| 1. |
- Lalander, Rickard, et al.
(författare)
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The Discursive Paradox of Environmental Conflict : Between Ecologism and Economism in Ecuador
- 2018
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Ingår i: Forum for Development Studies. - : Routledge. - 0803-9410 .- 1891-1765. ; 45:3, s. 485-511
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ecuador in times of the Rafael Correa government constitutes a prime example of the paradox of environmental conflict, in which all involved actors claim to represent the true vanguard concerning safeguarding of the environment and human conditions. The country presents the ecologically most progressive constitution in the world and also incorporates far-reaching recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights. Notwithstanding, the economy remains reliant on extractivism and the government argues that the revenues of extractive industries benefit the common good. Anchored in a distinction between environmentalism and ecologism, this article identifies and problematizes dominant narratives among the actors of the contentious discursive scenarios, and analyses how the state and its ecological-indigenous opposition aim to position themselves within the political conflict. The central questions are: How are eco-progressive politics perceived, defined and expressed in this setting of an intercultural and plurinational society economically reliant on natural resource extraction? Which values, interests and ontological assumptions are at stake and how are these expressed in the discursive struggle? The research is based on several years of ethnographic fieldwork, combined with critical reading of the previous literature and discourse analysis. The article contributes to politico-environmental debates in Ecuador and beyond and shows that environmental struggle is entangled in broader political disputes conditioned by global economic structures. It likewise communicates with debates on argumentative discourse and illustrates that the same core arguments can constitute the argumentative basis of rivalling actors in political struggles, thus emphasizing the centrality of the contextual framing amid ontological divides in contentious discursive settings.
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| 2. |
- Porsani, Juliana
(författare)
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Livelihood Implications of Large-Scale Land Concessions in Mozambique : A case of family farmers’ endurance
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis examines the process and the implications of large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) for local livelihoods, especially the livelihoods of those who make a living from farming. These individuals were historically known as peasants and are now more commonly referred to as smallholders, small-scale farmers or family farmers. What happens to their livelihoods as land under their control is allocated to investors?Promoters of LSLAs stress that when land acquisitions are preceded by community consultations, there may be synergism between investors’ activities and local livelihoods. Accordingly, local farmers are expected to gain from, for example, closer ties to the market and new livelihood alternatives such as formal employment. Differently, critical voices contend that despite sound legislation on the matter, in practice LSLAs constitute drivers of dispossession, being therefore disguised land grabs. This research seeks to fill a knowledge gap on the immediate local livelihood implications of LSLAs. By employing a case study design in Mozambique (one of the countries targeted by recent LSLAs), this thesis adds empirical evidence that is crucial to the above-named theoretical debate involving LSLAs.The analyzed case is pivoted by a Chinese company that in 2012 was granted 20,000 hectares in the lower Limpopo region. Despite legislation that asserts the legality of customary land occupation, in practice, land was seized without adequate consultation and compensation. Consequently, local farmers lost the most fertile areas. Nonetheless, farmers were able to regain or maintain access to farmland that was more peripheral and of worse quality. Concomitantly, the company generated a small number of jobs and created a contract farming scheme that, despite bottlenecks, benefited farmers who were able to handle risk. In general, families who lost land and those who entered the contract farming scheme strive to keep a foothold on farmland – a strategy that is partly explained by the economic rationale of seeking to meet the consumption needs of current and future generations. Additionally, family land is embedded with symbolic value (illustrated, for example, by individuals’ relations with ancestors buried in family land). The existence of symbolic and thus immaterial values that land embodies poses insurmountable challenges to the idea that it is possible to achieve fair compensation for the loss of land and the environment in general.This study shows the renewed pressure (now through the hands of private actors backed by public efforts) placed on family farmers, derived livelihood trends (i.e., the overall precarization of family farming, the widening of economic inequality, and the feminization of poverty), and family farmers’ continuous endurance. Ultimately, this study illustrates local processes and livelihood implications of LSLAs in Mozambique, and likely also in contexts marked by similar democratic deficits and renewed incursions over valuable land that is intensively used.
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| 3. |
- Lalander, Rickard, et al.
(författare)
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Interculturality from Below : Territoriality and Floating Indigenous Identities in Plurinational Ecuador
- 2020
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Ingår i: Ciencias Políticas y Relaciones Internacionales. - Quito-Ecuador : Universidad de Las Américas. - 1390-7131 .- 2588-1035. ; 9, s. 129-158
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This text problematizes the perceptions and visions held by leading spokespersons of the indigenous movement regarding the challenges and dilemmas related to the advancement of the Plurinational State and the intercultural society in post-2008 Ecuador. From a constructivist viewpoint, the study emphasizes that different factions of the indigenous movement nurture varying connotations of the tension-ridden plurinationality-interculturality nexus, depending on their historical relationship with the territory and the nature of their ethnocultural identity. Theoretically drawing on theories of deliberative democracy and indigeneity-territoriality, the article constitutes a synthesis of previous debates on the subject, backed up by years of ethnographic work in the field. A central finding indicates a relative consensus that Plurinational Ecuador must be built on inclusion and cross-ethnic co-operation. However, according to the interviewees, harmonious interculturality will not materialize without the grassroots-led practical implementation of the Plurinational State.
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| 4. |
- Newlove-Eriksson, Lindy, et al.
(författare)
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Governance Beyond the Global: Who Controls the Extraterrestrial?
