Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons^™

‘Wannabe Toxic-Free?’ From Precautionary Consumption To Corporeal Citizenship, Dayna Scott, Jennie Haw, Robyn Lee

Dayna N. Scott

Ecological citizens are increasingly encouraged to adopt ‘precautionary consumption’ – a set of practices aimed at shielding them from the potential health harms of exposures to everyday toxics. The utility and the effects of precautionary consumption in relation to common chemical exposures are investigated. Precautionary consumption is not only of questionable utility, but is fundamentally misguided as an approach for inspiring antitoxics organizing. The failure of this approach is in part due to its assumption of a naturally bounded, autonomous individual who is able to maintain an impermeable boundary between herself and the environment. Drawing on the work of material …

Climate Change, Smart Growth, Racial Oppression, And White Privilege, Laura Stivers

Laura Stivers

In this paper I will examine how people of differing environmental perspectives—namely anti-growth preservationists and environmental justice advocates—frame their responses to smart growth, using Marin County in the San Francisco Bay Area as a case study. Then I will offer a race analysis of these frameworks based on the thesis that to address climate change through smart growth we need to challenge the ways certain groups try to retain their white privilege. As foundation for this thesis I will develop the norms of reparations and restoration to argue for an equitable smart growth approach that entails structural transformation to address …

Hong Kong Happiness Index Survey 2013, Lok Sang Ho

Prof. HO Lok-sang

Results of Lingnan University’s Hong Kong Happiness Index Survey 2013 indicate a slight increase of Hong Kong people’s happiness index to 70.5, up from 70.3 last year on a scale of 0-100. Even though the uptick in the happiness index is insignificant, it is still unexpected in view of the social and political tensions in Hong Kong. Satisfaction with the quality of public policy has fallen markedly from last year’s 4.77 to 4.14 on a scale of 0 to 10. Also declining noticeably is satisfaction with the living environment from 6.03 to 5.75. Overall, only healthcare generated a satisfaction score …

Domesticating The Diaspora: Memory And The Life Of Sister Katie, Caroline Waldron Merithew

Caroline Merithew

Three shrines in Illinois honor heroes of the working class: one for the legendary Mother Jones; one for the Virden martyrs, who died for coal mining unionism, and whose memory is kept alive by labor organizers around the world; and one for Catherine (Katie) Bianco DeRorre. Katie's monument, unlike the others, draws few visitors today. But when it was dedicated in 1961, men and women — on the floor of the U.S. Congress, in the neighborhood where Katie grew up, at American universities, in union halls, on the streets of New York City, and in Milan — took notice and …

Making The Italian Other: Blacks, Whites, And The In Between In The 1895 Spring Valley, Illinois, Race Riot, Caroline Waldron Merithew

Caroline Merithew

This essay takes the Spring Valley, Illinois, race riot and observes how blacks, Italians, and other new immigrants attempted to empower themselves and lay claim to status at the "nadir" of race relations ill this country. The events leading up to the riot, the assault on the African-American community, and the aftermath of the attack led to vocal outcries against oppression. What constituted oppression, however, was open to interpretation. Furthermore, no group defined itself, or its other, in isolation. Rather, each side responded to the rhetoric of its "opponents" as well as of middle-class whites who became involved in the …

Intimate Partner Violence In The Great Recession, Daniel Schneider, Kristen Harknett, Sara Mclanahan

Kristen Harknett