In the early 1900s, large sections of the Great Smoky Mountains were intensively logged. Since then, most locations have been allowed to naturally become forest-covered again, resulting in areas of secondary growth and old growth forest. To determine whether differences in large woody debris (LWD) loading and channel morphology persist today, I measured LWD, channel widths and depths, and channel bed sediments of streams in old and secondary growth forest in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. LWD pieces in streams in old growth had larger mean diameters and lengths compared to LWD in streams in secondary growth forest. Streams in old growth had 5.6 times more LWD volume than those in secondary growth. More LWD pieces were in debris dams in old growth than in secondary growth forest. Channel bed sediment size did not differ significantly between streams in old and secondary growth forest. Channel widths and depths were signifiantly larger in streams in old growth forest. LWD pieces affected channel depth primarily by creating pools and causing deposition of sediment. LWD affected width by directing stream flow toward banks and by protecting banks from erosion. I observed that the orientation of LWD was important in determining its geomorphic role. Although I found no relationship between LWD loading and watershed area, I found a relationship between watershed area and the importance of LWD in impacting channel morphology. Despite differences in LWD frequency and total volume, streams in old and secondary growth forest differed little in width and depth in the largest watersheds in this study. However, in smaller watersheds, streams in old growth were not as narrow or as shallow as streams in secondary growth. LWD loading can vary substantially between streams, even those with sim- ilar surrounding forest types, climate, and disturbance histories; therefore, caution should be exercised when using LWD loading rates from other studies in environmental management. Despite nearly 80 years of forest regrowth, LWD loading and channel mor- phologies of streams still show the impacts of logging.

Practitioners of ecological restoration are increasingly adopting a genetic perspective when recreating historical landscapes. Genes are often endowed with the capacity to reveal specific and distinct relationships between organisms and environments. In this dissertation, I examine how genetic technologies and concepts are shaping ecological restoration practices. This research is based on two and a half years of fieldwork in Chicago. I employed participant observation and semi-structured interviews to compare how restorationists in two plant science institutions employ genetic concepts in their projects. One institution uses high-tech genetic methods to guide practice while the other uses lower-tech genetic approaches. Each group has distinct, yet internally diverse ways of deciding which seeds are ‘local enough’ to be included in a project. This research theorizes how classification differences regarding native seeds are part of a broader set of genetic logics I refer to as ‘genetic epistemologies’. Specifically, I ask how genetic technologies circumscribe different ways of seeing and making landscapes. I compare how restorationists delineated valid seed sourcing regions for restoration projects based on their genetic definitions of ‘native’ species. Drawing from science & technology studies, political ecology, and cultural landscape geography, I illustrate how restorationists incorporate cultural preferences, funding imperatives, aesthetics, and discourses about nature into their particular genetic epistemology. From this research, I offer the following conclusions. By incorporating genetic technology into ecological restoration, many practitioners feel their work will achieve more precision. Yet this perspective is typical of those who do not directly use genetic technologies. Scientists using direct genetic analyses are much more reserved about the potential of their technologies to match organisms to environments. Second, individuals or groups often come into conflict when attempting to apply different genetic epistemologies to the same problem. These conflicts are resolved in the course of planning and implementing a restoration project. Finally, direct genetic methods are only useful in restoration work involving rare or endangered species. Despite the limited utility of genetic technology in restoration, this approach is becoming influential. Chicago’s high-tech plant science institution is discursively reshaping the goals and approaches of native plant institutions that do not use these technologies.

This thesis focuses on the creation and disposal of food waste in the United States. Food waste is a specific yet highly critical issue that implicates the large, incongruous systems of both food production and waste disposal. Waste is created throughout the food supply chain, with producers as well as consumers guilty of throwing away good food. Rather than repurpose food as compost or donate it to those in need, wasted food, although completely biodegradable and often edible, is mixed in with the rest of our garbage and disposed of in a landfill. By evaluating the systems of waste disposal and food production, I illustrate the ways in which both of these industries encourage the creation of food waste and conceal its harmful effects. I argue that it is necessary to prioritize source reduction of wasted food, rather than rely upon infrastructure that keeps waste “out of sight, out of mind.” Despite the factors that shelter it from our critical consideration, it has become necessary to prioritize food waste as a legitimate environmental, social, and economic concern.

