Nature and Society Relations Commons^™

Sustainability With Globalization: An Unsustainable Proposition, Daniel B. Reader

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Globalization is recognized as a world-encompassing phenomenon, even as its benefits are debated. Sustainability, the capacity to maintain high standards of living through generations, is at stake. This paper examines the problems of sustainability with globalization from several perspectives. High statistical correlation between indices of globalization and environmental degradation (r2 = 0.977, p < .001) is found using multi-dimensional scaling software. The socially destabilizing, culture flattening effects of globalization are examined, and the terms ‘nationalism’ and ‘terrorism’ are defined. On the basis of its medial position among the indices of both globalization and environmental degradation, Chile is explored in a case study of the interaction. Conclusions regarding Chile’s vulnerabilities are reached, and the country’s environmental, social, and economic ‘weak spots’ are identified. The ethical positions of globalization and sustainability are considered, and the conclusion that there is very little that can be done to alter the nature of the interaction is drawn. It is suggested that globalization minimizes the prospects of success in efforts toward sustainability by maximizing vulnerabilities among sustainability’s components.

Los Terrores De La Hipervigilancia: Seguridad Y Nuevas Espacialidades De La Niñez, Cindi Katz

Publications and Research

A partir de estudios anteriores que vincularon las geografías de los niños y las niñas con un análisis de los efectos de la reestructuración de la economía global en la reproducción social, este artículo examina las nuevas espacialidades de la niñez en Estados Unidos. Sostengo que los espacios contemporáneos de la infancia, en todas las escalas, desde las del cuerpo hasta las globales, han transigido frente a la seguridad y al avance de la privatización. Recurro al lenguaje del «terror» para indagar estos efectos y sus consecuencias en la vida cotidiana de los niños y las niñas en un entorno …

The Globalization Of The Food Retail Sector In Southern Mexico, Alexandra Teachout

Masters Theses

The practices and policies of transnational corporations have now taken hold in the geo-economy, and the effects of globalization can be seen worldwide. Current research trends in economic geography focus on these policies and their transformations with regards to specific sectors. These theories predict and explain how transnational corporations should act, interact, and influence host countries. This foreign presence in host countries not only influences the corporate sector, but creates unique changes and challenges for producers and consumers. Consequently, the need to understand how the evolution of the global space affects the transformation of the local space, as well as …

Globalization & Nationalism: A Recipe For Terror, Cari Bourette, Daniel Reader

Cari Bourette

Nationalism appears to be part of the human condition; it may well be related to the human tendency toward tribalism. Whatever the case, nationalism appears to be a permanent feature on the global landscape. Globalization, while not a new phenomenon by any means, seems to be having a tremendous dilutory effect on the sovereignty of states; it now appears to be carrying the assault to the cultural frontiers of nationalism. Unlike the Westphalian constructs, however, nations will not so easily succumb. There is a greater inherent resistance to change in nations; the only historically effective method has been outright eradication …

Deer-Vehicle Accident Hotspots In Northwest Clackamas County, Oregon, Linda K. Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

Road-kill of wildlife is common on Portland, Oregon's suburban fringe where development has increased road densities and traffic volume in rural areas. I identify the spatial and temporal patterns of black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) deer-vehicle accidents (DVA) at the suburban/rural interface of developing northwest Clackamas County using deer carcass pickup reports for county maintained roads for 1997-2004 and Oregon Department of Transportation deer-vehicle accident reports for 1996-2004. No black-tailed deer DVA models exist in the literature.

DVA increased 121% from 1997 to 1999 followed by a 26% decline by 2004. The initial DVA increase appears related to …

Wild Capitalism: Environmental Activism And Postsocialist Political Ecology In Hungary, Krista Harper

Anthropology Department Faculty Publication Series

"Wild Capitalism" examines environmental issues in the "New Europe" of the twenty-first century. Specifically, it looks at how the meanings of "civil society" and "environment" have changed as environmentalists encounter the political and ecological realities of life after state socialism. Although environmentalism is a global social movement, environmental politics is a grassroots process in which activists creatively translate environmental issues into cultural idioms and political processes.

