Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Zürich, 1945. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [xiv]-xvii).

The oil-rich northern districts of Iraq were long considered a reflection of the country with a diversity of ethnic and religious groups; Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, Assyrians, and Yezidi, living together and portraying Iraq’s demographic makeup. However, the Ba’ath party’s brutal policy of Arabisation in the twentieth century created a false demographic and instigated the escalation of identity politics. Consequently, the region is currently highly contested with the disputed territories consisting of 15 districts stretching across four northern governorates and curving from the Syrian to Iranian borders. The official contest over the regions administration has resulted in a tug-of-war between Baghdad and Erbil that has frequently stalled the Iraqi political system. Subsequently, across the region, minority groups have been pulled into a clash over demographic composition as each disputed districts faces ethnically defined claims. The ethnic basis to territorial claims has amplified the discourse over linguistic presence, cultural representation and minority rights; and the insecure environment, in which sectarian based attacks are frequent, has elevated debates over territorial representation to the height of ethnic survival issues. The existing literature and research on the region focuses heavily on the governance outcomes and little has been written about the impact of heightened identity politics on the everyday lives of citizens. It is in this respect that the thesis examines the evolution of the education system post 2003. Drawing on over 50 interviews with regional education officials and community representatives, the thesis presents the impact of amplified ethno-politics on the reconstruction of education in Iraq. The research provides the first academic exploration into education in the region, exploring the significance of cultural reproduction and the link between demands for ethnically specific education, societal security and the wider political contestation over the territory.

Thesis advisor: Juliet B. Schor / Fragrances in consumer products have become a contested topic in daily life. Workplace fragrance policies problematize fragrances, which, for many people, are normal aspects of consumer products. This mixed-method dissertation focuses on employees in a large non-industrial workplace with a fragrance-free policy. It examines employee reactions to a policy that requests behavioral changes based on claims that everyday consumption of fragranced products may be harmful to employee health. In order to develop an understanding of how and to what extent fragrances and indoor air quality are problematized in the workplace, I engage a number of different constructs from environmental and consumer sociology. The dissertation expands upon constructs of contested illness (Brown, Kroll-Smith, & Gunter, 2000; Phillimore, Moffatt, Hudson, & Downey, 2000; Shriver & Webb, 2009); framings of environments in bodies (Kroll-Smith & Kelley, 2008); lay assessments of health impacts (Burton-Jeangros, 2011; Collins, 2010; Heikkinen, Patja, & Jallinoja, 2010; O'Sullivan & Stakelum, 2004; Scammell, Senier, Darrah-Okike, Brown, & Santos, 2009) and understandings of the role of scents in social life (Largey & Watson, 1972; Low, 2006; Synnott, 1991). My findings show that a majority of participants understand fragrance impacts through an individual health frame, as an allergy, that locates the problems associated with fragrance within the bodies of specific individuals who exhibit symptoms due to fragrance exposures. While this orientation has had positive impacts on the implementation of the policy and reducing corresponding impacts on those who are Fragrance Sensitive, the degree to which fragrances have been problematized is limited by understandings of fragrance impacts as allergies. The limiting framework of fragrance sensitivity as allergy has practical efficacy because it helps employees to connect with the idea that fragrances cause health issues for some individuals. However, it also stymies assessments and connections to potential broader environmental health impacts of fragrances in part because allergens such as pollen are generally viewed as benign and only problematic to the anomalous individuals who experience reactions. Limitations of the framework are reinforced by established moral and cultural assessments of good and bad fragrances and the appropriate use of fragrances (Low, 2006; Synnott, 1991). This dissertation examines what happens when people are confronted with information that the industrial traces associated with their consumption practices - in this case wearing and using fragranced products on their bodies and in their work environments - may be contributing to negative health outcomes for their coworkers. This study is the first to analyze the social dimensions of the use of synthetic fragrances in connection to environmental health impacts in the context of everyday life. The findings have relevance for other organizations considering regulation of fragrances as well as for efforts to use health rationales to encourage changes in consumption practices. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

