Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Norm Life Cycle or Norms Cycle of Life?: Inequality, International Norm Dynamics and Ecologically Sustainable Sufficiency

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In August of 2008 former General Pervez Musharraf resigned from his position as Pakistan’s President under calls for his impeachment. Why did Musharraf resign and what does this act signal for the future of democratic and military politics in Pakistan? From its inception in 1947 Pakistan has struggled between the twin impulses of democracy and authoritarianism. While religion may play a role in Pakistan’s political instability I do not believe that Pakistan’s reliance on authoritarianism can simply be explained as an outcome of the country’s religiosity. If Pakistan’s religious character is not the key to its unstable democracy then what is? I argue that a combination of military strength, civil institutional weakness, and international pressure, continues to place undue burden on Pakistan’s attempts to create a democratic state. Though Pakistan’s Islamic nature plays a role in destabilizing the state, through sectarian violence or external conflicts, it is the military that continues to intervene in democratic politics, not religious organizations. Through a historical analysis of political events I tease out the competing institutions within Pakistan that have either helped or hindered the establishment of democratic norms.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Many feminist theorists have argued that technological change leads to deskilling of jobs thus providing women an opportunity to fill these positions. However, most theorists have not discussed whether the life cycle of technology has an effect on the employment of women. This paper primarily aims to examine whether we can utilize the life cycle model approach, specifically, the technology and skill-training life cycles, to throw additional light on labor and job queue theory as given by Reskin and Roos. I illustrate how computer technology has a life cycle; and that the majority of women tend to employ those programming languages at work that are in the later stages of the life cycle because programming languages that have developed at the later stage of the software technology life cycle are more deskilled. This sets the stage for occupational decline leading to a re-ranking of occupations in job queues, and facilitating the entry of women in low-tiered and less skilled jobs in the software industry.
Along with these technology cycles, a skill training cycle also evolves as the level of demand and standardization of skill changes. In the early stages of the technology, training is provided on the job or highly specialized institutes whereas in the later stages it becomes highly dispersed. Employing this model, I illustrate that the labor queue has changed as women are able to get computer training in community colleges and for-profit private institutes. One consequence is that this reinforces gender segregation as women are unable to compete with men in the labor force as they do not have an engineering degree.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Let C be a cycle in a connected graph G. We define the cutting number of C to be the number of components in the graph obtained from G by deleting the edges of C. Whenever a cycle has cutting number at least 2, we call such a cycle an edge-cut cycle. In this talk, we discuss the motivation for these definitions, characterization of graphs with edge-cut cycles, and the necessary and sufficient conditions for a cycle to be an edge-cut cycle with respect to its graph G. We examine the cutting numbers of some bipartite graphs, and we also explore the relationship between |V(G)| and the cutting number of G. In particular, we explore bounds on |E(G)| and cutting number of G for different orders and classes of graphs.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Historically speaking, water has been a vital social object for constant societal concerns in Spain. During the process leading to autonomy process, also known as political decentralization, water management became one of the central political issues for struggle between the 17 regional governments in the Spanish territory. In this context, the media, especially, the printing newspapers have been playing a key role on keeping the citizens informed of conditions of the water supplied into their households, which has to be fought for and paid for. In doing so, the media may help to shape the citizens’ knowledge on water and, consequently, guide or shift the public opinion on its management policies. The present study centers on content analysis of news coverage on water issues in the Spanish major nationwide newspapers in a forty-five year span. It is aimed to examine how the Spanish news media have helped sustain long term social debate about water in the public arena and keep alive citizens’ awareness of it.