Browsing by Author "Taylor, Pete, committee member"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

Open Access
Citizens, experts and the environmental impact statement: procedural structures and participatory boundaries
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Davidson, Casey, author; Carolan, Michael, advisor; Taylor, Pete, committee member; Feige, Mark, committee member
This thesis is a qualitative case-study of environmental management and decision-making as practiced by the Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) in accordance with the environmental impact statement (EIS) process. Because there has been little empirical study of the EIS process despite criticisms that it has generally failed to both meaningfully engage citizens in governance and produce environmental outcomes consistent with the substantive aims of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), this study provides an in-depth and longitudinal analysis of the ways in which EIS procedures impacted the collaborative planning and development of RMNP's elk and vegetation management EIS. To explore how EIS procedures affect environmental planning and management, I use RMNP's archival records to reconstruct the life-cycle of the planning process and the events, processes, actors and considerations that played a role in shaping the trajectory and outcomes of planning. Furthermore, archival data is supplemented with semi-structured interviews to document how the management issue with elk and vegetation was constructed and shaped by the managerial imperatives of the park, the efforts and concerns of interagency collaborators and citizens, and by EIS protocol as it was interpreted by the interagency team and influential upon planning considerations, decisions and outcomes. The findings of this study contribute to an understanding of the EIS as a decision-making procedure and also provide some empirical support for scholarly criticisms of the EIS. However, these findings also suggest that the procedure's affects on environmental governance are more complex than currently theorized and difficult to disentangle from the constraints that divergent interagency orientations, interests and policies, and divisive and impassioned views among citizens pose for environmental governance. Therefore, this study is as much as case-study of interagency collaboration and citizen participation in the context of environmental management in the contemporary U.S. as it is a case-study of the EIS process. For this reason, my discussion of how conflicts and constraints emerged during planning, were addressed by interagency actors, and subsequently impacted public participation and managerial outcomes provides insights useful for scholars of environmental management or governance as well as practitioners who encounter these scenarios both within and outside of the EIS.
Embargo
Enhancing workplace standards in cotton garment manufacturing: analyzing fairtrade and global organic textile standards in India
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025) Kadyan, Sneha, author; Raynolds, Laura, advisor; Taylor, Pete, committee member; Luna, Jessie, committee member; Snodgrass, Jeffrey, committee member
Historically, the cotton garment trade has been characterized by internationally exploitative relationships. Within this context, voluntary certifications have sought to improve the working lives of cotton factory garment workers around the world. This study focuses on the case of India, which is a major global producer of cotton garments with substantial problems in ensuring sound workplace standards for workers. It examines the development and role of voluntary certification as transnational multistakeholder governance frameworks that seek to advance sustainable development in international trade. This research uses qualitative methodology to examine the role of voluntary standards from the perspective of managers, analyzing the complexities in the adoption and implementation of two well-known voluntary standards, namely, Fairtrade International Textile Standard and Global Organic Textile Standard within garment factories in India. It highlights the evolutionary growth of these standards in India, their potential and contribution to sustainable production and manufacturing, and the role of responsible leadership in global trade. By highlighting how voluntary certifications are operationalized in real world settings, this study contributes to the growing literature on the purpose and impact of voluntary standards in garment factories in India.
Open Access
Questioning the carnivalesque: poetry slams, performance, and contemporary forms of resistance
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Freitas, Isaac Richard, author; Hempel, Lynn, advisor; Taylor, Pete, committee member; Dickinson, Greg, committee member
This thesis explores the form that resistance takes in poetry slams. In this study, Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of carnival is applied to the poetry slam as a contemporary form of resistance. Carnival provides a place outside of everyday life where different rules are in effect. Through the carnival, participants see new possibilities for their everyday lives. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate whether poetry slams show carnivalesque resistance. Research was conducted using a hermeneutic perspective. The data was collected through observation and interviews with subjects at two poetry slams: the Open Counter Poetry Slam and the Rue Vermilion Poetry Slam. Observations were conducted at multiple occurrences of each slam. Thirteen individuals were interviewed with eight coming from the Open Counter Poetry Slam and five from the Rue Vermilion Poetry Slam. Thematic analysis was used in interpreting the data. Two approaches were used to examine the results of the analysis. A spatial approach was used to see how the times and spaces that poetry slams occur show carnival resistance. The second approach used the perspectives of the interviewees and observations of poetry slam participants' interactions to explore carnival's role in poetry slam events. By showing how carnival manifests within poetry slams, this research shows how events can provide safe havens from the pressures of power that permeate the social hierarchies of everyday life.
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 member
As 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.
