Bachelor of Arts, Wittenberg University, 2020, Sociology

This is a study that looks at the environmental attitudes of students at Wittenberg University. The study examines attitudes and behavior through the lens of the theorists Vaclav Havel and Karl Marx. Participants were asked to take a brief survey that accessed their carbon footprint, asked them what they knew about climate change and how environmentally friendly they thought they were. Then participants were asked if they would be interested in participating in an interview. The interviews asked a variety of questions ranging from personal opinion on climate change to participants' actual behavior and included an education piece on what Wittenberg does for the environment. Through interviews and surveys, this study's aim was to find commonalities and differences between participant responses and their reasoning behind their positions and behaviors. The study found that many participants felt that they needed to be able to buy more or different products in order to be more environmentally friendly. The study also found that participants were greatly influenced by professors or classes to be more ethical in environmental decisions.

Committee: Nona Moskowitz (Advisor); Sheryl Cunningham (Committee Member); Sarah Fortner (Committee Member) Subjects: Climate Change; Environmental Justice; Environmental Studies; Sociology; Sustainability

BA, Oberlin College, 2020, Environmental Studies

This study seeks to compare grassroots organizing efforts against two different fracked gas pipelines. Rooting my analysis in the theory of social movements, I focus on the role of the ideological grounding of the resistance movements, the composition of resistance coalitions formed, and the tactics and strategies employed in opposition to these pipelines. I find that a broad-based coalition with a focus on relationship-building is important to the success of the movement. Additionally, I determine that the presence and involvement of small, medium, and large nonprofits as well as the use of direct action strongly contribute to the success of anti-pipeline movements. These insights are useful for those working to build successful resistance movements against the fossil fuel and extractive industries. This investigation adds to our understanding of grassroots movements, environmental justice praxis, and left politics in practice.

Committee: Swapna Pathak (Committee Chair); Christie Parris (Committee Member); Baron L. Pineda (Committee Member) Subjects: Climate Change; Comparative; Energy; Environmental Justice; Environmental Studies; Sociology

BA, Oberlin College, 2016, Sociology

In his 2007 book Shopping Our Way to Safety, sociologist Andrew Szasz coined the term inverted quarantine to describe a phenomenon in the way that Americans react to the changing natural environment. Inverted quarantine, or the impulse to remove one's self from perceived environmental dangers, often manifests in consumption behavior such as consuming only organic food, drinking filtered or bottled water, moving from a city to a suburb, or even being enclosed in a gated community. Although inverted quarantine may result in some form of protection, in the long run it is unsustainable in the face of the changing natural environment. Through investigations in literature and in-depth interviews with Ohio farmers, Oberlin College students, and parents in Fairfield County, Connecticut, this study examines the different way that environmental dangers are perceived and addressed across three different demographics.

Committee: Christie Parris (Advisor) Subjects: Environmental Justice; Environmental Studies; Gender Studies; Social Psychology; Social Research; Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2007, Sociology

This dissertation investigates the extent to which public opinion plays a role in the development of public policy in the environmental policy realm. Using data from cross-national public opinion polls, I elaborate on the link between public concern for the environment and the implementation of specific environmental policy measures. This research is focused on an elaboration of the particular circumstances under which public opinion directly impacts policy, and a consideration of the causal mechanisms that may shape this link. The analysis progresses in several stages. First, I examine correlations between established indicators of public opinion on the environment and demonstrate how the measures on which I focus my main analysis are correlated with other measures from various surveys. I also discuss the relevance of such measures to policy. Second, I run a series of OLS regressions and path analyses to test the direct and indirect relationships between public opinion and policy. Finally, I examine these relationships by region and level of country affluence, investigating the extent to which certain countries exhibit similarities or divergences with respect to opinion – policy linkages. Although of main concern is the relationship between opinion and policy, I include a number of explanatory variables in my model and situate my full set of variables within a causal framework. Three measures of environmental policy emerge as correlates of public opinion – the absence of energy subsidies, funding for environmental projects, and environmental governance. The nature of relationships between these measures and public opinion is discussed in the context of the complex process by which nations are accountable to their publics.

