Department of Political Science

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This digital collection includes theses and dissertations from the Department of Political Science.

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Open Access
River restoration and dam removal in the American West: an examination of policy change across political jurisdictions
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2007) Clark, Bradley T., author; Davis, Charles E., advisor
The engineering of water resources has largely defined the advance of civilization in North America. For various purposes, this development has continually expanded, with emphasis on societal benefits often at the expense of ecological considerations. The heyday of dam building ended by the mid-1960s, with the largest structures being completed. Since then, environmental and social impacts have mounted in severity and scope. For decades, research from the natural sciences has documented many negative ecological impacts from the damming of rivers. More recently, a political movement to restore rivers and natural resources has grown and prompted numerous changes to traditional polices of river development. This dissertation's focus is dam removal, an example of such policy change, and means to restore rivers in the western US. The theoretical perspective offered by Lowry (2003) is utilized to examine policy change and explore the political dimensions of dam removal. Key variables include the degrees of political receptivity and physical complexity of proposed dam removals. Specific attention is on the three federal jurisdictional contexts in which the political debates unfold; these include dams under the direction of the US Army Corps of Engineers; the US Bureau of Reclamation; and nonfederal hydropower dams regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. A detailed case from each context examines the political dynamics and address the question of why dams in some contexts have been removed or are slated for removal, while others have not. A fourth, intergovernmental context is also considered for dams under the primary jurisdiction of a state or local administrative agency, albeit with notable federal influence and/or involvement. Broad research questions include: How do the politics of dam removal play out in different political jurisdictions? Are dramatic versus less dramatic types of policy change more or less likely in various contexts? This research finds that major policy change can occur, not only within federal administrative contexts in the West, but for cases when political receptivity is low and physical complexity is high.
Open Access
Gender, political participation and the environment in Japan
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2007) Freiner, Nicole, author; Charlton, Sue Ellen, advisor
This dissertation examines women's centers in Japan; these government institutions were established in order to promote women's formal political participation. The women's centers are designed to raise awareness about public issues and provide networking opportunities. Although some have criticized these structures as being a "top-down" initiative, others have seen opportunities for creating new pathways into politics for women. This dissertation utilized qualitative interviews in order to ascertain the role of women's centers in formalizing women's political participation. Moreover, this dissertation examined the degree to which environmental issues are addressed in the activities of the women's centers because there is a historical trend in Japan which suggests that the environmental issue area is particularly salient for women. This dissertation research finds that while the women's centers are offering services for women in the area of domestic violence which challenge traditional gender norms, the women's centers examined have not significantly altered women's status or access to formal politics.
Open Access
Policy change and environmental governance at the U.S.-Mexico border: the creation and development of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission/North American Development Bank
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2008) Ibáñez Hernández, Oscar Fidencio, author; Mumme, Stephen P., advisor
The present research performs a detailed analysis of bilateral environmental policy change using Historical Institutionalism, Punctuated Equilibrium and Policy Regime Theory to explain the origins and evolution of the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission (BECC) and the North American Development Bank (NADB). A multi-level governance approach is used to evaluate the complex interactions of BECC/NADB with several other institutional arrangements and their contribution to the United States-Mexico border environmental governance. The outcomes of the research identify opportunities and provide useful lessons to enhance bi-national environmental and non-environmental cooperation and governance particularly along the countries' common border.
