Master's theses in peace and conflict transformation

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Master's theses in peace and conflict transformation

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• From lofty rhetorics to workable politics? The case of federalism in post-war Nepal

  Limbu, Laxmi (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 15-Feb-2013)

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  Abstract:

  This thesis investigates federalism (state restructuring) through the empirical analysis of the views held on federalism by a few members of the major political parties in Nepal. A decade long conflict was ended when Comprehensive Peace Accord was agreed in 2006. The terms of CPA and the interim constitution became a source of political argument for Nepal’s leaders; controlled and over represented by High Caste backgrounds in different state mechanisms. The issue of democratic restructuring (defining/categorizing the federal model) was hotly contested and debated, and it resulted in the dissolution of historic CA where members from various backgrounds were represented. The dissolution has concluded in constitutional and political dead lock in Nepal. This study examines the views of a few important political actors on this issue, along with their policies on Natural Resource Management and tax with the help of in-depth interviews and an investigation of their parties’ manifestos and in context of research literature. Through the course of this research, I found that Nepalese political institutions and leaders have to soul searching practice in order to establish a suitable inclusive democracy. However, discussing federalism (state restructuring) and power decentralization is a bipolar issue. Social change is an inevitable process, but culture, tradition, history and identity cannot be denied. Such can be reconciled with democratic inclusive nation building – forming one common identity with national solidarity and secularism that is connected with state sovereignty. The current demand for group right and self-rule among ethnicity base federal units may trigger conflict and overlooks the democratic rights to equal participation. The right to participation and decision-making is the right of any individual and community or group according to the theory of democracy. While advocating for groups rights from ethnic organizations and activist, would exclude the right to participation of non-ethnic minorities. In other word, their right to participation would be hindered. Such advocacy would worsen the situation for people who have been living together for a long time in the same communities, VDC and watersheds. Therefore group rights have to be balanced with individual citizenship rights in order to build up a strong sense of nationalism that keeps sovereignty intact.

  URI:

  http://hdl.handle.net/10037/5078

  File(s) in this item: 1

  thesis.pdf   (1.113Mb)
• Life without a husband : enforced disappearance and female livelihoods in Western Nepal

  Sangroula, Anjana (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 05-Jun-2012)

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  Abstract:

  This study focuses on the livelihoods of women, whose husbands disappeared during the civil war (1996-2006) in Nepal. It is about the strategies adopted by the women for daily basic needs in absence of their husbands. Being uneducated and rural dwellers, the informants are mostly living on agriculture and other rural activities. Assets especially land, plays a significant role in rural livelihoods. But, access to and control of assets and productive rural resources are mediated by local cultures and gender ideologies. Men were previously the ‘main breadwinners’ in family households and women mere dependents. However in absence of men/husbands, women/wives assumed additional responsibilities such as cultivating and maintaining farms, and obtaining loans-to ensure the viability of their households. The study shows that women are now the exclusive ‘bread-winners’ and ‘decision-makers’ in the new female-headed households in the Bardia district of Western Nepal. Moreover, the findings show how adversity had mobilised women consciously or unconsciously to challenge cultural values, thereby re-ordering a gender roles. Women have been shown to raise their voices in the public arena to demand information about the whereabouts of their husbands-whose absence had undermined the socio-economic security of family households.

  URI:

  http://hdl.handle.net/10037/4781

  File(s) in this item: 1

  thesis.pdf   (683.0Kb)
• Stereotypes among and about Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans : a case study of the Isla Calero conflict

  Natvig, Anne (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 06-Aug-2012)

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  Abstract:

  Through different qualitative approaches this thesis analyses the (re)creation of stereotypes among and about Nicaraguans and Costa Ricans in the context of the Isla Calero conflict which began in 2010. The findings are based on questionnaires, interviews and observations conducted in Costa Rica and Nicaragua in late 2011. An analysis of news items produced in both countries during the first month of the conflict also sheds light on the use of stereotypes in these societies. Although both countries claimed to want peace and reconciliation, the discourses employed during the time of research have contributed to a deeper division between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The countries competed over the representation as peaceful, while stereotyping the other as conflict seeking. Through emphasising difference and not similarities, myths about the other were (re)created within both societies. Further, the discourses in the two countries largely ignore the points of view of the other. This constructs a hegemony of representation and stereotyping within each country that (re)creates the boundaries between Us and an Other. Also, through mythologizing historical events, national stereotypes are naturalised within the societies, creating perceptions of difference as inevitable facts.

  URI:

  http://hdl.handle.net/10037/4619

  File(s) in this item: 1

  thesis.pdf   (3.630Mb)
• Democratic backlash in the post-Soviet era : the case of democratization and a backlash in Russia

  Solhaug, Teodor (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 12-Aug-2012)

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  Abstract:	When scholars around the world talk about the russian democratization, some of them talk about a russian backlash. What this tesis is trying to answer is: What is meant by this, what is the main explanations and how do the different explanations together create a understanding of the russian backlash.
  URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/10037/4617

  File(s) in this item: 1

  thesis.pdf   (662.7Kb)
• “They say they work in a sustainable way, but I don't really know” : building relationships between companies and their host communities, through CSR activities in Guatemala

  Berntzen, Camilla Kristine (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 28-Aug-2012)

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  Abstract:

  In this thesis the relationship between corporations and their host communities through CSR programs has been the main focus. First it is stated that companies have been contributing to conflicts such as human rights abuses and ecological damage, through their main focus on profit and increasing shareholder value. Many of the business operations and direct foreign investments worldwide take place in countries either in the midst of conflict or in post-conflict settings (Gupta et al. 2002). Further, it is said that MNCs are powerful social and economic agents, both in regards to the resources they control and by their mobility and capacity to shift resources to locations where they can be used most profitably (Roach 2005; Scherer, Palazzo and Baumann 2006). This also gives them the opportunity to choose under which legal system and regions they want to operate (Ibid). However, it is also implied that CSR can be part of the solution to such problems through focusing on the “triple bottom line” – the totality of the corporation`s financial, social and environmental performance when conducting business (Elkington 1998).

  URI:

  http://hdl.handle.net/10037/4616

  File(s) in this item: 1

  thesis.pdf   (1.041Mb)

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