Matching Items (16)
Description
Residential historic preservation occurs through inhabitation. Through day-to-day domesticities a suite of bodily comportments and aesthetic practices are perpetually at work tearing and stitching the historic fabric anew. Such paradoxical practice materializes seemingly incompatible relations between past and present, people and things. Through a playful posture of experience/experiment, this dissertation attends to the materiality of historic habitation vis-à-vis practices and performances in the Coronado historic neighborhood (1907-1942) in Phoenix, Arizona. Characterized by diversity in the built and social environs, Coronado defies preservation's exclusionary tendencies. First, I propose a theoretical frame to account for the amorphous expression of nostalgia, the way it seeps, tugs, and lures `historic' people and things together. I push the argument that everyday nostalgic practice and performance in Coronado gives rise to an aesthetic of pastness that draws attention to what is near, a sensual attunement of care rather than strict adherence to preservation guidelines. Drawing on the institutional legacy of Neighborhood Housing Services, I then rethink residential historic preservation in Coronado as urban bricolage, the aesthetic ordering of urban space through practices of inclusivity, temporal juxtaposition, and the art of everyday living. Finally, I explore the historic practice of home touring in Coronado as demonstrative of urban hospitality, an opening of self and neighborhood toward other bodies, critical in the making of viable, ethical urban communities. These three moments contribute to the body of literature rethinking urbanism as sensual, enchanted, and hospitable.
ContributorsKitson, Jennifer (Author) / McHugh, Kevin (Thesis advisor) / Lukinbeal, Christopher (Committee member) / Bolin, Bob (Committee member) / Klett, Mark (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This dissertation explored how immigrants cope with and thrive in old age by utilizing social networks, and the hindrances which may prevent this. Through ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews at two senior centers in Phoenix, Arizona with a high concentration of an ethnic minority group - Asian and Latino, I describe what makes the Asian dominant center more resource abundant than its Latino counterpart given prevalent tight public funding. Both centers have a large number of seniors disenfranchised from mainstream institutions who bond together via similar experiences resulting from shared countries/regions of origin, language, and migration experience. The Asian center, however, is more successful in generating and circulating resources through "bonding" and "bridging" older immigrants who, therefore benefit more from their center affiliation than the Latinos at their center.
The abundance of resources at the Asian center flowing to the social networks of seniors are attributed to three factors: work and volunteer engagement and history, the organization of the center, and individual activities. At both centers seniors bond with each other due to shared ethnicity, language, and migration experience and share information and companionship in the language in which they feel most comfortable. What differentiated the two centers were the presence of several people well connected to individuals, groups, and institutions beyond the affiliated center. The presence of these "bridges" were critical when the centers were faced with budgetary constraints and Arizona was experiencing the effect of ongoing immigration policies. These "bridges" tend to come from shared ethnicity, and better social positions due to cumulative factors which include but are not limited to higher education, professional occupation, and work and volunteer history. I have also presented cases of individuals who, although have developed expertise from past work experiences and individual activities, have limited contribution to the resource flow because of the differences in ethnicity. The study also explored a gendered life course and its impact on the social network for older Asian and Latino immigrants.
The abundance of resources at the Asian center flowing to the social networks of seniors are attributed to three factors: work and volunteer engagement and history, the organization of the center, and individual activities. At both centers seniors bond with each other due to shared ethnicity, language, and migration experience and share information and companionship in the language in which they feel most comfortable. What differentiated the two centers were the presence of several people well connected to individuals, groups, and institutions beyond the affiliated center. The presence of these "bridges" were critical when the centers were faced with budgetary constraints and Arizona was experiencing the effect of ongoing immigration policies. These "bridges" tend to come from shared ethnicity, and better social positions due to cumulative factors which include but are not limited to higher education, professional occupation, and work and volunteer history. I have also presented cases of individuals who, although have developed expertise from past work experiences and individual activities, have limited contribution to the resource flow because of the differences in ethnicity. The study also explored a gendered life course and its impact on the social network for older Asian and Latino immigrants.
