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Thesis advisor: William Gamson / This study explores newspaper discussions of the intersectional identities of political candidates. Specifically, this study focuses on reporting of the 2013 New York City democratic mayoral primary and identifies how reporters of The New York Times discussed the identities of mayoral hopefuls Christine Quinn, Bill de Blasio, and Bill Thompson. The results indicated that Christine Quinn, as the only woman and openly gay candidate, was mentioned more frequently in discussions related to gender and sexuality than were the other two candidates. The results also indicated that Bill de Blasio, who was white with a mixed-race family, and Bill Thompson, the only black candidate in the democratic primary, were mentioned more frequently in discussions related to race than Quinn was. Further, the study finds that the reporting of The New York Times focused on both the sensitizing nature and the novelty of each candidate’s identity. Finally, the study suggests implications of this media focus for discussions of intersectional identity in newspaper reporting of political campaigns. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology Honors Program.

Sexual minorities report experiencing more stigma, fewer psychosocial resources, and less positive regard. While differences within sexual minority subgroups may exist in terms of both experience and attitudes, the current literature lacks an exploration of those differences as well as an exploration of intersectionality (the concept of belonging to multiple minority groups thus creating a novel and distinctive experience). Our study aimed to examine sub-group differences as well as take an intersectional approach using data on heterosexuals, homosexuals, and bisexuals (N=1,725) from across the U.S. Bisexuals differed significantly from homosexuals on reported experiences, such as higher outness (p<.001, MD=-0.573). Further, significant differences were found between female (n=106) and male (n=136) homosexuals with lesbians reporting less direct help-seeking (t=-2.255, p=.026) and less perceived social support (t=-2.014, p=.046) than gay men, indicating that the intersection of gender and sexual orientation creates a novel experience for each group. These findings along with the lack of racial diversity lead us to conclude that a more extensive study must be done that targets racial minority individuals and expands the intersectional framework by including more gender and sexual orientation options. A full spectrum intersectionality study will be proposed.

Thesis advisor: William A. Gamson / Taking an intersectional approach, I show how news media portrayals of neoliberal welfare reform and welfare rights movements are rooted in culture-specific racial and gendered ideologies. Using critical discourse analysis in combination with frame analysis, I analyze 462 articles published in two central newspapers in Massachusetts (The Boston Globe and The Boston Herald) and in Israel (Haaretz and Yediot Achronot) during the public debates on welfare reform in 1995 and 2003 respectively. I trace the surprising discursive success of the Israeli welfare rights movement in the news media, and compare it with the failure of their American counterparts. At the conclusion of the dissertation, I offer an intersectional cultural explanation for this phenomenon. My findings are twofold: on the one hand, I find that the news media and elite actors used culturally-hegemonic sexist, racist, and classist discourses to stigmatize and silence welfare mothers and to justify neoliberal policies. Both the American and the Israeli news media tapped into readily available gender-specific racial discourses to discredit welfare recipients and welfare activists and to silence them. On the other hand, I demonstrate that the Israeli case is nevertheless quite distinct. The Israeli movement was more successful in discursively challenging the neoliberal welfare discourse than its counterparts in the U.S. I argue that what accounts for this difference are three unique cultural features of Israeli society: First, (1), a nationalist fertility discourse that served as a value system alternative to the neoliberal logic; second, (2), related to this, a strong "heroic mother" ethos that is a part of the Zionist nation-building project, which valorizes Jewish motherhood and thus provided an ambiguous entry point to the public sphere for Jewish mothers; and third, (3), a nationalist tension between Jewish-Israelis and Palestinian-Israelis that stimulates perceptions of Mizrahi women (i.e. Jewish women of North African and Middle Eastern descent) as a part of the imagined national collectivity, thus lessening their stigmatization and exclusion. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

