Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Keyword
-
- Political economy (2)
- Sustainability (2)
- Access to nature (1)
- Actor network theory (1)
- Agriculture (1)
-
- Autonomy (1)
- BMI (1)
- Bicycle (1)
- Caribbean (1)
- Citizenship (1)
- Climate change (1)
- Critical theory (1)
- Cultural discourse analysis (1)
- Degrowth (1)
- Development (1)
- Dirty work (1)
- Divestment (1)
- Ecological disturbances (1)
- Emergencies (1)
- Environment (1)
- Environmental attitudes (1)
- Environmentally relevant behavior (1)
- Epistemic communities (1)
- Ethnography (1)
- Ethnography of communication (1)
- Fruits and vegetables (1)
- Full Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) (1)
- GHG Emissions Cost (1)
- Green space (1)
- Higher education for social change (1)
Articles 1 - 13 of 13
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Debris Of Progress: A Political Ethnography Of Critical Infrastructure, Ethan Tupelo
Debris Of Progress: A Political Ethnography Of Critical Infrastructure, Ethan Tupelo
Doctoral Dissertations
In this dissertation, I advance a political ethnography of critical infrastructure to better understand terminal capitalism, in which the waste products of commodification and resource depletion are destroying the ecological systems that support life. My object of study is the massive disjuncture between individual knowledge and intention, and these catastrophic collective planetary outcomes. Theoretically, I develop critical infrastructure theory to diagnose these destructive structures. By “infrastructure,” I mean systems of material and discursive flows fundamental to sedentary human organization, connecting local actions with global systems. Such infrastructure is “critical” in three senses: A) denoting the most important forms of infrastructure …
Residents' Perspectives Of Young, Street-Facing Trees: Three Cases From Legacy Cities With Active Tree Planting Initiatives, Alicia Coleman
Residents' Perspectives Of Young, Street-Facing Trees: Three Cases From Legacy Cities With Active Tree Planting Initiatives, Alicia Coleman
Doctoral Dissertations
Organized tree planting initiatives are underway in cities across the world in order to expand tree canopy cover, combat environmental threats, and create more livable places for urban residents. Trees along and near city streets provide a number of services for residents; however, evidence from environmental design and landscape preference research suggests that the perceptual effect of large-statured, mature trees may differ from small-statured, young trees. This dissertation explored these differences in three studies based in communities with active tree planting initiatives. Chapter 2 compares tree preferences from a hypothetical tree planting initiative to preferences for trees in other settings …
Perceptions Of Historical Climate Change And Park Policy: The Impact On The Fremont Cottonwood In Zion National Park, Kathleen Kavarra Corr
Perceptions Of Historical Climate Change And Park Policy: The Impact On The Fremont Cottonwood In Zion National Park, Kathleen Kavarra Corr
Doctoral Dissertations
Despite its “natural” appearance and the Organic Act 1916 mandate for preservation of the natural environment in National Parks, the Virgin River as it flows through Zion National Park’s Zion Canyon was transformed through massive flood control re-engineering projects in the 1930s. The armoring of the river has had significant impacts on riparian vegetation, particularly on the stands of native Fremont Cottonwood trees that once filled the narrow valley. What was the motivation for this massive flood control project carried out in an arid region with less than 15 inches of rain per year? This dissertation explores the motivations which …
Reclaiming The Future Through Small-Scale Agriculture: Autonomy And Sustainability In The Caribbean, Dana M. Conzo
Reclaiming The Future Through Small-Scale Agriculture: Autonomy And Sustainability In The Caribbean, Dana M. Conzo
Doctoral Dissertations
My dissertation, “Reclaiming the future through Small-Scale Agriculture: Autonomy and Sustainability in the Caribbean,” is a political-economic analysis of land politics, foodscapes and foodsheds, and small-scale agricultural activities in plantation economies on the Caribbean island of St Kitts. Using ethnographic and geographic methods, such as participant observation, interviews, social network analysis, and foodshed mapping, I investigate the cultural and economic niche of local farmers, documented and analyzed the island’s foodshed, and provide a historical and economic background of St Kitts to link historical processes to contemporary spatial organization and agricultural practices. I consider the complexities of food inequalities and food …
Three Essays On The Political Economy Of Global Inaction On Climate Change, Tyler A. Hansen
Three Essays On The Political Economy Of Global Inaction On Climate Change, Tyler A. Hansen
Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation contributes three essays exploring the political economy of global inaction on climate change. Chapter 1 asks whether climate stabilization means the end of capitalism. Two influential perspectives within environmental political economy—the “degrowth” perspective from ecological economics and the “revolution” perspective from ecological Marxism—answer in the affirmative. If they are right, climate policy programs within capitalism, like the Green New Deal, are non-solutions. I evaluate their arguments, concluding that while environmental sustainability in general likely requires moving beyond capitalism, climate stabilization in particular does not. Given the urgency of the climate crisis, I conclude the chapter by outlining a …
Cyclones, Spectacles, And Citizenship: The Politicization Of Natural Disasters In The Us And Oman, Tyler Schuenemann
Cyclones, Spectacles, And Citizenship: The Politicization Of Natural Disasters In The Us And Oman, Tyler Schuenemann
Doctoral Dissertations
In the face of such complex, urgent threats of fires, floods, and increasingly powerful storms, many scholars warn that climate change puts us on the path to a technocratic, “rule of experts” for the sake of survival. Others warn that climate change will actually undermine the authority of governments, as they become increasingly unable to meet the basic needs of their citizens. In this dissertation, I draw from interviews, archival research, and ethnographic observations in the US and Oman to examine how power and historical context shape the way that these societies politicize natural disasters. These two countries have fundamental …
