"Transnational Organized Crime"
Bruce Zagaris, Esq., Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, LLP
January 16, 2007, 12:10 PM
California Western School of Law

"Nuclear, Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Weapons"
Larry D. Johnson, United Nations Office of Legal Counsel
February 27, 2007, 12:10 PM
California Western School of Law

"War Between States"
Mary Ellen O'Connell,
Notre Dame Law School
March 6, 2007, 4:00 PM
Weaver Center, Institute of the Americas, UCSD

"Imminence and Proportionality: The U.S. and UK Response to Global Terrorism"
Todd Landman, University of Essex
March 29, 2007, 12:10 PM California Western School of Law

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A Glance into the Life of Professor Gerry Mackie

The Institute for International and Comparative Area Studies is pleased to profile the work of professor Gerry Mackie, a recent addition (2005) to the department of Political Science here at the University of California, San Diego.   After graduating from the University of Oregon in 1990 with a M.S. in Political Science, and prior to entering graduate school at the University of Chicago, Mackie worked as a labor and political organizer in Oregon.   After fifteen years he grew bored of practical politics saying that "these experiences are a background to my thinking, and provide examples for teaching" and thus were valuable to his academic development.  Mackie's real world political experience grounds his research in a potentially abstract field.

     Professor Mackie's current interests and teachings lie in normative political theory, especially democratic theory, the history of political thought, ethics, public policy, and collective action as applied formal theory and comparative politics and historical sociology.  Ten years ago in 1996 Mackie wrote a comparative paper which was later published in the American Sociological Review comparing the antiquated practice of female foot binding in China to the present day female genital cutting (FGC) practiced in parts of Africa and the Middle East.  The articles drew intrigue and propelled Mackie into an area of practicality which he thought he had previously left behind.  Mackie journeyed to Senegal working with the international non-governmental organization Tostan (the name meaning "breakthrough" in Wolof, a language of Senegal and Gambia) to support and advise communities on the abandonment of FGC.  Tostan promotes social transformation through a non-formal education program including literacy, numeracy, human rights, problem-solving, leadership, health, democracy and management skills.

     Previous research on FGC has focused on the "irrationality" and the "savageness" of the practice.  Believing that parents love for their children would lead them to choose the best for their child, Mackie looked for a rational explanation for why loving parents would chose to have their daughters subjected to a painful and dangerous procedure.  Mackie found that the practice of FGC was closely tied to a woman's marrigability.  Performing FGC ensures respectability for the woman and her family in the eyes of the community and potential spouses.  When parents decide for their daughter to undergo FGC, they feel that the cost of the practice is worth the improved social standing, for the parents and for their daughter.

     Since 2004 Professor Mackie has been working with UNICEF implementing his successful method for helping communities abandon the practice of FGC as a model both within Senegal and also within other countries.  Mackie says, "We are in the midst of massive social change and it is exciting".  Since 1997, over 1,000 villages, encompassing 800,000 people in Senegal and now also in Burkina Faso, have publicly declared an end to FGC as a result of working with Tostan and UNICEF.  The same methods are being introduced in Guinea, Gambia, Somalia, and elsewhere. 

     If you are interested in learning more about FGC, Molly Melching, the founder and executive director of Tostan, will be speaking on "Mass Abandonments of Female Genital Cutting in Africa" at UCSD on February 1st from 4:00PM-6:00PM in the Robinson Auditorium about her work in Senegal and this very important human rights issue.  Please also see the Tostan website www.tostan.org to learn more about their work.

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2006-2007 International Law Series
Presents

"Constructing an International Enforcement Regime Against Transnational Organized Crime"  
by Bruce Zagaris, ESQ.

Biography
Bruce Zagaris practices law in Washington, D.C., where he is a partner with Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, LLP.  He has served as a consultant, counsel, and lobbyist for 14 governments and served as counsel in more than 40 criminal trials on the national and international levels.  His criminal work has included counseling on extradition and international evidence-gathering cases and testifying as an expert in international criminal cases involving money laundering and tax crimes.  Zagaris was an adjunct professor for six years at the American University Washington College of Law, teaching international business criminal law.

The speaker series is co-sponsored by the International Legal Studies Program, California Western School of Law and the Institute for International, Comparative, and Area Studies (IICAS) at the University of California, San Diego