<p> The primary aim of this dissertation is to analyze a spiritual aspect of Chamorro cosmology known as <i>fa&rsquo;&ntilde;ague,</i> or visitations from the deceased, to shed light on how and why it exists in Guam, and how it differs among Chamorro Natives who experience it in the island and abroad. A secondary aim of the dissertation is to expand upon the scholarly documentation of Native Chamorro epistemologies concerning life and death, and the role of the spiritual realm in daily life of the people of the Marianas. </p><p> The dissertation is structured as follows: Part I offers an in-depth exploration and personification of Guam, the place, the culture, and the people in order to balance longstanding and erroneous conceptions about the Island. Part II includes the rationale for the research, a methodological framework, and a literature review. In addition, a full chapter on Chamorro epistemology is included to reinforce the elements of the Native worldview and way of knowing to provide context for the research findings. In Part III &mdash; the fruits of data gathering and analysis &mdash; are offered using both quantitative and qualitative methods. </p><p> Finally, this dissertation hopes to argue and position a new model of Indigenous research methodology, which I am calling Neo-Indigenous Methodology. Essentially, it is an evolution from the de-colonizing approach borne by founding Indigenous scholars who sought to break from Western scholarly dialect to express and inform Native wisdom. Instead, Neo-Indigenous Methodology proposes that Indigenous scholars embrace the dialect of all Western humanistic discourse to further clarify and magnify pure Indigenous knowledge.</p><p>

<p> This dissertation is an ethnographic examination of how young Japanese men in contemporary Japan are negotiating the effects of postindustrial shifts on the production, consumption, and performance of heterosexual male desire within the "economies of intimacy" of sex, love, and marriage. Moving beyond popular pathologies of Japanese men and of "crisis," I argue that men have been increasingly economically and socially alienated from intimate institutions, provoking either anger toward the larger gender system or a reorganization of personal paths to manhood. This dissertation is based on fifteen-months of research in Tokyo between 2013 and 2014. In addition to interviews with young, unmarried Japanese men and masculinities studies scholars, I conducted participant observation in several key sites, such as "anti-love" demonstrations, matchmaking parties (<i>machikon</i>), and gender equality workshops. My work draws on historical and contemporary popular culture to examine modern discourses of male virginity, debates on romantic love, and the history of sexuality.</p><p> Setting the scene of contemporary Japanese manhood, the dissertation begins with a gendered history of postwar Japan culminating in the ideal of the <i>dekiru otoko</i> or "man who can do." This conception of masculinity as ability directly affects the three key intimacies of concern to both the greater Japanese public and to young men themselves. These intimacies of sex, love, and marriage, what I term the "economies of intimacy," and their varied articulations with&mdash;and affects on&mdash;the lives of young Japanese men form the core of this dissertation. I argue that it is through their ability to "do" sex, love, and marriage that men receive social recognition and value in postmainstream Japan. Amidst the continuing importance of marriage to social ideals of male adulthood and personal desires for children, many young men find the marital union to be unachievable. These men, broadly categorized as "undesirable" (<i>himote</i>), are questioning the current marital-gender order. Specifically addressing the financial burdens and feelings of economic objectification that marriage engenders, I argue that these "undesirables" are challenging feminist scholarship on men as the primary beneficiaries of marriage. </p><p> Historically situating the contemporary ideology of "love supremacy-ism" (<i>ren'ai shij&omacr; shugi</i>) within the longer trajectory of Japan's modernization, I engage with the various critics of this new ideology, examining how romantic love in contemporary Japan is both intimately entwined with, and mimics, capitalism. Termed "love-capitalism" (<i>ren'ai shihon shugi</i>), this system is a form of evaluative schema in which men are valued and recognized based on their ability to do the <i>work</i> of love. Lastly, I discuss Japan's sexual modernity and the increasing importance of what I term the postwar "sexual contract"&mdash;the implicit agreement between the state and its citizens that they will engage in <i>reproductive </i> sex&mdash;within a contemporary pronatalist regime. Challenging this contract is the rise of male virgin (<i>d&omacr;tei</i>) "movements" whose members and allies are questioning the importance of sexual activity (broadly defined) to both themselves and to the greater public.</p><p> Writing against claims that gender exerts less of an influence on men's life choices&mdash;a claim predicated on women's upward social mobility globally&mdash;I argue that the Japanese gender system, with its increasing demands on men, is forcing young men to renegotiate their desires and abilities. This research brings men's concerns to the forefront of current feminist and queer studies debates on institutions such as marriage and love, particularly the absence of financial concerns and the globally circulating discourses on how sex, love, and marriage are all social goods.</p><p>

