Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons^™

Apanola Atolan Pah Mollo At The Margin: Power, Development, And Ngo-State Relationship In West Timor, Indonesia, Yuda Rasyadian

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines how power operates within the NGOs and how NGOs’ agenda interacts with local forces that transform local civic life and their relationship with the state. Using critical ethnography as an approach and methodology, this study investigates the relationship between the agenda that was developed by an NGO-like institution named the UGM and the Mollonese’s local politics that in turn affected the NGO-state relationship in West Timor. This study uses ethnographic data from two separate fieldworks in the district of North Mollo, Timor Island. The first was conducted from January 2016 to January 2017, the second was from …

Introduction Project 400: Our Lived Experience, Ronnie A. Dunn

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

No abstract provided.

Historical Trauma, Contemporary Trauma, And Type-2 Diabetes Self-Management Among American Indian/Alaska Native Women, Dorothy Ruth Jolley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Endemic Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is one of the leading causes of mortality among American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs). Trauma and stress have been shown to impact the progression of diabetes that could negatively impact health-related behaviors. Previous studies have not examined the relationship between historical and contemporary trauma and T2DM self-management among AI/AN women. The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between historical loss, historical loss associated symptoms, stressful life events, microaggressions (microinsults and microinvalidations), and T2DM self-management (glucose management, dietary control, physical activity, healthcare use) among AI/AN women with diabetes. Historical trauma theory was the basis …

Restructuring Work “The Chattanooga Way”: Urban Revitalization, Contingent Labor, And Trying To Get By In Tennessee, Mauri Systo

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

In Chattanooga, TN, the construction of a fiber optic telecommunications network has led to a tech-based revitalization strategy, and the promotion of entrepreneurial and technical positions within the Downtown. This dissertation questions what revitalization, the “Chattanooga Way,” means to differently situated residents of Chattanooga, TN, and how those differences in interpretation are related to lived experiences of economic inequality. Powerful local discourses, like the Chattanooga Way policy model and its accompanying “origin myth” of Chattanooga’s development often conceal disparities between grass-roots, public, and private sector notions of economic revitalization. Through the projection of a tech-based economic future, Chattanooga has created …

Village-Temple Consciousness In Two Jaffna Tamil Villages In Post-War Sri Lanka, Pathmanesan Sanmugeswaran

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

This dissertation investigates how community rebuilding is occurring in a gravely damaged, post-conflict society. Specifically, it looks at how people in two villages in Tamil, Hindu, Jaffna, Sri Lanka, are using their ‘sense of place’ and ‘place-making practices’ or what I call here their ‘village-temple consciousness’ or village consciousness, to maintain and rebuild their communities after war to make them, once again, places in which they feel a comfortable sense of belonging. This is a comparative study because Inuvil and Naguleswaram were affected differently by the Sri Lankan civil war. That is, while Inuvil, was physically damaged and socially disrupted …

We Died And Were Reborn: An Anthropological Study Of Health-Seeking Strategies For Mental And Emotional Distress In Post-War Eastern Sri Lanka, Daniel Ball

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

Since the early 2000s, Sri Lanka has made major gains in decentralizing and expanding state-based mental healthcare access and services outside of Colombo. However, little evidence exists related to on-the-ground experiences of Sri Lankans who access these services, the quality and sustainability of services, and the effects services have on individual therapy management of mental and emotional distress. In addition to an extensive historical review of mental health service provision, this dissertation explores strategic health-seeking practices among Tamil-speaking communities in eastern Sri Lanka—an area ravaged by high rates of poverty, 26 years of civil war, and the 2004 tsunami catastrophe. …

Beyond Extractivism And Governmentality: The Postneoliberal State, Development, And The Circulation Of Oil Rents Among Indigenous Peoples In The Ecuadorian Amazon, Karla Monserrath Encalada-Falconí

