Global Studies Theses and Dissertations
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Note that prior to Fall Term 2023, the department was known as International Studies.
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Browsing Global Studies Theses and Dissertations by Content Type "Thesis"
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Item Open Access Applicability of the Oregon-based Public and Private Child Welfare Models to Ukraine: A Case Study of the Training Seminars for Ukrainian Officials and Child Welfare Professionals(University of Oregon, 2009-09) Bogolyubova, YelenaThis study assesses the implementation of Oregon-based child welfare models in Ukraine in the context of the Family For Children (FCP) curriculum. Both trainees' and trainers' perspectives on these issues were surveyed. The assessment shows that the implementation of Oregon-based models needs some adjustment to local socio-economic conditions and current child welfare policies in Ukraine. Nine recommendations have emerged as a result of this study that relate to logistical, organizational, and communicational aspects of the training. None of the recommendations concern the conceptual content of the training, and overall all participants judged the curriculum and training to be very successful.Item Open Access Boundless: Conservation and Development on the Southern African Frontier(University of Oregon, 2011-12) Lauermann, Paul DavidThis thesis interrogates the transfrontier conservation areas (TFCA) program of southern Africa. Promoted since the mid-1990s as the solution to the vexing problems of environmental degradation and rural development in the region, these cross-border projects have attracted a broad coalition of supporters including public and private donor groups, regional politicians, and the international conservation community. Though a large academic literature surrounds the program, a holistic understanding of its development--and an accounting of its success--has yet to emerge. This thesis seeks to rectify this by probing the nature and structure of transfrontier discourse, positing the program's success as directly born of its appeal to a triad of interests composed of donors, national politicians, and the regional conservation community. Further, it is argued that the heavy marketing of the program as a "win-win" scenario for conservation and development has effectively displaced once popular community-based narratives/approaches.Item Open Access Child Labor in Asia: Challenges and Responses of the International Labour Organization in Thailand and India(University of Oregon, 2008-06) Okusa, Maki, 1976-Child labor is an important global concern. Among 317 million children who are engaged in any type of labor around the world, Asia harbors the largest number of child workers. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has focused on and worked toward the global elimination of child labor, especially its worst forms. Child labor is a complex problem which needs comprehensive approaches in policy implication, education and economic development. The ILO has worked closely with governments to establish and revise policies related to child labor and to implement child labor programs. This study addresses current child labor trends in Asia and the challenges and responses ofthe ILO through analyzing its operations in Thailand and India. It examines various steps to eliminate child labor taken by the ILO and other organizations and suggests ways the ILO could be more effective in its efforts to eliminate child labor in Asia.Item Open Access The Corrientes River Case: Indigenous People's Mobilization in Response to Oil Development in the Peruvian Amazon(University of Oregon, 2009-12) Lu, Graciela Maria MercedesEconomic models applied in Latin America tend to prioritize economic growth heavily based on extractive industries and a power distribution model that affects social equity and respect for human rights. This thesis advances our understanding of the social, political and environmental concerns that influenced the formation of a movement among the Achuar people, in response to oil exploitation activities in the Peruvian Amazon. This study is based on a political ecology analysis and a review of existing literature on local and global relations of environmental issues. The Corrientes River case reveals how Amazonian indigenous people gained competence to demand recognition of their collective rights to health and citizenship. The Achuar people's mobilization was a result of frustration of sterile dialogue with the authorities, the oil companies, and the pressure exerted by local people on their leaders. This mobilization resulted in an agreement that otherwise would likely not have been reached.Item Open Access Education toward Improving the Quality of Life of Women: Impact of A Community-based Organization in Rural Kenya(University of Oregon, 2008-06) Soeda, Yasuko, 1983-Although many development programs addressing gender issues exist, few development agencies and organizations pay attention to program evaluation and long-term outcomes. The purpose of this thesis is to examine whether a community-based organization improves women's quality of life through a combination of sewing, health education, and general education classes in the rural community of Takaungu, Kenya. Specifically, I question whether the East African Center for the Empowerment of Women and Children's (EAC) programs are successful from the participants' point of view. In interviews with 29 program participants, I asked them how they perceive the programs of the EAC and whether they are using their acquired skills in their daily lives. Employing the EAC as a case study through participant observation and survey through interviews from my 12-week