| 1. |
- Lundgren, Silje, 1978-
(författare)
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Heterosexual Havana : Ideals and hierarchies of gender and sexuality in contemporary Cuba
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Drawing on two periods of ethnographic fieldwork in Vedado, Havana, in 2004–2007, this dissertation analyses the interconnections between gender, sexuality, and heterosexuality. With theoretical inspiration from the works of Stevi Jackson and Beverley Skeggs, it discusses how the logics underlying heterosexual relations also regulate hierarchical gendered ideals. It examines how gendered conceptions of sexuality confirm a position of heterosexual desirability, and traces a specifically heterosexual gender construction of men and women as oppositional forces, glued together in a relationship of eroticized complementarity.Moreover, the dissertation shows that the everyday negotiation of ideals around gender and sexuality is characterized by constant hierarchization. It explores how the emic concept of ‘cultural level’ is used in a process of othering to mark moral distance and create a position of superiority. It also suggests that in post-crisis Cuba, the body has become a new site on which to inscribe distinction and mark privilege, as a way of navigating in a context of new and unfamiliar differentiations.The dissertation demonstrates how female eroticism, male eroticized performances in street interaction, and the female body ideal are central sites for establishing an image of national particularity. In this historic moment, these have also become sites for marking difference and creating hierarchies. The dissertation argues that inclusive and unifying conceptions of ‘Cubanness’ are both delineated and reinforced through exclusion and the demarcation of difference within this collectivity.This notion of the nation carries gendered and sexualized inscriptions. It has been constructed through the historical exclusion of non-heterosexuality, which has been closely connected to the consolidation of a specific ideal of masculinity. The dissertation analyses the destabilizing potential of a shift in Cuban sexual politics during the last two decades and explores how this might imply a new configuration of the relationship between gender and sexuality.
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| 2. |
- Ögmundardóttir, Helga, 1965-
(författare)
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The Shepherds of Þjórsárver. : Traditional Use and Hydropower Development in the Commons of the Icelandic Highland.
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study explores a damming dispute that has been going on for over four decades in Iceland, about whether a dam, Norðlingaölduveita, should be built in the central highland, near the glacier Hofsjökull and the wetland reserve Þjórsárver, or not. The study focuses on the local resistance against the dam, led by a group of people in the farming community Gnúpverjahreppur, which has its highland grazing commons in the Þjórsárver area. This group is supported by both national and international individuals and organisations for the preservation of Þjórsárver. The Icelandic National Power Company has had the damming project on its agenda as a part of the total damming of the river Þjórsá, which runs from the glacier Hofsjökull to the Atlantic Ocean, mostly for electricity production to power aluminium plants in the southwest part of Iceland, near the capital, Reykjavík. The local resistance has its roots in the traditional way of herding sheep, especially the custom of letting the community’s sheep graze in its highland commons during the summer and fetching them in the autumn in the fjallferð, or ‘mountain round-up’. In the fjallferð, people from most of the farms participate, searching together in the vast highland nature for sheep, according to elaborate search patterns, where knowledge of the area, courage and cooperation are a key to success. Through these annual round-ups, that have been practiced for hundreds of years, the people not only create and recreate close ties with each other, as a community with common goals, but also maintain an intimate and long-lasting relationship with the nature of their highland commons. In its features, the people read and recall the history of their community, its successes and losses, past and future. Seeing the commons as a vital part of their community, they are not willing to jeopardize the nature there. Although this conflict lacks the indigenous dimension that is often found in such conflicts elsewhere, its rhetoric follows similar lines. The study thus offers an interesting contribution to the research field of environmental resource and land use disputes.
