Political Science
Jean-Jacques Rousseau once said, "Those who would treat politics
and morality apart will never understand one or the other." This quote
describes the political situation in Guyana, a
small country in northern South America. The political structure there has been closely studied and
researched by College of Charleston Political Science professor Hollis France,
a native of Guyana.
France has been teaching at the College
for three years. Her research involves the "globalization and implementation
of neo-liberal policies after the British relinquished power in 1966."
France wrote her dissertation on the political growth in Guyana, after
the British departed. However, before the
British left in 1953 they held elections to put someone from Guyana
in power. Unhappy with the outcome of the election of a Marxist Government
the results were voided, causing the country to go back under full British
control. In 1966 Guyana became an independent country, according to
France. This is when "political tensions between the two groups in the
country, the Afro-Guyanese and the Indo-Guyanese became very strained,
which they still are today," she says.
In the course of her research, France has had the opportunity to interview some of the key political
figures of Guyana. Her dissertation focused on the decision-makers of
the country -- the legislators and the businessmen. She found that the
businessmen had lots of control over how the legislators made their
decisions.
France does not partake in much research during the school year, because her focus is educating her students. This does not mean that she stops thinking about other possibilities in studies. Currently, she is collecting information on Cuba and how "U.S. products still manage to enter the Cuban economy despite the U.S. trade embargo. The U.S trade embargo restricts products from Cuba entering the United States and visa versa, as well as U.S. citizens are discouraged from traveling to Cuba, but how do certain U.S. products still enter into Cuba?" France questions.
She will focus on the global trade between the U.S. and Cuba, and specifically, trade involving South Carolina and Cuba. She says many Southern states, not just South Carolina, trade with Cuba, especially farmers. She is currently working on getting funding for this new project and would like to start this summer. She plans on conducting her research much the same way she did for her studies on Guyana, by content analysis of articles and by conducting interviews. France says she likes to conduct interviews because they are "much more revealing than just pouring over articles." France came to the United States at age 16, and went on to get her bachelor's, master's, MPIL and Ph.D. in New York and New Jersey. Her area of expertise is Political Science with a concentration on International and Comparative Politics. Her courses include World Politics, Latin American and Caribbean and Studies, as well as international political economy.France says that she has "always been interested in the way global power is distributed-who gets what how and why and seeing who is left out and who benefits."