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For more information, please contact [email protected]. volume 20 THE spring 2012 LEHIGH REVIEW progression and reflection editor in chief staff james suh marketing editor credits sarah strackhouse design editor margaret griffiths facilitator catherine burton staff editors jane givens alyssa pasquini sheron tang cory tucker production with help from special donald hall saladin ambar edurne portelo henri barkey sue shell anna chupa thanks kate crassons design support krista evans jason stanford ben felzer funding betsy fifer the humanities norman girardot center chaim kaufmann jackie krasas printing kevin narizny christmas city james peterson printing co., inc. brian pinaire amber rice roger simon Rhythm Pei Pei Yang 2 THE LEHIGH REVIEW 20 12 3 letter from the editor I am proud to present the twentieth edi- tion of The Lehigh Review: Progression and Reflection. Assembling the journal was both a pleasure and a challenge, and it could not have been possible without the hard work of our staff, featured authors, artists and the help of our faculty support- ers. Their efforts are prominent in this spe- cial twentieth anniversary edition. Under the theme of Progression and Reflec- tion, we continued to evolve our aesthetic language while celebrating The Lehigh Review’s renowned past. Our goal was to reflect the history of the journal by includ- ing the best academic writing by Lehigh undergraduates from various fields of study while advancing our direction as respected university scholarly journal. We wanted to create an edition that el- evates our readers’ expectations of both the quality of articles and artwork as well as the aesthetics of future editions. This exceptional volume not only celebrates our twentieth mark of existence but also distinguishes the auspicious future of The Lehigh Review. We hope these carefully selected essays Don’t You Think I’m Beautiful Kenny Barry 5 Now in its twentieth publication, The Lehigh Review has firmly established itself as the University’s lead- 2012ing undergraduate research journal. The past twenty years have witnessed the continual growth and transformation of The Review. From monochromatic covers and experimenta- tions in humor to student art inserts and increasingly varied subject matter, The Review has undergone a persistent evolu- tion. What remains constant, however, from volumes one through twenty, is the impressive quality of student work showcased in the journal. Throughout its many iterations, The Lehigh Review has remained dedicated to publishing work which demonstrates imagination, original insight and students’ mastery of their crafts. 1992 2002 2003 2007 2011 6 THE LEHIGH REVIEW table of contents 8 tierney gallagher Women and Unionism: How the Shirtwaist Makers Strike of 1909 Precipitated Female Organization and Unionism in the Garment Industry 16 jacob kennon Democracy in Japan: From Meiji to MacArthur 26 erika peters Flawed by Design 32 karen timmerman Understanding the Resource Curse: Why Some Get More Sick Than Others 44 gina notaro Characterization of Glycine Receptor Expression in the Avian Auditory Brainstem 54 anu paulose Adam and Eve: an Adaptation 64 stephen erbrick Economization of the Sierra Leone War 74 emily purcell Poverty, Inequality and Power Dynamics: Women and their Role in the Haitian AIDS Epidemic 81 artwork 90 about the contributors 92 endnotes 7 The New York City garment workers’ strike of 1909 was women laborers’ first effort to organize, unionize and advocate for industrial democracy. Seeking fair wages, dependable work and an end to harsh conditions, women from various social backgrounds and ethnicities WOMEN united behind this cause. These revolutionaries gained AND the attention of the press and labor leaders as well as the UNIONISM: compassion of the public, How the Shirtwaist Makers Strike of 1909 laying the foundation for Precipitated Female Organization and future labor achievements in Unionism in the Garment Industry the garment industry and for workers in the coming decade. by Tierney Gallagher Untitled (detail) Sam Andersen 9 he fall of 1909 brought to- Europe. Upon their arrival they sought common for Jewish women and girls to gether many complex social the comforts of a familiar community and be involved in a small trade or business, and industrial circumstances were inclined to live and work amongst selling goods or services to earn money that, in their culmination, fellow Jews. Transition into an unfamiliar to fund the education of men in the fam- elicited a revolutionary re- city and adjustment to the demanding ily. Selfless and hardworking, immigrant Tsponse that has come to be known as the conditions of industrial work were eased women saw themselves as part of a bigger shirtwaist makers’ strike of 1909. Unique through the backing of ethnic environ- system: that of their family, of their ethnic to this strike were its participants, over ments. As Francoise Basch explains, community and the industrial workforce. 