Digital Commons Network^™

Remembering Derrida, Robert J. Antonio

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Timescapes Of The Network Society, Robert Hassan

Fast Capitalism

Since the late ‘70s, the mutually reinforcing interaction between neoliberal economics and the revolution in information and communication technologies (ICTs) has transformed the world in many ways. “Globalization” is what we have come to call this process, and many aspects of its profound effect have been analyzed from a range of perspectives (e.g. Appadurai 1990; Robertson 1993; Omahe 1993; Waters 1995; Bauman 1998; Steger 2003). This paper discusses a central element of this change through globalization that has so far received relatively little attention—our relationship with time and how this is changing, in turn, the nature of power and politics. …

Speed: Through, Across, And In — The Landscapes Of Capital, Robert Goldman, Stephen Papson, Noah Kersey

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Lucy Wortham James And The Gospel Of Wealth: A Case Study Of Female Philanthropy In Rural Missouri During The Progressive Era, Jacob F. Rinehart

The Confluence

Various historical scholars have examined the role of Andrew Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth on philanthropic attitudes and endeavors of affluent Americans during the Progressive Era. Modern developments, driven by post-structural feminist theory, have shown that rural-born Missouri women, exemplified by Phoebe Apperson Hearst, acted as complementary equals to Carnegie through their humanitarian efforts by uniquely interpreting and implementing his social doctrines. However, the existing scholarship has focused substantially on coastal developments, neglecting the role of this benevolence in rural Missouri communities. By examining the philanthropic endeavors of Lucy Wortham James, both during her life and post-mortem through her endowment of …

Environmental Degradation And Food Systems In Ghana: Gold Mining And Synthetic Pesticides, Da'mirah Vinson

Honors Theses

This research examines the relationship between environmental degradation and food systems in Ghana. Although sociological research has explored how extractive practices like gold mining dispossesses farmers of land (Gilbert and Albert 2016; Agariga 2021; Kwang and Blagogie 2025), the consequences for food sovereignty and security remain understudied. Research that considers food and land from a sociocultural perspective is even more limited. My research addresses these gaps by asking: How do environmental degradation practices—specifically gold mining and chemical use—affect food production, distribution, and security in Ghana? And how does the decline of arable land reshape cultural food identity? To explore these …

Breaking The Glass: Jewish Identity Through A Sociological Lens, Shayla Mostyn

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

This project uses Charles H. Cooley’s theory “The Looking-Glass Self” to magnify the depth of Jewish identity. As a Jewish student, I have firsthand experience in experiencing society normalize acts of antisemitism and it having a negative impact on my Jewish identity. Within my research, 200 Jewish college students from around the world were provided with a platform to anonymously reflect and report on what being Jewish means to them and how their social surroundings impact their Jewish identity. This concept tells that one’s identity or concept of identity is based on how others see them or how they believe …

Toward The Ideal Of A World Civilization: Progressive Exploration By Japanese Scholars, Kōji Yoshino

Comparative Civilizations Review

What kind of academic discipline is the comparative study of civilizations? To begin with, it can be described as a scientific field that takes civilization as its object of study, researching the various civilizations of the world, both ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, through the method of comparison. However, what exactly is this object of study, "civilization"? Specifically, to what does it refer? Furthermore, when we speak of "comparison," what kind of method does this entail? It is difficult to provide clear answers to these numerous questions. The primary reason for this difficulty stems from the inherent polysemy and …

Love & Mercy: Records Of Self, Change, And Relationship, Jessie Perryman

Sociology Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Neoliberalism And The Crimes Of The Powerful: Transforming The State During The First Trump Era (2017-2021), Charles Brandon Lonon

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This thesis examines the way the American capitalist state transformed during Donald Trump’s first presidential term (2017-2021), especially focusing on neoliberal policy and the framework of the crimes of the powerful. This thesis aims to answer the question of how neoliberalism transformed the state under Donald Trump. Drawing on Nicos Poulantzas’ theory of authoritarian statism and Frank Pearce’s conception of crimes of the powerful, this thesis examines how the state becomes more authoritarian to protect capital accumulation and the capitalist class. The research shows that Trump weaponized authoritarian populist rhetoric that targeted women, immigrants, and vulnerable populations to build support …

Taking A Seat In The Circle: Decolonizing Gender Roles That Argue Against The Participation Of Feminine Bodies At The Big Drum, Juli Suzukawa

