Social Justice Commons^™

Ancient Wisdom, Modern Prosperity: Harnessing Traditional Ecological Knowledge To Revitalize Australia's Economy, Environment, And Human Wellbeing, Annabelle L. Baulch

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper explores the traditional knowledge of Australia’s Indigenous people and how it can improve Australia's environment, health, and economic prosperity to shape a more sustainable future. Indigenous Australians managed the land for thousands of years; however, being forced off the land following European colonization resulted in terrible cultural, social, and environmental disruption for Aboriginal Australians and made conservation efforts difficult. Wildfires, imported species, mining, and agriculture is steadily destroying the Australian ecosystem, contributing to climate change, species extinction, and gaps in our cultural and ancestral knowledge. Chapter One overviews Australia's environmental issues; it uses quantitative data to explore the …

Embracing Diversity In Agricultural Economics, Timothy L. Meyer

Cornhusker Economics

To steal an overused cliché, “There’s room in the tent for everyone.” Over the 2023 academic year, I have reiterated this message to all my students, with one addition. Not only is there room for everyone, but all are invited AND welcome. Food is something we all have in common, no matter the background. I think this is why producers in the state of Nebraska feel as strongly as they do about the food they produce; it is life-giving and should be taken seriously. Nebraska Agriculture is part of what makes our state great, and that is not a secret …

Climate Change And Critical Agrarian Studies, Ian Scoones, Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Amita Baviskar, Marc Edelman, Nancy Peluso, Wendy Wolford

Publications and Research

Climate change is perhaps the greatest threat to humanity today and plays out as a cruel engine of myriad forms of injustice, violence and destruction. The effects of climate change from human-made emissions of greenhouse gases are devastating and accelerating; yet are uncertain and uneven both in terms of geography and socio-economic impacts. Emerging from the dynamics of capitalism since the industrial revolution — as well as industrialisation under state-led socialism — the consequences of climate change are especially profound for the countryside and its inhabitants. The book interrogates the narratives and strategies that frame climate change and examines the …

Assessing The Opportunities And Risks Of Extraction In The Lithium Triangle, Jennifer Cuahutencos

CMC Senior Theses

Climate change mitigation efforts have grown in recent years, giving rise to energy transition technologies, including electric vehicles and grid storage, which rely heavily on lithium. The resulting acceleration of lithium demand poses an opportunity for Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile – collectively referred to as the Lithium Triangle, where more than half of the world’s lithium resources are found – to produce lithium as a way of generating revenue that can be redistributed to increase social well-being. Despite the enticing opportunity, lithium extraction has several socioecological and economic risks that may make lithium extraction a futile endeavor. This thesis aims …

Beyond The Plate: Leisure Studies As A Recipe For Food Justice, Julia M. Montano

Undergraduate Honors Theses

To address the issues that have been derived from the dominant forces in our food systems, movements such as food justice strive to find solutions through decolonization and addressing barriers to accessing healthy, affordable and culturally representative food. One group of individuals that are heavily involved in, and impacted by, food justice are college students. This study seeks to explore the extent to which college students’ involvement in food justice is shaped by their free time. With this research, I strive to bring in the voices of college students, while also bridging a gap in the field by bringing leisure …

One Crisis Or Two Problems? Disentangling Rural Access To Justice And The Rural Attorney Shortage, Daria F. Page, Brian R. Farrell

Washington Law Review

We have all seen the headlines: No Lawyer for Miles or Legal Deserts Threaten Justice for All in Rural America. There is a substantial body of literature, across disciplines and for diverse audiences, that looks at access to justice in rural communities and geographies. However, in both the popular and scholarly imaginations, the access to justice crisis has been largely conflated with the shortage of local attorneys in rural areas: When bar associations, lawyers, and legal academics define the problem as not enough lawyers, more lawyers become the obvious solution. Consequently, programs aimed at building pipelines from law schools …

What’S Good: Sharing Food And Meaning-Making Among Commensals, Lucor Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To explore how systems of meaning are formed and reformed over an individual’s lifetime in the context of food, meals, and commensality, this research applies a critical phenomenological lens to food-centered life histories centered on the life experiences of childhood, adulthood and the diffusion of food knowledge within a food centric community between individuals within age cohorts and across generations. Through reflective interviewing community members within Denver metropolitan area anti-hunger organization, this research is able to provide insight into several secondary questions, including: Is childhood a formative space for the cementation of these systems of meaning and value and do …