ContributorsFukui, Haruna Miyagawa (Author) / Menjivar, Cecilia (Thesis advisor) / Glick, Jennifer E. (Committee member) / McHugh, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Geography, and the social sciences more broadly, have long operated within what is arguably a paradigm of the visual. Expanding the reach of geographical consideration into the realm of the aural, though in no way leaving behind the visual, opens the discipline to new areas of human and cultural geography invisible in ocular-centric approaches. At its broadest level, my argument in this dissertation is that music can no longer be simply an object of geographical research. Re-conceptualized and re-theorized in a geographical context to take into account its very real, active, and more-than-representational presence in social life, music provides actual routes to geographic knowledge of the world. I start by constructing a theoretical framework and methodological approach for studying music beyond representation. Based on these theoretical and methodological arguments, I present four narratives that unfold at the intersections of race and music in the northeast Brazilian city of Salvador. From the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to the troubled neighborhood of the Pelourinho, from the manic tempos of samba to the laid back grooves of samba-reggae, and in the year-round competition between the oppressive forces of ordinary time and the fleeting possibility of carnival, music emerges as a creative societal force with affects and effects far beyond the realm of representation. Together, these narratives exemplify the importance of expanding geographical considerations beyond a strictly visual framework. These narratives contribute to the musicalization of the discipline of geography.
ContributorsFinn, John C (Author) / McHugh, Kevin (Thesis advisor) / Lukinbeal, Christopher (Committee member) / Bolin, Bob (Committee member) / Price, Patricia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
During the early twentieth century, a caste dispute known as the Eki-Beki dispute erupted among a group of historically related Konkani-speaking Brahman castes on the western coast of India. A faction among the castes argued that the variously related Konkani-speaking Brahman castes were originally one caste called the Gauda Saraswat Brahman (GSB) caste, which got split into several sub-castes. They further argued that the time had come to unite all these castes into one unified GSB caste. This faction came to be known as the Eki-faction, which meant the unity-faction. The Eki-faction was opposed by the majority of the members of the above-mentioned castes who disagreed with the idea of unification. This opposing faction came to be known as the Beki-faction, i.e. the disunity-faction. Despite the opposition from the majority, the Eki-faction managed to unite these different castes to form the contemporary unified GSB caste. The Gaud Saraswat Brahman caste in its current form is the product of this dispute. The formation of the GSB caste was initiated by members of these castes who had migrated from different rural regions of the western coast of India to the urban center Bombay. The rise of the GSB caste, however, became a contested process. Dominant non-GSB Brahman groups in Bombay discredited the migrants as being outsiders of lower ritual status. The unification movement was also opposed by the majority of these Konkani-speaking castes residing in the rural regions of the west coast of India. The struggle of the urban migrants for unification involved publication of Hindu texts and changes of normative practices, such as dining regulations and marriage arrangements, that affected the long-standing norms of maintaining ritual purity. Despite the opposition, the urban migrants partially succeeded in unifying the variously related Konkani-speaking Brahman castes. My dissertation is a history of this process.
ContributorsKhandeparkar, Vinayak (Author) / Henn, Alexander (Thesis advisor) / Feldhaus, Anne (Committee member) / McHugh, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Urban planning in the neoliberal era is marred by a lack of public engagement with urban inhabitants. Henri Lefebvre’s ‘right to the city’ theory is often treated as a way to empower disenfranchised urban inhabitants who are lacking control over the urban spaces they occupy. Though the right to the city has seen a resurgence in recent literature, we still lack a deep understanding of how right to the city movements work in practice, and what the process looks like through the lens of the everyday urban inhabitant. This dissertation seeks to fill these gaps by examining: 1) how a minority-led grassroots movement activates their right to the city in the face of an incoming light rail extension project in South Phoenix, Arizona, USA, and 2) how their right to the city movement demonstrates the possibility of urban society beyond the current control of neoliberalism. Through the use of participant observation, interviews, and media analysis, this case reveals the methods and tactics used by the group to activate their right to the city, the intra-and inter-group dynamics in the case, and the challenges that ultimately lead to the group’s demise.Tactics used by the group included protesting, organizing against city council, and creating a ballot initiative. Intra-group dynamics were often marred by conflicts over leadership and the acceptance of outside help, while inter-group conflicts erupted between the group, politicians, and pro-light rail supporters. The primary challenge to the group’s right to the city movement included neoliberal appropriation by local politicians and outside political group. By possessing limited experience, knowledge, and resources in conducting a right to the city movement, the grassroots group in this case was left asking for help from neoliberal supporters who used their funding as a way to appropriate the urban inhabitant’s movement. Findings indicate positive possibilities of a future urban society outside of neoliberalism through autogestion, and provide areas where urban planners can improve upon the right to the city. If urban planners seek out and nurture instances of the right to the city, urban inhabitants will have greater control over planning projects that effect their neighborhoods.