80% of whom were women, from differ- “Familiar landmarks and human support Evidence of this is reported by Basch, who ent social classes, ethnic backgrounds cushioned the immigrants’ head on colli- states, “…married or unmarried, almost and varying levels of industrial skill sets. sion with a foreign and hostile culture.”1 90 percent [Jewish working women] in When organized, these women produced Upon their arrival to New York, immi- New York City turned over all of their a mass movement to challenge the condi- grants flocked to the lower east side, where wages to their families.”4 The unique cul- tions of labor, the controlling tactics of they lived in near-slum conditions in tene- tural traditions of immigrant women pre- employers, and their rights as workers ment houses. The characteristics of such pared them for the thankless, harsh work and in doing so, sought the promise of dwellings included overcrowding, poor typical of the garment industry in 1909. industrial democracy. On a larger scale, construction, and inadequate sanitary and Aside from a shared culture, the major- the shirtwaist makers and their allies tran- safety conditions such as toilets, wash bins ity of the garment strikes shared another scended the divisions of class, ethnicity and fire escapes. Despite the dismal physi- unifying and dominant feature: being and traditional gender roles to advocate cal surroundings, neighborhoods were female. The gender stratification of the for the shared ideal of women’s rights. For cultural centers, fostering shared values workforce put women workers in a subor- three months, thousands of garment work- of the homeland and stability of common dinate position to their male employers. ers, mostly Jewish and Italian immigrants, tradition.2 The garment industry exploited this tradi- withstood cold, hunger, harassment and Such hardships of immigrant life often tion to a unique extreme. Women, espe- arrest and carried on their protest. Hop- plunged families into the depths of pover- cially immigrants, populated a workforce ing to achieve better hours, better wages, ty. In need of every financial contribution that employers viewed to be ignorant and dependable employments and union rec- they could earn, Jewish and Italian im- powerless. Consequently managers took ognition, garment workers were bolstered migrant women worked tirelessly for the advantage of garment working women.5 by the support of socialist leaders, socialite benefit of their families.3 Whether to send Standards of labor and employment and middle-class women and two promi- back to the home country, or to put the in 1909 focused obsessively on efficiency, nent female labor unions. The success of next meal on the table, the need for money the reduction of waste in production and this strike has been interpreted differently was never absent. Consequently, employ- maximizing profit. The conflict that arose depending on the measure of success. ees of the garment trade were driven work- between workers and employers in the Though it failed in gaining a closed shop ers. The burden of working to benefit their New York garment industry derived from garment industry, the shirtwaist maker’s families proved to be a powerful incentive the incompatibility of workers’ desired strike of 1909 made great strides in better- in tolerating the toils of industrial work. treatment and the goals of production. In- ing the conditions of work in the garment The mindset of an immigrant worker was dustrial management favored production, industry: it united women workers in also that of a vulnerable employee. When however, and the garment workers paid overcoming ethnic and class boundaries, considering that these overworked gar- the price. The garment industry, relatively effectively arming labor reformers and ment makers were mainly female, the in- new to manufacturing since the 1890s, feminists with the support and experience fluence of family patriarchy contributed to functioned as a unique system that, in its to make meaningful change in the years the custom of subservience demonstrated practice, frustrated its employees.6 Sea- to come. by working immigrant women. Jewish sonal labor, long hours, petty fines and the The marks of immigration were domi- women in particular were subject to cul- harassment of mangers were the staples nant in the lives of many garment work- tural norms that expected obedience. They of this industry and so too the complaints ers in the early twentieth century. The were excluded from religious practices and of its workers. Melvyn Dubofsky expands workforce was comprised predominantly governed by their male kin, all the while on the complexities of the garment trade of Jewish women migrants from Eastern managing domestic duties. It was not un- structure: “Diversity and instability 10 THE LEHIGH REVIEW shaped all aspects of the garment industry.