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UMI/ProQuest URL |
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http://80-wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/fullcit/3158285 |
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PUBLICATION NUMBER |
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TITLE |
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Preventing Mautam: Participatory action research and phenomenology at work to avoid rat-induced famine in Mizoram, India |
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AUTHOR |
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Grossman, Valerie |
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DEGREE |
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PhD |
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SCHOOL |
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FIELDING GRADUATE INSTITUTE |
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DATE |
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2005 |
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PAGES |
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288 |
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ADVISER |
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Bentz, Valerie Malhotra |
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ISBN |
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SOURCE |
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DAI-A 65/12, p. 4744, Jun 2005 |
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SUBJECT |
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SOCIOLOGY, PUBLIC AND SOCIAL WELFARE (0630); SOCIOLOGY, SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT (0700); ANTHROPOLOGY, CULTURAL (0326) |
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ABSTRACT |
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This dissertation is the study of a participatory action research project in Mizoram, India. The purpose of the project was in concert with Mizo partners, to develop a strategic plan for prevention of the next predicted famine. Historically, famine has occurred as the result of extreme rodent outbreaks after the blooming of the Melocanna baccifera bamboo every 48–50 years. The last blooming occurred in 1959, after which the people of Mizoram experienced famine. The next blooming of this specific species is forecast to occur sometime between 2005 and 2007. The general goal of the research was the use of participatory action research with determined best interest of the Mizo people. The specific goals were first to document elder lived experience, and then to use that along with other gathered information to work with a representational group in developing a viable strategic action plan to avert the next predicted famine. This study of the participatory action research is expressed through the use of narrative, differentiation, and phenomenology-of-self theory and methodology. The framework is representational, relational, and reflective knowledge to better understand how the research was accomplished in a Third World culture. Stopping to notice my self interacting with the culture coupled with actually letting go of preplanned action enabled the participatory action research to move forward. |