ContributorsTziganuk, Ashlee (Author) / Pfeiffer, Deirdre (Thesis advisor) / Larson, Kelli (Thesis advisor) / Ehlenz, Meagan (Committee member) / McHugh, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
This thesis is an account and reading of the taking-place of revolutionary art in Cairo accentuating the affective power of revolutionary spaces, specifically Tahrir and Etehadeya Square(s). In analyzing Cairo's street art in terms of its affective force, this paper illustrates the interconnectivity of place, art and event within a revolutionary context. The understandings of Cairo reflected in this paper are temporal, brought to light by happenings of the revolution witnessed during two extended visits and discussed through ethnographic research, art and geographic analysis.
ContributorsFriend, Olivia Louise (Author) / McHugh, Kevin (Thesis director) / Graff, Sarah (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Sound is immediate and ever-present, pushing in, around, and through physical boundaries to blend together in whichever way it best sees fit, no matter the controls we seek to impose on it. It builds associations for us: physical spaces become distinctive based on the quality and familiarity of sounds which inhabit them. With this spirit, I see sound as the central arbiter of sense of place, particularly in alternative community spaces, wherein individual and collaborative expression is not only encouraged, but essential to its experience, separating it from commonly-held mainstream and/or programmed social space. By recording the sounds of three distinctive such alternative cultural spaces in central Phoenix—The Trunk Space, Lawn Gnome Publishing, and Welcome Diner, rooted in art and music, literature, and food and drink, respectively—I captured the soundscapes in which the community around theses spaces democratically builds its sense of place. Compiling them into a soundscape composition, I installed the piece in the non-place of an art gallery, immersing listeners in fleeting glances at theses soundscapes, then inviting them to use the fluctuating sonic environment to cite their own associations with art, literature, and food-based senses of place right on the gallery walls. Through this exercise, and research on the experience of sound and meanings of sense of place, I express the intersection and essentiality sound, ambient and performative, in building sense of place.
ContributorsDescheemaker, Connor Patrick (Author) / McHugh, Kevin (Thesis director) / McKay, John (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This paper examines the role of persuasive cartography in territorial conflict through the case study of Azerbaijan and Armenia's dispute of Nagorno Karabakh. In particular, the paper connects theories of critical cartography and territorial conflict to the way that maps can influence opinion and lead to negotiation breakdown. I analyze cultures of geography from both sides before analyzing how Armenian maps have changed between the period of 1994 and 2016. Focusing on Goddard's (2006) theory of how the way actors make claims to territory can result in indivisibility, I argue that the powerful rhetoric of maps can strongly influence perception of territory. I connect the shift in rhetoric about the territory to shifts in how the territory is depicted in maps. Using public survey information from other researchers working in Armenia, I find that Armenian geographic culture and use of maps almost exclusively uses the most maximalist depiction of the territory, which may explain why it is difficult for leaders to compromise on the territory. After conducting analysis, I concluded that cartography can be used by actors to argue their territorial claims, with the unexpected effect of polarizing public opinion. It is unclear if persuasive cartography is a symptom or a cause of territory negotiation breakdown. In order to study whether cartography itself plays a role in negotiation breakdown, a larger sample size of disputes is necessary.
ContributorsTucker, Margaret Ann (Author) / Wright, Thorin (Thesis director) / McHugh, Kevin (Committee member) / Iheduru, Okechukwu (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Residents of the United States increasingly support organic and local food systems. New Social Movement theorists have described alternative agriculture as a social movement that transcends social class. Other scholars have critiqued alternative agriculture for catering to a middle-class, white public. Simultaneously, geographers have identified communities across the United States that struggle with reduced access to healthy fruits and vegetables. In some of these neighborhoods, known as “food deserts,” local groups are redefining an inequitable distribution of healthy food as a social injustice, and they have begun initiatives to practice “food justice.” The overarching research questions of this study are: 1) How do communities become food deserts? 2) How do food justice movements crystallize and communities practice food justice? 3) What are the social outcomes of food justice movements? Using an Ecology of Actors framework, this study analyzes the actors and operational scales of three food justice movements in Phoenix, Arizona. A narrative analysis of historical scholarly materials and other artifacts reveals that, for more than a century, some communities have tried to create minority-operated local food systems. However, they were thwarted by racist policies and market penetration of the conventional US food system. Interviews with residents, garden organizers and food justice advocates living and working in the city create a narrative of the present day struggle for food justice. Results of this work show that contemporary residents describe their foodscape as one of struggle, and carless residents rely upon social networks to access healthy food. Garden organizers and gardeners are creating networks of community gardens, market gardens, and informal farmers’ markets. They are actively transforming their communities’ landscapes with sophisticated garden ecology in an intense urban heat island. However, the movement’s continued success may be threatened. Many new Phoenix-based local food coalitions and national alternative agriculture social movements are now working to alter Phoenix’s foodscape. Composed of well-educated professionals, who have adopted a justice-based language around food, these organizations may unintentionally co-opt the local food justice movements.