<p> Over the past five years, American public opinion on homosexuality has rapidly shifted in a more positive direction. Its subjugation exemplifies how an intimate and singular topic can be used to ignite and potentially misguide the American people, resulting in violent demonstration and even death. Although public opinion has shifted towards a greater acceptance of homosexuality, viewpoints are still very polarized. In addition to the available literature, elements from the complete data set of the General Social Survey (1972&ndash;2014) were analyzed to better understand this polarization that persists. Subject-specific variables concerning homosexuality were extrapolated and simple Ordinary Least Squares regression models were tested using STATA version SE 12.1. The evidence gathered supports this thesis&rsquo; assertion that Snyder&rsquo;s theory of hope, when applied to the topic of homosexuality, provides a uniquely useful and alternative lens through which to explain the polarization of current public opinion about homosexuality in America.</p><p>

<p> This thesis examines how a nutrition transition effects identity, locality, and economy in a Q&rsquo;eqchi&rsquo; Maya <i>aldea</i> (hamlet) near Livingston, Guatemala, located along the Caribbean coast. The data collected explore community members&rsquo; attitudes and behaviors regarding food consumption, food sources, and health&mdash;both individual and familial. This thesis examines the structuralist categories community members created within a larger discussion of the effects of globalization and economic development on indigenous communities. Analysis explored how external processed food companies profit by hijacking internal cultural attributes. Findings indicate that, as community members have had consistent contact with external forces for at least 25 years, local notions of healthiness have accommodated processed foods into the diet. Based on these findings, this research enhances our understandings of how processed food companies have used marketing and branding to insert themselves into rural communities&mdash;what Thomas Leatherman calls &ldquo;Coca Colonization.&rdquo; </p><p>

<p> In recent decades, there has been an increased awareness of the concentration of the poor in rural and underdeveloped areas and increased attention to scaled economic and multi-dimensional assessments as tools for targeting rural poverty. While this has led to new forms of development intervention in previously neglected regions across the Global South, in Morocco this system of poverty reduction continues to exclude key sites and stakeholders. This thesis asks how local state offices and non-state actors participate in or disrupt the structural systems of development in Morocco and what potential these local communities have for contributing to standardized knowledge production of poverty and development. I use participatory mapping workshops, interviews, and &ldquo;studying up&rdquo; strategies to answer questions of access &ndash; physical and social &ndash; to development planning and interventions. My findings indicate that the Moroccan rural development complex is structurally exclusionary to remote rural communities. The state and its partners have portrayed rural spaces as quickly rising out of poverty thanks to their decentralized and participatory development schemes, yet incongruently, local recipients in the least accessible areas live in spaces devoid of interventions. With all development practices inherently tied to state standards, any oversight or exclusion by state targeting is magnified by the same oversight of its development partners. The scale of targeting and evaluation in international metrics has contributed to this neglect, and the unfortunate result has been a feedback loop of inaccessibility for remote rural pockets of the country. I explain why one spatial indicator, village accessibility to social services, is an appropriate addition to poverty assessments and development targeting, drawing from my conversations with villagers in rural Tinghir Province and the results of my geospatial analysis.</p><p>

<p> Inspired by the recent approaches of the New Qing History school centering on ethnicity and empire and the South Chinese Studies school focusing on local societies, this dissertation probes into Han Chinese and Manchu becoming Mongols in Qing Mongolia using the Qing archives in Mongolian, Manchu, and Chinese preserved in Mongolia, China and Taiwan. This research focuses on two case studies: 1) Descendants of Han Chinese settlers in Outer and Inner Mongolia; 2) Offspring of Manchu bondservants as human dowry in Inner Mongolia. These groups of Han Chinese and Manchu settlers migrated, legally or not, to Mongolia since the seventeenth century. They married with local Mongolian people, raised children, and learned the Mongol way of life in Mongolia. Ultimately, they and their offspring even acquired Mongol status, which is considered the most important marker of mongolization. The Great Shabi as the estate of the Jibzundamba Khutugtu and the Manchu-Mongol marital alliance are also discussed in this dissertation as the main mechanisms facilitating the identity and status changes. Intermarriage and Buddhist belief were the two criteria for those Han Chinese and Manchu settlers and their offspring to be integrated into Qing Mongolian society. The immigration of those Han Chinese and Manchu settlers into Mongolia was initiated by the Qing government, but the Qing government wanted to keep the occurance of mongolization at a minimal level. This research draws a parallel between the problems of nativization faced by the Qing and Russian empires, and provides a case study to compare Han Chinese settlers in Inner Asia and Southeast Asia to explore different modes of Han Chinese migration. In the end, this dissertation argues that the ethnicity in late imperial and modern China is a negotiation between the religious and livelihood decisions for the Han Chinese settlers or state service for the Manchu settlers, the social institution of the Mongolian local authority, and the rules of the Qing state.</p><p>

