frontiers | the wellesley globalist

FRONTIERS

Featuring:Growing Up TransnationalFrom El Globalista Mexico: Revolución Vieja, Revolución Joven! e Life and Death of Innocence

Volume I, Issue 2

theWellesley Globalist

A Di! erent Kind of Battle 6

14 Women in Communist China

16 Growing Up Transnational

28 Not Such a Dolce Vita

32 Revolución Vieja, Revolución Joven

40 Evicted: What Happens Next?

10 Vietnam’s Next Step Forward

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A woman’s movement comes to lifeJiaqi Fan ‘14

A student’s unique take on her transnational identitySamaa Ahmed ‘13

Italy’s youth struggle to " nd their placeAlessandra Saluti ‘16

How will future revolutions in Cuba re# ect past revolutions?Belén Lobos: El Globalista Mexio

A Case Study of Resettlement in Delhi, Berlin, & ShanghaiVictoria Yu ‘16

What’s in store for Vietnam’s economy post-socialism?Calin Brown ‘13

Canada

IndiaVietnam

Georgia

6 A Di! erent Kind of BattleWomen in combat from 2013 and beyondMara Elissa Palma ‘15

22 " e Life and Death of InnocenceA look into the global reactions following the Delhi rapeSiqi Gao ‘15

Cristina Lucas ‘13 Soumya Bandyopadhyay

Barbara A. White Hannah Harris ‘15

! is edition of Wellesley Globalist brings to you a range of challenging o" erings, on everything from dual citizenship to being a “global citizen,” everything from post con# ict to resettlement, ev-erything from economic instability in southern Europe to gender inequality in China, and everything from violence against women to women in (violent) combat.

Over many years of teaching international relations at Wellesley, I have witnessed a dramatic increase in student awareness of global is-sues, based in part on the increased numbers of international students we recruit to the College plus the much better-traveled background

of today’s students from the United States. I am reminded that when I was an undergraduate years ago at Carleton College in Minnesota, my international travel experience was limited just to Canada, plus Mexico if two hours in Tijuana can count. At latest count, I have now visited 58 di" erent sovereign countries (the Holy See included) and in each I have learned something new about myself and my own country. Some of my colleagues have travelled even more than this. Many of my students will probably exceed this number by the time they reach my age.

I am proud of Wellesley’s international focus. Several years ago I was teaching a course on American Foreign Policy as a visiting professor at Harvard College, and I enjoyed taunting my (mostly male) students with the fact that “! ree out of our last four Secretaries of State have been women, and two of the three are Wellesley graduates.” In fact, studying and preparing for a career in international relations at Wellesley has been greatly invigorated by the legacies of both Secretary Clinton and Secretary Albright. Special praise must go to the Albright Institute, which brings distinguished visitors to the campus – including on a regular basis, Secretary Albright herself – while guiding students toward challenging summer internships abroad. Last year Al-bright Fellows were placed in Uganda, the UK, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Switzer-land, India, Cape Verde, Germany, Spain, and yes – even Canada.

! e challenge, of course, is to combine international exposure and work experience with serious scholarship. ! is is where Wellesley Globalist comes in, providing a platform and show-case for independent research and writing by Wellesley students with international interests. Reading these contributions helps me to see the larger world through the eyes of younger schol-ars, a rewarding and stimulating experience. ! e authors and editors have done good work here, so I invite all to share that experience.

Robert PaarlbergB. F. Johnson Class of 1944 Professor of Political Science

Letter to the Wellesley Community

Photo Courtesy of Cristina Lucas ‘13.

On behalf of the Wellesley Globalist sta" , I would like to thank all our contributors. With-out your e" orts, this magazine would have never been possible. In addition, I would like to thank our sponsor and the Wellesley College community for their constant support and enthusi-asm. Most importantly, I would like to thank our readers who always make producing this mag-azine an enjoyable and rewarding experience.

In this edition, the Wellesley Globalist is pleased to release its second issue of the year, themed ‘Frontiers.’ A ‘frontier’ is de$ ned as the land or territory forming a nation’s settled re-gions. In this issue, we expand this de$ nition to comprise cultural, political, and economic fron-tiers in various regions and nations, as our writers compel their readers to imagine the changing borders of the future. Contemplating the constant change on the international arena and in di" erent societies on a microcosmic level, the Globalist sta" feels that our theme will shed light on these changes as well as how di" erent societies adapt to or resist them. In this edition, we aim to understand the context in which frontiers emerge and inspire our readers to understand the reasons behind them.

Dear readers, I hope you enjoy this edition of the Wellesley Globalist!Dana Al-Jawamis

Editor-in-Chief

Dear Globalist Readers,

! anks to the GrECo International Holding AG for their support of the magazine.

Acknowledgements:Special thanks to:

Professor Robert Paarlberg

and

Vice-President:Jenna Russo ‘14

Managing Editor:Aishwarya Singh ‘14

Associate Editors: Siqi Gao ‘15

Calin Brown ‘13Stephanie Kossman ‘15

Paige Kirby ‘16

Online Editor:Tricia Lu ‘14

Photography & Design Editor:Sarah Berry ‘16

Director & Publisher:Alison Noehrbass ‘14

Associate Director & Publisher:Leila Tarek ‘16

Events Coordinator:Nayla Al-Mamlouk ‘16

Production Editor:Rebecca George ‘15

Treasurer:Carrie Bandurska ‘16

Publicity Chair:Julie Rong ‘16

Copy Editor:Brianna Krong ‘15

Design and Production Sta" :Emily Frisella ‘16

Sinead Cheung ‘15Gail Zhuang ‘15Anya Christy ‘16

Hanna Tenerowicz ‘16Christine Wei ‘16

Maricruz Cabrera ‘16

FRONTIERS

A Di! erent Women in Comba

O

Special Forces at KASOTC. Courtesy of Dalia Al-Jawamis.

On January 23, 2013, Sec-retary of Defense Leon Pa-netta and General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Sta" , o% -cially announced that the Pentagon had “overturn[ed]

a [1994 rule] that restrict[ed] women from ar-tillery, armor, infantry and other such combat roles,” according to the New York Times. What does the li& ing of this ban mean for service personnel? I believe that while Secretary Pa-netta’s decision to li& the ban on women serv-ing in combat positions will create a military culture more conducive to promoting oppor-tunities for women, it should be viewed with tentative optimism.

Every service will set its own imple-mentation plan, determining the time frame, the enforcement, etc., with the target date of January 2016 for $ nal decisions. Up to 230,000 new roles could be opened to servicewomen previously reserved for servicemen according to Harris. But should a branch of the military decide a job not be opened to female service personnel, a representative can petition the Secretary of Defense for an exception. ! is three-year time frame could help service per-sonnel at all levels to adjust and adapt to this change in doctrine, but it could also have the potential to slow down any real progress with-in the services due to bureaucratic interests and military culture, which has been tradition-ally male-dominated.

" e Wellesley Globalist

Kind of Battleat 2013 and Beyond

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I $ nd Secretary Panetta’s announce-ment overdue but well timed. Women have already been in combat, but society is only now at a point where women taking on more roles in the armed forces can be well received by the public and within the military. As with any change, I predict there will be resistance, and with a long history of mainly men $ ght-ing wars, the acceptance of women in combat roles will spur backlash from many interest groups—anti-war groups, military interest groups, feminist groups, etc. In the long run, I hope the negative reactions will not deter authority $ gures in support of this new poli-cy from recognizing and rewarding talent and hard work from all personnel. I see two positive e" ects of this new pol-

icy. First, it will increase the number of female military role models not only for their subor-dinates but also for women looking to join the military. By not allowing women to serve in combat positions, the military has not allowed women to gain the combat experience needed to advance to leadership and higher-level po-sitions. Put quali$ ed women at the top of the ladder and they will become role models and mentors for both women and men. If women see that there are career opportunities available, they may be more likely to enlist in the armed forces. Bonenberger summarized it best when he stated, “Having women in infantry roles will foster competition, teamwork and innovation inside the military, and help lead to more real equality in our culture.” Easing the path for

FRONTIERS

women in the military could have far-reaching bene$ ts, both within and outside of the mili-tary. Second, this announcement is a move toward equality. Holding women and men to the same standard ensures that it is a person’s abilities evaluated $ rst and their gender sec-ond. Currently, female personnel have di" er-ent physical requirements for certain physical tests as reported on the o% cial Army website: 78 sit-up repetitions earn a 100 for both wom-en and men, but to earn a 100 in a 2-mile run, men must complete it in 13 minutes and wom-en must complete it in 15 minutes and 36 sec-onds. Treating women di" erently helps critics justify their argument that women are inca-pable of the physical strength and stamina re-quired of their male counterparts. ! ere may

be biological di" erences between women and men, but having the same standards for train-ing and conditioning will a" ord all people the chance to compete for the same opportunities regardless of gender. However, some have argued that ac-cepting women in combat roles will create dan-gerous distractions that will lead to casualties, claiming that “underlying sexual tensions” will be a problem and that men trying to protect women in the $ eld will be too “distracted” to be e" ective, according to Boykin. Others argue that this policy change is a social experiment at a disadvantageous time, given the height-ened need for combat readiness and e" ective-ness at a time of war. Both are fair points but not completely insurmountable issues with the help of changes in military (and perhaps civil-

A woman soldier in

North Korea.

