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- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Description
This thesis elucidates the responsibility of the pharmaceutical industry for the current opioid epidemic, an epidemic which caused over 40,000 American deaths in 2016 alone. Twenty years prior, Purdue Pharma unleashed an extended-release formulation of the opioid oxycodone: OxyContin. With this, Purdue began a highly aggressive advertising campaign with the primary intention of guaranteeing the success of this drug; however, in doing so, they often neglected to ensure that the information they were propagating was wholly accurate. Previous reform attempts aimed at mollifying this crisis have ultimately fallen short, as they have failed to recognize the true extent of Purdue Pharma's involvement, especially with regard to the underlying issues that led to the initiation and progression of the epidemic. Future improvements should be targeted at the reform of regulatory agencies and insurance companies, as well as the cultural attitudes regarding pain and pain treatment that have been cultivated over the last several years. Ultimately, however, these reforms will likely prove to be insufficient unless the failings of the current healthcare system, including the pharmaceutical industry, are also taken into account.
ContributorsOzeran, Rachel Hoku Lii (Author) / Fong, Benjamin (Thesis director) / Brian, Jennifer (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
With the dissolution of the old forms of power has come a new heteronomy: that of the screen. The individual is in stasis, caught between the old forms of control and the new, but unable to imagine a better, liberated future. What is responsible for this interregnum? The answer lies in analyzing these new forms of control, their effects on the subject, and the material, historical processes behind them. This paper looks specifically at social media and how it has come to limit autonomy and commodify human experience and personhood. Drawing from Theodor Adorno’s Theory of Pseudo Culture, it seeks to describe the ways in which social media both erodes and administers subjectivity. Culture, now subject to the economic imperatives of capitalism, no longer contributes to the development of individuality. By referencing Karl Marx’s Capital and C. Wright Mill’s “The Competitive Personality”, this paper describes how social media expands commercial imperatives outside of the bounds of the workplace and into everyday life. The paper concludes by drawing on Herbert Marcuse’s One Dimensional Man in order to describe how social media neutralizes oppositional sentiments. Even the seemingly spontaneous expressions of dissent found on social media become a conservative force, stymieing real world organization through the repressive desublimation of revolt. In addition to understanding the dominating effects of the screen, this paper seeks to map the contours of neoliberal subjectivity.
ContributorsLobato, Thomas (Author) / Hines, Taylor (Thesis director) / Fong, Benjamin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2023-05
DescriptionA literary review of the origins of money and finance, a positive analysis of the Bank of North Dakota, and a series of normative prescriptions to functionally charter public banks in an effort to build an economy of social and ecological care.
ContributorsJones, Bryce (Author) / Calhoun, Craig (Thesis director) / Strickland, James (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
The student loan pause was implemented to assist borrowers during the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Using quarterly data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey from 2019-2021, I analyze the impact of the pause on household spending on healthcare and retirement savings. Prior studies have shown negative impacts of student debt on health and retirement outcomes. The results indicate no statistically significant difference in spending in these categories for households that were eligible for the student loan pause. These findings raise concerns of whether the student loan pause was enough to help households affected by student debt and how these households will fare once the pause ends.
ContributorsHernandez, Jorge (Author) / Charron-Chenier, Raphael (Thesis advisor) / McQuarrie, Michael (Committee member) / Fong, Benjamin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Contemporary renewable energy transitions require the extraction of critical minerals necessary to produce new green technologies. The Stibnite Gold Project located in Valley County, Idaho, is one of many proposed mine sites to supply raw materials for renewable energy infrastructure. A variety of actors including the mine operator, Perpetua Resources, use varying approaches to risk to measure the impacts of potential mine operations. A formal permitting process facilitated by US regulatory bodies assess these risks and proposals for their mitigation. This study examines the permitting process for the proposed mine, the Stibnite Gold Project, in Idaho in order to better understand what risks are considered and how they are conceptualized. Specifically, it examines public discourse from the mine operator Perpetua Resources, key regulators, key NGOs, and the Nez Perce tribal community. A critical discourse analysis reveals the development of distinct risk, economic, restorative, and decision authority narratives among each actor. These narratives shape approaches to risk. However, they also reveal settler colonialism and other intersecting systems of oppression are reinstated and/or resisted in each actors approach to risk. Drawing on existing literature as well as new empirical data from the discourse analysis, this study shows limits to prevailing approaches to risk that need to be addressed so that future efforts to advance sustainability-driven renewable energy transitions do not impose unjust costs on Indigenous peoples.
ContributorsStempel, Khampha (Author) / Calhoun, Craig (Thesis advisor) / Carralero, Pamela (Committee member) / Klinsky, Sonja (Committee member) / Nelson, Melissa (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
This thesis examines the social determinants of Alt-Right activity and provides an empirical assessment of whether the Alt-Right is influenced by social processes similar to those explaining participation in traditional white supremacist organizations. Using Internet search data from all counties in the United States (U.S.) between 2017 and 2018, I examine the effect of various county-level variables on search volume for Alt-Right content. Results indicate that the determinants of Alt-Right activity systematically differ from what one would expect for conventional racist groups. I find that counties with larger percentages of college graduates, of highly educated non-white and immigrant groups, and higher poverty levels for college graduates tend to have a higher search volume for Alt-Right content. Overall, these findings suggest that, in marked contrast to traditional hate organizations—the Alt-Right’s constituency is comprised predominantly of affluent, college-educated individuals.