In 2003, the Israeli government announced plans to transfer a large army base from the centre of the country to the Negev (al-Naqab in Arabic), 8 kilometers downwind from the Ramat Hovav industrial zone and national hazardous waste treatment site. Since its creation in 1975, Ramat Hovav has been a major centre for bio-chemical production, hazardous waste treatment and consequently, pollution. For decades, Bedouin residents from Wadi Naam had been living adjacent to the industrial zone, their concerns and protests remaining unheard. However, when the health of Israeli soldiers serving at the prospective site was at stake, local environmental disputes shifted into the national spotlight. The decision to move the army base was a catalyst for a prolonged struggle over conflicting interpretations of environmental health risks. Using a narrative-based case study methodology, this research examines both the local environmental knowledge and the organizational strategies that inform the contested environmental illness struggles that took place at the Ramat Hovav industrial zone between 1997 and 2011. It illustrates how environmental organizations, policymakers, and industrial representatives, through protracted challenges and counter-challenges, found an interim approach for addressing pollution, thereby clearing the way for the construction of the army base. It also illuminates the differential treatment of contested environmental illness by state, municipal, and organizational actors when the subjects at risk are Jewish Israeli youth, as opposed to Bedouin residents, thus uncovering institutionalized environmental discrimination toward the Bedouin of Wadi Naam that is symptomatic of prejudicial public policies dating back to the establishment of the state. The first formal study of contested environmental illness in the Middle East, this case contributes broader insight into the institutional dynamics of environmental injustice, the relationship between local knowledge and political pressure, and the organizational tactics underlying environmental risk management.

The Black Hills of South Dakota, once home to the Lakota Sioux, is a sacred landscape to these people, but is currently threatened by extensive tourism, mining, industrial and logging activity. Within these sacred hills, an enormous carving in stone is slowly being created in the form of a Lakota warrior: the Crazy Horse Memorial. The carving is meant to honour all American Indian people, as well as Crazy Horse’s people, the Lakota; however, the carving is contested by many Lakota people as it clashes with their spiritual beliefs and traditions. In this practicum, the social, environmental and spiritual character of the Black Hills is studied to determine the efficacy of the Crazy Horse Memorial in contemporary Lakota society, and to determine a more appropriate form of memorialization for the Lakota people. Sacred landscapes throughout the Black Hills are evaluated based on their management practices and current environmental and spiritual states; subsequently, a new regional management strategy is introduced in order to protect traditional sacred sites and preserve traditional Lakota landscapes and traditions. In so doing, the involvement of Landscape Architects is presented as a viable strategy in evolving the cultural and physical landscape of the sacred Black Hills.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This research explores the illness experiences of women and men who received a Celiac Disease Diagnosis as an adult in addition to the impact it had on their social interactions and every-day lives. Investigation of illness experiences were conducted through the use of semi-structured interviews which explored diagnosis experiences, gendered experiences, and life style impact. Significant findings of this research indicated that there are gendered diagnosis experiences among women and men who are diagnosed with this disease. More specifically, female participants reported diagnosis experiences similar to that of a contested illness. In contrast, male participants reported diagnosis experiences that reflect a routinely defined illness. Despite these results, additional research is necessary in order to better understand gendered experiences among those who are diagnosed with Celiac Disease as an adult.

