FSI researchers work to understand continuity and change in societies as they confront their problems and opportunities. This includes the implications of migration and human trafficking. What happens to a society when young girls exit the sex trade? How do groups moving between locations impact societies, economies, self-identity and citizenship? What are the ethnic challenges faced by an increasingly diverse European Union? From a policy perspective, scholars also work to investigate the consequences of security-related measures for society and its values.
The Europe Center reflects much of FSI’s agenda of investigating societies, serving as a forum for experts to research the cultures, religions and people of Europe. The Center sponsors several seminars and lectures, as well as visiting scholars.
Societal research also addresses issues of demography and aging, such as the social and economic challenges of providing health care for an aging population. How do older adults make decisions, and what societal tools need to be in place to ensure the resulting decisions are well-informed? FSI regularly brings in international scholars to look at these issues. They discuss how adults care for their older parents in rural China as well as the economic aspects of aging populations in China and India.
Abstract NRC projects in Africa and learning's in the research practices in low-income communities.
Jussi Impiö is Research Leader of Nokia Research Africa (NORA) in Nairobi. NORA conducts socio-cultural research in Sub-Saharan Africa and together with non-governmental organizations and local universities creates communication solutions to assist in socio-economical development in Africa.
Jussi joined Nokia in 2003 as Senior Research Scientist and has conducted research in the areas of mobile video, civic activism and citizen journalism. Prior to Nokia he has worked as Concept Manager at Clothing+ Corp. and as Researcher at the University of Lapland.
Jussi has co-authored 4 academic publications and holds 10 patents.
Summary of Seminar Mobile technology is already playing a major role in economic development in Africa. What might be the impact if that technology was specifically designed for these users? This is the mission of Nokia Research Africa (NoRA); to develop services and devices that meet the specific needs of low income communities in sub Saharan Africa.
There are three stages to the group's work. First, field research is conducted in African communities. Second, the team works on concept design and prototyping. And finally field trials are held and further adjustments made. The team has a strong record of getting products out as a result of its research.
Jussi described three projects he has been involved in recently:
90% of jobs in Sub Saharan Africa are microenterprises. NoRA is developing a micro entrepreneur tool kit that will be rolled out in five countries.
70% of Sub Saharan Africans are members of informal banking groups where money is saved collectively. NoRA is looking at ways of bringing these groups together to share expertise.
There is a growing music informal music industry in African slum communities. NoRA is working with NGOs to help understand the dynamics of this.
The average age on Africa is 18. NoRA's Youth Africa project seeks to understand how youth segment themselves. Over 400 interviews have been conducted so far and the project is due to be completed by the end of June.
When thinking about the introduction of technology into Africa, Jussi suggests that an analogy with biology may be helpful. Just as when a new species is introduced to a habitat, a new technology will have all kinds of unintended consequences in its environment, not all of them desirable. Therefore it is crucial to think through any potential harms and how these might be controlled. Jussi also suggested some rules of thumb for working in the field of technology for development in the Africa:
Think hard about what is the exact source problem you are trying to solve
Make sure you try out ‘horror' scenarios
Work with local organizations
Talk to journalists - they are often the best sources of information
Talk to governments; it is very hard to achieve anything in Africa unless you involve government from the earliest stages
Conduct long and controlled pilots
Educate users with the skills they will need
Don't trust your instincts too much - we can make the mistake of thinking we ‘know' Africa, attributing to it a single culture
Expect the worst! It is better to have thought through what could go wrong
Be real(ideal)istic. It is important to understand the magnitude of the problems you are dealing with while keeping motivated by the belief that your work could have a major impact
Wallenberg Theater
Jussi Impio
Research Leader Nokia Research Africa
Speaker
Nokia
In 2009-2010, the Program on Human
Rights will partner with FCE and DLCL to launch part 2 of the Contemporary History and the Future of Memoryseries by
adding "Reconciliation" to the mission. This
series will examine scholarly and institutional efforts to create new national
narratives that walk the fine line between before and after, memory and
truth, compensation and reconciliation, justice and peace. Some work examines communities ravaged by colonialism and
the great harm that colonial and post-colonial economic and social disparities
cause. The extent of external intervention creates discontinuities
and dislocation, making it harder for people to claim an historical narrative
that feels fully authentic. Another response is to set up truth-seeking
institutions such as truth commissions. Historical examples of truth
commissions in South Africa, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Morocco inform more
current initiatives in Canada, Cambodia, Colombia, Kenya, and the United
States. While this range of economic, social, political and legal
modalities all seek to explain difficult pasts to present communities, it is
not yet clear which approach yields greater truth, friendship, reconciliation
and community healing. The "History, Memory, and Reconciliation" series
will explore these issues.