Photo courtesy of Matt Paish.


Some argued that “underlying sexual tensions” will be a distraction or that men will be too “distracted” by trying to protect women on the ! eld.

”“

ian) culture. ! e $ rst statement assumes that men and women cannot control their impulses well enough to work in a professional and dis-ciplined way together, while the second state-ment does not take into account the bene$ ts of drawing upon a larger pool of talent and ability to create stronger armed forces. Serving one’s country should not be limited to just half of the population. Having more women in higher-level positions and ad-

vancing true equality within and outside of the military should be the new objectives for ser-vice personnel moving forward. ! ough I am excited that women in the military can now en-joy the same opportunities as men, I am acute-ly aware of the fact that women and men must still die in war. Women service personnel have the right to be cautiously optimistic and so do proponents of women in the military. Perhaps this new battle$ eld will not claim as many ca-sualties.

Israeli women soldiers train. Women are required to serve two years of mandatory military service in Israel. Photo courtesy of Aaron Miller.

FRONTIERS

Participating in the Vietnam War is widely regarded as one of the most catastrophic decisions the United States has made. ! e war wreaked enough havoc to impede Vietnam from recreating

itself as a strong, uni$ ed country. 1970s Viet-nam was faced with not only a devastated economy and tremendous death rates num-bered in the hundred thousands, but also a division between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Post-war Vietnam was a society that sat on the napalm-contaminated brink of in-ternal collapse and whose national sovereignty was threatened by not only skirmishes with the Chinese and Cambodian armies at its borders, but also the internal ideological and social di-visions that resulted from the divided state. Vietnam’s modern day relative political stability and growing economy present ques-tions. For instance, how was Vietnam able to achieve such a vast change in the span of a few decades? Since its shi& to a partially capitalist market economy in the 1990s, Vietnam has experienced rapid growth and is currently one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia. Even though much of its economy re-mains dominated by state-owned enterprises, the ruling Communist Party has implemented reforms that allow for an export-driven econ-omy that has served Vietnam well for the last

twenty years. Additionally, Vietnam has en-joyed considerable political stability for the past two decades—something many attribute to its economic successes. ! e Communist Party of Vietnam is sometimes credited with pushing Vietnam into economic stability and into becoming a partic-ipant in the international capitalist market. ! e party not only encouraged foreign investments in the previously impoverished country, but also increased Vietnam’s export capacity. Viet-nam joined the World Trade Organization in 2007 and became a negotiating partner in the Trans-Paci$ c Partnership trade agreement in 2010. It was under Party leadership that Viet-nam was ultimately thrust together into one uni$ ed state and elevated to an unprecedented role: a more politically and economically stable country. If the Communist Party had not con-solidated power in Vietnam, what would the result have been? Would a democratic govern-ment have been able to achieve the same level of stability? ! ere is evidence that democratic re-gimes are able to consolidate and pacify enor-mous social and ethnic di" erences by allowing for various voices to have a say in how gov-ernment is run. For example, some degree of democratic success has been achieved in a few of Vietnam’s regional neighbors such as Indo-nesia and ! ailand, which are both heavily di-vided countries due to their many ethnic and

Vietnam's Next

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Ho Chi Minh

City in Vietnam.

Photo Courtesy

of Cristina

Lucas ‘13.

Step Forwardreligious groups. While democracy has demon-strated some successes among Vietnam’s neighbors, the divisions in post-war Vietnam, in combination with econom-ic devastation, lack of infrastructure, external threats from Cambodia and China, as well as loss of national morale, may have resulted in a situation that a democratically structured government would not have been able to overcome. To begin with, there were preexisting religious di" erences in Vietnam. For in-stance, the Catholics of South Vietnam received many privileges in society over the Buddhists, therefore exacerbating some of the religious tensions already present in Vietnam. Ethnic and social divisions in any society are deep and di% cult to solve, perhaps best demon-strated in the violent interactions that occur in the multi-ethnic Papua New Guinea prior to every election season. However, the divisions in Vietnam go beyond ethnic and social divisions and have created almost two distinct coun-tries with very di" erent government systems. Such di" erences add anoth-er level of sociological division as the governments promulgate very di" erent ideologies to their citizens.

Farm-lands in

Vietnam.

Photo Courtesy

of Cristina

Lucas ‘13.

FRONTIERS

Besides having tremendous intrastate divisions, Vietnam’s post-war economy was ravaged by war due to extensive loss of infra-structure and loss of the USSR’s $ nancial sup-port. ! is created a situation that any govern-ment would struggle to correct. As economic stability and economic prosperity are o& en tied to overall public satisfaction, a democratic Vietnamese government that had to answer to public desires would probably have had a dif-$ cult time retaining power. Public dissatisfac-tion with the democratic governments in Ja-pan and Taiwan demonstrates the connection the public o& en makes between their govern-ment and their country’s economic situation. Both Japan’s and Taiwan’s economies have been experiencing substantial losses in growth over the past decade, a trend that is tied closely to # agging support for both of their current-ly ruling leaders. An economically devastated post-war Vietnam could take years to reform, a luxury that democratic governments don’t of-ten have. In this way, the case of post-war Viet-nam ultimately results in the familiar yet dif-$ cult question that makes perhaps every po-litical scientist groan when they hear – are authoritarian governments better able to bring about economic and political stability in post-con# ict societies? Due to the strong relationship between economic power and political legitimacy, an authoritarian government certainly does seem as if it was the best option for Vietnam at the time. In fact, Vietnam has bene$ ted greatly from many of the Party’s early decisions. For instance, the Party’s provision of political sta-bility allowed for bene$ cial economic policies to take root. First, the authoritarian govern-ment was able to mobilize the entire society to-wards economic growth. Second, the straight-forwardness of an authoritarian government adds a level of transparency to governance.

! is allowed members of the public to attri-bute policies to the Party or certain members of the Party, enabling a temporary degree of trust in government that creates stability. However, within this edi$ ce of devel-opment and improvement that the Commu-nist Party perpetuates to this day, there are distinct cracks forming that harken an ending to the Party’s rule. Corruption lies at the root of much of the public’s dissatisfaction with the Communist Party. ! e current regime has cre-ated a system in which provincial Party lead-

A poster of Ho Chi Minh in

Vietnam.

Photo Courtesy of

Cristina Lucas ‘13.


ers can gain political bene$ ts by securing the favor of central Party leaders; patronage and informal channels of political in# uence have become essential to political success. Further-more, Vietnam’s economic growth has stagnat-ed, in# ation has been high in the past year, and state-owned companies have made poor deci-sions that have increased public dissatisfaction with the country’s economic situation. Given growing dissatisfaction with the Vietnamese government, it seems that in a country’s development or existence under an

authoritarian government, the populace reach-es a certain point where the authoritarian gov-ernment becomes less desirable. In Taiwan, a transformation from an authoritarian to a democratic government re-sulted from angry public calls against corrup-tion. Singapore, on the other hand, has had no large corruption scandals, and has been very authoritarian for the past $ ve decades. In this way, it seems that corruption leads to distrust in government institutions and subsequently can lead to public demand for a change in gov-

ernment. ! e lack of trust in government and the desire for more civil institutions may play the largest role in the public’s dissatisfaction in Vietnam. A 2012 Pew Charitable Trust report indicates that 66 percent of Vietnamese citizens believe a strong democracy is more important than a strong economy. ! e year 2012 also saw a surge in both public and even internal Party criticism of the Vietnam-ese government. Many called for Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s resigna-tion due to allegations of corruption. Last year, the Vietnamese government not only cracked down on political ac-tivism but also established laws against Internet freedom, unleashing an angry uproar from the Vietnamese public. In post-con# ict Vietnam, the Communist Party ultimately allowed Vietnam to pursue an international role and level of attainment di" erent from ever before, pushing it into a new fron-tier of economic development and into the realm of political stability. However, it seems that Vietnam will enter a dif-ferent direction completely as internal calls for civil rights and more demo-cratic institutions increase.

FRONTIERS

“This is my own business,” claimed Lv Pin, a young woman holding a sign say-ing “Give back equality to girls.” According to China Youth Daily, on February 27, 2013, Lv shaved her

head in protest against higher scoring stan-dards for female students taking the Chinese university entrance examination. ! is incon-sistency in university admissions guidelines is an attempt to balance the gender ratio on Chinese college campuses, where female stu-dents o& en outnumber their male counter-parts. Lv quickly attracted the attention of the public, especially young women struggling in the highly competitive Chinese society, when she $ led an appeal to the Ministry of Educa-tion requesting an explanation. ! e Ministry of Education denied her appeal, responding that their decision was in accordance with “na-tional interest”; the issue of gender inequality failed to make its way into the o% cial agenda. However, Lv maintains that Chinese women should “never give up.”! is was not the $ rst protest against gender discrimination in the Chinese university ad-missions process. Six months before Lv Pin took to the streets, three female universi-ty students in Beijing, along with some male students, shaved their heads in protest against universities’ discriminative admission policies. Four female students in Guangzhou, a coast-al city in southern China, did the same. Al-though it has been an unspoken rule for years that female students must score higher than their male counterparts in order to enter the same universities, the introduction of blatantly

discriminative o% cial policies has taken anger to a new level.Women in New China have been struggling in a society without gender equality for the past six decades. Since the 1950s, the phrase “national interest” has conveniently justi$ ed almost all o% cial decisions. Following the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) established the Marriage Law, which grant-ed women freedom of divorce and mobilized female workers during land reforms, which many considered an attempt to promote gen-der equality. However, the Marriage Law also

Women in Com

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Chinese women were used as a vehicle for achieving the party’s goals.“ ”

A women stands as part of a

demonstration against the

Chinese Communist

Party in Korea Town, New York.

