Now showing items 1-20 of 76
Next Page| Abstract: | Foreign aid in war-torn societies is often significant for peace building after an early phase of urgent humanitarian military intervention. Numerous development organizations have been contributing to rebuild war-torn societies. The Kingdom of Cambodia is one of those countries which has been receiving a large number of development assistance since the end of the civil war and tragic genocide, which occurred during Pol Pot's communist period (1974-1979). During the genocide, approximately 80 per cent of Cambodian elite were killed, and national education system was destroyed for ideological control. Therefore, educational reconstruction has been one of significant sectors in Cambodian post-war reconstruction. Japan International Cooperation Agencies (JICA) is a Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) based bilateral aid agency. In post-war Cambodia, JICA has been contributing for post-war reconstruction as one of those numerous development assistance. Their contribution is broadly known as philanthropic peacebuilding practices. However, in the current situation of Cambodia, there seems to be several controversial issues which might be an indirect cause of the structural violence, such as aid-dependency, economic disparity between the urban rich and the rural and urban poor, and corruption of the Cambodian government. It is my contention that educational development assistance by JICA may have also negatively influenced peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction. Therefore, this study aims to explore and understand if Japanese foreign aid and JICA's support to Cambodian educational development is truly being positive peace or can it be said to be an indirect cause of structural violence. For this purpose, this study focuses JICA's motives for educational development in Cambodia. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/2408 |
| Abstract: | This study 1) investigated the prevalence of bullying among students in two secondary schools in the city of Palu, Indonesia, 2) investigated which forms of aggression (proactive and/or reactive) were associated with bullying behavior, and 3) investigated which motive of aggression (power related and/or affiliation related) were associated with bullying behavior among the students. Self assessment questionnaires and interviews were used in this study. The sample comprised 97 boys and 149 girls attending grades 7 and 8. To identify prevalence of bullying, I have used descriptive statistics to provide summaries of the level of the bullying and victimization incidents among students across gender and grade/age. To find out forms and motives of aggression, a correlation analysis using SPSS was demonstrated. The findings showed that in general boys were more involved in bullying than girls. However, girls were more often to take part in calling names or teasing than did boys, and no less than boys in isolating or shutting others out and physical bullying. In terms of grade, the percentage of bullying and victimization were higher in grade eight than in grade seven for both boys and girls. In the correlation analysis, it was indicated that proactive and reactive aggressiveness was strongly related to bullying behavior for girls in grade seven, but not for boys. However, among the eighth graders, neither proactive aggressiveness nor reactive aggressiveness was related to bullying behavior for boys as well as girls. Furthermore, it was indicated that power-related aggressiveness was a good predictor for being involved in bullying among girls, but not for boys. However, affiliation-related aggressiveness was a good predictor for boys, but not for girls. The results from statistical analysis were confirmed by interviews findings. Differences of the present study in comparison with the previous ones, as well as contextual considerations and future research, are also discussed. Keywords: bullying; victimization; proactive aggression; reactive aggression; power-related aggression; affiliation-related aggression |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/2670 |
| Abstract: | the may 2005 election was the first truly competitive multi-party election that ethiopia experienced in its recent political history |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/3981 |
| Abstract: | The research investigated the reasons for the failed Juba peace talks between the Government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army/Movement, mediated by the Government of Southern Sudan. Specifically the challenges faced by the different parties to the negotiations, the impact of the local, regional and international environment on the outcome of the peace process and the perspectives for a peaceful resolution of the conflict according to the three major actors. As noted, there have been varying views as to why the Juba peace talks failed. Previous studies have tended to be one-sided, focusing on the views of just one party to the conflict. No comprehensive study has been carried out - one that takes into consideration the views of the key players to the talks. The study was guided by the theory of Complex Political Emergencies (CPEs), and how the characteristics of CPE's present challenges when it comes to resolution of conflicts. The field research focused on the two districts of Kampala and Gulu. The research was based on qualitative data collection, a case study approach which included; the purposive selection of respondents, in-depth interviews, audio-visual data, media monitoring and documentation. Data was solicited from 25 participants in the talks; 10 from the GoU, and another 10 from the LRA, and 5 members of the monitoring team. Findings established that there were a number of challenges to the talks, challenges that were not met with strategies. The talks were also not located within the broader regional and international arena, and the study concludes by observing that more time should have been dedicated to the preparation for the talks. Sensitivity should have been given to the unique nature of the conflict, and this should have guided the best mode to tackle resolution of the conflict. The study concludes by recommending a more broadened approach to the resolution of the northern Uganda conflict - one that first addresses the security needs of the affected communities, as well as the reintegration of the rebels back into the communities, and a strategy that addresses spoilers to the peace talks, and children abducted by the rebels. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/2478 |
