Thesis advisor: Sara Moorman / Between the years 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population in the United States grew by 15.2 million people at a rate faster than any other racial or ethnic group. Despite this population’s increasing size and political power, past researchers find that significant and persistent gaps exist between the test scores of Hispanic and non-Hispanic students. This study examines one solution proposed to close the test score gap: the assignment of students to demographically similar teachers. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, this study explores how instruction by ethnically and/or linguistically similar teachers affects the reading, math, and general science test scores of Hispanic kindergarten students. Findings suggest that when taught by a Hispanic teacher, students reported as Hispanic are predicted to earn reading test scores higher than those of students in other student-teacher dyads. Linguistic similarities have negligible effects on student outcomes after controlling for individual-, teacher- and school-level factors. Policy implications are described. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Sociology.

Calabrese (2005) identified two distinct ceramics styles in the Shashe- Limpopo basin at the same time – Leokwe and K2. This is the first record of ethnicity in the Iron Age of southern Africa. With this identification come new avenues for research. How these groups interacted, and their relative status through time is the focus of my research. According to Calabrese, some Leokwe groups maintained a higher, or at least equal status on initial contact with K2, before K2 became the dominant political group. He bases this claim on the identification of what he terms ‘Elite Symbolic Objects’ at sites, such as Castle Rock. Using GIS, it is clear that the locale of sites differ within the landscape. Specifically, locations vary through time on the escarpment and floodplain and their relationship to primary and secondary resources. This variation suggests that access to resources was controlled, and this implication influences ones assessment of the relative status of K2 and Leokwe groups. Additionally, new excavations at Castle Rock call into question the validity of ‘elite symbolic objects’ in determining status.

O presente trabalho busca analisar o processo de politização das identidades indígenas, entendido como uma luta por reconhecimento, ressaltando a dinâmica das fronteiras étnicas na interação entre indígenas e o Estado, na Bolívia pós-1985. Entende-se que ao fundamentarem sua luta em um largo histórico de dominação e traduzirem-na em uma demanda por direitos e por reconhecimento social e político, os povos indígenas ressignificam sua posição marginal na sociedade e conformam a base para sua organização. Defende-se que, uma vez que as identidades resultam de constantes processos internos e externos de definição, a possibilidade de conformação de uma identidade efetivamente autônoma só se concretiza se os sujeitos podem definir quais os parâmetros legítimos a partir dos quais se dá o reconhecimento, que adquire um caráter eminentemente político. A este respeito, entende-se que a luta avançada pelos povos indígenas representa um desafio para as formas tradicionais de definição de cidadania, questionando o paradigma liberal até então hegemônico, especialmente no que tange a natureza coletiva do sujeito indígena e sua relação com o território e com a política em geral. Assim, a indigeneidade se coloca como uma peça chave para a compreensão das mudanças ocorridas nas últimas décadas na Bolívia, assim como para a compreensão de um processo mais amplo de descolonização das categorias e instituições do Estado-nação. Desta forma, o trabalho segue de forma a discutir como a luta por reconhecimento por direitos se construiu a partir das críticas ao colonialismo interno do Estado boliviano, posteriormente avançando sobre como ampliação das fronteiras da identidade indígena serviu como elemento aglutinador de um processo crescentemente contencioso das relações entre a sociedade as instituições do Estado em sua acepção liberal. Posteriormente, discutir-se-á sobre como as lutas e demandas indígenas foram reconhecidas na Constituição de 2009 em um esforço conjunto de representantes de diversos movimentos sociais no país para superar a abordagem multiculturalista através da plurinacionalidade e da interculturalidade. Por fim, destacar-se-á as presentes contradições deste processo, no qual o empoderamento político indígena se depara com a centralidade cada vez maior da democracia representativa e dos apelos de uma identidade nacional indigeneizada, em detrimento dos avanços legais da Constituição plurinacional e das lutas por interculturalidade e pela consolidação da autonomia dos sujeitos coletivos na Bolívia / The following work will discuss the process of politicization of indigenous identities, understood as a struggle for recognition, highlighting the dynamics of the ethnic boundaries in the interaction between the indigenous and the state in Bolivia after 1985. We sustain that as indigenous peoples root their struggle in a long background of domination which is translated into a demand for rights and for social and political recognition, they ressignify their marginality within the society and establish the foundations for their organization. We suggest that, inasmuch as identities result from constant processes of internal and external forms of definition, the possibility of constructing actually autonomous identities is only possible if the subjects are able to define by which standards should they be granted recognition, which, in turn, becomes eminently political. Following that, we observe that the indigenous struggles posits a challenge to traditional forms of defining citizenship, as they question the hegemony of the liberal paradigm so far, specially in matters of the collective nature of indigenous subject and its particular relation to the territory and politics. Therefore, indigeneity is presented as a key factor for understanding the political changes in Bolivia over the last decades, but also for analyzing the process of decolonization of nationstate categories and institutions. We herein discuss how the struggle for recognition in the legal and social dimensions was key for constructing a broader critique of the internal colonialism in the Bolivian State, followed by a discussion on how the expansion of the boundaries of the indigenous identities transformed it into a converging element of a increasingly contentious process in the relation between the society and the states institutions in their most liberal facet. Later on, we will explore how these struggles and demands were recognized in the 2009 Constitution, as a result of the mutual effort of representatives of various social movements to overcome the multicultural approach to indigenous rights with plurinationality and interculturality. Finally, we assess the present contradictions of such process, in which the political empowerment of the indigenous faces the rising centrality of representative democracy and the appeals of a indigenized national identity, as opposed to the consolidation of constitutional plurinationality and of the intercultural plea for the consolidation of the autonomy of indigenous collective subjects in Bolivia

