(I had trouble linking the file at home, so I just C & P'ed the assignment.)
QUESTIONS FOR ASSIGNMENT #4:
1. Topic/Subject: gacaca," the community-building strategy that Rwanda has been using post-genocide to repair its communities from the inside out
2. Who is involved? What parties/groups are acting against or with one another? Perhaps the greatest conflict has been between women and men. Women, who have always been somewhat inferior within the tribal structure, are now taking on leadership positions as community "matriarchs," making political and social decisions within the community. This is a point of contention for many traditional tribal members; however, the empowerment of women is helping Rwanda heal after the 1994 genocide. Also involved in the "conflict" would be all of the academics and policy-makers currently debating the most effective ways to repair nations/communities after ethnic cleansing.
3. What is the conflict/issue? The issue at hand is how is it possible to heal the economy, communities, and social structure of a nation recovering from genocide? Of course, there is the prospect of foreign aid workers/trainers coming into these struggling regions and helping citizens piece their lives back together; however, the issue is that these volunteers often do not understand the inner workings of societies at hand and, thus, are little help. In Rwanda's case, the country has been able to effectively plan and execute from the inside out.
4. When is the conflict going on? Identify the year the conflict began and time frame through which it spans. Late 1994 -present
5. Where is the conflict/issue taking place? If global, identify specific locations that require focus. Rwandan communities (each local community has a regional "counsel" operating under the gacaca legal system)
6. Why is this a relevant conflict/issue to me? We will soon have to deal with another country recovering from genocide (Sudan and, perhaps, the DR Congo), and learning lessons from similar situations can help the international community more effectively deal with struggling nations. In addition, I find the prospect of 100% local, community-driven law and conflict resolution a fascination prospect, one that I could learn a great deal from as I enter into the world of international politics.
7. Cause. (The conflict/issue began due to….) The struggle to repair relationships, both legal and social, after a genocide in Rwanda that pitted neighbor against neighbor and destroyed trust between family and friends. The challenge was to re-establish this trust and make sure that this trust filtered into other modes of re-building, such as economic.
8. Effects. (The conflict/issue has significance to...and ramifications that effect...) : Empowerment of women/changing role of women in Rwanda, new horizons for conflict resolution on an international scale.
9. My position/argument (If I have not established a position, I will explain why.) : I do not have a position yet because I need to do more research to evaluate whether the gacaca method of law/conflict resolution is actually working in Rwanda and whether it is even applicable to other countries in similar sociopolitical situations.
10. Type a Working Thesis: The self-sufficient and egalitarian nature of the gacaca method of law has not only allowed post-genocide Rwanda to rebuilt its infrastructure, but also provides a valuable model for rebuilding methods for future post-genocide nations.
1. Topic/Subject: a global history of cilantro (a.k.a. coriander) and how it is an early and prime example of globalization
2. Who is involved? What parties/groups are acting against or with one another? No real "conflict" here. The main parties involved would be goods traders and consumers
3. What is the conflict/issue? Do trading patterns, uses, opening of communication barriers associated with the trade of cilantro prove that globalization existed far before high technology and the Internet?
4. When is the conflict going on? Identify the year the conflict began and time frame through which it spans. B.C.E. (ancient cultures, such as Egypt and Mesopotamia) to present, but probably focusing mostly on B.C.E. to 1800/1900.
5. Where is the conflict/issue taking place? If global, identify specific locations that require focus. primarily Egypt; India; South America; and China (all users of cilantro at one time or another, for medicinal purposes and/or integrating it into traditional cooking).
6. Why is this a relevant conflict/issue to me? This example is a small way of showing global patterning, also in a way that hits home for those who use cilantro on a daily basis. Also, I want to examine whether globalization can be found in some form when luxury goods were a valuable commodity and technology wasn't available to carry out this global supply/demand.
7. Cause. (The conflict/issue began due to….): demand for the herb, desire for its unique traits (coolness, texture, faint taste, cleansing uses, etc.)
8. Effects. (The conflict/issue has significance to...and ramifications that effect...): Significant to modifying current arguments about globalization and how the phenomenon thrives on technology; if this thesis is proven, it means that old examples have to be integrated into current positions to form more hollistic approaches to the issue that the international community is facing right now. Also, cultural and other aspects may have to be more integrated into the argument at present.
9. My position/argument (If I have not established a position, I will explain why.) : Cilantro is an example of how globalization has roots in primitive trading.
10. Type a Working Thesis: Due to its trade history and cultural adaptability, the herb cilantro serves as a prime example of how globalization is not so much a modern, technologically induced phenomenon, so much as a long-time developing occurence.
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