Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/100422

Browse

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Open Access
A feminist epistemological critique of conservation projects in Africa
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Jones, Octavius, author; Souza, Caridad, advisor; Cespedes, Karina, committee member; Laituri, Melinda, committee member
This study seeks to elucidate the roles that Western conservationists play in conservation's relationship with Indigenous communities and local ecologies within African countries. Employing a qualitative analysis of conservationist research practices, the study seeks to examine Western community-based conservation research approaches that value collaboration with the participants of study in order to ascertain whether and how conservationists incorporate women into their research. For the purposes of this thesis, the inclusion of women refers to local and Indigenous women in the communities where community-based conservation projects and research occur. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews were conducted with five CSU faculty who work on ecological research in Africa to tease out the epistemic foundations of Western conservation research practices. Findings show that the adoption of community-based approaches to research do not necessarily coincide with increased incorporation of women and their knowledges into conservationist research practices in the field. Women in local communities remain marginal to research practices that purport to promote equity with Indigenous people in the field based on collaborative methods. Findings also indicate that conservation research practices continue to marginalize women in local contexts in ways that make Western conservation efforts detrimental to global ecological protection and sustainability.
Open Access
Crisis in whiteness: white workingmen's narratives and the American dream
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Morrison, Joseph J., author; Ishiwata, Eric, advisor; Cespedes, Karina, committee member; Souza, Caridad, committee member; Brinks, Ellen, committee member
This project examines the ways in which white working class men make sense of their own socioeconomic positioning in the contemporary U.S. economy. This is accomplished through the exploring of white workingmen's narratives of the American Dream, and how these narratives are informed by the race, class and gendered identities of the white working class men expressing them. Specifically, this project is a case study of five self-identified white working class men living in Upstate New York's Chemung, Onondaga, Tioga, and Tompkins Counties. Through this project's findings the researcher hopes to chart a new course for the field of Whiteness Studies into the twenty-first century.
Open Access
Historical trauma: the impact of colonial racism on contemporary relations between African Americans and Mexican immigrants
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Wright, Noah M., author; Ishiwata, Eric, advisor; Cespedes, Karina, committee member; Breaux, Richard, committee member; Taylor, Peter, committee member
The purpose of this project is to examine tensions in present day United States between African Americans and Mexican immigrants. Hyper-violent incidents of interracial gang violence between these two communities are presented by mainstream media as signifiers of the existence of the tension. Latinos, as a whole, and African Americans, whether in gangs or civilians, are often portrayed to be in competition due to three conventional explanations. While scholars and media sources have validity in pointing out the significance of socioeconomic competition, struggles for political power and the problems that the language barrier create, these explanations are not complete. El sistema de castas or the caste system, a racial hierarchy created by the Spaniards in Latin America during their colonial efforts, established how people of African descent, both free and slave, were treated in New Spain. The caste system's continued influence can be seen with the denial of African heritage and the marginalized position of Afro-Mexicans in present day Mexico. Furthermore, these prejudices remain intact when Mexican immigrants enter the U.S. It is understood that Mexico's national identity is mestizaje, a racially mixed nation; however, racism existed and is also present today in Mexico. By combining a historical perspective with the three primary reasons, mentioned above, it is hoped that the complete picture will help resolve tensions. This thesis argues that colonization, influenced heavily by a racial hierarchy, has caused Mexican immigrants to carry with them prejudices towards African Americans that were learned in Mexico, showing that the issue is deeper than competition over resources in present times. In response to an influx of Latino immigrants, African American responses show parallels with historical nativist responses to immigrants. By combining the impacts of historical racism with conventional explanations for the existence of the tension it is hoped an understanding may develop that will help reduce conflict.
Open Access
Islamicodes: the post 9/11 racialization of counter-terrorism
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Kamandy, Jamal, author; Kim, Joon, advisor; Cespedes, Karina, committee member; Hempel, Lynn, committee member
After 9/11, a conceptual conflation between Islam and terrorism occurred within American culture and public spheres, forming a new epistemology, Islamicodes. In order to understand how Islamicodes have influenced U.S. Counter-terrorism efforts, this thesis analyzes American culture and the judicial system through discourse, semiotics, and power/knowledge. This article will argue that the conceptual conflation of Islam and terrorism, through the usage of language, symbols, and institutional practices, severely limits the Constitutional rights and life chances of Muslims in America.
Open Access
State injustice: trapping black women as "sex offenders" for prostitution in "the Big Easy"
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Sheets, Crystal Faye, author; Bubar, Roe, advisor; Cespedes, Karina, committee member; Valdez, Norberto, committee member; Daum, Courtenay, committee member
This qualitative case study explores the use of a sodomy statute, Crime Against Nature, to criminalize prostitution and its impacts on impoverished Black women located on the streets of New Orleans. Data from in-depth interviews with six participants including a Public Defender, a Prosecutor, a Judge, a Community Worker, and two sex workers, were studied through a critical feminist analytic framework to decipher prevalent themes regarding the state's implementation of this charge. Major findings include: intersecting race/class/gender oppressions socially track or position Black women in the street sex economy where they are targeted by the state, the regulation of prostitution is performed in ways which permit a sex economy in the French Quarter to cater to tourists while it criminalizes prostitution in poor areas outside of the French Quarter, drug addiction is used as justification by the state to criminalize Black women on the street using this charge, and the ways in which recipients of this charge are further burdened and trapped by the state, which labels them felons and sex offenders rather than offering assistance and protection.

Browse

Browsing Theses and Dissertations by Author "Cespedes, Karina, committee member"