Browsing by Subject "Science, technology, and environmental policy"

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    The lived-experiences of Latino meatpacking workers in a small midwest town: an existential and emotional conflict of migration
    (2014-07) Alvarez de Davila, Silvia
    This phenomenological study adds understanding of the experiences of Latino workers in the meat-processing industry in rural Midwest as thousands of people, and a large number of Latino immigrants work in the meat and poultry plants in rural Midwest. Data was collected through in-depth, open-ended interviews. The purpose of the interviews was to gather data from the participants' perspective about their experiences and the meaning they made of these experiences while working in the meat plant and living in a small Midwest town. The stories of 10 Latino meat packing workers constituted the text to examine the phenomenon as a single case, to relate it to its universal qualities, and then come back to its particularities to understand the meaning of the experience. Seven major themes were found core to the phenomenon of being a Latino worker in the meat packing industry in rural Midwest: feeling forced to make the decision, willing to make it "no matter what", reaching the American dream: a job at the plant, living like a machine, becoming the "desired unwanted", life in two places, and the "payoff" . Participants of this study represented immigrants who came from high-poverty communities in Mexico and Central America with limited social and economic resources. This study supported theories of economics of migration labor force segmentation, and social capital; as well as foundations of meaning of work. Participants in this study face a difficult, painful, dangerous life, less enjoyable than they hoped, but profitable enough to become economic providers here and now. At their new community they live, deal with sociological struggles derived from their lack of information and skills to look for better opportunities, and their needs to fulfill commitments and loyalties. They feel discriminated and isolated while raising families and children and facing the existential and emotional conflict of migration.
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    Rulemaking, public comments and participation: a case study of genetically engineered organisms.
    (2011-07) Wolf, Katie Elizabeth
    For the oversight of emerging technologies and their products, public comment periods on proposed federal rules is one of the most popular methods of gaining public insight into public values and opinions about emerging technologies in federal rulemaking. Many science and technology scholars suggest that this level of participation is not effective, or broad enough according to democratic and ethical principles. In this analysis, we set out to examine this issue using the case study of genetically engineered organisms (GEOs) in the food supply and recent proposed rule changes coming from the primary regulatory body for these products, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health and Inspection Services (USDA-APHIS). This paper addresses the issue of public participation looking at the following areas of research: 1) what are the substantial differences between the old and new proposed regulations for GEOs, 2) what stakeholder groups comment on proposed rules 3) what do the comments say about the proposed rule (as expressed through formal public comments on the Federal Register notice) and 4) to what degree should these comments be taken into consideration by the agency in final rule-making process? Stakeholder groups that have participated in the comment period on this new rule have been identified and the substance of their comments have been examined in order to consider group-diversity and potential patterns of opinions based on affiliation, expertise, demographics, or culture to determine the extent and substance of participation through comment and rule making. Stakeholders were identified, and public comments from these stakeholders were analyzed based on thematic coding schemes in the software NVivo. Areas were identified from these comments that need to be addressed if APHIS should choose to publish the final rule. The method of public participation also was examined using democratic theory and the literature on public participation, including perspectives and social goals of public participation. Negotiated rulemaking was identified as a method to resolve conflict between competing interests and educate and inform the public about issues.