The Politics of the "New North": Putting History and Geography at Stake in Arctic Futures

References to a “New North” have snowballed across popular media in the past 10 years. By invoking the phrase, scientists, policy analysts, journalists and others draw attention to the collision of global warming and global investment in the Arctic today and project a variety of futures for the region and the planet. While changes are apparent, the trope of a “New North” is not new. Discourses that appraised unfamiliar situations at the top of the world have recurred throughout the twentieth century. They have also accompanied attempts to cajole, conquer, civilize, consume, conserve and capitalize upon the far north. This article examines these politics of the “New North” by critically reading “New North” texts from the North American Arctic between 1910 and 2010. In each case, appeals to novelty drew from evaluations of the historical record and assessments of the Arctic’s shifting position in global affairs. “New North” authors pinpointed the ways science, state power, capital and technology transformed northern landscapes at different moments in time. They also licensed political and corporate influence in the region by delimiting the colonial legacies already apparent there. Given these tendencies, scholars need to approach the most recent iteration of the “New North” carefully without concealing or repeating the most troubling aspects of the Arctic’s past.

The Spatial Signature of Biotic Interactions of a Clonal and a Non-clonal Palmetto in a Subtropical Plant Community

Spatial analyses of plant-distribution patterns can provide inferences about intra- and interspecific biotic interactions. Yet, such analyses are rare for clonal plants because effective tools (i.e., molecular markers) needed to map naturally occurring clonal individuals have only become available recently. Clonal plants are unique in that a single genotype has a potential to spatially place new individuals (i.e., ramets) in response to intra- and interspecific biotic interactions. Laboratory and greenhouse studies suggest that some clonal plants can avoid intra-genet, inter-genet, and inter-specific competition via rootplacement patterns. An intriguing and yet to be explored question is whether a spatial signature of such multi-level biotic interactions can be detected in natural plant communities. The facultatively clonal Serenoa repens and non-clonal Sabal etonia are ecologically similar and co-dominant palmettos that sympatrically occur in the Florida peninsula. We used amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) to identify Serenoa genets and also to assign field-unidentifiable small individuals as Sabal seedlings, Serenoa seedlings, or Serenoa vegetative sprouts. Then, we conducted univariate and bivariate multi-distance spatial analyses to examine the spatial interactions of Serenoa (n=271) and Sabal (n=137) within a 20x20 m grid at three levels, intragenet, intergenet and interspecific. We found that spatial interactions were not random at all three levels of biotic interactions. Serenoa genets appear to spatially avoid self-competition as well as intergenet competition. Furthermore, Serenoa and Sabal were spatially negatively associated with each other. However, this negative association pattern was also evident in a spatial comparison between non-clonal Serenoa and Sabal, suggesting that Serenoa genets’ spatial avoidance of Sabal through placement of new ramets is not the explanation of the interspecific-level negative spatial pattern. Our results emphasize the importance of investigating spatial signatures of biotic as well as abiotic interactions at multiple levels in understanding spatial distribution patterns of clonal plants in natural plant communities.

An Analysis of Capacities, Moral Hierarchies, and the Moral Status of Non-Human Animals in Contemporary Animal Rights Work

The primary objective of this thesis is to demonstrate the pernicious impact that moral hierarchies have on our perception and subsequent treatment of non-human animals. Moral hierarchies in general are characterized by a dynamic in which one group is considered to be fundamentally superior to a lesser group. This thesis focuses specifically on the moral hierarchies that arise when humans are assumed to be superior to non-human animals in virtue of their advanced mental capabilities. The operative hypothesis of this thesis is essentially that moral hierarchies thwart the provision of justice to non-human animals in that they function as a justification for otherwise impermissible actions. When humans are assumed to be fundamentally superior to non-human animals then it becomes morally permissible for humans to kill non-human animals and utilize them as mere instrumentalities. This thesis is driven primarily by an in-depth analysis of the approaches to animal rights that are provided by Peter Singer, Tom Regan, and Gary Francione. Each of these thinkers claim that they overcome anthropocentrism and provide approaches that preclude the establishment of a moral hierarchy. One of the major findings of this thesis, however, is that Singer and Regan offer approaches that remain highly anthropocentric despite the fact that each thinker claims that they have overcome anthropocentrism. The anthropocentrism persists in these respective approaches in that each thinkers gives humans Regan and Singer have different conceptions of the criteria that are required to afford a being moral worth, but they both give preference to beings that have the cognitive ability to form desires regarding the future.. As a result, a moral hierarchy emerges in which humans are regarded to be fundamentally superior. Francione, however, provides an approach that does not foster a moral hierarchy. Francione creates such an approach by applying the principle of equal consideration of interests in a consistent manner. Moreover, Francione argues that mere sentience is both a necessary and sufficient condition for being eligible and subsequently receiving moral consideration. The upshot of this thesis is essentially that the moral treatment of animals is not compatible with the presence of a moral hierarchy. As a result, this thesis demonstrates that future approaches to animal rights must avoid the establishment of moral hierarchies. The research and analysis within this thesis demonstrates that this is not a possibility, however, unless all theories of justice that are to accommodate animals abandon the notion that cognition matters morally.

