Browsing by Author "Raynolds, Laura, committee member"
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Item Open Access Evaluating the food system with a Noddings-style care ethic(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Moerland, Hanna Leigh, author; McShane, Katie, advisor; Tropman, Beth, committee member; Raynolds, Laura, committee memberTo view the abstract, please see the full text of the document.Item Open Access Growing pains: the local food movement in northern Colorado(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) McNamara, Maureen Catherine, author; Browne, Katherine E., advisor; Sherman, Kathleen A., committee member; Raynolds, Laura, committee memberGlobal food and agribusiness corporations exhibit significant control over food production and consumption. Around the world, people contest this corporate food regime through efforts like local food movements. Critics often undermine the power of localism movements and claim that local food is a short-term trend that will not impact the larger market. In my thesis, I explore the local food movement in Northern Colorado. My analysis draws on fieldwork I conducted in 2009-2010 and includes data from participant observation, semi-structured interviews (n=23) and an online survey (n=67). In Northern Colorado, local food producers and advocates are passionate about and committed to growing the local food system. The strong network of producers ensures that the movement stays rooted in and develops as an integral part of the community. Despite producers' enthusiastic and collaborative energies, local food is not for the most part economically viable. Producers, consumers, and advocates in Northern Colorado are faithful to local food, but individual commitments cannot counter the powerful forces that shape food production and consumption. In order for local food to challenge the global agro-food structures, the movement has to adopt a more political and economically focused approach that moves beyond consumer education and marketing strategies.Item Open Access "It was a disaster for us:" 15 years of farming in the shadow of Bumbuna Dam(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Stevick, Katherine, author; Luna, Jessie, advisor; Raynolds, Laura, committee member; Hausermann, Heidi, committee memberThis thesis draws on interviews, participatory mapping, and participant observation in Kalanthuba chiefdom, Sierra Leone, to explore how Limba farmers in Kadala and Kamathor villages understand life with Bumbuna Dam 15 years after its construction. In the first chapter, I argue that the government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) and its industry partner, WeBuild, have taken Limba farmers' land and abandoned the people, leaving them to fend for themselves. Government investment in green energy has transformed villagers into what some anthropologists have termed "surplus populations," who must now scrabble for survival as historic livelihood strategies become increasing untenable. "Surplus" in this context does not imply a neo-Malthusian notion of a population explosion, but rather people who have been left in a vulnerable position half-in and half-out of capitalist economic relations, rather than becoming a fully proletarianized labor force. In the second chapter, I borrow a phrase which recurred throughout my interviews—"sitting in the dark"—to frame how Limba farmers' experience and theorize this half-in, half-out position and experience of abandonment. Villagers use "sitting in the dark" to refer to a figurative lack of education, understanding, and power as well as a literal exclusion from access to electricity. For residents of Kadala and Kamathor, I argue, darkness symbolizes not only exclusion from the material benefits of Bumbuna Dam, but also from modernity as a status with attendant material benefits. Limba leaders' attempts to gain access to electricity for their people, therefore, can be understood as a bid for inclusion in the benefits of green energy development and in the material advantages of being "modern."Item Open Access No como veneno: strengthening local organic markets in the Peruvian Andes(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Loomis, Jennifer C., author; Murray, Douglas, advisor; Raynolds, Laura, committee member; Thilmany, Dawn, committee memberEconomic and social development in Peru can partially be achieved through the promotion of local organic Farmers’ Markets. Local markets provide unique spaces in which producers and consumers interact and foster relationships developing a stable supply of high quality organic produce. However, market opportunities are limited by an underdeveloped consumer base. The goal of this study is to identify the patterns and values among current organic consumers in order to develop further actions that would increase demand for and supply of organic agricultural products. I have found that organizational obstacles, limited organic supply of organic goods, and lack of marketing all contribute to the underdeveloped consumer base which thereby limits market opportunities for small-scale organic farmers. By providing a case study of a Farmer’s Market in Peru, we can understand the values and beliefs present among current organic consumers, identify opportunities for expanding the market, and in turn, organic agricultural production.Item Open Access Relative deprivation, globalization, and reflexivity: a cross-community comparative analysis of tourists as a salient reference group in the Mexican Yucatán peninsula(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Sydoriak, Stacia, author; Hempel, Lynn, advisor; Raynolds, Laura, committee member; Velasco, Marcela, committee member; Taylor, Pete, committee memberAs developing countries are becoming more globally engaged, inequality continues to persist. As a result, there has been an increased interest in relative deprivation and its implications for societal health and wellbeing (i.e. Wilkinson