Open Access
The animal paradox: animals, sovereignty and the politics of eating
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2008) Young, Katherine E., author; Macdonald, Bradley J., advisor; Chaloupka, William J., advisor
Looking at the history of political thought, it becomes clear that animals are the decisive political exception in Western politics. It is not that animals are simply excluded in the history of political thought, however, but that they are "inclusively excluded," demarcating the constitutive outside of politics. In other words, animals are characterized as unable to differentiate themselves from their world because they are irrational, speechless and/or appetite driven, and for these reasons, they function as markers for the state of nature and the exit point of politics. Expanding the Italian political theorist Giorgio Agamben's work on the state of exception, it appears that the sacrifice of animal bodies-not simply the idea of animality-becomes vital to sustaining key political concepts like sovereignty, democracy and rights. More specifically, there is an underlying politics of eating that nourishes the Western canon. In the simplest terms, the politics of eating is a secular transubstantiation of sovereign power, in which meat is the material good (signifying the good life) that is consumed by political subjects to mitigate the tension between individual and state sovereignty. Of course, this economy of relations is exacerbated under late capitalism. With the advent of the animal rights movement, however, animals are now drawn into this anthropological political space. Yet, because so many animal advocates (scholars and activists alike) embrace traditional understandings of rights, democracy and sovereignty, they inadvertently support juridical forms that undermine their projects. With this in mind, and given the exceptional political state of animals, it is timely to think about new political strategies that take seriously the irony of animals within the larger context of politics as well as restore the public spectacle of meat, in order to reveal and disrupt the sacrificial politics of eating, which includes both humans and animals.
Open Access
Gender, security, and the environment: lessons from the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna water basin
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009) Detraz, Nicole, author; Betsill, Michele, advisor
Environmental security has come to represent a way for scholars and policymakers to link the concepts of traditional security scholarship to the environment. Within academia, scholars use the concept of environmental security in several different ways, as well as using alternative terms to convey a relationship between security and the environment. While there has been some scholarly work conducted that seeks to identify the ways that academics link these concepts, there has been little systematic work done that examines the intersection between approaches to environmental security and gender. This dissertation argues the necessity of including gender into the discourses on security and the environment. In the project I address the theoretical and practical implications of ignoring the gendered aspects of security and the environment and the possibilities for introducing gender into theoretical and political debates linking environment and security. The key questions that this project explores are (1) How are the issues of security and the environment linked in theory and practice; (2) To what extent is gender a part of these discussions; and (3) What are the implications of how these issues are linked? I undertook three research steps for the dissertation. Step 1-discourse analysis of the academic literature linking environment and security. This step involved examining the academic literature using discourse analysis to identify three distinct discourses linking environment and security. Step 2-gender analysis of the three major discourses linking environment and security. This step consisted of tracing the presence and absence of gender in the security and environment debates in order to understand the place of gender currently, and the possible inclusion of gender into the discourses. Step 3-case studies of water issues in South Asia. These case studies explore some of these ideas in the context of real world policy discussion to see whether these same discourses inform policy debates; whether and how gender is considered in these policy debates; and refine some of the ideas/concepts about how gender matters and could be incorporated in the academic discussions.
Open Access
The international barriers to renewable energy development
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Kinner, Colter H., author; Daxecker, Ursula, advisor; Saunders, Kyle, advisor; Lacy, Mike, committee member
Renewable energy is increasingly seen as a possible solution to problems such as climate change, population growth, economic development, and the limitations of traditional energy sources. Existing research on the international barriers to Renewable Energy Development (RED) is relatively dispersed and has not been subjected to empirical testing. This paper argues that the largest barrier to RED is a lack of enabling policies and regulatory frameworks. Using the degree of state interventionism as a proxy for enabling policies and regulatory frameworks, this paper expects a curvilinear relationship between government ownership of enterprise and RED. A cross national statistical analysis for the 1990-2006 period finds empirical support for many of the proposed barriers to RED. This paper provides researchers and policy makers alike with a better understanding of the international barriers to RED.