Photo Courtesy of Simon Butler.

created problems when, for example, some women took advantage of the law to engage in licentious sexual behavior in rural areas. Soon the CCP stopped implementing the Marriage Law, and local cadres began to refuse women’s requests for divorce. ! e CCP similarly back-pedaled on campaigns in the early 1950s that encouraged women to participate in light in-dustries such as textile and silk production; when unemployment rose in 1957, the CCP began advocating for women’s domestic re-sponsibilities instead. ! e “Five-Good Family” campaign rewarded families in which women managed domestic work, educated their chil-

munist Chinadren, united with neighbors, encouraged fam-ily numbers in social production, and worked with passion. While social stability and eco-nomic development were priorities, the issue of gender equality was never at the top of the CCP’s agenda.! e CCP has always been a male-dominated power center with few women in positions of leadership. Sixty years later, there the status of

women in China has improved sig-ni$ cantly. In recent years, numerous successful women have made enor-mous strides. New legislation de-signed to protect women’s rights has passed; gender equality has been in-tegrated into local laws, and the Sec-ond Marriage Law has been enacted. In 2012, China’s $ rst female astro-naut, Liu Yang, joined two male crew members in a thirteen-day space mission. She opened up the $ eld of aviation to women, taking a big step for gender equality.Protests of “bald girls” like Lv have yet to produce any concrete change, but the issue of gender discrimina-tion in China has gained more wide-spread attention than ever before. Chinese women have a long way to go to convince the government that female students are as crucial to the “national interest” as the $ rst female astronaut.

Up FRONTIERS

Growing

“The very process of con-structing a narrative for oneself – of telling a story – imposes a certain linearity and coherence that is never entirely there. But that is the lesson, perhaps, especial-

ly for us immigrants and migrants: i.e., that home, community and identity all fall some-where between the histories and experiences we inherit and all the political choices we make through alliances, solidarities and friendships.” -Chandra Mohanty.1

I have been a migrant of sorts my whole life, in that I have lived outside the country of my birth and citizenship since I was a month old. I am part of a growing generation of peo-ple – a" ectionately, we might call ourselves “! ird Culture Kids” – for whom the con-cept of “home” and a sense of belonging are not rooted in a geographical location. Rather, home exists in a transitory space as we travel (and shi& our consciousness) back and forth between multiple countries and contexts; the imposed borders of nation-states do not seem to be enough to capture our experiences. As such, in an admittedly privileged way, I am a product of 21st century globalization and transnationalism. Globalization is o& en explained as “the pursuit of liberal or free market policies in the world economy, the proliferation of new information technologies, and deterrito-rialization.”2 In a more colloquial sense, glo-balization is also described as the integration and “universalization” of social, political and

cultural experiences and values, as well as the recognition of perspectives from international and cross-cultural contexts. In the context of migration, transnationalism describes a blur-ring of the lines between multiple social and geographic spaces and the maintenance of ties across national boundaries. In my experience, growing up transna-tionally represented not only a movement of ideas, values, and technology from one place to another, an ease in international communi-cation, and an expansion of my social network, but also a shi& in identity which complicated the notion of “citizenship.” To me, it was a psy-chological phenomenon more than anything else, which has le& me very confused. ! at confusion, however, is satisfying. It means I am conscious and challenging myself. For those of us who have grown up ne-gotiating multiple aspects of our identities, a linear description of migration or movement simply fails to capture the interwoven realities of our experiences. When someone asks the seemingly innocuous question of “where are you from?” or “where is home?” my answers turn into a lengthy autobiography. One way to approach the latter question is to break down what “home” entails and consider the di" erent categories or experiences that are associated with the concept. Home generally represents a space where we feel as though we belong; it is usually where our family, friends and social re-lationships are, or where important life events have occurred. So, do you want to know where I was born, or where I went to school, or where my parents live, or where my grandparents

Trans

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A Photo of Samaa Ahmed’s passport.

Photo courtesy

of Samaa Ahmed ‘13.

national

were from, or where I have a house, or where my friends are? For some people, the answers to these questions may all be the same, but for others, the answers may be di" erent cities, countries, and continents. I know that my experience is not unique. Others experience this shi& between narratives in their lives through code switch-ing. “In linguistics, code-switching is switching between two or more languages, or language

varieties, in the context of a single conversa-tion. Multilinguals sometimes use elements of multiple languages while conversing with each other. ! us, code-switching is the use of more than one linguistic variety in a manner con-sistent with the syntax and phonology of each variety.” I feel that this description is perhaps the best way to explain what my transnational experience is like. It is simply not enough to ask me what

“ It is simply not enough to ask me what my passport country is, or which lan-

guages I speak or understand - it’s also about moments in history and very speci! c contexts

that shaped my particular experiences.

”

FRONTIERS

my passport country is or which languages I speak or understand – it’s also about mo-ments in history and very speci$ c contexts that shaped my particular experiences. To gain a holistic understanding of “who I am” would require an appreciation for the interconnec-tivity of geography, time, and socio-political backdrop of my upbringing. Of course, this is true for everyone, but the synchronicity of these factors and the ways in which they align themselves with one another may be less con-tradictory for some. For me, these processes are simultaneously complementary and repel-ling, which leaves me with somewhat of a frac-tured sense of identity. What I mean by that, more speci$ cally, is that the established para-digms and structures that dictate the way we think about identity do not seem to $ t my own experience. To conceptualize myself “intersection-ally” works, to an extent, in that it recognizes the multiplicity in systems of power and iden-tity. However, this approach still draws its ref-erences from a Western academic model and

assumes a fairly stable comparison to “main-stream” culture. ! is perspective sees society as a constant through which individuals nav-igate di" erent aspects of themselves. But what about when you’re negotiating not just the ways in which your identity interacts within one framework or society, but also the ways in which it does so across and between cultures? In the latter case, the individual becomes the constant, and society navigates its way around individual bodies. In reality though, the dis-

tinctions are not so simple; both the individual and society are in continuous # ux. A “successfully” globalized conscious-ness requires competency and # uency in mul-tiple social and national contexts, o& en si-multaneously. In my experience, this has not necessarily been a di% cult or conscious pro-cess, and I am certainly not unique in that re-

Photo of a palm tree

in Bahrain taken by

Ahmed ‘13.


My movements have always been temporary, and I have lived, very comfort-

ably, as an expat in a few countries.“”

spect. O& entimes it is complicated to maintain a balance between assimilating and preserving a sense of “di" erence” – to say I am not from here and I do not want to be from here. But then, I’ve been out of “my” context for so long, how can I ever say that I belonged? Who am I truly representing? In the process of trying to foster cross-cultural dialogue and understand-

ing, I wonder, who am I trying to appease? I end up feeling like a native informant. I am cognizant of the privileges that I possess in being able to talk about “globaliza-tion” through an academic and personal lens and the ways in which I have bene$ ted – overt-ly and subtly – from an elite institution like Wellesley. As I re# ect on where I have been, I acknowledge that I do not know where I am going next in the very literal sense that, geo-graphically, I do not know where I will move. My movements have always been temporary, and I have lived, very comfortably, as an expat in a few countries. ! is has a" orded me a truly incredible opportunity to gain an appreciation

for multiculturalism and sociocultural diversi-ty through living it. I am a" ected by the past-present-future of my immigration story in di" erent aspects of my life on a daily basis. As wonderful as being “un-rooted” is, I also have no real place to “go back” to. I envy people who can go back to the house or city or country where they spent their childhood in or perhaps still live. I envy peo-ple who have all of their material things in one place, rather than scattered around the world. I envy people who have never had to, or will never have to, think about their visa status (of-ten in multiple places at a time) which allows them to reside in the place that they have es-tablished as their “base.” So far, it is an unreal-ized dream of mine to live in a place where I do not have to justify my residency. Sometimes I wish I could just be. I wish I had a nice summary to frame everything and tie up all the loose ends, but I don’t. Identity is about complication. As much as I do identify with a globalized conscious-ness, I also recognize that it is a consciousness

FRONTIERS

with predominantly Westernized, individualis-tic, and neoliberal values. I support global co-operation and interaction, but o& entimes these practices are carried out at the detriment of human rights, labor protection, environmental protection, and the protection of indigenous cultures. In truth, my transnational experience has been facilitated by economic globalization and corporate capitalism, which exploit the labor and resources of less economically de-veloped countries. ! erefore, it is necessary for me to be cognizant of the fact that not all actors involved in globalization are represent-ed equally and that there is still a very real and oppressive hierarchy of culture transnational capitalism perpetuates. Forming a globalized consciousness re-quires us to decentralize our minds and world-views. We must recognize the negative impacts of globalization and the ways in which we are implicated, no matter where we are in the

world. I have asked myself on numerous occa-sions, “What is the price of my transnational experience, whether or not I am the one pay-ing it?” We must acknowledge the oppressive chain of capitalism, imperialism, and West-ern dominance that is inherent in our current # ows and understandings of globalization. We must identify the ways in which colonialism has shaped social movements and complex geopolitical and personal histories. When we think about our future goals and pursuits, we must not only think of ourselves in indepen-dent terms; in order to become better global citizens we must also see our experiences and decisions as interconnected and interdepen-dent. We must hold ourselves accountable for our decisions and realize that the impacts of our actions are far-reaching. In our nationalis-tically oriented world, it is necessary to create a new paradigm whereby our alliances are not only local, but global.

