Sociology Commons^™

Precarious Academic Labor In Germany: Termed Contracts And New Berufsverbot, Alexander Gallas

Academic Labor: Research and Artistry

The authors examines how precarity is produced in German academia and explores how labour activists are trying to combat it. The focus is on mid-level faculty. In the first part, the mechanics of precarisation are explained; in the second part, the institutional supports of the status quo blocking change in favour of labour are identified, and in the third part, the demands and strategies of two organisations are analyzed that have made headlines in recent years by exposing the proliferation of precarity in German academia: the Education and Science Workers’ Union (GEW) and the Network for Decent Work in Academia …

From Conflict To Collaboration: Exploring Influences On Community Well-Being, Leana M. Weissberg, Jonathan P. Kusel, Kyle A. Rodgers

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

Decades after the Timber Wars, land management agencies continue to redefine approaches to forest restoration and management, with impacts for Western forest dependent communities. To better understand this evolving dynamic, we examined the recent history of a rural forest community in the northern Sierra Nevada against the backdrop of changing perspectives on and relationships to resource use, industry, and forest management. Guided by community priorities distilled from interview data, we examine the transition from the Timber Wars to collaborative forest management through the rise of area collaboratives. The success of this work and its potential to genuinely improve community well-being …

The Role Of The Local Community On Federal Lands: The Weaverville Community Forest, Erin C. Kelly

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

In the wake of the timber wars, communities across the American West have struggled to redefine their relationships to nearby federal forests. The timber-dependent model of the pre-Timber War era, with clear timber targets and economic outputs, has been replaced by more nuanced and less clearly-defined model: ecosystem management. This case study research uses interviews with participants in the Weaverville Community Forest (WCF) to explore the role of a community in managing its nearby federal lands. Momentum for the WCF flowed from a small group of citizens who were invested in the forest despite their cultural and ideological differences regarding …

Bushler Bay And Hood View, 40 Years On: Gender, Forests And Change In The Global North, Carol Jean Pierce Colfer

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

In 2017, Carol Colfer revisited the communities of Bushler Bay and Hood View on the Olympic Peninsula, where she had spent three years doing ethnographic research in the 1970s. The purposes were two-fold: to test several rapid rural appraisal techniques and, as emphasized here, to assess the changes that had taken place in the interim. The ultimate goal was to contribute to USFS efforts to collaborate more effectively with women and men in forest communities. Her findings suggest that changes occurred in three (or more) spheres: livelihoods, demography, and gender relations, each of which is discussed below for each time …

A Challenge To Socio-Ecological Resilience: Community Based Resource Management Organizations’ Perceptions And Responses To Cannabis Cultivation In Northern California, Yvonne Everett

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

Local nonprofit organizations in the Pacific Northwest have stepped up to fill a leadership void in forest management since the Timber Wars of the 1980s and 1990s. Community based resource management groups (CBRM) have focused on stewardship of ecosystem services, and leading efforts to employ local workers to restore forest ecosystems and watershed functions. In Northern California, even as CBRM capacity has grown since the Timber Wars, a new transformative challenge threatens community and landscape adaptive capacity. Cannabis cultivation, which can have significant environmental and social impacts, has become a pervasive economic driver. I used interviews to explore CBRM leaders’ …

Social-Ecological Change, Resilience, And Adaptive Capacity In The Mckenzie River Valley, Oregon, Timothy B. Inman, Hannah Gosnell, Denise H. Lach, Kailey Kornhauser

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

This study explores perceptions of long-term residents regarding links between governance, landscape, and community change in the McKenzie River Valley (MRV) in western Oregon and provides a general assessment of factors affecting resilience and adaptive capacity. Residents interviewed indicated that dramatic changes driven by market competition, timber industry changes, increased regulation, and rural restructuring have occurred in both the landscape and community. The changes that have transpired have redefined the relationship between the community and the landscape, moving away from local dependence on timber harvests to an economy focused on tourism and other ecosystem services. In doing so the community …

Introduction To Hjsr Special Issue 40: The American West After The Timber Wars, Erin C. Kelly, Yvonne Everett

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

No abstract provided.

