This thesis is an examination of the sex and gender differences in measures of relative deprivation for Winnipeg, Manitoba, and the value of these measures to predict health outcomes. Within theoretical frameworks of relative deprivation and intersectionality, principal component analysis was used to test nineteen different versions of a national area-based deprivation index using Census variables, for the total population and for males and females separately. Only one version of the deprivation index provided consistent factor scores, in keeping with the theoretical constructs, for the total, female-only and male-only populations for Winnipeg. Administrative health data were used to calculate area-level rates of select health outcomes and binomial negative regressions were then used to analyze whether the “best” index was predictive of health outcomes for the three populations. In regression models, only the “material” component of the deprivation index was predictive of the health outcomes, but results varied across the three populations. The application of the “best” deprivation index to health planning may depend on the health issue and the population in question. This thesis confirmed that examining the intersections of sex, gender and deprivation in population health research unmasks important differences that would otherwise be missed and could have implications in health planning.

This narrative inquiry explores how Black tradeswomen negotiate the intersections of race and gender in their long-term careers in the U.S. building trades. Much of the literature on women and minority groups in the trades has focused on the success, or lack of success, of these groups in apprenticeship programs. To my knowledge, none has collected rich data focused on the long-term retention of Black women in the trades, nor has any discussed the personal, interpersonal, and institutional strategies this non-traditional group uses to continue working in the construction industry. This study draws on theory and empirical studies from the fields of Peace and Conflict Studies, Black Studies, Gender Studies, Labor Studies, and Psychology to provide a nuanced analysis of the systemic nature of Black tradeswomen’s struggles for gender and racial equity within the workforce, and elucidates the personal, interpersonal, and institutional strategies these women have developed to continue in this field. In-depth interviews conducted with fifteen tradeswomen revealed how they described and made sense of (1) their experiences of entering the trades and how their experiences in the trades changed over time; (2) barriers to their continued success as tradespeople; and (3) the skills and knowledge they developed to sustain themselves professionally. Findings include recommendations for interventions at the levels of pre-apprenticeships, apprenticeships, foremen, and higher to support the retention and promotion of Black tradeswomen in the industry. Tradeswomen highlight the necessity of combining anti-racist and anti-sexist struggles to promote greater inclusion of non-traditional workers. Black tradeswomen illuminate the importance of the cultivation of self-esteem and personal networks on and off the job as mitigating factors in a microaggressive work environment.

Intersectionality theory has been put forth to explain how gender and race dually impact and act upon African American women (e.g., Settles, 2006; Thomas et al., 2008). Although there is a growing body of literature on the negative effect that perceived racism has on Black/African Americans well-being and that sexism has on women’s well-being, there is a paucity of research on the intersection of racism and sexism (i.e., gendered racism) and its influence on African American women’s well-being (e.g., Perry, Pullen, & Oser, 2012; Thomas et al., 2008). To address this gap in the literature, the current study examined gendered racism’s impact on African American women’s well-being (i.e., depressive and anxiety symptoms, life satisfaction, and the quality of their social relationships). Additionally, the protective (moderating) influence of racial identity, in particular racial centrality, racial public regard, and racial private regard, on the gendered racism and well-being relationship was examined. Self-identified African American, adult women (N = 249) were recruited from a southeastern metropolitan university. Lastly, the gendered racism measure used in the study, the Revised Schedule of Sexist Events (Thomas et al., 2008), appears to be a valid and reliable measure of African American women’s gendered racism experiences. Regression analyses found that more frequent experiences with gendered racism was associated with more depressive and anxiety symptoms. More frequent experiences of gendered racism were also associated with less optimal social relationships and poorer life satisfaction. Furthermore, racial identity dimensions did not moderate the impact of gendered racism on African American women’s well-being. Future studies should consider identities or worldviews that are theoretically aligned with the tenets of intersectionality theory as protective factors against the effect of gendered racism on African American women’s well-being.

As an immigrant in Sweden, I connect this study to my embodied experiences in the labor market and reflect throughout this research as I discuss the experiences of other immigrants who struggle with labor market integration. This qualitative study focuses on the phenomenon of the integration of immigrants in the Swedish labor market from an intersectional perspective and from my position as an immigrant which enriches the discussions. I analyzed how immigrants are integrated into the Swedish labor market and how gender intersects with other human factors to influence labor market integration. The study was based on a reflexive ethnography methodology in which interviews and documentation studies were used in collecting the empirical data. A semi-structured interview guide was used during the interviews and the documentation study was focused on scrutinizing integration policy documents in Sweden. The findings provide a detailed account on the genesis of immigration policies and how they have evolved into integration policies in Sweden. It traces this from the 1950s when integration policies were intertwined with immigration policies. Also it provides an account of how the integration policies are implemented in Sweden focusing on the activities of two main organizations namely Arbetsförmedlingen and the Linköping’s municipality. Furthermore the findings highlights that, men and women experience labor market integration differently therefore there is the need for this subject to be studied from a heterogeneous perspective instead of a homogenous perspective. It also highlights that women’s gender intersects with other human endowments factors such as education, gender roles, marital status, language and skills that complicate their labor market integration. In addition the findings highlight the transnational lives of some of the participants who hold on to traditional ideologies from their countries of origin. Furthermore, immigrants conceptualized labor market integration according to their own understanding. The results shows that the conceptualization of some of the immigrants was similar to what is common in the literatures but there was one new conceptualization of the term labor market integration that can be added to the already existing conceptualizations.

