Chapter 5 Post

I am not black: labels and perceived identity are the root of major conflict. 

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5jq016BVmoQ/hqdefault.jpg

The Workforce is even more divided by race than you think: Differences in education and opportunity levels between races results in the stratification of the workforce. 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigdiPggG3ir61PqPTVR6MUKBF7mgS_roHmD5LHR3VFVVYbrQvXaUE5Si09XkrR1xgnp7m6jnfpyWEOyLzHFniVYqQQYJDKZM7Mxd_o0wGWTB8FOEZAL35LFtze1GAGTpYRMv_gcz90Sng/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-11-05+at+4.04.18+PM.png

Albania's few remaining sworn virgins: Certain rights are still heavily gendered in some places.

https://gigaom.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/1/2012/10/identity-640x492.jpg

No longer a black majority, Harlem is in transition: Affordable housing in Harlem has contributed to the barrioization of the area. 

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2015/5/12/1431460402564/15689780134_e6f3c652f6_o-2060x1236.jpeg?w=700&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=3e49f8724d650a73a317c0a758e81d75

Japan's hidden caste of untouchables: The preservation of Burakumin communities in Japan has led to modern residential segregation. 

https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2015/12/30/20/pg-22-Burakumin-1-getty.jpg

Armed With Facebook 'Likes' Alone, Researchers Can Tell Your Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation: The virtual space of a Facebook account can reveal aspects of identity.

http://www.seoergosum.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Les-r--seaux-sociaux-chronophages-community-management.png

Why 'Gayborhoods' Matter: Researchers have identified that as homosexual couple establish a sense of place in a neighborhood, gentrification swiftly follows. 

http://media.salon.com/2014/08/castro.jpg

Down In the Valley, Up On the Ridge: Once chattel slavery became commonplace in the Americas, the Melungeons experienced an attitude of racism towards them. 

http://therevivalist.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/05-melungeon-boys-.jpg

Marco Rubio Said He Wants to Have a Beer With Malala, an Underage Muslim: Marco Rubio's failure to take into account the age, ethnicity, and religion of Malala Yousafzai led to an embarrassing moment of cultural insensitivity. 

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MOqIotJrFVM/maxresdefault.jpg

White College Students Angry they originated in Africa: The refusal of students to accept that they are descended from Africans shows the strong desire of some people to identify against other races. 

http://www.telesurtv.net/__export/1477108965564/sites/telesur/img/news/2016/10/22/racism.jpg_1718483346.jpg

Map of penalties for homosexuality:

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_by_country_or_territory#/media/File%3AWorld_laws_pertaining_to_homosexual_relationships_and_expression.svg

AP Human Extra Credit Assignment: The Breakdown of Gender Roles as seen in Indian Cinema

          Traditional Bollywood pictures tend to portray female characters as docile and submissive, and usually secondary to their patriarch. But with the proliferation of ideas about equality if the sexes reaching India through globalization, female characters are beginning to take on more central, independent roles in Indian cinema. Such changes in attitude towards women can be seen in the 2015 comedy-drama Piku, in which the female protagonist has an active sex life and is not subservient to her father. Up until very recently, the trend that female characters in Bollywood followed was one sexual repression and loyalty to their patriarch. This shift in the cinematic portrayal of women reflects the world wide dissolution of traditional gender roles. As women cast off more and more societal limitations, art changes to reveal their elevated social status. 

http://www.academia.edu/15436708/The_Changing_Perceptions_of_Gender_and_Sexuality_in_Indian_Visual_Narratives_A_Case_study_of_Queen_and_Piku

Chapter 5 Assessment Choices

Yugoslavia project

10 articles and images 

Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 4, Cultural Intercourse and Landscape, and The Rise and Fall of Pop Culture

What does cultural landscape tell us about attitudes to globalization and pop culture?