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The origins of the Big Drum can be traced back to the 1860s when Tail Feather Woman, a Dakota woman, had a vision of its creation as a tool of resistance. The Big Drum has since expanded and can now be seen at various Indigenous ceremonies and social events. However, there has been controversy regarding the participation of feminine and queer bodies. While reasons for this vary, it has also contributed to harm amongst Indigenous youths that have a more fluid stand on gender identity and may not conform to colonial “gender norms”. In this paper, I will explore how …

Weaponized Borders: A Contrapuntal Analysis Of Uneven Humanitarian Aid And Comparative Landscapes, Alex Orla-Bukowski

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The proliferation of global border regimes has caused an increased level of state violence against humans and the environment. In this thesis I explore how contemporary border regimes propagate myths on human mobility, obstruct humanitarian policy, and weaponize environmental landscapes to sustain state violence while obscuring political responsibility. Building on this, I argue that borders are the source of violence and create systems of vulnerability as a core-function of state making. My research primarily utilizes semi-structured interviews with humanitarian actors and secondary data analysis to trace the testimonies of those subject to state-based harm and explore the gaps in aid …

Social Media, Masculine Body Ideals, And The Drive For Muscularity: A Serial Mediation Model Across Sexual Identities, Sean P. Mcdaniel

Theses and Dissertations

Body image concerns among men are increasingly prevalent yet remain understudied compared to women’s experiences. Drawing on objectification theory, the present study examines the relationship between social media influence and men’s drive for muscularity through a serial mediation model. Specifically, the present study investigates whether the internalization of masculine body ideals and engagement in body surveillance behaviors mediate the link between social media influence and the drive for muscularity. Furthermore, the present study model attempts to explore how these processes differ across sexual identities, given evidence that sexual minority men face distinct sociocultural pressures regarding appearance. Adult male-identifying social media …

Exploring Biopsychosocial Influences On Hookup Culture And Disrupting Compulsory Behaviors In Emerging Adults: A Multidisciplinary Analysis Of A Contemporary Public Health Concern, Catherine Benjamin

Honors Theses and Capstones

Multidisciplinary analysis, including biology, psychology, and sociology, to better understand the compulsory Hookup Culture that exists as a contemporary public health concern among the age group defined as emerging adults. Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) diagnoses are steadily rising in the United States and disproportionately affecting college students. Early socialization and current educational resources that contribute to shame and stigma are discussed to explain how lifestyle and social conditions can act as risk factors for individual health outcomes.

Teacher Education For Religious Diversity In British Columbia: Policy Recommendations For Sikh And Chinese Mahayana Buddhist Inclusion, Ashton Kemper

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On Female Violent Offending: A Scoping Systematic Review, Alexis M. Wolgemuth

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Female-perpetrated violence has exhibited concerning data trends in recent years. Prior scholarship indicates that past victimization and trauma in childhood, known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), are highly prevalent among women offenders. However, the research concerning ACEs and violent females is scattered. This thesis provides a scoping literature review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) updated 2020 guidelines. A systematic database search was conducted using Academic Search Complete, SAGE Journals, Springer Nature Link, and HeinOnline to identify relevant peer-reviewed journal articles. Inclusion and exclusion criteria are established, focusing on studies published after January 2015. These …

Integrating Non-Binary Morphology Into Spanish Grammatical Gender: A Study On Native And Second-Language Speakers, Abigail H. Gustafson

Scripps Senior Theses

This study investigates how native (L1) and second-language (L2) Spanish speakers process non-binary gender morphology, focusing on the pronoun ‘elle’ and the adjective/noun ending ‘-e’. Prior studies show that native speakers outperform L2 speakers in processing traditional masculine–feminine agreement, non-binary forms and their emergence in a binary grammatical system are understudied. To address this gap, I conducted an online reaction-time experiment with bilingual speakers from the Claremont Colleges, who judged the grammaticality of Spanish sentences containing either grammatical gender or social gender (él/ella/elle) agreement and disagreement. Survey data also captured participants’ familiarity with and attitudes toward the pronoun ‘elle’. The …

Mythology Of Whiteness: Constructing Black Girls As A Bully, Kathleen O'Brien, Pamela Twyman Hoff