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| 3. |
- Green, Carina, 1969-
(författare)
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Managing Laponia : A World Heritage Site as Arena for Sami Ethno-Politics in Sweden
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study deals with the implications of implementing the World Heritage site of Laponia in northern Sweden. Laponia, consisting of previously well-known national parks such as Stora Sjöfallet and Sarek, obtained its World Heritage status in 1996. Both the biological and geological significance of the area and the local Sami reindeer herding culture are included in the justification for World Heritage status. This thesis explores how Laponia became an arena for the long-standing Sami ethno-political struggle for increased self-governance and autonomy. In many other parts of the world, various joint management schemes between indigenous groups and national environmental protection agencies are more and more common, but in Sweden no such agreements between the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Sami community have been tested. The local Sami demanded to have a significant influence, not to say control, over the future management of Laponia. These were demands that were not initially acknowledged by the local and national authorities, and the negotiations about the management of Laponia continued over a period of ten years. This thesis shows how the local Sami initially were marginalized in the negotiations both because of their alleged “difference” and because of their alleged “similarity” to the majority population. By navigating through what can be described as “a politics of difference,” the Sami involved eventually succeeded in articulating their cultural and historical difference in such a way that they were perceived as different but equal in relation to the other actors. By describing the many twist and turns of the negotiations between the local Sami and the local authorities, this thesis shows how the involvement of international agencies and global protection aspirations, such as the World Heritage Convention, might establish a link between the local and international levels that to a certain extent bypasses the national level and empowers indigenous/local peoples and their ethno-political objectives. As such, this study demonstrates how local/indigenous peoples’ involvement in environmental protection work is above all a political issue that ultimately leads to a situation where their relation with the state authorities is reshaped and reassessed.
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| 4. |
- Einarsson, Níels, 1962-
(författare)
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Culture, Conflict and Crises in the Icelandic Fisheries : An Anthropological Study of People, Policy and Marine Resources in the North Atlantic Arctic
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is offered as a contribution to studies of social and cultural change in the Icelandic fisheries and fishing communities. Such changes may be seen as a result of the interplay of internal dynamics with both national and global forces and processes, not least with regard to the impacts of fisheries governance. These changes occur also in an international context of new environmental ideologies and perceptions of marine mammals, with consequences for social dynamics of local resource-use. Here it is argued that the conflicts over the harvesting or conservation of cetaceans can productively be understood from a cultural perspective. The thesis discusses the elevation of whales as symbols of particular value, and the metaphorical and cognitive aspects of, in particular, anthropomorphism, the projection of human motives and values onto animal behaviour, as a significant and effective part of conservation rhetoric and ideology.Specifically, the thesis deals with issues concerning whaling and whale watching along with issues and debates concerning these alternative forms of exploiting marine mammals. It also discusses central questions regarding fisheries governance and rights to fishing with reference to social and economic viability in Icelandic fishing communities. The unifying themes of this thesis are: how marine-mammal issues and controversies and social impacts of fisheries governance form part of globalization processes; how environmental and economic paradigms influence change, particularly in terms of marine-mammal conservation campaigns and market liberalist resource policy; and how these external ideological forces call for responses at local and national levels. The adaptive actions of the human agents and communities involved are described as creative, cumulative and complex. The thesis also highlights the central transformative role of the new regime of private property rights introduced into Icelandic fisheries governance in the 1980s.
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| 5. |
- Hole, Elizabeth Åsa, 1958-
(författare)
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Neither Here - Nor There : An Anthropological Study of Gujarati Hindu Women in the diaspora
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- During the 1950s, a wave of migrants left India to find work in the West. Many never returned, but instead settled in the West. There were also many Asians who left to live in East African countries. In the beginning of the 1970s, Idi Amin decided to finalise the Africanisation of Uganda. Other East African nations were also part of this trend. At that time, several thousand Asians were expelled. Among these people were many Gujarati Hindus, all with their roots in Gujarat in the north-western part of India. By various routes and in different waves of relocation, some of these people came to find new homes, for example in Britain and Sweden. With respect to Gujarati Hindu diaspora groups in Coventry, Britain, and Mariestad, Sweden, the author aims to answer the questions: Which factors affected what, how, or why they decided to keep or abandon some of their culture and religious traditions? How much of this process happened by choice, and how much was based on necessity due to time and circumstance? How has the size of the group of settlers, in relation to the majority living in those places, affected their choices? How might the size of the local diasporic community itself come to influence their cultural maintenance? In this thesis the author focuses mainly on the aspects of identity that are found in gender discourse (women’s roles) and the diaspora discourse among Gujarati Hindu women. This is done in relation to cosmology addressed to a gender discourse on how gender roles are changing in diaspora when confronted with the modern world. The main contribution is therefore not to ethnicity and identity theory in general, but in demonstrating the different determiners affecting the lives of Gujarati Hindu women in the diaspora.