This doctoral research by Jane Whynot explores how Gender-based Analysis/Plus (GBA/+), has been integrated into the Canadian federal government’s evaluation function. This research has been supervised by Dr. Caroline Andrew at the University of Ottawa. Efforts presented in this dissertation have been profoundly influenced by political leadership, and their efforts to reprioritize gender equality and other elements of diversity across the bureaucracy. Presumably, employing this mechanism across the policy cycle will provide information to decision-makers that will ultimately impact diversity, equity, and inclusion (EDI) outcomes. Canada is unique amongst governments worldwide in its efforts to so comprehensively consider personal identity elements in policy discourse. Sadly, however, the federal government’s evaluation function is lagging. Both domestic and international cues prompting the integration of gender and other elements of diversity into evaluation efforts have fallen unheard despite official domestic commitments formalizing these linkages. Theories of intersectionality, and how intersectional analysis is undertaken are at the core of this research. The “+” in GBA was intended to represent all elements of personal identity beyond gender such as but not limited to race, language, sexuality, geographic location, disability, and Aboriginal status. The federal government’s lead agency for gender equality does not explicitly reference details on any of these components in their publicly facing materials. These elements are embedded in this research’s conceptual framework and subsequent lines of evidence. Michie, VanStalen, and West’s (2012) theory of behavioural change provides the foundational structure for this research. These authors suggest that (c)apacity change only occurs when (m)otivations, (o)opportunities, and c(apabilities) are simultaneously present. Mayne (2016, 2017, 2018) was responsible for integrating this model of behavioural change into program theory; it is this COM-B theory of change (ToC) that has been used as the conceptual framework for this research. In Mayne’s COM-B ToC, capacity change outcomes are situated mid-results chain and are accompanied by both precedent and antecedent outcomes. A tailored ToC for integrating GBA+ in the federal government’s evaluation function is presented in the thesis that aligns with the changing state of GBA+ implementation across the policy cycle, honing in on the federal government evaluation function. This research was initiated before the specific articulation of GBA+ as a federal government priority in the Policy on Results (Treasury Board Secretariat, 2016); the conceptual framework serves to capture the dynamic nature of the state of GBA/+ implementation across the federal government’s policy cycle. This research adopted a mixed-methods approach involving qualitative and quantitative lines of evidence as recognized by Greene (2007). Supporting lines of evidence included: • A survey was administered to the Heads of Evaluation (HoE) who are senior level decision-makers responsible for the evaluation function within each federal government organization. Survey questions posed addressed the entire tailored ToC. Responses were intentionally designed to solicit binary responses; • A critical review of all publicly accessible federal government produced resources exploring the linkage between gender mainstreaming, GBA and GBA+ and evaluation; • Key informant interviews comprised of representatives from various federal government organizations including leads from central agencies and those responsible for gender mainstreaming, academics with expertise in feminist evaluation, Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), and • Case studies of federal government evaluation functions exploring the integration of GBA+ in evaluation efforts (n=6). Each case study focused on a different element of GBA+ evaluation integration. Focus areas of each case study included: 1 organization focused on building evaluation function capacity to integrate GBA+, 1 organization focused on building capacity to integrate GBA+ amongst the evaluation and performance measurement and/or results unit, and 4 organizations focused on a single program. Each case study included the following lines of evidence: a literature review, a review of evaluations for GBA+ since 2016, a review of organizational documentation, key informant interviews, and for 3 case studies, a combination of focus groups/information exchange sessions. The COM-B tailored ToC for integrating GBA/+ in the federal government’s evaluation function encompasses a causal outcome pathway represented by a results chain. These pathways map a series of outcomes extending from activities and outputs, stakeholder reach/reaction, capacity change, behaviour change, direct benefits, and improved well-being. Each of these outcomes has multiple accompanying assumptions. Data from the tailored ToC is presented across thesis chapters. Despite widespread recognition of nascent GBA+ policy requirements and the federal government’s GBA+ tool, little GBA+ instrumental evaluation use has resulted. A wide interval exists however between awareness and use. Nestled between building GBA+ capacity and instrumental use within evaluation functions, are multiple examples of GBA+ conceptual and process use. Many organizations are aware of the federal government’s GBA+ tool, but there is inconsistent uptake of related training opportunities to build this capacity. Many federal organizations have undertaken only comparative or additive intersectional analysis and indicated limited intention to progress to interactional or truly intersectional integration analysis. To some extent, evaluation functions must navigate their course in this uncharted territory. Federal government organizations identifying as having established some capacity for GBA+ integration have developed unique GBA+ evaluation tools specific to their organizations in the absence of central agency guidance materials and a lack of evaluation function engagement of Gender Champions (GC) and Gender Focal Points (GFP). This research provided the first examination within the governmental contexts of efforts to integrate intersectional research within evaluation functions. While providing answers to many questions, many more arise – consequently providing the foundation for a potential future research program.

