Persecution of Minorities in Algeria: What Fuels the Maltreatment?

Algeria, the largest country in Africa, has nearly a uniform population. Arab Sunni Muslims comprise fully 99% of the 42 million strong-populace. Why, then, does its government grapple with fears of separatist movements from its own Sunni population? Further, why does it use suppression and persecution to hold down its meager minority populations that includes ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic denizens whose combined numbers total just 1% and who pose no serious threat to the powerful and often highly corrupt government and military force? The answer may lie in the rise of fundamentalist Islam, a movement that strives to make theocracy and Sharia law replace the current democratic government system. This balance of pleasing and thus containing the fundamentalist movement, which has consumed much of the Middle East and North Africa, has made its mark felt in Algeria and could threaten to destabilize one of the continent’s most powerful nations

Hereditary Slavery Shackles Mauritania

This paper exposes the scourge of slavery that continues to thrive in the country of Mauritania in modern times. Though the practice is formally abolished and illegal, and the government continues to claim slavery has been eradicated, the truth lies elsewhere. 90,000 dark-skinned slaves, often referred to as Black Moors, continue to live deplorable lives in servitude to their lighter-skinned masters. The Mauritanian government is helping the scourge of slavery endure by denying its existence and providing it cover. Their task is made easier as the face of slavery changes and becomes hidden in the throes of modern commerce, making it more difficult for an outsider to differentiate between a low-income wage earner and a slave. Other situations are painfully identifiable, such as conducting human trafficking for purposes of prostitution. In all situations, women and children make up the vast majority of indentured servants. Due to a forced dearth of educational opportunity, slaves are often illiterate and therefore largely unable to emancipate themselves without outside help. Deeply entrenched belief systems, practices, and governmental and societal structures that exist in Mauritania secure an environment that allows slavery to continue to thrive. In addition to the Mauritanian government, businesses, educational facilities, NGO’s, and members of society at every level must take decisive action to eradicate the practice and change the beliefs that hold it in place. Foreign governments and businesses hold great power in their willingness to engage with Mauritanian leaders. By withholding financial aid and business deals international players have the opportunity to hasten the eradication of slavery in Mauritania This paper examines the depth of the slavery problem and recommends multiple steps for its elimination

Socio-Political Conditions for Christians in Egypt

For those who have studied the history of religious tensions in Egypt, the current rising tide of violence against Christians in the country should come as no surprise. Persecution of Christians in Egypt dates back for centuries. In recent years—particularly during the past decade—we have witnessed a greater interest in understanding the violence, not only in academia, but among the interested general population as well. This has led to an upsurge in academic writings and in media articles discussing the issue. After a thorough literature review, I have discovered that many of the pieces focus on the empirical, while often neglecting the normative. While empiricism is important for any research endeavor, this paper seeks to focus more on the narratives on the ground. As a sociologist for three decades, I have worked closely with the Egyptian Christian immigrant community in the U.S. and have regularly been called to testify in asylum courts across the U.S. regarding the issues of religious intolerance in Egypt. Over the years, I have conducted countless interviews with these individuals. As such, I have used their personal stories as a starting point for my academic inquiries. As a case study, I have selected three personal narratives to include in this analysis. All of the individuals' names have been changed in order to safeguard their identity. For this paper, I have specifically chosen individuals from different backgrounds, genders, education levels, social standings, and geographical location. In doing so, I was able to piece together a larger narrative that demonstrates how the persecution of Christians in Egypt is not limited to one group or another—it is widespread throughout Egyptian society. In the end, I was able to discover that each of the individuals suffered in different ways. However, they all suffered given one basic commonality—being Christian in Egypt

India’s Muslims and Hindu Nationalism

India is in the midst of changing its definition of what it means to be Indian. For the first time since becoming an independent nation in 1947, the government of India has chosen to use religion as a criteria for citizenship. This paper examines the critical importance of this development as it pertains to Muslims currently living in India, as well as for anyone living in South Asia who may wish to seek asylum in India in the future. The paper also examines the significance of the world’s most populous democracy shifting from secular to sectarian governance, a development with local, regional, and global impacts.The immediate effect of using religion as a criteria for citizenship has immediate and far-reaching consequences for India’s minority Muslim population. The criteria also impacts other religious groups in India and the south Asia region. This significant change has already resulted in deleterious effects including mob violence, internal displacement of Indian-born Muslims into newly constructed detention camps, and the expectation of massive deportation of Muslims from India.The findings presented in this paper are based on information obtained from historical sources provided by human rights organizations, government foreign affairs reports, and current references including media, non-government organizations, and political think tanks

Yemen’s Human Rights Abuses Skyrocket Amidst Ongoing Chaos

Six years of war in Yemen have destroyed human rights in a country whose record was already abysmal. Yemen is considered the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, largely due to its food insecurity. Destroyed infrastructure, lack of services and fuel, a non-functioning government, and continued fighting has taken the lives of over 18,000 civilians, leaving survival efforts to take precedent overall. With no oversight, human rights are non-existent. A significant rise in violence has occurred against women including abuse, rape, and torture by a number of parties, including belligerents. Houthi rebels, Saudi forces, and Saudi backed Yemeni forces have all been documented to have committed serious abuses against civilians. For women, violence in the home is even worse. With extremely limited rights and protection, women remain vulnerable to domestic and sexual violence from relatives and have little to no recourse. Honor killings remain acceptable, and young girls are frequently married off as there is no minimum age of marriage. With chaos continuing to block most outside help, Yemeni’s will continue to suffer extreme human rights abuses until the war ends

A perceptional view of the Coleman model of trust

In his classic model of trust, Coleman (1990) argues that the decision of an actor to trust or not is a function of the expected gain and loss involved. In this paper we show how actors who attempt to recruit others into network marketing employ narrative in manipulating the recruit's expectations. For example, we show how the costs involved in recruiting friends and family into network marketing are transformed into benefit through narrative strategies. Through the strategic use of narrative, recruiters change the recruit's perception of the parameters of the Coleman model and make perfectly rational behavior that was not considered rational before. In addition, we argue that recruiters use similar narrative on themselves in reconfirming the validity of their own previous decision to trust.

Corporate social capital and strategic management paradigm:a contingency view on organizational performance

The strategic management paradigm explains organizational performance through the alignment between environment, strategy, and reference points. We extend this paradigm by incorporating the role of interorganizational networks on firm performance, thus integrating strategic management and corporate social capital theory. This results in four normative propositions that describe the conditions under which particular interfirm network structures assist or impede firm performance

Iran’s Human Rights Record Follows Downward Spiral

Officially, Iran is an Islamic Republic; in practice, the government is totalitarian in nature. Since the time a revolution swept the country in 1979 and removed the ruling monarchy, a heavy blanket of oppression and religiosity has constrained the population. Although the majority of Iranians chose to overthrow the preceding government, a monarchy, its replacement by an Islamic clergy quickly morphed into an overlord, responsible for the death of some 8,000 political opponents during their first five years in power. Freedoms long enjoyed in the Persian Empire dried up overnight, leaving an eighty-three million strong population living in a straitjacket that defies the very morality it claims to live by. Repression quickly became widespread, resulting in a loss of freedom or the ability to change governments, leave home without a head covering (hijab) for women, oppose government actions or decisions, enable change and the like. Minorities suffer most and have the least ability to change their reality. Gay men and women live in utter fear, and often denial. The application of torture is well documented and increasingly brutal. The downward trajectory of human rights is increasing at a fast pace, and protests are on the rise. Some studies suggest signs that a deep and widening swath of Iranian public has had enough, and another revolution is on the horizon. Until then, however, repression continues to be the order of the day. Foreign governments and other entities of influence must hold Iran accountable for its increasingly horrific record on human rights