Forskning har visat att andra generationens invandrare kan uppleva identitetsförvirring som följd av oklar etnisk tillhörighet. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka hur unga vuxna män med invandrarbakgrund (Mellanöstern) uppfattade att leva med sin egen dubbelidentitet/två kulturer och om männen upplevde fördomar baserat på deras utseende. Åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer analyserades med tematisk analys. Resultatet utmynnade i fyra teman; kluvenhet, kulturkrock, berikande med två kulturer och utseendets påverkan. Studiens resultat visar att andra generationens invandrare upplever att de står utanför två kulturer vilket påverkar deras utformning av identitet. Utseendet var en väsentlig faktor för hur andra generationens invandrare betraktas i Sverige och påverkar således deras upplevelse av att inte fullt ut känna sig som svenskar. Skillnader i mentalitet med etniska svenskar (och med föräldrarnas kultur) var ytterligare en anledning till att inte känna tillhörighet. Att ha två kulturer beskrivs dock också som en tillgång för ökad förståelse och utvidgade perspektiv av olika människor samt tankesätt. Studien belyser behovet av ytterligare forskning inom ämnet andra generationens invandrare och faktorer som inverkar på identitetsskapande. / Research has shown that second generation immigrants can experience identity-confusion as a result of an unclear ethnic identity. The purpose of the following study was to explore how adult males with Middle Eastern backgrounds perceive their own identity as a result of being part of two cultures and if these males experience any kind of prejudice due to their ethnic appearance in Sweden. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted and then analyzed using thematic analysis. The interviews resulted in four themes: split identity, cultural clashes, being enriched with two cultures and the impact of appearance. The result of the study shows that second generation immigrants in Sweden experience feeling excluded from both cultures which affects their sense of identity. Having an ethnic appearance was an essential factor for how second generation immigrants experience being viewed differently in Sweden and thus affects their feelings of not being fully Swedish. Differences in mentality with ethnic Swedes (and with the parent’s culture) was a further reason to feel a sense of not belonging. However, being a part of two cultures was also described as an access to better understanding different cultures and expanded worldviews and perspectives. This study highlights the need for further research within the subject of second generation immigrants and factors that influences identity creation.

Over the last sixty years anthropological interest in San has focused on their status as hunter-gatherers and, more recently, as an economically and socially marginalised minority group. In this thesis, I examine the different ways in which this indigenous minority population in Botswana manage and negotiate their relations with one another and with the broader society in which they are embedded. The research comprised eighteen months of fieldwork (April 2010 to December 2011) in Gaborone city, and a largely Naro-speaking village in Gantsi District in the west of Botswana. The participants comprised a small but relatively highly-educated cadre of elite San men who self-presented as advocates for San-related issues in the wider community but also San men and women in the towns and villages of the region. Early in the research process I recognised the need to make sense of the ethnography in terms of a variety of markers. Whilst this included what San actually said it also encompassed what they did and how they did it: that is their behaviour, dress and bodily techniques and practices – all of which I describe as voice. The research intersects with issues of gender, language, culture, class, identity and self-representation in the daily lives of San. I emphasise the tensions that San face in their daily struggles for recognition as human beings of equal value in Botswana’s society. As the public face of this struggle, San advocates were in a difficult and ambiguous position in relation to the wider San community. As a consequence of this, I explore egalitarianism as a set of political and social relationships rather than as a ‘sharing practice’. I identify a number of areas for further research, for example, to work collaboratively with San to incorporate aspects of what San called ‘personal empowerment’ and training. I show that the research has wider implications for other minority groups and indigenous people worldwide who have also been subject to highly politicised and overly deterministic definitions of their identity. My work suggests possibilities for working with emerging indigenous ‘elites’, who mediate most visibly the contours of these categories of identity by purposefully combining, conflating and straddling these labels.