Adaptation Of Customary Quechua Indigenous Political Organization In The Face Of Modern Resource Extraction: A Case Study In The Apurimac Region Of The Andes Of Peru, Yojana Miraya Oscco

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This research focused on the forms and structure of customary political organization in Quechua indigenous communities of the Peruvian Andes that extend from the villages to their associated migrant communities in the capital. As the mining industry has been expanding rapidly throughout the Andes in recent decades, describing the political organization of these remote communities is a key aspect of their negotiation practices with these external industries. This research was conducted utilizing grounded theory in a comparative case-study format by analyzing two villages and their associated migrant communities from the Andean District of Juan Espinoza Medrano. This research utilized a …

Needs Assessment Of Santa María Zoogochi, Oaxaca, Mexico: Every Day Violence, Inequities In Health Care, And Knowledge Creation/Distribution, Natasha S. O'Loughlin

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The purpose of this research was to conduct a needs assessment of a remote indigenous community, Santa María Zoogochi, Oaxaca, Mexico. The focus of the needs assessment was on the community’s concerns and suggested solutions to problems they identified. The focus on general community concerns allowed participants to identify immediate needs they found of importance. This research was conducted using the Concerns Report Method (CRM), which is a strategy associated with Participatory Action Research (PAR). This method facilitated community conversations and engaged the community in the research process by incorporating their concerns and potential solutions into a community plan of …

Public Perceptions Of Homelessness In Humboldt County, John Thomas Krapf

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Homelessness is a social and political issue of great importance in the United States. For every 10,000 people in the U.S. 17 are experiencing homelessness (Bishop et al. 2017). Despite being a consequence of structural factors in the economy such as a lack of affordable housing and livable wages, the news media often frames the issue as an outcome of individualistic factors such as deviant characteristics, criminality, and personal flaws like drug addiction and mental illness. This study examines public perceptions of homelessness in Humboldt County. To explore this question, I conducted a content analysis of 94 articles on homelessness …

Religion, Language, Gender, And Culture: Challenges Experienced By Saudi International Students In Humboldt County, Dafer Sahab Alqarni

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The effects of culture shock on individuals living abroad are well known. Less well known, however, are the specific experiences, needs, and challenges of Saudi Arabian students studying internationally, especially in Western nations. In this study, I used qualitative research to explore the needs and difficulties of Saudi international students in Humboldt County and at Humboldt State University (HSU). Using semi-structured interviews with eight participants, diversified by gender and marital status, I provide a holistic view of HSU Saudi international students’ experiences and challenges which could help to understand Saudi students’ experiences abroad generally, and in Humboldt County specifically. I …

Religiosity And Feminism: Navigating Gender Constructions And Ideologies, Molly Noble

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Religious women and feminist women are large demographics around the world, but relatively little is known about women who identify as both religious and feminist. In this thesis I ask: How do religious women hold feminist ideals when religion is seen by many feminists as an inherently patriarchal and oppressive institution? How does the interplay of their feminism and religiosity affect their life decisions and how they worship? How does having a religious feminist identity affect interactions with people in their lives? To address these issues I interviewed eleven (11) religious feminist women from a small rural community in Northern …

We Break Our Bodies To Save Our Souls: Identity Construction Through The Participation In Flat Track Roller Derby, Torisha Stone

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

While sociology of sport has been growing steadily over the last few decades, with an increased focus on how sports participation allow for active identity construction, research on roller derby is incredibly limited. I argue that research on roller derby provides an important window for understanding gendered sports construction and participation. Derby also provides a space where identities are created through performance in addition to the creation of unique personas or in some cases primary identities. In this study, I conducted 15 semi-structured open ended interviews using non-probability and snowball sampling techniques of a rural roller derby league as well …

A Little Dab Will Do Ya: An Exploration Of First Time Dabbers On Youtube, Christopher L. Coker

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This thesis project is an in-depth examination of a rising subculture within cannabis users. With this research project, my aim was to explore and provide insight into the initial experiences of novice cannabis concentrate use as represented on YouTube while they are initiated into this emerging cannabis subculture. Referred to as “dabbing” or “dabs,” this highly potent and concentrated form of cannabis is being utilized by cannabis users to achieve greater highs and effects than those from the traditional cannabis flower. In this study I explored first-time “dabbers” by drawing from social media content in the form of YouTube videos …

How Anthropogenic Climate Change Exacerbates Vulnerability In Prison Communities; A Critical Environmental Justice Analysis, John L. Veit

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This thesis examines the link between anthropogenic climate change and mass incarceration by examining how governments address conditions in and around prisons resulting from hurricanes and wildfires. Critical Environmental Justice, Treadmill of Production and Destruction theories are synthesized using what is debuted here as an intersectional camera based on the theory of intersectionality. It examines how Trump administration policies will greatly exacerbate dangers caused by climate change and increase risks and dangers caused by mass incarceration. In addition to being a call to action, this project is intended to serve as a resource for prisoner rights activists. Prisons have become …

Community-Based Initiatives For Neighborhood And Community Rehabilitation: A Case Study Of The Mission District, San Francisco, California, Francesca Monique Gallardo

