Through an ethnographic approach, this thesis looks at a new housing form and what is claimed to be a new urban way of life in Mexico’s neoliberal era. The study looks in detail at residents of a single housing project in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and explores how this group has struggled to construct itself as a new cultural category or what I call the Casas GEO movement. The research is guided by a series of questions: why and how did the Casas GEO movement emerge; how do residents experience a new housing project in everyday life; and, what meanings do they communicate through these everyday practices? Specifically, the research engages with recent literatures on new middle classes and approaches that consider ‘class’ as a process that grows out of cultural and “classificatory practices” (Bourdieu, 1984). The research builds on these literatures in a number of ways. First, it conceptualises the housing project as a mutable place, produced through daily interaction and a varied coexistence. Second, it understands the residential space as the arena for the emergence of a new cultural category created in everyday life through specific claims, values and symbols expressed in the urban landscape. The thesis shows how the developer, the GEO company, attempted to construct a set of individual values and codes of behaviour for residents, as an imperative to make the site liveable. But, it considers also how residents use their houses differently from the developers’ intentions through strategies of re-appropriation and personalisation in order to communicate ideas of distinction and ‘good’ taste. Importantly, residents had to deal with a range of inconsistencies, flaws and drawbacks in the project’s realisation that challenged representations of the ‘good’ city, social progress and modernity. The research shows how these failings influence people’s lives, especially their aspirations and sense of identity. My claim is that in the making of the Casas GEO movement people negotiate a cultural formation and produce a new space that allows ways of imagining, aspiring to, and modes for taking part in a modern ‘urban’ life. Yet, the making of the movement also exposes the fragility of a housing project that claims to be the formula for upward mobility of lower-income groups in Mexico.

This thesis explores ‘back-to-the-land’ migration in Northern Italy with reference to the social, political and economic networks that sustain it. ‘Back-to-the-land’ generally refers to the adoption of agriculture as a full-time vocation by people who have come from non-agricultural lifestyles. For categorical clarity in this project, research participants were limited to those from predominantly urban backgrounds, most of whom worked in service sector jobs before moving to the countryside. Many geographical studies have examined urban to rural migration but these have focused almost primarily on migrants who are not engaged in agriculture. This research traces theorisations of urban to rural migration within the discipline, situating back-to-the-land as part of broader counterculture practices originating in the 1960s. Many current expressions of back-to-the-land, however, reveal an attempt to address contemporary social, environmental and economic concerns, representing both a trajectory and an evolution from 1960s origins. Empirical research was conducted in four northern regions of Italy, looking specifically at urban to rural migrants engaged in organic or other ‘alternative’ forms of agriculture. Three simple questions informed the methodology and theoretical perspectives employed: 1) Why do people go back-to-the-land?; 2) How do they obtain the requisite skills to become competent farmers?; 3) How do they make this lifestyle economically sustainable? Answering these questions demands attention to how new farmers are inspired, supported and sustained by alternative agro-food networks (AAFNs). The research therefore explores the reciprocal relationships between back-to-the-landers and AAFNs, examining how new farmers can stimulate and influence AAFNs in addition to receiving their support. These issues are explored through interviews with back-to-the- landers and institutional representatives of AAFNs, as well participant observation in alternative agriculture projects. Particular attention is given to the organisations Slow Food, Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) and Associazione per Esperienze (APE), primarily with regard to their respective roles in enabling back-to-the-land migration.

