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UMass Amherst Human Security Lab Director Charli Carpenter, political science, is interviewed about the lab’s new report on a travel ban on civilian men imposed by the Ukrainian government shortly after Russia invaded the country in 2022. “This is a perfect example of a law that is based on a gendered assumption about… who should be able to access legal protections for civilians, like the right to flee a war zone,” Carpenter says. (War & Peace podcast, 7/12/23; News Office release)

Human Security Lab launched a major report this week on the humanitarian and strategic impact of President Zelensky's travel ban on civilian men 18-60. Professor Carpenter appeared on a podcast at International Crisis Group to discuss the new report, which recommends the travel ban be lifted and that the human rights and humanitarian community ensure protection of all civilians regardless of gender. Read about it here.

Tatishe Nteta, provost professor of political science and director of the UMass Poll, discusses public opinion as the State of California considers implementing large-scale reparations for Black residents affected by the legacy of slavery. Nteta says the 2021 poll found that 80% of Black residents support making cash payments to descendants of enslaved Americans, while 80% of white residents object. “ When we ask people why they oppose, it’s not about the cost. It’s not about logistics. It’s not about the impossibility to place a monetary value on the impact of slavery. It is consistently this notion that the descendants of slaves do not deserve these types of reparations,” Nteta says. (The Guardian, 7/11/23; News Office release)

The Human Security Lab has released a new report detailing far-reaching implications of a travel ban on men imposed by the Ukrainian government shortly after Russia invaded the country in 2022. The ban, which applies to nearly 9.5 million civilian men aged 18 to 60 in Ukraine, has separated families, trapped college students and other nonresidents inside the country, and limited the freedom of movement of transgender women. “Ukraine is rightly fighting for its life against an invader, but this report shows that it’s high time to rethink this particular law on humanitarian and strategic grounds,” says Charli Carpenter, professor of political science and director of the Lab. (Middle East Consumer Product News, CBS 17 [N.C.], 7/10/23; News Office release)

On the program Talking Politics, Tatishe Nteta, director of the UMass Poll, discusses how recent Supreme Court decisions might affect the 2024 elections. Nteta says, “I think a lot of Americans are increasingly concerned about what role the Court is playing in our political institutions, and our politics more generally. And I think that’s something that’s going to be mobilizing not just for Democratic constituencies, but for large swaths of Americans.” (GBH, 7/7/23)

The Human Security Lab fosters interdisciplinary research & stakeholder engagement in the service of protecting vulnerable populations around the world. Learn how faculty & students work together to elevate marginalized voices by reading the recent profile written by UMass.

Ray La Raja, political science, is quoted in an opinion piece on factors likely to determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. “The economy is the source of the most uncertainty — it is doing well, although inflation is not fully tamed,” La Raja says. “Will things continue to improve, and will [President Joe] Biden start to get credit? This is especially important for white working-class voters in swing states like Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania.” (The New York Times, 7/5/23)

 

Paul Collins, legal studies and political science, says a ruling against the state of Alabama in a case about the Voting Rights Act was the most surprising of the Court’s recently-ended term. “Historically, Chief Justice Roberts (who wrote the opinion) has not been a big fan of the Voting Rights Act, so it was somewhat surprising to see him write this opinion and to also determine that the Voting Rights Act had in fact been violated by the state of Alabama,” Collins says. (Yahoo! News, 6/30/23)

 

Political science Ph.D. student Justin Burnworth, who is also an attorney, discusses whether the state of New York’s Son of Sam law applies to the Anna Delvey podcast. The law is intended to prevent criminals from profiting off their crimes. Delvey, an alias used by Anna Sorokin, was convicted of eight charges in a high-profile case in which she posed as a wealthy Manhattan heiress. Sorokin currently hosts a podcast and was also the subject of a Netflix series. (Town & Country, 6/30/23)

UMass Amherst Poll Director Tatishe Nteta, political science, comments on a reparations proposal in California, which is now in the hands of Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers. “If it fails in California, that is a harbinger for the movement and that it is actually not going to gain steam in a lot of other states,” Nteta says. “But if it succeeds, then it has this symbolic and substantive impact that is going to be really important for this movement going forward.” A UMass Amherst Poll in January found 36% of respondents said they supported cash payments for the descendants of slaves, while 63% were opposed. (Los Angeles Times, 6/29/23; News Office release)

 

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