Open Access
Risk society and the fight for kratom use
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Yarnell, Drew, author; Mahoney, Patrick, advisor; Taylor, Pete, committee member; Faw, Meara, committee member
This research argues that the rise of alternative medicine and health supplements is best understood within the context of the 'risk society'. The dual pressures of deregulation in the health sector of the economy and the dominance of Big Pharma, has the consequences of proliferating the use of non-sanctioned forms of health care. The Southeast Asian plant Kratom is one such illustration of this phenomenon. Drawing from over 200 Reddit posts on r/Kratom, this research analyzes the reaction of the kratom community to attempts by the Food and Drug Administration and Drug Enforcement Administration to restrict access to the botanical. Ulrich Beck's work on 'risk society' is combined with the recent literature on neoliberalism to analyze the narratives emerging from the community of kratom users. Using theme-based coding, the findings revealed tent-pole sentiments of 1) A desire for treatment agency and personal liberty, 2) Fear of regression or return to risk, and 3) Disdain and distrust of regulatory agencies and the pharmaceutical industry. Parallels to Beck's risk society were extant in the thematically related passages, including 1) the commonality of anxiety, 2) the loss of monopoly on knowledge from authoritative institutions, 3) the transition from patient ignorance versus being their own auxiliary doctor in the modern era, and 4) the power of corporatocracy overshadowing the traditional preeminence of the state. These arguments indicate a more nuanced understanding of neoliberalism is required. While typically seen as a way of freeing up capitalist markets for the benefit of large corporations such as Big Pharma, neoliberalism's emphasis on self-reliance and entrepreneurialism also provides a frame of resistance for those non-corporate actors threatened by State regulation. These findings enhance our understanding of the role of States and sub-community resistance in Ulrich Beck's theory of 'risk society'. In the context of risk society, the kratom community's experience with mainstream medicine and subsequently the pharmaceutical industry has made them distrusting of the state due to its failings to properly police such institutions and would rather be left to their own devices to decide what is and isn't appropriate for their respective conditions.
Open Access
The potential of integrated project delivery in greening the structural steel delivery process
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Gotthelf, Helene Nathalie, author; Ozbek, Mehmet Egemen, advisor; Guggemos, Angela Acree, committee member; Taylor, Pete, committee member
The structural steel industry provides the world with one of the fundamental construction materials, steel, and in the process produces negative byproducts. While the steel industry has made commendable progress to reduce their environmental impacts, there remains room for improvement, particularly in the delivery process of structural steel. Currently, the majority of the structural steel industry uses traditional delivery methods to execute design, engineering, detailing, fabrication, and erection. Construction industry professionals are realizing the drawbacks of traditional delivery systems and are now exploring the opportunities provided by Integrated Project Delivery (IPD).The researcher studied the potential that IPD could have on lessening the environmental impacts of the steel industry through a case study of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Research Support Facilities (RSF) project. Data was collected through interviews with NREL RSF project team members. Data analysis revealed thirty opportunities for improvement to reduce the environmental impacts associated with the delivery of structural steel. Overarching process recommendations expand on the need to establish direct lines of communication among the structural steel team, ensure early involvement of the erector and fabricator in the steel design phase, and utilize appropriate technology.
Open Access
Understanding elements contributing to the collaborative development of community wildfire protection plans
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2008) Staychock, Emily Saeli, author; Cheng, Antony, advisor; Taylor, Pete, committee member; Fernandez-Gimenez, Maria Edith, committee member
The occurrence of large-scale catastrophic wildfires in recent years led to a change in national wildfire policies. Policies such as the National Fire Plan (NFP) (2000) and the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) (2003) mandate collaboration between federal, state, and local stakeholders in addressing wildfire mitigation across a landscape scale. These policies contain behavioral assumptions that stakeholder groups will collaborate due to the influence of policy tools inherent in the policies. However, these policies do not provide the capacity policy tools necessary to facilitate collaboration between stakeholders in addressing wildfire mitigation planning, particularly Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP) which were introduced by the HFRA. This study is an empirical examination of three CWPP development processes in Colorado. The goal of this study was to uncover: 1) the types of capacities required for collaborative CWPP development; and 2) the role of intermediaries in facilitating collaborative capacity building. Our results demonstrated that collaborative CWPP development requires a range of specific capacities, including networks, human capital, and collaborative learning. We discovered that collaborative capacity was not facilitated by external intermediary organizations, but instead that there was an ad hoc emergence of intermediary roles and functions filled by actors in the CWPP development process. A key lesson learned in this study is that actors embarking on a CWPP development process should act strategically in recognizing the required capacities in advance, leveraging and maximizing capacities already present, and accessing resources to fill capacity gaps. This study provides evidence that the goals of the NFP and HFRA are being met.