stay with the EAC, I wish to make these women's voices heard.Item Open Access Enhancing Community Mediation Practices for Latinos: Incorporating Cultural Competencies from Oregon and Oaxaca(University of Oregon, 2011-06) Toch, Courtney Connolly, 1985-Community mediation programs exist to provide the general public a low cost and efficient way to resolve disputes peacefully. Community mediation is a voluntary process in which skilled mediators facilitate a conversation between the disputants, but do not advocate or impose solutions. I question whether community mediation practices, mediators and mediation programs are responsive to minority cultures. This thesis conceptualizes culturally appropriate dimensions to add to dispute resolution practices for a Latino demographic. Using a comparative analysis of community mediation programs in Oaxaca, Mexico and in Oregon, I highlight areas of departure from more traditional views of mediation. I argue that such programs will be more effective by incorporating practices grounded in the Latino cultural context of each region, including greater attention to group-oriented priorities within families, engaging in more personal contact with disputants, provision of childcare, enhancing efforts to attract Spanish-speaking mediators, and training mediators in intra-generational cultural competency.Item Open Access Entrepreneurship and Microfinance: Economic Development and Women's Empowerment in Kyrgyzstan(University of Oregon, 2010-06) Jolosheva, Aida A., 1984-This thesis focuses on microfinance in Kyrgyzstan as a response to the initiation of economic, social and political reforms following Kyrgyzstan's independence in 1991. These reforms accelerated Kyrgyzstan's transition from a centrally-planned to a liberal market-based economy. Microfinance became a favored mechanism for encouraging individual entrepreneurship and thus economic development. Based on field research I conducted in Kyrgyzstan during the summer of 2009, this thesis examines the economic impact of these reforms on women entrepreneurs, as women were particularly vulnerable to the social fallout from such reforms. Through participatory observation, small focus groups and semi-structured interviews, I analyze myriad aspects of the lives of women entrepreneurs who have participated in a microfinance project. I argue that microfinance provides an empowering, sustainable path for them. However, the historical occupational divisions encouraged by the Soviet Union affect how people use microcredit. I conclude with suggestions on improving microfinance practices in Kyrgyzstan.Item Open Access Ethical Issues of Water Resource Management in a Changing Climate: Equity and Legal Pluralism in Chile(University of Oregon, 2010-06) Bassi, Michelle PlattClimate change is disrupting the underpinnings of effective water management by profoundly impacting hydrological patterns. Political entities mandated with freshwater management must respond to society's water needs as availability fluctuates and, in doing so, will encounter difficult ethical dilemmas because existing water laws are ill-equipped to resolve such problems. This thesis takes Chile's water laws as representative of the challenges in addressing ethical disparities arising from freshwater management in a changing climate and proposes that "water ethics" can effectively be used to manage freshwater resources. I examine the 1981 Water Code with a critical eye towards ethical shortcomings and also examine distributive impacts upon indigent farmers and indigenous communities. I conclude that Chile's existing water laws are inequitable because they deny legitimacy to diverse socio-cultural norms regarding water use. Principles of modern water laws must incorporate diverse cultural water laws using a legally pluralistic and ethical approach to management.Item Open Access Food for Local Tables: Willamette Valley Farmers Re-embedding Agriculture into Local Community, Environment, and Economy(University of Oregon, 2011-06) Foltz, Lindsey Marie, 1981-This study investigates the motivations, influences, techniques, challenges, and perceived opportunities of 11 food producers who are participating in an evolving localized food system near Eugene, Oregon. These producers are resisting the distanced anonymity and negative externalities of mainstream global food production. Interviews reveal participation in a move towards production and distribution that are not only geographically traceable, economically satisfying and ecologically sustainable but that also emphasize reflexive communication between the producer and consumer. Through initial surveying and in-depth interviews, producers identified that producing food for the local market allows them to pursue a meaningful livelihood, respond appropriately to the local environment, and engage more deeply in community. In short their practices and attitudes closely follow the "Civic Agriculture" model. Particularly their focus on local production for the local market, as opposed to a more distanced quality oriented supply chain audit model.Item Open Access Gender Differences in Students' Experiences of Study Abroad(University of Oregon, 2010-06) Lostetter, Elizabeth Nora, 1983-In the age of globalization, it is more important than ever that students gain skills that enable them to communicate with people from other cultures. This research explored the experiences of study abroad participants and the special challenges that men and women faced during a study abroad program in Italy. While women's and men's experiences are similar in many ways, women's heightened concern for their own physical safety could lead to greater gains in intercultural competency. In addition, women may have had increased interactions with people from other cultures. Men are