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WELCOME I am a graduate student in cultural anthropology at the University of
Oregon. My research is broadly concerned with the intersection of political ecology, discourse,
and gender in the Windward Islands of the Eastern Caribbean. Specifically, I am interested in the
interplay between ideas and practices of sustainable
development and existing systems of food production and consumption as well as how such interactions influence
and influenced by gender. Women and women’s economies are often
differentially impacted by formalized development
initiatives. My current
research on the island of Dominica focuses on women’s networks
of food production in relation to new sustainable development
projects designed to shift production to meet organic agriculture standards. This project seeks to understand and contextualize the
sustainable development processes at work in Dominica and the ways in which such
initiatives are changing and changed by Dominican society, particularly as
represented through the lives of women
engaged in the agricultural economy. In understanding
the nature of sustainability both in theory
and practice - what it is, how, when, and why it is mobilized, and its
results - my research helps to assess the value, potential, and risks associated with sustainable
development programs. In the future, I hope to expand my research to include comparative
studies within and among several neighboring islands in the Eastern
Caribbean, namely St. Lucia and Guadeloupe. I have also conducted previous research in hexagonal France on
heritage, identity, and the modernization of produits
de terroir (France’s regional-specific food
products). |