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| 6. |
- Jernsletten, Johnny-Leo Ludviksen, 1967-
(författare)
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"Med rett til å gjete..." : Utfordringer og muligheter i Liehittäjä konsesjonssameby
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Denne avhandlingen fokuserer på den unike formen for reindrift som vi finner i Kalix og Torne elvedaler i Nord-Sverige – den såkalte konsesjonsreindriften. Konsesjonsreindriften er interessant på flere måter. Den har en interessant historisk utvikling som er forskjellig fra den utviklingen som har vært i Lappmarken. Videre er det en interessant juridisk utvikling som har funnet sted og det tradisjonelle «vérdde-forholdet» har blitt revitalisert og modernisert gjennom sytingsreinsystemet. Det lovmessige utgangspunktet for konsesjonsreindriften er knyttet opp mot den samiske renskötselsrätt gjennom konsesjonsinnehaver mens bruksrettigheter, spesielt til sommerbeite, er knyttet til skötesrenegarna private eiendomsrett. Konsesjonsreindriften må derfor forstås som en kulturbærer og næring som er fundamentert på både en samisk og lokal sedvane samt privat eiendomsrett. Konsesjonen er en tidsbegrenset avtale (1-10 år) mellom den svenske stat, private markeiere og en eller flere samiske konsesjonsinnehavere. Konsesjonsreindriften, slik vi kjenner den i dag, ble første gang lovregulert av svenske myndigheter i 1928 års reindriftslov. Konsesjonsreindriften skiller seg fra den samiske reindriften gjennom sytingsreineiernes aktive deltakelse i samebyen gjennom sin status som renskötende medlem. Avhandlingen tar opp hvordan deler av lokalbefolkningen, gjennom sine sytingsrein, blir en aktiv del av reindriften og hvordan regelverket knyttet til medlemskap i samebyen genererer noen interessante forvaltningsmessige prinsipper for forvaltning av denne næringen,. En slik lokalt forankret forvaltning er med på å dempe klassiske konflikter mellom reindriften på den ene siden og jord- og skogsbruket på den andre siden.
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| 7. |
- Nilsson Dahlström, Åsa, 1967-
(författare)
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Negotiating Wilderness in a Cultural Landscape : Predators and Saami Reindeer Herding in the Laponian World Heritage Area
- 2003
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The UNESCO appointment of the Laponian World Heritage Area in 1996 meant that Sweden accepted the assignment of protecting both the cultural and natural values of this area for all mankind and all generations to come. Located in northern Sweden, Laponia had previously been protected for its natural values only, but the 1996 appointment determined that the local Saami reindeer herding culture should also be preserved. Since the goals of preserving nature and culture in Laponia do not easily combine, negotiations between the concerned parties must be held over important matters. This thesis deals with the ways in which "nature" and the "environment" are negotiated within the environmental disources that concern Laponia. The discourses analysed include such disparate, and yet interconneted, themes as Laponian environmental constraints, management control, predator policies, sustainable development, the perception of wilderness and cultural landscapes and the role of reindeer-herding Saami in the management of nature. The discourses also reflect a number of broad topics including the preservation of biodiversity and the role of indigenous peoples in modern nature conservation policies. Local Saami reindeer herders often find themselves caught between the expectation placed upon them by the majority society to engage in environmentally friendly reindeer herding, and the existing requirement to engage in rational reindeer herding. Local Saami reindeer herders must therefore negotiate their claims between the polarised positions of being indigenous people engaging in a traditional activity based on immemorial rights, and of being modern food producers in need of high-tech equipment and with a wish to develop their reindeer herding business on their own terms.
