Research and Projects

Dissertation

Abstract

This project seeks to build upon existing scholarship on relational ontology, nonviolence, and the feminist ethics of care by conceptualizing militarization as a form of cultural hegemony. Feminist theorists have criticized the widespread theoretical basis that the human condition is one of individuation, competition, and violence, rather than one of interdependency and care. Other scholars have argued for the efficacy of civil disobedience and other nonviolent strategies, some of whom even contending that a world without war is the final stage in a teleological process. In this project, I examine how common perceptions of human nature, violence, and war's inevitability function as the dominant reality that prevents humanity from moving beyond militarized violence. By understanding these perceptions as a tool of the ruling class, rather than an essential Truth about what it means to be human, we create space for a psychological shift to take place. To move beyond militarized violence, ordinary people must release the dead dogma that is an inherently violent existence. Instead, human beings will need to consider what human nature can be, a state of interdependence that centers our common humanity. 


The Gendered Landscape After the Nuclear Age: Applying a Critical Feminist Framework to Environmental Justice 

Abstract

This project argues that applying a critical feminist approach to environmental justice problems will better equip both scholars and activists to develop more inclusive, farther-reaching solutions to environmental justice issues. I describe a series of environmental injustices the U.S. government inflicted on the Skull Valley Goshute and apply analyses drawn from both feminist political theory and indigenous political theories. By applying gender as a critical lens, we can better understand the effects of identity differences and appreciate the insights gained from the environmental justice movement's pluralism. This project also draws attention to the similarities between indigenous ideas of relationality and well-being to the interdependence and emphasis on meeting needs present in care ethics. In doing so, the paper proposes a framework for environmental justice theorizing which brings feminist political thought into dialogue with indigenous ideas. 

Migration as a Correlate of War: The Role of Immigration in Wartime Myth

Abstract

Drawing from previous scholarship on immigration, militarized violence, and political survival, I argue that government officials and other political figures will capitalize on salient immigration patterns to create or perpetuate existing nationalist myth. Myth, as conceptualized by Hedges (2014) is a culturally pervasive wartime narrative in which people see themselves and their country as heroes in a struggle against evil. Myth has the power to establish a dichotomy between "us” and "them" which fuels both patriotic and divisive attitudes, often to the point of violence. I theorize that leaders and others in positions of authority will exploit myth by presenting immigration as a crisis. As a result, members of the public, motivated by feelings of anxiety and uncertainty, seek comfort under the familiar banner of national identity. Citizens’ sense of unity and respect for the state then provides more job security for the leader. I employ text analysis of speeches from prominent political figures during both the Spanish-American War (1898) and the U.S. colonization of Hawai'i (1893) to test my hypothesis. To develop criteria for mythic themes, I draw from feminist and decolonial political theory. The text analysis (preliminary) results reveal that the myths in these two conflicts were perpetuated by themes including: spreading 'civilization,' protection, righteousness of the cause, unity, national identity, exceptionalism, paternalism, honor, patriotism, and obligation.