When a family member is incarcerated, the task of emotionally and financially supporting the remaining family members and the incarcerated loved one often falls upon women, who are likely to be under-resourced and overwhelmed. Women whose husbands are incarcerated in India are likely to possess multiple marginalized identities, increasing their vulnerability to intersecting forms of oppression. Empirical research is lacking on wives of incarcerated men in India, contributing to their invisibility in policy-making and programmatic interventions. Guided by intersectional feminism and symbolic interactionism, the purpose of this study was to document the stories of women who had experienced spousal incarceration in the Indian context. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 wives of prison inmates who resided in or around the National Capital Territory of Delhi, all of whom either held a lower caste identity or a Muslim religious identity. Transcribed interviews were analyzed following the steps of narrative analysis. Results illustrate the diversity of storied experiences of wives of incarcerated husbands in India. First, by grouping narratives that conveyed the same overall storyline into the same cluster, I identified three story clusters: Ambivalent but Hanging On, Unconditionally Devoted, and Independent and Disillusioned. Second, by attending to how women's day-to-day lives are shaped by intersecting systems of privilege and oppression, particularly those tied to gender and class, I identified three overarching themes that spanned women's narratives: (a) a complicated relationship with patriarchy, (b) the weight of socioeconomic disenfranchisement, and (c) when resilience is not a choice. The results of this study emphasize the need to distinguish between feminist agency and welfare agency, to recognize women's experiences of ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief, and to critique the systemic injustices that forced women to be resilient. Documenting their stories is instrumental in bringing attention to the needs, challenges, and triumphs of this underserved and overlooked population. / Doctor of Philosophy / When a family member is incarcerated, the task of emotionally and financially supporting the remaining family members and the incarcerated loved one often falls upon women, who are likely to be under-resourced and overwhelmed. Women whose husbands are incarcerated in India are likely to possess multiple marginalized identities, increasing their vulnerability to intersecting forms of oppression. Empirical research is lacking on wives of incarcerated men in India, contributing to their invisibility in policy-making and programmatic interventions. The purpose of this study was to document the stories of women who had experienced spousal incarceration in the Indian context. Interviews were conducted with 14 wives of prison inmates who resided in or around the National Capital Territory of Delhi, all of whom either held a lower caste identity or a Muslim religious identity. Results illustrate the diversity of women's stories and experiences with spousal incarceration. First, by grouping narratives that conveyed the same overall storyline into the same cluster, I identified three story clusters: Ambivalent but Hanging On, Unconditionally Devoted, and Independent and Disillusioned. Second, by attending to how women's day-to-day lives are shaped by intersecting systems of privilege and oppression, particularly those tied to gender and class, I identified three overarching themes that characterized women's narratives: (a) a complicated relationship with patriarchy, (b) the weight of socioeconomic disenfranchisement, and (c) when resilience is not a choice. The results of this study emphasize the need to distinguish between feminist agency and welfare agency, to recognize women's experiences of ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief, and to critique the systemic injustices that forced women to be resilient. Documenting their stories is instrumental in bringing attention to the needs, challenges, and triumphs of this underserved and overlooked population.

