Lord Sowah

University of Alberta, Political Science, Alumnus

University of Ghana, Political Science, Alumnus

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I am always on a mission to discover new opportunities where I can demonstrate my enthusiasm and motivation to learn the “tricks of the trade” and become a valuable employee. A few of my career goals are to work in International Relations, Policy & Development Studies. I thoroughly enjoy helping others, particularly my coworkers because of the several times we have achieved more by supporting, trusting and communicating with each other. Currently I am instructing myself in Microsoft Excel & Access to improve my productivity, as well as attending training courses in various Political Science and law subjects and computer skills. I constantly reference several of my Political Science conference papers, presentations and graduate course books to refresh my memory and retain my skills. My ultimate goal is to work for an organization who will respect and trust me to do the right thing and will provide advancement opportunities so that I can be 100% and more in the short and long run.

Currently, Lord is a graduate student at the University of Alberta pursuing graduate studies in Political Science specializing in International Development Studies (Global-South). My current line of research is situated on "Police Reform and Democratic Nurturing in Retrospection: The case of transitional countries."

Also, researches into Development Studies, International Relations, Comparative Politics, Security, Peace, Conflict, Freedom, Multiculturalism, Ethnicity, Nation, Human Rights, Minority Rights, International Law, International Organizations, Diplomacy. In addition, my versatility also finds favor with Conflict, violence and peace building, Peace and Conflict Studies, Media and Democracy, Democratization, Sociological theory/analysis, qualitative research methods, social anthropology, political sociology, social movements, democratization, State-society relations, civil society role in developing countries, and Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in the Transition Countries.
Supervisors: Dr. Jennifer Hsu and Dr Greg Anderson
Phone: 17808984586
Address: 4472 Beckett Road, Drayton Valley-Alberta. T7A1T6

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Papers by Lord Sowah

Financing Terror: Crime as cheerleader for Attacks Worldwide.

Since time immemorial, our world has seen much cruelty ranging from small to large scale forms of... more Since time immemorial, our world has seen much cruelty ranging from small to large scale forms of terror. The situation reached its peak on 9/11 with the attacks on the World Trade Center in the United States culminating in the latter's promulgation of its war-on-terror which saw to the dwindling support in state-sponsored terrorism. However, this paper examines the very notion of global terrorism and the dilemmas related to its definition, and further argues that coordinated or uncoordinated terrorist attacks have been made possible because terrorists have aligned with criminal gangs or directly engage in criminal activities such as trafficking in humans, kidnapping for ransoms, ammunitions and drugs smuggling, robbery among several others to help stage attacks worldwide. This paper further concludes by arguing that for terrorist financing to be fully dealt with head-on it will require a deeper understanding in countering the activities of criminal syndicates or gangs whose activities are often times in cooperation, coexistence or confluence with each other, both at the national, regional and global levels.

The Failed State-Organized Crime-Terrorism Nexus: The cases of Boko Haram and Al- Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

The West African region has raised controversies on the international political platform. As orga... more The West African region has raised controversies on the international political platform. As organized crimes create security threats globally, the collaboration between terrorists and organized criminality make the situation worse. Several authors present theories explaining why terrorism takes place, as well as why terrorists collaborate with criminals in carrying out certain activities. These theories explain the crime-terror nexus between organized criminality and terrorism. This paper discusses the issue of failed state, and Transnational Organized Crime in the terrorism nexus. The theories discussed in the paper include the structural causes; diffusion of terrorism; terrorism can creep through the boundaries of neighboring countries, and crime-terror intersections; the collaboration between terrorists and criminals to carry out coordinated attacks. Further, the paper addresses the possible modalities of convergence between terrorism and organized criminality by drawing from confluence; when terrorist activities are similar to those of organized criminality (kidnapping, theft, forgery, drug trafficking, and extortion for protection), transformation or hybrid blending, and cooperation with criminal gangs. The paper cites Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) as notable cases that provide meaning for all the three modalities of convergence. Finally, the paper concludes by highlighting some key policy recommendations and overall concluding remarks.

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What is the true meaning of Giorgio Agamben’s Bare Life/ Homo Sacer?

This paper analyses Agamben’s notion of homo sacer, showing how it should not be confined to the ... more This paper analyses Agamben’s notion of homo sacer, showing how it should not be confined to the field of a negative critique of politics. In his work, Agamben cautiously delineates a positive figure of homo sacer, whom, according to him, we all virtually are, ie. ‘homonis sacri’. Such figure would be able to subvert the form in which the relation between bare life and political existence has so far been both thought and lived in the West. How and when is this passage from negative to positive sacredness historically accomplished for Agamben? Is such transit after all thinkable? These are the two basic questions he both unintentionally formulates and leaves undecided in his book Homo Sacer (1995). Agamben further elaborates how his notion “bare life” helps in understanding contemporary issues such as the prisoner situation in Guatanamo Bay and the refugee situation that confronts our world of today.

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The Role of Social Media in Egypt’s “Facebook Revolution”: How the SPIN Model explains the conditions that led to the Revolutionary Change?

