Politics and Social Change Commons^™

Public Health Contagion Of White Supremacy: Examining The Pipeline Of Attitudes About Racism And Racial History Education Among High School Students., Trinidad Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We are living in compounded states of upheaval. Violence and exemption from it across socioecological levels have shaped how humans survive, thrive, and die. While different violence typologies exist, the U.S., prioritizes interpersonal violence as its primary target of intervention, often through structural means that foster and reinforce interpersonal violence. The omission of structural and cultural agents and outcomes of violence allows perpetrators to infiltrate and reproduce savage, dehumanizing ideologies in perpetuity. Instead of sustaining societal pillars that oppress and destroy, we must fertilize public health research, practice, and sociopolitical activism with pillars that both inform and activate liberatory consciousness …

The International Perception Of The Irish Republican Army And Chechen Insurgency, Henry Forteith

International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

This purpose of this project is to examine how the labels used to describe the Irish Republican Army and Chechen insurgency changed after certain acts of violence. This paper begins by describing the history of imperial subjugation of Ireland and Chechnya, as well as examining the similarities between the actions and motivations of the IRA and Chechen insurgency. Then, to study the change in language to describe these groups, two searches were conducted into the New York Times and International Newsstream databases. The first search examined articles about the IRA and Chechen insurgency published between 1998 and 2009, while the …

The One Who Won, Jeanna Polisini

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

I am an adopted Asian American with an Italian last name who was raised in the Jewish faith. While I am one of the lucky ones, the One-Child Policy is responsible for how my life turned out. My intention is to confront the inhumanity of this horrific policy with my adoption story. Until policies personally affect someone’s life, many people do not think twice about the other country’s problems and their repercussions on a global level. For my senior exhibition, I created an autobiographical installation to explore my adoption story and how China’s inhumane dictatorship. The full immersive installation will …

Divided We Fall: Gender-Based Occupational Segregation In Kentucky’S Executive Branch 2012-2020., Hillary Mcgoodwin Abbott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fifty-eight years have passed since the Title VII of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 was signed into law, yet discrimination in employment still occurs; the Kentucky Executive Branch is no exception. This paper will use Theodore Lowi’s agency typology and EEOC categorical data from the 2012 and 2020 Kentucky Office of Diversity and Employment Training Semi-Annual Report on Female and Minority Employment (SAR) to identify gendered occupational segregation in three distinct Executive Branch agencies, address potential contributing factors and areas of change (Alkadry & Tower, 2006; Lowi, 1985; Newman, 1994; Escriche, 2007). Addressing any underlying discriminatory practices that may …

The Land Of Disenchantment: Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, And Race In New Mexico, 1598–1910, Jacqulyne Ruby Anton

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Across the North American continent, white supremacy is often taken for granted as a foregone conclusion by the late nineteenth century. Recently, however, scholars of the Greater Reconstruction, Indigenous history, Latinx history, U.S.-Mexico Borderlands history, and historians of capitalism have challenged this assumption by deconstructing narratives that portray white-European American hegemony as inevitable. My research on settler colonialism adds to the discussion of the establishment of white supremacy in the West by analyzing the evolution of white supremacy in New Mexico over time. It argues that the Spanish, Mexican, and American settler colonial regimes actively used white supremacy as a …

Social (In) Justice, Climate Change And Climate Policy In Western Australia, Naomi Joy Godden, Doreen Wijekoon, Kylie Wrigley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Climate change is a social justice issue, and people who experience disadvantage and marginalisation are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In 2019–2020, the government of the state of Western Australia (WA) held the world’s first inquiry into climate change and health. The Inquiry report, submissions, and hearing transcripts make an important contribution to a small but growing body of evidence that climate change exacerbates and reinforces existing social inequalities in WA in areas such as health, economics, gender relations, and access and inclusion. However, in late-2020, the WA government released its 38-page Climate Policy, with very limited …

Five Public Concerns Represented By Environmental Groups In The Development Of Regional Free Trade Agreements: A Case Study Of The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (Usmca), Julian Rodriguez

