Digital Commons Network^™

Automation, Migration, And Development: Geography Of Job Precarity In South Asia And North Africa, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

This article examines how accelerating automation and the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in advanced economies reshape labor markets across the Global South through interconnected channels of production, migration, and remittances. Drawing on the theories and practices of economic geography, labor economics, and development studies, the analysis conceptualizes automation as a transnational shock that contracts demand for migrant labor while simultaneously amplifying employment precarity in labor-surplus economies. The article advances a geographically grounded framework linking technology adoption in core industries with labor displacement, youth unemployment, and urban labor saturation in South Asia and North Africa. It further highlights the macroeconomic …

The Legacy Of Lead: Lead Exposure's Harmful Effects And Its Concentration In Poc Communities, Layla Sophronia Barber

Student Theses 2015-Present

This thesis examines the disproportionate burden of lead exposure carried by low income, POC communities. The systemic nature of this problem is a symptom of a longstanding legacy of environmental injustice in the United States. Decades of federal neglect are reflected in the higher statistics of lead exposure and poisoning in predominantly black communities. While it is understood that lead exposure poses a serious threat to physical health and early cognitive development, there is a discouraging lack of urgency to remove the toxin from non-wealthy communities. The material covered by this thesis aims to identify and correct the discriminatory social …

Taxidermy And Technology: A History Of Climate Change Exhibitions At American Museums Of Natural History, Laura Haushalter, Amy Woodson-Boulton

Honors Thesis

My research is on the history of temporary and permanent climate change exhibitions at natural history museums in the United States. My primary research question is: How have natural history museums responded to human-caused environmental destruction through their exhibitions, and what, if anything, are natural history museums doing now to address our current environmental crisis? My research begins with a historiography of natural museums and examines how early 20th-century museums responded to a sense of environmental crisis and widespread threats of species extinction. In the early 20th century, museums shifted from Victorian-era glass cases to modern and artistic dioramas that …

Internalizing Diasporic Peoples: How Do We Keep Native Hawaiians Connected?, Kallie P. Kaaihue-Paopao

Whittier Scholars Program

In the attempt to better understand the grounds for the generation culture disconnect of identity in Native Hawaiians, I study the diaspora of my people. Diaspora is the dispersion of people from their native lands. I find interest in this aspect of my people because the most common studies blame our dispersion on socioeconomic status and as a Native Hawaiian that wishes to do more for her people, I want to express that while it plays a part that there is a disconnection between the social actions and reactions of Hawaiʻi’s people. Common questions that I find unanswered are, why …

Toward An Integrative Anthropological Ecology; Pluralism, Power, And Socioecological Futures, Komang Ariyanto

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

No abstract provided.

Power, Knowledge, And Environmental Justice: The Dakota Access Pipeline Controversy, Mya Chapman

Honors Projects

In a time of rife political conflict and debate, it is important to understand the underlying power dynamics that permeate our society in America. As devised by French historian and philosopher Michel Foucault, power and knowledge are mutually constitutive forces that shape our social relations. Through the actions of certain discourses, distinct truths are cultivated that in turn, reinforce existing power structures. In this study, these concepts are applied to the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy in the form of a Foucauldian discourse analysis to understand how the pipeline remained operational in the face of great opposition. Written discourse in the …

Engaging Young People In Sustainable Finance: Opening Up Opportunities For Transformation, Allison Guerette

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

The field of sustainable finance could benefit from more meaningful engagement with young people, who offer a unique perspective and have a vested interest in addressing climate change and other global issues that will shape their future. In this post-qualitative study, three young people document what they see, hear, and experience as they attend a symposium for experts on sustainable finance and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. These raw tellings are used in the cocreation of a youth sustainable finance assemblage and analysis tool, which the young people then apply to the Return on Sustainable Investment (ROSI™) methodology. Relationality, …

Land Epistemic Ethic: Exploring The Complex Intersection Of Human Bodies, Land, And Identity In Middle Belt Nigeria Cosmologies, Fwangmun Oscar Danladi

