Sustainability and Social Justice
The Sustainability and Social Justice department (formerly International Development, Community, and Environment or IDCE) is home to scholar-practitioners pursuing solutions to pressing challenges in the 21st century. Our mission is to strive for a more just and sustainable world. We embrace the complexity of urgent social, political, and ecological problems and seek to approach these challenges through multidisciplinary teaching and learning, collaborative scholarship, and innovation.
Complex challenges require novel solutions built on a deep, multifaceted understanding of the task at hand. For example, how can we support marginal communities as they adapt to the impacts of climate change? When do market forces succeed in increasing wealth and well-being, and when do they fail? What gives rise to health disparities across communities and countries, and how can we address them? The Sustainability and Social Justice community engages in translational, hands-on research that defies disciplinary categorization, and is uniquely effective.
Faculty Works from 2025
Autoethnography and duoethnography in comparative and international education, Nigel Brissett
The Work and Lives of Agricultural Workers, Cynthia Caron
Keeping a feminist curiosity in critical military studies: In conversation with Cynthia Enloe, Cynthia Enloe and Daniel Conway
End of Sri Lanka civil war (2009), Jude Fernando
Pope Francis elected to head Roman Catholic Church (2013), Jude Fernando
Commentary on Over-Looked Spaces: Theorizing Surveillance-Care in Reproductive Health, Ellen Foley
Delinking Development: Material and Epistemic Justice and Caribbean Reparations, Tavis D. Jules and Nigel Brissett
Mixed teff (Eragrostis tef, Poaceae) cultivation and consumption among smallholder farmers in South Wollo Zone, Ethiopia, Daniel Melese, Zemede Asfaw, Zerihun Woldu, Bakila Warkineh, Endale Amare, Alex C. McAlvay, and Morgan Ruelle
Faculty Works from 2024
Micro-scale transformations in sustainability practices: Insights from new migrant populations in growing urban settlements, Mumuni Abu, Samuel N.A Codjoe, Neil W. Adger, Sonja Fransen, Dominique Jolivet, Ricardo Safra De Campos, Maria Franco Gavonel, Charles Agyei-Asabere, and Anita Fábos
Minority Voices from the Academic Superstructure, Erold K. Bailey, Nigel Brissett, and Carol TY. Bailey
Complex, diverse and changing agribusiness and livelihood systems in the Amazon [Complexidade, diversidade e mudanças no cenário agricultural na Amazônia], Francisco de Assis Costa, Eduardo D. Assad, Denise Humphreys Bebbington, Eduardo S. Brondizio, Philip M. Fearnside, Rachael Garrett, Susanna Hecht, Sebastian Heilpern, David McGrath, Gustavo Oliveira, Henrique Dos Santos Pereira, and Marianne Schmink
Integrative collaborative design of research-based, climate-change resilience engineering education: Insights from México-Lerma-Cutzamala hydrological region, Timothy Downs, Ravi Hanumantha, Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger, Morgan Ruelle, Nigel Brissett, and Marisa Mazari-Hiriart
Illustrating climate-change resilience engineering: Conceptual design of water supply and wastewater/stormwater system for the México-Lerma-Cutzamala hydrological region, Timothy Downs, Ravi Hanumantha, Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger, Morgan Ruelle, and Marisa Mazari-Hiriart
The potential of Ethiopian medicinal plants to treat emergent viral diseases, Mekbib Fekadu, Ermias Lulekal, Solomon Tesfaye, Morgan Ruelle, Nigist Asfaw, Tesfaye Awas, Kebu Balemie, Kaleab Asres, Sebastian Guenther, Zemede Asfaw, and Sebsebe Demissew
On the verge of an economic collapse and an uprising Changing character of Sri Lankan CSOs, Udan Fernando, Jude Fernando, and Bodh Maathura
Before amplification: the role of experts in the dynamics of the social attenuation and amplification of risk, Lisbet Fjaeran, Kenneth Pettersen Gould, and Rob Goble