2. Scheuerman, William, “Globalization”, ! e Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2010 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). See also: Al-Rodhan, Nayef R.F. and Gérard Stoudmann. “De$ nitions of Globalization: A Comprehensive Overview and a Proposed De$ nition”, (2006).Martí, Gil-Manuel Hernàndez, “! e Deterritorialization of cultural heritage in a globalized modernity”, (2006).

1. Mohanty, Chandra Talpade, “On Being South Asian in North America”, In Beyond Borders: ! inking Critically About Global Issues, ed. Paula S. Rothenberg. Macmillan Press, New York: 2006. p 215.

A display of # ags from many countries. Photo courtesy of borkur.net.

A young woman lights a candle at a vigil held on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada for the 23-year-old woman in New Delhi whose death a$ er being brutally gang-raped sparked

global outrage about violence against women. Photo courtesy of Barbara A. White.

FRONTIERS

! e Life and Death of

New Delhi, India has garnered renewed levels of international scrutiny following the tragic gang rape

incident the night of December 16th, 2012, which claimed the life of a 23-year-old medical student and

captured the attention of many around the globe.

Photo Courtesy of Soumya Bandyopadhyay


Innocence

T

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he victim, a 23-year-old fe-male medical student, was on her way home from the cinema with a male friend. ! e pair accidentally board-ed the wrong bus where six people, including the driver,

brutally beat and raped her. When her friend attempted to intervene, he was also subjected to a severe beating. ! e attackers, $ nally satis-$ ed, threw both victims out of the moving ve-hicle. Partially clothed, the two lay on the street until a passerby found them around 11 pm and called the police. Sixteen days later, the female victim died in a hospital in Singapore. ! e news went viral across major media platforms, as the country experienced a wave of protests against the dire situation faced by women in India. For the $ rst time, the violence perpetrated against a single woman sparked unprecedented nationwide outrage. Portrayed as a warrior $ ghting for life, the victim became a symbol of women’s strug-gle for security and respect across national bor-ders, helping bring to light the dangers of being a woman in India. She was framed as an inspi-ration for all Protestors continued to take to the streets in the months following the incident. “Let’s not let her die in vain,” they said. “Hang the rapists,” they demanded.

To the disappointment of many, the Delhi government didn’t listen to the pro-testors. Clashes broke out between the police

and protestors, and the government launched emergency policing laws, closed o" the gov-ernmental center, and blockaded roads and subway stations. Under enormous pressure, the Delhi police $ led a 33-page charge sheet in

" e a# ermath of the Delhi gang rape incident has posed a serious challenge to

the Indian juridical system.“

”early January, which sought the death penal-ty for $ ve of the six accused in the Delhi gang rape case. However, the sixth o" ender – and the most brutal one – turned out to be a juvenile. While the juxtaposition of his youth against his horrendous actions shocked and disgust-ed many, it elicited greater sympathy among others. Nina Nayak, a member of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), stated that “He should be sent to a correctional home with a much lighter sen-tence of three years and given a chance to re-form.” ! is development disappointed those who had hoped the government would take more radical strides towards ameliorating vi-olence against women. A contributing factor to widespread crimes against women has been lack of severe punishment for o" enders. When juveniles are exempted from punishment for crimes as severe as rape and murder, the mes-sage that the society is not taking such crimes seriously is conveyed to young people. While female victims su" er silently in rape cases that

FRONTIERS

go unreported, legal protections for male o" enders are exercised e" ectively in cases such as this one. Protests continued, and the large scale of the demonstrations prompted clash-es between protestors and the police.

! e a& ermath of the Delhi gang rape incident has posed a serious challenge to the Indian juridical system. It is widely acknowl-edged that rapists in India o& en manage to escape severe punishment, if they are sub-jected to judicial procedures at all. In fact, 90 percent of sexual violence goes unreported, because victims o& en fear revenge and dis-honor or belong to the “untouchable” caste

that has no legal protection. Outraged citizens have voiced their thoughts on a variety of forums and news web-sites. “If a minor can execute a crime like a ma-jor/mature person, then how come one can be counted as a minor?” wrote “Radhika” in an online comment. She continues, “if we can de-mand to change some particular age limit for driving license, age limit for marriage, or vot-ing right age limit ... ! en why can’t we demand to change the age limit for juvenile counting as an adult?” But legislative changes are far easi-er to demand than to achieve. In March 2013, the $ nal decision was released that the young o" ender would be tried separately in a juvenile court, which would spare him the severe pen-alty that other o" enders received.

Two women sit at a candle light vigil outside

Safdardarjung Hospital in Delhi, India

to pray for the victim of gang

rape.

Photo Courtesy of

Ramesh Lalwani.


O% cial crime statistics show that a woman is raped every 28 minutes in India, and Delhi is ridiculed as the “rape capital” by for-eign media. Following the Delhi gang rape in-cident, one-third of the female workers in ma-jor Indian cities either reduced working hours a& er sunset or quit their jobs. Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s comment on the incident drew wide public attention: “Rape embodies sexuality as our culture & society has de$ ned it,” he stated. “I am so sorry that I am a part of this society and culture. I am so sorry that I am a man.” “! is is my favorite quote of celebrities,” said Shakti, manager of an international volunteer organi-zation. “! ose words speak my mind. And it’s not just me; many males are disappointed with the society as well.” “If I walk on a street at night and a man harassed me there, my mom will ask me to take a di" erent route,” said Pooja, a young female entrepreneur looking to set up a solar energy company with her husband. Whenever she re-lates to her mother an experience of being ha-rassed on a street at night, her mother will sim-ply advise her to take a di" erent route. “People never go a& er the man. My mom will only tell me to wear less make up and dress more con-servatively,” Pooja explains, her eyes burning with anger. Women like Pooja’s mother are o& en unsure of how to approach a meaning-ful solution and therefore seek to avoid rather than confront the problem.

As photos of the protests went viral, major foreign media outlets began to portray India as a nation that lacks respect for wom-en. “! ose are not factual reports,” retorted Priyanka, a chief journalist in Jaipur, “I’m the boss of all the men here. How can you say that women are not respected?” But Priyanka

is one of the lucky few who enjoy such priv-ilege. Indeed, while parts of India have made remarkable progress in improving the status of women, widespread violence against women persists. Could both domestic and international pressures drive the Indian state and society to take bigger steps in protecting women?

Some believe that public attention on the issue is only temporary and that when our memory of the gang rape incident fades, every-thing will return to “normal.” ! e process of change is long and ardu-ous. As protests persist, new rape cases surface. Although people o& en look to the government for change, Indian politicians themselves have been implicated in violence against women. In January 2013, Bikrmasingh Brahma, a Con-gress leader in Assam, was accused of rape and beaten up. India still has a long way to go to promote awareness among all members of so-ciety – not just the educated elite – on violence against women. Still, the strong public reaction to the Delhi gang rape incident does o" er some hope. From street protestors to celebrities to individ-ual citizens of India, outcry against violence against women is growing. Society does not simply rely on the government or the elite class for change, but rather requires e" orts of both the government and the general public. Pub-lic pressure pushes for systemic change, while legal reforms can only be enacted with public support. Protests across India are involving a growing sector of the population, which can play a major role in moving society towards a culture that embraces equality and freedom for women. May the death of one and the su" er-ing of others catalyze progress that saves many more.

Top Le$ : Development projects in a Ugandan city by Cayla Vila

Top Right: Children in a Ugandan village by Cayla Vila

Bottom: Two women carry food in Cape Coast, Ghana by Mari Dugas.

FRONTIERS

Not Such a

I

Dolce Vitamagine rolling Tuscan hills, end-less vineyards, beautiful beaches, and the smell of fresh food that per-meates the air as

you walk down narrow cobblestone streets. ! is is the Italy portrayed in movies, songs, advertisements, and books: a country characterized by de-licious cuisine, rich cultural heritage, friendly people and strong family ties. When I tell someone that I spent a large part of my life in Italy and identify as Italian, the usual response is “I loved Italy when I visited!” or “I would love to be able to go to Italy someday!”. However, Italy faces so-cioeconomic challenges that extend beyond family feuds and small-town Ma$ a activity. In fact, Italian society has been relatively unstable for much of the last 200 years following the uni$ cation of Italy due to the politi-cal turmoil caused by food shortages, crime, and the two world wars. ! e recent euro crisis has brought a new kind of economic instability to Europe, particular-

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Italian youth congregate at the Piazza Navona. Photo courtesy of Kieran Phelan.

ly Southern Europe. Italians are facing severe job shortages, and many workers are moving elsewhere to seek employment. As a result, many university graduates are forced to work low-paying jobs, if they are able to $ nd jobs at all. Some Italian youth choose to enter the workforce or vocational school right a& er high school, because they feel that attending univer-sity is a waste of time and money. ! ese young people stand at the edge of adulthood, facing an uncertain future; nobody knows how long the crisis will last, but they must make plans and decisions now.

