Date of Award

Summer 8-31-2025

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Business Administration

First Advisor

David Levy

Second Advisor

Benyamin Lichtenstein

Third Advisor

Oana Branzei

Abstract

Notions of Global Production Networks (GPNs) are popular approaches to studying the complex, dispersed, and socially embedded production of goods and services. Yet, these concepts have largely struggled with incorporating environmental resources, risks, and actors. My dissertation leverages insights from Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to contextualize ecological elements of production as coequal participants with social stakeholders. I describe how GPNs are ecologically embedded and nested within the natural environment. I draw from ANT to develop a GPN framework that internalizes ecological dimensions. The second chapter in this dissertation develops these ideas and provides theoretical framing for further empirical chapters. The third chapter focuses on the decline of the Atlantic cod fishery in New England by analyzing the economic and cultural impacts of this ecological crisis within the community of Gloucester, Massachusetts. In the fourth chapter, I study efforts toward regenerative organizing inspired by diverse and contested visions of the future.

Comments

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