Open Access
Building local confidence: the socioeconomic tasks of peacekeeping operations
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) McKee, Meredith L., author; Daxecker, Ursula, advisor; Sunseri, Thaddeus Raymond, committee member; Betsill, Michele Merrill, 1967-, committee member
In the post-Cold War period, intrastate peacekeeping missions evolved from an explicit focus on force to the adoption of multidimensional strategies. These newer techniques include tasks such as infrastructure reconstruction, rebuilding institutions of law and order, and economic development. However, no consensus exists on the extent to which these complex strategies contribute to post-conflict peace and a successful peacekeeping operation. This study evaluates the effects of socioeconomic tasks on the local population during peacekeeping operations. More specifically, this paper argues that in order to achieve lasting peace in the immediate post-civil war period, peacekeeping missions must include substantial socioeconomic elements within their mandate. This study evaluates the relationship between socioeconomic components of peacekeeping operations and the mission's successful outcome in a comparative case study of the peacekeeping missions in Sierra Leone and Liberia, UNAMSIL and ECOMOGUNOMIL.
Open Access
The role of perceptions on effective judicial access for the gay and lesbian and environmental social movements in Chile and Argentina
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) King, Mariah Dawn, author; Mumme, Stephen P., advisor; Hochstetler, Kathryn, committee member; Daum, Courtenay W., committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee member
The frequent gap between de jure and de facto arrangements within South American judicial systems suggest that an institutional focus is not enough to understand effective access. This dissertation uses a constructivist approach to measure judicial access for the environmental and gay and lesbian social movements in Chile and Argentina through examining the effect of societal, individual justices' and social movement activists' perceptions on the social movements' level of de facto judicial access. I find that while individual justices' perceptions of the social movement seeking rights can certainly affect the outcomes of cases, it is the external cultural variable of societal perceptions that more directly influences activists' own perceptions about using the judicial system. Societal perceptions (public opinion) can affect activists' decisions when choosing which political avenues, if any, they should use to gain rights - hence expanding or contracting their level of de jure judicial access.
Open Access
Saving grace and the environment: how states influence the Christian steward agenda
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Lewis, Amy, author; Yasar, Gamze, advisor; Davis, Sandra, committee member; Vasudevan, Ramaa, committee member
Explanations regarding the success and behavior of new social movements rely largely on postmaterialist assumptions. An examination of the Christian Stewards new social movement in the United States and Canada and its varying levels of success in these two different states calls into question the explanatory relevance of postmaterialist arguments as they pertain to new social movement theory and offers an alternative explanation in the form of social opportunity structure.
Open Access
Hydrocarbon conflict in the Peruvian Amazon: indigenous peoples' decolonization of development and sustainability
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Stetson, George Allen, author; Mumme, Stephen P., advisor; Ishiwata, Eric, committee member; MacDonald, Bradley J., committee member; Taylor, Peter, committee member
In 2008 and 2009 the indigenous peoples from the Peruvian Amazon staged massive protests in opposition to President Alan Garcia's development policies, many of which were designed to facilitate the exploitation and development of natural resources on indigenous territorial spaces. Tragically, the protests ended on June 5 (2009) in the Amazonian province of Bagua, where, according to official reports, ten protesters and twenty-three police officers were killed. Many protesters were injured and others were reported missing. The Bagua event underscores the seriousness of natural resource development on indigenous territorial spaces. This dissertation argues that in order to move toward environmentally sustainable and socially equitable natural resources policies it is necessary to rethink these policies on indigenous territories. To make this case, I examine an environmental conflict over hydrocarbon development on indigenous territories between the Garcia government and the Indigenous Movement in the Peruvian Amazon (IMPA). Situating this conflict in the broader context of the Garcia government's development policy, the dissertation (1) provides a historical and institutional analysis of Peruvian hydrocarbon development on indigenous territories, (2) uses social movement theory to explain indigenous resistance to hydrocarbon and natural resource development on indigenous territorial spaces, and (3) introduces an alternative theory that explains the differences between indigenous and state development perspectives and challenges many of the current neoliberal/socialist framings of indigenous/state conflicts over natural resources. In the end, I argue that a decolonization of Peru's natural resource policy regime is necessary to create policies that are ecologically sustainable, socially equitable, and avoid violent confrontations. Decolonization, a complex and formidable challenge, suggests that indigenous peoples gain greater decision-making control over the natural resources located on indigenous territorial spaces. Contrary to the opinion of the Peruvian government and beyond the stipulations set in International Labor Organization Convention 169, this means that indigenous peoples should have the power to prevent unwanted oil development within indigenous territorial spaces. My projects adds to the Political Science literature by introducing an alternative theoretical framework for the analysis of these issues that will encourage scholars, governments, and political commentators to reevaluate issues related to natural resource development on indigenous territories.