International Studies (MA) Theses

This thesis explores how the public discourse surrounding the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiations affected the formulation of the free trade agreement (FTA). More specifically, the project set out to determine if North American environmental groups successfully had public concerns addressed and codified in the Environment chapter of the USMCA. By analyzing official statements made in press releases by seventeen prominent Environmental groups operating in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, the thesis provides an account of the concerns related to liberalized regional trade prior to the USMCA’s ratification in 2020. The analysis of organization statements regarding public health, climate …

Contextualizing The 2019 “Chile Despertó” Movement: The Impact Of Historical Relational Processes On Mobilization And Repression, Tanya Leon

International Studies (MA) Theses

To expand our theoretical and empirical understanding of mobilization and repression in Latin America, this thesis asks three critical questions. Are economic indicators sufficient predictors of social movement emergence in Latin America? What other factors contribute to large-scale mobilization in Latin America? How do government’s respond to large-scale Latin American social movements? Specifically, when, and why do democratic governments choose to employ repression against social movements? Accordingly, I construct a quantitative model to test the correlation between rise in protest and worsened economic conditions. I apply it to a comprehensive dataset of political events in multiple South American countries throughout …

Racial And Ethnic Differences In Health Insurance Coverage Among Workers In Texas, Trenton P. Overstreet

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of race and ethnicity on health insurance coverage for working age (18-61) adults in Texas. I focus on Texas for three reasons. First, Texas is the second largest state in the United States. Second, Texas is a majority-minority state where Hispanics are the largest ethnic group. Finally, Texas has not yet expanded Medicaid eligibility to individuals with family incomes under 138% of the federal poverty threshold. In this analysis, I use data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a …

A Survey Of Indicators Of Zionism, Antisemitism, And Their Convergence With American Christian Nationalism, Jessica Liberman

All Theses

Since the 1970s, the American Christian right has favored U.S. involvement with the state of Israel, supporting it through decades of conflict with its Muslim-majority neighbor, Palestine. Antisemitism in the United States has surged since the 2016 election of Donald Trump, along with growing research interest among sociologists in a theopolitical phenomenon called Christian nationalism. Building upon research documenting the civic, racial, and ethnic exclusivism of Christian nationalist ideology as well as theory suggesting Christian Zionism, despite appearing philosemitic, is structured by antisemitism that views Israel and Jews as artifacts of biblical prophecies, I theorize that such factors are associated …

Tiktok As A Digital Activism Space: Social Justice Under Algorithmic Control, Brittany Haslem

Institute for the Humanities Theses

TikTok, a video sharing application, has become the center of viral internet culture. The app has risen in popularity so quickly that scholarly literature investigating its vast societal impact is still nascent. TikTok is not only used to discuss popular culture topics and create trends, but also being utilized as a tool for social justice activism in the United States in the wake of a tumultuous year with major events such as the coronavirus pandemic, a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the 2020 presidential election. TikTok activism is not without critiques, ranging from concerns of foreign government …

Crime Pays: How Black Americans Became Central To The Carceral State, Will Brooks

Honors Theses

Over the course of American history, Black Americans have been intentionally criminalized at moments of ostensible social progress. This legacy of intentional criminalization of minority communities has both created the perception that African Americans are innately criminal and given rise to a prison-industrial complex that now depends on Black bodies. Now, predictive policing technology reinforces perceptions of Black criminality necessary for the justification of the carceral state and the survival and expansion of the prison-industrial complex.

Personal Outcomes Of Activist Interpreting: A Case Study, Mark A. Halley

Showcase of Faculty Scholarly & Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Examination Of Factors That Influence Adherence To Public Health Guidelines During Coronavirus Pandemic, Kathryn Mcloughlin

Sociology & Anthropology Student Scholarship

Kathryn McLoughlin ’22
Majors: Health Policy and Management, Sociology, and Women and Gender Studies
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Brandon Martinez, Sociology

My research examines factors that influence adherence to public health guidelines during the ongoing pandemic. I apply quantitative methodology to investigate how positions of social privilege, select news sources, and beliefs in political conspiracy theories impact adherence to public health instructions and vaccine trust. I used the Sixth Wave of the Baylor Religion Survey, a national random sample, and analyzed data using multivariate regressions. The findings of the research reveal that higher positions of social privilege and subscription to conspiracy …

Proceedings - 2022, Marquette University

Interdisciplinary Conference on Disabilities at the Intersection

No abstract provided.