capable of gaining intercultural competency if they prioritize intercultural interaction and take steps to seek it out.Item Open Access Inside, Outside, and In-between: Belonging and Identity Negotiation for Chinese American Adoptees Studying Abroad in China(University of Oregon, 2012-06) Beecher, Genevieve Hope RoeslerSince 1992, most US transnational adoptions have occurred between White American parents and female babies born in China. Many of these adopted girls grow up in the US as a racial minority, but when visiting their birth country they become the racial majority. I collected both qualitative and quantitative data from Mandarin language learners during a summer language program in China to find the similarities and differences among six adopted and 11 non-adopted American adolescents. The data reveal that adoptees are initially perceived to be insiders for racially belonging in China, but cultural and linguistic differences place them as outsiders. Most adoptees fit in-between belonging and not belonging in Chinese society by attempting to “pass” as Chinese citizens in public spaces. Their accounts emphasize how race, nationality, and adoptive status contribute to larger themes for identity development and belonging in “third spaces” across globalized contexts.Item Open Access Lebanonizing the State: NGOs in a Confessional Society(University of Oregon, 2011-09) Jones, Patrick, 1982-This thesis, based on field research in Lebanon, explores how the confessional nature of the Lebanese state affects the construction of civil society. It elaborates on the state's role as a social service provider and its legal and bureaucratic relationship with the Lebanese NGO community while also exploring how the state's role as a service provider is perceived in the Lebanese media. Pulling from a variety of archival sources in Lebanon, this thesis surveys 26 Arabic language newspaper articles published between 2006 and 2008. It also utilizes a myriad of primary sources including government and donor documents, unpublished NGO studies and statistical data. This thesis argues that confessionalism inhibits the state's capacity to provide social services efficiently. The politicization of these services conditions the relationship between the state, sectarian political parties and the NGO community. This phenomenon is reproduced in the Lebanese media and allows confessional relationships to infect civil society.Item Open Access Measuring the Social Impacts of Carbon Offsetting: Forest-Based Carbon Capture and Improved Biomass Cook Stoves in Central America(University of Oregon, 2009-12) Shenkin, Evan NathanielInternational carbon offset projects are framed as a cost effective, market based approach to address global warming through the cap-and-trade model of greenhouse gas emissions trading. Emission reduction projects in the Global South attempt to mitigate or "offset" pollution in the Global North by taking advantage of economic poverty in the developing world. This thesis investigates two development projects in Central America to explore the social impacts of carbon offsetting on communities. The research findings suggest that corporate support for emissions trading disproportionately benefits business interests while remaining largely unaccountable for project outcomes. This thesis argues that cap-and-trade in general and the US voluntary emissions trading market in particular are fundamentally flawed systems incapable of effectively addressing climate change and suggests sustainable alternatives to carbon offsetting.Item Open Access Microcredit, Conflict, and Cooperation: Two Cases of Associational Engagement in Western Nicaragua(University of Oregon, 2010-06) Meyer, Elias R., 1975-Since the electoral defeat of the Nicaraguan FSLN in 1991 and, more recently, during the municipal elections in November 2008, community violence has been increasing due partly to the importance individual community members attach to political party affiliation. This thesis explores the role of microcredit groups as potential cooperation-building associations in this context. By focusing on two cases studies of microcredit, I examine these dynamics through interviews, participant observation, and municipal and media data collection. The results show that microcredit can significantly impact levels of cooperation in Nicaraguan communities. Successful bridging of community depends in part on the perceived levels of agency, inclusion, and diverse relationship-building allowed within the structure of certain microcredit groups. Conversely, microcredit groups that remain rigid, top-down, and exclusionary risk exacerbating pre-existing social divisions based on cultural and political identity.Item Open Access On the Road Towards Empowerment: Ayllu-Community Values and Practices in an Urban Setting. The Case of the Community of Urban Aymaras of Pampajasi, La Paz, Bolivia(University of Oregon, 2008-06) Montenegro, Elena Carmen Raquel, 1954-Using historical and theoretical insights, this thesis explores how the urban grassroots organization Community of Urban Aymaras of Pampajasi (CAUP) has used elements of the rural ayllu-community to gain agency towards the empowerment of its members and explores the roles played by activism and strategic support. The research for this thesis took place in Pampajasi, a neighborhood of La Paz, between 2006 and 2007. It included participating observation, interviews and focus groups with the first and second generation migrants to La Paz that constitute most of the membership ofthe CAUP, as well as interviews with non-members. By better understanding how the elements of the ayllu-community are being used to gain empowerment, other grassroots organizations, researchers, activists, policy makers and development specialists may