This study explores people of color-owned (POC) restaurants under the governance of Washington, DC (DC) who provide community programming. Since 2009 ‘sustainable’ legislative changes have affecting DC’s food industry, causing a change in operational costs and allowable materials to serve food. DC government’s acknowledgment of racial has informed its urban plan: racial equity is embedded throughout the approach to further develop the city. With documented barriers to success experienced by racial minority business owners and the potential for upcoming legislation to place additional constraints on restaurants, it warrants investigation to see what POC owners are doing in community programming and their experiences concerning recent urban policy which has affected DC’s food industry. A pragmatist approach complemented with Nadler & Tushman’s theory of organizational behavior and McMichael’s theory of contested development informed a content analysis and a case study design; the latter which employed observations and semi-structured interviews to gain insight on participants’ experiences. 19 POC-owned restaurants fit the study’s criteria: 12 displayed community programming within the scope of DC’s sustainability plan; 17 displayed community programming outside of the scope. The case study demonstrates the significance of businesses ownership of POC in DC, reflected contested development theory, and offered insights on how DC’s urban plan is understood by the staff of one restaurant. This work may inform practice to analyze the effects of environmental-focused policy on POC and equity goals, particularly within DC. Recommendations for future research, theory, and practice within equitable urban planning are included. / M.S. / This study explores the presence and experiences of people of color-owned (POC) restaurants under the governance of Washington, DC (DC) who provide community programming. A series of ‘sustainable’ legislative changes affecting DC’s food industry have occurred since the year 2009, resulting in changes in operations and what materials are allowed to serve food to customers. These changes include a fee on the use of disposal bags, a ban on the use of expanded polystyrene, commonly known as Styrofoam™, and in 2018, a ban on plastic straws. DC’s urban plan Sustainable DC 2.0 acknowledges disparities along lines of race in the city and aims to embed racial equity in its approach to further develop the city. With documented barriers to success experienced by racial minorities in the United States; DC’s uneven prosperity growth of white people compared to people of color, gentrifying conditions, and high property taxes; and DC Council’s introduction of a new policy which would further affect what is allowable to restaurants for serving, but also how and what food is to be prepared for organics collections; it warrants investigation to see what people of color are currently doing in the area of community programming and what their experiences are concerning recent urban policy which has affected DC’s food industry. A pragmatist approach complemented with a theoretical framework of Nadler & Tushman’s organizational behavior model and McMichael’s theory of contested development and sustainable transformation informed this work. The content analysis investigated the community programming of POC-owned restaurants and a case study employed observations and semi-structured interviews to gain insight on participant experiences. 19 restaurants were found in the content analysis: 12 restaurants displayed community programming within the scope of DC’s sustainability plan; 17 displayed community programming outside of the scope. The case study demonstrates the significance of businesses ownership of POC in DC, reflected McMichael’s contested development theory, and provided insights on how DC’s urban plan presents opportunities, successes, and challenges to one restaurant. Both the content analysis and case study showed a significant emphasis on engaging and supporting people of color, particularly the black community. This work may inform practice to analyze effects of environmental-focused policy on POC who own restaurants, and considerations of approach to working equitably in the area of urban planning, particularly within DC. Recommendations for future research, theory, and practice within equitable urban planning are included. This thesis provides insights to individuals engaging in equitable urban development in practice and research. It also will be useful to those engaged in qualitative research methodologies, as it describes how the focus and timeline of this study pivoted due to the occurrence of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.

This essay researches current workings of medicine in relation to contested, female diagnoses. This is made by looking at the construction of the new psychological diagnosis Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) in Swedish media, and relating it to a current trend seen in medicine; to medicalize women’s underperformance. A qualitative content analysis of 19 articles is conducted, showing that PMDD is constructed as; a biomedical fact and individual problem; a serious disease owned by the sufferers; and as something written out of the women’s self-image as a “not me”. These constructions are analysed with a theoretical framework built around the concept biomedicalisation, which we conceptualise as an exertion of biopower that shapes subjects in line with neoliberal ideals. Biopower is a concept from the Foucauldian notion of Governmentality, and describes power working on micro levels, through for example truth discourses, to make individuals understand and work on themselves as biological subjects. Our analysis shows that biopower can be seen to work through the different constructions of PMDD to shape self-managing, healthy subjects that are willing to biomedically change themselves in accordance with an ideological normal, but that this normal differs from that seen in research on other contested female diagnoses. To conclude we suggest that it would be more fruitful to look at biomedicalisation to understand current workings on female contested diagnoses, than to look at the trend on medicalisation of underperformance.

This research explored how white professional men talk about masculinities and their own masculine construction. The study was qualitative in nature and the data was collected via 10 semi-structured individual interviews. Qualitative content analysis was utilized whereby key themes were identified and discussed. Men in relation to self identity, women, emotions, the work environment, and the changing social context reflected the key themes that were evident in the study. These themes explored men in relation to a variety of issues and thus highlighted the multitude of influences which are thought to impact on masculine identity. Various responses from the participants based on defensive, accommodating, and progressive discourses were evident throughout and this further illustrated the diverse and complex nature of masculinities. One of the most relevant conclusions to stem from this study was that although masculine representation seems to be changing in particular spheres, certain hegemonic aspects of masculinity seem to permeate professional men’s discourses. This research highlights and explores the multiplicity of masculine and refutes the notion of masculinity being a singularly fixed concept. The social construction of masculinity is thus affirmed. Various contesting viewpoints are elicited that indicate the complex and, at times, contradictory nature of masculine construction.