and Pickett 2007, Ravallion 2008, Mangyo and Park 2010). To advance the current literature of relative deprivation, I will explore the impact that increased interactions with tourists have on participants' perceptions of relative deprivation and inequality in six different communities in the Mexican Yucatán peninsula. A principle tenant of relativity in the context of deprivation is the existence of a comparative component, known as reference groups. A central question in the relative deprivation literature poses is: When we speak of the relative deprivation of a population, just who is it that we are comparing them to? In this study, I conduct 64 semi-structured interviews to addresses what type of differences in reference group formation exist at the community and individual level in a globalizing world. Specifically, I explore the way the constant flow of international tourists through the communities in the Yucatán Peninsula might create a type of "global-local" reference group that extends beyond the literature's traditional understandings of reference groups. An important methodological contribution to reference group theory is also made, as opposed to previous research, participants' in this study self-selected salient reference groups for themselves. Findings suggest that the way in which an individual defines inequality impacts their perceptions of its existence and persistence within their own communities, as well as the basis for how their reference group(s) for self-comparison form. In addition, salient reference groups extend beyond the traditional types of reference groups, and, in this case, include foreign tourists. Drawing on these findings, I posit that in this study, participants' daily interactions, with whom they frequently interact, and at what level of depth these interactions take place influences the way in which they perceive themselves in comparison to others, and with whom they tend to compare themselves to. Essentially, the salience of tourists as a reference group represent one of a multitude of ways increased global interactions under the umbrella of globalization influence reference group formation. This suggests that there are likely a variety of ways that a developing nation's move toward a more globalized society impact individuals perceptions of inequality, and that there are a plethora of individuals and groups that can emerge as salient reference groups as a result of the globalization process. In the future, it appears that as countries continue to develop, relative deprivation will become an increasingly important way to conceptualize and address poverty and social problems as a whole. Moving forward, qualitatively building on relative deprivation and reference group theory advancements may prove to be integral to enhancing both individual and societal wellbeing, and so must continue to be examined carefully as part of the solution to decreasing inequality and relative poverty around the globe.Item Open Access Transforming food politics: community to community's intersectional ecofeminism and food sovereignty(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Coopwood, Shelby L., author; Sbicca, Joshua, advisor; Raynolds, Laura, committee member; Kent, Suzanne, committee memberThis thesis illustrates the advantages of utilizing an intersectional approach to analyzing problems in the food system and the activism of the food movement. This research undertakes the case of Community to Community, a grassroots organization that employs an intersectional analysis in their activism to center the voices and perspectives of women, to support and fight alongside farmworkers, and to take care of the environment. Their work is grounded in ecofeminism, and ultimately strives for food sovereignty. Semi-structured interviews with members of Community to Community were conducted to explore perceptions of their guiding frameworks. Additionally, content analysis and supplemental participant observation was completed to triangulate an understanding of how the organization approaches social justice and social change. Findings reveal that while ecofeminism provides a comprehensive analysis of food system problems, when combined with the transformative politics at the heart of food sovereignty, these frameworks offer a radical intersectional praxis that focuses on transforming social relations in the food system and beyond.Item Open Access Why organizations matter: certification experiences of coffee producer groups in Guatemala(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Heller, Andrew, author; Murray, Douglas, advisor; Stevis, Dimitris, committee member; Browne, Katherine, committee member; Raynolds, Laura, committee memberCoffee producers are just emerging from a long decade of low prices and oversupply. In response to these problems, many producers organized into groups and sought certifications based on social or environmental standards. This dissertation presents three case studies of producer groups in Guatemala and their experiences with certification in the coffee sector. Using a combination of ethnographic research methods, it argues that both certification systems and producer groups need to adapt so that producers can benefit from the potential gains of certification. Organizations are the focus of the analysis, emphasizing the capabilities necessary for producers to be able to access the benefits of certification. Certification within the coffee sector is a field of research that has implications for development studies, economic sociology, agrofood studies, and globalization. This dissertation concludes that the voices of the producers themselves are a forgotten key to providing organizations, whether of the producers themselves or the organizations that regulate certification, with the tools necessary to meet their goals. This study provides valuable information about the attitudes and interests of small producers in the context of organization and certification.