Open Access
Understanding global civil society: theory, governance and the global water crisis
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Blaney, Dallas S., author; Betsill, Michele Merrill, 1967-, advisor; Chaloupka, William J., 1948-, committee member; Taylor, Peter Leigh, 1959-, committee member; Mumme, Stephen P., committee member
How does global civil society (GCS) fit in the history of world politics? Have technology and global capitalism liberated civil society from its former dependence on states and markets to develop into an autonomous and self-regulated sphere within the world political system? If not, perhaps recent developments really signal the emergence of new strategic opportunities for non-state actors to project their domestic political concerns onto the international agenda. Of course, there is also the possibility that GCS primarily functions to reinforce the privileged position of a hegemonic historic bloc, which rests at the confluence of dominant institutions, ideas, and material capabilities. In the effort to answer how GCS fits in the history of world politics, this dissertation identifies and adjudicates the dominant theoretical accounts of GCS. This work rests on the observation that theoretical considerations of GCS have recently entered a new phase. Previously, GCS scholarship worked to build credibility in a field traditionally dominated by a state-centric view of world politics. The success of this initial phase is manifest in the inclusion of GCS into the political lexicon. Thus, what began as an effort to project the concept of GCS outward, in the first phase, turned inward, in the second phase, to weigh the implications of this phenomenon for our understanding of world politics. The specific occasion for this dissertation project is the recent emergence, within the second phase, of three distinct and dominant theoretical positions. The primary goal of this dissertation is to adjudicate these theoretical claims. Thus, this dissertation will appeal to a diverse audience, including international relations scholars, students of global civil society, and water policy experts. At its core this dissertation is concerned with the architecture of the world political system, the changes in this system over time, and the implications of these changes for our understanding of the power relations that both animate and hold this system together - topics that are central to the study of international relations. GCS offers an interesting way to explore these issues, not because its emergence is widely perceived as a new phenomenon in the history of world politics but rather because the very existence of GCS constitutes a potential threat to the core assumption in international relations that states are the dominant central actors within the world political system. For students of GCS, this dissertation offers advice for improving the theoretical development of their burgeoning field. To achieve this end, the dissertation examines the role GCS plays in the global governance of freshwater resources, weighing this evidence against the diverse and divergent theoretical expectations regarding the role GCS plays in the history of world politics. In the process, this analysis highlights the depth and diversity of GCS engagement in the global water crisis, which argues for the need to expand beyond the highly state centric and institutional approach that has thus far consumed the attention of water resource scholars and water policy experts.
Open Access
Nationalizing same-sex marriage: assessing the effect of Baehr v. Lewin on the Federal Defense of Marriage Act
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Perez, Melissa L., author; Daum, Courtenay, advisor; Velasco, Marcela, committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee member
Since the Defense of Marriage Act, the issue of same-sex marriage has dominated the political discourse of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender politics. Scholars claim that the litigation in Hawaii that took place in the 1990s was responsible for the subsequent political activity surrounding same-sex marriage in the United States, including the Defense of Marriage Act, but none has empirically tested this claim. This paper seeks to understand whether or not the litigation in Hawaii prompted congressional action that resulted in the introduction of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and if so, why. By using Kingdon's multiple streams framework as a guiding tool, this research evaluated different political participants and factors to understand how the litigation in Baehr v. Lewin (74 Haw. 530; 852 P.2d 44; 1993) connects to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. This paper finds that the litigation in Hawaii is the catalyst that prompted the subsequent activity that resulted in the Defense of Marriage Act by energizing a well organized coalition opposed to same-sex marriage to expand the political debate and move the issue of same-sex marriage from the state courts in Hawaii to Congress.
