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Place, Space, And Family: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Resistance Rhetoric Of Judy Bonds, Alex K. Davenport

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This thesis examines the ways that rhetorics of resistance can operate in contemporary social conditions. I do this specifically by examining the rhetoric of Judy Bonds, an environmental justice activist who opposed mountaintop removal (MTR) mining in Appalachia. I utilize a qualitative rhetorical approach to examine 34 instances of Bonds’ discourse as well as my own autoethnographic reflections focused on my work with Mountain Justice, a regional anti-MTR activist organization. Pairing the constant comparative method with principles of ideological criticism, informed by theories of place, voice, memory, and narrative, forms this qualitative rhetorical approach. The postmodern turn allows for the …

Experiences Of Slow Violence In Poor Kenyan Communities: Micro Disasters, Formalized Aid Responses, And Community Support Through Social Networks, Jennifer L. Willett

Doctoral Dissertations

Experiences of Slow Violence in Poor Kenyan Communities: Micro Disasters, Formalized Aid Responses, and Community Support through Social Networks

Jennifer Willett, Ph.D.

University of Connecticut, 2015

Despite increasing focus on the physical environment within social work, the profession at-large is failing to integrate concerns about environmental degradation into research, education, and practice. Using a slow violence frame, this study applied a qualitative phenomenological design to collect data through interviews and field notes about environmental degradation and responses in 19 poor communities in Kenya. Rather than describe mega disasters as the source of their environmental problems, participants detailed “micro disasters.” Micro …

"Ours To Displace, Ours To Protect": The Borderlands Of American Indian Histories, Whiteness, And The Wilderness Ideal, Victoria A. Lewis

Tapestries: Interwoven voices of local and global identities

'"Ours to Displace, Ours to Protect": The Borderlands of American Indian Histories, Whiteness, and the Wilderness Ideal' is featured in the journal Tapestries: Interwoven voices of local and global identities, volume 4.

Grad Student To Produce Film Featuring Sylvia Earle, Sarah Gardner, Dave Albee

Press Releases

It was while studying the work of leaders within the environmental justice movement that Barbara McVeigh, a graduate student in the Humanities program, became inspired to address environmental injustices in her own community.

Energy Poverty And Justice: Using Renewable Energy In Marginalized Countries To Overcome Climate Change And Support Human Development, Drema Khraibani

Sustainability and Social Justice

Energy poverty is limited to no access to affordable, reliable, and efficient form of energy. Currently, there are 1.3 billion people living in energy poverty, being deprived of their basic need. Providing access to a billion people has become a global goal and movement for energy justice. With IPCC warning about global fossil fuel consumption, energy development has moved towards renewable options. Renewable energy provides those previously without access an ability to meet rudimentary needs. It can uplift communities and families from extreme poverty by easing their labor and extending the time they have to work after dark. Renewable energy …

Gold, Water, And Governance: The Stakes In The Santurbán Páramo Debate, Amanda Hooker

Latin American Studies ETDs

Currently in Santander, Colombia, a contentious debate over the demarcation of a protective boundary of the Santurbán Páramo is underway. For the approximately 9000 páramo residents, the collateral effects of the outcome could result in dispossession of lands and livelihoods. This paper will argue that status quo Colombian territorial zoning, at the service of Canadian mining interests cast domestically as the principal 'locomotora' (driving force) of national development, allows different expressions of state and civil society actors to either bypass or use environmental protections as means of personal gain and/or capitalist expansion. Mobilizing under a discourse of conservation, down-stream urban …

Natural Resource Revolutions: Mexico And Cuba Within The Sphere Of U.S. Hegemony, Joseph J. García

Latin American Studies ETDs

The improbable trajectories of Mexico and Cuba give rise to compelling questions: in what ways have the revolutionary governments of Mexico and Cuba been able to practice successful defiance of the United States hegemon of the twentieth century? And how has that defiance helped to define U.S. foreign policy in Latin America? This dissertation presents a detailed examination of the contexts surrounding both the Mexican and Cuban Revolutions and their struggle against imperialist-driven interventions by the United States in Latin America and the Caribbean. I argue that through strategic decisions, the Mexican and Cuban revolutionary governments were able to ward …

The Arctic Athabaskan Petition: Where Accelerated Arctic Warming Meets Human Rights, Veronica De La Rosa Jaimes

California Western International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Newsletter (May 2015), Virginia Coastal Policy Center, William & Mary Law School

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

“Architects Of Their Own Solutions:” A Comparative Study Of Gender In Environmental Justice Work, Ellen Olack

Honors Theses

Backgrounds, identities and beliefs of the people within a group can dictate the direction a movement takes and whether or not that movement will be able to endure. Using a series of interviews, I aim to determine how gender plays a part in shaping a person’s role within the environmental justice movement by studying if and how gender constructions influence the mindsets of not only the people working to end environmental injustice, but also of the community members living in zones affected by environmental injustice.

