Matching Items (15)
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- All Subjects: history
- Creators: Hirt, Paul
Description
Growers and the USDA showed increasing favor for agricultural chemicals over cultural and biological forms of pest control through the first half of the twentieth century. With the introduction of DDT and other synthetic chemicals to commercial markets in the post-World War II era, pesticides became entrenched as the primary form of pest control in the industrial agriculture production system. Despite accumulating evidence that some pesticides posed a threat to human and environmental health, growers and government exercised path-dependent behavior in the development and implementation of pest control strategies. As pests developed resistance to regimens of agricultural chemicals, growers applied pesticides with greater toxicity in higher volumes to their fields with little consideration for the unintended consequences of using the economic poisons. Consequently, pressure from non-governmental organizations proved a necessary predicate for pesticide reform. This dissertation uses a series of case studies to examine the role of non-governmental organizations, particularly environmental organizations and farmworker groups, in pesticide reform from 1962 to 2011. For nearly fifty years, these groups served as educators, communicating scientific and experiential information about the adverse effects of pesticides on human health and environment to the public, and built support for the amendment of pesticide policies and the alteration of pesticide use practices. Their efforts led to the passage of more stringent regulations to better protect farmworkers, the public, and the environment. Environmental organizations and farmworker groups also acted as watchdogs, monitoring the activity of regulatory agencies and bringing suit when necessary to ensure that they fulfilled their responsibilities to the public. This dissertation will build on previous scholarly work to show increasing collaboration between farmworker groups and environmental organizations. It argues that the organizations shared a common concern about the effects of pesticides on human health, which enabled bridge-builders within the disparate organizations to foster cooperative relationships. Bridge-building proved a mutually beneficial exercise. Variance in organizational strategies and the timing of different reform efforts limited, but did not eliminate, opportunities for collaboration. Coalitions formed when groups came together temporarily, and then drifted apart when a reform effort reached its terminus, leaving future collaboration still possible.
ContributorsTompkins, Adam (Author) / Hirt, Paul (Thesis advisor) / Rome, Adam (Committee member) / Adamson, Joni (Committee member) / Rosales, F (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The rights of American Indians occupy a unique position within the legal framework of water allocations in the western United States. However, in the formulation and execution of policies that controlled access to water in the desert Southwest, federal and local governments did not preserve the federal reserved water rights that attached to Indian reservations as part of their creation. Consequentially, Indian communities were unable to access the water supplies necessary to sustain the economic development of their reservations. This dissertation analyzes the legal and historical dimensions of the conflict over rights that occurred between Indian communities and non-Indian water users in Arizona during the second half of the twentieth century. Particular attention is paid to negotiations involving local, state, federal, and tribal parties, which led to the Congressional authorization of water rights settlements for several reservations in central Arizona. The historical, economic, and political forces that shaped the settlement process are analyzed in order to gain a better understanding of how water users managed uncertainty regarding their long-term water supplies. The Indian water rights settlement process was made possible through a reconfiguration of major institutional, legal, and policy arrangements that dictate the allocation of water supplies in Arizona.
ContributorsKilloren, Daniel (Author) / Hoerder, Dirk (Thesis advisor) / Hirt, Paul (Committee member) / Smith, Karen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The act of moving water across basins is a recent phenomenon in Arizona water policy. This thesis creates a narrative arc for understanding the long-term issues that set precedents for interbasin water transportation and the immediate causes--namely the passage of the seminal Groundwater Management Act (GMA) in 1980--that motivated Scottsdale, Mesa, and Phoenix to acquire rural farmlands in the mid-1980s with the intent of transporting the underlying groundwater back to their respective service areas in the immediate future. Residents of rural areas were active participants in not only the sales of these farmlands, but also in how municipalities would economically develop these properties in the years to come. Their role made these municipal "water farm" purchases function as exchanges. Fears about the impact of these properties and the water transportation they anticipated on communities-of-origin; the limited nature of economic, fiscal, and hydrologic data at the time; and the rise of private water speculators turned water farms into a major political controversy. The six years it took the legislature to wrestle with the problem at the heart this issue--the value of water to rural communities--were among its most tumultuous. The loss of key lawmakers involved in GMA negotiations, the impeachment of Governor Evan Mecham, and a bribery scandal called AZScam collectively sidetracked negotiations. Even more critical was the absence of a mutual recognition that these water farms posed a problem and the external pressure that had forced all parties involved in earlier groundwater-related negotiations to craft compromise. After cities and speculators failed to force a bill favorable to their interests in 1989, a re-alignment among blocs occurred: cities joined with rural interests to craft legislation that grandfathered in existing urban water farms and limited future water farms to several basins. In exchange, rural interests supported a bill to create a Phoenix-area groundwater replenishment district that enabled cooperative management of water supplies. These two bills, which were jointly signed into law in June 1991, tentatively resolved the water farm issue. The creation of a groundwater replenishment district that has subsidized growth in Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima Counties, the creation water bank to store unused Central Arizona Project water for times of drought, and a host of water conservation measures and water leases enabled by the passage of several tribal water rights settlements have set favorable conditions such that Scottsdale, Mesa, and Phoenix never had any reason to transport any water from their water farms. The legacy of these properties then is that they were the product of the intense urgency and uncertainty in urban planning premised on assumptions of growing populations and complementary, inelastic demand. But even as per capita water consumption has declined throughout the Phoenix-area, continued growth has increased demand, beyond the capacity of available supplies so that there will likely be a new push for rural water farms in the foreseeable future.