<p> Shinto is a native Japanese religion with a history that goes back thousands of years. Because of its close ties to Japanese culture, and Shinto&rsquo;s strong emphasis on place in its practice, it does not seem to be the kind of religion that would migrate to other areas of the world and convert new practitioners. However, not only are there examples of Shinto being practiced outside of Japan, the people doing the practice are not always of Japanese heritage. </p><p> The Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America is one of the only fully functional Shinto shrines in the United States and is run by the first non-Japanese Shinto priest. This thesis looks at the community of practice that surrounds this American shrine and examines how membership is negotiated through action. There are three main practices that form the larger community: language use, rituals, and Aikido. Through participation in these activities members engage with an American Shinto community of practice.</p><p>

<p> The aim of this investigation is to analyze the effects of incorporating scent-based elements in ethnographic exhibits. Specifically, it attempts to identify changes in patron response to a visual display, with and without a scent element. Groups of patrons were observed throughout their engagement with the exhibit, and interviewed post-engagement to generate data on information retention, opinion on content and empathetic response in relation to the exhibit. Findings suggest that the inclusion of scent did increase memorization of the limited facts reinforced through the scent element. However, there was no detectable difference between the groups on measures of overall comprehension of the subject matter, nor their empathetic responses toward the exhibited culture. The results of the study are discussed as a measure of the observer&mdash;observed dichotomy, and the argument is made that multisensory representation in the museum can aid in the facilitation of cross-cultural education.</p>

<p> After experiencing the reality of life in the Caribbean for nearly two decades, I remain grieved by the level of suffering throughout the region, yet hopeful that a future of sustainable growth is within the realm of possibility. I am a first hand participant in and observer of the longstanding socioeconomic crisis that has forced the African culture in the Caribbean to repetitively ask the same question: &ldquo;Why is all this hardship happening to us?&rdquo; In order to participate in the solution, this project comprehensively explores the relationship between creative practice and the socioeconomic crisis in the Caribbean&ndash;&ndash;does limited access to environments that facilitate original and conceptual ideas correlate with the socioeconomic crisis in the region? Understanding the relationship and its outcomes could expose the source of long-term hardship and identify a path of sustainable growth for the African culture in the Caribbean. Accomplishing this objective required an analysis of four distinct perspectives: my observations as a participant in the culture, the historical progression of the region, recognized research that speaks directly to socioeconomic crisis and creative practice, and the voice of the culture. Reaching for clarity and rationale in answering the primary research question of this project&ndash;&ndash;<i>What is the relationship between creative practice and socioeconomic crisis in the Caribbean? </i>&ndash;&ndash;the highest priority of understanding and respect has been given to the voice of the Africans in the Caribbean. Therefore, the Afro-Caribs on St. John, United States Virgin Islands serve as the narrative to reflect the reality of life in a contemporary context for the culture. The outcomes and methods of analysis developed in this project should be a useful tool for other cultures seeking to alleviate socioeconomic crisis and implement a sustainable pathway of growth.</p><p> Keywords: <i>Caribbean, creative practice, creativity, socioeconomic crisis, development, decolonization, dependency, living systems, oppression, cultural conditioning, chaos, Africans, West Indians.</i></p>

This dissertation analyzes the conditions that explain the dynamism of socio-territorial systems of firms and examines how these systems can foster local industrialization and reduce urban poverty in Peru. The theoretical argument builds upon the concepts of external economies, industrial districts and the social embeddedness of economic action, providing an alternative interpretation of the informal sector. It draws on field research and case studies conducted in Peru between August 1991 and August 1992. The findings support the view that the dynamism of small-scale manufacturing results from the development of collective entrepreneurial capabilities and new forms of cooperation and competition. Cooperation takes various forms such as subcontracting, joint marketing, and the sharing of inputs, tools and information. When firms compete on product design and the search for new markets rather than by lowering wages, there is scope for self-sustained expansion. In the first case study (El Porvenir, Trujillo) inter-firm cooperation was based upon ethnic homogeneity, kinship bonds and social norms of equity and reciprocity. Learning experiences within two larger shoe factories stimulated the organization of spin-off firms and networks of complementary specialized producers. These networks subsequently outcompeted the larger factories, expanded their share of the national market and are now exporting part of their output to neighboring countries. In the second case (Villa El Salvador, Lima) the state, foreign donor agencies and producers' associations played a more prominent role. The construction of an industrial park and service centers was sought to generate scale economies in the provision of productive services and entrepreneurial functions that were beyond the reach of individual producers. The main challenges were associated with the definition of property rights and the generation of stable institutional structures to operate these centers as self-sustained organizations. The study suggests that specialized support should be directed to those clusters of firms with higher growth potential and stronger linkages with the local economy. The constitution of quasi-public organizations can strengthen local leadership and nurture the formation of political entrepreneurs. The dissertation underscores the dynamism of socially embedded enterprises and institutions as the foundation for democracy and development.