         The globalization of the world through improved communication and transportation technologies and massively increased global commerce has resulted in a global popular culture. As greater volumes of content are produced and diffused through the internet and other means, popular cultures becomes more niche-based, with fewer universal cultural touchstones. The impact of global pop culture can be seen in the ever shifting cultural landscape of the world. For instance, the tunnel running under the English Channel reflects the constantly growing ties between countries, partly due to the adoption of a relatively homogeneous global culture. Likewise, man made barriers such as the Berlin Wall or the DMZ reflect a reactive rejection of global popular culture. When popular culture is infused with local culture, the cultural landscape changes to reflect this glocalization, showing elements of both the unique local culture and broad pop culture. 

http://343f11.pbworks.com/w/page/47945369/Glocalization%20and%20Creolization

Some Irish people wanted to preserve their quickly disappearing language, but the global acceptance of English made the language practically obsolete. So, some schools began offering courses in Irish Gaelic. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/a-modest-revival-for-the-irish-language/2012/01/25/gIQABC3ftR_story.html

http://www.fotolibra.com/gallery/596473/irish-road-signs/

Diffusion of Korean popular culture across Asia 

Migration Comic

Migration Comic

Outline:

In 1952, there was a military coup within Egypt that was led by Muhammad Naguib. The result of this coup was Gamal Abdel Nasser deposing King Faruq. With this change in power in Egypt, the backdrop of our story is set.

Eleven years later, Samir Nour, Ryan’s grandfather is offered a scholarship to study economics at Williams College in Massachusetts. This was a big deal because education in America was highly sought after, and pursuing this field of study had always been a dream of Sam’s.

When Sam prepared to leave Egypt in order to follow his dream, the Egyptian government did not want to comply. “No you can’t have this scholarship, we have another candidate from our government in mind who we would like to pursue this area of study instead of you!” Proclaimed the Egyptian government.

Sam was devastated upon hearing this. The government had effectively shot him down! “I don’t know what we will do. Our last hope is that Williams College will decline the representative they have chosen, and have faith that we will prevail!” Sam discussed the situation with his wife. 

In the next several weeks, Sam’s good fortune prevailed. “I have just received word that the Egyptian government’s chosen scholar has been rejected for the opportunity! They will only accept me to study there,” Sam said to his wife. “How will we request access to leave the country from them again though, Sam? I fear for our safety.” Lila responded. “Fret not, I will take up the matter with our government and I have faith they will be reasonable this time!”

Sam then approached the Egyptian government one more time, with his heart on his sleeve. Acknowledging his brilliance and how much he deserved the opportunity, the Egyptian government granted him permission to leave. However, they were less than lenient. They determined that Sam could leave to complete the study abroad program that initially was planned to be two years in length, in only one year. Sam and Lila were outraged. The Egyptian government decreed this because they were seeking to prevent loss of labor and an increase in Egyptian government sophistication.

With this decision, they resolved to flee the country and pursue their educational opportunity for the entire duration. With this as their major push factor, America and its superior education system pulled them to flee.

In order to survive in America, they needed adequate funding. They possessed enough money to sustain them, but currency could not be legally transported out of the country. They stashed all of their money in a tissue box carried by Lila’s mother, who boarded the ship with them to say goodbye.

Upon reaching the USA, Lila and Sam were offered student visas and chose to never return to Egypt again. They escaped the wrath of the oppressive Egyptian government and resolved to stay out of Egypt to raise their family.

Images needed: Egyptian flag, revolution, strife, tissue box, money, boats, Williams College, harbors, people in suits talking

Essential details: emigration from Egypt was restricted in an effort to prevent brain drain, migration was voluntary, the government wanted their own representative to receive the scholarship, biggest pull factor was education, biggest push factor was oppressive Egyptian regime 

Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 3, How Did a Texas Textbook End Up Describing Slaves as “Workers From Africa”?, and Forced Migration: the Atlantic Slave Trade: What Too Few Textbooks Told You

What was the impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on the global scale? How is slavery viewed in contemporary America?

        Slavery is widely regarded as the most cruel and detrimental institution in American history. Yet there is relatively little discussion of the impact that the Atlantic Slave Trade had on the global scale. The forced migration of 10,000,000 Africans over more than three centuries created demographic, cultural, and political shifts that continue to influence our world. The capture of such a large portion of the population, most of whom were males, was the basis for a significant part of the economies of both Africa and the Americas. Even after the abolition movement, the presence of entire African economies that had spring up around slavery resulted in the continuation of the institution in Africa (Thompsell). The practice of slavery also resulted in the strong racial segregation of blacks from whites which continued around the globe long after slavery had been abolished. This is not to mention the colossal damage done to the advancement of large sections of Africa by removing 10 million people and their descendants from the population. This forced emigration wave prevented innumerable humans from benefitting society. And yet despite the profound, irreparable, and global harms of the Atlantic Slave Trade, the issue is substantially oversimplified in American culture. One Texas textbook went so far as to refer to African slaves as mere "workers." Even when the full brutality of this system of forced migrant labor is acknowledged, it is often only within an American context.