Expanding Women's Worlds?: Development, Gender, and Environment in Rural Morocco

This honors thesis is an anthropological exploration of women's cooperatives in two regions of rural Morocco. Specifically, I am interested in how contemporary development projects such as the cooperative are understood by the peoples of these regions. By conducting first-hand ethnographic research among women's cooperatives in two drastically different environments of rural Morocco, I gain further insight into the roles that culture and geography play in determining the 'success' of cooperatives inlocal communities. In using the term 'success,' I will compare notions of success as used by both Western development organizations as well as local people in Morocco. I examine and analyze the very delicate and complex interaction that occurs between largely Western development agencies and local cultures particularly through the lens of gender. I will also convey the importance of an exchange of cultural practices through development projects rather than the imposition of one cultural system on another. In writing this thesis, I hope to contribute to the growing field of the anthropologyof development, a subset of cultural anthropology that examines international development practices and the economic, social, and political factors that have an impact on the local culture. I examine cooperatives from the perspectives of both the people whoparticipate in them through personal interviews as well as development institutions through an ongoing body of published literature. Focusing on gender implications that such development initiatives have on the rural cultures of Morocco, I argue that gender identities are crucial aspects of local cultures that must be addressed within development practices. On a broader scale, I argue that a deeper knowledge of local cultures is essential if development agencies are to be 'successful' in non-Western cultures.

Social Cognition And Functional Brain Imaging: Extending The Broader Autism Phenotype

Evidence suggests that the social cognition deficits prevalent in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are widely distributed in first degree and extended relatives. This ¿broader autism phenotype¿ (BAP) can be extended into non-clinical populations and show wide distributions of social behaviors such as empathy and social responsiveness ¿ with ASDs exhibiting these behaviors on the lower ends of the distributions. Little evidence has previously shown relationships between self-report measures of social cognition and more objective tasks such as face perception in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and event-related potentials (ERPs). In this study, three specific hypotheses were addressed: a) increased social ability, as measured by an increased Empathy Quotient, decreased Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-A) score, and increased Social Attribution Task score, will predict increased activation of the fusiform gyrus in response to faces as compared to houses; b) these same measures will predict N170 amplitude and latency showing decreased latency and increased amplitude for faces as compared to houses with increased social ability; c) increased amygdala volume will predict increased fusiform gyrus activation when viewing faces as compared to houses. Findings supported all of the hypotheses. Empathy scores significantly predicted both right FFG activation [F(1,20) = 4.811, p = .041, ß = .450, R2 = 0.20] and left FFG activation [F(1,20) = 7.70, p = .012, ß = .537, R2 = 0.29]. Based on ERP results increased right lateralization face-related N170 was significantly predicted by the EQ [F(1,54) = 6.94, p = .011, ß = .338, R2 = 0.11]. Finally, total amygdala volume significantly predicted right [F(1,20) = 7.217, p = .014, ß = .515, R2 = 0.27] and left [F(1,20) = 36.77, p < .001, ß = .805, R2 = 0.65] FFG activation. Consistent with the a priori hypotheses, traits attributed to the BAP can significantly predict neural responses to faces in a non-clinical population. This is consistent with the face processing deficits seen in ASDs. The findings presented here contribute to the extension of the BAP from unaffected relatives of individuals with ASDs to the general population. These findings also give continued evidence in support of a continuous distribution of traits found in psychiatric illnesses in place of a traditional, dichotomous ¿all-or-nothing¿ diagnostic framework of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders.