About UsDemocratic Futures ProjectDFP_c2d38c72-3f35-11ef-b7b3-291f1183ea00Steve ParksFounder ~ Steve Parks is a professor in the Writing and Rhetoric Program at the University of Virginia's Department of English, and a co-founder of Syrians for Truth and Justice. Currently the editor of Studies in Writing and Rhetoric, Parks' early work focused on the Students’ Right to Their Own Language, particularly the need to embed the SRTOL's politics into progressive community partnerships and publications. This led him to create New City Community Press in Philadelphia, which links university classrooms, local communities, and publishing technologies in their efforts to expand human rights. Currently, he is working with Syrian activists to record the human rights abuses of the current regime, ISIS, and militia active in Syria. sjp3st@virginia.eduSrdja PopovicCo-Founder ~ Srdja Popovic was a founding member of the student movement Otpor! ("Resistance!"), which played a crucial role in toppling the Milosevic regime. A co-founder of CANVAS (Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies), he now works as a global activist and educator. Popovic has taught university courses on organizing tactics and workshops on how nonviolence can achieve positive social change. He’s also authored several publications on the topic, including the book Blueprint for Revolution. Popovic has received the Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award, Brown Democracy Medal, and the 2010 PL-Fonden Freedom Award. Foreign Policy Magazine named Popovic one of their “100 Global Thinkers” in 2011, and the World Economic Forum in Davos listed him as a 2014 Young Global Leader. Since 2021, Popovic has held the position of Visiting Researcher at the University of Virginia. srkip@canvasopedia.orgEmily WarwickEmily Warwick is a PhD student in the Department of Politics at UVA, with concentrations in comparative politics and political methodology. Her research interests center around urban politics of the Global South, public service provision, urban informality, and environmental/health politics. Her dissertation explores how citizen-state relationships are brokered in informal contexts and how civil society actors adapt to chronic challenges in the urban peripheries of Latin America. She also serves as the Book Review Editor for the GFPI (Generations for Peace Institute) Transformations journal, an interdisciplinary journal which centers the voices of global democratic advocates and community leaders on issues of human rights and peacemaking. In her work with the Democratic Futures Working Group and Ríos de Pie, she is assisting with research on forest governance, indigenous politics, and public opinion surrounding environmental issues and deforestation in Bolivia. ykp3fd@virginia.eduStephen BettsStephen Betts is a doctoral candidate in religious studies with interests in race, language, democracy, and nonviolence. In addition to his work with the Democratic Futures Project, Stephen is an assistant producer for the Karsh Institute's podcast, "Democracy in Danger." Before coming to UVA, Stephen got a master's degree in linguistics and worked in a public library. His current research focuses on how the notion of "translation" in nineteenth-century Mormonism was involved in the material production of race in antebellum America. stb6es@virginia.eduDFP Faculty & AdvocatesRobert ArmengolRobert Armengol is an anthropologist and journalist with two decades of experience in immersive fieldwork, print and radio documentary, and teaching in higher education. Prior to joining the Karsh Institute, Armengol was a Ford Fellow and a postdoctoral College Fellow at the University of Virginia, where he also earned his Ph.D. in 2013. He previously served as a coordinating producer for the public radio show BackStory and as a reporter at Bloomberg News. Armengol is the producer of Democracy in Danger, a podcast on the rise of illiberal and autocratic regimes across the world.Derek BrownDerek Brown serves as Secretary and Co-Director of the Peace Appeal Foundation, which has supported dialogue and negotiations processes in Lebanon, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Prior to that, he was an executive team member for Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, a global institution investing in leading social entrepreneurs. He was a 2015-2016 Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, DC. A strong internationalist with a deep commitment to social justice, he has worked in both his professional and personal life to nurture social and public innovations across the world by enabling changemakers in diverse societies.Chris CarterChris Carter is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics and the John L. Nau III History and Principles of Democracy Lab at the University of Virginia. He’s also a Research Associate at the Berkeley Center on the Politics of Development. His book project examines the emergence of indigenous rights in the Americas. This research won the 2020 APSA Best Fieldwork Award and the 2021 Juan Linz Prize for Best Dissertation in the Comparative Study of Democracy. Carter’s other work explores local governance in Latin America, methods for causal inference, and the regulation of gig economy labor in the United States.Yevgenia ChirikovaYevgenia Chirikova is a Russian environmental activist. She is known for her opposition to the construction of a motorway through Khimki Forest and her role in the 2011-2013 protests sparked by disputed parliamentary elections. A confrontation with Putin’s regime forced her to flee her country in 2014. Chirikova is now based in Estonia, where she manages Activatica: a Russian-language resource for civic activism. ^^ She received the: 2011 Women of Courage Award from the US Embassy; 2012 Goldman Environmental Prize; and the 2013 James Lawson Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Practice of Nonviolent Conflict. In 2012, Foreign Policy Magazine named Chirikova a "100 Global Thinker."Dave EdmundsDave Edmunds is the Director for the Global Development Studies Track and an Associate Professor of Global Studies at the University of Virginia. He is a human geographer interested in environmental issues as they intersect with culture, social relations, politics, and community development. He holds a PhD from Clark University. Edmunds received a Fulbright award for his fieldwork and a Rockefeller award for his postdoctoral work at the Center for International Forestry Research. He has worked in various countries in Africa and Asia, along with Native American tribal nations in the US.Tessa FarmerTessa Farmer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Program in Global Studies. She also serves as Director for the Middle East & South Asia Track of the undergraduate Global Studies major. She has been doing fieldwork in Egypt since 2000. Her first book investigates the ways in which lower income residents of Cairo work to obtain sources of potable water and deal with the ramifications of sewage in their urban ecology. She is currently conducting research for her second book project, on charitable water fountains called sabils.Jemhra GarciaJemhra Garcia founded the coffee collective Kape Giting with Ana Arca, which advocates for Negrense farmers as they rebuild sustainable food systems in defiance of the colonial single-crop economy. Kape Giting emphasizes environmentally conscious farming practices and responsible consumption. Garcia believes that championing local Philippine produce is a way to promote the welfare of regional farmers and boost the local economy. Garcia is currently partnered on an ethnographic research project focused on how rural farmers and fisherman conceive of democratic political processes based upon the terminology of their local dialects and traditions.Amel GoraniAmel Gorani is an international development, peace and conflict, gender, and inclusion specialist who has worked for numerous international development agencies, governments, private foundations, academic institutions, and NGOs in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the US. Previously, she served as Director for Carleton College’s Center for Community and Civic Engagement, Senior Advisor on Marginalized Groups for USAID-Sudan, Inclusion Coordinator for the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva, and Executive Director for the humanitarian organization Sudan Future Care. ^^ Gorani holds a Masters degree in Political Science from Uppsala University. She is fluent in Arabic, English, and Swedish.Felix MaradiagaFelix Maradiaga is a prominent figure in Central America known for his expertise in nonviolent resistance and democracy building. As an activist, human rights advocate, and thought leader in nonviolent resistance strategy, he is widely recognized as one of the leading voices within the Nicaraguan democratic opposition against the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega. He was recognized with The Peter Gotell Prize in 2021, in Stockholm for his human rights work. In May 2023, a cross-regional coalition of 25 human rights organizations granted him the 2023 Courage Award at the 15th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. He received the 2023 Sergei Magnitsky Human Rights Award for Outstanding Opposition Figure. In January 2024, a group of prominent figures led by Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana formally nominated Félix alongside Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Alvarez, who is unjustly detained in Nicaragua, for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of the lifelong dedication of both Nicaraguan individuals to the pursuit of peace and democracy in Nicaragua.Evan MawarireEvan Mawarire is a Zimbabwean pastor and democratic activist. He founded #ThisFlag, a peaceful movement that ignited public demand for government accountability amidst widespread corruption and proved instrumental in the protests that led to Robert Mugabe’s resignation. ^^ Mawarire has received fellowships from Stanford and Yale, as well as the National Endowment for Democracy. In 2016, he was named one of Foreign Policy Magazine’s "100 Global Thinkers." Mawarire was nominated for the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards in 2017, and the prestigious Per Anger Prize in 2018. Currently, he is the Director of Education at the Renew Democracy Initiative.Naseemah MohamedNaseemah Mohamed is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Humanitarian Collaborative at the University of Virginia. Mohamed received her doctorate in comparative and international education policy as a Rhodes Scholar from the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the interrelation of education, media, race, global politics, and violence in decolonial movements in Southern Africa during the twentieth century. Her most recent projects document the use of education as a political, ideological, and physical tool of war during Zimbabwe's war of independence from the white settler government in Rhodesia, and the latter’s significance as a global symbol of white supremacy.Brian OwensbyBrian Owensby is a professor in the Corcoran Department of History, where he also served as the department chair from 2009 to 2012. His books include an investigation of the 20th-century Brazilian middle class, an examination of how indigenous people used law and litigation to assert political rights in seventeenth-century Mexico, a comparison of Iberian and Anglo imperial legality (with Prof. Richard Ross), and an exploration of economic gain and the struggle over human sociability between Europeans and the Indigenous Guaraní in early-modern South America. His current project is entitled A Moral history of the Rich. Owensby also serves as Director of the Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation in the Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs.Steve ParksSteve Parks is a professor in the Writing and Rhetoric Program at the University of Virginia's Department of English, and a co-founder of Syrians for Truth and Justice. Currently the editor of Studies in Writing and Rhetoric, Parks' early work focused on the Students' Right to Their Own Language, particularly the need to embed the SRTOL's politics into progressive community partnerships and publications. This led him to create New City Community Press in Philadelphia, which links university classrooms, local communities, and publishing technologies in their efforts to expand human rights. Currently, he is working with Syrian activists to record the human rights abuses of the current regime, ISIS, and militia active in Syria.Srdja PopovicSrdja Popovic was a founding member of the student movement Otpor! ("Resistance!"), which played a crucial role in toppling the Milosevic regime. A co-founder of CANVAS (Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies), he now works as a global activist and educator. Popovic has taught university courses on organizing tactics and workshops on how nonviolence can achieve positive social change. He's also authored several publications on the topic, including the book Blueprint for Revolution. ^^ Popovic has received the Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award, Brown Democracy Medal, and the 2010 PL-Fonden Freedom Award. Foreign Policy Magazine named Popovic one of their "100 Global Thinkers" in 2011, and the World Economic Forum in Davos listed him as a 2014 Young Global Leader. Since 2021, Popovic has held the position of Visiting Researcher at the University of Virginia.N. Camilo Sánchez-LeonN. Camilo Sánchez-Leon joined the University of Virginia Law faculty in 2018 as Director of the International Human Rights Clinic. Prior to this, he served as the Research Director of the Center for the Study of Law, Justice, and Society (Dejusticia). Sánchez has also worked as a consultant and legal expert on human rights issues for academic institutions, as well as both inter- and non-governmental organizations. He previously served with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Colombian Commission of Jurists. Sánchez-Leon has been a regular contributor to the Colombian newspaper El Espectador and writes editorials for numerous law blogs.Lean SweeneyLean Sweeney has been an Assistant Professor, General Faculty at UVA since 2019. Her work focuses on the impact of theories of space, frontiers and borderlands on the creation of nations, citizens, and criminality. Her two books, Supervivencia de los bandidos: los mayas icaichés y la política fronteriza del sureste de la península de Yucatán, 1847-1904 (UNAM, 2006), and Emigrados: Migration, Expulsion and Transnational Politics in Nineteenth Century Mexico and Guatemala (under review) focus on the frontiers between Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. She teaches Human Rights in Latin America, Modern Central America, Latin American Borderlands, Race and State in Mexico and Women, Migration and Violence.Myo Yan Naung TheinMyo Yan Naung Thein is a Burmese pro-democracy activist, and the co-founder and former director of the Bayda Institute. He spent more than a decade in various prisons due to his democratic efforts under military dictatorship. In the aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, Myo Yan Naung Thein was forced to flee his country; he currently serves as a Visiting Researcher in the Department of English at the University of Virginia. He has met with many leaders around the world including US President Barack Obama, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, and British Foreign Secretary William Hague.Jhanisse Vaca-DazaJhanisse Vaca-Daza is the founder of Ríos de Pie, which is currently organizing Bolivians citizens to build a society with freedom, justice and respect for environmental rights through nonviolent action and citizenry education. Her activism began as homemade initiatives against Bolivia’s Evo Morales, but has grown to tackle intersectional issues such as human rights and the environment. In addition to leading movements herself, she is a frequent mentor and teacher to other activists around the world. She works closely with the Human Rights Foundation to manage their Freedom Fellowship program. She is a frequent author on the democratic struggle in Bolivia, with her writing appearing in The Oslo Times.Levi VonkLevi Vonk is the Guerrant Global Health Equity Professor in the Global Studies Program at the University of Virginia. A medical anthropologist and creative nonfiction author, he conducts ethnographic research with Central American migrants traveling through Mexico. His first book, Border Hacker, was a finalist for the Chautauqua Prize. It traces the history of migrant caravans and migrant political activism in Mexico through the journey of Axel Kirschner, an undocumented migrant and computer hacker. Levi worked with Axel to create what they call "multi-narrator nonfiction," a methodology in which the subject co-authors portions of their story in their own first-person voice. His next book is an ethnographic and political history of border militarization and externalization in Mexico.DFP StudentsHaley ElszaszHayley Elszasz is a fifth-year doctoral student in the Politics Department at UVA. Her dissertation is about the intersections between climate and democracy in American cities; specifically, how residents get involved in making climate mitigation policy decisions in their localities. Hayley also works on the Democratic Futures Project in the Philippines, through which she assists democracy advocates who study rural conceptions of democracy. Her work for the project includes cleaning and analyzing interview and survey data as well as advising on social science research methodologies.Angela Grey-TheriotAngela Grey-Theriot is a fourth-year student majoring in Leadership and Public Policy and minoring in Global Studies in Education. Angela is a first-generation Ghanaian American, driven to improve disparities in civil rights, education, healthcare, and food insecurity domestically and globally. She's served as President of Black Student Leaders in Policy, Director of External Affairs for The Equity Collab, Treasurer of the Undergraduate Black Law Student Association, and a peer advisor for the Office of African American Affairs. As Executive Editor of Cultural and Educational Projects for the New City Community Press, Angela helps edit and publish books oriented towards global advocacy and social justice. Projects include an anthology showcasing the younger generation's commitment to forward-looking solutions, and an IRB study which analyzes the experiences and viewpoints of Black women attending predominantly white institutions.Sarah MenchavezSarah Menchavez is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in Global Studies and minoring in Data Science. Her current capstone research revolves around the emerging virtual economy and recent changes to cyber sex work and cyber sex trafficking industries in Southeast Asian countries. Sarah is interested in the role that technology, digital literacy, and IT infrastructure play in ethical data collection under rising global inequality. Cross-referencing various measures from Economist Intelligence Unit and Freedom House reports, Sarah’s work with the Democratic Futures Project will assess the state of democracy, globally, with an aim toward effectively communicating stories uncovered through data analysis.Eliza PicheEliza Piche is a first-year Echols Scholar pursuing a double major in Global Public Health and Public Policy. In her future career she hopes to do advocacy work focusing on ameliorating the health challenges that marginalized groups face. Eliza has worked with Evan Mawarire to create a modular system for teaching African pastors how to be more politically involved within their community. She is currently interning at the Presidential Precinct in Charlottesville, to identify the humanitarian advocates fighting for greater democracy, who will be invited to further develop their advocacy work with the Precinct's Democracy Fellowship program.Peyton RussellPeyton Russell is a second-year majoring in Economics and minoring in Spanish. She is also enrolled in the accelerated Master of Public Policy program. In her time at UVA, she has explored different perspectives on the economic and political struggles present in developing nations. Most recently, she worked with the Burmese Democratic Futures Writing Group to share the stories of various citizens of Myanmar, and their global call to action in support of democracy. She intends to continue her role as a democratic advocate through studies of development policy and non-violent demonstrations and movements.Lauren TaylorLauren Taylor is a second-year majoring in Global Studies with minors in bioethics and Spanish. She intends to become a physician to address global health disparities from a community-based participatory development approach. She collaborated with Myo Yan Naung Thein to share the narratives and entreaties for global assistance from Burmese refugees fighting to reestablish democracy after the recent military coup. As a member of the Minority Rights Coalition, she works to educate the university on historically marginalized people’s experiences. Lauren intends to examine different perspectives on development policies originating in the Global South and continue advocating for nonviolent, democratic movements.Tanvika VegirajuTanvika Vegiraju is a third-year undergraduate student, with a double major in Neuroscience and English. She hopes to attend medical school in the future; ultimately, she wants to pursue a career in global health with a focus on infectious diseases. As a result, she is interested in studying how basic health needs are affected globally during times of war and conflict. She is currently writing a research article on the Myanmar health crisis as a model for the historical trend of how militaries weaponize human health.Grace GentGrace Gent is a first-year Echols scholar, double majoring in English and Foreign Affairs. She plans to attend graduate school and pursue a career in commercial publishing. She hopes to use her global advocacy background to amplify works that tackle contemporary issues of race, gender, sexuality, and class. She is currently working on several projects as an editorial intern at New City Community Press. She previously worked with Evan Mawarire to develop the Pastor Advocacy Institute, a program that aims to teach young African pastors how to effectively organize for political and social reform within their communities.Patrick LambrechtPatrick Lambrecht is a second-year undergraduate majoring in global security & justice. He is interested in interstate conflict and aims to use his interdisciplinary education to understand how cultural differences influence conflict. He hopes to work in international relations, with the goal of finding diplomatic solutions to avoid kinetic confrontations between states. Currently, he is interning with the Democratic Futures Project to document the efforts of Burmese democratic advocates. His work has included writing and publishing biographies of democratic activists facing persecution from Myanmar's ruling junta.Madison ObermeyerMadison Obermeyer is a second-year Echols Scholar and a double major in economics and politics. She hopes to attend law school and pursue a career in rights litigation within supranational organizations. Madison is interested in the global interplay of power, especially between historically marginalized political groups and contingencies that perpetuate authority. Madison is interning with Srdja Popovic and CANVAS to construct a course on backsliding democracies. This entails a comparative case-study analysis of current regimes to determine what factors influence machine politics and how external constituencies can undermine such systems through nonviolent means.Pratha PurushottamPratha Purushottam is a second-year double majoring in Political Philosophy, Policy & Law, and Foreign Affairs. Her current research interests include human rights, arbitrary detention, best practices to prevent genocide, and the latter’s wider impact. Pratha is currently writing an article for the Undergraduate Law Review about the due process rights of Guantanamo Bay detainees. She intends to pursue a career in international human rights law. Recently, she collaborated with the Burmese Democratic Futures Writing Group and Myo Yan Naung Thein to edit and compile interviews with Burmese refugees into a book meant to provide an international platform and call to action. Pratha plans to continue her advocacy efforts by advocating for democracy globally.Yossra SamghouliYossra Samghouli is a first-year Echols and Walentas scholar studying foreign affairs with a minor in Spanish or Arabic. Yossra is a first-generation university student and a Muslim woman of color passionate about advocating for underserved communities. She’s involved in community-oriented initiatives to address structural inequities as an assistant manager at a social policy-based research lab at the Darden School, with a particular interest in the complexity of belonging. Her research will inform efforts aimed at promoting social connection and well-being within the college community and beyond. Yossra plans to pursue a career in governmental policy, international legal work, and human rights advocacy.Keya TurkiewiczKeya Turkiewicz is a second-year Echols scholar, majoring in cognitive science and global development studies. She plans to use this interdisciplinary background in culturally-informed research about the benefits of education for populations that face ongoing violence and oppression, as part of the international non-profit sector. She is part of the Starr Hill Pathways Program, which provides mentorship to lower-income BIPOC youth from schools in the region. She currently works with Evan Mawarire to develop his Pastor Advocacy Institute, which will train young ministers in Southern Africa to use their platforms to create democratic movements for change in their communities.Gloria WuGloria Wu is a fourth year undergraduate student studying Foreign Affairs and Anthropology at UVA. Her research focuses on human rights, diversity and equity in politics, and grassroots mobilization. She is currently working on a project for the Burmese Democratic Futures Working Group to document demonstrations, election updates, military clashes, political events and human rights violations taking place in Myanmar. She participated in a book project to document the experiences of people displaced by the Military Coup in 2021. She is also an intern for the Center of Politics, working on nonpartisan political advocacy and education projects. Additionally, she is the intern for the Multilingual Outreach Volunteer Effort that translates critical documents for immigrant and non-native English speakers in the greater Charlottesville area. She is very involved in student groups at UVA, including being Diversity, Equity and Inclusion chair for Fourth Year Council (Trustees). She is also involved in APISAA organizations that are for empowerment, community building, and upliftment. Democratic Futures Project FundersThe Democratic Futures Project is funded by the Karsh Institute for Democracy and the Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation. Karsh Institute for DemocracyCenter for Global Inquiry and InnovationDemocracy's promise of political representation and collective rights is realized_c2d38d80-3f35-11ef-b7b3-291f1183ea00To develop a new rhetoric and set of strategies for communal struggle_c2d38e34-3f35-11ef-b7b3-291f1183ea00DemocracyDemocracy is tested most at the edges -- the space where those who are displaced and marginalized from the centers of power attempt to build collective campaigns for the recognition of their rights. As such, democracy depends on rhetorical practices steeped in local knowledges and mobilized through pragmatic actions. Today, however, the rhetorics and practices crafted to produce inclusive democratic rights within the United States and abroad have seemingly lost traction in the face of authoritarian leaders, economic disparities, and justice too-often denied. As a result, we believe that a new rhetoric and set of strategies for communal struggle must be generated to ensure democracy's promise of political representation and collective rights. CitizenshipEngagementDemocracy & CitizenshipBring together academics, advocates, and policy makers to develop sustained engagement with local and international communities working to reinvigorate democracy and citizenship_c2d38e66-3f35-11ef-b7b3-291f1183ea00AcademicsAdvocatesPolicy MakersTo that end, the Democratic Futures Project brings together academics, advocates, and policy makers to develop sustained engagement with local and international communities working to reinvigorate a democracy and citizenship premised on inclusive, tolerant, and equitable practices.ResearchSupport research collaborations which join the rigor of scholarship to the needs of local communities actively working to expand democratic and human rights_c2d38ef2-3f35-11ef-b7b3-291f1183ea001Local CommunitiesResearchersBurmese Democratic Futures Working GroupThe DFP is working with Myo Yan Naung Thein, founder of the Burmese Democratic Futures Working Group (BDFWG) to conduct research on the ruling military authority’s use of disinformation to heighten ethnic division and discredit the democratic resistance movement. As part of this work, the BDFWG has developed research reports which document the military’s brutal suppression of the Myanmar people. It has also developed a database which records the multi-generational work of non-violent advocates to create a democracy in Myanmar. Finally, in consultation with Peace Appeal, the National Unity Government, and