This dissertation argues that there is an agreed upon commonsense view of violence, but beyond this view, definitions for kinds of violence are essentially contested and non-neutrally, politically ideological, given that the political itself is an essentially contested concept defined in relation to ideologies that oppose one another. The first chapter outlines definitions for a commonsense view of violence produced by Greene and Brennan. This chapter argues that there are incontestable instances of violence that are almost universally agreed upon, such as when an adult intentionally smashes a child’s head against a table, purposefully causing harm. It is also claimed that, because political, ideological distinctions between kinds of violence arise from the creation of moral equivalences to the commonsense view of violence, political ideology is the source of disagreement. The second chapter argues that the concept of violence and of the political are essentially contested concepts. Gallie’s criteria for what counts as an essentially contested concept are utilized in order to argue that violence is an essentially contested concept at the level of the political, though not at the level of the commonsense view of violence. In fact, the paradigmatic cases that the commonsense view of violence pertains to serve as the core cases that are then interpreted as kinds of violence at the ideological level. To define violence as altogether wrong, or to define kinds of violence as acceptable and others as wrong is itself a politically ideological move to make, such as when liberalism defines its own uses of violence as justified and legitimate, and its enemy’s violence as unjustifiable and illegitimate. The World Health Organization and Bufacchi’s definitions for violence are presented, as are the definition for terroristic violence defined by Nagel. Erlenbusch’s critique of a liberal view, such as that of Nagel and the World Health Organization, is addressed as a reflection on the fact that, beyond the commonsense view of violence, violence is an essentially contested concept for which an ideologically, politically non-neutral definition is unlikely. The third chapter outlines numerous definitions produced by various philosophers, historians, and theorists, such as Machiavelli, Arendt, Hobbes, Kant, Treitschke, Weber, Bakunin, Sorel, Žižek, and Benjamin. The definitions produced by each demonstrates that person’s political ideological assumptions. Their definitions demonstrate an ongoing disagreement, in the sense of Rancière’s formulation for what counts as a disagreement in that each theorist defines kinds of violence under the yoke of their own political ideology. They all might agree that a single act is violent, under the commonsense view of violence, but they disagree concerning what kind of violence it is. So, though they may point to the same events and actions as examples of violence, what they mean fundamentally differs, and this means that they disagree. Their disagreement arises due to their respective political ideologies. This disagreement shows that there is no neutral justification for the neutrality of a state, particularly if a neutral state must defend itself. The state is instead defined in historically contextual terms of how the state relates to kinds of violence, and the distinctions between kinds of violence are not themselves politically, ideologically neutral. So, the concept of violence, beyond the commonsense view, is an essentially contested concept for which a non-neutral definition is unlikely. Beyond the commonsense view, political ideology is inextricably bound up within distinctions between kinds of violence. The fourth chapter then examines arguments on the question of whether nonviolence counts as a kind of violence. If distinctions between kinds of violence are essentially contested and non-neutrally defined, and nonviolence is defined as distinct from violence, then it follows that nonviolence is an essentially contested concept for which no non-neutral definition is possible, at least beyond a commonsense view of nonviolence. A commonsense view of nonviolence is defined as the assumption that nonviolence is not violent in the way that the commonsense view defines violence. That is, nonviolence occurs when there is no action or event that most people would define as a violent one. Definitions for nonviolence, civil disobedience, nonviolent political actions, and nonviolent direct actions are then outlined. These definitions aim at showing that the doctrine of nonviolence does not merely refer to nonviolent acts, but to a strategy that is a means to defeating violence. Given that what counts as the nonviolence that defeats violence is ideologically a matter of disagreement, nonviolence, in this sense, can count as a kind of violence. The fifth chapter concludes, raising questions concerning how violence can be valued, the degree to which a state cannot neutrally justify its neutrality, and the degree to which, beyond the commonsense view of violence, there ever could be agreement concerning what counts as kinds of violence. 1 In this dissertation, I draw on a number of ideas/passages that appeared earlier in my paper “The Efficacy of Scapegoating and Revolutionary Violence," in Philosophy, Culture, and Traditions: A Journal of the World Union of Catholic Philosophical Societies, ed. William Sweet, 10(2014), 203-219. I am grateful to the editors of the journal for permission to draw on this material here.