Manganese in residential drinking water from a community-initiated case study in Massachusetts, Alexa Friedman, Elena Boselli, Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger, Wendy Heiger-Bernays, Paige Brochu, Mayah Burgess, Samantha Schildroth, Allegra Denehy, Timothy Downs, Ian Papautsky, and Birgit Clauss Henn
Migrants as sustainability actors: Contrasting nation, city and migrant discourses and actions, Claudia Fry, Emily Boyd, Mark Connaughton, Neil W. Adger, Maria Franco Gavonel, Caroline Zickgraf, Sofia Fransen, Dominique Jolivet, Anita Fábos, and Ed Carr
The need for more inclusive deliberation on ethics and governance in agricultural and food biotechnology, Catherine Kendig, Theresa Selfa, Paul B. Thompson, Raymond Anthony, Wenda Bauchspies, Gwendolyn Blue, Ashmita Das, Rebecca Harrison, Chris Henke, Shan Jin, Jennifer Kuzma, Forbes Lipschitz, Kurt Lichter, Morgan Ruelle, Timothy Silberg, and Bruno Takahashi
Not just a simple survey: A case study of pitfalls in interdisciplinary, multiorganizational, multinational research for development, Fleur B.M. Kilwinger, Cynthia Caron, Anne M. Reitveld, and Ynte K. van Dam
Digital human rights storytelling and its palimpsests: (De-) constructed images of ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, Ken MacLean
Bridging and breaking silos: Transformational governance of the migration–sustainability nexus, Caroline Zickgraf, Dominique Jolivet, Claudia Fry, Emily Boyd, and Anita Fabos
Faculty Works from 2023
At home in the field, in the field at home? Reflections on power and fieldwork in familiar settings, Arda Bilgen and Anita Fabos
(Re)thinking material and epistemic futures: Caribbean reparations, development, and education, Nigel O.M. Brissett and Tavis D. Jules
Climate Services and Transformational Adaptation, Edward Carr
Commentary: Transitions, policy, and implementation through a feminist lens, Edward Carr
Home and forced migration, Giorgia Donà, Cathrine Brun, and Anita Fábos
On Women’s International Thought: A New History, the Joseph Fletcher prize forum, Cynthia Enloe
Twelve Feminist Lessons of War, Cynthia Enloe
Identification of Groundwater Potential Recharge and Recharge Zones of Tumakuru District Using GIS, Suma Gubbi Ratna, Divyashree Koppa Suresh, and Ravi Hanumantha
COVID-19 responses restricted abilities and aspirations for mobility and migration: insights from diverse cities in four continents, Dominique Jolivet, Sonja Fransen, William Neil Adger, Anita Fábos, Mumuni Abu, Charlotte Allen, Emily Boyd, Edward R. Carr, Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe, Maria Franco Gavonel, François Gemenne, Mahmudol Hasan Rocky, Jozefina Lantz, Domingos Maculule, Ricardo Safra de Campos, Tasneem Siddiqui, and Caroline Zickgraf
Rhythms of the Earth—Editorial Introduction, Karim-Aly S. Kassam, Morgan Ruelle, Christopher P. Dunn, Raj Pandya, and Felice Wyndham
We Shall Overcome: A Case Study of the LGBT Asylum Task Force, a Parish Ministry, Max Niedzwiecki
Nonprofit Political Engagement: The Roles of 501(c)(4) Social Welfare Organizations in Elections and Policymaking, Margaret A. Post and Elizabeth T. Boris
Current practice and recommendations for advancing how human variability and susceptibility are considered in chemical risk assessment, Julia R. Varshavsky, Swati D.G. Rayasam, Jennifer B. Sass, Daniel A. Axelrad, Carl F. Cranor, Dale Hattis, Russ Hauser, Patricia D. Koman, Emily C. Marquez, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Catherine Oksas, Sharyle Patton, Joshua F. Robinson, Sheela Sathyanarayana, Peggy M. Shepard, and Tracey Woodruff