I spoke with Beatrice, an eigh-teen-year-old in her $ & h and last year of high school, who lives in the central region of the Marche. She had hoped to attend the University of Bologna, which is a four-hour train ride from her home-town. Unfortunately, the high fees that she would have to pay have forced her to attend school closer to home. I spoke with Stefano, who is also in his last year of high school. He currently lives in a small town outside of Milan, but hopes to move to Pisa next year to study philosophy at

the city’s university. He admitted that choosing this area of study was “a death sentence” or, at least, a “sentence to hun-ger”. Despite his deep love for philosophy, Stefano would have very little hope of $ nding a job in the $ eld a& er graduation. Many young Italians like Beatrice and Stefano have had similar experiences a& er the crisis, struggling with their educational goals and worrying about future jobs. ! e last person I spoke to was Nura, a 22-year-old who used to be an anthropology major at the Universi-ty of Perugia. With only three exams le& to com-plete her degree, she was forced to quit university due to personal econom-ic di% culties and ine% -ciencies within the Uni-versity’s system. Because

FRONTIERS

she could no longer a" ord to live in her apart-ment in Italy, Nura moved to Oslo, Norway to live with her with her brother and mother. Nura’s situation is not uncommon. Many students wonder whether they should $ nd a job right out of high school or try their luck with the university system. Italian uni-versities are state-run, so tuition costs much less than that of the average private American university. However, most Italian parents do not plan to pay high fees for their children’s education and do not set up savings accounts to cover these costs. If students choose to at-tend university, many choose universities close to home so that they will not have to struggle with the additional costs of room and board. ! ese additional costs were a major burden for Nura, who began studying anthro-pology at the University of Perugia in 2009. In 2010, budget cuts and curriculum modi$ ca-tions changed the number and type of exams she would have to take to complete her degree.

Nura was not informed of this change until she was in the middle of one of her exams, af-ter spending the whole summer studying for the exams that she no longer needed to com-plete. ! e budget cuts hit her even harder a few months later; although she had met all the re-quirements need to receive $ nancial aid from the state, Nura lost her scholarship. With the added burden of taxes, her tuition had tripled the original amount. Italian students o& en have to cut ex-penses from other facets of their lives, includ-ing meals. Nura remembers some weeks when she subsisted only on plain pasta in order to save money and pay her rent. Finding a part-time job while in school, as many American students do, is nearly impossible. High un-employment rates have made it very hard for people searching for full-time jobs, and part-time positions are almost nonexistent. And many students $ nd their course loads and exam schedules too time consuming for them

! e view from the 4th and top # oor of the University of Foreigners in Perugia, Italy. Photo Courtesy of Eduardo Rimoli.


“”

" e thought was that everyone and everything in the world is in a harmonic balance and therefore, everything

and everyone must depend on the society as a whole.

to work part-time. ! e opportunity costs of attending uni-versity are too high for students who feel that they will have as good a chance of $ nding a job a& er university as they will a& er high school. Most of the university graduates that Nura knows have returned to their home cities to work in restaurants or small family business-es, if they are able to $ nd work at all. If they can’t $ nd a job in Italy, some go abroad to work in restaurants or fast food chains. Pursuing a higher education no longer seems worthwhile for many young Italians. Understandably, the general sentiment among the Italian youth is frustration. Both Beatrice and Stefano expressed anger at the fact that the students who do well in university exams or have access to decent jobs a& er high school are not necessarily the students who work the hardest. Rather, the most success-ful students are usually the raccomandati (the recommended): those who have the strongest “connections.” ! ere is therefore little motiva-tion to do well in school; students wonder why they should work hard if they have no chance of getting a good job. Nura’s outlook is grim. When asked if she sees any hope for the future, she said that she doesn’t foresee a bright future for today’s youth. Stefano also believes that the average young Italian has indeed given up; they are un-

willing to make plans, because the future seems so unpromising. ! is shi& in attitudes among Italian youth has lead to alarming changes in behavior. In Beatrice’s town, many young peo-ple look for a way to get “easy money.” Some have resorted to gambling or betting on the

outcomes of soccer games. Such activities illus-trate a dark reality where, with such scarce op-portunities, illicit activities are the only means by which some young Italians can get enough money to supplement their low-paying and highly taxed jobs or those of their parents. ! is kind of behavior is only encour-aged by the presence of dishonest $ gures in the Italian political sphere. ! e most notable ex-ample is Silvio Berlusconi, the embodiment of the raccomandati. Berlusconi has such a large number of connections that no matter how much he lies, cheats, and steals, he is able to enter the political arena over and over again. Berlusconi exempli$ es the lack of leadership and guidance that make the e" ects of the crisis especially devastating for young Italians. If any change is to occur, Italy’s social structure must change. In order to be moti-vated, young Italians must know that they will have access to the kind of education or job opportunities that they want. If schools and universities are to remain state-run, then the government must prioritize a budget that will supplement the income of poor families. Gov-ernmental and bureaucratic systems should set an example for young Italians to follow. How-ever, some responsibility also lies with young people themselves, who must strive to be more vocal and resist the trap of hopelessness and crime.

Beatrice believes that hope for the fu-ture lies in changing stale systems of leader-ship. She believes that every young person has a “hidden dream” and that, despite the seem-ingly hopeless years ahead, they need to bear that burden together and work toward improv-ing the country that they will lead one day.

This article was submitted to the Wellesley Globalist by El Globalista Mexico, the Mexican chapter of our Global !" network. Please visit our website, http://wellesleyglobalist.org/, to read this article in English.

A Summary:The thoughts and perspectives of Cuba’s youth reveal currents of thought that are rising to shape the island’s future. This new generation grew up under the shadow of Cuba’s revolutionary past and has long operated under principles established by an earlier generation. Caught between an ingrained understanding of life within the island and haunted by Cuba’s recent past, this generation faces critical, sometimes paralyzing challenges. Still, as Cuban society and politics shift with the times, this generation has taken on critical national debates in the political arena and the arts—finding more and more platforms for the nation’s newest voices to question and reimagine Cuba’s future.

EL GLOBALISTA MÉXICO

“Revolución Vieja, Revolución Joven”Cuba es otro de esos lugares del globo sobre el que abundan los tópicos; sobre la que todo el mundo parece tener algo que decir, sea más o menos certero. Acercarse a la juventud cubana es, seguramente, una de las me-jores formas de aproximarse a lo que ocurre hoy día en la isla. Las nuevas generaciones, entre el discurso hege-mónico del poder y el relato de sus familiares sobre hechos pretéritos, buscan su sitio con iniciativas llenas de frescura, mientras anhelan mejorar lo presente a nivel social y económico. De Santiago de Cuba a Pinar del Río, los y las jóvenes toman las riendas del debate político, la iniciativa artística y busca espacios que puedan sentir como propios.

Crisis debe de ser la palabra más pronunciada a nivel internacional en los últimos tiempos. Pero para esta isla caribeña no es algo novedoso. La juventud cu-bana conoce unas cuantas, solo de oírlas en boca de sus mayores. Sus abuelas y abuelos le hablaron de la Repúbli-ca, con sus consecutivos gobiernos y la correspondiente bonanza económica en la época de la Gran Guerra –ya con la mediación norteamericana-, la agrupación de los obreros y estudiantes desde los años veinte y, des-de 1925, la dictadura: primero sería Gerardo Machado, luego Batista, amén de un golpe de estado. Algunas de las personas que hoy se acercan a octogenarias tal vez vivieran de cerca la represión de la huelga general de un marzo doloroso en el ecuador de los ‘30.

Tras unos cuantos vaivenes políticos, llegaría un (breve) desenlace democrático con las primeras elec-ciones en tres años. En los cuentos de la veteranía cu-bana, se aprecia la esperanza de esos años: los tres mil presos amnistiados, la Constitución de 1940 aproba-da por Asamblea Constituyente con representantes de nueve partidos políticos, la tan celebrada Autonomía Universitaria. La ensayista y crítica de arte Graziella Pogolotti describe, en el libro ‘Dinosauria Soy’, su ex-periencia cuando estudiante en La Habana al decre-tarse esta ley universitaria que restringía el acceso de las autoridades militares a las facultades y proporcionaba la posibilidad de gestionar sus propias partidas presu-puestarias a la institución. A pesar de que los militares

BELÉN LOBOSUNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID – ESCUELA DE PERIODISMOCOLABORADORA DE EL GLOBALISTA MEXICO (ITAM)


no siempre respetaron la regla, Pogolotti considera un gran logro social que se limitaran a nivel legal las intro-misiones del poder en la universidad. De nuevo sería el comienzo de una guerra mun-dial el que llevaría una prosperidad coyuntural a Cuba, hecho del que no sabrían sacar provecho ninguno de los dos mandatarios electos tras Batista, ambos líderes del Partido Revolucionario Cubano Auténtico, instigadores de asesinatos a dirigentes obreros y creadores del de-creto ‘Mordaza’ contra la libertad de prensa. Sería una época en que las bandas de gángsteres tendrían vía libre en los casinos, prostíbulos y otros negocios de pareci-da índole de la isla, en connivencia con las autoridades corruptas. En las elecciones de 1952, Fulgencio Batista volvería a protagonizar un coup de force, para constitu-ir un gobierno militar. Adiós a la Constitución de 1940 y vuelta a la reducción del nivel de ingresos del país, a la represión de las libertades amparada por la ley. Es en-tonces cuando un joven abogado llamado Fidel Castro

preconizaría la lucha contra la dictadura.

