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The Whiteness Of The Elephant In The Room: How White Guilt, White Fragility, And Colorblind Racial Ideology Shape Environmental And Social Justice Activism In Santa Cruz County, Robert Michael Foran

Master's Theses

Using frameworks from critical race theory, social movement theory, and community-based activism, this thesis explores the phenomena of white fragility, white guilt, and colorblind racial ideology and how they impact the ways predominantly white-identified social and environmental justice organizations approach, build, and maintain solidarity with communities of color in Santa Cruz County, California. A qualitative approach was employed to investigate the experiences of white-identified activists and how they attempt to engage in this constantly challenging process. Using twenty-two semi-structured interviews and eight group observations, I explored how white-identified individuals negotiate the transformation from ‘moral passivity’ to meaningful, personal relationships with …

Homeward Bound: The Struggle Senior Dogs Face To Find Their Fur-Ever Homes, An Exhibition Proposal, Natalia Chavez

Master's Projects and Capstones

For this capstone project, I created a proposal for an exhibition centering around animal rights that focuses on the rights of senior dogs in United States animal shelters. Homeward Bound: The Struggle Senior Dogs Face to Find Their Fur-Ever Homes intends to raise awareness of the difficulties senior dogs face in being adopted from animal shelters, while promoting individuals to be active and engaged participants in actions to support the needs of senior shelter dogs.

Senior dogs have the highest probability of euthanasia in shelters.[1] Shelters and rescue organizations provide much needed assistance to senior dogs, supporting their …

Star Power, Pandemics, And Politics: The Role Of Cultural Elites In Global Health Security, Holly Lynne Swayne

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Celebrities have historically served a variety of roles in society ranging from the inspirational to the cautionary, utilizing their platforms of visibility to promote themselves, their work, as well as their social and political causes. This study focuses on celebrities as activists engaging with global health issues, with particular attention to the form this engagement takes, the publicity it receives in the mass media, and the types of global health issues that receive the most celebrity attention. An interdisciplinary approach drawing from theories of power, social movement theory, agenda-setting, and cultural studies is used to achieve greater understanding of underlying …

The Invisible Crisis: Framing The Remediation Of Milwaukee's Lead Laterals, Isabella Rieke

Theses and Dissertations

When Milwaukee’s municipal water system was developed in 1874, one-half-inch lead pipes were used to convey water from the mains in the street to a customer’s home; the City has since acknowledged that nearly 100,000 such lead pipes are still in use today, a revelation which has opened for debate whether or not these pipes pose a galvanizing public health risk with far-reaching policy and infrastructure implications. This study explores the community response to Milwaukee’s lead laterals through the efforts of the Freshwater for Life Action Coalition (FLAC). How do Milwaukeeans understand the risks posed by the lead laterals? In …

Prisons, Policing, And Pollution: Toward An Abolitionist Framework Within Environmental Justice, Ki'amber Thompson

Pomona Senior Theses

Environmental Justice defines the environment as the spaces where we live, work, and play. The Environmental Justice (EJ) Movement has traditionally used this definition to organize against toxics in communities. However, within EJ work, prisons or policing have often not been centralized or discussed. This means that the approximately 2.2 million people in prison are excluded from the conversation and movement. Additionally, communities and activists are identifying police and prisons as toxics in their communities, but an analysis of policing and prisons is largely missing in EJ scholarship. This thesis explores the intersection between prisons, policing, and pollution. It outlines …

Environmental Justice Activism Against Freeway Proposals In Contemporary America, Molly Wampler

Summer Research

Transportation infrastructure provides an excellent lens through which to look at environmental justice. There is legislation in place that should prevent or at least draw significant attention to environmental justice, yet new freeways are still being proposed which continue to commit the same environmental injustices as decades past. With grassroots opposition as a primary form of resistance, this paper investigates the tools available to activists, as well as the ones most effective in ensuring success of the movement. I also consider what accounts for the difference in outcomes of resistance movements, why some community movements are successful in stopping a …

Queer Solidarities: New Activisms Erupting At The Intersection Of Structural Precarity And Radical Misrecognition, Michelle Fine, María Elena Torre, David M. Frost, Allison L. Cabana

Publications and Research

This article investigates the relationship between exposure to structural injustice, experiences of social discrimination, psychological well being, physical health, and engagement in activist solidarities for a large, racially diverse and inclusive sample of 5,860 LGBTQ/Gender Expansive youth in the United States. Through a participatory action research design and a national survey created by an intergenerational research collective, the “What’s Your Issue?” survey data are used to explore the relationships between injustice, discrimination and activism; to develop an analysis of how race and gender affect young people’s vulnerabilities to State violence (in housing, schools and by the police), and their trajectories …

Red Skies: The Impact Of Environmental Protests In The People's Republic Of China, 2004-2016, Porter Lyons

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

How do increases in environmental protests in China impact increases in the implementation of environmental policies? Environmental protests in China are gaining traction. By examining these protests, this study analyzes forty-one protests and their impact on government enforcement of environmental regulations. Stratifying this study according to five areas (Beijing, Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangsu, and Sichuan), patterns began to emerge according to each area. Employing a framework William Gamson introduced (2009), this study analyzes the outcomes of environmental contention, including the use of co-optation and preemptive measures. It finds that the success or failure of a protest has much to do with …

Teaching To Empower, Carrie N. Baker

Study of Women and Gender: Faculty Publications

This essay offers strategies for balancing teaching about injustices with strategies to empower students by looking to the past, the present, and the future. Learning about past organizing for social justice using primary archival documents offers lessons in perspective, strategy, and inspiration. Learning about present activists and organizations teaches students cutting-edge strategies for social change and opens up possibilities for their future activism. Finally, teaching students the importance of envisioning a better future, especially through the creative arts, can help them clarify their values and develop affirmative, constructive goals. This essay describes specific activities and exercises for doing each of …

Legacies Of Industrial Contamination: Voices Of Resistance In White Lake, Michigan, Elizabeth A. Revord

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This research presents a case study of resistance to contamination from three large chemical plants by activists in the communities of Montague and Whitehall located on White Lake, Michigan. Although clean-up efforts have met state and federal guidelines for brownfield and Superfund sites, the people and community of White Lake have continued to be vigilant regarding environmental protection and harbor many concerns regarding their future and redevelopment of sites that are likely still contaminated.

The connection to place and sense of community that the residents of White Lake honor is the foundation of their resistance. Using data collected from semi-structured …