acase@tulane.edu

Over the years, a number of quantitative studies have attempted and failed to capture the positive psychological growth that comes from participation in outdoor adventure education, as well as the precise source of that growth. The logical conclusion from this is either that such growth is an illusion, such growth can’t be measured, or that the studies were in some way methodologically flawed. The present study takes an intensive ethnographic/autoethnographic approach to study the progress of six teenage boys in a bifurcated eight-week summer camp program evenly divided between adventure travel and apprenticeship as staff to younger children. The study set out to find out what antecedent factors predicated the development of resilience and self-efficacy, with a particular focus on the culture of the camp as a whole and the expectations placed on staff conduct; the developmental trajectory of the individual; the individual’s past experience with adversity; the individual’s self-concept both at a given point of observation and over time; the group dynamic of the CIT cohort; the mentorship of older staff; the formal training as a counselor; and the expectations of a caregiver role. In addition to clear measures of self-efficacy, and, in some cases, resilience, the study also revealed generalized positive psychological growth as a result of a healthy, value-setting group dynamic. Of particular interest was the development of the study itself, with its reflective interviews and focus groups focused on positive adaptation to challenges, as an additional antecedent factor. / acase@tulane.edu

This dissertation explores representations of race and gender embodied by Clementina de Jesus (1901-1987), samba singer, and Carolina de Jesus (1915-1977), author of the autobiographical memoir Quarto de Despejo (1960). Both women were "discovered" by middle class intellectual men from outside of their communities. Once they achieved renown, they were promoted as symbols of Brazil's social reality by cultural mediators of a different class and race, representing the commonly gendered and racialized archetypes of the mãe preta and the discriminated favelada. Through analysis of literary, musical, journalistic, and photographic portrayals of both women, I explore the role of cultural mediation in the construction of Brazilian identity in the 1960s and 70s, a time of intense social debate over race, poverty, and national identity. Both women achieved recognition shortly before the military coup d'etat and subsequent dictatorship (1964-1985), a time when the Brazilian middle class was engaged in a constant search for the "roots" of national identity within popular cultural forms. The cultural mediators examined in this project formed bridges between creators and audiences from radically different backgrounds, smoothing the transition between groups and framing the cultural production of others in specific ways. By eventually acting as cultural mediators themselves, Carolina and Clementina prove that the process of cultural mediation is dynamic instead of static, shifting over time and relationships of power. This study demonstrates that both the process of cultural mediation and the quest for authenticity were inherently linked to relations of class, race, and gender, affirming instead of transcending the social divisions between groups in twentieth century Brazil. / acase@tulane.edu

This dissertation addresses the theorization of immigration policymaking from a perspective that encompasses all possible roles held in migration management. It discusses how simultaneous roles as a sending, receiving and transit country in the migration phenomenon can become intertwined and inherently affect policymaking on all fronts. Using Mexico as a case study, this dissertation finds that the most compelling variables in the construction of immigration policy are: consideration of the state’s relationship with its emigrant population; grievances expressed by civil society; and complaints of regional partners. Mexico combined emigration and immigration policy in order to produce an optimal situation for all aspects of migration management, which was done through the strategy of soft reciprocity. By utilizing international human rights norms in the construction of its new Migration Law, Mexico was able to secure legitimacy and moral authority to broaden emigration policy and enhance protection of Mexicans abroad. / acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

Based on ethnographic field research conducted in the summer of 2014, this thesis explores how Bolivian migrants garner rights and recognition in São Paulo, Brazil. By performing a Bolivian ethnonational identity in São Paulo public space, migrants reflect municipal government priorities of social inclusion and multiculturalism to emerge as meritorious citizens. Alongside cultural displays, migrants leverage new institutional channels of political participation to negotiate their relationship with São Paulo municipal and Bolivian state representatives. Chapter One explores the two dominant spaces associated with Bolivian migration in São Paulo – the garment workshop and the weekly ethnic market of Praça Kantuta. Chapter Two analyzes the intersection between Bolivian cultural celebrations and migrant political agendas. Through the ethnic market and cultural celebrations, Bolivian migrant elites emerge as representatives of a Bolivian collectivity, paper over intra-community class dynamics, and divert attention from exploitative labor practices in the garment industry. Chapter Three analyzes emigrant claims-making of Bolivian state representatives following the extension of emigrant voting rights in the 2009 Constitution of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. / acase@tulane.edu

