Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

The Electronic Hardware Music Subculture In Portland, Oregon, James Andrew Hickey

Dissertations and Theses

Music is relatively understudied as a geographic phenomenon, but recently there has been a shift in academic literature to understand the social, cultural and economic factors that determine music and its development in specific places. The purpose of this study is to examine the Electronic Hardware Music Subculture (EHMS) in Portland, why it thrives, and how it is linked to the local cultural economy. To do this, I used semi-structured, long form interviews with key members of the EHMS. These interviews, and my own observations, gave insight into what factors affect the success of members of the EHMS, and how …

The Persistence Of Indigenous Markets In Mexico's 'Supermarket Revolution', Diana Christina Denham

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation research investigates the paradoxical survival of Indigenous markets in the context of state-sponsored development strategies that privilege multinational retailers and rebrand Mexican cities as modern and globally competitive. I examine how Indigenous markets have survived the supermarketization (and, more precisely, Walmartization) of food retail that has taken hold in Mexico. Better known by their Nahuatl name tianguis, open-air Indigenous markets held in streets and public plazas predate the arrival of the first conquistadors and remain common across Mesoamerica today. My examination of tianguis in native language texts, colonial narratives, popular art, and mid-20th century newspapers demonstrates that …

Unpacking The Process And Outcomes Of Ethical Markets: A Focus On Certified B Corporations, Renée Bogin Curtis

Dissertations and Theses

The growth in conscious consumption presents an opportunity to 1) better understand the potential outcomes of ethical market practices as a community-advocacy tool and 2) to consider potential policy considerations. The marketplace has increasingly become an arena for social action. This leads to the question of how can markets facilitate ethical business practices and community benefits? The recent rise of social benefit corporations warrants an evaluation of the outcomes of ethically-driven markets. Using a comparative research design and qualitative interview methods, this study examines certified Benefit Corporations (B Corps) in two selected cities: Philadelphia and Portland. Through interviews with B …

The Impacts Of The Bicycle Network On Bicycling Activity: A Longitudinal Multi-City Approach, Wei Shi

Dissertations and Theses

Bicycling is a promising approach to improve health, environment, and economic development of urban places. Theoretically, a bicycle network's component goes beyond lanes and paths, and would generate greater impacts than the sum of its parts. However, most previous research focused on how individual types of bicycle-related infrastructure could promote bicycling. Few empirical studies investigated how bicycle networks impact bicycling activity. This project attempts to address this question. Specifically, how to properly measure bicycle networks, and what impacts bicycle networks have on bicycling activity, e.g. bike ridership and bike mode choice, across different cities and longitudinally.

To address the first …