International Journal on Responsibility

The Indigenous cosmologies of Nigeria’s Middle Belt emphasize the relationship between human bodies and the land, transcending Western epistemological binaries and revealing profound socio-religious insights into environmental responsibility. Practices such as the burial of newborns’ umbilical cords, often dismissed as animistic or fetishistic, embody a sacred connection to the land that emphasizes belonging rather than ownership. Using an autoethnographic approach, this study critically examines these cosmologies and identifies how the sacredness of land can serve as a repository of communal memory and potential. By reframing land not as a possession but as a relational entity, this research challenges dominant narratives …

Cripping The Border – Acompañamiento As Access: An Ethnographic Case Study Of Transborder Youth With Disabilities, Marco O. Amaral

Dissertations

The U.S.-Mexico border is a historical, geopolitical site of intense militarization where colonial logics of "othering" converge to marginalize disabled transborder youth. While transborder studies have expanded, students with disabilities remain relegated to the "void" and contained by educational systems that prioritize surveillance over access. Grounded in Sepúlveda’s (2011) acompañamiento and Transborder DisCrit, this ethnographic case study examines the lived experiences of both students and their families who cross the border daily to attend school in the U.S. It frames these journeys not as mere commutes, but as acts of defiance within the broader disability rights movement.

As a teacher-activist, …

Statement From The Indiana Academy Of The Social Sciences And Board Of Directors

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Volume 28, Issue 2 Full Contents

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Mission And Editorial Policy

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

The Unsovereign Citizen: The Reconfiguration Of Rights And Belonging In Fascist Italy, Roberta Pergher

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Modern political thought tends to associate citizenship with democracy, equality, and political participation. This article demonstrates that citizenship can be profoundly important also for authoritarian rule. In Fascist Italy, citizenship remained central to political life, not as a vehicle of democratic participation, to be sure, but as a category through which the regime redefined belonging, hierarchy, and sovereignty. Drawing on citizenship legislation, imperial ordinances, racial laws, police reports, and ministerial commentary between 1912 and 1943, this article shows how the dictatorship hollowed out liberal citizenship within the peninsula, stratified it across imperial territories, consolidated it across diasporic populations, and ultimately …

Editorial History

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

George C. Roberts Award Recipients

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Submission Guidelines

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Reviewers And Referees

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Why Publish With Mssj?

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

The Courts Closest To The People: The Battle Between Populism And Democracy In The U.S. District Courts, Shruti Rana

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

The U.S. district courts have emerged as a critical site of contested terrain amid the chaos and controversies consuming American law and politics since the start of the second Trump administration. This article examines these frontline courts through the theoretical lens of populism, arguing that they have become a critical institutional flashpoint in the populist assault on constitutional democracy in the United States. As the courts closest to the people, the district courts occupy a unique structural position: They are the fact-finding courts, the most geographically dispersed and professionally diverse tier of the federal judiciary, and often the first institutional …

Call For Papers: 97th Annual Conference Of The Indiana Academy Of The Social Sciences

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Author Biographical Notes

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor-In-Chief's Note, Surekha Rao

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Ecomusicological Representation Of Climate Change And Environmental Sustainability In Selected Bongo Fleva Lyrics In Tanzania, Auson N. Wincheslaus

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This article critically explores how Bongo Fleva’s lyrics engage with environmental themes; and the interrelationship between nature and culture in the context of the Anthropocene. The data were purposively sampled from YouTube via content analysis, from which 50 Bongo Fleva songs were listened to, and only 10 environmentally-themed songs were analysed. Then, the selected songs were subjected to transcription (from oral to written form), translation (from Kiswahili into English), and close reading and textual analysis. The close reading of the selected songs focused on the employed aesthetic and rhetorical strategies, such as anthropomorphism, symbolism, antithesis, apocalyptic tones, solastalgia, rhetorical questions, …