Esta pesquisa tem por objeto identificar e compreender as difusas fronteiras e os encontros entre as distintas etnias, culturas e nacionalidades presentes no bairro do Bom Retiro, zona central de São Paulo. A abordagem é multidisciplinar, e a fotografia é utilizada como método de pesquisa, meio de informação e expressão. A urbanização do lugar iniciou-se na última década do século XIX e intensificou-se com a construção da estação da Luz, no início do século XX. Desde então, o bairro é o mais cosmopolita do Brasil, porta de entrada para as mais diferentes origens; uma de suas principais características é a conexão residência-trabalho, desde a formação do bairro até os dias de hoje. O Bom Retiro tornou-se uma referência do comércio de confecções na capital paulista a partir da inserção da comunidade judaica no início do século XX, depois desenvolvido pela comunidade coreana e, mais recentemente, com o trabalho dos sul-americanos. É um pequeno universo de acentuadas diferenças étnicas e culturais e classes sociais distintas em convivência. A luta pela construção da própria narrativa pelos diferentes grupos alimentou identidades e alteridades, criando um espaço singular de polifonia cultural e de relações incomuns. / This research has the purpose to identify and understand the diffuse borders and encounters between different races, cultures and nationalities present in the neighborhood of Bom Retiro, in central Sao Paulo. The approach is multidisciplinary, and photography is used as a research method, means of information and expression. The urbanization of the place began in the last decade of the nineteenth century and intensified with the construction of the Estação da Luz, in the early twentieth century. Since then, the neighborhood is the most cosmopolitan of Brazil, gateway to the most different origins; one of its main features is the connection home-to-work, since the formation of neighborhoodup to the present day. The Bom Retiro became a reference on trading of clothing goods in São Paulo from the insertion of the Jewish community in the early twentieth century, then developed by the Korean community and more recently with the work of the South Americans. It\'s a micro world of sharp ethnic and cultural differences and coexistence of different social classes. The struggle for the construction of the narrative itself by different groups fed identities and otherness, creating a unique space of cultural polyphony and unusual relationships.

This study assessed the tumor size at the time of first presentation of Haitian breast cancer patients compared to Non-Haitian Black and White patient populations of a large safety net hospital as an objective measure of diagnosis and treatment delay. Studies have shown that race and ethnicity have an influence in determining the breast cancer stage, treatment, and mortality rates. However, when we looked at the rates of breast cancer, screening among Black subgroups, such as Haitian women, was assessed and remained unclear because national studies do not differentiate Haitians from other Black populations. Two population-based studies that investigated breast cancer screening among Haitian women suggest that screening rates among Haitian women are lower than that of White and Black women. For this reason, many studies are diagnosed at later stages. This study to aimed to improved patient education. In this IRB approved retrospective study used the hospital electronic medical records and the cancer registry of breast cancer patients treated between 2013-2015. Female and male patients with primary breast cancer treated with surgery, complete imaging and medical data sets were included; patients with recurrent breast cancer or incomplete data sets were excluded. Demographics/race/ethnicity, tumor type and stage, receptor status, onco-type, proliferation rate as well as tumor size by radiology and pathology were recorded. vii Statistical analysis using ANOVA, T-test, U-test and Kruskal-Wallis, compared mean and median tumor sizes. In this study only tumor size was analyzed and reported. The results show 57/125 (45.6%) Haitian Black patients, 27/125 (21.6%) Non-Hispanic White, 41/125 (32.8%), Non-Haitian Black were included in the initial analysis of this study. The mean tumor size of Haitian Black (mean=3.09 cm, SD 2.91; median=2.3cm) was significantly larger compared to Black (mean=2.07cm, SD=1.77; median=1.6cm; p=0.022) or White (mean=1.88, SD=1.26; median=1.4; p = 0.008) patients. There was no significant difference in tumor size between Non-Haitian Black and White patients. Haitian Breast Cancer patients present with significantly larger tumors when compared to other patient populations. Improved patient education and intensified out-reach programs are needed to counteract this marked delay in initial diagnosis and treatment. Education and socio-economic differences must be further evaluated and all possible cofactors are needed to determine the most effective interaction to counteract this disparity.

