Date of Award
Spring 6-10-2016
Author Requested Restriction
Open Access (no embargo, no restriction)
Work Type
Masters Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS)
Department
Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences
First Advisor
Charles Williams
Second Advisor
Caroline Hartse
Abstract
This mixed-methods study addresses social construction of home and belonging for residents of a vice labor and military veteran class in Bremerton, Washington, a US military manufacturing and base city. This thesis seeks to explain how some workers and residents in the city of Bremerton, Washington have been historically marginalized, even as their roles, framed as patriotic contributions, have been integral to the socioeconomic efforts and successes of the dominant militarized culture. I explore how study participants make meaning of their experiences – some in gendered and sexualized vice labor in service to military and federal personnel, and some who negotiate social changes after their withdrawal from service in the military – within this community that privileges its military presence and facilities. Demographic data demonstrate the economic and social effects of the city’s federal alliance; many residents in the city’s rejuvenation area are not benefitting from an association with the socially enforced militaristic hegemony, either as service workers or as veterans of military service, despite their contributions to the city’s patriotic military alliance. In conflict with the dominant narrative, a sense of community and belonging play an important role in the lives of participants, indicated by how they view their social and labor contributions to the community, how they negotiate the social hierarchy of the community, and how they envision a future Bremerton that affords them fully applied legal, civil, and social citizenship. This study contributes to multidisciplinary discourses on urban studies, environmental psychology, internal colonialism, and class and gender theory.
Recommended Citation
Fern, Anna K., "A Temporary Hometown: Gendered Labor and Social Citizenship in Bremerton, Washington, a Domestic Military Colony" (2016). MAIS Projects and Theses. 48.
https://digitalcommons.tacoma.uw.edu/ias_masters/48
Included in
Community-Based Research Commons, Human Geography Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Labor Economics Commons, Political Economy Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons, Urban Studies and Planning Commons, Work, Economy and Organizations Commons