Committee: Kazimierz Slomczynski (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2005, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2005, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2018, Sociology (Arts and Sciences)

According to the Wildlife Land Trust (2015) more than one million animals are illegally killed each year. This criminal activity, known as poaching, threatens the survival of targeted species, as well as the biodiversity of the ecosystems to which they belong, the livelihood of local communities, and even national security. Considering the unprecedented rates across the globe, the urgency to find solutions has intensified. Although efforts have been predominately led by wildlife conservationists and biologists, given the anthropocentric nature of poaching, in this paper I call for an interdisciplinary approach incorporating an environmental sociological perspective and analysis. Grounded in social conflict theory and green criminology, I explore various forms of inequality to examine the ecological, economic, and social contexts in which poaching occur. Furthermore, I utilize symbolic interactionism to investigate how the construction of these factors may influence the participation in and perpetuation of this illegal activity. While there are countless species affected by poaching, I specifically analyze the poaching of one of the most emotive megafauna and largest living land animal, the African elephant (Loxodonta africana and Loxodonta cyclotic) (Blanc, 2008). Using a mixed methods approach comprised of multiple regression analysis and textual content analysis, I evaluate secondary data from the thirty-seven African countries in which these species inhabit. Findings reveal that agricultural land proportion, gross domestic product, female literacy, democracy, and male unemployment are significant predictors of poaching. The results of this research seek to inform national anti-poaching policy and practice, as well as international collaboration and activism to comprehensively address this complex criminal offense whose consequences transcend species, boundaries, and time.

Committee: Stephen Scanlan (Committee Chair) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Sociology

The Western United States contains not just one of the most arid regions in North America, but also the most urban region of the country. How to supply water to urban areas is one of the great questions of any society, and in the Southwest this was answered through a massive infrastructure centered around the Colorado River. It is my contention that the cities that received this water – such as Phoenix, Las Vegas, and San Diego – have been artificially subsidized in their population and land area growth, and have had to develop specialized economic functions in order to justify further subsidies of water from the river and, by extension, the rest of the country - that they are, in plain terms, hothouse flowers transplanted into an environment that they could never live in without massive inputs. Multiple strands of urban and environmental theory are then presented and examined to gauge their ability to explain, let alone predict, the existence and development of such cities; while human ecology and urban political ecology have the tools and theoretical power to do so, I contend that the presence of technology and money – whether private or from government – is so new and combines so effectively in the form of these hyperspecialized cities that previous theories must be updated. After establishing that there is a sufficient distinction between metropolitan areas in the Colorado River System (MSAs that receive water via the Bureau of Reclamation's massive infrastructure) and those in the Rest of the Arid West, in addition to the rest of the United States, I then conduct time-series regressions with panel-corrected standard errors and conclude the following. Metro areas in the Colorado River System are larger and grew faster than their Arid counterparts in population and land area. The availability of Colorado River water induced land area growth in metropolitan areas such as Phoenix, Tucson, and Las Vegas. Metropolitan economies in the Colorado River System are s (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Edward Crenshaw (Committee Chair); Hollie Nyseth-Brehm (Committee Member); Christopher Otter (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Studies; Sociology

MS, Kent State University, 2016, College of Architecture and Environmental Design

The sense of community is one of the significant theories in sociological and psychological research that investigates people's feelings, conducts, and interactions in a community. McMillan and Chavis (1989) defined the most accepted definition and theory for sense of community which described it as “ a feeling of belonging, a feeling that others matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that personal needs will be met through a commitment to being together.” The four components of membership, influence, integration and needs' fulfillment, and shared emotional connection collaborate to maintain or improve sense of community among community members. The thesis with using the ethnographic research methods evaluates the role of physical environments in strengthening people's quality of interaction and sense of community in residential neighborhoods. Specifically, with looking at three distinct residential areas in the city of Tehran in Iran. Case studies—Ekbatan Residential Complex, Sheikh Hadi Residential Neighborhood, and Vanak Garden Residential Complex— selected based on architectural style and community scale. The thesis divided into two parts: the first part investigates the role that design features such as public spaces, buildings' layout, and green areas can play in improving individuals' sense of community and social ties. As well as, indicating the importance of the balance between socio demographic and physical factors in creating a robust community by considering the users' social conditions and knowing what physical elements meet their needs. The second part of the thesis introduces an alternative factor a “place attachment” to prior research elements in measuring sense of community by using symbolic interactionism theory to fill the gap between a person and built environment. Specifically, the role that physical environments can play in influencing individuals' perception and shared meaning in reinforcing sense of community. It is one of (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: William Willoughby (Advisor); Adil Sharag-Eldin (Advisor); Richard Adams (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2008, Arts and Sciences : Sociology

This case-study investigates the morals, values, ideas, and actions of people living in environmentally oriented communities. Known as ecovillages, these intentional communities represent an incredible storehouse of valuable information for how humans can peacefully interact and use the natural environment in a way that is mutually beneficial for both parties. Environmental sociologists need to study these cooperative social formations to help our larger society understand, adapt, and change some fundamental aspects of our culture. This call to research is important because many contemporary human societies are now coming face to face with the consequences of their industrial, consumer driven, and environmentally degrading lifestyles. All life on earth, including humanity would benefit if our species adopted a new framework from which to view the natural environment, and our relationship to it. Using semi-structured interviews, I met with 18 members of three Ohio and Kentucky ecovillages. I assess what “nature” means to the ecovillagers and compared their perceptions with past and present perceptions as a way to understand both the continuity and novelty of their worldviews. I also investigate how their alternative, simple, and yet at times technologically advanced communities deal with the environmental issues facing humanity at the dawn of the 21st century.