A presente Tese oferece uma proposta teórico-metodológica para o estudo da Reforma Sanitária Brasileira e seus desdobramentos posteriores, baseada num esquema conceitual de onde derivam três categorias de análise - a de Esfera Pública, a de Fundo Público e a de Padrão de Financiamento Público - referidas aos determinantes sociais, econômicos e políticos que, interativamente, afetam as políticas sociais. Tem origem na constatação de que a VIII Conferência Nacional de Saúde propõe, e a Constituição de 1988 consagra, um conceito eminentemente político de Saúde, pelo qual todas as ações de Saúde são consideradas \"públicas\", por sua relevância social e sua participação no interesse geral, regidas por uma normatividade socialmente definida e sujeitas ao controle social institucionalizado. Desse modo, tornando a Saúde Pública o âmbito interinstitucional, multidisciplinar e popular das discussões e decisões sobre os processos saúde/doença da população - o que significa a definição de um mais amplo espaço para a Saúde Pública no interior da Esfera Pública. A aceitação generalizada das propostas da Reforma Sanitária, no período pré-Constituinte e na Constituinte, liga-se ao contexto da transição para a democracia, quando era reconhecida a falência do Padrão de Financiamento das políticas sociais adotado no regime militar, abrindo-se então espaço para proposições que visavam a um Padrão de Financiamento mais próximo do adotado na social-democracia. Entretanto, o redirecionamento do Fundo Público, pressuposto principal de viabilidade das atividades sociais e, principalmente, das mudanças constitucionais aprovadas, tem encontrado resistências e apresentado recuos, que não apenas recuperam os mecanismos viciados e distorcidos de financiamento, como têm desfigurado o modelo de Sistema único de Saúde proposto na Reforma Sanitária, tornando-o numa espécie de caricatura perversa. / The present Thesis offers a theoretical-methodological proposition for the study of the Brazilian Health Care Reform and its later developments. It is based upon a conceptual scheme from which three categories of analyses derive - that of the Public Sphere of Ation, that of Public Fund and that of Public Financing Pattern- referred to the social, economic ando political determinants, which interactively affect the social politics. It comes from the verification that the National Health Conference proposes, and the 1988 Constitution establishes, an eminently political concept of Public Health. By this political concept all health actions are considered \"public\", in way of their social relevance and their participation in the general interest. And so, they must be ruled by a socially defined \"normativeness\", and subject to the institutionalized social control. So turning Public Health into the interinstitucional, multidiscipline and popular ambit of discussions and decisions about health/illness pqpulations processes. And it means the definition of a wider space for Public Health into Public Sphere. The generalized acceptance of the Health Care Reform propositions in the period prior of the Constituent Assembly performance, and in the working period of the Constituent Assembly, is connected to the context of the transition to democracy. In this context the failure of the Public Financing Pattern of social politics adopted in the military regime was recognized. Then a space for propositions that aimed at a Financing Pattern closer to the used in the social-democracy was opening. And so the Public Fund - the main pressuposition of feasibility of the social activities, and especially of the approved constitutional changes, must be directed to the popular interest. However this redirecting of Public Fund has found resistences and presented setbacks, which not only recover the vitiated and distorted financing mechanisms, but have also disfigured the model of the Single Health System proposed in the Health Care Reform, turning it into a kind of perverse caricature.