The world today is globalized like never before and with countries becoming more multicultural it is important to strive towards an intercultural society. This essay aims to answer the question “In what ways can one teach representation in the intercultural classroom through fantasy literature?”. That is, to illustrate and exemplify how one can use fantasy literature in the English classroom to give students intercultural knowledge through discussions on representation and intersectionality. The discussions in the essay are based in the democratic values stated in the Swedish course curriculum for upper secondary school (Gy11) in relation to the theoretical background. With examples from the book Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor, the essay breaches both difficult and sensitive subjects that can be discussed to make certain issues less alien for the reader. Cultural diversity is magical and it is important that students get the right tools to form deep relationships across cultural borders, and the fantasy genre is a great tool to use in the classroom to lessen these bridges between different cultures since the genre creates an arena for intercultural meetings where ‘the other’ is in focus, which reduces the alienating aspect of different cultures and identities.

Thesis advisor: Zine Magubane / Interviews with 20 members of Black female-White male intimate couples were conducted and, utilizing a grounded theory approach, revealed multiple situations where members of these couples had to self-disclose to others that they were romantically involved with a person of a different race. Using one of the largest study samples to date of Black female-White male couples, I demonstrate how race and gender affect these unplanned and strategic self-disclosure events that members of these couples engage in, and how members of these couples make sense of these public inquires that are the remnants of our country's racially-charged history. I argue that the ways in which privilege is uniquely distributed within these relationships -- where White men simultaneously possess racial and gender privilege and Black women possess neither -- makes these couples structurally and fundamentally different than other interracial couples, and, ultimately, exemplifies that race and gender matter in the experiences of these couples and how society-at-large views them. Therefore, it is pivotal that experiences of interracial couples are not generalized and that each race and gender pairing receives its own individualized study. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

The aim of the study is to investigate how fiction can serve as a starting point for basic work. The purpose is realized by: How is identity constructed from an intersectional perspective within the framework of the hockey and school culture in Björnstad and Tusen gånger starkare? How can the novels be linked to and used in the Swedish Foundation's core work? The books analyzed are Björnstad (2016) by Fredrik Backman and Tusen gånger starkare (2006) by Christina Herrström. The analysis of the work is done after careful reading and in the light of theories of identity and intersectional perspective. The most important conclusions from the result are that young people are affected by strong social norms, as norm overruns risk being excluded. The text examples show that it is possible but difficult for young people to change their identity in school and hockey's discourse. In the discussion, a reasoning is taken over how the novels' content can be used in teaching to learn basic values, such as equality. Book conversations, thematic teaching and dramatization are highlighted as possible ways of working.

This thesis investigates to role consumerism plays when young, black, underclass characters try to build their identities in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye (1970) and Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give (2017). Through implementing intersectional analysis and postcolonial theory this essay discusses how social positions are read and understood in a mass culture that heavily favours the visual. In this culture we are all judged by our appearance and I will argue that for the poor, black, female characters in the novels, that means being the underdogs of consumer culture. Although the two novels are published half a century apart, both relate to consumer culture and how it affects the African-American community. In addition, each of the novels are produced during a wave of black uprising and strong civil rights movements. In Morrison’s novel the characters are left longing for the looks and lifestyle of white Americans, emphasising the need of the social movement’s claim ‘Black is Beautiful’. In Thomas’ novel there are a multitude of consumer objects that are coded black, such as Jordan sneakers and hip hop-music. Yet, the police shooting of young Khalil cannot be avoided by the success ‘Black is Beautiful’ brought in terms of commercialising blackness. The shooting instead brings attention to 2017’s great campaign ‘Black Lives Matter’. What is similar in both novels is that the characters, who find themselves othered in Western discourse, strive to become someone recognised as a subject, a Self. In the quest to move beyond the stereotypes ascribed to them, almost all the characters long for goods that signal their social position as someone who has succeeded, living the American Dream. Yet, in Morrison’s novel there is a critique against capitalism and consumerism, an idea that you cannot consume a subject position in a racist society. That kind of critique against capitalism is absent in Thomas’ novel.