ContributorsKyler, Anna M. (Author) / Charron-Chenier, Raphael (Thesis advisor) / Martin, Nathan (Committee member) / Calhoun, Craig (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Unfortunately, most Americans do not know about the Hindutva movement and how it operates. As such, the 2019 “Howdy Modi!” event shocked many people who were confused as to why, as a minority group, so many Hindu Americans were supporting Trump. Many Americans, because of their lack of knowledge, are unaware of the divisive and even violent nature of the Hindutva movement. As such, many Americans minimize the importance of this growing alliance between Trump and Modi. This ignores the severity of the Hindutva movement and makes its activity in America appear to be a sporadic and unorganized phenomenon. In this thesis, I examine the relatively recent emergence of Hindu nationalist support for Trump by examining the historical conditions in both India and America that caused this alliance to form. I analyzes the ideologies of two organizations in particular that represent this alliance: the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC) and Hindus for Trump (H4T). Research indicates that while this alliance is marginal in the Indian American community, it has the capacity to grow as Modi and Trump grow close. Most importantly, I argue that rather than being seen as a fringe movement, the intellectual merits of this movement should be taken seriously. As such, I argue that the growing influence of Hindu nationalism in American politics should be seen as a larger, global phenomenon of Hindu nationalists attempting to influence diaspora politics.
ContributorsAkhter, Safa Pervaiz (Author) / Fong, Benjamin (Thesis director) / Yoo, Hyung Chol (Brandon) (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor, Contributor, Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
In examining the popular culture of the United States today, one would find themselves hard-pressed to avoid mentions of texts and films that fall within the fantasy genre. In fact, many works within this genre find themselves amongst the ranks of the best-selling books and movies of all time (Moor; Harding and Thompson). Outside of their economic success, these stories have become an integral part of American culture. Extending from the domination of the entertainment industry, the characters and stories of the fantasy genre have influenced the collective ideals and perspectives of the United States population. Websites such as DeviantArt and Archive of Our Own serve as testament to how these stories inspire their fans, boasting thousands of pieces of artwork and writing that have been inspired by various fantasy texts and films. Beyond this, characters featured in these stories find themselves being applied elsewhere, ranging from their prevalence in online meme culture to their use during times of political strife. A notable example of this is a photograph of a protestor holding up a large sign boasting the claim that “Dumbledore wouldn’t let this happen,” which later became viral and was posted across several media platforms (whiskey-tango). The importance and impact of the fantasy genre can clearly be seen to take on many forms, and can be observed as playing a larger role than simple entertainment in the lives of the American public. While all of these examples highlight the deeply embedded nature of these tales in popular culture, it begs the question as to how and why these stories got to this status.
ContributorsKrolick, Samantha Rae (Author) / Cruse, Markus (Thesis director) / Fong, Benjamin (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Dean, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The fight for climate justice has been ongoing for decades. However, in a recent effort to address climate change, U.S. congressional leaders Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts proposed a resolution known as the Green New Deal (GND). Though congress defeated the proposal, the policy changes envisioned within it have gained political momentum from states and municipalities. So much so, municipalities in the United States have decided to implement their own versions of the GND proposal. Throughout this paper, I analyze the components of three nationally recognized climate proposals that offer a unique approach to actualize the federal GND objectives: New York City's Climate Mobilization Act, Los Angeles's Green New Deal – Sustainable City pLAn, and Seattle's Green New Deal. From these proposals, I draw comparisons to Tempe's Climate Action plan to evaluate their efforts. Though this paper is primarily focused on analyzing the components of municipal GNDs across the nation, this paper also contends that municipalities' are a necessary complement to national efforts in mitigating climate change.
ContributorsMazariegos, Ashley (Author) / Fong, Benjamin Y. (Thesis director) / Calhoun, Craig (Committee member) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12
Description
Environmental activism has played a major role in American politics since the late 1800s, with major victories including the National Park Service Organic Act of 1916 that established the National Park Service to help protect parks and monuments, the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts of the 1960s and 1970s, and the phase-out of ozone depleting chemicals in the 1990s. Yet mainstream activism has stagnated in recent years, facing a variety of problems such as continuing to perpetuate a corporate system in which frontline and minority communities are left behind and only focusing on traditional methods like lobbying and indirect activism that fail to generate mass public support. In contrast, the Sunrise Movement is a new youth-oriented environmental and social organization that has become prevalent in the last five years for their aim to combat both climate change and socioeconomic inequalities through the Green New Deal. With the growing need for climate action that is fair and equitable, this project intended to contextualize the Sunrise Movement within past and current environmental movements as well as the current environmental and political climate in order to then investigate how Sunrise operates and their level of effectiveness in promoting the Green New Deal. I performed a literature review of both past and present news articles as well as journal articles in addition to interviewing experts in the theory and practice of activism to characterize the three waves of environmentalism and lessons learned, the current political sphere and what mainstream activism is working toward, and Sunrise itself. While mainstream and localized radical activism had victories and a certain degree of effectiveness, their lack of inclusivity has failed to encourage the mass mobilization needed for long-term climate legislation. The Sunrise Movement distinguishes itself through disruptive activism and direct engagement: disruptive by challenging the status quo of profit over people, the two party system where both groups are moving toward the right, and the whiteness and liberal locations of the mainstream environmental movement; direct by working with partners across the environmental, social, and labor sphere and working with actionable, hands-on items that encourage participation. Though they have major limitations like ensuring that they are as inclusive as they recognize an environmental movement must be and the risk of being seen as a partisan organization, Sunrise shows that the attitude of the public is moving in favor of the climate and social equity.
ContributorsAlzamora, Madeline Kate (Author) / Fong, Benjamin (Thesis director) / Brian, Jennifer (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12