Pursuing Antiracist Public Policy Education: An Example Connecting The Racist History Of Housing Policy To Contemporary Inequity, Craig W. Carpenter, Tyler Augst, Harmony Fierke-Gmazel, Bradley Neumann, Richard Wooten

The Journal of Extension

We review the antiracism concept and contextualize it in Extension public policy education and the Extension system itself. Despite public policy education having a long history in Extension on a wide variety of issues, missing from this programming is the pursuit of antiracism. As a programmatic example, we review some historical causes of present-day housing inequities and an associated example approach for pursuing antiracism in housing policy education. Finally, we conclude by noting additional opportunities to pursue antiracism in Extension public policy education. In doing so, we emphasize that public policy education cannot be “nonracist” if it is not antiracist.

Neoliberalismo Y La Mar: Los Efectos Del Sistema Neoliberal Y La Pesca Artesanal De Caleta Portales, Isaac Bronfine

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study is meant to explore the fundamental conflict between the neoliberal system implemented in Chilean society and the artisanal fishing sector, represented by Caleta Diego Portales in Valparaíso, Chile. The struggle of the artisanal fishing sector has been made more salient in the minds of the general Chilean public due to the estallido social or “social explosion” in 2019 which lead to a process of drafting a new constitution, and the recent corruption scandals regarding government officials and fishing law reforms.

Beginning with how neoliberal theory gained traction in intellectual spaces around the world, this study then examines how …

Review Of Catholic Peacebuilding And Mining: Integral Peace, Development, And Ecology, Selina Gallo-Cruz

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

College Student Food Security During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Frances Rafferty, Tania Schusler, Mariana Valencia Mestre

School of Environmental Sustainability: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Food insecurity among college and university students has increased in the past decade. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unique public health challenges, including increased food insecurity. In a cross-sectional survey of students at a private university in the midwestern U.S. (N=253) we examined how student food security status changed during the pandemic and what relation-ships exist between changes in food security and various aspects of student identities. Twenty-nine percent of responding students indicated that they became less food secure during the pandemic, and the overall reported food insecurity rate increased by 130.77%. Change in respondent food security status during the …

The Impact Of Organized Activism On Technology Sharing, Ahmed Chennak, Amalia Yiannaka

Cornhusker Economics

What factors influence a firm's decision to share its technology with competitors? While patent licensing has received considerable attention in the literature, studies have typically focused on the optimal licensing contract for product and process innovations in various market settings. A key finding of this literature is that the optimal licensing strategy depends on the type of the patentee; that is, whether the patentee is a producer in the market (insider patentee) or not (outsider patentee). Little attention has been given, however, to the role the general public can play on firms' incentives to share their innovations through licensing contracts …

Proceedings - U.S.A Agroecology Summit 2023, Deborah A. Neher, Colin R. Anderson, Andrea D. Basche, Christine Costello, Mary K. Hendrickson, Bruce D. Maxwell, Antonio M. Roman-Alcalá, Aubrey Streit Krug, William F. Tracy, Ernesto Méndez, Catherine Horner, Janica M. Anderzén

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

This docket is a memory of the meeting held in Kansas City from May 22-25 called the 2023 USA Agroecology Summit and contains all the documents generated before, during, and after the meeting.

Assessing Colonization’S Historic And Enduring Impact On Native American Food Culture From An Adult Education Perspective, Angela Kissel

Adult Education Research Conference

The purpose of this Research Roundtable is to connect pre- and post-colonization adult education discourse to the historic and continued preservation of Native American food culture.

Developing Agrihoods: The Context For Petersburg, Brandon L. Archer

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Petersburg has an extensive history of navigating through challenging times. From its inception, African Americans have played an important role in the development of the city, and today that spirit is still present. As evidenced by an extensive network of community support and stakeholders, the Petersburg Youth Farm has matured into a resource for not just the residents of the neighborhood but of the city as a whole. By incorporating some innovative planning techniques and building a housing development truly dedicated to community needs, we can improve lived experiences in the city.

By adopting the recommendations set forth in this …

Recuperar El Sistema Alimentario: Aprendiendo De Las Respuestas Comunitarias A Los Impactos Del Covid-19, Tania Schusler

School of Environmental Sustainability: Faculty Publications and Other Works

En esta investigación, exploré cómo las organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro que responden a las perturbaciones causadas por el COVID-19 en el sistema alimentario de la región de Chicago están abriendo caminos para reorganizar el sistema alimentario hacia la equidad racial y la resiliencia a perturbaciones.

