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Picking up the pieces: place based race discourse in Pittsburgh opioid epidemic responses

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dc.contributor.authorLaFehr, Ericann A., author
dc.contributor.authorBubar, Roe, advisor
dc.contributor.authorIshiwata, Eric, advisor
dc.contributor.authorSouza, Caridad, committee member
dc.contributor.authorGlantz, Michelle, committee member
dc.date.accessioned2021-06-07T10:19:36Z
dc.date.available2021-06-07T10:19:36Z
dc.date.issued2021
dc.description.abstractPublic Health's dominant focus on white opioid users coupled with a colorblind ideology has resulted in the reiteration of racially stratified public health discussions, strategies, initiatives, and treatment both nationally and in the Pittsburgh region. This case study uses discourse analysis guided by a critical place-based intersectional and decolonial framework to explore the ways in which whiteness and place are considered by Pittsburgh Public Health entities who have positioned themselves as experts in addressing the opioid epidemic. Findings show that within Pittsburgh Public Health discourse, whiteness is reduced to a descriptor, omitting the reality of a racialized category with a distinct historical racial formation comprised of white supremacist violence. Findings also show that place is reduced to the backdrop in which opioid use happens resulting in the omission of the material relationships between land and people that are a critical component of the sociohistorical formation of whiteness within the industrial and deindustrial history of Pittsburgh. This study argues that the simplification of place based white racialized identity to a mere descriptor is a critical component that maintains white supremacy within Pittsburgh Public Health discourse and strategies that aim to address the opioid crisis. This study argues that if Public Health approaches are to be truly effective, discussions of the opioid epidemic in relation to white people must include the sociohistorical legacy of violent participation in white racial formations, as the collective historical memory holds the key in addressing the deeply seated underlying causes of pain.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediummasters theses
dc.identifierLaFehr_colostate_0053N_16421.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/232473
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2020-
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectintersectionality
dc.subjectpublic health
dc.subjectwhiteness
dc.subjectopioid epidemic
dc.subjectdecolonial
dc.subjectquality of care
dc.titlePicking up the pieces: place based race discourse in Pittsburgh opioid epidemic responses
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineEthnic Studies
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (M.A.)

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