- 2013
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Ingår i: Globalizations. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1474-7731 .- 1474-774X. ; 10:2, s. 277-292
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- How is outer space governed? This article argues that private authority is gaining salience in space politics, even with respect to the traditionally state-centric security and military aspects of space. Further, while commercial actors have always played a role in space programs, three significant changes can be detected: transnational conglomerates and consortia as opposed to individual corporations are emerging as key partners in space politics; private partners are gaining stronger and wider responsibilities for the development and management of space programs (including manned spaceflights); and public accountability is increasingly at stake due to a widening of security in space policy. The latter development includes a blurring of key distinctions between military and civilian usage (also referred to as dual-use or dual-role application), as well as between the public and private realms.
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| 5. |
- Lalander, Rickard, et al.
(författare)
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The Andean Catch-22 : ethnicity, class and resource governance in Bolivia and Ecuador
- 2018
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Ingår i: Globalizations. - : Routledge. - 1474-7731 .- 1474-774X. ; 15:5, s. 636-654
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study deals with the tensions and contradictions between resource governance, welfare policies, and the constitutionally recognized rights of nature and the indigenous peoples in Bolivia and Ecuador. We have identified a certain reductionism in current debates on these issues and propose a more systematic analytical focus on class and the class-ethnicity duality, as expressed in historical and contemporary indigenous struggles, and also confirmed via our ethnographic material. Drawing on the double bind as expressed in Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 wherein the protagonists face situations in which they do not have any choice to achieve a net gain, this article centres on how national governments have to choose between the protections of rights – in this case ethnic and environmental rights – and welfare provision financed by extractive revenues. From the perspective of ecologically concerned indigenous actors, the Catch-22 is articulated in the choice or compromise between universal welfarism on the one hand, and ethno-environmental concerns on the other hand. The article draws primarily on ecosocialist arguments and on indigenous-culturalist perspectives on Good Life (Sumak Kawsay or Vivir Bien). A central finding is the existence of awareness among involved actors – oppositional movements and government authorities – that the Catch-22 quandary and joint class-ethnic concerns are unavoidable ingredients in their discourses, struggles, and understandings of Good Life.
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| 6. |
- Palmås, Karl, 1976, et al.
(författare)
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The liability of politicalness : Legitimacy and legality in piracy-proximate entrepreneurship
- 2014
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Ingår i: International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business. - : InderScience Publishers. - 1476-1297 .- 1741-8054. ; 22:4, s. 408-425
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article explores three entrepreneurial ventures that have evolved in proximity to online piracy. In reviewing the respective cases of Spotify, Skype, and The Pirate Bay, the argument outlines the radically divergent strategies with which the entrepreneurs have sought to legitimise their ventures and underlying technologies. The article concludes that: 1) the context of practices labelled ‘pirate’ are paradigmatic examples of fields in which entrepreneurs must work exceptionally hard to legitimise themselves; 2) in this context, it is crucial that the role of law is analytically isolated from the role of institutionalised legitimacy; 3) success in legitimisation is largely dependent upon the entrepreneur’s ability to demonstrate that the venture is governed by ‘the natural order’ of the economy. It is further argued that piracy-proximate ventures may contribute to the entrepreneurship field, inasmuch as they teeter on the border of being considered too disruptive, and thus suffer from a ‘liability of politicalness’.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Berglund, Jenny
(författare)
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Publicly Funded Islamic Education in Europe and the United States
- 2015
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Rapport (refereegranskat)abstract
- Islamic religious education in the United States and Europe has become a subject of intense debate after Muslims raised in the West carried out attacks against their fellow citizens. People worry their governments are doing too little or too much to shape the spiritual beliefs of private citizens. In a new analysis paper, Jenny Berglund explains the differences in publicly funded Islamic education in nine European countries and the United States. Berglund lays out the religious education framework of each country and explains the state policies governing the teaching of Islam in public schools. State involvement, Berglund writes, ranges from sponsoring religious education in public schools to forgoing it entirely. The policies vary according to the national political culture of each country, as well as the historical and religious norms that shape public perceptions and debates over religious education. In Germany and Austria, many public schools teach Islam to Muslims as a subject within a broader religious curriculum in which parents can choose their students’ religious courses. In the United Kingdom and Sweden, public schools teach Islam as an academic subject, and train teachers through comparative religious studies departments in universities. French and U.S. public schools do not teach religion, although students can lean about Islam in subjects such as art, history, or literature.Despite the diversity of these approaches, Berglund notes three good practices that apply across the board:Establishing rigorous academic standards of training for teachers of religious education courses.Providing factual textbooks informed by academic scholarship, both for Islamic religious education and non-confessional school subjects that teach about Islam. Building upon current curricular and pedagological best practices through international exchange and dialogue of scholars.By adopting these practices, Berglund argues, governments can further their citizens’ knowledge of important aspects of the human experience and promote inclusive citizenship and respect.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Götz, Norbert
(författare)
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Deliberative Diplomacy : The Nordic Approach to Global Governance and Societal Representation at the United Nations
- 2011
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Bok (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ascendency of executive power in the presence of weak parliamentary and societal control has given rise to a need for deliberative forms of diplomacy in international relations. As Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden regularly include members of parliament, party representatives, and representatives of civil society in their delegations to the General Assembly of the United Nations, does this imply that a Nordic model exists? This book reviews the practice of these countries and finds that the role of societal representatives has diminished from participating members of delegations to mere observers. The Nordic examples illuminate the difficulties of achieving international governance through the practice of deliberative democracy.
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