ContributorsBleasdale, Thomas (Author) / Harlan, Sharon L (Thesis advisor) / McHugh, Kevin (Committee member) / Bolin, Bob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
ABSTRACT
Famine is the result of a complex set of environmental and social factors. Climate conditions are established as environmental factors contributing to famine occurrence, often through teleconnective patterns. This dissertation is designed to investigate the combined influence on world famine patterns of teleconnections, specifically the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Southern Oscillation (SO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), or regional climate variations such as the South Asian Summer Monsoon (SASM). The investigation is three regional case studies of famine patterns specifically, Egypt, the British Isles, and India.
The first study (published in Holocene) employs the results of a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) yielding a SO-NAO eigenvector to predict major Egyptian famines between AD 1049-1921. The SO-NAO eigenvector (1) successfully discriminates between the 5-10 years preceding a famine and the other years, (2) predicts eight of ten major famines, and (3) correctly identifies fifty out of eighty events (63%) of food availability decline leading up to major famines.
The second study investigates the impact of the NAO, PDO, SO, and AMO on 63 British Isle famines between AD 1049 and 1914 attributed to climate causes in historical texts. Stepwise Regression Analysis demonstrates that the 5-year lagged NAO is the primary teleconnective influence on famine patterns; it successfully discriminates 73.8% of weather-related famines in the British Isles from 1049 to 1914.
The final study identifies the aggregated influence of the NAO, SO, PDO, and SASM on 70 Indian famines from AD 1049 to 1955. PCA results in a NAO-SOI vector and SASM vector that predicts famine conditions with a positive NAO and negative SO, distinct from the secondary SASM influence. The NAO-famine relationship is consistently the strongest; 181 of 220 (82%) of all famines occurred during positive NAO years.
Ultimately, the causes of famine are complex and involve many factors including societal and climatic. This dissertation demonstrates that climate teleconnections impact famine patterns and often the aggregates of multiple climate variables hold the most significant climatic impact. These results will increase the understanding of famine patterns and will help to better allocate resources to alleviate future famines.
Famine is the result of a complex set of environmental and social factors. Climate conditions are established as environmental factors contributing to famine occurrence, often through teleconnective patterns. This dissertation is designed to investigate the combined influence on world famine patterns of teleconnections, specifically the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Southern Oscillation (SO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), or regional climate variations such as the South Asian Summer Monsoon (SASM). The investigation is three regional case studies of famine patterns specifically, Egypt, the British Isles, and India.
The first study (published in Holocene) employs the results of a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) yielding a SO-NAO eigenvector to predict major Egyptian famines between AD 1049-1921. The SO-NAO eigenvector (1) successfully discriminates between the 5-10 years preceding a famine and the other years, (2) predicts eight of ten major famines, and (3) correctly identifies fifty out of eighty events (63%) of food availability decline leading up to major famines.
The second study investigates the impact of the NAO, PDO, SO, and AMO on 63 British Isle famines between AD 1049 and 1914 attributed to climate causes in historical texts. Stepwise Regression Analysis demonstrates that the 5-year lagged NAO is the primary teleconnective influence on famine patterns; it successfully discriminates 73.8% of weather-related famines in the British Isles from 1049 to 1914.
The final study identifies the aggregated influence of the NAO, SO, PDO, and SASM on 70 Indian famines from AD 1049 to 1955. PCA results in a NAO-SOI vector and SASM vector that predicts famine conditions with a positive NAO and negative SO, distinct from the secondary SASM influence. The NAO-famine relationship is consistently the strongest; 181 of 220 (82%) of all famines occurred during positive NAO years.
Ultimately, the causes of famine are complex and involve many factors including societal and climatic. This dissertation demonstrates that climate teleconnections impact famine patterns and often the aggregates of multiple climate variables hold the most significant climatic impact. These results will increase the understanding of famine patterns and will help to better allocate resources to alleviate future famines.
ContributorsSantoro, Michael Melton (Author) / Cerveny, Randall S. (Thesis advisor) / McHugh, Kevin (Committee member) / Brazel, Anthony (Committee member) / Balling Jr., Robert C. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017