ContributorsBergelin, Paul (Author) / Hirt, Paul (Thesis advisor) / Vandermeer, Philip (Committee member) / Smith, Karen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Jacob D. Green's slave narrative breaks standards surrounding slave narratives and wrote a strong, unique story that allowed his audience to relate to his human characters. His narrative has unprecedented qualities that make his autobiography distinctive. An attempt to locate him in historical documents proved inconclusive and some of his stories elaborated, but his narrative is still a valuable piece of literature that gives historians a glimpse into slavery in the United States and the abolition movement in England.
ContributorsLepore, Amanda Lynn (Author) / Schermerhorn, Calvin (Thesis director) / Soares, Rebecca (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The Grand Canyon is one of the most well-recognized natural features in the world, but it is also a cultural landscape. The way that the interpretation of this natural and cultural landscape has changed over time reveals a great deal about what values Americans place on scenic areas (especially national parks), how they want to experience them, what stories they want to be told there, and what cultural values were important in America at the time. This dissertation traces how the interpretation of Grand Canyon has changed over time from its earliest history until the present day, particularly focusing on National Park Service (NPS) interpretation of the site. It argues that the process involved in developing NPS interpretation at Grand Canyon National Park involved give and take between the local and national levels of the NPS, but also relied heavily on public engagement and interests. It also explores two sub themes, examining the degree to which Native American perspectives have been incorporated into Grand Canyon National Park interpretation, and how important individual personalities have been in shaping interpretation at the Park. Ultimately, the dissertation reveals that interpretation was a complex act, based upon dynamic interrelationships between author and audience, between professional objectives and public and private pressures, and between what messages the NPS wanted to convey and what visitors told the NPS they wanted to hear.
ContributorsGerke, Sarah Ruth (Author) / Hirt, Paul (Thesis advisor) / Warren-Findley, Janelle (Committee member) / Sargent Wood, Linda (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
Political Notes is a podcast that explores the history of music and musicians over the past several decades and their influence on the political spectrum. Using the case studies of The Chicks and Taylor Swift, Political Notes displays the integration of politics in music and its acceptance by the public, giving musicians the power to change the opinions of their listeners. Political Notes exposes a politician's worst nightmare, as we can expect to see a future where musicians collaborate with politicians to help certain individuals get elected and others to be left behind.
ContributorsDubey, Neha (Author) / Schmidt, Peter (Thesis director) / Broberg, Gregory (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Books are constantly changing. For this project I looked at books and how they have changed over time. Starting with just before the Gutenberg Printing Press was invented and ending with the introduction of the Internet this project tracked those changes over time and looked at how they changed how people read, who read, and what this said about the people at the time. First, I looked at how books changed physically. At the time of the Gutenberg Printing Press vellum and parchment were being used for the pages of books and illuminated manuscripts made some volumes works of art. Now with the Internet greatly influencing books, that format is radically different. Different materials allowed for books to be made more cheaply and when this happened more people were able to afford them. I also looked at aspects of books like publishing and where the books were sold and how that made a difference in how and why people read. Through all of my research I kept a blog and this allowed me to be almost part of the history and research I was doing. This blog will eventually become an eBook. Books have not only shaped history and people but have been shaped by history. Books are a vital part of helping to spread information and while they will keep changing especially with the Internet, books will never disappear.