Planned obsolescence refers to the situation where a company has too high an incentive to create a new product that renders the old durable goods non-compatible or obsolete. Does this incentive persist when the firm can choose what quality level the new product has, instead of simply introducing a new product of a given improved quality? Assuming the outcome of innovation is quality increase in next periods, this dissertation focuses on the effect of planned obsolescence in relation to a monopolist’s R&D investment and quality choices. The monopolist is not choosing whether or not to introduce a new product, but rather how much quality the new product should have, or in other words, how long the continuous R&D investment should last. When a minor evolution (i.e. lower quality improvement) and a major revolution (i.e. higher quality improvement) of durable goods are mutually exclusive, for a certain range of R&D investment cost, a monopolist is found to have too low an incentive to introduce the major revolution. This situation is defined as planned obsolescence of quality. The reason for such a behavior is time inconsistency, i.e. a monopolist’s failure to commit to its original profit-maximizing quality strategy once it enters the latter stage of the game. However if evaluated from a social planner’s perspective, planned obsolescence of quality, or the lack of commitment, turns out to be beneficial in alleviating the problem of socially excessive quality at least partially. Once it can be perceived that the monopolist will not commit to its original optimal quality choice, a new discrepancy would emerge between the monopolist and a social planner. It is still beneficial for a social planner to intervene for certain ranges of R&D investment cost. Under such circumstances, R&D subsidies may be considered to induce the monopolist to move out of the range of discrepancy, provided that the gain in social welfare is larger than the cost of subsidy. This cost is smaller when the monopolist’s marginal production cost is smaller. / acase@tulane.edu

With a focus on multiracial perspectives on race, region, and sexuality, Quest for Blackness interrogates the efforts of diverse black subjects to transcend the objectifying limits of the white gaze and the effects of internalized hatred and destructiveness. To clarify the tenuous shift from object to subject, the first two chapters of this dissertation examine the formation of African American subjectivity within the prism of the white gaze, as it takes shape in novels by Eudora Welty, Lewis Nordan, Toni Morrison, and Bebe Moore Campbell. The following chapters probe the pernicious effects on black psyches that develop when African Americans unwittingly internalize any part of the white gaze. Tackling the controversial discourse that comedian Bill Cosby re-ignited with his comments in 2004 on the responsibilities of the black poor in improving their own lives, Quest for Blackness engages fully in the debate that erupted after Cosby's speech. Taking a stand, alongside other African American voices in literature, politics, and social activism, this study not only recognizes the interrelated issue of white racism and economic inequality but also calls for greater black accountability in addressing the pathologies that affect black communities. In airing dirty laundry, African Americans only strengthen their pursuit of equality and lasting, meaningful agency, a point that Z Z Packer, Alice Walker, and others powerfully demonstrate in their fiction. / acase@tulane.edu

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Armed, illegal non-state actors control small but important sectors of both Brazil and Colombia. In these two countries, traffickers and large gangs concentrated in urban (and, in Colombia's case, also rural) areas clash heavily with state security forces, dominate significant numbers of the urban poor, and play a large, threatening role in the public's imagination. Some vital research has been done on the political and sociological dynamics within the zones controlled by these actors, but there is less in the literature that deals with the specific activities of community media and their relations with the ruling gangs and with local residents. This dissertation focuses on two community media groups, one in Bogotá, and one in Rio de Janeiro, both of which operate in informal urban slums controlled by gangs. It argues that in both cases these groups provide some checks to manifestations of authoritarian aggression, the infliction of arbitrary violence on residents and the climate of fear promulgated by the armed actors in these communities. These community media groups are able to do this by capitalizing on community resistance, by building informal relations and networks with gang membership, and by mobilizing notions of political legitimacy. / acase@tulane.edu