Based upon research in the state of Himachal Pradesh in the Western Himalaya of north India, this dissertation examines ways various people know, have access to and use forest resources. It examines knowledges which are privileged and those less so, and accompanying expressions of power in negotiating access to those resources. Here knowledge is seen as inextricably tied to maneuverable, situationally contingent enunciations of power. If exercises of power are understood as related to people's interpretations of the parameters of the "positions"--both social and geographical--that they operate within, then categories such as government official or villager, tribal or nontribal, women or men, townsfolk or forest communities, high caste or low are not seen as unified or fixed ones in terms of interpretations of or access to power. Since some institutionally defined positions are perceived as imbued with more or less inherent power, this combination of institutional as well as individual notions of power is examined as these relate to differently valued knowledges about forest resources. These shifting ideas about and expressions of power are additionally affected by literal movement across landscapes. Areas traversed, distances covered, length of time in a region and the appropriateness of such motion to particular positions all contribute to the valuation of different knowledges. Positionality and related knowledges are tracked through this literal as well as figurative movement, reflecting varying degrees of "room to move" through various social and physical realms for particular individuals. Methodological approaches include: participant observation, semi-structured interviews, cultivated and noncultivated plant matrices, plant list testing, map comparisons, discourse analysis of historical and contemporary documents, and travel and investigative questioning within the broader area of the Western Himalaya for regional contextualization. The dissertation shows that forest-related activities are directed by specific knowledges, and related notions of importance or value of those knowledges. The valuing of state knowledges over local use-knowledges prevents productive cooperation between various groups on forest related projects. The sometimes contradictory expressions of knowledge and exercises of power are a result of people responding to various inconsistencies in their lives related to the availability of forest resources. Corruption and subversion are two responses to such contradictions. Problems of diminishing forest resources, and limited access to them, must be, it is concluded, situated within these fields and relations of power.

<p>Page 114 with a diagram is actually page 116.</p> <p>Page 216 with a diagram is actually page 219.</p> <p>Page 224 with a diagram is actually page 227.</p> <p>Page 273 with a diagram is actually page 276.</p> <p>Page 295 is blank in the hard copy. </p> / <p>The aim of this dissertation is the examination of theoretlcal concepts and assumptions which have informed the study of time in cultural anthropology. In the anthropological literature, the notion of time is recognized as being a uniquely human phenomenon, having a dualistic if not paradoxical nature, that ls, it is simultaneously cyclical and lineal. These two characteristics have been viewed as being separate and opposed to each other. In this dissertation, however, I argue that they are not opposed and separate but are closely intertwined. A multidimensional helical model is employed to illustrates this interconnectedness.</p> <p>I present the view that one key to understanding cyclical and linear characteristics of time can be found in examining the element of contingency. My examination of the role that contingency plays with respect to temporal organization is situated within the context of the culture of southern Labrador where contingency commands a prominent position in the lives of fishers, trappers and hunters and their families. From the ethnographic context, I address some of the important anthropological ideas that have informed the study of time and contingency in anthropology. A framework of key notions or understandings emerge from this examination, namely: (1) that time is dynamic, (2) that cyclical and lineal iii iv aspects of time are interrelated rather than opposed, (3) that time has multidimensionality and finally (4) that contingency in its various environmental and cultural expressions can effect the way in which time is conceptualized and organized. The dissertation is based on fourteen months of field research conducted in the summer of 1976, 1979-1980 and in the fall of 1988.</p> <p>It begins with an examination of anthropological perspectives on the study of time and contingency. I move on 1..0 an exploration of historical and social events which provide a baseline for interpreting the relationship between contingency and time. Next, the contingencies based in the environmental cycle, particularly breakup and freezeup are explored along with adjustive responses employed by Labradorians to accommodate them.</p> <p>The relationship between contingency and predictability are examined in light of work and leisure patterns of women and of men respectively. Family commensal routines provide a venue in which contingency is modulated and predictability is introduced in the daily cycle. While women and men experience different levels of contingency and predictability in their daily lives, a complementary relationship exists between male and female temporal domains. Examination of the daily cycle also reveals that the daily schedule is ordered into domains of public and private time. During ritual time, distinctions between public and private v time, between male and female, and between stranger and friend undergo symbolic inversion. Here contingencies of both the environmental and social sort are celebrated. Disguise, in the form of janneying (masking) and social drinking, provide the vehicle for such inversion. In light of t.his data, questions concerning the effect of contingent events on temporal organization are explored.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>This study helps address gaps in knowledge concerning the lives of Indo-Fijian immigrant women in California and offers a space for their voices to be heard. The subsequent chapters investigate the lives of five Indo-Fijian immigrant women and their experiences upon migrating to Modesto, California. Using a qualitative research approach, data were collected through participant-observations, semi-structured in-depth interviews and informal conversations. The data are presented as anthropological silhouettes, a form of life-writing (the recording of events and experiences of a life), which explores each individual woman&rsquo;s experience with life in Fiji to her eventual migration and transition to life in California. The study reveals heterogeneity amongst the women&rsquo;s experiences and perspectives as well as commonalities that arise in their collective experiences as Indo-Fijian immigrant women residing in the city of Modesto. Overall, the anthropological silhouettes reveal that migration has led to shifts in the women&rsquo;s identities and their prescribed gender roles. Furthermore, despite some of the challenges that came with immigrating, the women have experienced social, political and economic mobility since arriving to California. All five women have accepted the United States as their adopted homeland, and as a result, have no plans of re-migrating to Fiji. </p>