Forging Political Will From A Shared Vision: A Critical Social Justice Agenda Against Neoliberalism And Other Systems Of Domination, Renato M. Liboro

Psychology Faculty Research

Due to pervasive inequalities and inequities in society, many people have a difficult time envisaging a just society, let alone how to go about actualizing such an aspiration. A critical reflection on the concept of a just society and the role that community psychologists and other advocates can play in upholding a critical social justice agenda in their research and civic engagement, particularly against neoliberalism and other systems of domination, is discussed. As part of a proffered framework, four tasks are proposed to fulfil the role: (1) raising public critical consciousness, (2) convincing people of the possibility of change, (3) …

The Economic Impacts And Changes In Environmental Regulation In Louisiana As A Result Of Hurricane Katrina And The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Carley Tatman

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

"Their Stuff And Our Stuff": Cultural Visitors Use Hip Hop As A Tool For Cultural Diplomacy, Amy S. Dempsey

Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Va Coastlines (End Of 2014-2015 Term), Virginia Coastal Policy Center

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

Gorongosa: A History Of An African Landscape, 1921-2014, Domingos João Muala

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Gorongosa: a history of African landscape, 1921-2014, focuses on changes in the Gorongosa ecosystem, in central Mozambique, southeastern Africa. Environmental changes result from natural, non-human causes and from the activities of humans. I describe four socioecological events: African and Portuguese interactions, Gorongosa National Park, the effects of Mozambique's civil war, and the Park's restoration in the aftermath of the civil war. Prior to European partition of Africa in 1884-85, Mozambique did not exist as clearly a demarcated territory as it is now. Today, the sense of Mozambicanhood bears traces of Portuguese colonial era experience. The demarcation of Mozambique's boundaries and …

Resistance, Acquiescence Or Incorporation? An Introduction To Land Grabbing And Political Reactions ‘From Below’, Marc Edelman, Ruth Hall, Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Ian Scoones, Ben White, Wendy Wolford

Publications and Research

Political reactions ‘from below’ to global land grabbing have been vastly more varied and complex than is usually assumed. This essay introduces a collection of ground- breaking studies that discuss responses that range from various types of organized and everyday resistance to demands for incorporation or for better terms of incorporation into land deals. Initiatives ‘from below’ in response to land deals have involved local and transnational alliances and the use of legal and extra-legal methods, and have brought victories and defeats. The relevance of political reactions to land grabbing is discussed in light of theories of social movements and …

Examining Environmental Injustice In Florida, Samuel Wasserman, Jeffrey Vaz

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

This project analyzes potential areas of environmental injustice on a census tract level throughout Florida. Data on race and median household income were compiled into ArcGIS 10.2.2 along with Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) locations to determine if communities with low income or large minority population are disproportionately exposed to sources of heavy pollution. Statistical tests found that high minority and low income census tracts were more likely to be within two miles of a TRI site and that census tracts containing two or more TRI sites had significantly lower median household incomes than census tracts with only one or fewer …

Interrogating The Relationship Between Schools And Society. A Book Review Of Can Education Change Society?, Wayne Au

Democracy & Education

This reviewer found Can Education Change Society? a typical Apple text, far-ranging in terms of scope and example and theoretically and conceptually ambitious.

Peacelearning And Its Relationship To The Teaching Of Nonviolence. A Response To "Nonviolent Action As A Necessary Component In Educating For Democracy", Mary Lee Morrison Ph.D.