Reclaiming The Food System: Learning From Community Responses To The Impacts Of Covid-19, Tania Schusler

School of Environmental Sustainability: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The dominant food system is racially and economically unjust, environmentally unsustainable, and vulnerable to shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This research explored how non-profit organizations in the Chicago region who responded to increased food insecurity and other pandemic impacts are opening pathways to re-organize the food system towards racial equity and resilience to future shocks. Workshops held in 2022 brought together 26 individuals from 20 non-profit organizations in the Chicago region with majority people of color across their leadership, staff, and board. This report summarizes participants’ descriptions of how their organizations pivoted in response to the pandemic’s impacts and …

¿Cuál Es El Futuro Del Sistema Alimentario En Argentina? El Rol De Los Talleres De Alimentación Sana, Segura Y Soberana Del Área De Alimentación De La Utt En La Lucha Por La Agroecología Y La Soberanía Alimentaria, Gabriela Nahm

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En 2022, con el contexto de la pandemia COVID-19, la crisis climática, la guerra Russo-Ucraniana y la crisis económica, el mundo ha visto los mayores precios de los alimentos en la historia, desproporcionadamente afectando los países y las poblaciones más vulnerables. En los dos lados de la malnutrición, ambos niveles de hambre y de obesidad están aumentando. Es decir que el mundo está en una crisis alimentaria. Si esta crisis existe por el mundo, Argentina y su sistema alimentario hegemónico, controlado por las empresas multinacionales, no puede ser excluido; de hecho, este sistema es uno que produce hambre y que …

An Analysis Of Decolonization Efforts In Urban Agriculture: A Pathway To Indigenous Food Sovereignty And Cultural Revitalization, Sarah Fisher

Environment and Sustainability Summer Fellows

My research focuses on applications of urban agriculture, relationships between Indigenous peoples and community-based agriculture projects, and decolonizing food systems. I provide insight on colonialist tendencies, or ways in which the marginalization of Indigenous peoples is deeply entrenched within government, educational, and other leadership settings, as a way to evaluate and restructure urban agriculture projects to serve, represent and heal Native communities. Conventional urban agriculture has many known benefits, including its capacity for food production; however, the extent to which Indigenous communities participate in and benefit from urban agriculture has not been widely studied. Ongoing exclusion of Indigenous peoples from …

Inaccessible Interpolated Imagery: How Coffee Farmers In The State Of Chiapas Might Access Political Economic Opportunity Through Representation, Paolo Fiann Bicchieri

Master's Theses

Here is a useful parable to boil down the idea of this project and set the tone: when one goes to the bar to tell a story about a fight at the bar, they would never venture to place themselves as the hero of the brawl, taking out three drunkards in a single punch, unless they were really in the bar, at that time, fighting a good fight. One would never do this as the bartender, locals, and regulars would all know if this were the case or not. Yet transnational corporations, governments, and even consumers do this all the …

The Work Of La Via Campesina Regarding The Intersection Of Land Occupation And Food Sovereignty, Josephine Drydale

International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

La Via Campesina (LVC), a global movement that supports small and local farmers and their communities, is one of the world’s largest food and agricultural rights movements and advocates for agricultural rights in terms of land, ecology, human rights, and more. LVC is known for its establishment of food sovereignty, defined as the right to control one’s production and consumption of food. This new concept placed them on the map, accompanied by their aggressive editorial and advocacy work against ideals they view as neoliberal and food policies that benefit large food moguls while disenfranchising the small farmer. The concept of …

Taking The Bull By The Horns: Gender Analysis In A Cattle Project In Indonesia, Febrina Prameswari

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Women play a crucial role in agriculture, especially in cattle farming. However, gender inequality in livestock production remains a critical issue, as women usually have less engagement with livestock production, less control over finances, and less access to markets. The IndoBeef program in Indonesia was one of the first livestock projects to incorporate gender-specific activities in its implementation. The project used women-only focus groups, utilizing the Women’s Empowerment in Livestock Index (WELI) combined with farm production data to address women’s needs in the cattle industry. I conducted a gender analysis of one of IndoBeef’s subsidiary projects, CropCow. The project did …