This thesis seeks to contribute to a cultural and historical geography of the mystical through a detailed case study of Cornwall since the mid-nineteenth century. In doing so, it also aims to contribute to a contemporary Cornish Studies literature that has begun to reclaim alternative and forgotten cultural and historical narratives of Cornwall. After a short introduction, chapter two positions this thesis in relation to debates around the region as a unit of geographical inquiry and the mystical as a cultural and historical category. It also positions this thesis in relation to the contemporary Cornish Studies literature; while chapter three engages with debates around the use of archives, interviews and oral histories as research methodologies. Chapter four argues that the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Celtic-Cornish Revival was connected to a new and somewhat exploratory version of the mystical that drew upon Anglo-Catholic history and theology in the new Diocese of Truro and in the Cornish landscape, but that was also characterised by a certain degree of slippage beyond the discursive boundaries of Celtic Christianity. The mid-twentieth century, chapter five argues, was characterised by a series of strategies to normalise this earlier version of the mystical by engaging with, and actively incorporating, other and potentially contradictory versions of the mystical, and by grounding this more inclusive version of the mystical in a new, decentralised and more populist institutional context. In turn, chapter six argues that the later twentieth century was characterised by the emergence of another new and more exploratory cultural formation of the mystical through a particular culture of landscape that was underpinned by the supposed rediscovery of the principles of megalithic science and an associated revival of Paganism among other new social and religious movements. Chapter seven, in conclusion, reflects upon the often understated connections between the mystical and a sense of socio-spatial order, the problematic nature of knowledge, and the consequences of bringing together the mystical, the geographical and the Cornish in the context of this thesis and of existing and future work on the geographies of religion and spirituality.

Japan has experienced population decline since 2010 and the situation is expected to become more severe after 2030 with forecasts indicating an expected 30% decline from 2005 to 2055. Many other developed countries such as Germany and Korea are also experiencing depopulation. These demographic changes are expected to affect society at many levels such as labour markets decline, increased tax burden to sustain pension systems, and economic stagnation. Little is known however about the impacts of population decline on man-made physical infrastructure, such as possible deterioration of current infrastructure or increased financial burden of sustaining it. Infrastructure can be classified into 3 categories: point-type (e.g. buildings), point-network type (e.g. water supply) and network type (e.g. road). The impact of depopulation may vary according to the type of infrastructure. Previous research in this area has been limited in scope (e.g. case studies conducted in a single city focusing on a single type of infrastructure) and method (e.g. most research in the topic has been qualitative). This thesis presents a new comprehensive study on the impacts of population decline on infrastructure in Japan, taking into account all types of infrastructure and using a quantitative approach. Data collection methods include interviews and two large scale questionnaire surveys, the first conducted with municipalities and the second, a stated preference survey, conducted with members of the public. The goal of sustainable development is relevant even in a depopulated society, and hence a sustainable development framework is applied to the analysis where social, economic, environmental and engineering impacts are investigated. The main findings indicate that some infrastructure impacts observed and reported in depopulated areas do not seem to be related to any population decline; moreover, the preferences of citizens for infrastructure development is very similar between depopulated areas and non-depopulated areas. The results also suggest that the premises of Barro’s overlapping generations model, very relevant to a discussion of intergenerational decision making and related sustainability, appear to be rejected in this context.

Existing studies of urban riots, violent protest and other instances of contentious politics in urban settings have largely tended to be either event- or time-specific in their scope. The present thesis offers a spatial reading of such politics of contention in the city of Athens, Greece. Tracing the pattern of the occurrence of these instances through time, the research scope of the thesis spans across Greece’s post-dictatorial era (i.e. post-1974, the Greek Metapolitefsi), concluding shortly after the first loan agreement between the country’s national government and the so-called ‘troika’ of lenders (IMF/ECB/EU). The thesis includes a critical overview of literature on riots in a historical and geographical context; questions on methodology and ethics in researching urban riots; a discourse analysis of violence concentration in Exarcheia; ethnographic accounts on everyday life in the neighbourhood and a ‘rhythmanalysis’ of the Exarcheia contention concentration during the period of research. Seeking to explain this concentration the thesis introduces the notion of the 'spatial contract': rather than signalling a type of discord, the concentration of mass violence in Exarcheia through time is hereby conceived as the spatial articulation of a certain form of consensus between Greek authorities and their subjects. In this way, the thesis places the concentration of urban violence in Exarcheia solidly within the social and political context of the country’s postdictatorial era. The thesis suggests that it would be beneficial for future human geographical research to trace such concentration patterns of urban riots. By exercising a crossscale reading, it would then possible to place these and other forms of contentious politics within a social equilibrium that is far more complex and often much more consensual than it might appear to be.