Democracy & Education

This response to Peterson's (2014) "Nonviolent Action as a Necessary Component in Educating for Democracy" enlarges the discussion of the role of the teacher/educator in deciding whether or when it is responsible to facilitate the engagement of students in acts of nonviolent dissent. Ultimately it would seem that the most important of our responsibilities as educators is to provide the moral and ethical foundations and the spaces in which students feel safe and empowered to tap into their own inner teachers. In order to promote the development of active engagement toward a democratic citizenry, including the moral imperative to transform …

The Fierce Green Fire: Vol 5 Issue 22, Wofford College Environmental Studies Program

The Fierce Green Fire

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice In California: An Analysis On The Correlation Between Toxic Release And Population Distribution, Maria Urrutia

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

No abstract provided.

Negotiating The Neighborhood: The Role Of Neighborhood Associations In Urban Planning Processes, Lane K. Holden

Sociology Honors Projects

To promote collaborative urban planning, the United States Federal Government requires that city and regional governments consult communities affected by planning processes. Neighborhood associations were originally created to engage community members in local social justice issues in order to meet this mandate. Relying on these organizations raises questions about whether they fulfill their potential: what role do community members play in urban planning? Do neighborhood associations feel like they participate effectively in the urban planning process? How do these associations perceive the extent to which the government uses their input? To address these questions, this study examines perceptions of urban …

Spectator 2015-04-29, Editors Of The Spectator

The Spectator

No abstract provided.

National Park Service Relevancy In The 21st Century: An Exploration Of Racial Inclusion And The Urban Push, Claire E. Finn

Geography Honors Projects

As the National Park Service (NPS) approaches its centennial in 2016, it grapples with relevancy as the U.S. racial demographic shifts from a majority white population to a majority people of color population. In this paper I explore the following questions: What is the NPS doing to create racially inclusive places? How do NPS goals of inclusion connect to its recent emphasis on urban parks and populations? Through an analysis of official park documents, expert interviews, and a comparative case study between two Minnesota NPS units (Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA) and Voyageurs National Park), I assess the …

Diluted Adoration And Concentrated Vitriol: The Development Of The Cult Of Che, Emmett J. Schlenz

Undergraduate Library Research Awards

No abstract provided.

A New Sustainable Environmental Education Toolbox For Botanic Gardens, Parks & Arboreta, John J. Pipoly Iii

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

No abstract provided.

College Of Saint Benedict Marie And Robert Jackson Fellow (2014)-Center For Earth Energy And Democracy, Chendan Yan

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

Center for Earth Energy and Democracy was founded by a group of researchers, educators and community activists who saw the need to affirm and revitalize principles of democracy and social justice. CEED’s mission is to work at the intersection of energy, environment and community development to develop solutions that are democratic, sustainable and socially just. As a mapping tool student researcher at CEED, 2014 Jackson Fellow Chendan Yan, an Environmental Studies and Philosophy double major from Shanghai, China, contacted agencies, collected, and analyzed data for Environmental Justice (EJ) Mapping tool. She developed Infographics demonstrating disparities among neighborhoods and created visual …

The Urban Wildlife Conservation Program: Building A Broader Conservation Community, Natalie R. Sexton, Danielle Ross-Winslow, Marcia Pradines, Alia M. Dietsch

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

The National Wildlife Refuge System of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a long history of connecting people with nature. Increased conservation challenges coupled with societal changes pose challenging new questions for the Refuge System. The future success of conservation in America ultimately depends on the ability to inspire its citizenry to connect with the outdoors and to become stewards of the environment. With over 80% of Americans living in urban areas, spending less time outdoors, and becoming more ethnically and racially diverse, how do refuges become relevant in their daily lives? While challenging, urban areas present a strategic …

How Environmental Justice Patterns Are Shaped By Place: Terrain And Tree Canopy In Cincinnati, Ohio, Usa, Adam Berland, Kirsten Schwarz, Dustin L. Herrmann, Matthew E. Hopton

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

Understanding the spatial distribution of environmental amenities requires consideration of social and biogeophysical factors, and how they interact to produce patterns of environmental justice or injustice. In this study, we explicitly account for terrain, a key local environmental factor, while assessing whether tree canopy is distributed equally in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. We conducted separate analyses for all land and for residential land only. For all land, terrain alone accounted for 59% of the variation in tree canopy cover. In our spatial autoregressive model, socioeconomic variables describing race, wealth, and education did not explain significant variation in canopy cover. In other …

The Bg News April 22, 2015, Bowling Green State University

BG News (Student Newspaper)

The BGSU campus student newspaper. April 22, 2015. Volume 94-Issue 91.