Equity + Catalyst Framework Guide, Naomi M. Silas

Masters Projects

There has been a shift in society, in light of Covid-19 and the global pandemic, more people have begun to recognize the structural and institutional injustices that exist in this country. Social innovation allows collaboration between people from different sectors, disciplines, industries, and backgrounds; in order to create sustainable change to complex social issues. Design thinking is an iterative process used in business to create innovation and products; it’s also used for social impact.

The goal of the Equity + Catalyst Framework is to bridge concepts that include design thinking, and embodiment, as well as lived experiences and community care …

Undocumented Students And Mental Health, Flor Reyes

Nonprofit and NGO Studies Student Projects

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals also known as DACA was first implemented in 2012 after many failed attempts to legalize the millions of undocumented people in this country. DACA was an executive order of former President Obama. This program provides temporary relief from deportation and a work permit that allows those under this program to legally work in the United States. DACA has allow many undocumented people who arrived to this country at a young age in the hopes of leading a somewhat normal life. Some of those who are protected by this program have gone to college, built their …

Citizenship Matters: Non-Citizen Covid-19 Mortality Disparities In New York And Los Angeles, Jason A. Douglas, Georgiana Bostean, Angel Miles Nash, Emmanuel B. John, Lawrence M. Brown, Andrew M. Subica

Health Sciences and Kinesiology Faculty Articles

U.S. non-citizen residents are burdened by inequitable access to socioeconomic resources, potentially placing them at heightened risk of COVID-19-related disparities. However, COVID-19 impacts on non-citizens are not well understood. Accordingly, the current study investigated COVID-19 mortality disparities within New York (NYC) and Los Angeles (LAC) to test our hypothesis that areas with large proportions of non-citizens will have disproportionately high COVID-19 mortality rates. We examined ecological associations between March 2020–January 2021 COVID-19 mortality rates (per 100,000 residents) and percent non-citizens (using ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTA) for NYC and City/Community units of analysis for LAC) while controlling for sociodemographic factors. …

Same-Gender Pathways To Parenthood, Sydney T. Inger

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

LGBTQ+ individuals and couples who want children negotiate systemic inequalities in the United States of America. This literature review surveys America’s confusing legal map and the gaps in its enduring scholarly theories. The paper then examines the challenges that LGBTQ+ individuals and couples confront in working through the common pathways—same-gender adoption and fostering, in vitro fertilization, and surrogacy—to become parents. Dispersing information on the pathways will be a positive step towards breaking down the inequities for those in the LGBTQ+ community who want to start a family.

Examining The Impact Of Political Identification And Morality On Compliance With Covid-19 Public Health Measures, Jessica Stump

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

COVID-19 provides a unique opportunity to study the influence of individual and group differences on beliefs and behavior. In the present work, we examine COVID beliefs and behavior as a function of morality, ideology, and emotion. Data were collected in the spring of 2021 and the fall of 2021, allowing for distinct snapshots of an undergraduate sample at two periods of the pandemic. Of primary interest was the relationship between political ideology, moral foundation endorsement, and COVID-19 behaviors and beliefs. The results reveal that ideology drives COVID-19-related beliefs and behaviors. The results from Study 2 suggest that political liberals were …

The Ethics Of Care And The U.S. Covid-19 Pandemic Response, Samantha Treveline Barrett