Faculty Publications - College of Education

This analytical essay uses data from a qualitative study by O’Brien (2017) that explored the social construction of bullying. O’Brien interviewed 16 high school students enrolled in alternative and college-preparatory high schools. Although the study did not focus specifically on Black girls, their narratives surfaced a distinctly different story—one that exposed how whiteness, intersectional power, and cultural ways of knowing construct Black girls as quintessential bullies in schools. This re-analysis explores how Black girls are cast within the mythology of whiteness as archfoes—not merely as disruptive, but as symbolic antagonists whose existence threatens the normative order of whiteness …

Toward A World History Of Pre-Modern Coin Imitations, Niv Horesh

Comparative Civilizations Review

Among historians, it has become axiomatic that coinage over three millennia served three purposes: as a medium of exchange, as a store of value, and as a unit of account. The communicative aspects of coinage, i.e. the imagery it carries often by way of issuer propaganda, have been of less interest even if it remains the mainstay of numismatists. But in the world of numismatics, globally framed studies of imagery or iconography are rare. This article is aimed at correcting this imbalance, at least provisionally. It will explore the main archetypes of coinage imitation by way of inferring commonalities or …

Acts Of Becoming: A Phenomenological Investigation Into The Lived Experiences Of West Virginia Teacher-Activists, 1990 To The Present, Phillip Elias Howard

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This critical phenomenological dissertation explores the lived realities of becoming a West Virginia teacher-activist. Presenting the experiential accounts of three participants, its semi-structured questions Show the lifeworld forces, inherited (factical) self-identities, and occupational, "on-the-ground" classroom experiences that inspired its research collaborators to assert themselves as unionists and natural teacher-organizers. This dissertation utilizes a collection of Marxian, phenomenological, and post-structural interpretation devices to develop robust, sensemaking themes which reveal the meaning of participants’ lived reflections. It also provides thick descriptions of co-researchers' historic and current political, economic, and socio-cultural backdrops amid West Virginia’s right-wing political realignment of the 2010s, the eternal …

Migration Literacy And Commercial Intermediaries: The Debt Financed Labour Migrations Of Chinese Working-Class Tradesmen In Boomtime Australia, Catriona Turnbull

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper explores how constrained informational capital makes migrants dependent upon commercial intermediaries to facilitate their migration. It proposes migration literacy as a critical dimension of mobility capital and as a way to articulate the dependencies engendered through low information capital in relation to the regulatory regimes of the immigration state. These ideas are illustrated with reference to a cohort of working-class labour migrants to Australia whose experiences are shaped by their low migration literacy. Trade skilled migrants from China paid high fees to chains of brokers to secure sponsored employment in Australian workshops. Their low migration literacy, the result …

Male Disposability, Law, And Feminism, Edward Cantu

Faculty Works

This article explores scientific evidence that societies care more about the welfare and safety of females than that of males, and that this dynamic of "male disposability" is deeply entrenched in culture, and thus in law. The recognition and integration of male disposability theory would mean an evolutionary leap in modern theorizing about gender and the law, but it is ignored. Why? Feminist theory dominates current academic gender discourse. Far from appreciating the explanatory power of male disposability theory, feminist theorists are often invested in theorizing gendered problems in ways that mischannel compassion away from men and toward women. The …

Indigenous Land Seizure & Environmental Injustice: Impacts Of Settler Colonialism, Lydia Moorman

Journal of Earth and Life Science

The fields of conservation and environmentalism prioritize ecosystem health, yet both emerged from western frameworks that displaced and criminalized Indigenous land stewardship. The idealization of “pristine wilderness” narratives served to justify the removal of Indigenous peoples from their homelands and erased millennia of sustainable land stewardship that had maintained ecological balance long before western conservation existed. These narratives not only misrepresented Indigenous relationship with land but also constructed a false dichotomy between humans and nature that positioned Indigenous presence as a threat rather than a source of ecological knowledge. Simultaneously, anthropogenic expansion; such as pipelines, mining, railroads, and other extractive …

Conspiracy And Social Movements, Steffen Seitz

Michigan Law Review

Conspiracy prosecutions of social movements are on the rise. From anti-“Cop City” protesters in Atlanta to pro-Palestinian protesters in California, prosecutors are increasingly wielding conspiracy law to suppress social movements. This development is troubling. Social movements have long served as vital engines of democratic self-governance; they crystallize issues, foster public discourse, and mobilize citizens. Yet conspiracy law endangers these movements— and thus democracy—by targeting what makes them work: public expression and social ties between activists.