Open Access
Carbon offsets and certification: how and why offset providers choose to certify
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Taft, David A., author; Stevis, Dimitris, advisor; Betsill, Michele, committee member; Taylor, Peter, committee member
In a world that is increasingly concerned about carbon emissions and the atmospheric impacts of those emissions, carbon offsets have become a broadly accepted form of emissions reductions. While the UN set the initial standard for governing those offsets with the Clean Development Mechanism, a voluntary carbon market and a wide variety of private carbon offset certifications have gained an important role in that voluntary market. Because these private certifications take a variety of forms and have their own specialty niches, it is important to understand the intricacies of these certifications for the growing number of carbon offset producers. This research studies the reasons why a small non-profit carbon offset producer would seek certification, as well as how that producer went about choosing among a wide range of offset standards. The research revealed that for an organization to certify, the increased market share and legitimacy must outweigh the cost of certification. In addition, the choice in certification largely depends on cost, suitability, and the perception that the standard will uphold its legitimacy in the long term.
Open Access
Addressing the cause: an analysis of suicide terrorism
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Eggers, Bruce Andrew, author; Yaşar, Gamze Ҫavdar, advisor; Peek, Lori A., committee member; Daxecker, Ursula E., committee member
Since 2001, the rate of global suicide attacks per year has been increasing at a shocking rate. The 1980s averaged 4.7 suicide attacks per year, the 1990s averaged 16 attacks per year, and from 2000-2005 the average jumped to 180 per year. What is the cause behind these suicide attacks? The literature has been dominated by psychological, social, strategic, and religious explanations. However, no one explanation has been able to obtain dominance over the others through generalizable empirical evidence. Emerging in 2005, Robert Pape put forth a theory that has risen to prominence explaining the rise of suicide attacks as a result of foreign occupation. His work and findings comprise the most controversial argument in the literature of suicide terrorism. Remaining new and untested, this study attempts to test Pape's theory of suicide terrorism by applying his theoretical framework and argument to the current suicide campaigns ongoing in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Pakistan. Through these case studies, this research project will attempt to generalize to the greater theoretical question: What is the root cause of suicide terrorism?
Open Access
Transnational governance of farmed animal welfare: a critique of animals as commodities
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Miller, Mindy Tommasina, author; Stevis, Dimitris, advisor; Braunstein, Elissa, committee member; Macdonald, Bradley J., committee member
This thesis explores whether transnational animal agribusiness is governed by looking at global governance and key players. It analyzes international organizations--the OIE, the FAO, and the WTO--as well as two key state actors in transnational animal agribusiness, the EU and the US. Given the growing scale of the industry, this thesis addresses the following: 1) Whether the transnational animal agribusiness ("TAG") is governed 2) Whether the governance of TAG addresses farmed animal welfare ("FAW") 3) Whether FAW addresses animals. Ultimately, this paper finds significant variation in the governance of TAG, however, even the most promising examples of governance fail to appropriately recognize commoditized animals as grievable beings. This thesis recommends adoption of a grievability framework which finds that alternatives to animal agribusiness and a shift in the human perception of nonhuman animals are necessary.
