Publications
Peer-Reviewed
‘Water and Gender’ by Martina Angela Caretta and Brandon Anthony Rothrock
Oxford Encyclopedia of Education
Water relations are gendered, and there are various, differential socio-ecological and power dynamics that reify those relations at different spatial scales. There are multiple examples across the Global North and Global South that pinpoint the diverse productive and reproductive uses of water by men and women. Women, for instance, are more likely to be excluded from water management and decision making, while men are in control of water for agricultural production. Neoliberal framings of water in economic terms may exacerbate gender inequalities as neoliberal policies are often blind to the complex politics and power embedded in gender relations and water. Emerging literature on embodiment and waterscapes confronts neoliberal framings of water by theorizing the everyday lived experience of disenfranchised groups excluded from water management. Gendered studies of water relations focus largely on women, with limited attention to men. Male usage of water is often presented in relation to their role in water infrastructure management and design and water for leisure. As climate change becomes a more pressing issue in general society, existing uneven gendered relations of water resource use will be further exacerbated. . .
‘Exploring Climate Change Perspectives. An Analysis of Undergraduate Students’ Place-Based Attachment in Appalachia, USA’ by Martina Angela Caretta, Brandon Anthony Rothrock, and Nicolas P. Zegre
Rural Sociology
Despite global scientific consensus, climate change is a highly controversial and politicized issue in the United States. Grounded in two quantitative survey iterations with approximately 446 responses, 28 semi-structured interviews, and 4 focus groups with 60 undergraduate students from six state universities in the Appalachian region, this five-year study explores the role of place-based attachment and emotions in framing undergraduate students' climate change perspectives. Results show that the rural, socioeconomic status of Appalachia affects students' perspectives toward climate change and the barrage of information they are exposed to—whether scientific or media or from family—triggers uncertainty and inaction in them. They, in fact, think that climate change is happening elsewhere and will not necessarily affect them. We consider the importance, particularly in natural resource, extraction-dependent areas of the US, to better understand students' perspectives of climate change, given their role as current and future voters and policymakers. We argue that an emotional and place-based analysis of students' identities helps to frame climate change as an issue impacting themselves and their communities, prompting students to better articulate their perspectives on climate change.
Book Reviews
Review of ‘Second World, Second Sex: Socialist women’s activism and global solidarity during the Cold War’ by Kristen Ghodsee
Progress in Development Studies
Kristen Ghodsee’s Second World, Second Sex: Socialist Women’s Activism and Global Solidarity during the Cold War sheds light on the forgotten history of leftist women’s activism of the ‘Second World’, a bloc of state socialist countries in Eastern Europe. Ghodsee offers an alternate historiography of global women’s movements, one in which state socialist activism is at the forefront of international debates on women’s rights. The book serves as an important window into the communist and socialist women’s movements, taking the time to shed light on important and necessary information to deconstruct the neoliberal, Eurocentric viewpoint that dominates modern history and feminist theory. Utilizing case studies from Bulgaria and Zambia, Ghodsee examines feminist networks that developed between the Second and Third Worlds, and how alliances between state socialist and non- aligned, but socialist-leaning, countries formed to challenge Western leadership in the global women’s movement. . .
Review of ‘Revolutionary Feminisms: Conversations on collective action and radical thought’ edited by Brenna Bhandar and Rafeer Ziadeh
Gender, Place & Culture
Revolutionary feminisms: conversations on collective action and radical thought catalogs interviews with key revolutionary scholars and traces the ways in which scholars devise anti-capitalist, anti-imperialistic and anti-racist feminist frameworks of thought and analysis (1). Central to present-day events and happenings in global politics, such as the rise of authoritarianism, rampant and unchecked neoliberal capitalism, and climate change, this edited volume provides conversations with ten scholars who share a belief that freedom requires revolutionary transformation within each facet of society and across multiple scales. Dialogue with scholars such as Angela Y. Davis, Gary Kinsman, and Gail Lewis produce what editors Bhandar and Ziadeh call a ‘collective memory of struggle’ (3) in which the interviewees examine the histories, archives, and written works of feminists and their contributions to analyses of con- temporary struggle through the formation of new conceptual tools and praxis. . .
Review of ‘After repeal: Rethinking abortion politics’ edited by Kath Browne and Sydney Calkin
Gender, Place & Culture
After Repeal: rethinking abortion politics sheds light on the May 25, 2018 Irish referendum to ‘Repeal the 8th’, a constitutional amendment passed in 1983 that restricted legal abortion. After the referendum results resoundingly voted to repeal the amend- ment, abortion legislation was debated and then passed, prompting legal abortion services to be instituted in Ireland in the following year. This edited volume provides an analysis of the ‘culture war’ of abortion politics that ensued, both nationally and internationally, following the vote. The volume is separated into three main parts. . .