 Thompsell, Angela. "The Effects of Abolition in Africa." About.com Education. N.p., 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

Source: 

http://www.slavevoyages.org/assessment/intro-maps

Map of the Great Migration in the United States, 1916-1930

        The shipping off of 2 million American men to Europe during the last stages of World War I simultaneously created a labor shortage and a need for increased industry to provide for the war effort. African Americans living in the South left for industrialized northern cities to fill this vacuum in droves, commencing one of the largest internal migrations in American history. Between 1910 and 1970, approximately 6 million African Americans relocated from the South to urban centers in the North. 

Syrian civilians wanted to live in a place where they would t get bombed, but David Cameron thought they would be an inconvenience to the economy, so England refused to accept refugees. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/syrian-refuges-child-david-cameron-yvette-cooper-pmqs-britain-shaming-reputation-video-alf-dubs-a7003251.html

Source: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/syrian-refugees/salopek-text

Research Book Post #1 Pages 1-20

     When Americans think of their country's involvement in the ill-defined region known as the Middle East, they will likely call to mind the events of 9/11 and the Iraq War. But America has had constant and significant interaction with the Middle East almost since our nation's origin. Our exchanges with the region, which includes West Asia and much of North Africa depending on who you ask, have resulted in such important events as the creation of the U.S. Navy and the drafting of the Constitution. Michael B. Oren contends that there are three primary factors in these exchanges: power, faith, and fantasy. The American government has pursued its interests in the Middle East through use of power, whether that power be political, financial, or militaristic. Many interactions between the Middle East and the US have been based on religion. Some of the earliest American travelers to the region were missionaries and zionists. Lastly, the fantastical depictions of the Arab world found in A Thousand and One Arabian Nights drew drew adventure-seeking explorers. 

Image source: 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Thousand_and_One_Nights

Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 2: Population, The Population Surprise, The Population Fizzle, and U.S. Population Drop

Question: What are the impacts of a declining population in the modern world?

        Over the past century the world population has risen exponentially, climbing from 1.6 billion in 1900 to 7.4 billion in 2016 (http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/). This population explosion is largely due to increased life expectancy, which in turn is the result of more accessible food, water, and health care. But within the past several decades, the total fertility rate of developed countries has been steadily declining. Max Singer of The Atlantic cites changing modern values for this new trend. More precisely, the falling TFR of developed nations can be attributed to better education and resources for women, a desire to focus on career as opposed to child rearing, and the fact that a new child no longer means another field hand on the family farm. The decline of fertility rates below the 2.1 children per woman replacement rate has caused a growing concern that the world will be faced with an elderly population for whom it cannot adequately care. But this concern is hardly warranted. In fact, declining fertility rates can largely be seen as a positive trend. As Anne H. Ehrlich of the Center for Conservation Biology writes, declining populations help to offset the tremendous environmental detriments of unprecedented industrialization. Furthermore, a reduced population ensures less competition for resources such as clean drinking water. Ehrlich goes on to explain that the problem of dealing with an aging population is inevitable as population growth tapers off, and that it is better to start dealing with it now than to delay any resolution for another few generations.  While the world does need to face the challenge of taking care of an older population than ever before, the recent reduction in birth rates is not one of the more pressing issues of our times. 

Image source: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7KG1vmWDWQ0

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/overpopulation-dhaka-will-see-groundwater-contaminated-arsenic-within-next-decade-1583603

The people of Dhaka wanted clean drinking water, but their population is too dense, so their water supply will likely be contaminated with arsenic within the next ten years. 