Committee: Kelly Moore Dr. (Committee Chair); Rhys Williams Dr. (Committee Member); Steve Carlton-Ford Dr. (Other) Subjects: Earth; Ecology; Sociology; Technology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, Sociology

In a provocative paper, Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus (2005) shook the environmental establishment by declaring that environmentalism had died, claiming that the movement pushing for global warming policies had failed because of their framing strategy. A content analysis of pro-global warming policy movement frames deployed in the New York Times from 1981 through 2003 shows support for their claim that the frames were largely technocratic and lacked linkages to larger American values. However, their claim that the movement has framed global warming as solely an environmental problem is not supported by the data. The pro-global warming policy movement first focused their frames on prognostics, or in other words the causes and consequences of the social problem, but after the issue arrived on the international governmental agenda in 1988 the movement's frames shifted focus to diagnostic frames, or solutions to global warming. Examination of countermovement frames shows that frame debunking fell into two categories: prognostic attacks and diagnostic attacks. The countermovement responded with diagnostic attacks when it mobilized in 1989 and in the 1990s gradually deployed prognostic attacks in equal numbers. Zero-inflated poisson regressions were used to test the sociopolitical factors accounting for frame deployment for both the movement and countermovement. Pro-global warming policy frames were found to increase in response to political threat, elite cues, and weather shocks. In contrast, anti-global warming policy counterframes decreased in response to political allies, election years, weather shocks, and elite cues. The agendas literature describes social problems progressing from the governmental policy agenda then to the media agenda; however I find that global warming media agenda access preceded Congressional agenda access.

Committee: J. Craig Jenkins (Committee Co-Chair); Andrew Martin (Committee Co-Chair); Edward Crenshaw (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2002, Sociology

The politics of fresh water in international contexts are becoming increasingly contentious. This study analyzes the effects of development, demographics and ecological factors on international disputes over water. From a human ecology approach, I develop a model of water conflict that examines the extent to which population growth and density, urbanization, water scarcity and degradation, social organization, inequitable distribution of water, social inequality, and trade affect the likelihood of conflict over water. Using water event data from the Basins at Risk section of the Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database (Wolf 1998; Yoffe 2002) and ordinary least squares regression modeling, I tested hypotheses that specified predictors of international water conflict and cooperation. Field notes from a case study of the international dispute between Slovakia and Hungary were also analyzed. The results of the analysis indicate that, of demographic predictors, population density has the clearest and most consistent association with international water conflict and cooperation. Countries with higher population densities have more frequent international water interactions of a more conflictual nature. Population growth and urbanization are also found to be associated with water conflict in various predicted ways. Indicators of development tend to be associated with reduced levels of international water conflict, however, in the case of international inequality of development, water conflict is more likely. Among environmental factors, several indicators of water degradation and depletion were associated with an increase in the level of international water conflict, however these findings were somewhat inconsistent. Inequality in terms of the amount of internally available water was consistently associated with higher levels of conflict. A surprising and counterintuitive finding is that countries that sign international water treaties continue to have water events of a c (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kazimierz Slomczynski (Advisor) Subjects:

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2011, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

The purpose of this research is to seek narratives of self-censorship from in-depth interviews of 19 participants acquired through a purposive (criterion) sampling protocol. The primary research question driving this study is “What types of sanctions contribute to people choosing to self-censor their strongly held beliefs, values, and opinions.” Previous research conducted on the topic of self-censorship (generally under the rubric of the spiral of silence theory) has been predominantly quantitative and consideration of sanctions influencing self-censorship have been limited to fear of social isolation. I suggest that ostensibly important sanction variables have not been utilized within these existing frameworks. I anticipated that this research, by utilizing a qualitative framework, would reveal other sanctions that operate in the self-censorship decision calculus. I also expected that interviews would portray a broader, more complete picture of how self-censorship operates and the variables that contribute to the construct. Research expectations were partially met as new variables in regard to specific fears of sanctioning were identified. These variables should contribute to self-censorship theory and more specifically, the frequently researched “spiral of silence” theory of mass communication and could be tested in quantitative research to verify their validity. Future research in this vein might consider testing additional sanction variables as part of a quantitative study, continue to refine the definition of self-censorship, develop better strategies to locate and secure additional informants, and continue to utilize qualitative methods to probe further into self-censorship questions.

Committee: Thomas Webler Ph.D. (Committee Chair); K. Heidi Watts Ph.D. (Committee Member); Robert Krueger Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Environmental Studies; Land Use Planning; Mass Communications; Psychology; Social Psychology; Sociology; Urban Planning