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| 8. |
- Olofsson, Ebba, 1966-
(författare)
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In Search of a Fulfilling Identity in a Modern World: Narratives of Indigenous Identities in Sweden and Canada
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis deals with the identity of individuals with parents from two different ethnic groups. The focus is on individuals in Sweden with one Saami parent and one Swedish (or other European) parent, and individuals in Canada with one Native (Indian or Inuit) parent and one Euro-Canadian parent. Further, in both contexts the subjects are those individuals with mixed parentage who have chosen to belong to the Saami/Native group. The results are based on fieldwork with participant observation and the gathering of narratives both in Sweden and Canada, as well as anthropological, sociological, and psychological literature. Among the many similarities between the two categories of interviewees in Sweden and Canada, the most important is that individuals in both categories belong to an indigenous population and to a majority population, and consequently are caught in the middle of a conflict between two ethnic groups. This thesis describes how they manage this situation, as well as how various other factors influence those individuals in their choice of ethnic belonging. An analytic model is presented, showing how ethnic identity changes over time and how ethnic identity changes depending on perspective, whether that of the individual or others. Individuals with mixed parentage can reinforce their Saami/Native identities by seeking out Saami/Native cultural islands in the midst of mainstream society in order to practise their cultural identities in that space. Different ways of reinforcing a Saami/Native identity are explored in the thesis.
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| 9. |
- Spasenić, Jelena, 1979-
(författare)
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The Shadows of the Past : A Study of Life-World and Identity of Serbian Youth after the Milošević Regime
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The thesis explores the consequences of the Milošević regime and the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s for young people in Serbia. It deals with the conditions under which recent history makes itself relevant in the lives of two high-school classes of eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds. In order to unravel the ramifications of the past, anthropological fieldwork was conducted for twelve months during 2007-2009 in the city of Novi Sad, situated in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina. The study builds on participant observation and interviews. It pays attention to the interplay of objective conditions, which have arisen from complex social processes in the Balkans, and subjective understanding of past events and their corollaries in social relations at present. Drawing on a phenomenological perspective, symbolic interactionism, and social identity theory, which provide important insights into the processes of cognition and identification, it is demonstrated that young people’s relationship to the past and present of their society is marked by ambivalence. Most of the participants in the study have no experience of the war in the true sense of the word. On the other hand, they do have an experience of a surrounding world characterized by considerable social contradictions and oppositions, and of people who are stressed and worried about the future. A closer investigation of the realms of school, family, society, and self indicates that the impacts and meanings of historical events due to differing cultural and political models are not uniform. In order to be of import in everyday life, they have to be integrated into individuals’ comprehension of their world. Such an integration of the legacies of the past will depend not only on the human capacity for moral reflection but also on the prospects for economic development and social stability in Serbia.
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| 10. |
- Århem, Nikolas
(författare)
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Forests, Spirits and High Modernist Development : A Study of Cosmology and Change among the Katuic Peoples in the Uplands of Laos and Vietnam
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis explores how Katuic-speaking indigenous groups in the Central Annamitic Cordillera of Vietnam and Laos understand their environment – hills, streams and forest. Katuic eco-cosmology assumes that the natural landscape is imbued with spirit agents, with whom people must continuously communicate lest misfortune will strike and their livelihoods fail. The thesis posits the hypothesis that these spirit beliefs, and a variety of taboo notions accompanying them, can be interpreted as expressions of a complex socio-environmental adaptation. Today, the indigenous groups in the study region are confronted with a massive development- and modernisation push on two fronts – that of the global development industry on the one hand, and the implementation of national development policies and programs as part of the high-modernist state project in communist Vietnam and Laos, on the other.A second objective of the thesis, then, is to examine the effects of this multi-layered and multi-scaled confrontation on indigenous cosmology, livelihood and landscape. It is argued, this confrontation at the development frontier can be conceived of as an interface between different ontologies or reality posits – one animist, articulated in a relational stance towards the landscape; the other, a naturalist or rationalist ontology, expressed as an objectivist stance towards nature and embodied in the high-modernist development schemes and programs unfolding in the region with the aim of re-engineering its indigenous societies and exploiting its natural resources. Large parts of the Central Annamites were severely impacted by the Vietnam War; uncounted numbers of minority people were killed, or had their villages destroyed or relocated while defoliants, bombs, and forest fires ravaged the landscape. In the decades that followed the war, the entire social and natural landscape has been reshaped by national development policies and the modernist visions that underpin them. The thesis attempts to understand this physical and cultural transformation of the landscape, focusing particularly on the gradual breakdown of the complex indigenous socio-religious institutions that appear to have played an important functional role in maintaining the pre-war structure of the landscape.The thesis is based primarily on fieldwork carried out between 2004 and 2009 in the provinces of Quảng Nam and Thừa Thiên–Huế in Vietnam and Sekong in Laos.
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