Open Access
Unconventional politics of unconventional gas: environmental reframing and policy change
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Kear, Andrew Robert, author; Duffy, Robert J., advisor; Davis, Charles E., committee member; Saunders, Kyle L., committee member; Stednick, John D., committee member
The present Rocky Mountain West natural gas boom, enabled by historic pro-resource-development political, institutional, economic, and cultural structures, is a politically contested battle over values. Volatile political action, unconventional coalitions, and unconventional politics engulf this unconventional gas boom - especially at the state level. In this comparative case study of natural gas policy in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, I measure and compare these values, expressed as frames, through textual analysis of interest group public documents and state legislative bills and statutes from 1999-2008. By developing a new measure of state legislative framing, I test the relationship between interest group and institutional framing and also provide a viable measure of policy change useful to Narrative Policy Analysis theory. Results show that competing interest group and state legislative framing efforts are dynamic, measurably different, and periodically correlative. Competing interest groups rarely engage each other, except as the conflict matures when status-quo-supporters break their silence and engage the challengers' frames that have gained legislative traction. Environmental and land-use counter-framing ensues, but status-quo-supporters remain vigilant in their economic framing. Economic frames retain their institutional privilege within Wyoming and New Mexico, but natural gas policy undergoes a complete environmental reframe in the Colorado state legislature. Although the historically dominant economy frame based on "Old West" values remains largely intact, the respective state legislatures partially reframe policy (within 4 years) using environment, alternative land-uses, and democracy frames based on "New West" and long-extant but previously marginalized status-quo-challenger definitions. This reframing is not a strictly partisan issue, but rather it is influenced by political context, policy diffusion, and long-term interest group advocacy and framing efforts. A policy punctuation is observed in state legislative reframing and by the passage of three status-quo-challenging statutes in Wyoming (2005), four in Colorado (2007), and one in New Mexico (2007). Policy reframing, although rare in most policy areas, is common during this natural gas policy punctuation. The politics of successful reframing is the politics of punctuation.
Open Access
Institutionalizing ethnic demands: framing processes, resource mobilization, and indicators of party formation in Colombian ethnic movements
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Crissien, Jean P., author; Mumme, Stephen, advisor; Velasco, Marcela, committee member; Sagás, Ernesto, committee member
This thesis examines framing and mobilization processes in Colombian ethnic social movements. I employ systematic process analysis to analyze the question of why indigenous social movement organizations have created viable ethnic party vehicles in electoral politics while black social movement organizations have failed in this endeavor. I find that fragmented framing in the black movement led to disunity and inhibited mobilization processes culminating in the inability to mobilize a loyal electorate. This fragmentation was observed less in the indigenous case, resulting in a more unified movement with broader appeal to the indigenous electorate. My research makes key contribution to the Latin American social movement literature by performing an analysis that compares the respective ethnic social movements in the region while also addressing ethnic party formation. Much of the extant literature highlights one of these groups while paying only cursory attention to the other. The systemic process analysis performed here seeks to help fill this gap in the literature.
Open Access
Liberal international environmental justice and foreign direct investment at the International Finance Corporation
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Ehresman, Timothy G., author; Stevis, Dimitris, advisor; Betsill, Michele, committee member; Charlton, Sue Ellen, committee member; Galvin, Kathleen, committee member
In recent years there have been broad and important debates about whether international environmental justice is attainable within the liberal model. This issue warrants examination, particularly in a context which reflects the strongest possible potential for liberal claims. An especially potent commendation of the liberal model is found in North-to-South foreign direct investment, where liberal advocates identify investment as a key strategy to improve the life chances of the poor. However, foreign direct investment today reflects in many cases dimensions of injustice as between investor and affected populations. Such injustices arise in particular where an investment project taps into local resources such as land, air, water, precious metals, and so on without sufficient participation by affected persons in the benefits of such resource access. These sorts of inequities are especially troubling where the investor originates in one of the wealthier countries of the global North and the recipient country and affected population resides in the global South. This study attempts to then answer the question: may such injustices be remediated within the scope of a liberal model of economic activity and development? That is, can liberal prescriptions for justice be satisfied by liberal economic precepts and patterns? The study first posits a social liberal amendment to dominant contemporary neoliberal understandings. The analysis then turns to the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation as a potential best-case example of efforts to render North-South foreign direct investment more environmentally sound. In particular, the study asks whether the policies and programs of the International Finance Corporation may be fairly seen to accommodate liberal justice precepts. Culling the existing literature, and employing evidence gleaned from documentary analysis and in-person interviews, the study asks whether the International Finance Corporation is durably engaged in advancing international environmental justice in financed projects. Through a deconstruction of International Finance Corporation documents and case studies of a purposive sample of recently-financed projects the study asks whether there is more going on at the International Finance Corporation than mere environmental window-dressing. The analysis shows that a social liberal international environmental justice is being advanced, but not evenly. The study concludes that a stronger implementation of international environmental justice is possible within the social liberal model, but that improvements are needed.
