The Organization of Local Solid Waste and Recycling Markets: Public and Private Provision of Services

We study determinants of market organization of local public services by an empiricalexamination of one of the most visible municipal services, residential waste management. Usinga multinomial logit model and data for 1,000 U.S. communities, we explore the effect of politicalinfluence, voter ideology, environmental constraints, production costs (i.e., “economies ofdensity”), and contracting transaction costs on a community’s choice of market arrangement forwaste collection and recycling. We find that cost factors are a significant determinant of servicedelivery method. In contrast, few of the political variables are statistically significant. Theseresults hold for our models of both waste and recycling, lending further evidence to theconclusion that local governments emphasize costs when choosing between private and publicprovision.Market organization, solid waste management, state and local government

An exploratory study of how attitudes affect the eating habits of children who are mentally ill.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Disillusionment and Fear: The Impact of Zambia’s Religio-Political Climate on Sexual and Reproductive Health Organisations

Various trends affect the operations of civil society organisations related to sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH) in Zambia. Firstly, there is a dramatic unmet need for SRH services, and organisations are scrambling to meet this need in the face of many barriers. This is coinciding with increasing political repression on civil society, especially targeting civil society organisations (CSO) with politically sensitive underpinnings. A Christian demographic and institutional revival is reshaping the social and moral framework of the Republic. This research investigates the context of SRH organisations in Zambia and assesses how organisations related to SRH are impacted by the religious-political environment. Results were found through a literature review and semi-structured interviews in Lusaka, Zambia with stakeholders relevant to this issue. It was found that the work of SRH CSOs is implicitly controlled by both the government and religious institutions through legal and extra-legal measures. As a result of this context, the study found changes in CSO issue focus, CSO relationships and attitudes toward the government, and CSO operational security and sustainability. By controlling public spaces and obstructing freedom of assembly and expression, the state is obstructing the Zambian people’s access to healthcare. A key finding is that as undemocratic as the current regime’s actions are, more detrimental to the Zambian health sector than government repression may be how CSOs are responding to it. Organisations are responding with disillusionment and aversion to political engagement as a result of shrinking political space, Christianity, and the invasive stigmas of SRH work in Zambia

Black faces and their emotions

None provided

Disillusionment and Fear: The Impact of Zambia’s Religio-Political Climate on Sexual and Reproductive Health Organisations

Various trends affect the operations of civil society organisations related to sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH) in Zambia. Firstly, there is a dramatic unmet need for SRH services, and organisations are scrambling to meet this need in the face of many barriers. This is coinciding with increasing political repression on civil society, especially targeting civil society organisations (CSO) with politically sensitive underpinnings. A Christian demographic and institutional revival is reshaping the social and moral framework of the Republic. This research investigates the context of SRH organisations in Zambia and assesses how organisations related to SRH are impacted by the religious-political environment. Results were found through a literature review and semi-structured interviews in Lusaka, Zambia with stakeholders relevant to this issue. It was found that the work of SRH CSOs is implicitly controlled by both the government and religious institutions through legal and extra-legal measures. As a result of this context, the study found changes in CSO issue focus, CSO relationships and attitudes toward the government, and CSO operational security and sustainability. By controlling public spaces and obstructing freedom of assembly and expression, the state is obstructing the Zambian people’s access to healthcare. A key finding is that as undemocratic as the current regime’s actions are, more detrimental to the Zambian health sector than government repression may be how CSOs are responding to it. Organisations are responding with disillusionment and aversion to political engagement as a result of shrinking political space, Christianity, and the invasive stigmas of SRH work in Zambia

The Heritage of Repression: Memory, Commemoration, and Politics in Post-Soviet Russia