<p> While ethnohistory has been extensively employed by historical anthropologists in tracing cultural changes among various indigenous peoples at the time of European contact, it has been largely ignored by anthropologists of the ancient Near East. Traditional historians were largely concerned with historical people, places, and events, not with ethnographically describing a culture. Using two case studies, this thesis will demonstrate the value of ethnohistorical methods to areas of study where such methods have largely been ignored, namely gender and sexuality studies, religious studies, and ANE studies. The first case study examines how gender was socially constructed in the case of high class celibate nadi?tum &ldquo;nuns&rdquo; in Old Babylonian period Sippar. The second case study examines third-gender categories and non-heteronormative sexuality in Inanna's cultus. The role of etiological myths in the construction of gender and sexuality will be of particular interest in both case studies. </p>

<p> The Xicaque, a people of colonial Honduras, confronted Spanish settlers who sought their acculturation through diverse strategies. When Spanish settlers implemented policies such as <i>entrada, reducci&oacute;n</i> or <i> misi&oacute;n,</i> the Xicaque or Xicaque <i>capitanes</i> responded with dissidence and flight. Despite the foundation of a few <i> misiones</i> the Xicaque progressively became avoidant of the Spanish settlers who continued to seek their change by Spanish policy, at the Spanish <i> misiones</i> or at their homelands. This aversion became more pronounced in 1751 when a smallpox epidemic decimated the Xicaque populations at the <i> misiones.</i> Aside from this general distrust that existed between the Spanish and the Xicaque, the Xicaque did engage in trade outside of the previously discussed channels made by Spanish policy. Yet, the overarching pattern of avoidance would characterize Xicaque/Spanish interaction until 1821. Unlike previous scholarship, this study of the Xicaque ethnohistory offers the most complete description of Xicaque culture during the colonial period. Furthermore, it analyzes interaction between the Xicaque and the Spanish since the inception of contact, circa 1676, towards 1821. The broadest range of contact between the Xicaque and the Spanish studied to date.</p>

<p> This study examines the social organization of Gaisc&iacute;och, a large online gaming community that exists within the simulated world of a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG). It provides an ethnographic account of an online gaming community that is open to any player without skill or time commitment requirements, but still maintains high status within the game world. This project identifies eight elements that make this inclusive, friendly, and casual community successful in virtual worlds that tend to be dominated by communities that have a competitive, strict, and exclusive approach to online gaming (social interaction, code of values, leadership, rank system, events, community building, population size, gameplay). Lastly, this project briefly inquires about the nature of the border between the virtual and the physical and establishes that gamers can be considered pseudo-border-inhabitants that are in control of the community they place adjacent to them in the cyber world.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to observe the correlation between ethnic identity and gender as well as the relationship between ethnic identity and one&rsquo;s country of origin. The study participants (n=335) were recruited through the social media sites Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, and Reddit. Participants completed the 15-question Multigroup Ethnic Inventory Measure (MEIM) and a Demographic Questionnaire, all done completely online. It was hypothesized that participants&rsquo; level of ethnic identity as measured by MEIM scores would differ significantly between the genders. Furthermore, it was posited that participant&rsquo;s level of ethnic identity would differ significantly between countries of origin. Both hypotheses were supported. Implications of the study findings and recommendations for future research are discussed. </p>

