) According to the International Monetary fund, my country Nigeria is the wealthiest country in Africa. This was looked at primarily with GDP in mind. Nigeria is an oil-rich country and has many exports of this as well as other natural recourses like cocoa and rubber. Itnewsafrica.com also stated that Nigeria is Africa’s most populated country.

This makes it easy to find cheetahs around my country. A cheetah is someone in the new generation of Africa who has fresh progressive ideas that they are determined to move forward. In 2014, a group of young people in Nigeria began campaigning to #bringbackourgirls. In Nigeria more than 250 schoolgirls were abducted from their dormitories in 2014. One Nigerian activist stood up to begin the campaign #bringbackourgirls. Her name is Oby Ezekwesili.

Ezekwesili’s campaigning led to a large march in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, which caught national attention. After many months of campaigning, the Nigerian government made movements to try and better the human rights, safety and accountability of Nigerians.

The Global Business Coalition for Education – along with Nigerian business leaders, donors, and government – made the Safe Schools Initiative in 2014 following the activism of Ezekwesili. The initiative has led to over 2,000 children being relocated and many upgrades to schools around Nigeria, although a large number of schoolchildren again were abducted in early 2018. The group who did the most recent abduction was called Boko Haram, loosely translated as Western Education is Dead.

b) In Emerging Africa, Radelet argues that one cannot easily define what a democracy is. He says that although competitive elections constitute a democracy, elections alone do not announce a democracy. Civil rights, protections, freedom, control of government and checks and balances all compile into what may be seen as a democracy. According to Emerging Africa, “The death of Nigeria’s brutal dictator Sani Abacha in June 1998 led to the election of Olusegun Obasanjo the following year and launched Nigeria’s fragile and incomplete move toward democracy. Radelet states that in the last 20 years, 50% of Africa’s countries are now under a democratic rule. He credits this to many things, including a straying away from indefinite power of leaders.

Young African Leaders Initiative is active in Nigeria, challenging Nigerians to vote and stay checking power. YALI advocates for transparency between citizens and their government.

Some current news in Africa is about their recent elections. Just hours before the election voting was supposed to begin, the Independent National Electoral Commission shockingly postponed the balloting, pushing back the voting dates to February 23 and March 9. There was no one clear explanation as to why the government voting was postponed, and this has led to some distrust in the Nigerian people. Many voters were angry after traveling far for the chance to vote and preparing for the original dates. According to allafrica.com, many organizations are in frustration. “The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, a network of over 70 organizations supporting credible, transparent elections in the country, expressed disappointment, especially “against the background of assurances given by INEC on its preparedness” for the polls,” one article stated.

Part 2:

a) Developing countries face many problems, causing the movement out of poverty to be a tough one. The book Poor Economics states that the majority of the poor run on small businesses or farms. Since most impoverished people depend on farming, many struggle when factors like climate interfere. The book says, “Most of the land farmed by the poor is not irrigated. This makes farm earnings highly dependent on the weather.”  According to Poor Economics, the other majority of employment in poor countries comes from something called casual labor. This is someone who only receives employment for a few days to a few weeks. This leads families with little to no security and dependability on income.

Radelet argues in the book “Emerging Africa” that across Africa, a new generation of leaders are emerging, making it to the top of important positions such as government bodies, businesses, schools, and organizations. They have been given many labels including “the Cheetah generation.” Radelet states that the new generation does not stick to one social construct. Each “cheetah” is unique and diverse, adding to the strong connections being fostered with the rest of the world. What sets the cheetah generation apart from the rest is their drive to get an idea moving forward. In Emerging Africa we get a quote from Ayittey speaking about the cheetahs. She stated, “They do not relate to the old colonialist paradigm, the slave trade, nor Africa’s post-colonialist nationalist leaders.” Cheetahs can be found all over Africa, but specifically in emerging countries. Many start here as entrepreneurs, creating jobs and new opportunities for investment. In contrast, many surrounding people in Africa seem to be staying with the old ways of things and Radelet calls this generation the “hippo” generation. These people stick to the ideas of fighting against colonialism and imperialism.

In the book “Emerging Africa”, Radelet gives a lot of explanation as to how the explosion of mobile phones, internet connections, and information and communication technology effected and continues to effect Africa. The expansion of ICT can allow more people access to more job opportunities, extend business and social networks, and increase accountability. Radelet explains that in poor areas of Africa where transportation may be difficult, mobile phones open up a new wave of communication, letting people know important things like the weather and differing prices of goods and services. Radelet’s positive view makes sense, since he states, “Africa has become the fastest-growing mobile market in the world.” The explosion of ICT is probably sustainable since two more fiber optic cables will be added to the SAT-3 cable already boosting internet access in Africa off the West coast. These new cables should be said to reduce costs as well. The challenges to this sparkly, exciting change in Africa is that we do not have any idea how this really will affect the continent in the future. Yes, technological changes have transformed different areas of the world, think the transcontinental railroad in the U.S., but the United States was not the most impoverished country at the start of the change. Even Radelet writes, “They will not overcome all problems, lift everyone out of poverty, or change autocratic governments into liberal democracies,” accepting that ICT will not change everything at once for the better.

