Collaborative Research: Gender, Environment, and Change: Exploring Shifting Roles in an Inupiat Community

这项环境人类学研究将提供一个详细的人种学图片的方式，阿拉斯加原住民社区正在应对全球挑战，同时保留和实践他们的核心土著价值观，在面对许多不确定性。以前的研究已经确定，土著群体和妇女是受明显的政治、经济和环境变化影响的最脆弱群体。在这项研究中，研究人员试图审查对全球化进程和重大社会环境变化的性别反应，以及妇女在这些变化中的角色转变。这项研究将提供一个深入的研究，性别，多代人的反应，具体的当代变化在巴罗，阿拉斯加州，一个伊努皮亚特生存为基础的社区和北极斜坡地区的经济和行政中心。虽然人们普遍认识到，妇女在该区域发挥着重要的提供者作用，但在混合经济体不断变化、环境监管日益加强、石油和天然气勘探和开采不断增加以及环境发生明显变化的背景下，鉴于新的职业和教育机会，需要对妇女“工作”的不断演变的性质进行更多的研究。借鉴传统生态知识和政治生态学的理论框架，PI提出了几个主要的研究问题：1）如何在当地生计最近的变化重塑话语和实践的意思是什么，在变化的时代，在巴罗的女性提供者？2)妇女的工作与社区福祉之间有什么联系？3)最近当地生计的变化在多大程度上影响了妇女培养多样性和创造自我组织和自决机会的能力？妇女如何参与地方和区域政治网络并发挥领导作用？研究设计以女权主义和参与式研究方法为指导;研究人员在研究设计中建立了方法上的灵活性，使当地研究团队和顾问能够帮助塑造项目的方向。该项目使用混合方法，结合参与者观察，半结构化访谈，关键案例研究和社会网络分析。在世界各地的土著管理战略中，妇女的作用一直是代表性不足的一个方面，该项目承认妇女是被赋予权力的个人，她们往往促进其社区的福祉。因此，这项研究提供了一个重要的机会，探讨人类学和资源管理的应用问题，重视妇女的传统生态知识和临时作用，在激烈的转变。调查人员还预计，这项研究对巴罗社区将是有用和有意义的，并将对面临类似挑战的其他土著群体有更广泛的应用。他们希望他们的研究，包括当地人在研究过程中的协作和参与性，并提供额外的机会，提供培训和促进有关研究和道德的对话，将作出重大贡献，无论是在巴罗和国际讨论的研究人员，研究计划和当地社区之间的适当关系的研究和教育活动。

This environmental anthropology study will provide a detailed ethnographic picture of the ways in which Alaska Native communities are responding to global challenges while at the same time retaining and practicing their core indigenous values in the face of many uncertainties. Previous research has identified indigenous groups and women as some of the most vulnerable populations affected by pronounced political, economic, and environmental shifts. In this study the researchs seek to examine gendered responses to the processes of globalization and significant social-environmental change and the shifting roles of women in the midst of such changes. This research will provide an in-depth study of the gendered, multigenerational responses to specific contemporary changes in Barrow, Alaska, an Iñupiat subsistence-based community and economic and administrative hub of Arctic Slope region. While it is widely recognized that women play important roles as providers in this region, more research is needed on the evolving nature of women's "work" given new vocational and educational opportunities in the context of shifting mixed economies, increasing regulation of the environment, cumulative oil and gas exploration and extraction, and pronounced environmental change. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of traditional ecological knowledge and political ecology, the PIs ask several primary research questions: 1) How do recent shifts in local livelihoods reshape discourses and practices on what it means to be a female provider in Barrow in changing times? 2) What are the linkages between women's work and community well-being? 3) To what extent have recent shifts in local livelihoods impacted the ability of women to nurture diversity and create opportunities for self-organization and self-determination? and 4) How are women participating in, and providing leadership to, local and regional political networks? The research design is guided by feminist and participatory research approaches; the researchers have built methodological flexibility into their research design to enable the local research team and advisors to help shape the direction of the project. The project uses mixed methods, combining participant observation, semi-structured interviews, critical case studies, and social network analysis. Women's roles have been an underrepresented aspect of indigenous management strategies worldwide and this project recognizes women as empowered individuals who often foster the well-being of their communities. Thus, this research provides an important opportunity to explore applied concerns in anthropology and resource management by valuing women's traditional ecological knowledge and provisional roles during a time of intense shifts. The investigators also anticipate that this research will be useful and meaningful for the community of Barrow and will have broader applications to other indigenous groups facing similar challenges. They hope the collaborative and participatory nature of their research, including local people in the research process and providing additional opportunities to provide trainings and foster dialogue about research and ethics, will make a significant contribution to both the research and educational activities in Barrow and international discussions about the appropriate relationships between researchers, research programs, and local communities.