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Throughout the pandemic, many conservatives like President Donald Trump lacked emotional sensitivity in regards to the millions of lives affected by COVID-19. They believed themselves to be too strong for the virus to take them down, and viewed those who wore masks as weak and afraid. Unlike Democrats, Republican governors entrusted their constituents to take necessary safety precautions and avoided statewide mask mandates, vaccine requirements, and lockdowns. Their policies and rhetoric demonstrated the overlap in harmful masculine traits and the conservative values of self-sufficiency and independence. Using a case study method, this paper analyzes the role of gender in a …

Personal, Familial, And Institutional Challenges Working Mothers Faced During Covid-19, Ashley Celestin

Symposium of Student Scholars

HS 3600 Program Development and Evaluation in Nonprofit Organizations

Abstract

Parenting is not an easy task, but during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, parenting especially for women who work outside the home and were caregivers for the young and old had an exceptionally onerous time. According to Brookings (2020), “COVID-19 has also increased the pressure on working mothers, low-wage and otherwise. In a survey from May and June, one out of four women who became unemployed during the pandemic reported the job loss was due to a lack of childcare, twice the rate of men surveyed. A more …

Racialized Mass Incarceration In The United States: Exposing The Facade Of “Liberty And Justice For All”, Emily Wingfield

The Compass

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Misinformation From The American Perspective, Tyler W. Nelson

Honors College Theses

Over the last decade, conspiracy theorists and larger groups have become much more prominent across the United States, despite conspiracies being present for decades. Previously, they have been dismissed by most, however over the last decade due to an explosive political climate and growing numbers, these groups have begun to act on their beliefs. Events such as the January 6th Insurrection on the United States Capitol building is an unfortunate example as to how far these groups are willing to go. This study’s purpose is to use a nationwide survey to help determine who exactly are these types of individuals …

National Politics Forged Through International Competition, Benjamin Underwood

Scholars Week

The Olympics, being arguably the largest stage for athletics in the world, invites much crosswise country competition and national pride. Politicians may use the monumental stage for recreation to craft their own politically charged statements about their country as a whole. For my project, I examine Mexico’s history of performance in the Olympics, then observe political statements and speeches from specifically three Mexican presidents during significant political, social, economic or Olympic performance years. These political statements are recorded in academic articles, political news articles, and some YouTube videos about Mexican Olympic performance. There are three significant years in which I …

Contested Deployment, Bert B. Tussing, John Eric Powell, Benjamin C. Leitzel

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

As indicated in the 2018 National Defense Strategy and evolving Multi-Domain Operations doctrine, the assumption the homeland will provide a secure space for mobilization and deployment is no longer valid. This integrated research project goes beyond affirming this assumption and contributes to efforts to mitigate the concerns a contested deployment entails.

Following the introductory chapter, Chapter 2, “Army Deployments in a Contested Homeland: A Framework for Protection,” explores how current coordination and cooperation mechanisms between the DoD and state and local government may need realignment, with civil authorities preparing themselves to support military mobilization. Chapter 3, “Strategic Seaports and National …

Critically Analyzing American Constitutionalism, Daniel Harris

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

It is a survey of negative consequences caused by the structure of the U.S. Constitutionalism and its ideological underpinnings.

Great Men Are Almost Always Bad Men: The Cultural Revolution Of The Techno-Totalitarians, Gregory S. Mckenzie

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

No abstract provided.

Abortion And Child Sexual Exploitation: Abortion As A Tool Of Traffickers And Abusers, Gabrielle Tornow

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

An examination of how child sexual abusers use abortion as a tool to exert control over their victims and cover up the evidence of their crimes

The Torch (Spring 2022), Crtp

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

The Maine Office of the Attorney General administers the Civil Rights Team Project (CRTP). The CRTP’s mission is to increase the safety of elementary, middle school, and high school students by reducing bias-motivated behaviors and harassment in our schools. CRTP accomplishes this by supporting student civil rights teams in Maine schools. The CRTP and student teams are active in engaging school communities in thinking and talking about issues related to:

• Race and skin color
• National origin and ancestry
• Religion
• Disabilities
• Gender (including gender identify and expression)
• Sexual orientation

The Attorney General’s Office created the CRTP in 1996 as a pilot …