| 1. |
- Adama, Onyanta, 1961-
(författare)
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Governing from Above : Solid Waste Management in Nigeria's New Capital City of Abuja
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This doctoral dissertation examines how the symbolic character of a relocated capital city influences and intersects with local conditions to shape the governance structure and relations in service delivery. The focus is on Abuja, the new capital city of Nigeria, and the sector studied is solid waste management. Abuja was planned to avoid the numerous problems facing other Nigerian cities. Contrary to the intention of government and planners, the city now houses the fastest growing slum in the country. There are various possible explanations for these outcomes but this study pays particular attention to the conception of Abuja as a symbol of national unity. The ‘good governance’ agenda is often promoted by the World Bank and donors as a way of handling the numerous challenges facing African governments, including service delivery. A major expectation of the agenda is that local governments manage the urban development process in conjunction with an array of institutions ranging from the private sector to community groups and households. An underlying notion is that of a minimalist national state. This is not the case in Abuja, where governance is conducted at higher levels and the municipal council remains largely invisible. This is manifested in solid waste management, where the municipal council has no jurisdiction over the sector. In addition, community groups and households play very minimal roles in the governance of services. Drawing on the concept of space and place, the study concludes that the types of institutions found and their roles and relations are shaped by the national function of the city and the local power relations. The study draws on primary and secondary data. Interviews were conducted with state officials, community leaders, households and interest groups, such as the private sector. Secondary data were obtained from government documents, studies and newspaper reports.
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| 2. |
- Andersson, Agnes, 1973-
(författare)
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The bright lights grow fainter : livelihoods, migration and a small town in Zimbabwe
- 2002
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Aids pandemic and structural adjustment policies (SAP) have had effects on lower income households in Zimbabwe which have been devastating and people have been required to adapt their livelihood strategies. Small towns meanwhile are growing rapidly in Zimbabwe and mobility towards these towns may be connected with the changes being forged by SAP on the economic landscape. This study seeks to establish how the individual migrant uses mobility to negotiate this landscape. This involves mobility directed towards small towns to access advantageous provisioning possibilities, and also the engagement in a multitude of family linkages from the small town to other places within the settlement system. Substantiated through a case study of Rusape, this study suggests that lower living costs, higher food security and a more accessible labour market may be attracting migrants from higher level urban centres. The role of the network of kin relations in mobility is important and migrants’ networks over space cover both rural homes and urban areas. The access to networks, however, is being stratified under SAP and the ability to maintain linkages with relatives is declining, suggesting a rising vulnerability connected with the inability of leaving places and entering others.
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| 3. |
- Axelsson, Linn, 1977-
(författare)
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Making Borders : Engaging the threat of Chinese textiles in Ghana
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The borders of the twenty-first century come in many forms and are performed by an increasing number of actors in a broad variety of places, both within and beyond the territories of nation-states. This thesis sets out a detailed political geography of how borders operate to reconcile the often conflicting demands of open markets and security. Focusing on Ghana, where there is a widespread fear that the inflow of Chinese versions of African prints will lead to the collapse of the local textile industry, the study explores where and when borders are enforced, who performs them and what kinds of borders are enacted in order to maintain and protect the Ghanaian nation and market without compromising the country’s status as a liberal economy. It combines interviews and documentary sources with analysis drawn from border, security and migration studies to explore three sets of spatial strategies that have defined the Ghanaian approach to the perceived threat of Chinese African prints. They are the institution of a single corridor for African print imports, the anti-counterfeiting raids carried out in Ghana’s marketplaces, and the promotion of garments made from locally produced textiles as office wear through the National Friday Wear and Everyday Wear programmes. These strategies stretch, disperse and embody the borders of the state or nation to control trade in ways that resolve the fears of both open flows and closed borders. This thesis thus seeks to show how a geographical analysis can clarify the specificities of how borders now work to control mobility. In doing so, it not only unsettles conventional assumptions about what borders are and where they are supposed to be located, but also the idea that borders primarily are used to constrain the mobility of certain people while facilitating economic flows. Furthermore, this thesis adds to the understanding of the variety of responses to the inflow of Chinese consumer products to the African continent.
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| 4. |
- Björklund, Annika, 1969-
(författare)
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Historical Urban Agriculture : Food Production and Access to Land in Swedish Towns before 1900
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This doctoral thesis analyses the role of historical urban agriculture in a long-time perspective, through a combination of overarching surveys of Swedish towns and detailed studies of one town – Uppsala in east-central Sweden. The study shows how agricultural land – town land – of various sizes was donated to towns repeatedly during medieval times and in the 16th and 17th centuries. The study examines urban food production at three points in time, and concludes that grain production and, later, potato production as well was substantial in many towns, indicating high levels of urban self-sufficiency. This allows new perspectives concerning the interpretation of urban food provision, as urban dependency on countryside food production might have varied considerably between towns. In addition, the study shows how urban agriculture was connected to social welfare systems, in particular aiming at supporting urban widows. The results in this thesis provide an historical context to the increasing discussions about present-day urban agriculture globally, and identify a number of factors that may create or counteract opportunities for urban agriculture.