ContributorsAdams, Kennedy Rei (Author) / Tebeau, Mark (Thesis director) / Soares, Rebecca (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The Norman invasion and conquest of England in 1066, led by Duke William "the Conqueror," is well-known in British history; less well-known is the fact that the conquest caused a group of Norman Jews to immigrate to England. These immigrants were the first significant population of Jews to ever reside in England, and by about 1100, distinct communities of Jews had established themselves in several cities throughout the country. However, Jewish life in England came to an abrupt end less than two-hundred and thirty years after its beginning when King Edward I expelled the entire Jewish population from England in 1290. The edict of expulsion was approved by the English parliament on June 18, 1290, and there are no surviving records of what happened in that meeting or why Edward decided to banish the Jews. Accordingly, there are a host of questions that need answering if one is to propose a explanation. For example, what could compel Edward I, who struggled financially and was deeply in debt for the duration of his reign, to expel the people who had been the crown's greatest asset for two centuries? Why did the king break the charter which specifically placed the Jews under the monarchy's protection? Why was the aristocracy so intent on getting rid of the Jews who, on several occasions, kept the baronies financially afloat through generous loans? My goal in writing this thesis is threefold: first, to provide a concise but clear account of this extraordinarily specific section of history; second, to present the information in such a way that those who read it might be convinced that the Expulsion was, in fact, primarily motivated by financial factors; and third, to identify several structural and institutional factors which were critical to the Jews' experiences in medieval England.
ContributorsMiller, Drew Beaupre (Author) / Tirosh-Samuelson, Hava (Thesis director) / Barth, Jonathan (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
My creative thesis project is titled “NOTEworthy HERstory: A Feminist Exploration of Prominent Women in Pop Music.” Specifically, I seek to answer this research question: what is the dynamic, reciprocal relationship between these prominent female artists’ music and careers with feminist theory? In other words, I am exploring how feminist theory influenced their work, and also how their work influenced feminist theory and our societal understanding and appreciation of women’s lives. This topic incorporates history, sociology, musicology, and feminist theory. I have presented my findings about specific female artists through a series of four podcast episodes. I selected Carole King, Tina Turner, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift as the subjects for the episodes because they each jumped out to me as being highly connected to specific feminist themes: waves of feminism, patriarchy, intersectionality, and power, respectively.
ContributorsHott, Sydney (Author) / Carrasco, Clare (Thesis director) / Dove-Viebahn, Aviva (Committee member) / Espaillat Lizardo, Mónica (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
This dissertation explores how the written word and natural and cultural landscapes entwine to create a place, the process by which Arizona's landscapes affected narratives written about the place and how those narratives created representations of Arizona over time. From before Arizona became a state in 1912 to the day its citizens celebrated one hundred years as a state in 2012, words have played a role in making it the place it is. The literature about Arizona and narratives drawn from its landscapes reveal writers' perceptions, what they believe is important and useful, what motivates or attracts them to the place. Those perceptions translated into words organized in various ways create an image of Arizona for readers. I explore written works taken at twenty-five year intervals--1912 and subsequent twenty-five year anniversaries--synthesizing narratives about Arizona and examining how those representations of the place changed (or did not change). To capture one hundred years of published material, I chose sources from several genres including official state publications, newspapers, novels, poetry, autobiography, journals, federal publications, and the Arizona Highways magazine. I chose sources that would have been available to the reading public, publications that demonstrated a wide readership. In examining the words about Arizona that have been readily available to the English-reading public, the importance of the power of the printed word becomes clear. Arizona became the place it is in the twenty-first century, in part, because people with power--in the federal and state governments, boosters, and business leaders--wrote about it in such a way as to influence growth and tourism sometimes at the expense of minority groups and the environment. Minority groups' narratives in their own words were absent from Arizona's written narrative landscape until the second half of the twentieth century when they began publishing their own stories. The narratives about Arizona changed over time, from literature dominated by boosting and promotion to a body of literature with many layers, many voices. Women, Native American, and Hispanic narratives, and environmentalists' and boosters' words created a more complex representation of Arizona in the twenty-first century, and more accurately reflected its cultural landscape, than the Arizona represented in earlier narratives.
ContributorsEngel-Pearson, Kimberli (Author) / Pyne, Stephen (Thesis advisor) / Hirt, Paul (Thesis advisor) / Adamson, Joni (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014