Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The oppressive acts of non-democratic states have never been so visible. New transborder communication networks have emerged providing an almost instantaneous global flow of information and images of repression. Giddens’ observes, for instance, that in the contemporary world authoritarian regimes can no longer hide from the gaze of the global community. Whereas once transgressions of international norms by non-democratic states were exposed to Western audiences intermittently via smuggled film or video, or the testament of escaped dissidents, now such material is routinely posted online; visible to a growing audience of Net users.
This paper suggests that the emergence of the Web has not only provided new opportunities for a range of actors to publicize a variety of abuses by oppressive regimes but also that together, the blogs and websites of these actors form a new interconnected space which documents and publicizes repressive acts committed by authoritarian states. These interconnected sites form a permanent record of the actions of oppressive states which can be easily accessed by an international bystander audience that increasingly takes transgressions of international norms seriously and takes action in response.
The paper highlights the results of a pilot study which looks at the online exposure of human rights and other abuses by the regimes in Burma and Zimbabwe. The study aims to reveal the advocates involved in documenting regime activity, and the types of evidence that are disclosed on their interconnected blogs and websites. The study compares and contrasts the interconnected spaces publicizing of international norm transgressions by the regimes in Burma and Zimbabwe with the aim of shedding light on the processes involved.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: 'Among Ourselves' is about the informal organization of Black women around a common understanding of multiple oppressions. Throughout history, Black women have used this informal space to negotiate shared rituals of bonding to discuss our feelings in order to become uplifted and stregthen one another. Furthermore, Black women's shared standpoints center around our lack of privilege in White Male dominate society, our objectified status as "other" which are compounded as consequences of race and gender oppression. I argue in this paper that the social structural position of Black women in U.S. society makes our activism more beneficial within the context of a multicultural female experience which speaks to this groups' everyday lived experience.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The growth of the Latino/na population has been a source of concern for many white Anglos, who assert that it will result in the death of the American way of life and the English language. We propose that this rhetoric is a subterfuge aimed at increasing the prestige of English vis-à-vis Spanish, a development that will facilitate the growth of capital, both material and symbolic, in the white establishment. Using interviews with 60 Latinos/as drawn from cities in seven states, we illustrate four techniques employed by the white Anglo establishment to discourage Latinos’ heritage language use and discuss ideological elements in American culture that help hide the racism in language struggles between Latinos/as and whites. Finally, we discuss different forms of Latino/na resistance to oppression, which include advocacy of tolerance of language diversity.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Source credibility theory states that people are more likely to be persuaded when the source presents itself as credible. In the process of exploring this theoretical perspective, this study attempted to determine to what extent source characteristics such as gender and ethnicity play in the perceptions that university students have in the student/professor relationship.
At a bi-national U.S. university with a predominantly Latino student body, students perceived European American professors as more competent and caring, and hence more credible overall, than Latino professors. Female professors were perceived as more trustworthy and caring, as well as more credible overall, than male professors. While results failed to yield a significant MANOVA effect between instructor gender and instructor ethnicity, female Latino professors were perceived as somewhat less competent than their male and female European American and Latino male counterparts. In addition, on overall credibility, European American female professors were rated higher than their European American male, and male and female Latino counterparts. In order of relative significance, competence, immediacy and attractiveness significantly contributed to student learning.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Ethnoreligious conflict has seldom been studied within the modern economic model of conflict, except in the former?s most extreme forms ? as violence and warfare. This paper adopts the newer economic approach to conflict to analyze ethnoreligious conflict in particular. The analysis yields a characterization of how much extraction by a dominant group and separatism by a minority group to expect in various societies. The model?s implications are tested. Among the findings are that restrictions on commerce promote both separatism and conflict, and hamper trust. Free trade, broadly defined, is argued to be a key force for ethnic cooperation within states, as it has been found to be in nation-state interactions