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Through the case study of San Francisco, CA’s Mission District, this research project addresses how community-based affordable housing development is operationalized to rehabilitate communities and neighborhoods experiencing effects of gentrification, mass displacement, and cultural dilution. My goals were to identify how the processes of building a sense of community, trust, and cohesion- rehabilitating and critical to affordable housing development efforts in the Mission District? And, how are nonprofit community development organizations engaging with these processes in collaboration with citizen and community partners? The final objective is to provide evidence-based strategies to assist other at-risk minority communities and neighborhoods in the …

The Role Of Social Capital In Fishing Community Sustainability: Case Of Shelter Cove, Ca, Laura R. Casali

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Community development scholars have consistently highlighted the importance of social capital – the glue that keeps a community together – for the development and long-term sustainability of rural communities. There has been less discussion about the role of social capital in fishing communities. This thesis explores the historical trajectory of social capital in Shelter Cove, CA, a small, remote fishing community with an attempt to understand how the type and level of social capital have and may continue to affect the progress and sustainability of the community.

Data for this thesis were collected as part of a strategic planning effort …

Listening To Our Graduate Students' Feedback: Graduate Student Exit And Alumni Surveys, Alison W. Hong-Novotney

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Student and alumni surveys have become some of the most widely-used methods of assessment of student learning in higher education. While the majority of literature on student surveys and assessment focuses on undergraduate students, this study looks specifically at why graduate student exit and alumni surveys can be valuable tools within a comprehensive assessment plan. Listening to the feedback of current and former graduate students, and then acting upon that feedback, is crucial for the engagement and success of this unique population of students who bring their particular strengths and needs to their educational experiences. This study examined how master’s …

Dinjik Enjit Nerrzhrii (We Are Hunting For Moose): An Evaluation Of Tribal Co-Management In The Yukon Flats, Interior Alaska, Kelda E. Britton

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Gwich’in People of Interior Alaska have historically exercised self-governance in the Yukon Flats to protect traditional and customary use practices. A number of factors have challenged Gwich’in self-governance: land ownership in rural Alaska being under multiple jurisdictions, which has created complicated parameters for management of fish and wildlife; and the legal history of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), which has created an arbitrary and fragmented management system. Despite these challenges, Alaska Native communities have been working to reassert their self-governance over important lands and resources. One example is the co-management arrangement between the Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments …

What's So Great About The Alternative? Understanding Motivations For Participating In Humboldt County Alternative Food Networks, Jessica Smith

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Participation in alternative food networks such as farmer’s markets, community supported agriculture (CSA), and community gardens has become an increasingly popular way to express opposition to the current industrial food system. Food justice scholars often criticize alternative food networks for operating within a neoliberal economic framework and suggest that structural inequalities within the food system are not able to be addressed by alternative food networks in the same way they are through food justice or food sovereignty. The goal of this research is to discover individual motivation behind participation in local alternative food networks in Humboldt County. I am curious …

And Then They Boned: An Analysis Of Fanfiction And Its Influence On Sexual Development, Lindsay M. Mixer

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The purpose of this research is to demonstrate how young adults come to understand their sexuality (from sexual and gender identities to sexual likes and dislikes) through reading and writing fanfiction. Previous studies show that fanfiction promotes non-heterosexual orientations, but little research has been done on how it contributes to overall sexual development. In conducting an online survey of fanfiction readers, I explore how fans use these works to generate an understanding of themselves as sexual beings. Explicit stories make up a sizable portion of the fanfiction available, and there is a wide range of sexual acts depicted in those …

Stormwater Management In Philadelphia: The Importance Of Green Stormwater Infrastructure And Community Involvement In Greater Citywide Sustainability, Julie Groff

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

In 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found the City of Philadelphia to be in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972 due to insufficient stormwater infrastructure. In 2011, Philadelphia initiated a 25-year, citywide plan called Green City, Clean Waters to reduce stormwater runoff by implementing green stormwater infrastructure (GSI). The plan promised significant community involvement in the process. I conducted semi-structured interviews with City employees and individuals in the community that have partnered with the City to administer GSI and participant observation of community meetings and used them to explore different neighborhoods’ experiences with Green City, Clean …

The Entangled Student: Identity Control Theory And Student Identity, Joshua Smith

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This study examines the strengths and opportunities in applying the frame of Identity Control Theory (ICT) to understanding the first-year experiences of students in higher education. Through thirty-one semi-structured interviews with undergraduate and graduate students during their first term in the program of study, different components of the ICT model are explored and tested. Results indicate ICT is modestly effective in explaining the first term experience for these students, but could be enhanced through further development in the areas of identity connectedness, identity exploration and resources/resilience. Recommendations for higher education programming and suggestions for a potential research agenda for ICT …