<p> Every year, hundreds of thousands of people visit the Native American ancestral lands in the western United States developed for tourism and recreation. The stewards of these lands seek to engage visitors and enrich their experience, and simultaneously to protect the lands&rsquo; natural and cultural resources. To achieve their mission, protected areas regularly use <i>interpretation </i>&mdash;materials and experiences that aim to educate visitors about resources and see them as personally meaningful. However, there is little literature on interpretive content in protected areas, few qualitative studies of interpretation as constructed by visitors and interpreters, and little literature on the representation of Native Americans in museums and protected areas. </p><p> I consider the public presentation of archaeology at exemplary protected areas in the U.S. Southwest and Great Basin within a theoretical framework of governmentality and representation. Within a mixed-method research design, this project used participant-observation at thirteen protected area locales to identify interpretive content and representational strategies, and semi-structured interviews with 31 individuals to elicit staff and visitors&rsquo; understandings of interpretation and display. This research found three types of narratives in the interpretation sampled&mdash;scientific narratives, cultural narratives, and management messages. In general, scientific narratives appeared more frequently than cultural narratives and both appeared more frequently than management messages. Archaeology dominated scientific narratives, cultural continuity dominated cultural narratives, and orientation dominated management messages. In general, archaeology appeared with greater relative frequency than any other component of interpretive content. This study also found that interpretation predominantly adopted a third-person omniscient point of view and represented people predominantly in the ancient past. </p><p> This study has both academic and applied outcomes. The work aims to contribute to the scant body of literature on interpretive content in protected areas stewarding natural and cultural resources, the few qualitative studies of interpretation as constructed by visitors and interpreters, and the existing literature on the representation of Native Americans in museums and protected areas as well as informing future interpretive practice. These findings inform a report on contemporary interpretive practice and recommendations for the public presentation of archaeology delivered to the US Fish and Wildlife Service in December 2013.</p>

<p> The purpose of this research was to quantify and measure the success of a culture transformation. Using the Organization Cultural Assessment Instrument (OCAI) to determine the current and desired culture state, 272 employees responded to the survey. An executive focus group provided in-depth understanding of the culture and worked to align the culture to the mission and strategy as they drove the change process throughout the organization to the preferred culture state. The study showed that bringing cultural awareness to an organization is important, and that organization design is a key component to successful organizations. The Human Capital Return on Investment (HCROI) was calculated before, during, and after the culture change. Findings concluded that financial measurements aid in gauging the transformation process of a culture change. </p>

<p> The Chinese presence in Africa is an increasingly notable phenomenon in the past two decades. Based on the ethnographic data from a fieldwork conducted in Zambia, this dissertation documented the migratory experience of new Chinese migrants to Zambia, which is a non-traditional destination country for this group. The new Chinese migrants include the SME (small and medium sized enterprises) migrants who are self-employed businessmen and the SOE (state-owned enterprises) migrants who are affiliated with large-scale state-owned Chinese companies. This study explores Chinese migrants&rsquo; migratory motivation, settlement, life satisfaction, and inter-ethnic social encounter with the local Zambians. </p><p> Moreover, this dissertation discusses health and health management strategies among ethnic Chinese migrants in Zambia. By examining the influence of migration processes on Chinese migrants&rsquo; health and health management in Zambia, this study further investigates how health inequality amongst Chinese migrants is shaped by structural factors as well as individual agency. My research reveals that despite the existence of various healthcare options, Chinese migrants&rsquo; healthcare seeking is restricted by multiple factors including their employment patterns, the availability of their social capital, and even the legality of their immigration status. </p><p> This research seeks to expand the existing empirical knowledge of contemporary Chinese migrants in sub-Saharan Africa, a relatively understudied and undertheorized topic in the broader migration literature. It also endeavors to broaden our knowledge of the intersection between migration and health, a subject that is beginning to draw attention within medical anthropology. </p>