This thesis explores how introducing intersectional theory to self-identified activists in a Swedish folkbildning context challenges the theory/practice-divide. The study has been carried out through thematically structured discussions with students and teachers at Kvinnofolkhögskolan, Gothenburg, Sweden. In this thesis I argue that the deconstruction of the theory/practice-divide is dependent on perceptions of what theory and practice entails, students’ expectations of Swedish folkbildning in general and Kvinnofolkhögskolan in particular and pedagogical considerations on how to teach intersectionality intersectionally.Additionally, the thesis addresses issues of institutionalization, feminist pedagogy and the broadening of intersectional theory. Finally, the thesis highlights the need for extensively addressing the issue of the theory/practice divide in the curriculum, for students and teachers to discuss what is perceived as theory and practice respectively and for teachers to consider time and place as part of an intersectionally aware pedagogical practice.

This narrative inquiry explores how Black tradeswomen negotiate the intersections of race and gender in their long-term careers in the U.S. building trades. Much of the literature on women and minority groups in the trades has focused on the success, or lack of success, of these groups in apprenticeship programs. To my knowledge, none has collected rich data focused on the long-term retention of Black women in the trades, nor has any discussed the personal, interpersonal, and institutional strategies this non-traditional group uses to continue working in the construction industry. This study draws on theory and empirical studies from the fields of Peace and Conflict Studies, Black Studies, Gender Studies, Labor Studies, and Psychology to provide a nuanced analysis of the systemic nature of Black tradeswomen’s struggles for gender and racial equity within the workforce, and elucidates the personal, interpersonal, and institutional strategies these women have developed to continue in this field. In-depth interviews conducted with fifteen tradeswomen revealed how they described and made sense of (1) their experiences of entering the trades and how their experiences in the trades changed over time; (2) barriers to their continued success as tradespeople; and (3) the skills and knowledge they developed to sustain themselves professionally. Findings include recommendations for interventions at the levels of pre-apprenticeships, apprenticeships, foremen, and higher to support the retention and promotion of Black tradeswomen in the industry. Tradeswomen highlight the necessity of combining anti-racist and anti-sexist struggles to promote greater inclusion of non-traditional workers. Black tradeswomen illuminate the importance of the cultivation of self-esteem and personal networks on and off the job as mitigating factors in a microaggressive work environment.

Como as práticas baseadas nos lugares de Mercado podem ser analisadas sob uma ontologia diferente? Esse trabalho é baseado na discussão de alguns prismas teóricos fundamentais na epistemologia de estudos de comportamento de consumo. Estudos envolvendo consumo geralmente focam-se no consumidor como indivíduo final, monolítico – portador de agência e voz. Portanto, esse trabalho busca compreender o descolamento aparente entre os humanos e os não-humanos (coisas). Para tanto, utilizei-me do conceito de coisa, advinda do campo da Antropologia, para estudos de comportamento de consumo. Escolhi, como tema, a sexualidade – visto que é um tema com pouca expressividade no campo de comportamento de consumo. Inicio meu argumento com três pilares teóricos: o conceito de coisa; o conceito de performatividade para gênero e sexualidade; e o conceito de interseccionalidade. Depois, apresento o método utilizado para unir os três pilares na análise empírica in loco. Por fim, ofereço uma discussão sobre a convergência da fundamentação teórica e o método. Meus achados iluminam como atores humanos envolvidos em uma malha de relações, que dividem práticas com outros atores, engajam-se em oclusão de consumo: a necessidade de esconder uma prática de consumo dentro de uma malha próxima de relações. Também iluminam como a cooptação de locais de mercado de forma institucional – adicionando lugares focados em diversidade – não preclude a exclusão. Observei a continuação das práticas exclusionárias dentro de ambientes de mercado considerados abertos à diversidade, ou exclusão interseccional. Ambos achados foram resultado da abordagem ontológica delimitada previamente, que resultou no conceito de gayscape – um conceito puramente qualitativo que contém a malha de interrelação dos atores (humanos e não-humanos) do campo de consumo gay. / How do the marketplace-based practices can be analyzed with a different ontology? This work is based on the discussion of some theoretical approaches fundamentally attached to consumption behavior studies. These studies are usually focused on the consumer as a finished, monolithic individual – bearer of agency and voice. Therefore, this work tries to comprehend the apparent detachment between humans and non-humans. To achieve this I use the concept of thing, from the anthropology field to study consumption behavior. My chosen theme is sexuality – seen it is regarded as an understudied in consumption behavior studies. I start my argument based on three theoretical pillars: the concept of thing; the concept of performativity connected to gender and sexuality; and the concept of intersectionality. Following this, I present the method that was used to unite these three pillars for data collection. Lastly, I offer a discussion about the convergence of the literature review and the method. My findings illuminate how human actors are involved in a mesh of relationships – sharing practices with other actors – engage in what I call Consumption Occlusion: the need to hide a consumption practice within a tightly woven mesh of relationships. I also illuminate how institutional marketplace cooptation – for example, adding diverse marketplaces – does not preclude exclusion. I observed the continuation of exclusionary practices within marketplaces regarded as open to diversity, or intersectional exclusion. Both findings are the results of a previously delimited ontological approach, resulting in the concept of gayscape – a purely qualitative concept that brings forth the relationship mesh among actors (humans and non-humans) of the gay consumption field.