Public-Facing
‘They Love To Tout They’re Green’: Pushing for University Action on Climate Change
The Rachel Carson Council
Colleges and universities are massive hubs of education, research, and innovation. As more and more data on climate change is produced by faculty and students at the world’s leading universities, the college campus has been transformed into a sustainability mecca. Facilities upgrades in the form of recycling and composting operations, HVAC-system repairs, and renewable energy projects on college campuses continue to make national news. Just recently, Penn State partnered with Lightsource bp to supply almost 25% of the University’s state-wide electricity needs, thereby reducing the University’s overall greenhouse gas emissions by 57,000 metric tons of CO2e per year. Projects such as these exemplify the facilities changes that colleges and universities are willing to invest in for the future. . .
Bigger Problems, Bigger Fish to Fry: Individual or Corporate Responsibility for Climate Change?
The Rachel Carson Council
Debates on climate action often center around one question: Whose responsibility is it? More times than not, the burden of responsibility falls to the individual. You and I are expected to engage in sustainable practices such as taking shorter showers, buying local, and using reusable bags and water bottles. In theory, such efforts, as long as they are done by a majority of the population, can add up and make a significant dent in carbon emissions. Sustainable practices are also thought to “catch on” with family and friends, making the task of tackling climate change and its associated emissions within reach. . .
The Clock That Ticks Down: Climate Change Worry and Mental Health
The Rachel Carson Council
In September 2020, an art installation dubbed the ‘Climate Clock’ sat atop big-box stores like Nordstrom and Best Buy in New York City’s Union Square, counting down the years, days, hours, minutes, and seconds until an unavoidable climate catastrophe. Installed for Climate Week, the Clock showed how much time is left to curb greenhouse gas emissions enough to keep the Earth under a 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature increase. Limiting global warming to a 1.5-degree increase, as noted by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in a 2018 Special Report, is necessary to avoid irreversible climate change impacts — sea level rise, increased disasters such as flooding and wildfires, and the complete devastation of coral reef ecosystems. In the midst of a global pandemic, as the clock ticked down, New Yorkers looked on helpless, worried and afraid.
Visualizing Climate Change: Are Opinion Maps Telling the Full Story?
The Rachel Carson Council
Collecting public opinion on global warming and climate change is instrumental in influencing decision-making and policy for the reduction and mitigation of future impacts. Yet, the way public opinion is collected differs across scale, from the national to the local level.
National-level statistics, which are often more easily attainable and cost-effective, can gloss over important differences in opinion at smaller scales such as counties and metropolitan areas. In an effort to combat these inconsistencies, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC) developed a model that breaks down national public opinion to smaller scales of measurement, allowing for rich data visualization that speaks to the diversity of Americans’ beliefs, attitudes and policy support. . .
Climate Change: Understanding Place-Based Identity as Sea Ice Vanishes
The Rachel Carson Council
For many Alaskan Native and other Indigenous peoples and tribes across present-day Canada and the United States, climate change has directly affected traditional ways of life. Chuathbulak, a Yup’ik village in southwest Alaska, is made up of less than 100 people. The geographically isolated village is only accessible via boat or plane in the summer and by either plane or driving over frozen rivers during the winter. The isolation strains food availability within the community, as the village’s two grocery stores often only carry non-perishable items that have been flown in over hundreds of miles from the lower 48. Even when perishable items such as fruits and vegetables are made readily available, their price is often so high that families simply cannot afford to purchase them. . .
Hurricanes and Marginalization: How Climate Disasters Affect LGBTQ+ People
The Rachel Carson Council
In the early morning of August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina battered the coastal shores of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The Category 4 hurricane brought extreme flooding, resulting in the failure of New Orleans’ aging levee system. Torrential downpours, combined with the inundation of the city’s two rivers, led to 80% of New Orleans being underwater. Local agencies tasked with providing aid and community support were immobilized, prompting widespread chaos as residents struggled to find adequate food, shelter, and clean water. Many of the tens of thousands of residents that stayed behind huddled in shelters such as the Mercedes Superdome, where tensions ran high, supplies ran low, and the threat of waterborne bacteria became an increasing concern. Others chose to evacuate and seek shelter in the surrounding inland areas of Louisiana, creating massive traffic jams that left evacuees stranded on the interstate. . .