Monitoring The Relationship Between The Public And Public Lands: Application To Wilderness Stewardship In The U.S., Alan E. Watson, William T. Borrie

Society and Conservation Faculty Publications

Stakeholders in wilderness, and other public lands, have varying opinions on how well the land management agencies reflect their values and respond to their needs in management, and they therefore vary in their level of commitment and attachment to these places and the activities that occur there. Establishing baseline measures and monitoring indicators of the relationship between the public and wilderness lands can provide efficient evaluations of many management activities. Examples include protection of traditional relationships for indigenous people, and the enhancement and protection of relationships between the resource and both local and distant populations of stakeholders.

Most social science …

“Nuisance” Wildlife Control Trapping: Another Perspective, Brad Gates, John Hadidian, Laura Simon

Wildlife Population Management Collection

Urban wildlife control is a rapidly growing profession in which many practitioners apparently still come from a recreational or commercial trapping background. Perhaps for that reason, much of the “control” in resolving human-wildlife conflicts in cities and suburbs seems to revolve around the use of lethal traps to eliminate “problem” animals. Although some states allow relocation and most apparently allow for nuisance animals to be released on site, the extent to which these practices occur is little known. Further, the biological impacts of continual trapping cycles on urban wildlife populations remain little known as well. An alternative approach to trapping …

Medio Siglo De Geografía Histórica En Norteamérica [Half A Century Of Historical Geography In North America], Shawn Van Ausdal

Shawn Van Ausdal

This article recounts the development of historical geography in the North America over the last half century by dividing it into three periods that account for both the richness of the field and its persistent marginality. In the 1950s and 60s, human and historical geographers studied places, giving discipline a strong cohesion. The distinctiveness of historical geography lay with its attention to the past. In the 1970s, the discipline turned towards spatial patterns and laws. While some historical geographers changed with the current, other remained a bastion of tradition. In the last couple decades, human geographers have turned to social …

Icts As Appropriate Technologies For Africa's Development, Cosmas Milton Obote Ochieng Ochieng

Cosmas Milton Obote Ochieng Ochieng

No abstract provided.

Wild Capitalism: Environmental Activism And Postsocialist Political Ecology In Hungary, Krista Harper

Krista M. Harper

"Wild Capitalism" examines environmental issues in the "New Europe" of the twenty-first century. Specifically, it looks at how the meanings of "civil society" and "environment" have changed as environmentalists encounter the political and ecological realities of life after state socialism. Although environmentalism is a global social movement, environmental politics is a grassroots process in which activists creatively translate environmental issues into cultural idioms and political processes.

Sacred Space/Place, Paul Faulstich

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Landscape, space, and place are three concepts that merge together to create the human experience of the environment. Space is the most basic concept of geography; it is the three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur. Landscapes and places are both contained within space.

Ethnoecology, Paul Faulstich

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Ethnoecology – the study of cultural explications of nature – generates insights into the interface between peoples and the more-than-human world. Ecology is the scientific study of the interrelationships between plants, animals, and the environment, and it has developed into the study of interdependent communities of organisms and their environments. But while most ecologists have been trained to seek knowledge solely from scholarly books or nonhuman nature, tremendous environmental information is stored in the minds, cultures, and arts of indigenous peoples.

Geophilia, Paul Faulstich

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Extrapolated from E. O. Wilson's concept of biophilia, geophilia asserts that humans have an organic propensity to find wildlands emotionally compelling. It exists as a human tendency to emotionally connect with natural landscapes.

An Analysis Of Community Forest Implementation In British Columbia, Canada, Ryan C. Bullock

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The community forest is increasingly seen as an alternative to industrial forestry for its perceived potential to mitigate conflict in forest resource management and planning. Theoretically, a community-based approach affords the chance to assert local values, provide local benefits, and manage resources differently than established top-down approaches. Yet practical examples of community forest initiatives in Canada reveal a host of constraints. This research uses a multiple case study design to investigate the motivations for and challenges to implementing community forests in British Columbia, Canada. Observations are drawn from four case studies (Denman Island, Malcolm Island, Cortes Island, and Creston) in …

Lives, Livelihoods, And Landscapes: A Study Of Land Use And Social Change In Northeastern Nepal, Jennifer Leigh Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explores the forces of change in lives and landscapes that have altered the Lamosangu-to-Everest route in northeastern Nepal and shows how a transect in photographs and conversations across the east-central Himalaya allows us insight and a greater understanding into the processes and consequences of this change.