DE LEGADOS REVOLUCIONARIOS Si algo hay omnipresente en el imaginario cu-bano, junto con los no menos ubicuos Che Guevara y José Martí, es la revolución en 1959. Aunque no sería hasta tres lustros más tarde después cuando se pudiera votar en unas elecciones, siempre en régimen de parti-do único, esa fue la revolución que triunfó, la que aún hoy día ocupa lugar privilegiado incluso en las mentes de los y las más jóvenes. En la Constitución, reformada en 2002 con el aval de más ocho millones de votantes, se estableció que “el Partido Comunista de Cuba, mar-tiano y marxista-leninista, vanguardia organizada de la nación cubana, es la fuerza dirigente superior de la sociedad y del Estado, que organiza y orienta los esfuer-zos comunes hacia los altos $ nes de la construcción del

Photo Courtesy of Jake Iesu


socialismo y el avance hacia la sociedad comunista.” Loannia Marimón es una joven treinteañera de Pinar del Río, la zona más occidental de la isla, que hace suyos los sentimien-tos encontrados que mu-chas otras personas de su edad expresan hacia la revolución. Por un lado, un agradecimiento a los avances sociales consegui-dos: “Nací con la revolu-ción, crecí con ella, sé que si no fuera por su triunfo en el ‘59, no sería univer-sitaria, ni mis padres tam-poco”. Pero, por otro lado, “no es justo que nos quier-an pasar las cuentas de más de cincuenta años atrás. Tengo la impresión de que han caducado algunos de los principios que movían a este país y muchas per-sonas se resisten a cambi-arlos”, cuenta Loannia. “Es hora de hacer otra Cuba. Con otra ‘Revolución’, sin dejar atrás lo que tenemos gracias a mis abuelos y mis padres”, concluye. Gret-tel Reinoso, originaria de Santa Clara, corrobora esta contradicción: “La revo-lución ha sido más bien, lo que te toca, porque no la elegimos, y de hecho, lo que nos ha tocado son cri-sis, ahorros, restricciones interminables. Sin em-bargo, tenemos una cierta sensación de pertenencia, en unos casos más que en otros, que se despierta, so-

bre todo, ante las campañas desacreditadoras de los ex-tranjeros”.



DE CRISIS Y PARÁLISIS Perteneciente a esta misma generación, Grettel Reinoso resume así lo acontecido a susmayores: “Nues-tros abuelos vivieron el capitalismo, sufrieron los males de una República títere de los Estados Unidos, de dict-aduras asesinas, de represión, de puteo puro y duro para que Cuba fuera la joyita del tío Sam. Por ello apoyaron una revolución que les enseñó a leer y escribir, que dio escuelas a sus hijos e hijas y sanidad gratuita, que les hizo sentirse seres humanos con igualdad de oportuni-dades.” Aquella nueva juventud, la nacida al calor de los sesenta, “vivió períodos de crisis y otros de esplendor,en los que los campesinos de Oriente se iban de vaca-ciones a Varadero como los médicos habaneros y los bajísimos salarios alcanzaban para vivir una vida tran-quila, sosegada y militante, con carencias y necesidades menores, poco importantes en un clima de armonía, igualdad”, prosigue con entusiasmo esta periodista del Instituto Cubano de Radio y Televisión. Con su relato, llegamos a un momento clave en la historia del archip-iélago caribeño: la caída del Muro de Berlín y posteri-or derrumbamiento de la URSS que resquebrajarían la alianza comunista de la Guerra Fría, dejando a Cuba al borde del colapso. Inmersa en su escafandra socialista, la isla no podía permitirse perder los ingresos soviéti-cos del azúcar y el petróleo que les exportaban religio-samente. “Por esa época empezaron a tener descenden-cia nuestros padres y madres, con$ ando en que ya no padeceríamos ni uno de los malos momentos que les tocó vivir. Cuando se hizo pedazos la Unión Soviética, la islita de Cuba quedó # otando a la deriva en el mar”, ilustra Grettel Reinoso. El país en que ella había nacido hacía menos de una década, entró en el llamado período espe-cial: “Vinieron las crisis terribles, que padecieron más nuestros progenitores que nosotros, una crisis que no termina aún”. Para 1993, el comercio de Cuba había disminuido en un 80 por ciento, con el consecuente em-peoramiento del nivel de vida de sus habitantes, muchos de los cuales marcharon a tierras norteamericanas ante la grave situación. A pesar de todo, dice Grettel, sus predecesores, “que vivieron las bonanzas y parabienes del socialismo, siguen, en general, con$ ando en la im-

portancia de transformarlo, mejorarlo”. Fernando Ravs-berg, corresponsal de la BBC en Cuba, descubrió que ciertas personas jóvenes “emigran porque perciben que viven en un país que no es el de ellos, se sienten habi-tando una casa ajena donde las reglas de convivencia las imponen sus abuelos, quienes ante cualquier discrepan-cia les recuerdan todo lo que se les debe”.

DE LOS PROS Y LOS CONTRAS SOCIALISTAS Con un salario medio mensual que no llega a los veinte dólares al mes, otro de los problemas de la

juventud cubana es cómo arreglárselas una vez han terminado sus estudios. Alberto León, estudiante de comunicación de la Universidad de Camagüey, en la homónima ciudad del centro-Este de Cuba, con$ rma que “gracias a la política educacional del gobierno la in-strucción y el nivel académico de los cubanos es alta. Los ingenieros, médicos y demás profesionales son muy competentes. El problema que ven los jóvenes al salir de la universidad es que los ingresos no alcanzan”. Sin embargo, la mayoría se incorpora a traba-jar inmediatamente después de graduarse, con puestos garantizados por el Estado. En su caso, León vive con sus abuelos maternos, ambos jubilados y pensionarios que “viven de la ayuda de familiares que colaboran con comida y otros artículos”, detalla. A pesar de que recibe ayuda económica tanto de su padre como de su madre, dice León: “Llevo una vida feliz e incluso puedo salir de vez en cuando a $ estas y llevar una vida social bien activa. Y el hecho de tener más o menos dinero no me impide tener estudiar con un alto rigor en la facultad de periodismo”.

“Si algo hay omnipresente en el imaginario cubano, junto con los no menos ubicuos Che Guevara y José

Martí, es la revolución en 1959.”

LOGROS HEREDADOS… Más allá de lo limitante de un régimen y un blo-queo prolongados en el tiempo, parece que una gran mayoría de esta juventud cubana comparte la valoración de los “logros sociales” (que, por otro lado, viven como algo natural), así como la certeza de que ciertos cambios son necesarios y de que, en uno u otro momento, log-arán reapropiarse de lo que les ha sido dado de heren-cia. Y no solo en La Habana se llevan a cabo iniciativas interesantes a nivel artístico o político. Santa Clara, a menos de 300 kilómetros al Oriente, se ha consolidado como un vivo lugar lleno de contrastes y movimiento juvenil. En esta capital de provincia, comenzó la Escuela Elemental de Arte Wilfredo Prieto, nacido hace poco más de tres décadas en un pueblo del cercano Sancti Spíritus. Actualmente en Milán y pronto en Madrid, Prieto ha recorrido mundo con sus exposiciones pero no olvida que, durante trece años pudo desarrollar su vocación artística en la isla, hasta concluir sus estu-dios en el Instituto Superior de Arte de la Habana, en 2002. “En Cuba, lo más interesante se está dando en las generaciones más jóvenes. Hay una plataforma bien amplia para la experimentación, una vida cultural que

se cuece constantemente a diferencia de generaciones precedentes que se vieron marcadas más por un interés comercial”, explica el artista.

…PARA CONQUISTAR ESPACIOS PROPIOS La obra más conocida de Wilfredo Priedo, mostrada en Italia, Francia e Irlanda, consistió en una larga hilera de treinta banderas de los distintos países de la ONU despojadas de sus colores habituales, en escala de grises. El artista la tituló ‘Apolítico’ y, contra lo que se podría esperar, no fue censurada en Cuba, sino en los Estados Unidos. Otro de sus trabajos con cierta dosis de crítica, fue ‘Untitled/Red Carpet’, para el que, en una galería en Barcelona, colocó una alfombra y se dispu-so a barrer el suelo introduciendo debajo el polvo que había encontrado en el espacio. Con ‘Andando el per-ro y comiendo la mierda’, realizada con un excremento de perro, dos limas y azúcar esparcidos en el suelo del parque Lennon en La Habana, Prieto pretendía: “Hac-er una obra muy sutil, muy de camu# aje, que práctica-mente no se pudiera encontrar y perteneciera a una pura cotidianeidad. Es lo que me interesa del arte, porque es cómo es la realidad”, comenta de manera algo críptica. El artista conceptual explica que su intención con deter-



minadas obras es jugar con “la información tal y como la estamos decantando todo el tiempo”, es decir, la se-lección de lo que las personas perciben o no, según las circunstancias y el lugar en que se encuentren. ‘Grasa, jabón y plátano’ -que contenía estos tres pequeños ele-mentos dispuestos en medio de una gran sala- era una otra de estas intervenciones mínimas, “en clara alusión a una posible caída”. Sin querer abrir frentes políticos, pero con inevitables referencias a lo que ocurre en su país natal, Wilfredo Prieto asegura que no cree “en las censuras o en las cuestiones burocráticas que siempre se forman para crear una obra. Uno tiene que tener un papel gestor a la hora de crear y la obra la capacidad de doblarse, como la plastilina, para poderse colar”.