A presente Tese oferece uma proposta teórico-metodológica para o estudo da Reforma Sanitária Brasileira e seus desdobramentos posteriores, baseada num esquema conceitual de onde derivam três categorias de análise - a de Esfera Pública, a de Fundo Público e a de Padrão de Financiamento Público - referidas aos determinantes sociais, econômicos e políticos que, interativamente, afetam as políticas sociais. Tem origem na constatação de que a VIII Conferência Nacional de Saúde propõe, e a Constituição de 1988 consagra, um conceito eminentemente político de Saúde, pelo qual todas as ações de Saúde são consideradas \"públicas\", por sua relevância social e sua participação no interesse geral, regidas por uma normatividade socialmente definida e sujeitas ao controle social institucionalizado. Desse modo, tornando a Saúde Pública o âmbito interinstitucional, multidisciplinar e popular das discussões e decisões sobre os processos saúde/doença da população - o que significa a definição de um mais amplo espaço para a Saúde Pública no interior da Esfera Pública. A aceitação generalizada das propostas da Reforma Sanitária, no período pré-Constituinte e na Constituinte, liga-se ao contexto da transição para a democracia, quando era reconhecida a falência do Padrão de Financiamento das políticas sociais adotado no regime militar, abrindo-se então espaço para proposições que visavam a um Padrão de Financiamento mais próximo do adotado na social-democracia. Entretanto, o redirecionamento do Fundo Público, pressuposto principal de viabilidade das atividades sociais e, principalmente, das mudanças constitucionais aprovadas, tem encontrado resistências e apresentado recuos, que não apenas recuperam os mecanismos viciados e distorcidos de financiamento, como têm desfigurado o modelo de Sistema único de Saúde proposto na Reforma Sanitária, tornando-o numa espécie de caricatura perversa. / The present Thesis offers a theoretical-methodological proposition for the study of the Brazilian Health Care Reform and its later developments. It is based upon a conceptual scheme from which three categories of analyses derive - that of the Public Sphere of Ation, that of Public Fund and that of Public Financing Pattern- referred to the social, economic ando political determinants, which interactively affect the social politics. It comes from the verification that the National Health Conference proposes, and the 1988 Constitution establishes, an eminently political concept of Public Health. By this political concept all health actions are considered \"public\", in way of their social relevance and their participation in the general interest. And so, they must be ruled by a socially defined \"normativeness\", and subject to the institutionalized social control. So turning Public Health into the interinstitucional, multidiscipline and popular ambit of discussions and decisions about health/illness pqpulations processes. And it means the definition of a wider space for Public Health into Public Sphere. The generalized acceptance of the Health Care Reform propositions in the period prior of the Constituent Assembly performance, and in the working period of the Constituent Assembly, is connected to the context of the transition to democracy. In this context the failure of the Public Financing Pattern of social politics adopted in the military regime was recognized. Then a space for propositions that aimed at a Financing Pattern closer to the used in the social-democracy was opening. And so the Public Fund - the main pressuposition of feasibility of the social activities, and especially of the approved constitutional changes, must be directed to the popular interest. However this redirecting of Public Fund has found resistences and presented setbacks, which not only recover the vitiated and distorted financing mechanisms, but have also disfigured the model of the Single Health System proposed in the Health Care Reform, turning it into a kind of perverse caricature.

New markets for the conservation of so-called ecosystem services, like the ability of a wetland to mitigate floods, are emerging worldwide. According to environmental economists, these markets require some metric - ecological or otherwise - that names the relevant characteristics of the service to be traded as a commodity. But while this is often assumed to be a simple task of science, I argue that the environmental regulators, eco-entrepreneurs, and conservationists who actually design and implement metrics are not so easily brought into agreement. In “rolling-out” revamped metrics and protocols, regulators and their conservationist allies in one market in Oregon haven’t established the conditions for market success so much as they have constrained entrepreneurs. The solutions to ecosystem destruction 20 years ago - privatization, commodification, and commercialization - have become the obstacles which limit the market’s future viability. The moments when capitalists find themselves saying “let’s sell nature to save it” - or when states say it for them - can spell trouble for capitalists at the same time that they seem like their escape hatch. Still, the short-term and long-term effects of market design may differ; barriers to the market now may prove to be its success later.

This thesis undertakes a study of the modern state in India in the context of counterinsurgency. Through a combination of ethnographic and historical methods, it explores the processes and practices of state formation and legitimacy-building in an erstwhile Maoist guerrilla zone of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. The colonial and postcolonial histories of this forested region, known popularly as the Jungle Mahals, are punctuated by moments of violent conflict and regime-change. These moments of rupture have tended to periodically reorder the relationships between the modern state and its ordinary subjects. Accordingly, the thesis reconstructs a trajectory of state-society relations in the Jungle Mahals from the early colonial era, when East India Company officials created a modern state apparatus to deal with rural rebellions, to the present, when the Indian government has pursued a 'development' agenda to wean ordinary people away from Maoist rebels. I show that periods of insurgency and counterinsurgency ought to be recognised as critical junctures in the history of the modern state in frontier regions such as the Jungle Mahals. The modern state is made and remade in the course of counterinsurgency as both state and rural society are reordered in tandem from above and below. Hence, I make a case for studying the state, understood as both an idea and a set of material practices, from 'within', that is, as emerging through the mediation of actors who represent the state and ordinary villagers in my fieldsites. Furthermore, through an exploration of ordinary villagers' responses to counterinsurgency in the Jungle Mahals, this thesis argues that popular responses to counterinsurgency cannot be explained through the binaries of resistance and complicity. In other words, it is necessary to examine the complex textures of people's lives and subjectivities vis-à-vis the state during and after counterinsurgencies in order to appreciate how statemaking in such circumstances, far from being a top-down imposition on hapless subjects, emerges from below as well.