Mapping Fire Management: A Spatial Social Network Approach, Christoph Neger, Cody Evers, Kapil Yadav, Octavio Romero Cuapio

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Maps are an essential tool to inform fire governance and management. For instance, they can highlight which areas are most vulnerable to adverse fire impacts or be used to plan interventions for risk reduction and prevention. In recent years, several studies have mapped the fire management activities and the networks between the multitude of involved actors. They build upon previous advances to combine quantitative and qualitative social network analysis with geographical analysis and cartography, aiming to highlight areas of opportunity to enhance fire governance. This paper continues this line of research, examining cooperation in fire management within the south-eastern part …

Exploring The Efficacy Of Storytelling In Education About Climate Change, Nina Adjanin, Srijana Katuwal, Heidi Sevestre, Gordon Brooks

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

From bedtime tales to digital narratives, stories wield unparalleled influence, shaping perceptions, and fostering empathy. Through mediums like social media and digital platforms, storytelling becomes a tool for advocacy, amplifying voices, and catalyzing social change. In this qualitative study, 107 higher education students from diverse backgrounds participated. The purpose of this study was to uncover salient beliefs about climate change stories on popular social media platforms among full-time college students. The results are based on three key components of the theory of planned behavior (TPB): affective beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs. The respondents expressed both positive and negative attitudes …

Learning In/With The Land: Intersectionality, The Earth Charter, And The Trc Calls To Action In Theological Education, Héctor A. Acero Ferrer

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Conceptualising Sacred Grove Tourism For Future Research Models - A Research Note, Debasish Batabyal, Rupa Sinha Dr., Kareem M. Selem Dr.

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Sacred groves or woodlands are known in tourism settings, they require a long historical process, and their classification as a unique tourism element is expanded in academic literature. To explore the characteristic features of sacred grove tourism, this research note reviews existing studies of tourism. Moreover, this research note seeks to uncover interesting socio-religious, cultural, and conservation dimensions that could guide policy-making in nature-based tourism. A comprehensive review of the tourism literature was conducted to determine whether sacred groves were included as a tourism feature. This research analysed previous studies on nature-based, religious, and cultural heritage tourism to formulate a …

Black Ecological Care: Conservation, Environmental Justice, And Sovereignty In Baltimore, Maryland, Alexandria Nicole Casteel

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Dominant traditions of urban planning, municipal policy, and environmental science register Black urban spaces through a vocabulary of pathology, as sites of ecological deficit, contamination, and social decay. This dissertation investigates how Black communities in U.S. cities attend to the environment in ways that address legacies of environmental and social injustice while opening pathways toward different environmental futures. I gather these practices under the analytic of Black ecological care, which captures the generative labor of making and maintaining livable worlds within, alongside, and beyond histories of harm. I develop the analytic across twenty-nine months of ethnographic fieldwork in 2021 and …

Culturally Grounded Interventions Within Natural Settings: An Investigation Of How Cultural Learning Within Place Can Lead To The Enhancement Of Well-Being, Dean Masaji Tanikawa

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study examines the impact of Culturally Grounded Interventions within Natural Settings on participants’ health and well-being, using Wilson’s (2008) Indigenous Paradigm to counter the limitations of past positivist approaches used by non-Native researchers. Culturally Grounded Interventions incorporating traditional Hawaiian practices such as mahi ‘āina (farming), koa ‘āina (reforestation), and Lā’au Lapa’au (herbal therapy) were performed at Ho’oulu ‘Āina, a nature preserve in Kalihi Valley, Hawaiʻi,  Ho’oulu ‘Āina, sits on a wahi pana (sacred site), and serves the Kalihi community with cultural education and healing. The study highlights, how relationships, including connections to land (‘āina), …

Review Of James K. Galbraith And Jing Chen, Entropy Economics: The Living Basis Of Value And Production (The University Of Chicago Press, 2025), Panos Tsoukalis

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.