The Impact Of Perceived And Observed Food Environments On Fruit And Vegetable Consumption And Obesity: A Theory-Based Study Among U.S. Older Adults, Qianzhi Jiang
Doctoral Dissertations
The overall diet quality of U.S. older adults is less than optimal, featured by inadequate fruits and vegetables (FV), whole grains and dairy, and excessive sodium and fat. The current food environment can be challenging for older adults to improve their FV consumption. Both perceived and observed food environments are linked to FV consumption and health outcomes such as Body Mass Index (BMI) with mixed results. My research was guided by a social-ecological framework and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to identify environmental supports for FV consumption in older adults. Adults aged 60 and older in Massachusetts, Iowa, and …
Multi-Criteria Decision Making When Planning Sustainable Multimodal Transportation Routes In A Linear Corridor, Marie Louis
Multi-Criteria Decision Making When Planning Sustainable Multimodal Transportation Routes In A Linear Corridor, Marie Louis
Doctoral Dissertations
In urban and suburban locations, public transit can be seen as an effective mode of daily transportation. The majority of the time, travelers would seek the cheapest, shortest, and possibly most eco-friendly means of transit. When designing public transit network systems, transportation planners and decision-makers, with input from stakeholders, should strive to optimize transportation services to meet the needs of the population most efficiently and at the lowest cost, that is, providing a transportation system that s the three E's of the sustainability concept: environment, social equity, and economic. Previous studies have focused on sustainability as the primary concern in …
Three Essays On Sustainable Development In China: Social, Economic And Environmental Aspects, Ying Chen
Three Essays On Sustainable Development In China: Social, Economic And Environmental Aspects, Ying Chen
Doctoral Dissertations
The first essay focuses on the role of the hukou (i.e. Household Registration System) with full awareness of the economic system it operates under, and the development model it assists. I find that hukou’s main role in the planned economy was to assist socialist industrialization while averting the Lewis development model, a development strategy based on unlimited supply of labors from the rural sector, largely adopted in developing countries. In the market reform period, hukou performed exactly the opposite function, which is to assist the Lewis model based on the unlimited supply of rural surplus labor “released” from the …
Managing The Agricultural Biotechnology Revolution: Responses To Transgenic Seeds In Developing Countries, Alper Yagci
Managing The Agricultural Biotechnology Revolution: Responses To Transgenic Seeds In Developing Countries, Alper Yagci
Doctoral Dissertations
There has been heated debate over transgenic or genetically modified (GM) crops in agriculture. Advocates and critics argue over possible economic, environmental, public health implications of this technology. This study examines varying policy approaches to regulating GM crop cultivation in four developing countries where the technology has large potential application. Why have some countries banned GM crop cultivation in their territory while others encouraged it? In countries where GM crops were allowed, why have varying systems of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection been constructed? To investigate these questions I comparatively examine the policy experience (1995-2015) of Argentina, Brazil, Turkey relying …
Characterizing The Urban Human Environment System In Boston, Massachusetts, Rachel S. Danford
Characterizing The Urban Human Environment System In Boston, Massachusetts, Rachel S. Danford
Doctoral Dissertations
Access to natural resources and restorative green space, especially in urban areas, has become critically important as an increasing number of people throughout the world move into cities. Stewardship of natural spaces and a sense of engagement with these environmental benefits are crucial, especially in urban areas where access to nature is more difficult and less equitable. This research proposes a model where individual and policy level values and decisions shape how urban nature is used, which affects the adoption of environmentally responsible behavior and natural resource conservation and in turn feeds back into environmental values and decisions. The research …
Of Wolves, Hunters, And Words: A Comparative Study Of Cultural Discourses In The Western Great Lakes Region, Tovar Cerulli
Of Wolves, Hunters, And Words: A Comparative Study Of Cultural Discourses In The Western Great Lakes Region, Tovar Cerulli
Doctoral Dissertations
This study is a description, interpretation, and comparison of talk about wolves. The study is based on diverse data—including in-depth interviews, instances of public talk, government documents, and letters to the editor—gathered over three years. An overarching research question guides the study: How do hunting communities create and use discourses concerning wolves? The study is situated within the ethnography of communication and, more specifically, the framework of cultural discourse analysis. The study employs cultural discourse analysis methods and concepts to describe and develop interpretations of how participants render wolves symbolically meaningful, and of beliefs and values underpinning such meanings. One …
The Formation Of Youth-Led Participatory Networks In Urban Bangladesh: A Case Study Of The Bgreen Project, Fadia Hasan
The Formation Of Youth-Led Participatory Networks In Urban Bangladesh: A Case Study Of The Bgreen Project, Fadia Hasan
Doctoral Dissertations
Through the lens of a participatory action research platform that I founded called The BGreen Project (BGreen), my research explores networked political economic connections that were developed as a result of this academic-community initiative. BGreen was a participatory action research platform that connected urban high school, college, university youth in an assortment of participatory/deliberative activities in the fields of education and environment. With their ongoing engagement in the participatory network called BGreen, Bangladeshi youth are negotiating their affiliation to diverse political economic structures (for example, their educational institutions) in creative ways and forging innovative methods of transformative participation as …