It is very possible to get trapped in poverty according to Banerjee and Duflo’s book Poor Economics. Economists call countries stuck in poverty due to the extreme climate, infertility, being landlocked and even often malaria infested (Poor Economics). Nigeria is known for having extreme droughts, and climate change is worsening their chances of combating poverty in many ways. Farmers are unable to farm and livestock is affected. When it comes to infertility, Nigeria has trouble keeping health risks away due to a lack of affordable healthcare. Nigerian Gynecologist Kingsley Angholor wrote, “For example, tubal disease, which is the most common cause of infertility in Nigeria, is best treated with in-vitro fertilization (IVF), and one cycle of IVF in Nigeria costs an average of 3,289 USD.” Healthcare bleeds into the next reason countries get locked in poverty too: malaria. Malaria kills more people in Nigeria than in any other country in the world according to the United States Embassy in Nigeria.

In my country Nigeria, climate change has halted many sustainable development goals. Agriculture productivity is decreasing due to different things depending on the location in Nigeria including droughts, extreme heat, and natural disasters. According to the Punch Newspaper, the Federal government established the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, a House Committee, and Senate Committee to work on implementing the Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria. Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire has worked to get different initiatives moving forward to combat Nigeria’s poverty trap and reach the sustainable goals like The Safe Birth Initiative. This initiative gave $10.8m to help try and strengthen hospitals.

Nigeria’s population has been growing, but the country has done little to improve its human capital. According to Leadership Newspaper Nigeria, “The country spent less than one percent of its GDP on health.” UNESCO said in 2014 that Nigeria ranked the number last in education, therefore human capital is a problem in Nigeria.

By: Tori Travers

1. Radelet believes that the good news about Africa is that many of its countries are not alone in breaking away from the history of economic and political despair, as he states in Emerging Africa. For a long time, Africa has been limited to a similar story of the continents dark past. On MillenniumVillages.org it states, “Africa has the greatest proportion of people living in extreme poverty.” Radelet argues that countries like Ghana, Mozambique, Mali, Tanzania, and Cape Verde are changing the narrative by having these things that he calls good news: more trustworthy governments, increasing incomes, improving investment, healthcare and education opportunities among other things. The Millennium Villages Project is trying to help.
2. The Millennium Villages are villages in Africa aimed at fighting poverty from a small, community-led scale. I chose the two villages Tiby, Mali and Koraro, Ethiopia. I decided to look closer into these two villages for many reasons. Both Tiby and Koraro are found in countries which are existing Millennium Villages. They have a similar population number and schools in their respective areas. Tiby, Mali has a population of about 75,000 people, while Koraro, Ethiopia has a population of about 68,000 people. A big difference in these villages is the number of health recourses around. In Koraro there are 14 health centers and 352 places for counseling, health, and wellness services. Tiby has much less at 8 health centers and 155 places providing counseling, health and wellness services.

• Tiby was chosen to be a Millennium Village, because it is one of the poorest areas in Mali. Koraro is also at the top of the list of poorest areas in Ethiopia. Mali struggles with crops due to the little rainfall it receives each year. This has led to the area to having a child mortality rate and the majority of the population underweight and unhealthy. Koreo’s problems emerge due to its geographic location. Also receiving little rainfall, this piece of northern Ethiopia is surrounded by dust land. Koreo also has a lack of roads leading to a disconnect to the outside world. Koreo’s main goals were to improve the abilities of transportation and heighten number of recourses produced, creating more jobs. Tiby created a drip irrigation technology and planted 13 vegetable gardens to combat their goal of helping the malnourishment of the village.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AS-ADevH7k
• Watch the video above to check in on the millennium village of Koraro, Ethiopia taken in 2010.

• Jeffrey Sach‘s approach of integrated development was attacked and criticized. When you look at the Millennium Villages Project, it’s hard to confidently know that these countries it is based in would not have had changes and successes without the project. Another criticism is that the villages looked at have nothing to be compared to, like a piece of a country that is not under the development plan. Many critics say that there is little evidence to back the statement that the project was successful in helping the villages.

• I think it’s interesting and important that the Millennium Villages set a goal of including and promoting all types of individuals to be active in the community and to succeed, which they highlighted under the website column titled Local Ownership. This mirrors how minorities are fighting to get represented in the United States in things like the media, television, and movies today.

By: Victoria Travers