UCLA

Global climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic recession, and social and racial unrest have tested conventional thinking about environmental health, economies, governance, and socio-cultural relations in the State of New York. This thesis questions whether proposed and implemented responses are sustainable through a desk-review case study analysis of global, unintended tertiary consequences. The introduction foregrounds problems to consider as the state transitions to a new normal. It does so by problematizing the Executive Order, New York Forward: A Guide to Reopening New York & Building Back Better. From there, it proceeds to introduce the methodology behind anticipating and identifying global, unintended tertiary consequences, with a focus on the Congo Basin and the Democratic Republic of Congo as the situated region and nation of Analysis. Thereafter is a description of the results, followed by a discussion on New York State Consolidated Law and sustainable business and consumer cultures. Last, a conclusion that summarizes the broader implications of the research. Overall, this thesis advances the need to study and problematize the application of epistemological framings undergirding newer forms of state governance, social mobilization, and capitalism. For, theory and praxis do not always marry.