Veganism is a growing dietary trend in the U.S. and scientific evidence is showing that it may be necessary for more people to make the lifestyle change in the near future. However, previous research shows predominantly negative attitudes toward vegans among omnivores. The purpose of the present study was to measure attitude change in millennials after viewing a documentary about the environmental and ethical implications surrounding veganism in order to see if documentaries are an effective tool in changing the stigma of veganism. The study utilized a questionnaire with seven scales measuring attitude change toward vegans, animal welfare, and the environment. In addition, the questionnaire included the new ecological paradigm scale, behavioral beliefs, control beliefs, in-group meat eating identification, and perceived threat of veganism. The study implemented a pretest-posttest experimental design with two treatment groups. Each group was shown a different 35-minute segment form the documentary “Cowspiracy”. The study showed positive attitude change after watching the documentary for attitudes toward vegans and the environment. There were statistically significant results between attitudes toward veganism, the environment and animal welfare based on political affiliation. Democrats had more positive attitudes about each of the topics compared to republicans after viewing the documentary. This research is significant because it shows a possibility for creating more positive attitudes toward veganism after showing a documentary such as “Cowspiracy” to non-vegans. The results lay a solid foundation for future research in this area by establishing that attitudes have the possibility of changing after watching the documentary “Cowspiracy”. There is an opportunity for further research to take what we’ve learned about changing attitudes to apply toward behavior change with the implementation of qualitative research. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 19, 2018. / Includes bibliographical references. / Patrick Merle, Professor Directing Thesis; Brian Graves, Committee Member; Jay Rayburn, Committee Member.

This thesis critically questions, through in-depth qualitative research, the senses of connection, giving, care, and relatedness felt by blood donors and recipients, given the institutional setting of therapeutic blood exchange in the UK. In it, I use a multi-sited auto-ethnographic approach to examine five blood donor-/recipient-participant views on blood donation and transfusion. Specifically, I blend theoretical and empirical research to iterate between the meanings and realities associated with therapeutic blood exchange, exploring and examining the following things. First, I explore how blood can be treated as material culture: what it is as both biological tissue and as social/cultural metaphor. Second, I examine how gift giving and caring feed into and out of blood exchange, and whether this fosters a sense of connectedness for the anonymous others at the end of the blood pack. Third, I roll out the theme of connectedness to look at (the geographies of) relatedness where I examine the changing nature of kinship and its evolution into the concept of relatedness. Here, I examine how both relating through ‘things’ and at different scales could perhaps more usefully describe the connection/relationship between donors and recipients...or not. Finally, I draw this together, examining how the institutional framework of the National Blood Service can be said to either foster or not, the senses of connectedness and/or relatedness, gift giving and care between its donors and recipients.

The number of single person households in global cities such as London and New York has increased dramatically since the 1990s, with significant impacts for development patterns in these cities. The trend has been particularly prominent in South Korea's capital, Seoul, where whose 854,606 single person households represent 23.9% of total households as of 2010 and even more now in 2015. The increase has been mainly driven by the significant increases in young single households aged in their 20s and 30s. The government has been striving to keep pace with the rapid increases in the single person households by supplying residential dwelling types for them such as 'Urban Lifestyle Housing'. However, initial commentary highlights that the resulting housing environment exhibits numerous shortcomings. In this context, there is a need for research to understand the nature of the city living experience for young single person households, their aspirations and the implications for future design and planning approaches in the city. This research aims to address this gap and to provide a basis for recommending potential alternatives in the development and design of new housing for Seoul's changing population, approaching the issue with three perspectives: 'Human relationships', 'Housing design', and 'Economic issues'.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Supervisors: Thomas Seung and James Fishkin. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [99]-102).