acquire insights into how traditional culture can be used to construct alternative forms of organization in post-colonial societies.Item Open Access One World, One Dream? Image Building and Brand China in the 2008 Beijing Olympics(University of Oregon, 2008-12) Hagan, Christopher Patrick, 1981-This project investigates how iconic images from the Beijing Olympics---e.g., logos, venues, and scenes from the Opening and Closing ceremonies-form a visual narrative in which Chinese history and identity are configured to meet the political economic goals of the Central Communist Party. I draw on semiotics and discourse analysis to suggest projected national images (Wang 2003) that are embedded within visual data collected primarily from the Beijing2008 website. Furthermore, I apply current theories in identity politics to these visual data to problematize the social construction of what the nation branding literature refers to as "brand China." I argue that the symbolic and emotive content of the visual imagery from the Beijing Olympics attempted to position China as a non-threatening, legitimate power in the Western cultural imaginary. Ultimately, I argue that the Party's lack of political credibility challenges the potential success of its Olympic image building efforts.Item Open Access Promising Empowerment: How Tostan Engages Communities in Participatory Development in Rural Senegal(University of Oregon, 2009-09) Cauble, Elizabeth Marie, 1973-This thesis explores the empowerment effects of informal education programs run by the highly acclaimed non-governmental organization (NGO) Tostan in Senegal, West Africa. My interviews with 25 women in six rural communities in Senegal reveal that participants in Tostan training programs experience multiple forms and degrees of empowerment. The respondents in this study report sometimes feeling empowered in terms of education, access to resources, individualization and participation. In light of the literature on empowerment, my respondents remain only partially empowered, constrained by existing sociopolitical relations and economic dependency. My research also considers whether there are structural limits to empowerment when an outside NGO comes into a community for a relatively short time to promote change better produced indigenously.Item Open Access Putting Down Roots: A Case Study of the Participation of Somali Bantu Refugees in the Global Gardens Refugee Farming Project in Boise, Idaho(University of Oregon, 2011-06) Smith, Emily Rene, 1981-Using interviews with refugee farmers and insights gained through participant-observation at farms and at farming events, this thesis explores how Somali Bantu refugees interact with the Global Gardens resettlement project in Boise, Idaho. Somali Bantu refugees' engagement with the agricultural integration program reveals that the United States refugee resettlement system often focuses on economic integration goals and measures to the exclusion of alternative development or integration options. Refugee farmers' common and differing experiences and evaluations of the farm project challenge the wisdom of a purely neoliberal, economics-focused approach to resettlement. This study suggests that refugee-farming participants were not uniformly and principally motivated to farm by potential financial gain: in addition to viewing the farms as an economic resource, participants valued the farms as important social, cultural, and civic resources.Item Open Access Responsibility, Participation, and Social Engagement: Women's Capacity-Building Programs in Johannesburg, South Africa(University of Oregon, 2010-12) Sharp, Deborah Carryl, 1973-This thesis explores the empowerment effects of arts-and-crafts programs targeting women in Johannesburg, South Africa, focusing mainly on one case study: Boitumelo Sewing Project. Interviews with participants, facilitators, and management reveal that empowerment manifests in Boitumelo Project primarily in individual and collective forms, though also on an economic level to a limited degree. While many development projects focus on economic empowerment, this research suggests that other forms of empowerment may be even more important in the long term. Economic empowerment helps people meet short-term responsibilities, but it is through individual and collective empowerment that personal and community forms of healing take place, enabling people to engage more successfully in society overall. In light of this, I argue that development projects should focus on engendering genuine participatory empowerment on both the individual and collective levels in order to increase sustainability and development success in the long term.Item Open Access Social Entrepreneurship as a New Paradigm: Rethinking Development Intervention Ideologies(University of Oregon, 2009-09) Zebrowski, Rachael Lauren, 1984-After years of formalized international development efforts, the world continues to face significant problems. Humanity's greatest challenges - poverty, hunger, disease, and environmental degradation - remain prevalent and in some cases have even worsened. One reason the world's social problems are so resistant is an ideological failure to conceptualize a more inclusive economic order, one that values economic progress along with social justice. In light of this failure, innovative business models have emerged that create transformational change by integrating social value and economic profit, often referred to as social entrepreneurship. By questioning the structural and ideological boundaries that limit the relationship between the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, this thesis argues for social entrepreneurship as a viable means to overcome the predominant belief that economic and social progress are mutually exclusive goals.