The role of the new information and communication technologies—in particular the new “social medi... more The role of the new information and communication technologies—in particular the new “social media” or “social networks”, like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter—is more and more a subject of debates, and also of disagreement. Nonetheless, these new “social media” has succeeded in instigating social and political change throughout the Middle East—particularly in galvanizing the youth, and empowering them in their fights against repressive regimes and their plight for more freedom and independence. This study looks into the social media role in the so-called “Facebook revolution”, which took place in Egypt in January 2011. The trajectory saw the revolution in Egypt succeed in toppling the Mubarak regime. Why did the calls for political change that started in the virtual world lead to actual change in the real world in Egypt? This paper seeks to answer these questions with the SPIN (Segmentation, polycentrism, integration and networking) as a theoretical framework and concluded that the model helped social media succeed in Egypt.

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Re-Claiming Development: "A Case for Critical Modernism”

This paper seeks to interrogate development discourse as currently constructed with respect to th... more This paper seeks to interrogate development discourse as currently constructed with respect to the search for solutions to the challenges of daily living in ‘developing countries’. The intention is to re-claim development to focus on the basic issues that make life worth living, noting that the dominant aspirations of poor people worldwide remain concerned with meeting basic needs and enhancing living standards. Grand theoretical positioning has done little to change living conditions and the prescriptions of the international financial institutions (IFIs) continue to make worse the poverty of the majority in the developing countries, rather than reducing it. The problem is that the approach to poverty reduction continues to be couched in the same narratives. The question as to why these narratives have not yielded the desired results is seldom asked. I argue that development should be seen as a political project and discussed within the perspectives of critical modernism, which recognizes the multiplicity of rationalities thereby abandoning the universalizing tendency of (European) modernization. Development and underdevelopment should be seen as integral parts of the distribution of power and authority and how these are controlled within and between countries/societies/groups. Poor countries are at the lower end of the international power perking order and this is seen in the wholesale acceptance of development policy directives even when these are detrimental to economic progress. Free trade never was an item in the industrialization drive of the rich countries and selective subsidies and import controls have been central to the recent economic success of the Asian tigers and the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries. Therefore, in addition to greater assertiveness in controlling economic policy, I present and discuss a series of practical and commonsensical directions for alternative political, social and economic development focusing on the need to bring back basic needs as the starting point to improve living conditions.

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The State and Economic Development:"The Success Story of Mauritius”

Government interventionism is widely acknowledged to characterize less-developed countries, but c... more Government interventionism is widely acknowledged to characterize less-developed countries, but consensus is lacking as to whether it promotes economic development, and if so, how. This paper analyzes the nature of government involvement in the Mauritius model of economic development, and the emergence of a developmental state closely associated with this model. The paper argues that the Mauritian growth miracle is as a result of a proactive governmental engineering where government contributed to development success which goes in sharp contrast with other Sub-Saharan African countries where government failed to play a strong developmental role.

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What factors are influencing Voter turnouts in Saskatchewan provincial elections?

"For decades now, democratic deficit has plagued the entire political fabric of Canada. National ... more "For decades now, democratic deficit has plagued the entire political fabric of Canada. National studies have shown that civic engagement — that includes voting in elections and other forms of political participation has declined and continue to decline over the past two decades. This trend does not bode well for the long-term health of Canadian democracy. Declining participation means fewer opportunities for federal and provincial governments to understand the needs and concerns of their constituents. The problem is even more precarious in Canada’s southernmost provinces, of which Saskatchewan is no exception.
Moreover, lack of civic participation can contribute to disparities in citizen influence over legislation — whether it is through elected representatives or the enterprise procedure. Such a trend could be jeopardizing to the province’s democratic future. This paper asks what are the notable factors influencing voter turnouts in Saskatchewan. To address this fundamental question, this paper seeks to look at these lower levels of voter turnouts in Saskatchewan by using the data gathered from the comparative provincial election survey of 2011.
This paper uses the independent variables age, educational level and gender to test the dependent variable — the likelihood to vote or not. This paper also looks at which of the three independent variables makes a solid case as a predictor of one’s likelihood to vote or otherwise in Saskatchewan provincial elections.

Keywords: Democratic Deficit; Elections; Comparative Provincial Election Survey; Saskatchewan

Word Count: 248"

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Conference Presentations by Lord Sowah

“Towards a transformative Development Agenda in Africa in the Post-2015 era: The Case of Poverty Alleviation in Africa”.

Books by Lord Sowah

"Police Reform and Democratic Nurturing in Retrospection: The case of Transitional countries."

Police reforms are introduced to ensure good policing. There are several models of policing pract... more Police reforms are introduced to ensure good policing. There are several models of policing practiced across the globe. The democratic form of policing is often considered to be one of the prominent aspects of good policing. Features like community policing, practice of abiding by the rule of law and accountability of police actions are known to be important aspects of democratic form of policing. The police system is essential for establishing and running a stable and community friendly government. There is especially a need for good policing in transitional countries, as it is with the aid of the police system the newly elected governments can gain confidence of civilians. Good policing is responsible for ensuring conflict and crime free environment for civilians to live peacefully. However, there are several strains in democratic form of policing; for instance, policing takes part in criminal and other antisocial activities. This research study has tried to evaluate the features, the concepts and strains of democratization of policing from the perspective of transitional countries like Afghanistan, Haiti, South Sudan and Latin American countries.

Keywords: policing, democratic policing, police reforms, transitional countries.