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

This dissertation explores the experiences of an indigenous community from the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon during the implementation of extractivism, development, and redistributive projects. Drawing on twenty months of ethnographic fieldwork in the community of Playas del Cuyabeno and in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, I question the common assumption that indigenous peoples radically reject extractivism and state-imposed modernizing agendas. In contrast, this study shows how indigenous peoples negotiate resource extraction in their territories and navigate the partial failures of postneoliberal redistribution and the contradictory agendas of economic development projects—specifically the aim of the postneoliberal Ecuadorian government’s project to redistribute rents …

“Smile For Me, Sweetie!”: An Analysis Of Contemporary Gender Based Violence And Discrimination In The Bahamas, Jennifer Munnings

Honors Theses

Women in the Bahamas face various forms of pervasive sexist discrimination and high rates of gender-based violence. However, recent governmental initiatives aimed at addressing gender inequality have not proven effective. The narrow focus on individual reforms like anti-crime measures to curb structural violence highlights a lack of understanding of gender inequality as embedded within social institutions. To interrogate the institutionalized nature of gender inequality in the Bahamas, the present study draws on in-depth interviews with seven Bahamian women’s rights activists to explore the social, cultural, and political explanations for the persistence of gender-based violence and discrimination. Three major themes emerged …

The Impact Of Career Experiences On Generativity And Postretirement Choices For Intelligence Community Baby Boomers, Marianne Victoria Kramer

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study focused on baby boomers and explored how a career with a mission-focus in the Intelligence Community influenced boomer generativity and subsequent choices after retirement. Baby boomers make-up the majority of the population that is retirement eligible today and have the benefit of a longer life expectancy commensurate with improvements in health care over the past century. Current retirement literature covers a range of options that redefine what retirement means today. This study employed a two-phase mixed method approach to investigate the characteristics and impacts of a mission-focused career, and to understand how such experiences impact postretirement opportunities and …

Professional Childminding In Ireland: Ecocultural Perspectives, Miriam O’Regan

Doctoral

The present study seeks to address the dearth of research focussed on childminding in Ireland, despite its significant role in national childcare provision. The overarching aims of this research are to interrogate the concept of professionalism and to explore the cultural models and praxis of childminders. The research has been conducted in an ecological theoretical framework: Ecocultural Theory (ECT) (Weisner 1993, 2002) predominantly, also referencing Bronfenbrenner’s Bio-Ecological Model (2006) and Attachment Theory. The history of childminding and current policy in Ireland, Europe and the USA are reviewed, including an overview of international research into childminding in the last 30 years. …

Migration And Women’S Relationships To The Land And Food In Myanmar, Allison Joseph

Scripps Senior Theses

Abstract

In the 21st century, Myanmar has become the largest migration source country in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. To achieve its economic and political goals, the government has conducted extensive confiscation and reallocation of communal lands, which has resulted in a growing class of landless and dispossessed citizens. Under the new laws, rural women are disproportionately impacted and more vulnerable to the processes of dispossession, often lacking the rights or resources of their male counterparts to fight for the land of their ancestors. This has resulted in the wide-scale disinheritance of Myanmar’s rural women from their land and food, as …

English As A Second Language Teachers' Perspectives Of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy For Saudi University Students, Maysa Safi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractFor many years, the integration of English language into Saudi Arabia's culture, education, and curriculum were not of importance. A gap in literature exists regarding this phenomenon of localizing regional teaching practices, or pedagogy, to better meet Saudi students' learning needs while adhering to the social, political, and cultural constraints of Saudi society. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perspectives of university-level English as a second language (ESL) teachers who have taught in Saudi Arabia concerning the use of culturally relevant pedagogy to provide students with effective and engaging instruction. The conceptual framework was based …

Conceptions And Receptions: A Case Study Analysis Of Community Engagement At Four Local Museums, Mary L. Casey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The theme of community engagement has been a prevalent topic of debate and discussion among museum professionals across the country, and so this thesis seeks to examine how four local museums connect with their local audiences in meaningful and successful ways. I focus on local museums because they have the unique opportunity to intimately engage their immediate community’s perceptions of identity and heritage, and relate the interpreted past in innovative ways that effectively resonate with the contemporary lives of current residents.The Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, Strawbery Banke Museum, The Tuck Museum of Hampton History, and the James House Museum, …