A science-based agenda for health-protective chemical assessments and decisions: overview and consensus statement, Tracey J. Woodruff, Swati D.G. Rayasam, Daniel A. Axelrad, Patricia D. Koman, Nicholas Chartres, Deborah H. Bennett, Linda S. Birnbaum, Phil Brown, Courtney C. Carignan, Courtney Cooper, Carl F. Cranor, Miriam L. Diamond, Shari Franjevic, Eve C. Gartner, Dale Hattis, Russ Hauser, Wendy Heiger-Bernyas, Rashmi Joglekar, Juleen Lam, Jonathan I. Levy, Patrick M. MacRoy, Maricel V. Maffini, Emily C. Marquez, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Keeve E. Nachman, Greylin H. Nielsen, Catherine Oksas, Dimitri Panagopoulos Abrahamsson, Heather B. Patisaul, Sharyle Patton, Joshua F. Robinson, Kathryn M. Rodgers, Mark S. Rossi, Ruthann A. Rudel, Jennifer B. Sass, Sheela Sathyanarayana, Ted Schettler, Rachel M. Shaffer, Bhavna Shamasunder, Peggy Shepard, Kristin Shrader-Frechette, Gina M. Solomon, Wilma A. Subra, Laura N. Vandenberg, Julia R. Varshavsky, Roberta F. White, Ken Zarker, and Lauren Zeise
Faculty Works from 2022
Diversity of Farmers’ Varieties of Faba Bean (Vicia faba L.) in Northeastern and Southwestern Ethiopia, Asmamaw Andualem, Tsinat Legesse, Amsalu Nebiyu, Asmare Dejen, Faris Hailu, Zemede Asfaw, Morgan Ruelle, Alex Mcalvay, Alison Power, and Abush Tesfaye
Caribbean Dreams: Education For More Than Just Sustainable Development, Nigel O.M. Brissett
Showing up “More as My True Self”: Gender and Mushing in the United States, Cynthia Caron and Victoria Beyer
"Health as a Social-technical Enterprise Anchored in Social-ecological Justice and Stakeholder Collaboration: Insights from Mexico-Lerma-Cutzamala Hydrological Region", Timothy Downs, Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger, Morgan Ruelle, Ravi Kumar Hanumantha, Marisa Mazari-Hiriart, Matiana Ramírez-Aguilar, and Carlos Santos-Burgoa
Multiple Metals in Children’s Deciduous teeth: Results from a Community-Initiated Pilot Study, Alexa Friedman, Julia Anglen Bauer, Christine Austin, Timothy Downs, Yorghos Tripodis, Wendy Heiger-Bernays, Roberta White, Manish Arora, and Birgit Claus Henn
What to Expect When You Don’t Know What You are Expecting: Vigilance and the Monitoring and Evaluation of an Uncertain World, Robert Goble, Edward Carr, and Jon Anderson
Tracking Forest Dynamic Trends in Belize: The Role of Protected Areas, Agriculture, and Fire in the South Eastern Selva Maya, Kasyan Green, John Rogan, Laura Sauls, Nicholas Cuba, Roberta Kamille Pennell, and Denise Bebbington
Field Pea Diversity and Its Contribution to Farmers' Livelihoods in Northern Ethiopia, Yirga Gufi, Alemtsehay Tsegay, Morgan Ruelle, Kassa Teka, Sarah Tewolde-Berhan, and Alison Power
Impact Pathways From Climate Services to SDG2 (“Zero Hunger”): A Synthesis of Evidence, James Hansen, Geneva List, Shauna Downs, Edward Carr, Rahel Diro, Walter Baethgen, Andrew Kruczkiewicz, Melody Braun, John Furlow, Kayla Walsh, and Nitin Magima
Is Push-Pull Climate and gender smart for Ethiopia? A review, Ryan W. Kopper and Morgan L. Ruelle
Vaccines and the Social Amplification of Risk, Heidi Larson, Leesa Lin, and Rob Goble
Land-Cover Change and Urban Growth in the Mexico-Lerma-Cutzamala Hydrological Region, 1993–2018, Ethan Manley, Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger, Morgan Ruelle, Ravi Hanumantha, Marisa Mazari-Hiriart, and Timothy Downs
Narrating Agricultural Resilience After Hurricane María: How Smallholder Farmers in Puerto Rico Leverage Self-sufficiency and Collaborative Agency in a Climate-Vulnerable Food System, Abrania Marrero, Andrea Lόpez-Cepero, Ramón Borges-Méndez, and Josiemer Mattei
Using Space–Time Cube to Analyze Trends in Adverse Birth Outcomes and Maternal Characteristics in Massachusetts, USA, Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger and Madeleine Haynes
The Advocacy Universe: A Methodology to Identify Politically Active 501(C)(4) Organizations, Margaret Post, Elizabeth Boris, and Carol Stimmel
Make Way for the 'New King': Farmers' Multifaceted relationships with Eucalyptus Globulus in Northwestern Ethiopia, Morgan Ruelle and Zemede Asfaw
Ecological Calendars, Food Sovereignty, and Climate Adaptation in Standing Rock, Morgan L. Ruelle, Aubrey Joshua Skye, Evan Collins, and Karim-Aly S. Kassam