This study explores the role of public relations in the formation of a collective identity of the activists of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) between 1980 and 1990. CISPES was a radical U.S.-based organization comprised of a majority of white college-educated members. CISPES had two goals: 1) stop the U.S. military assistance to El Salvador, and 2) support the Salvadoran revolutionary movements that were fighting a U.S.-backed government. Through interviews, discourse analysis and historical research, this work shows that CISPES used as currency the whiteness of its activists, in conjunction with its educational background, to influence public opinion and policy-making in the U.S. The formation of CISPES as a white organization was partially achieved by continuous negotiations with Salvadoran radicals living in the U.S. Early in the 1990s, CISPES' collective identity as a white organization entered in crisis as internal debates on gender and race along with social changes in the national and international levels challenged dominant views and the status quo of whiteness and what this implies in political, social, and cultural spheres. This work proposes two models: the intersectional recruiting process and the ideological identity model of public relations. Both models were created using dialectical methodologies that understand public relations and social movements as processes of permanent contradictions between social conditions and ideology/discourse creation. This dissertation has real applications because it reveals how activist public relations can help the global struggle for social justice.

Canada is currently the world leader in the number of per capita prosecutions of HIV nondisclosure (Hastings, 2017). Many of these cases garner the attention of media and receive sensational and dramatic coverage. This thesis provides a feminist critical discourse analysis of the juridical and mediated content on Trevis Smith who was a former Canadian Football League linebacker convicted of aggravated sexual assault for not disclosing to his sexual partners that he was living with HIV. Mobilizing an intersectional (Crenshaw, 1989, 1991) and masculinities (Connell, 2005/1995; Messerschmidt, 2012; 2016) theoretical framework, I specifically explored the ways in which the media and juridical content constituted Smith by considering how the different discourses were shaped by race, gender, class, criminality, sexual orientation, and seropositivity. The analysis revealed three main discourses: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The “Sodom and Ghomorrah of Shared Sexual Partners” and Playing a Dangerous Game. These discourses demonstrate that Smith was initially shown sympathy by way of his construction as a philanthropist, and sports hero. However, as the case progressed his masculinity was discursively linked to racialized tropes of hypersexuality, dangerousness, and criminality due to his failure to disclose that he was HIV positive. I conclude that these discursive connections are part of a broader historical narrative that subjugates and controls Black men while also working to symbolically and literally segregate the Canadian HIV-negative social body from the hypersexual Black ‘AIDS fiend’.

Purvi Patel is an Indian American woman who, in 2015, was the first U.S. citizen to be convicted under feticide statutes for allegedly attempting her own abortion. Though her 2015 conviction was overturned the same year, the feticide conviction was significant as a legal precedent as well as part of a larger trend criminalizing pregnant women of color. With an eye towards the greater pattern of the criminalization of other pregnant women of color (Boyd, 1999; Faludi, 1991; Humphries, 1999; Mahan, 1996; Roberts, 1997), in this thesis I employ a feminist legal studies methodology and the theoretical frameworks of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989, 1991) and Reproductive Justice (Ross and Solinger, 2017; Silliman et al., 2004) to analyze five pro-Patel briefs, two from Patel’s appellate lawyers and three from amici curiae. The four themes present are: fetal personhood; racialized gender; medical privacy and trust; and surveillance, knowledge, and legitimacy. I argue these briefs were not always consistent with the tenets of intersectionality and Reproductive Justice, even as the briefs may have been effective in convincing the Court of Appeals to overturn Patel’s conviction. I conclude with a discussion of the implications of Patel’s case for public health and law. I suggest that criminalization of abortion is harmful to public health and that the feticide mandate as it stands now does not do what it was intended to do, which is to protect the pregnant woman from harm.