Carlos Becerra

TITLE: Forced Displacement and Economic Migration: The Dialectics of Inclusion and Exclusion of Internal Migrants

ABSTRACT: In a globalized world where human mobility both transforms and is shaped by the political economy of different nation-states, rules promoting the inclusion and exclusion of migrants are constantly evolving in efforts to regulate such movements. At the international scale these rules are legitimized as laws; whereas within countries there are not official institutions that regulate internal migration. Nevertheless, processes of inclusion and exclusion of internal migrants arestill manifested within nation-states, putting into question the glorification given to citizenship as an all-inclusive right and responsibility institution.  I specifically study the case of Colombia, in which a protracted armed conflict has caused the forceful displacement of millions of its citizens, who are now recipients of special benefits provided by governmental and non-governmental organizations. I argue that by focusing only on those internal migrants categorized as Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs), benefit givers are exacerbating exclusionist processes that further intensify the conflict. Through a quantitative analysis of census data and municipal level data I test Anthony Giddens' Theory of Structuration and the Theory of Migration Systems as they apply to internal migration at the micro, meso, and macro levels. My study finds that once structural and individual-level variables are taken into account simultaneously, the distinction between IDPs and economic migrants loses significance; which in turn casts doubts on the current logistics and rationale of benefit distribution within Colombia.

Michael F. Weinberg

TITLE: Towards a Democratic Technology: Governance Issues in Local Sustainability Policy Making

ABSTRACT: California state and local governments are proposing and implementing complex technical systems to address environmental, economic, and social sustainability. These systems are often designed or selected at an administrative level, which distances them from public input through political channels. This research considers three theoretical areas-reforming the administrative process for greater community responsiveness, local "sustainability" programs, and the sociology of science policy creation-and considers the junction of these three areas as fruitful  for further research as well as a vital area for practical specialization.