Political Science

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This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's Department of Political Science.

Research outputs are organized by type (eg. Master Thesis, Article, Conference Paper).

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Browsing Political Science by Author "Momani, Bessma"

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    Representations of Violent Women in Popular Culture and World Politics: The Mothers, Monsters, Whores, and Penitents of Young Adult Fantasy
    (University of Waterloo, 2018-08-21) Lopour, Jacqueline; Momani, Bessma; Ettinger, Aaron
    As young adult fiction has surged in popularity over the past decade, a popular new sub-genre has emerged. These novels feature high-fantasy stories with young female heroines who are fighters, assassins, spies, and rebel leaders. In this paper, I argue that representations of women’s violence in these stories have implications for global politics. Although these young-adult heroines are intended to serve as examples of female empowerment, the characters reflect dominant social, academic, and political narratives that depict violent women as either mothers, monsters, or whores (Sjoberg and Gentry 2007). Into this conversation I introduce a fourth narrative, that of penitent, which portrays women's political violence as an unnatural, transitional state to be ultimately rejected. This paper explores how three bestselling young adult fantasy series engage with these narratives and argues that—despite their feminist intentions—these novels reflect, reinforce and strengthen gender subordinating narratives that undermine the agency of violent women.
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    A Vicious Cycle: An Examination of How the Feedback Loop Between Coup-proofing and Regime Insecurity Helped Facilitate the Rise of Pro-Government Militias in the Syrian Conflict
    (University of Waterloo, 2021-09-16) Mohamad, Nizar; Momani, Bessma; Lanoszka, Alexander
    This thesis explores the emergence of pro-government militias (PGMs) within the context of the post-2011 intrastate conflict in Syria. It investigates the factors that contributed to the breakdown of Syria’s armed forces during their counterinsurgency (COIN) campaign. By inquiring into the mechanisms that drove the unravelling of Syria’s coercive machinery, this thesis sheds light on why the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad specifically resorted to leveraging irregular forces to which security functions conventionally reserved for the state were outsourced. As such, this thesis asks the following research question: What are the drivers underpinning the employment of PGMs in the post-2011 Syrian conflict? This thesis progresses in four main parts. First, it introduces the purpose, relevance, and methodology of the research, followed by a literature review that engages with the scholarly work surrounding the use of PGMs in COIN settings. Second, it highlights how Syrian President Bashar al-Assad coup-proofed his coercive forces, prioritizing coup risk mitigation over military effectiveness. The subordination of their coercive institutions in accordance with strategies deliberately intended to divide them resulted in a dysfunctional security sector that third, was incapable of cohesively performing combatively and withstanding the advances of insurgents once the uprising had militarized. Fourth, it demonstrates that as the Syrian regime became more insecure, it outsourced greater functions to PGMs in order to compensate for the depletion of the state’s official armed and security forces. This thesis ultimately argues that a vicious cycle between coup-proofing and regime insecurity created a feedback loop that motivated the Syrian regime to resort to incorporating PGMs into its COIN effort.