This Article makes three significant contributions to our understanding of this threat. First, it demonstrates that a charge of conspiracy requires remarkably little—just the appearance …

Paradise Lost And Character Motivation: Sinful Behavior Or Inferiority Complex?, Esperanza Barrios

Honors Theses

Sin is a concept that is always viewed through a religious perspective. But, through Paradise Lost, John Milton was able to bring further understanding towards human nature and one’s own sense of committing what’s perceived as sinful behavior without the veil of religion glazing over academics' understanding. In religious terms, sinful behavior is the idea of defying God’s commandments, but for this research, sinful behavior may be described as abnormal behavior that damages our best interests and relationships, usually for selfish gains. Each of Milton’s main characters, Satan, Adam, and Eve, fell from grace because all three damaged their relationship …

Food Stamp Participation And Health Outcomes In Ca Immigrants, Esther Kang

Scripps Senior Theses

The U.S. social welfare system includes programs aiming to increase access to nutritious food to reduce nutrition insecurity. However, studies suggest that immigrants continue to face disproportionate risks of nutrition insecurity and may face barriers to enrollment due to legal status. This study, using secondary data from the 2023 California Health Interview Survey, examines the associations between food stamp participation, food insecurity, and clinical diagnosis of diabetes among adult U.S.-born, naturalized, and non-citizen adults in California. The findings suggest that those enrolled in food stamps are more likely to report food insecurity than those who are not enrolled, and that …

Perceptions And Metaperceptions Of Bison In The West, Riley Rush Comstock

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Effective coexistence between wildlife populations and the people that live with them requires an understanding of how people feel toward the species and their management. Bison occupy a unique place in conservation history and management. Once extirpated across nearly all of their range and only recently introduced to areas outside of large tracts of federal land, they are now a jurisdictionally challenged species, with varying management paradigms across a patchwork of landowners and managers. Recent research has shown how activating different social identities can distort people’s attitudes toward species. Here, I explore whether activating urban and rural identities distorts people’s …

Creation And Representation: Rhetorical Effectiveness Of Audience Construction Within The Deaf Vlogging Community, Imani Rodriguez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Diverse minority groups use YouTube as a platform to share stories, grow brands, and develop communities online. While previous research has investigated Deaf-focused videos on YouTube, past focus has been on video genres, creator purpose, and how content engages with existing representation and stigma (Hibbard & Fels, 2011; Li et al., 2022; Souza et al., 2023; Martzos et al., 2021; Oliveira et al., 2021; Parton, 2016). There has also been research on how online communities can initiate open conversation for many minority groups that may not be possible due to location, disability, or censorship (Case, 2012).

This research focuses on …

"It Can't Just Be One": Canadian Black Youth Perspectives On Representation And Belongings In Public Libraries, Amber Matthews, Sandie Thomas

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This study employed narrative inquiry and critical race approaches to explore Black youth's perceptions and experiences of Canadian public library programs and materials. In response to calls in Canada's Anti-Racism Strategy (2024) and Ontario's Anti-Black Racism Strategy (2025) for social service institutions to address anti-Black racism, the research examined Black youth experiences in public libraries and how these experiences relate to anti-Black racism in education and social service settings. The study was conducted in London, Ontario, with Black youth aged 13 to 24 and parents of youth using a community-based participatory research approach in partnership with the Where We Are …

Karlup Bidi, Pathways Home, Len Collard, Sandra Wooltorton, Louisa Stredwick

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper uses karlup bidi (pathway home) as a metaphor to show and explain the cultural landscape of a significant central Perth locality: Kaart Gennunginyup Bo, or Karrgatup, or Kaarta Koomba, also known as King’s Park. Drawing on oral histories, cultural narratives and contemporary reflections, the study uses Noongar understandings of Country, family, time and relationship to challenge and decolonise Western paradigms of land use and identity. The intent is to narrate Noongar Boodja (Country) as it was, remains and always will be-as Noongar heartland. Central to this paper is the trilogy of boodja, moort, kaartdijin (Country, family, knowledge), a …

Overview Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Health Status 2025, Australian Indigenous Healthinfonet

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This Overview provides a summary of the most recent indicators of the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (of all ages, where data are available). The topics included in the Overview cover chronic health conditions which are featured on the HealthInfoNet website. Over the years as additional funding has been obtained and in consultation with HealthInfoNet networks, more topics have been covered on the website and are now included in the Overview. The topics aim to reflect the status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health over this period and going forward.