the National Unity Consultative Council, is also in the process of developing protocols for the emerging resistance militias (Professional Defense Forces) on how to comply with human rights standards in their a) social media postings and b) military actions. These protocols will be distributed through social media in the form of short videos that represent that also demonstrate how Myanmar's ethnic and religious communities are unified in support of such rights. Srdja PopovicOslo Freedom Fellows ~ ​The DFP is working with Srdja Popovic to research the Oslo Freedom Fellows (OFF) a program that brings together 10 emergent international democratic advocates for an intensive year of training in nonviolent strategies. This research aims to determine whether there are common skills and conceptual frameworks that expand the success rate democratic advocates, building on prior research that suggests human resources are the single greatest determinant of a nonviolent democratic movement’s success. Results will also be used to strengthen the OFF program.Jemhra GarciaPhillipines Rural Democracy Project ~ The DFP is working with Jemhra Garcia to support an ethnographic research project focused on how select rural fishing villages in the Philippines conceive of democratic political processes based upon the terminology of their local dialects and traditions. This research is connected to a campaign to strengthen democratic participation by these communities in the face of an expanding authoritarian government.Jhanisse Vaca-DazaRios de Pie ~ The DFP is working with Jhanisse Vaca-Daza, one of the founders of Rios de Pie which advocates for the protection of the Bolivian rainforest. This project has two components. First, Professor Chris Carter is working with Vaca-Daza to create a research plan to understand how Rios de Pie melded nonviolent strategies to regional conceptions of democracy in order to create one of the first nationwide environmental rights movements in Bolivia, cultivating solidarity across regional and identarian divides. Second, in support of Rios de Pie efforts to highlight the destruction caused by intentionally set forest fires destroying the Bolivian rainforest to create more farmland, the DFP is providing data on the hectares of rain forest being destroyed. Bassam AlahmadSyrians for Truth & Justice ~ Together with Bassam Alahmad, the DFP is conducting research on Kurdish conceptions of democratic practices to support reconciliation projects in northern Syria. Within Syria, research is also being conducted on whether the rhetorical frame of "environmental standards" might provide leverage to introduce human rights discourse into the rebuilding of the country as well as an additional project to explore how religious and community traditions might offer legal protection to women suffering domestic violence. As such, the DFP is committed to supporting research collaborations which join the rigor of scholarship to the needs of local communities actively working to expand democratic and human rights.PartnershipsCreate partnerships between university professors and democratic advocates, where research questions emerge from questions emerging from advocacy work_c2d38f1a-3f35-11ef-b7b3-291f1183ea002University ProfessorsDemocratic AdvocatesPastor Evan MawarireThe Nehemiah Project ~ The DFP is working with Pastor Evan Mawarire, #ThisFlag/Zimbabwe, to create a curriculum to support young pastors in Southern Africa who want to link the social mission of The Bible to the needs of their pastoral community. Once developed, the DFP will work to create the infrastructure necessary to support the first cohort, followed by a research project to assess its success and long-term impact.Manessah MathiangSouth Sudan and Sudanese Artists Role in Influencing Democratic Processes ~ The DFP is working with Manessah Mathiang, The Hagiga Project, to document how music has been used by non-violent advocates to support democratic movements in Sudan/South Sudan. This work will involve an extensive ethnographic project focused on the musicians, poets, writers, and artists who have been active in movements, such as Antaban, which have expanded democratic rights for the Sudanese. To this end, the DFP has developed a model which creates partnerships between university professors and democratic advocates, where research questions emerge from questions emerging from advocacy work.Courses & InternshipsSponsor undergraduate courses and internships_c2d38f92-3f35-11ef-b7b3-291f1183ea003UndergraduatesFinally, the DFP recognizes our collective responsibility to the next generation of democratic advocates. To that end, DFP sponsors a series of robust undergraduate courses and internships that enable students to develop a theoretical framework on democracy, engage directly with our global advocacy partners, and publish work that will circulate globally.2024-07-11https://www.democraticfuturesproject.com/OwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net