From Social Movements to Non-Governmental Organizations: Civil Society and Local Environmental Governance Under Fordism and Neoliberalism.

In this dissertation I use qualitative methods and comparative historical analysis to explore the emergence of neoliberal environmental governance, which emphasizes harnessing market efficiencies and public-private partnerships with a particular emphasis on non-governmental organizations (NGOs). I draw on my analysis of three decades of remediation activities under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) in the Detroit River and Buffalo River Areas of Concern (AOCs), including 22 interviews with current and past participants, attendance at local meetings and regional conferences, and thousands of pages of government documents and reports, to argue that contemporary forms of governance mark a sharp break from an earlier Fordist industrial era in which the ultimate responsibility for protecting the environment rested with the welfare state and civil society’s participation came through the vehicle of social movements. Key to my analysis is the distinction between NGOs, which engage in governance activities and within institution channels, and social movements, which are collective actions for change operating outside of existing institutional channels. I draw on social movement theory to explore how the social composition of citizen participants shaped the form of civil society’s involvement in each AOC. I argue that the framework of grassroots social movements best explains the initial trajectory of citizen participation in Detroit. The racially and economically diverse citizen participants encountered significant opposition from state regulators and industry, which eventually led, in 1996, to the collapse of this round of remediation actions. Initial citizen participation in the Buffalo River AOC followed the logic of professional social movement organizations as middle class professionals worked closely with state employees and industrial representatives in a process notable for its relative harmony. Remedial activities in the Buffalo River AOC, and the Great Lakes Basin as a whole, stalled In the early 2000s, both AOCs converged on a neoliberal model of governance in which a local NGO became the lead agency responsible for implementing the GLWQA. I conclude that this resulted in a “democratic paradox” as a more formal role for civil society resulted in narrower forms of participation, marginalizing the voices of the working class and people of color.PHDSociologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/99790/1/avanalst_1.pd

Academic freedom in Europe: time for a Magna Charta?

This paper is a preliminary attempt to establish a working definition of academic freedom for the European Union states. The paper details why such a definition is required for the European Union and then examines some of the difficulties of defining academic freedom. By drawing upon experience of the legal difficulties beset by the concept in the USA and building on previous analyses of constitutional and legislative protection for academic freedom, and of legal regulations concerning institutional governance and academic tenure, a working definition of academic freedom is then derived. The resultant definition which, it is suggested, could form the basis for a European Magna Charta Libertatis Academicae, goes beyond traditional discussions of academic freedom by specifying not only the rights inherent in the concept but also its accompanying duties, necessary limitations and safeguards. The paper concludes with proposals for how the definition might be tested and carried forward

Tipping the balance: the impact of eelgrass wasting disease in a changing ocean

Infectious disease has the potential to cause devastating damage to valuable marine organisms and habitats. Eelgrass wasting disease (EGWD), caused by the pathogenic protist Labyrinthula zosterae (LZ), has caused mass die-offs in Zostera marina at regional and global scales. Despite this, little is known about the host-pathogen interaction or disease drivers in the Salish Sea. To determine the regional impact of EGWD, we measured summer prevalence and severity in the San Juan Islands, Padilla Bay, Hood Canal, South Puget Sound, and Willapa Bay. We used cultures and quantitative PCR to verify results, measuring LZ load in lesioned tissue from multiple sites. EGWD was present at all 16 sites surveyed, with prevalence ranging from 80% disease prevalence. Recent data suggest water temperature increases the virulence of LZ, indicating possible climate sensitivity. At our sites, water temperatures influenced both EGWD prevalence and severity, suggesting environmental conditions and climate change could impact the eelgrass-LZ relationship and lead to increased virulence. We ran a three-week controlled experiment to examine the impact of LZ infection on eelgrass shoots over time. We exposed half the eelgrass shoots to LZ infection and sampled shoots at seven time points. All exposed shoots showed signs of infection. EGWD severity and lesion number increased through time, corresponding with a measurable decrease in leaf and root growth and increased phenols. Our results show EGWD is widespread in Washington state eelgrass beds and suggests that EGWD severity is positively correlated with water temperature. Furthermore, EGWD has a detrimental effect on eelgrass health, potentially contributing to decreased density and meadow declines. While levels of EGWD in the field are variable, we identified four sites that are experiencing high prevalence. Further research is needed to understand the conditions leading to EGWD outbreaks

Species-speciWc defense strategies of vegetative versus reproductive blades of the PaciWc kelps Lessonia nigrescens and Macrocystis integrifolia

Chemical defense is assumed to be costly and therefore algae should allocate defense investments in a way to reduce costs and optimize their overall fitness. Thus, lifetime expectation of particular tissues and their contribution to the fitness of the alga may affect defense allocation. Two brown algae common to the SE Pacific coasts, Lessonia nigrescens Bory and Macrocystis integrifolia Bory, feature important ontogenetic differences in the development of reproductive structures; in L. nigrescens blade tissues pass from a vegetative stage to a reproductive stage, while in M. integrifolia reproductive and vegetative functions are spatially separated on different blades. We hypothesized that vegetative blades of L. nigrescens with important future functions are more (or equally) defended than reproductive blades, whereas in M. integrifolia defense should be mainly allocated to reproductive blades (sporophylls), which are considered to make a higher contribution to fitness. Herein, within-plant variation in susceptibility of reproductive and vegetative tissues to herbivory and in allocation of phlorotannins (phenolics) and N-compounds was compared. The results show that phlorotannin and N-concentrations were higher in reproductive blade tissues for both investigated algae. However, preferences by amphipod grazers (Parhyalella penai) for either tissue type differed between the two algal species. Fresh reproductive tissue of L. nigrescens was more consumed than vegetative tissue, while the reverse was found in M. integrifolia, thus confirming the original hypothesis. This suggests that future fitness function might indeed be a useful predictor of anti-herbivore defense in large, perennial kelps. Results from feeding assays with artificial pellets that were made with air-dried material and extract-treated Ulva powder indicated that defenses in live algae are probably not based on chemicals that can be extracted or remain intact after air-drying and grinding up algal tissues. Instead, anti-herbivore defense against amphipod mesograzers seems to depend on structural traits of living algae

Designing for emergence and innovation: Redesigning design

We reveal the surprising and counterintuitive truth that the design process, in and of itself, is not always on the forefront of innovation. Design is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the success of new products and services. We intuitively sense a connection between innovative design and emergence. The nature of design, emergence and innovation to understand their interrelationships and interdependencies is examined. We propose that design must harness the process of emergence; for it is only through the bottom-up and massively iterative unfolding of emergence that new and improved products and services are successfully refined, introduced and diffused into the marketplace. The relationships among design, emergence and innovation are developed. What designers can learn from nature about emergence and evolution that will impact the design process is explored. We examine the roles that design and emergence play in innovation. How innovative organizations can incorporate emergence into their design process is explored. We demarcate the boundary between invention and innovation. We also articulate the similarities and differences of design and emergence. We then develop the following three hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: “An innovative design is an emergent design.” Hypothesis 2: “A homeostatic relationship between design and emergence is a required condition for innovation.”Hypothesis 3: “Since design is a cultural activity and culture is an emergent phenomenon, it follows that design leading to innovation is also an emergent phenomenon” We provide a number of examples of how design and emergence have worked together and led to innovation. Examples include the tool making of early man; the evolutionary chain of the six languages speech, writing, math, science, computing and the Internet; the Gutenberg printing press and techniques of collaborative filtering associated with the Internet. We close by describing the relationship between human and naturally “designed” systems and the notion a key element of a design is its purpose as is the case with a living organism