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Theses and Dissertations

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https://hdl.handle.net/10217/100422

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations by Author "Aragon, Antonette, committee member"

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    Reading Ché Guevara’s "new man" through the praxis of misfitting: towards a revolution for "people like us"
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Putnam, Bryan Rodrigues, author; Cespedes, Karina, advisor; Souza, Caridad, committee member; Sagás, Ernesto, committee member; Velasco, Marcela, committee member; Aragon, Antonette, committee member
    This study incorporates reflections from five Cuban participants about the contemporary status of Ernesto Ché Guevara’s “new man” in Cuba. Grounded in the Marxist tradition of praxis as philosophy, the thesis integrates Pan American articulations on the theme of Latin American liberation alongside interview data. In light of research findings pertaining to the “new man,” I evoke Rosemarie Garland-Thomson’s feminist materialist disability concepts of “fitting” and “misfitting” alongside Tobin Siebers’ assertion that by way of “misfitting” one produces critical knowledge revealing the “blueprints of power” that have constructed exclusionary reality for some and a contingent fit for others. I argue that the state imposed ideal of the “new man” failed to create the proper channels within which everyday misfit knowledge could be elevated to the level of social theory. However, the “new man” as a set of embodied values and mechanisms for social integration did succeed at various levels, which are explored throughout the chapters.
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    Understanding the body: learning how Puerto Rican women in New York City receive information on reproductive health
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Calderon Hooper, Emily Marie, author; Vernon, Irene, advisor; Souza, Caridad, committee member; Aragon, Antonette, committee member
    This qualitative study explores the experiences and stories of eleven self-identified second and third generation Puerto Rican women raised and living in New York City. Through semi-structured focus groups conducted in New York City, this study deconstructs how the women in this study learn and understand their bodies in the context of reproductive health. Furthermore, it aims to be liberatory in nature and to engage in practices that center the voices and experiences of the women participating. This study comprises decolonial and critical feminist frameworks and epistemologies and argues that second and third generation Puerto Rican women raised in New York City understand their bodies in relation to reproductive health in a multitude of ways. This study shows that reproductive health for Puerto Rican women in New York City should not be framed within a victim/agent dichotomy, because the experiences of these women are more nuanced and complicated. This thesis also reveals that transmission of reproductive healthcare resources from medical professionals to these women is severely limited and lacking. It is recommended that the experiences of Puerto Rican women in reproductive health be valued and incorporated into peer-to-peer workshops and promotora healthcare models to enhance how Puerto Rican women in New York City receive information on reproductive health.