Restoring Dignity In The Gardens Of Ekhenana, Jordan Buser

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This case study investigates the lived experiences of eKhenana, a shack settlement under the leadership of Abahlali baseMjondolo, as they attempt to navigate the increasingly unequal urban landscape. The research presented is focused on theories of urban marginality, food sovereignty, and dignity. I advocate that, in the margins, dignity can be restored through the implementation of a communal garden. Presented as a case study, this research centers the voices and experiences of the commune. The paper first depicts a brief timeline of eKhenana, and explains how they have created not just a place to live, but a community and a …

Institute For Global Health And Development : Issue 2 - March 2022, Institute For Global Health And Development

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Alternative Food Production In Cauca, Colombia: The Value Of Agroecological Food Systems For Local Small Producers And Consumers, Andrea Negret

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis intends to offer an integral view of the reality of food production and distribution in the Cauca Department in Colombia, observing the different practices that have caused deep social and environmental struggles including systemic violence, displacement and environmental degradation. The first two chapters will offer a global and national context of food production to better understand the many challenges that rural populations endure in rural Cauca. Chapters four and five will explore some resistance strategies and movements that rural communities in Cauca and other Colombian regions have developed to fight against corporate agro-industrial dominance so they can protect …

Marx, Critical Theory, And The Treadmill Of Production Of Value: Why Environmental Sociology Needs A Critique Of Capital, Alex Stoner

Journal Articles

This chapter explores the domestication of Marx’s critique of political economy within Marxist-oriented environmental sociology, and treadmill of production (ToP) theory, in particular. The aim is to explicate the theoretical resources for a rigorous critique of capital-induced planetary degradation. Shortcomings of ToP theory pertaining to the conceptualization of capital and value are identified. The reasons for these shortcomings, including how they might be addressed, are elaborated by reconsidering key aspects of Marx’s critical theory of modern capitalist society. The chapter contributes to current discussions in both critical theory and environmental sociology by demonstrating the continued relevance of Marx’s critical theory …

Bringing Swipe Out Hunger To Vcu: Identifying Best Practices And Analyzing Administrative Policies For Future Reform, Jackie Stephens, Anjali Ta

Undergraduate Research Posters

At first glance, a college campus might look like a place of equal opportunity– communal dorms, shared dining halls, and similar course loads. However, arriving on campus is not where the college access conversation ends if students’ basic needs are not met. Food insecure students are at elevated risk of poor academic performance and delayed degree completion, with first-generation students being particularly vulnerable. Swipe Out Hunger is an organization that partners with colleges to reduce food insecurity among students by allowing those with extra dining hall meal swipes to donate them to food insecure peers. If implemented at VCU, Swipe …

Agroecology Curriculum Proposal, Emily Kuhn

Pitzer Senior Theses

The purpose of this research is to establish the viability of an Agroecology major at Pitzer College. I begin by problematizing Industrial Agriculture and making a case for Pitzer College to become a higher education leader in the global paradigm shift towards socially and ecologically just food systems. The proposed curriculum compiles pre-existing classes, objectives expanded from the EA field group, and an internship component embedded at five local land-based learning partner sites. I conducted a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the Environmental Analysis field group as a potential host for the agroecology track, including study abroad …

Addressing The Role Of Climate Change In Agriculture And Mexico-Us Immigration, Xiaoxin Liang

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

Among the greatest threats of climate change is the significant impact on mass displacement, particularly as it relates to Mexico-US immigration. Low crop yields from worsening climate conditions have been linked to increased migration of Mexican farmers. With a projected 4.2 million additional migrants in the foreseeable future, it poses a contemporary environmental, social, and political dilemma. This policy brief analyzes several provision proposals to be adopted into the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), as evaluated under economic cost, equity, environmental impact, and feasibility criteria. My research concludes that the most effective and direct provision proposal is the implementation of adaptive …

Comparing Heavy Metal Content Found In Spinach (Spinacia Oleracea) Grown On The Roof And Ground Sites At Portland State University, Tyler Robin, Gwynn R. Johnson, Olyssa Starry

McNair Symposium

As a result of urbanization, fresh, healthy food can be expensive and easily contaminated but space for local farming is limited. Roofs can be underutilized in densely populated cities and can offer a space for local fresh farming. The purpose of this study is to find if growing leafy vegetables on the roof can limit heavy metal exposure from air pollutants. By growing Spinach on five roofs and five ground locations around the Portland State University campus, at varying heights, we can extract the heavy metals found in these greens and compare them to each other. The expected results show …