Social Perception of Systemic Risks, Pia Johanna Schweizer, Robert Goble, and Ortwin Renn
Faculty Works from 2021
CARICOM Caribbean’s HRD 2030 Strategy: Inscribing the Neoliberal Imaginary Through Social Planning?, Nigel O.M. Brissett
‘I left because…’: Caribbean High-Skilled Emigrants’ Reasons to Migrate to the US, Nigel O.M. Brissett
Women’s Insights on Bargaining for Land in Customary Tenure Systems: Land Access as an Individual and Collective Issue, Cynthia Caron
‘Tradescapes’ in the Forest: Framing Infrastructure's Relation to Territory, Commodities, and Flows, Pilar Delpino Marimón, Denise Humphreys Bebbington, Anthony Bebbington, Laura Sauls, Nicholas Cuba, Avecita Chicchon, Susanna Hecht, John Rogan, Rebecca Ray, Oscar Diaz, Susan Kandel, Tracey Osborne, Madelyn Rivera, and Viviana Zalles
Femininity and the Paradox of Trust Building in Patriarchies During Covid-19, Cynthia Enloe
Foreword, Cynthia Enloe
Moving Stories: Methodological Challenges to Mapping Narratives and Networks of People in Diasporas, Anita Fábos, Leora Kahn, and Marianne Sarkis
Evaluating Power Building: Concepts and Considerations for Advocacy Evaluators, Katie Fox and Margaret Post
The Migration-Sustainability Paradox: Transformations in Mobile Worlds, Maria Franco Gavonel, William Neil Adger, Ricardo Safra de Campos, Emily Boyd, Edward R. Carr, Anita Fábos, Sonja Fransen, Dominique Jolivet, Caroline Zickgraf, Samuel NA Codjoe, Mumuni Abu, and Tasneem Siddiqui
Understanding Stakeholder Positionalities and Relationships to Reimagine Asylum at the US–Mexico Border: Observations from McAllen, TX, Halley L. Glier, Emma Gregory, Temperance Staples, Megan Martínez, Anita Fábos, S. E.D. Mitchell, and Timothy J. Downs
Through a Glass Darkly: How Natural Science and Technical Communities Looked at Social Science Advances in Understanding Risk, Robert Goble
Forum: Militarization 2.0: Communication and the normalization of political violence in the digital age, Susan Jackson, Rhys Crilley, Ilan Manor, Catherine Baker, Modupe Oshikoya, Jutta Joachim, Nick Robinson, Andrea Schneiker, Nicole Sunday Grove, and Cynthia Enloe
Medicinal Plants and Health Sovereignty in Badakhshan, Afghanistan: Diversity, Stewardship, and Gendered Knowledge, Munira Karamkhudoeva, Murodbek Laldjebaev, Morgan Ruelle, and Karim Aly Kassam
Engaging Transformation: Using Seasonal Rounds to Anticipate Climate Change, Karim Aly Kassam, Morgan Ruelle, Isabell Haag, Umed Bulbulshoev, Daler Kaziev, Leo Louis, Anna Ullmann, Iriel Edwards, Aziz Ali Khan, Antonio Trabucco, and Cyrus Samimi
Development of a Method to Improve Statistical Forecasts Using Interpolation and Cluster Analysis, Ronald Klimberg and Samuel Ratick
Prologue: The “Brave New World” of Social Sciences in Interdisciplinary Risk Research, Andreas Klinke, Ortwin Renn, and Robert Goble
Troubling the Idealised Pageantry of Extractive Conflicts: Comparative Insights on Authority and Claim-making from Papua New Guinea, Mongolia and El Salvador, Jennifer Lander, Pascale Hatcher, Denise Humphreys Bebbington, Anthony Bebbington, and Glenn Banks
Gender-Disaggregated Seasonal and Daily Calendars of Farmers in Uganda and Tanzania, Pricilla Marimo, Clare Shelton, Cynthia Caron, Rhiannon Crichton, Noel Madalla, Mpoki Shimwela, Rony Swennen, Inge van den Bergh, and Charity Kibooga
Participatory Community Wealth Ranking in Banana-Producing Regions of Uganda and Tanzania, Pricilla Marimo, Clare Shelton, Cynthia Caron, Noel Madalla, Innocent Mpiriirwe, Rhiannon Crichton, Lilian Ndagire, Victor Manyong, Daud Batson Mbongo, and Asher Wilson Okurut
From Digital Divide to Digital Literacies and Mother-Child Pedagogies: The Case of Latina Mothers, Jie Y. Park, Laurie Ross, and Deisy Rodriguez Ledezma
Guest Editorial: Power in Engaged Scholarship: Dimensions and Dynamics of Knowledge Co-Creation, Margaret Post and Morgan Ruelle