This dissertation seeks to identify why some local governments succeed at incorporating minority populations while others fail. I do this by looking at three distinct areas of political life: elections, policy implementation, and legislative responsiveness. In the first paper I investigate when and how party information affects minority electability. With nonpartisan ballots are used in more than three-quarters of local elections, studies tend to overlook the importance of party in election outcomes. However, after coding newspaper articles about mayoral elections across the U.S., I show that party information is often a central feature of partisan and nonpartisan contests alike. The importance of this finding should not be understated as the data reveals that an increase in voter access to party information substantially weakens the effect of an African American candidate’s race on their electability. The second paper uses the case of Secure Communities to argue that partisanship is not sufficient for explaining variation in local approaches to immigration policy. Using a novel dataset that combines county-level deportation rates, policing budgets, and data on contracts between local prison facilities, private corporations, and federal agencies, I find that local compliance is explained by resource capacity first and political orientations second. Given the opposing positions of Republicans and Democrats on immigration enforcement programs, this result demonstrates that even when dealing with a particularly partisan issue there are other forces that can moderate the extent to which partisan influence matters. The final paper tests whether legislators are responsive to minority-based interests using the case of E-Verify – an employment verification system that nearly half of all state legislatures have implemented. Assessing both state-level variation in E-Verify adoption and the roll call behavior of individual legislators, I show that legislative bodies and their members are responsive to sub-constituencies with the strongest preferences on E-Verify: agribusiness and the foreign-born community. However, responsiveness only occurs if that group is a constituency that the legislator would normally cater to. In other words, Republicans are willing to break with their party position and vote against E-Verify, but only if they represent districts with large agribusiness interests. Likewise, Democrats are responsive to their foreign-born constituents, but not farm owners. The implication of this is that the interests of minorities in Republican districts may suffer when they are not aligned with aggregate opinion or another sub-constituency that holds substantial influence over Republican lawmakers.

Parts of the Swedish population are migrants from other countries and cultures due to Sweden's liberal integration system. This study aims to depict the experience of the integration process with a focus on the role of the Swedish language. This is done through qualitative interviews with six women who all arrived to Sweden as adults. The study has an analytical approach based on theories about identity, society, ethnicity and gender. Through our research questions about the integrations process linked to the Swedish language, we found that most of the women who were interviewed had experience of two ethnic identities. Where one identity is from their origin ethnicity and the other is the ethnical identity that they internalize in Sweden. The conclusion of the study shows that the role of learning a new language is key to integration as the language contains the understanding of a society's norms and traditions which the study also confirms. / Delar av den svenska befolkningen har flyttat till Sverige från andra länder och kulturer vilket har varit möjligt genom Sveriges liberala invandringspolitik. Denna studie syftar till att skildra upplevelsen av integrationsprocessen genom det svenska språket. Det har gjorts genom kvalitativa intervjuer med sex kvinnor som anlänt till Sverige i vuxen ålder. Studien är av ett analytiskt slag då den är baserad på teorier om identitet, samhället, etnicitet och genus. Genom våra forskningsfrågor om integrationsprocessen kopplat till det svenska språket har vi funnit att en av de upplevelser som återkommande uttrycks hos de intervjuade var att de upplevde sig själva ha två etniska identiteter. Varav den ena etniska identiteten är formad från deras hemland och den andra är internaliserad och formad som svensk. Sammanfattningsvis visar studien att lärandet av ett nytt språk är nyckeln till integration då språket gör det möjligt för individer att förstå samhällets normer och traditioner.

abstract: This dissertation attempts to explain the variation in violence at the time of state secession. Why do some governments respond to secessionist demands with violence and others settle such disputes peacefully? Previous research emphasized the high value of the secessionist region, the state’s fear of a domino effect, and the political fragmentation of the state and secessionist region elites, as the primary explanations for the violent response of the state to secession. I seek to provide a more comprehensive theory for the variation of secessionist violence that integrates individual, regional, state, and international factors. Drawing on a rational choice approach, and recent research on dehumanization, I argue that the state’s response to secessionist claims depends on the degree of economic redistribution in the country, the cultural differential between the dominant group of the state and the secessionist group, and the international security of the state. My theory predicts that the state is less likely to use violence against secessionists when there is a high degree of economic redistribution, a small cultural difference between the dominant and secessionist group, and the state enjoys a high level of external security. A state willing to redistribute in favor of the secessionist region dampens support for secession in the region and reduces the need to use violence by the state. Due to cognitive biases of the human brain, it is easier to marginalize culturally distinct groups than culturally similar groups. As a result, a high cultural differential is often associated with greater probability of secessionist violence. When the international security of the state is under threat, the government of the state can more easily convince its population to use force against the secessionist region, regardless of other considerations. In sum, my theory implies that economic redistribution, cultural differences, and international security shape state responses to secessionist claims. I test these theoretical conjectures using a new dataset on peaceful and violent secessionist campaigns, along with several case studies based on field research and primary source materials and find strong supportive evidence for them. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Political Science 2017