‘¡LUCHA TU YUCA, TAÍNO!’ Más allá del mundo del arte, cuando se entra en el terreno de la juventud y la política en Cuba, se encuentran algunas las resistencias mencionadas por la mayoría de las personas entrevistadas, pero también se aprecian perspectivas de cambio y, en muchos casos, ejemplos de auto-organización y acciones que se con-solidan poco a poco. La red no-gubernamental Obser-vatorio Crítico (OC), movimiento de base social quetrabaja por la gestión ciudadana de lo público, fue testi-go de estas resistencias cuando, en la celebración de su Foro Social anual en el municipio de Playa durante el 26 y 27 de mayo, fueron “cortésmente desalojados” del lu-gar en que estaban debatiendo, como cuenta Isbel Díaz Torres. La reunión, cuyo taller principal era “Auto-orga-nizarnos”, contó con la presencia de más de sesenta per-sonas; entre ellas el sociólogo cubano Juan Valdés Paz o el investigador y activista Dmitri Prieto Samsónov. En pleno debate sobre ideologías, tradiciones culturales y auto-organización social en Cuba, las autoridades “in-vitaron”, el último día, a abandonar la sala de la Casa Comunitaria La Ceiba bajo lo que los integrantes de OC consideran un pretexto, ante lo cual decidieron prose-guir el encuentro en un parque cercano. En las paredes del local, colgaban carteles que rezaban “Socialismo es democracia, pa’l latón la burrocracia”, “Si piensas como un burgués, vivirás como un esclavo” o ‘Hagamos la

revolución”. Quienes acudieron al Foro pudieron nutrirse de las experiencias desarrolladas por otros colectivos, tan-to dentro de Cuba como en otros países latinoamerica-nos, así como dialogar acerca del trabajo comunitario, la promoción artística y el debate político, de manos de la investigadora Gisela Arandia sobre los desafíos orga-nizativos de la población y las mujeres negras en Cuba. También se presentaron varios proyectos relacionados con los movimientos sociales: ‘Talento Cubano’, ‘Garage 19’ o ‘Misceláneo’. El pasado 9 de junio, Jimmy Roque Martínez y Eduardo A. Díaz Fernández, integrantes de la Red, fueron detenidos en el barrio habano del Vedado, después de que la policía les pidiera la docu-mentación y los registrara. Al encontrarles dos sprays de pintura y, como les dijeron los agentes “por encontrarse en ese barrio”, fueron llevados a comisaría, donde pas-aron doce horas en calabozo. Tras ofrecérseles un ‘acta de advertencia’, que ellos no $ rmaron, fueron liberados. A pesar de las no poco frecuentes trabas por parte de las autoridades, Observatorio Crítico se fortalece como una de las apuestas comprometidas de la isla.

DE CARRITOS Y SUEÑOS Pero, ¿hay ya resultados de estas perspectivas de cambio a nivel del poder político? El universitario Alberto León, asegura: “Cuba en la actualidad atra-viesa por un proceso de cambios en la economía y en sus instituciones. El más notable es la apertura al tra-bajo no estatal”. En los últimos tiempos, esto ha pro-ducido que muchos cubanos y cubanas hayan abierto su propio negocio. “Algunos impuestos son altos pero en su mayoría los cuentapropistas [los trabajadores que no dependen del gobierno] han logrado tener buenos dividendos económicos para mejorar sus vidas”, expone el estudiante de la Universidad de Camagüey. “Se está prestando mucha atención a males como la corrupción y el descontrol $ nanciero. El gobierno está recti$ cando viejas políticas y está adaptando su economía para tra-tar de desarrollarse: la compra-venta de autos y casa, la entrega de tierras [en referencia a las reformas del gobi-erno de entrega de un 50% de las tierras cultivables a los


campesinos] y la reducción a cinco años del mandato presidencial son algunas de ellas. Esto denota un interés en un cambio paulatino de nuestra sociedad”, expresa

Alberto con optimismo. En los últimos años, se ha pro-ducido la conmutación de cincuenta personas penadas de muerte y la liberación de todas las presas de con-ciencia (aún quedan aquellas que relacionadas con ac-tos violentos). Si bien es verdad que el actual presidente Raúl Castro está llevando a cabo una serie de mejoras

en cuanto a vivienda (hasta ahora, solo el Estado podía construir, ahora también la ciudadanía puede levantar sus propias casas) o la apuesta por eliminar ciertos tipos de intervención estatal que obstaculizaban, no es menos cierto que la burrocracia es aún fatigosa. Como expone Fernando Ravsberg en su artículo del 31 de mayo ‘El carro, el cubano y los parásitos’, el mero hecho de com-prar un coche puede prolongarse en el tiempo e, inclu-so, nunca obtener las restringidas licencias que otorga el gobierno, muchas de las veces a través de prácticas fraudulentas. A pesar de la educación y el posterior puesto de trabajo garantizados por el Estado, la periodista Grettel Reinoso explica que, “producto de las grandes contra-dicciones a las que se ha enfrentado el sistema a partir de la crisis de los noventa, cada vez existe menos mo-tivación por los estudios porque, de forma general, un profesional es menos remunerado que cualquier otra persona que tenga un trabajo en áreas como el turismo,

“Si bien es verdad que el actual presidente Raúl Castro está llevando a cabo una serie de mejoras en cuanto a vivienda...no es menos cierto que la

burrocracia es aún fatigosa. ”



$ rmas extranjeras, gastronomía, servicios, iniciativas particulares o en el ‘trapicheo’ del mercado negro”. Fru-to de esta continua bipolaridad, incide en que, sin em-bargo, “todavía persiste la idea de la importancia de ten-er estudios y superarse profesional o intelectualmente, aunque luego te guardes el título en casa, de recuerdo”. Lo que parece claro es que no pierden la esperanza: “También existen jóvenes en Cuba que sabemos lo que tenemos y cuánto podemos hacer para mejorarlo, que creamos, criticamos y construimos un nuevo discurso que, si bien irreverente, abierto, crítico, negador a la vez que heredero, rompedor de esquemas, a veces intoler-ante, implacable, otras ingenuo, busca conformar una identidad colectiva para comunicar, sentirnos parte y construir dentro de esa colectividad”, dice Grettel Rein-oso con convicción. En lo que esta juventud parece casi

homogénea es en la capacidad de sonreír ante las adver-sidades, “a llevar adelante la Revolución triunfadora del Moncada y del Granma, de la Sierra y de Girón”, como dicta su Constitución, o sin viejas revoluciones de por medio, para empezar otra nueva etapa, sin olvidar, pero mejorando lo presente.

“En esta generación, como concluye la entusiasta Grettel, “persisten algunas certezas comunes: el futuro del país

tiene que ser nuestro, está en nuestras manos y en las de nadie más.”


Top Le$ : A ceremonial guard on Tinamen Square in Beijing, China by Adele Cli% ord.

Top Right: A man plays the Guzheng by Scarlett Kao.

Bottom Right: a gra& ti representation of the leader of the communist party in Athens,

Greece by Adele Cli% ord.

Above: City life in Tbilisi, Georgia by Hannah Harris

Bottom Le$ : A protest poster for increased economic rights in Barcelona, Spain by Melissa Dean-Treseler

Bottom Right: A young woman in Georgia by Hannah Harris

FRONTIERS

Page 40

Evicted: IA Case Study of Resettlement in ! ree

What

A very cold worker sits outside of a

hotel in Guang Zhou,

China.