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| 5. |
- Byerley, Andrew, 1965-
(författare)
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Becoming Jinja : The Production of Space and Making of Place in an African Industrial Town
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The years immediately preceding and following W.W.II marked a turning point in British colonial policy in Africa. In this doctoral thesis, which focuses on colonial and post-colonial Uganda, this turning point is approached in terms of a shift in would-be hegemonic socio-spatial diagrams of power. In turn, the town of Jinja is approached in terms of having constituted a strong point with shifting functions in a series of contested diagrams of power over time. Certain agents and spatial enclosures are examined in terms of having risen and fallen in terms of deemed efficiency in actualising specific lines and modalities of power; the ”African” housing estate, the ”Asian” and the ”Chief” being important among these. Drawing on the theoretical work of Foucault, Deleuze & Guattari, and Lefebvre, particularly that pertaining to discursive regimes of power-knowledge, space and the subject, I seek to show how projects and architectures of socio-spatial ordering instituted by dominant producers of space (principally the colonial and post-independence states, and capital) have impacted on – and in turn been influenced and translated by – the everyday projects of people in place. Much of this focus, and also the fieldwork, is channelled through the Walukuba Housing Estate that was built in the post-W.W.II colonial era. The study is based on archival research, extensive ethnographic fieldwork and secondary literature.
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| 6. |
- Börjeson, Lowe, 1968-
(författare)
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A History under Siege : Intensive Agriculture in the Mbulu Highlands, Tanzania, 19th Century to the Present
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This doctoral thesis examines the history of the Iraqw’ar Da/aw area in the Mbulu Highlands of northern Tanzania. Since the late nineteenth century this area has been known for its intensive cultivation, and referred to as an “island” within a matrix of less intensive land use. The conventional explanation for its characteristics has been high population densities resulting from the prevention of expansion by hostility from surrounding pastoral groups, leading to a siegelike situation. Drawing on an intensive programme of interviews, detailed field mapping and studies of aerial photographs, early travellers’ accounts and landscape photographs, this study challenges that explanation. The study concludes that the process of agricultural intensification has largely been its own driving force, based on self-reinforcing processes of change, and not a consequence of land scarcity.
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| 7. |
- Cadstedt, Jenny
(författare)
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Influence and Invisibility : Tenants in Housing Provision in Mwanza City, Tanzania
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A high proportion of urban residents in Tanzanian cities are tenants who rent rooms in privately owned houses in unplanned settlements. However, in housing policy and in urban planning rental tenure gets very little attention. This study focuses on the reasons for and consequences of this discrepancy between policy and practice. Perspectives and actions of different actors involved in the housing provision process in Mwanza City, Tanzania, have been central to the research. The examined actors are residents in various housing tenure forms as well as government officials and representatives at different levels, from the neighbourhood level to UN-Habitat. The main methods have been interviews and discussions with actors as well as studies of policy documents, laws and plans. Among government actors, private rental tenure is largely seen as an issue between landlords and tenants. Tanzanian housing policy focuses more on land for housing than on shelter. This means that house-owners who control land have a more important role in urban planning and policies than tenants have. In Tanzania in general and in Mwanza in particular, housing policy focuses on residents’ involvement in upgrading unplanned areas by organising in Community Based Organisations. This means that owners who live for a longer period in an area benefit more from settlement improvements than tenants. Tenants are relatively mobile and do not take for granted that they will stay in the same house for long. This raises the question of tenants’ possibilities to influence as well as their rights as citizens as compared to that of owners. The question of citizens’ rights for dwellers in informal settlements has received increased attention during the last years in international housing policy discussions. There is an evident need to intensify and diversify this discussion.
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| 8. |
- Cele, Sofia, 1977-
(författare)
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Communicating Place : Methods for Understanding Children's Experience of Place
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation explores how children communicate their experiences of place. It focuses on the qualitative methods of group interviews, walks, drawings and photographs, and asks how children communicate different aspects of place. Drawing on feminist theory and qualitative methodology, the importance of situated knowledge for understanding children’s narratives is argued. Through studies in Sweden and England, it is shown how children’s place experiences are multi-dimensional, consisting of both concrete and abstract processes, places and objects. The different methods reveal different aspects of these dimensions and the children provided rich evidence of their experience of place in regard to physical, social and cultural aspects. It is found that children’s individuality affects the success of the methods, rather than factors such as gender, age or nationality. The methods’ different characteristics, such as creative and interactive aspects, and how power relations are reflected through them are determining factors as to how and what children communicate. Place-interactive methods allow children to communicate the direct experience of place and include subconscious actions as communication occurs through movement and play. The creative aspects of the methods allow children to focus more on their abstract experiences and to include experiences based on a wider time perspective than the present. Walking is discussed as a critical method for the researcher to include place as an active and multi-sensuous phenomenon. As it is shown that the methods reveal different aspects of the children’s place experiences, it is also discussed how this can be used from an adult perspective.
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