Countries in Africa with a TFR Above 5.0

   World Population

    Model obtained from www.populationedcation.org 

        The first stage represents the time in human history prior to any industrialization. Birth rates were only slightly higher than death rates, and the world population total was relatively static. During the second stage, once some countries had begun to industrialize, death rates started to fall steadily while birth rates remained high. This caused a massive influx in the population total. In stage three, birth rates began to decline dramatically while death rates declined by only a small margin. Some developing countries, such as Nigeria, are currently experiencing these levels of births and deaths. Most developed countries are in stage four, where birth rates have decreased significantly but remain higher than death rates. The total population of the countries is leveling off somewhat. A few nations such as Japan are in the fifth stage, where birth rates have dropped below death rates and the total population is shrinking. 

         A cartogram is a map which retains the relative shape of a country but distorts its size to reflect a certain trait (e.g. population, amount of arable land, percent of population who are malnourished, etc.). They are used to show the difference between countries regarding a particular characteristic. This cartogram displays countries' sizes relative to their populations. Each square represents five million people, though distribution across each country is not shown. East Asia and South Asia are by far the largest regions, with 1.2 billion and 1.3 billion people inhabiting China and India respectively. Continents apart from Eurasia are far more sparsely populated, particularly in areas of Africa and South America. 

Fast Food Nation Pechukecha

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1bPxVtMqMRQqi60re99Pz130obfkq-OXLWA1jQvqcfmU

Book Search Blog Link

http://modernworldhistorybooksearch.blogspot.com/2016/09/book-10-who-rules-world-by-noam-chomsky.html

Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 1, The Tipping Point, and Six Glasses

Question: what are the driving forces behind the diffusion of products (such as Coca-Cola or the AK-47 assault rifle) on a global scale?

     Over the past century, our planet has become interconnected to the point that certain brands and products can be recognized wherever humans can be found. McDonald's, the most ubiquitous restaurant in the world, can be found in 119 countries worldwide (http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/08/08/countries-without-mcdonald/). Coca-Cola has a  commercial presence in over 200 (http://www.coca-colacompany.com/careers/who-we-are-infographic). The necessary factors to establish this omnipresence are and permeate most cultural barriers numerous, but there a few key forces that tend to foster this cultural diffusion. One such force, as in the case of the revival of Hush Puppies in the 1990s, is the emergence of a global popular culture. When a handful of artists decided that the old-fashioned shoe was the hip thing to be wearing, it sparked resulted in production of the shoe to skyrocket from 3,000 pairs annually to more than 400,000. This was partly the case with Coca-Cola as well, as the soft drink is considered to be a symbol of Western culture. But Coke also had a number of other driving forces behind its global adoption that were not present in the case of Hush Puppies. First of all, Coke is desirable to a much wider consumer base. A sweet beverage has appeal for potentially anyone, whereas Hush Puppies would only appeal to those concerned with U.S. fashion trends. Furthermore, Coke is far cheaper than a pair of stylish shoes, making it affordable to vast number of people and creating demand within a larger sphere. These traits, in addition to the drink's publicity and proliferation during WWII, resulted in Coke's expansion diffusion from the U.S. to nearly every country on Earth. 

Militaries, rebel groups, and other allies of the Soviet Union wanted weapons, so the USSR supplied them with huge quantities of the cheap and easy to manufacture assault rifle. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/how-did-the-ak-47-become-the-most-abundant-weapon-on-earth-2124407.html

https://www.oxfam.de/system/files/20060623_theak47_200kb.pdf

   Map of AK-47 use and manufacture in Africa and the Middle East

Where the Blame Lies Analysis

       Grant E. Hamilton conforms to the popular practice of using immigrants as scape goats for some of the nation's most pressing issues, claiming that restricting immigration would cause all these problems to disappear. The stereotypes reflected in the cartoon are those primarily of the political ideologies associated with each ethnicity. A strong nativist sentiment is shown in the fear with which these ideologies are regarded. Apart from being accused of introducing insidious political views to Amerrica, the immigrants are portrayed as having nothing to offer. Furthermore, their nationalities seem to be used in a rather derogatory fashion, as if the immigrants are inherently inferior by virtue of being foreign. This attitude has been seen before and since with regard to US sentiment on immigration. The same nativist reaction was seen earlier in the 19th century, as well as more recently with regard to Mexican immigration to the US.