Eastern Abenaki Autonomy and French Frustrations, 1745-1760

Most Abenaki Indians became French allies between 1745 and 1760, but in effect it was English policy that ultimately drove them into this alliance. While the Western Abenakis were generally reliable allies, French officials were repeatedly frustrated by their limited influence over the Eastern Abenakis and by the restrained reaction of these Indians to English provocations. Eastern Abenakis became reluctant French allies

Assimilation, Termination, or Tribal Rejuvenation: Maine Indian Affairs in the 1950s

The article discusses the events of the 1950s in the history of the Maine Native American tribes, principally the Passamaquoddy and the Penobscot

NGO Leadership and Human Rights

This book provides preliminary understanding of what the term NGO means; explains how human rights affect NGO missions; and focuses on the meaning of leadership in NGOs in comparison to private sector and government agency leadership. It also encourages readers with vocational aspirations in human rights work to think strategically in preparing for their professional futures

Administrative Narratives, Human Rights, and Public Ethics: The Detroit Water-Shutoff Case

This inquiry focuses specifically on administrative (local official) narratives that speak to contentious issue contexts of social conflict. Specifically, it draws upon a theoretical connection between hermeneutics and the sociology of knowledge to interpret narrative passages of local officials and others related to a contentious public action—the Detroit Water and Sewerage District’s stepped-up water-discontinuation efforts (2014 and 2015) that left thousands of inner-city residents with “delinquent” accounts and no access to water service. Selected narratives from this case are interpreted on the basis of their literary and social functions. The interpretations support a subsequent determination of whether and how the power and influence of administrative narrative assume significance as a matter of public ethics

Network Legitimacy and Accountability in a Developmental Perspective

Public networks typically function beyond the lines of the hierarchical authorities that hold bureaucracies accountable, as is shown here in the case of a business-dominant network that exhibited ethically questionable behaviors at the expense of its community credibility. Public networks can build external legitimacy by engaging in critical organization learning processes, much the way some nongovernmental organizations respond to a diversity of stakeholders

Introduction: Symposium on the Social Practice of Human Rights

This volume of Public Integrity presents a symposium of five articles related to human rights that (a) introduce readers to the general origin and nature of human rights conversation, (b) characterize how these norms are conveyed in the current digital age, or (c) depict how local governments and nonprofit agencies confront matters of human rights. Nonetheless, in publishing this symposium, PI “pushes the envelope” in asserting that human rights questions legitimately qualify as matters germane to the study and practice of public administration. Readers could, after all, maintain that, notwithstanding the aspirational appeal of human rights, international norms fall well outside the parameters of sovereign states and their respective regime values

Thin vs. Thick Morality: Ethics and Gender in International Development Programs

This study examines the ethical dimensions of gender-focused international development initiatives undertaken by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and similar agencies. Specifically, it presents three case studies that depict how specific development initiatives in, respectively, India, Tanzania, and Senegal address gender disparities and power relationships. These case studies support the general conclusion that ethically committed development NGOs find difficulty in encouraging women (and men) to reverse oppressive power status-quos in messy contexts

Writing in the Mathematics Classroom

This paper explores the benefits of using writing as a tool for teaching mathematics. It is a summary of literature intended to help educators implement a writing plan of their own. Part one is a summary of the purpose, benefits, and types of mathematics writing. Writing in mathematics opens the lines of communication in the classroom, helps in assessment, and allows for the use of interdisciplinary units. Writing in mathematics benefits students, teachers, and the classroom learning atmosphere as a whole. Teachers can use informal writing assignments so that students express their opinions, or assign formal writing to provide students with an opportunity to write about mathematical topics. Part two of this paper is a comparison of the effects of writing in a pre-algebra classroom. One class was the control group and did no writing, one class kept a mathematics journal, and another was asked to answer open-ended questions on a regular basis. Data is included that supports claims that writing in mathematics reduces math anxiety and assists students in learning mathematics. The purpose of this paper is to provide educators with ideas of how to implement a writing program in their classrooms

Contemporary Rhetoric, Ethics, and Human Rights Advocacy (abstract)

This paper will discuss how rhetorical analysis might interpret current ethics conversation related to governance and re-position some of its touchstone rationales. Specifically, efforts in this paper will apply the ideas of preeminent rhetorician Gerald Hauser (the current editor of Philosophy and Rhetoric) about human rights discourses and of a reticulate (variegated) public sphere to intersection of governance and human rights advocacy. Specifically, our paper will examine the rhetoric of various “exemplars” who advocate for causes and actions pertaining to human rights in particular contexts. In particular, we will incorporate case studies reviewing the public actions of the Russian rock group “Pussy Riot” and the Dutch ultra-right parliamentarian Geert Wilders as rhetors whose discourses serve as grist for comparative analysis. Our comparison of these rhetors is premised on the assertion that concern for how particular individuals advocate for human rights causes –as well as how antagonists obstruct such initiatives –adds significant value to understanding the successes and failures of human rights efforts in particular cultural and national contexts. On one hand, we can grasp how specific international organizations and actors function to develop norms (for example, the rights of the child) and how rights are subsequently articulated in universal declarations and formal codes. But on the other, it becomes apparent that the actual meaning of those rights mutate when “accepted” within particular cultures. A final section of our paper will discuss how contemporary rhetorical analysis might inform the ethics of human rights discourse and advocacy in praxis. In this regard, Gerald Hauser elaborates upon thick and thin moral vernaculars in the context of human rights advocacy; specifically, he takes exponents of thin regime principles (e.g. those codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) to task, emphasizing the importance of discourse that is constructed in the context of rights and “moral empowerment.