Handing Down The Heritage: Preserving Irish Diasporic Identities In The Festival City Of Montana, Margaret Mary Walsh

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Butte, Montana is a tough, historic industrial town in western Montana known for its mining, its Irish, and strangely, its festivals. The city boasts countless parades and community events each year for a variety of holidays as well as for showcases of traditions and ethnic pride. Three celebrations in particular, St. Patrick’s Day, Fourth of July, and An Rí Rá, attract visitors from all over the country – and world – who seek to experience the enthusiasm and splendor of these celebrations. So, what can these popular celebrations in Montana’s Festival City, Butte, reveal about the Irish community living there? …

Quantifying Water Recharge And Water Use In Hand Dug Wells: A Case Study Of Thiawor, Senegal, West Africa, Celine Carus

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

For many rural communities in Senegal, water is an essential life-giving need received only through a network of hand dug wells. Increasing rainfall variability in the Sahel has driven greater water insecurity for those communities that rely on rain-irrigated systems for agriculture. This study investigates the retrieval, purposes, and quantities of seasonal water usage on a small domestic scale, as well as an analysis of perceived water availability in the wells during the rainy season. Additionally, using a combination of interview data and pumping test data obtained from the village wells, water usage and estimated daily needs are calculated and …

Rewilding And Mixed-Community Collaboration In Conservation, Liv Baker

Animal Sentience

Rewilding is a psychological and sociocultural event for nonhuman animals that goes beyond the traditional framework of ecology. Elephants need to be seen as political agents in a collaboration. Our commentators shed light on the hierarchical assumptions and politics involved. Mixed-community collaboration can create dynamic and sustainable conservation interventions that are crucial to reconceptualizing the human-elephant relationship beyond the concept of labor. The profound effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have laid bare the fundamental vulnerabilities of the elephant tourism industry. Moreover, how well an elephant has been buffered by the fallout of the pandemic is dependent on the specific relations …

Impacts Of Transportation Infrastructure On Water Quality, Sediment Loads, And Fishing Opportunities In The Gwich’In Settlement Area, Northwest Territories, Matthew Teillet

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The addition of gravel sediment to build ferry landings on the Peel and Mackenzie Rivers has been an ongoing concern for the Gwich’in communities of Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic that depend on the rivers for their livelihoods. Specifically, there are concerns that gravel from ferry landings is degrading water quality, harming fishing opportunities, and altering river morphology downstream. Previous reports concluded that ferry operations were not impacting downstream ecology. However, past studies had methodological shortcomings and community concerns about the ferry landings remain. To study the impact of the gravel landings on water quality, I utilized a multidisciplinary study design …

Between “Us” And “Them”: Political Subjectivities In The Shadows Of The 2018 Brazilian Election, Charles H. Klein, Milena Mateuzi Carmo, Alessandra Tavares

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article examines political subjectivities, community engagements and voting practices among residents of São Paulo’s Zona Sul peripheries in the three years preceding Brazil’s 2018 presidential election. Building on a 398-person household survey, 46 in-depth interviews, and extensive participation observation over the course of a fouryear study, we argue that although most residents of our study communities across the political spectrum are disenchanted with institutional politics, many maintain political engagement through their everyday lives, including activism centered on intersectional identities and state-sponsored violence/genocide. Our discussion combines statistical analysis and auto-ethnographic inflected vignettes and is in dialogue with two common themes …

Perceived Influence Of Value Systems On The Uptake Of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision Among Men In Kweneng East, Botswana, Thandisizwe R. Mavundla, Fungai Mbengo, Khanyenda Bruce Ngomi

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Botswana is one of the countries in Eastern and Southern Africa significantly impacted by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). To control the spread of HIV, the government in 2009 rolled out the voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) programme as an additional HIV prevention strategy with the goal of circumcising 80% of HIV negative men by 2016. However, the country failed to achieve this goal as less than 30% of the targeted men were circumcised by 2016. A study was therefore conducted to explore and describe …

Metaphorical Cities - Behind The Cover Art, Elana Melissa Hill

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

This is a reflection on how cities function like organisms. An artist's interpretation of the spaces surrounding them.