Anthropology Commons^™

An Analysis Of U.S./Canadian Fisheries Policy In Regards To Pacific Salmon And The Preservation Of Indigeneity In The Pacific Northwest, Michael James Lockwood

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

For more than 160 years, the Pacific salmon has been an important resource for the United States and Canada. However, it has been overexploited. Proper management of the species is essential not only for maintaining healthy populations but also maintaining the interests of diverse stakeholders. One set of stakeholders consists of the indigenous peoples of North America because the Pacific salmon are crucial to their food, social, and ceremonial traditions.

This thesis explores the impacts of Canadian and U.S. public policies on the cultural integrity of native peoples in the Pacific Northwest, specifically as those peoples rely on wild Pacific …

Trading Fat For Forests: On Palm Oil, Tropical Forest Conservation, And Rational Consumption, Cindy Isenhour

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

The longstanding butter vs margarine debate has recently become more complex as the links between margarine, industrial palm oil plantations, and tropical deforestation are made increasingly clear. Yet despite calls for consumers to get informed and take responsibility for tropical deforestation by boycotting margarine or purchasing buttery spreads made with sustainably-sourced palm oil, research in multiple contexts demonstrates that even the most aware, engaged, and rational consumers run into significant barriers when trying to reduce their environmental impacts. This paper supplements important critiques of neoliberal conservation at the site of extraction or intended conservation (Carrier and West 2009; Igoe and …

Introduction: Moving Beyond The 'Rational Actor' In Environmental Governance And Conservation, Nicole D. Peterson, Cindy Isenhour

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

In this brief introduction, we examine the themes and issues that link the three papers in this special section. In each case, neoliberal conservation practices appear to be predicated on a certain kind of individual subject with certain kinds of motives and behaviours-the rational actor. Taken together, these three papers challenge three assumptions of rational actor models, including that individuals are self-interested and attempt to maximise their own benefits, that they only respond to economic incentives, and that economic markets are free, mutual, and rational. Together these articles promote greater attention to how individuals are conceptualised in conservation efforts, and …

Trading Fat For Forests: On Palm Oil, Tropical Forest Conservation, And Rational Consumption, Cindy Isenhour

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

The longstanding butter vs margarine debate has recently become more complex as the links between margarine, industrial palm oil plantations, and tropical deforestation are made increasingly clear. Yet despite calls for consumers to get informed and take responsibility for tropical deforestation by boycotting margarine or purchasing buttery spreads made with sustainably-sourced palm oil, research in multiple contexts demonstrates that even the most aware, engaged, and rational consumers run into significant barriers when trying to reduce their environmental impacts. This paper supplements important critiques of neoliberal conservation at the site of extraction or intended conservation (Carrier and West 2009; Igoe and …

The Belo Monte Dam Complex And Its Effects On Indigenous Communities, Alexis Lynn Powers

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Averting Lemur Extinctions Amid Madagascar's Political Crisis, Christoph Schwitzer, Russell Mittermeier, Steig Johnson, Giuseppe Donati, Mitchell Irwin, Heather Peacock, Jonah Ratsimbazafy, Josia Razafindramanana, Edward E. Louis, Lounes Chikhi, Ian C. Colquhoun, Jennifer Tinsman, Ranier Dolch, Marni Lafleur, Stephen Nash, Erik Patel, Blanchard Randrianambinina, Tove Rasolofoharivelo, Patricia C. Wright

Anthropology Publications

The most threatened mammal group on Earth, Madagascar’s five endemic lemur families (lemurs are found nowhere else), represent more than 20% of the world’s primate species and 30% of family-level diversity. This combination of diversity and uniqueness is unmatched by any other country—remarkable considering that Madagascar is only 1.3 to 2.9% the size of the Neotropics, Africa, or Asia, the other three landmasses where nonhuman primates occur. But lemurs face extinction risks driven by human disturbance of forest habitats. We discuss these challenges and reasons for hope in light of site-specific, local actions proposed in an emergency conservation action plan.

Ecotourism In The Galápagos Islands: A Case Study In The Anthropology Of Tourism, Claire Wellbeloved-Stone

Anthropology Department Honors Papers

This project originated my sophomore year as my application to the Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts (CISLA). In my search for a project that would relate to anthropology and the Galápagos Islands I discovered the potential to study the tourism industry and its effects on society. Over the course of three years the project developed from a proposal as part of my application to CISLA to an internship and an honors thesis.

The focus of this thesis is the study of ecotourism in the Galápagos Islands, with a concentration on the interaction between tourists and …

Sustainability Policy’S Inherent Dilemmas – Exemplified Via Critical Examination Of The Las Vegas Metropolitan Sustainability Campaign, Kathryn A. Zimmerman

All Master's Theses

In response to a dual problem of critical water scarcity and rapid population growth, leaders of metropolitan Las Vegas implemented a region-wide, internationally marketed sustainability campaign. Preliminary studies found that, while sustainability policy attains its rhetorical goals, solutions initiated not only perpetuate but also purposefully expand the original dual problem to justify continuous water resource acquisitions. To examine this sustainability conundrum constructed by leadership—problem-perpetuation rather than problem-resolution—a critical examination in resource management asked two basic questions: what is being sustained and by what means? Via this inquiry, specific processes by which leaders perpetuate problems can be identified; and, so-informed, new …