Property Rights and Wrongs: Land Reforms for Sustainable Food Production in Rural Mali, Edmond Totin, Alcade Segnon, Carla Roncoli, Mary Thompson-Hall, Amadou Sidibé, and Edward Carr
Faculty Works from 2020
Diversity, Use and Production of Farmers’ Varieties of Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L., Fabaceae) in Southwestern and Northeastern Ethiopia, Betelhem Abera, Menbere Berhane, Amsalu Nebiyu, Morgan Ruelle, Alex McAlvay, Zemede Asfaw, Abush Tesfaye, and Zerihun Woldu
Priorities for Governing Large-scale Infrastructure in the Tropics, Anthony Bebbington, Avecita Chicchon, Nicholas Cuba, Emily Greenspan, Susanna Hecht, Denise Humphreys Bebbington, Susan Kandel, Tracey Osborne, Rebecca Ray, John Rogan, and Laura Sauls
Targets and Technologies: Sayana Press and Jadelle in Contemporary Population Policies, Daniel Bendix, Ellen Foley, Anne Hendrixson, and Susanne Schultz
A Feminist Exploration of ‘Populationism’: Engaging Contemporary Forms of Population Control, Rajani Bhatia, Jade Sasser, Diana Ojeda, Anne Hendrixson, Sarojini Nadimpally, and Ellen Foley
Aquifer Storage and Recovery: Can an Updated Inventory Predict Future System Success?, Frederick Bloetscher, Chi Ho Sham, and Samuel J. Ratick
Community Development Corporations and Reconstruction Policy in Puerto Rico, Ramón Borges-Méndez
Teaching Like a Subaltern: Postcoloniality, Positionality, and Pedagogy in International Development and Education, Nigel O.M. Brissett
Inequitable Rewards: Experiences of Faculty of Color Mentoring Students of Color, Nigel O.M. Brissett
Home-Keeping in Long-Term Displacement, Cathrine Brun and Anita Fábos
Who’s Governing Community Forests? Gendered Participation in Liberian Forest Management, Cynthia Caron, Sheila Onzere, Natalie Elwell, and Edward Carr
Resilient Livelihoods in an Era of Global Transformation, Edward Carr
Identifying Climate Information Services Users and Their Needs in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review and Learning Agenda, Edward Carr, Rob Goble, Helen Rosko, Catherine Vaughan, and James Hansen
From the Virocene to the Lovecene Epoch: Multispecies Justice as Critical Praxis for Virocene Disruptions and Vulnerabilities, Jude Fernando
The Virocene Epoch: the Vulnerability Nexus of Viruses, Capitalism and Racism, Jude Fernando
Use and Management of Tamarind (Tamarindus indica L., Fabaceae) Local Orphotypes by Communities in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, Hailay Girmay, Sarah Tewolde-Berhan, Hadgu Hishe, Zemede Asfaw, Morgan Ruelle, and Alison Power
Analyzing Temporal Trends and Spatial Patterns in adverse Birth Outcomes in Massachusetts from 2000–2014, Madeleine Haynes and Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger
Confronting Populationism: Feminist Challenges to Population Control in an Era of Climate Change, Anne Hendrixson, Diana Ojeda, Jade Sasser, Sarojini Nadimpally, Ellen Foley, and Rajani Bhatia
Developing Composite Indices for Assessing Vulnerability, Ronald Klimberg and Samuel Ratick
Evaluating Effective Performance Using Ordered Weighted Averaging and Data Envelopment Analysis Optimization, Ronald Klimberg and Samuel Ratick
Doing Feminism: A Conversation Between Cynthia Enloe and Roxani Krystalli, Roxani Krystalli and Cynthia Enloe
Gender and Trait Preferences for Banana Cultivation and Use in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Literature Review1, Pricilla Marimo, Cynthia Caron, Inge Van den Bergh, Rhiannon Crichton, Eva Weltzien, Rodomiro Ortiz, and Robooni Tumuhimbise
Spatial patterns of adverse birth outcomes among black and white women in massachusetts – the role of population-level and individual-level factors, Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger and Madeline Haynes
Faculty Works from 2019
Migration Transforms the Conditions for the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, W. Neil Adger, Emily Boyd, Anita Fábos, Sonja Fransen, Dominique Jolivet, George Neville, Ricardo Safra de Campos, and Marjanneke J. Vijge
