Research Poster Presentations
P OS T E R
# 69
Is There a Correlation between a Neighborhood’s Social Capital and the Time It Takes for a Neighborhood to Bounce Back from a Natural Disaster? A Comparative Analysis of the Rebuilding Efforts PostSuperstorm Sandy in Livingston and Red Hook Naomi Edwards (Macaulay Honors College) Faculty Mentor: Professor Richard Flanagan Department of Political Science and Global Affairs For years, social scientists have understood the link between social constructs, and the impact of natural disasters. In 2006, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which ravished New Orleans, Neil Smith wrote that contrary to popular belief,“There is no such thing as a natural disaster”. Natural Events occur, but the disaster occurs when people aren’t adequately prepared to deal with the consequences of natural events. This paper takes this idea that there is no such thing as a natural disaster and applies it to the rebuilding efforts after Superstorm Sandy. I will be investigating the process of rebuilding post Superstorm sandy in two regions, Livingston Staten Island and Red Hook Brooklyn. Through a comparison of these two neighborhoods, I will explore the ways in which they were able to rebuild post Sandy and how quickly. The focus of my research will be on a neighborhood’s social capital. In order to measure social capital I will look at the average income of these neighborhoods and the various organizations and groups that helped in the rebuilding effort. It is my hypothesis that there will be a direct correlation between the social capital of a neighborhood and the time it took for the neighborhood to rebuild after Superstorm Sandy.
POSTER
#28
An Unlikely Marriage: Soviet Ideals and Christian Messianism in Vladimir Putin’s Russia Anastasia Hayes (Macaulay Honors College) Faculty Mentor: Professor Peter Kabachnik Department of Political Science and Global Affairs Some Western observers have accused Vladimir Putin of lacking political vision and simply dismiss his Russia as a corrupt gangster state. While criminal activity has played a large role in creating and supporting the current government, it is inaccurate to categorize the Federation as a rogue state devoid of a coherent political roadmap.There is strong evidence that Putin is driven by a particular worldview. Indeed, if one looks closely at his dealings with Russian minorities, the plan becomes clearer. He has transformed Russian nationalism into xenophobia. Black Russians find themselves increasingly alienated and attacked for their skin color and religion while ethnic Russians feel they are under siege. For this reason, I will examine the Chechen conflict through which Putin established his legitimacy as a political leader to illustrate his vision of Russia. In the Chechen conflicts, we see most clearly the cleverly manipulated clash of civilizations between Islam and Orthodoxy, the leveraging of the War on Terror to manipulate the West, and the desire to preserve Soviet territories and resurrect tsarist Novorossiya. Moreover, I intend to demonstrate that Putin’s vision is a uniquely modern one, an interpretative construct culled out of the recent as well as more distant Russian history. Putin has combined elements of the Soviet past with much older ideas of Russian messianism to serve his aims in what he sees as a battle of Russia versus the world. I will also discuss to what extent this vision is dependent on his survival: Is his personal vision transferable to a state that will outlive him? This is a key consideration as Russia is one of the U.S.'s most pressing concerns in what many experts have dubbed a neo-Cold War era. Americans need to consider whether the issues facing them will be resolved through Putin’s passing or if they may be more persistent, tightly woven into the complex social, political and cultural fabric that is the Russian Federation.
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