Capstone Projects

Money, Power and Landscapes of Consumption

Ana Miscolta-Cameron — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 12:06:26 PST

This paper explores the phenomenon of national parks and reserves in Tanzania as a product of early colonial ideology and the evolution of that ideology into a post-independence capitalist enterprise. Serengeti National Park, Selous Game Reserve and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area are examined as historically contested sites in which indigenous people have been denied customary use rights by successive regimes of power keen on profiting through resource exploitation and tourism. Though this paper’s focus is Tanzania, it attempts to reveal a pattern of colonial and neo-colonial environmentalism widespread throughout the developing world.

The Ingredients of Change: A Political Ecology Approach to Diabetes in the Somali Community of Minnesota

Mina Tehrani — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:01:05 PST

In the early 1990’s, due to political circumstances at home, Somali immigrants and refugees began arriving in the state of Minnesota in large numbers. Over the past two decades, Somali immigrants have come to comprise one of the most populous ethnic groups in the Twin Cities, and are the largest Somali population in the world outside of Eastern Africa. Although quantitative data is unavailable, qualitative evidence and testimonies of healthcare professionals support the conclusion that Somali immigrants in Minnesota suffer from higher rates of diabetes than non-immigrant groups and than they likely did before migration. Why might this be the case? In this paper, I will answer this question by dividing it into several parts. First, I will discuss the phenomenon of migration and the ways in which it can impact health. I will then move on to the adaptation approach based in the cultural ecology framework. This approach will shed light on the ways in which Somali migrant lives and livelihoods have changed, and the ways these changes may have contributed to a higher risk for diabetes. I will argue, however, that the adaptation approach has shortcomings that can be addressed by the framework of political ecology. This framework is useful in analyzing political economy, scale, spatial/historical interconnections, and discourse in Somali health. I will conclude by providing several recommendations for healthcare providers and policy makers.

Talking Trash and Getting Wasted: A Political Ecology of Consumption and Waste Management in the Saint Paul

Margaret Pearson — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 07:31:23 PST

Article discusses the historical mechanisms that create a consumer culture, and the consequences of this culture, specifically the waste created.

Global Mamas or Local Mamas: Analyzing the Effectiveness of Consumption at Alleviating Poverty

Natalie Locke — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:13:58 PST

Machiguenga Mobilization in the Peruvian Amazon: An Analysis of COMARU as an Effective Change Agent

Casey Shannon Harrington — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:50:44 PST

COMARU (Consejo Machiguenga del Río Urubamba) is an indigenous organization that promotes the rights of thirty native Amazonian communities in the face of the Camisea Project, a massive natural gas extraction project. The state has consistently ignored negative health, environmental, and cultural impacts from five spills that have occurred in the natural gas pipeline, and the communities the right of consultation granted to them in the International Labor Organization’s Convention 169. This paper, using interviews with Machiguenga community members and COMARU leadership in addition to political ecology scholarship, analyzes the success of COMARU’s politicized and depoliticized strategies. Through the use of four criteria, it determines that while the organization needs to make several changes to how it operates as a change agent, it is generally successful due to its ability to navigate unequal power structures within Peru and genuinely listen to the voices of the communities.