The series will have its first event in
February 2010. Multiple international scholars are invited.
This 2009-10 interdisciplinary research workshop examines the
trajectory of human rights discourse and institutions in Africa by
means of regional and international comparisons. Africa is the third,
and most recent, region to establish a regional human rights court, the
African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights (ACPHR). At this critical
juncture in African human rights, there is an urgent need for deeper
understandings and applications of the law of human rights.
This workshop will be of interest and benefit to faculty and
graduate students conducting research in the following areas: African
studies; human rights; law; anthropology; cultural studies; history;
political science and international relations; philosophy; and
sociology.
The workshop, coordinated by Helen Stacy (Law School, FSI), will
meet once this quarter and between three and four times during the
Winter and Spring quarters of the 2009-2010 academic year.
Kieran Oberman's research focuses on the ethical implications of international migration. My thesis, "Immigration and Freedom of Movement", argued that people have a human right to freedom of movement that entails a right to cross borders. I conceded however that there may be extreme circumstances under which immigration restrictions could be justified. In my post-doctoral work at Stanford I wish to consider this question of justified restrictions in more detail by focussing on the particular issue of medical brain drain from developing countries. We know that medical brain can have devastating consequences so it may constitute justified grounds for restriction. Another area of research I wish to focus on is the treatment of migrants after they have arrived within their state of destination. I wish to consider, for instance, whether migrants must be granted equal rights to citizens and if so after how long and under what conditions. The research I shall undertake in these areas will be included in an eventual book project on the ethics of immigration policy.
At the core of US-Taiwan-China relations, mistrust has long been, and remains today, the most difficult and elusive problem policy makers face. The danger is obvious given that the Taiwan Strait is the only place where the US could go to war with a nuclear armed great power. In her talk, Nancy Bernkopf Tucker will examine the nature of US commitments, the intricacies of decision-making, the intentions of critical actors and the impact of Taiwan’s democratization.
Nancy Bernkopf Tucker is Professor of History at Georgetown University and the
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service . She also holds an appointment as a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University. She is the author of Strait Talk: US-Taiwan Relations and the China Crisis (Harvard, 2009), Uncertain Friendships: Taiwan, Hong Kong and the United States (Columbia, 2006), Patterns in the Dust: Chinese-American Relations and the Recognition Controversy, 1949-50 (Columbia, 1983), and more than a dozen of book chapters, edited volumes and journal articles.
Philippines Conference Room
Nancy Bernkopf Tucker
Professor of History
Speaker
Georgetown University
Professor Horrigan will be discussing recent developments in corporate governance, responsibility and sustainability under Anglo-american law. In particular, he will explain how Australia's embrace of the UK-Canadian institutional dialogue model will affect business, human rights, and corporate social responsibility. He will also be providing an update from the recent UN Secretary-General's Special Representative business and human rights session in Toronto.
Professor Bryan Horrigan is currently the Louis Waller Chair of Law and Associate Dean (Research) at Monash University’s Faculty of Law in Melbourne, Australia. He is also a long-standing law firm consultant in business and governmental areas of law and practice.
Professor Horrigan completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Queensland and holds a doctorate in law from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He has held academic and research leadership positions previously at a number of Australian universities, including Director of the National Centre for Corporate Law and Policy Research, Deputy Director of the National Institute for Governance, and Foundation Co-Director of the Centre for Comparative Law, History, and Governance.
His most recent book in the area of corporate responsibility and governance, Corporate Social Responsibility in the 21st Century: Debates, Models, and Practices Across Government, Law, and Business, is to published internationally by UK-based Edward Elgar Publishing in the latter part of 2009. The book was commenced during his time as a Visiting Scholar at the Wharton Business School.
Encina Ground Floor Conference Room
Bryan Horrigan
Louis Waller Chair of Law and Associate Dean (Research)
Speaker
Monash University’s Faculty of Law in Melbourne, Australia
FSI researchers work to understand continuity and change in societies as they confront their problems and opportunities. This includes the implications of 