Three forces of change over the last twenty-five years dominated discussions with local informants: the rise of the "People's War"-Nepal's Maoist Insurgency beginning in 1996; the Democratic Revolution of 1990; and dependence on tourism for livelihood after the establishment of Sagarmatha National Park in 1976. Understanding the cultural-historical context for these forces …

Oxygen Demand Trends, Land Cover Change, And Water Quality Management For An Urbanizing Oregon Watershed, Michael Karl Boeder

Dissertations and Theses

In-stream aquatic habitat depends on adequate levels of dissolved oxygen. Human alteration of the landscape has an extensive influence on the biogeochemical processes that drive oxygen cycling in streams. Historic datasets allow researchers to track trends in chemical parameters concomitant with urbanization, while land cover change analysis allows researchers to identify linkages between water quality trends and landscape change.

Using the Seasonal Kendall's test, I examined water quality trends in oxygen demand variables during the mid-1990s to 2003, for twelve sites in the Rock Creek sub-watershed of the Tualatin River, northwest Oregon. Significant trends occurred in each parameter. Dissolved oxygen …

Urban Particulate Matter 2.5 Mass Concentrations: A Comparison Between A Drive-Through And A Park Setting, Cheryl Robertson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The focus of this thesis was to determine if light-duty vehicles idling at drive-throughs elevated ambient PM 2.5 mass more than those emitted by natural sources at a near-by greenspace. Two low-volume samplers (MiniVols), obtained from the Meteorological Services of Canada Air Quality Processes Research Division (ARQP), were set up 1.4 km apart in the west end of Kitchener, Ontario between the months of August and November, 2002. Four diurnal sampling periods were conducted on various days to determine when PM 2.5 mass concentrations were higher and at which location. Although overall results determined that the control site had obtained …

Assessment And Classification Of A Modified Urban Stream: Schneider Creek, Kitchener, Ontario, J. Andrew Carnegie

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study has produced an assessment framework and classification designed specifically for urban modified streams. While many stream assessment frameworks do exist, most are designed for natural streams and as such have no provision for characteristics of urban streams such as concrete channelization, storm drains, and urban debris. Building upon previous assessment and classification schemes, both urban and natural, this framework satisfies this need. It strengths lie in its user-friendly, visual-based approach to assessment by employing representative photographs and qualitative information to aid the user. A total of ten variables were employed that are scaled on a spectrum of categories, …

The Ethics Of Wildlife Control In Humanized Landscapes, John Hadidian, Camilla H. Fox, William S. Lynn

Ecology Collection

The 21st century is witness to an unprecedented and rapid growth of human settlements, from urban centers to wilderness vacation resorts. Concurrent with this has been the growing tolerance and acceptance of many wild animals and humans for one another. This has created an expanding ‘zone’ of human-animal contacts, some number of which invariably result in conflicts. While the vast majority of our interactions with wild animals are undoubtedly benign, it is the conflict between wildlife and people that draws particularly close attention from the public. Animals viewed as vertebrate “pests” range from the small to the large, the timid …

Building An Agricultural Research For Development System In Africa., Cosmas Milton Obote Ochieng Ochieng, Adiel Mbabu

Cosmas Milton Obote Ochieng Ochieng

This paper discusses how impact-oriented agricultural research for development systems in Africa can be better organized and managed. Specifically, the paper puts forth the argument that achieving the development targets set by African leaders and the international community, for example, through the Millennium Development Goals, will be extremely difficult without a satisfactory re-orientation of the organization and management of African research for development systems. Such a re-orientation involves carefully linking the agricultural research agenda with national development priorities; improving coordination, interaction, interlinkages, partnerships, and networks among system agents—that is, agricultural research institutes, extension systems, higher education institutions, farmer organizations, civil …