Open Access
American environmentalism, sovereignty and the "immigration problem"
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Hultgren, John, author; Stevis, Dimitris, advisor; MacDonald, Bradley, committee member; Chaloupka, William, committee member; Ishiwata, Eric, committee member; Browne, Kate, committee member
Theorizing the relationship between sovereignty and nature has posed challenges to both scholars and activists. Some believe that sovereignty is a problematic institutional constraint that hampers the formulation of holistic solutions to ecological problems, while others contend that the norms, practices and institutions of sovereignty can be stretched in pursuit of ecological and social sustainability. Complicating this picture is the fact that the empirical contours of sovereignty have shifted of late, as the authority and control of the nation-state has been challenged by neoliberal globalization and the transboundary realities of many environmental challenges, creating a crisis of legitimacy that societal actors attempt to ameliorate in various ways. This dissertation begins from the observation that "nature" - the socially constructed ideal employed to capture the vast multiplicity of the non-human realm - is increasingly central to the process through which individuals, interest groups and social movements attempt to create more democratic, sustainable or ethical political communities and forms of governance. As environmental politics continue to gain traction within mainstream political discourses, environmentalists and non-environmentalists alike are inserting nature into struggles to reconfigure sovereignty toward a particular ecological and/or social ethos. In exploring this interaction, I ask: how do societal groups conceptualize and work to reconfigure the relationship between nature and sovereignty? And what are the social and ecological implications of the normative ideals that they attempt to institutionalize? In order to gain insight into these questions, I examine contemporary American debates over the environmental impacts of immigration. Discussions of the so-called "immigration problem" have been contentious for American greens, leading to significant division within environmentalist organizations, and surprising alliances with a variety of other societal interests. The individuals and organizations involved all attempt to challenge the status quo, but deploy vastly different conceptions of nature, political community and governance to do so. Turning to individuals and organizations who have taken public stances within this debate, I employ (1) textual analysis of websites and publications; (2) semi-structured interviews; and (3) content analysis, in considering the various discursive pathways through which environmental restrictionists and their opponents attempt to reconfigure sovereignty. Through this empirical analysis, I make the case that the discursive terrain on which the relationship between nature and sovereignty resides remains poorly understood - to the detriment of efforts to promote socially and ecologically inclusive polities.
Open Access
The impacts of national security and sustainable development: comparative study of shared protected areas
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Harwell, Janeane, author; Mumme, Steve, advisor; Stevis, Dimitris, committee member; Velasco, Marcela, committee member; Kneller, Jane, committee member
National security and sustainable development paradigms shape national goals, priorities and policy in shared protected areas. The two paradigms define the physical, economic, social, and political infrastructure of shared protected areas through competing frameworks of national interests and environmental protections. This comparative study builds on international thinking about the relationship between sustainable development to answer the hypothesis that national security impacts most the environmental pillar of sustainable development. The research methodology is a triangulation of comparative document analysis with qualitative and quantitative interviews for a rich description of the two paradigms in two shared protected areas. Sustainable development is assessed in the four park conservation management plans using the Lockwood and Kothari traditional versus emergent sustainable development indicators as independent variables and the organizing framework. The impacts of national security doctrine, policy and projects are systematically assessed on sustainable development in the parks. This research formalizes one step toward the study of national security and sustainable development and the challenges of developing environmental protections in a national security environment.