This dissertation focuses on portrayals of victims and perpetrators at sites related to Soviet repression in contemporary Moscow and Yekaterinburg, Russia. Its aim is to explore the different ways in which site stakeholders choose to interpret victims and perpetrators: specifically, how they handle the issue of intertwined grieving and blaming when the categories of ‘victim’ and ‘perpetrator’ are not always clear. It also aims to understand the broader political and sociocultural attitudes underlying why different groups choose various forms of ‘grievability’ and ‘blameability’. Millions of Soviet citizens were victimized in successive waves of Soviet repression, yet there has been little critical study of the tangible and intangible heritage of these acts of violence as they are inscribed (or not) on today’s Russian cityscapes. The idea of ‘grievability’ was developed by Judith Butler; I have developed a typology of grievability that can be used to compare who is being grieved at each site and why each site’s caretakers and stakeholders make these choices. The dissertation then goes beyond grievability to introduce the concept of ‘blameability’, which I propose in order to analyze how blame is assigned at each site. I have developed a typology of blameability that can be used to categorize whom each site blames for the violence that affected the victims memorialized there. For each individual or group identified at a site, their respective degrees of grievability and blameability can be plotted on a chart, allowing for a more thorough and holistic view of how each site’s stakeholders view and portray the issue of intertwined victimhood and perpetration. Finally, the case study data are brought together in order to draw conclusions about overarching attitudes towards the tangible and intangible legacies of Soviet repression in Russia. Linked theorizations of ‘accountability’ and ‘repentability’ are also introduced and their ramifications addressed.My PhD was funded by the Gates Cambridge Trust, while I also received financial support from the Jesus College Doctoral Support Fund, the Dorothy Garrod Memorial Trust, Banco Santander, and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung

Charles the Bald: the Story of an Epithet

For centuries, historians have followed the lead of their forebears by using standardized names to refer to people and events. The use of 'Charles the Bald' to refer to Charlemagne's grandson has been reinforced via centuries of copying, paraphrasing, and citing historical documents. The sobriquet is now inextricably linked to the man. But in the simple process of writing the epithet, it is easy to forget how much complexity is distilled into one word. Any sophisticated metaphors or hidden meanings have been nearly erased by time. But, this one word carries a wealth of nuance in meaning and intentions. Any analysis of this nickname must attempt to reconnect with the medieval mindset and understand how to reconcile the simplicity of the epithet with the complexity of the man. The investigation of Carolus Calvus (Charles the Bald) must consider not only Charles' own legacy and physical reality, but also evaluate the nickname as part of a larger naming phenomenon. Furthermore, understanding the way the medieval mind saw hair and baldness is instrumental in understanding the possible deeper meanings behind Charles' epithet. Was Charles the Bald actually bald? Here are the facts: first, the true origin of Carolingian epithets (nicknames given to the kings of Charles' dynasty) will never be known, but their use and proliferation were certainly fueled by the need to distinguish between the overlapping names of the Carolingians. Second, the alliterative nickname Carolus Calvus, could come from as early as 869 or as late as the 10th century. The earliest written use of the epithet appears in a manuscript dated to the 10th century. However, the document is a copy of a text originally drafted before 869. Thus, the nickname could either be contemporary with Charles as a part of the original text or created up to a century after his death and added for clarity in the tenth century copy. Third, Hucbald's incredible alliterative poem on baldness, his Ecloga de Calvus (In Praise of Bald Men), was not written for Charles, as many historians once believed, but it does demonstrate that bald men were ridiculed in the ninth century and symbolically ties baldness to virtue and holiness. Fourth, Charles' grandson, Baldwin II of Flanders was known as 'the bald' by the 11th century; he seemingly inherited the nickname despite not being bald himself. In their analysis of Charles' nickname, many historians conclude that the meaning is obvious and undeniable, that Charles was simply bald. Regardless of how much time these scholars spend analyzing other Carolingian epithets such as Charlemagne (Charles the Great), Louis the Pious, or Charles the Simple, Charles the Bald was 'obviously' bald. From the facts and theories cultivated during this thesis, however, there is no reason to believe that Charles was truly bald. There are no images or descriptions of a bald king and a significant lack of mocking from Charles' enemies and detractors. Furthermore, Charles certainly had hair into his early adulthood and the poet Hucbald, who lived in Charles' court for a time, does not address the king directly in his poem praising of bald men. Charles may have been called the bald in his lifetime, as the adoption of the epithet by his grandson would suggest, yet the nickname's earliest recorded use can only be certainly dated to the late tenth century. It is entirely possible that Charles' byname and its use by his grandson were invented by post-contemporary historians looking to distinguish between the Carolingians and make their mark on Charles' legacy. A non-physical baldness could symbolize any number of things via its negative associations with old-age, immorality, and low status or positive associations with humility, piety, and prudence. For Charles, it likely referenced a symbolic infertility tied to Charles' difficulty in producing a suitable male heir as well as the subsequent sunset of the Carolingian dynasty.</p