This study is an analytical examination of a stylistic anomaly observed among Middleport Iroquoian village sites (dating c. A.D. 1300-1450) located near Crawford Lake in southcentral Ontario, Canada. The anomaly is characterized by differing percentages of two forms of ceramic smoking pipes from closely spaced, contemporaneous village sites. This distinction occurs throughout southern Ontario, but is particularly pronounced in the Crawford Lake area. In order to develop and test a model to explain this anomaly, an approach employing a hierarchy of inference, including formal, spatial, temporal, economic, social, and cultural levels, is proposed. This is applied to an analysis of pottery and smoking pipes from eight Middleport sites. The key elements of the explanation are: (1) the two styles represent two distinct prehistoric communities; (2) these communities competed with each other for limited resources; and (3) they symbolized this competition through differences in pipe styles. This conclusion indicates that both the material culture and social relations among Middleport communities may be more complex than has previously been inferred.

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This dissertation explores the real world problem of rural youth out-migration and finds that the central problem is one of persistent class difference in this rural Oregon town. The research that informs this dissertation was conducted in a rural community of approximately 2300 residents in Eastern Oregon, here called Talltown. Data was collected through participant observation, photovoice (n = 8) and semi- structured interview (n = 63) among adolescents, emerging adults, and adults, specifically those working with local youth. The dissertation explores the ways in which Talltown youth encounter, internalize, and strategically enact dominant and counter norms of the local and larger fields. The primary finding of this dissertation is that as rural communities vie for position in the era of global neoliberalism, they discursively impose a similar competitive logic upon their youth, which reinforces the myth of meritocracy yet supports persistent class difference. Using the themes of "going somewhere" and "getting stuck," this dissertation aims to make visible, and thus challenge the hierarchical system with which class and other forms of socially constructed difference persist. / Graduation date: 2012

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 305-313). / Also available by subscription via World Wide Web / xiii, 313 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

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This thesis investigates the emergence of an indigenous middle class between 1975 and 2010 in Bolivia - a country characterized by poor and unstable long-term economic growth, high inequality, and enduring ethnic and class cleavages. The study takes a two-tiered approach. It focuses first on tracing the emergence of the middle class by highlighting the main drivers of socio-economic improvement for individuals. Based on a longitudinal examination of a Socio-Economic Index (SEI) - upon which the middle class is operationally defined in this thesis - I explain the emergence of the middle class as the result of two distinct but interconnected processes: (i) a massive urbanization process that reached a peak in the mid-1980s, which brought individuals closer to areas favoured by state policies; and (ii) an institutional change in the mid-1990s, consisting of a new national framework that allocated resources more efficiently throughout the country. In addition, my analysis uncovers the different occupational trajectories that middle-class individuals followed to gain access to the new structure of opportunities and to prosper and become part of the middle class. Based on inter- and intra-generational analyses of occupational mobility, I find that in a context of an over supply of labour and with limited skills and economic capital, migrants found the means to thrive socially and economically in commerce, transport, and construction activities. Secondly, I explore the extent to which the emergence of the new middle class has opened-up opportunities for indigenous peoples. I conduct a periodic headcount of indigeneity based on spoken languages (indigenous and/or Spanish) and self-ascription to indigenous groups. Two messages emerge from this exercise. First, the new middle class has provided opportunities for individuals who are monolingual in indigenous languages, whether they ascribe themselves or not to an indigenous group. Second, individuals' ethnic identities become fuzzier as they move into the middle class. This is revealed by indigenous language loss and a significant decrease in self-ascription that happened in a markedly stratified manner over just ten years. I tackle the intricacies of middle-class ethnic identity by drawing on a social identity conceptual framework that allows me to integrate synergistically the discussions on class, ethnicity, and modernization. By approaching social identities through the analysis of differentiated lifestyles, I find that new middle-class individuals have hybrid and segmented identities. That is, individuals combine indigenous/traditional and modern forms of living that vary according to their socio-economic level, but do not necessarily move towards cultural assimilation. I contend that the creation of new status symbols and forms of recognition based on indigenous idiosyncrasies in the new middle class constitutes a categorical break with historical, ethnic-based forms of social, economic, and cultural exclusion and discrimination. In summary, this thesis advances the conceptualization and understanding of the middle class, contributing to the burgeoning literature on emerging middle classes in developing countries by offering a more complex picture of its expansion and identity construction.