Photo Courtesy of

Adele Cli% ord.

n my junior year of high school I went on a Habitat for Humanity trip to Del-hi, India. Our bus took us through the city to Bawa-na, the town where we were going to build homes

for three families. Our guide, a local who liked to spontaneously sing Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” told us that there were at least 5,000 slum-dwelling families who were pushed out of the city in 2004, away from the eyes of poli-cymakers and tourists. ! e families were each promised a plot of land to reconstruct their homes, but seven years down the road, most hadn’t seen that promise ful$ lled. Bawana, located in the northwest out-skirts of Delhi, is known as a thriving industri-al town. It has Delhi’s best orphanage, the SOS children’s village, and a functioning public li-brary - one of the few places that does. How-ever, the town was a mess. A& er seven years of resettlement, there were still mountains of gar-bage piled high on the streets with baby goats bleating and wobbling over them. Ducks swam in murky black water. ! e air was rancid. Small children with bloated bellies and stick-like limbs ran and played in this environment. Our guide told us that the only way to live there legally was to buy land. Howev-er, the majority of people either couldn’t a" ord to purchase land or couldn’t a" ord to build a house on it. I vividly remember homes made

of sticks and hay, a wall pieced together with black plastic bags, and even a tent made from an old, canvas billboard advertisement. ! ese homes may have survived in the sun, but what about during the monsoon season? ! ose fortunate enough to have homes still lived in cramped spaces. Drainage sys-tems didn’t work well, so human waste was

Cities: Delhi, Berlin, & Shanghai

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Page 41

Happens Next?never washed away properly, and # ies thrived, so densely populated we didn’t dare open our mouths to speak. ! is contributed to airborne diseases that locals caught. ! e houses we were building were going to have built-in waste tanks, an improvement on the current situa-tion. Still, we knew it wasn’t enough to help. I later on found out that ! e Hindu,

a national Indian paper, published an arti-cle on the situation in Bawana on March 15, 2011, a few days before we arrived. Residents complained that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) safai karamcharis report for work daily but never do the work of cleaning the streets. However, according to the article, “Balkrishan, the leader of the safai karam-charis, complains that colony residents do not cooperate in keeping the streets clean. ‘! ey have no civic sense,’ he rues. ‘! ere are 200 sanctioned posts for safai karamcharis here, but I have only 28 people. It is impossible for us to work with such a small workforce.’” ! is fact was veri$ ed by MCD Ward-28 BJP coun-cilor Narayana Singh, who blamed the Delhi Government for the vacant posts. During the Habitat trip, I was humbled by the way these people lived and was prompt-ed to reevaluate my life and appreciate the op-portunities I have. ! is is where my concern for urban development began. I learned how important it is to have a structured system to support the resources, logistics, and people a" ected by governmental decisions to expand and change urban environments.

I recently read an article in Der Spie-gel International, a German publication, about the eviction of a Turkish family in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district that sparked mass protests. 41-year-old Ali Gülbol says that at the time, he had a verbal agreement with his landlords

At least for the past few years, forced eviction has been happening o# en enough that there are organizations and “planned demonstrations”. In Berlin, the issue of where

they end up is not even addressed.

“”

FRONTIERS

Page 42

not to raise the rent because “they always did that in Kreuzberg.” In 2007, the old landlords were forced to the sell the building to a new landlord who ended up raising the rent. Gülbol refused to pay, because he had made the verbal agreement and had spent a fortune renovating the apartment. Eventually, he took the case to court, and the case made it up to the higher courts. But Gülbol lost the case, and the Berlin court ordered him to pay 40 months of rent in-crease. No one had told him that the rent had to be paid in two months, so when he did pay, it was already too late. ! e new landlords cit-ed the late rent payment as a reason for evic-tion, and on February 14, 2013, Gülbol’s fam-ily was forced to leave. 500 or so supporters of the evicted family rallied against hundreds of police o% cers armed with clubs and pepper spray. Many of them were in similar situations or supporters of the anti-gentri$ cation move-ment. Cars were set ablaze, and demonstrators scu@ ed with the police. Sara Walther from the Bündnis Gegen Zwangsräumung (Alliance Against Forced Evictions) explained to the Süddeutsche Zeitung that while there is noth-ing wrong with wealthier new people mov-ing to an old neighborhood, one should not “systematically throw old renters out of their apartments.” ! is is only one of many cases involv-ing the residents of Berlin and the city’s gentri-$ cation project. ! e Guardian reported a sim-ilar if not more dramatic case two years ago on February 2, 2011. ! e headlines stated: “Berlin police mount huge operation to evict tenants

of former squat: Up to 2,500 o% cers are de-ployed to quell protests against plan to clear 25 residents from Liebig 14 tenement block.” ! e “squatters” evicted were in fact legal residents who had signed a lease with Berlin’s housing board. But because the government sold the block to private developers to divide into ex-pensive # ats, the old residents were forced out. It is stunning that 2,500 police came to sub-due only 25 people; ! e Guardian claimed that “Berlin police said 2,500 o% cers were engaged in the operation, ‘but not all are stationed here; they are spread out all over the city to deal with the planned demonstrations.’” On April 2, 2013, riot police surrounded 50 activists who had hoped to form a sitting blockade to pre-vent another forced eviction in Berlin’s Neu-kölln district. ! e police surrounded the dem-onstrators, allowing the baili" s could enter the building. ! ese are not isolated cases but part of a larger movement. For the past few years, forced evictions have been happening fre-quently o& en enough that there are organiza-tions and “planned demonstrations” demon-strated to the issue. Just like the slum-dwellers in India, evicted Berliners have been forced to $ nd new homes. But at least in Delhi, there is a designated area for evicted tenants. In Berlin, the issue of where those who are evicted end up is not addressed. Following uni$ cation in 1990, Ber-lin has seen an in# ux of new residents due to the city’s relatively low rent costs and plenti-ful housing. ! e mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wow-


Page 43

Workers balance on

sca% olding in Beiijing, China.

Photo Courtesy of

Adele Cli% ord.

ereit, has referred to Berlin as “poor but sexy,” a phrase which has become the motto of the party capital. In recent years, Berlin had been doing much better economically, and thus the city began going through the process of “gentri-$ cation,” losing the charm that originally drew people from across Germany, Europe, and the rest of the world to Berlin. Locals see “gentri$ cation” as the de-struction of their culture. As one resident in-terviewed in Der Spiegel said, “I came to Ber-lin to live the Berlin lifestyle, not the Stuttgart or Munich or some village-in-the woods one. It's not much fun going out here anymore, it's mainly wine bars, playgrounds, toy shops and yoga places, all of which isn't exactly cool funky and exciting.” ! e places this resident describes

wouldn’t exist had old residents not been va-cated. Berlin’s debt, which exceeds $80 mil-lion, also poses a problem. ! e city relies heavily on cross subsidies from richer Ger-man states, most of which are in the south. It is these people who are purchasing property to gentrify. Without these subsidies, there would be no Berlin.

! inking about these problems, I am reminded of similar forced evictions hap-pening back home in Shanghai. Many cities in China have old crumbling buildings from decades before. In order for Shanghai to mod-ernize, these old buildings need to be torn down. Most of them are transformed into

FRONTIERS

Page 44

A worker sits outside of a construction site in Xi’an,

China.

Photo Courtesy of

Adele Cli% ord.

business centers, malls, and apartments. Com-bined with suburban expansion, rapid urban development is leading to the displacement of millions of families. But unlike the situation in Delhi or Berlin, the impetus behind Shanghai’s situation is slightly di" erent. As in the previous two cases, people in Shanghai are forced into the city’s outskirts for cheaper prices or simply because there is nowhere else for them to go. ! e resettle-ment issue in Shanghai di" ers from the ones in Delhi and Berlin, however, in the Chinese government’s heavy involvement. Whether this is due to the government’s highly authori-tarian nature or whether the government sim-ply can’t handle protests and riots due to the overwhelming number of people that would be involved, there is a whole system of laws and policies in place to help families losing their homes. ! e government gives monetary com-pensation to the evicted residents based on a complex system of calculations. ! is excludes families that have houses elsewhere so priority is given to those in actual need. If the convert-ed money is still not enough for the family to $ nd a new home, there are other calculations the government will make to add value to the previous price o" ered. Under the circumstanc-es that the money from the apartment is not enough to help the household $ nd a new home in the city, the Chinese government will pro-vide “safety housing.” To qualify for “safety housing,” there is a strict set of requirements and an application that residents must complete. ! is includes all working poor and lower class households of the city that have di% culty $ nding housing. ! ese houses have a certain period of time where they cannot be sold. ! e government retains property rights, but a& er a certain amount of time, residents may be able to gain the rights

to ownership and the ability to sell it. ! ere are entire communities of “safety housing” in the suburbs of Shanghai. It is still relatively inconvenient to live there in com-parison to the central locations these residents used to occupy, but it is a better option than leaving the city or becoming homeless. I live far out in the suburbs so I see new “safety housing” communities rising from the ground all the time. A metro line under con-struction—which will be completed by 2016—will run through these com-munities to allow for easier access to the city. By 2030, these homes will not seem as far away, as the 33 metro lines expected to be built are completed. As the case of Shanghai demonstrates, governments can make clear plans that can direct-ly or indirectly help evicted families resettle. ! ere is not enough action by other governments to help people who don’t have the ability to get what they need on their own. On July 18, 2012, the Delhi government allotted 500 # ats to evicted fami-lies in Bawana and there are currently 35,000 # ats in construction, which will house eligible slum dwellers once completed. It is a good start, but Delhi still had a rough transition period, so this intervention is, in a way, coming late. As for Berlin, there


Page 45

still seems to be a lack of a coherent system to support resettling residents while bringing in new ones. Systematically throwing old renters out of their apartments will become routine if policy changes are not made. ! is issue is on Germany’s 2013 elections agenda, so obvious-ly, some changes need to be made. A government should do more for its people and provide a # uid system that grants

old residents housing when new residents move in. ! e welfare of the state depends on the welfare of its people. If people are ill due to poor facilities in their new homes, or if people are protesting in the streets, this re# ects poorly on the state. Food, water, and shelter are essen-tial human needs. No country should jeopar-dize them. In the case of Shanghai, China is doing something right.

" e mission of the Albert Einstein Institution is to advance the worldwide study and strategic use ofnonviolent action in conflict. " e Institution is committed to:

-Defending democratic freedoms and institutions-Opposing oppression, dictatorship, and genocide-Reducing reliance on violence as an instrument of policy

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