Exposure to volcano hazards can lead to crises; with or without an eruptive event. Therefore, it is important to distinguish that volcanic events (unrest & eruptions) are physical phenomena while volcanic crises are social. Volcanic eruptions, unlike some other geologic hazards are often preceded by weeks or months of precursors, which offer the opportunity to reduce risk by early intervention. However, resistance to discussion of local hazards can hinder stakeholders’ (emergency managers, scientists, etc.) ability to mitigate volcano hazards and create well-informed protocols to respond when disaster strikes. The Long Valley Caldera (LVC) east of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, has experienced unrest since 1978, at which time a M5.6 earthquake ended 20 years of seismic quiet. Seismicity continued, followed by significant ground deformation and doming of the caldera floor, increased fumarolic activity, and CO2 degassing which has contributed to tree kills and human fatalities. Extensive research in volcano science provides an understanding of the physical phenomena behind the mechanics of volcanos, but limited resources have been dedicated to understanding human processes in response to volcano hazards and their corresponding disasters. Misconceptions and uncertainty surrounding organizational and physical communication of risk information can amplify economic consequences resulting from volcanic crises. This study will utilize two methods to obtain perceptions that local stakeholders and residents hold towards hazards in their region; and their confidence in the agencies that are responsible in responding to crises. A questionnaire sent to 1,200 households in February, 2018 asked head-of-households about their awareness of volcano hazards, preparedness for a volcano emergency, and perceptions of stakeholders responsible for decision making and warning systems. Mental model interviews conducted with stakeholders in summer, 2018 will provide insight on methods used by decision makers tasked with responding to disasters at LVC and the greater Long Valley Volcanic Region (LVVR). Mental models, i.e. schema, are a representation of how a person thinks about and mentally conceptualizes objects, events, and relationships in the real world. Robust to change, mental models are not easily altered; however, new information is either dismissed or made to fit within previous beliefs. Research suggests that the more discordant new information is with respect to existing beliefs, the more likely the information is to challenge those beliefs, providing opportunities for change. Together, these household and stakeholder studies will identify issues surrounding risk communication and risk management to improve tools that communicate the uncertainty of volcanic activity in the LVVR.

No / During the last two decades the judiciary has come to play an increasingly important political role in Latin America. Constitutional courts and supreme courts are more active in counterbalancing executive and legislative power than ever before. At the same time, the lack of effective citizenship rights has prompted ordinary people to press their claims and secure their rights through the courts. This collection of essays analyzes the diverse manifestations of the judicialization of politics in contemporary Latin America, assessing their positive and negative consequences for state-society relations, the rule of law, and democratic governance in the region. With individual chapters exploring Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela, it advances a comparative framework for thinking about the nature of the judicialization of politics within contemporary Latin American democracies.

The border between Russia and Estonia has undergone significant changes in the past two and a half decades from a border between two Soviet republics to an international border and external EU border. In the public discourse and the scholarly literature, this border has been characterised as a battlefield shaped by divergent geopolitical visions and evaluations of the shared past. While Estonia has sought to distance itself from Russia and condemns the Soviet past as an occupation, Russia derives pride from its historical role in liberating Europe in World War II and continues to hold on to positive memories of the Soviet past and its role in the Baltic states. The thesis looks at how these official narratives have been negotiated locally in the once united border towns of Narva and Ivangorod in the Russian-Estonian borderland. Based on an extended fieldwork stay and the analysis 58 life-story interviews with people living on both sides of the border, it examines how people living in the borderland position themselves in the context of shifting narrative and structural frameworks. How do they re-evaluate the relations to the other side and reconsider their memories of the shared past? In examining these questions, the thesis seeks to make two general contributions to existing literature: it brings together the fields of border studies and memory studies to explore the reconfiguration of both temporal and spatial orderings in the making of a border. Secondly, it outlines a model for studying border change that focuses on the interrelations between the vernacular and the official level. The first part of the thesis looks at the politics of temporal orderings in the borderland and explores how people belonging to different ethnic groups and generations remember the past in the context of changing borders. It shows how people in part reproduce the polarised narratives mobilised at the official level but also how local experiences and generational change lead to a diversification of temporal orderings. The second part of the thesis explores the politics of spatial orderings in post-socialist memories. It looks at how by remembering the past people both reproduce and undermine borders; it demonstrates that it is not simply the memories of a shared past but also new inequalities following the establishment of the border that shape the ways in which people relate to their cross-border neighbours. Overall, the thesis provides a complex and differentiated account of border change in which different temporalities and spatialities at the vernacular and official levels can interact, interrelate and stand in opposition to each other. It shows that although people living in the borderland experience constraints and even powerlessness in the face of changes in the border, they have an active role in negotiating the changes and develop multiple responses to official narratives. It demonstrates how by appropriating official narratives and relating them to their own purposes, people articulate local concerns and make claims for belonging, recognition and state care in the face of the changes.