| Abstract: | In post-war societies, the challenges associated with reintegration of returnees may contribute to the re-ignition of violence and armed conflict. But, despite recognition of this fact, the factors which make refugee return and reintegration sustainable are generally underresearched. This thesis deals with the reintegration of Burundian returnees in the aftermath of ethnic-based violence and civil war during the years 1993-2000. The study identifies the nature of the main challenges for returnee reintegration in Burundi, exploring how addressing or failing to address these challenges may affect the possibilities for conflict transformation and durable peace. It is based on qualitative research employing multiple methods and sources, including field work in Burundi. The study’s theoretical framework is informed by various approaches, including theories on state building and concepts such as “failed state” and "sustainable livelihood". This model helps to explain not only the underlying and multifaceted causes of the conflict, but also the dynamics of forced displacement in Burundi. The thesis findings indicate that refugees experience and livelihoods are key factors affecting their access to basic services and land for cultivation and establishing homesteads upon return. The thesis suggests that addressing land issues for landless returnees and improving the social infrastructure should be a priority in conflict transformation efforts aiming for a durable peace in Burundi. Without returnees' (and others') access to land and other key livelihood opportunities, the reintegration of returning refugees might fail to the extent that it may jeopardise the Burundian hard-won stability. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/3212 |
| Abstract: | This thesis looks at CISV, a peace education organization that works with children and youth, teaching multi-cultural understanding by gathering children and youth at international camps, in order to demount inter-group stereotypes and prevent prejudice. The underlying idea behind CISV is simple. "You wouldn't go to war against your own friends". From a theoretical point of view, CISV is founded on the positive contact hypothesis by Gordon Allport. My question is then: How does CISV work to meet the conditions required for positive contact to reduce prejudice and racism, and does it succeed? I did my fieldwork in a CISV program called Village, a short-term peace education program designed for 11 year old children to make “global friendship”. The CISV Village was hosted by a local chapter of CISV Norway, where I was a member of the staff. My staff role gave me the chance to plan and prepare for the village, and a chance to see CISV as an insider and as an outsider, or as my main method of research was, as a participant observer. My previous involvement in CISV was what gave me the chance to be a staff at a village, to sit on the board of CISV Troms and to get involved in CISV Norway as a national organization. This gave me background information. However, a fieldwork during a camp in 2009 gave me the additional information I needed to answer my questions. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/3959 |
| Abstract: | This study aims at analyzing the potential of the school subject "Civic Education" for the creation of democratic and civil society in Serbia, and its implications for building a sustainable peace in the region. Civic Education is discussed in the framework of Democracy and Civil society, and its aims and goals are analyzed from the perspective of its stakeholders (teachers and pupils). The results show there is a partial congruence between the stated objectives in the Civic Education curriculum and pupils' and teacher's perspective on it. The possible outcomes of this program, competences hypothesized to be relevant for democratic behavior, are accessed through pupils' attitudes expressed on the Ethnic distance scale and the scale of Authoritarianism, where two groups of pupils are compared (those who attend Civic Education and those who attend Religious Education). A statistically significant, although moderate difference between these groups is found on the later scale, implying that the Civic Education program can decrease authoritarianism/traditionalism. However, strong traditional structures in family and society, as well as visible illiberal tendencies in the Serbian politics are undermining the real potential of the Civic Education for further democratization and developing of civil society in Serbia. Key words: civic education, civil society, democracy, peace, ethnic distance, and authoritarianism |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/2081 |
| Abstract: | Peace researchers aim to reduce violence “by analyzing different types of violence and its causes, predicting in order to prevent, and acting preventively and curatively”(Galtung 1996:50). This thesis addresses the issue of physical violence against women in contemporary Iraqi Kurdistan. Violence against women in Iraqi Kurdistan can be defined as structural violence, cultural violence and direct violence. The project introduces and discusses the strategies and measures implemented to combat the violence against women. In particular, I discuss the work done by local women’s organizations and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and analyze their roles in improving the status of women and in ending violence against women. A central issue to discuss is the role of women’s agency in a society characterized by patriarchal structures, in which the social roles of women submit to customary codified tribal systems that naturalize the idea that women are inferior. Through concepts developed in social theory, I will discuss different challenges and solutions to violence against women in Iraqi Kurdistan. How can women’s organizations contribute to free women from structural violence? What are their aims and objectives? What do they perceive as challenges? With whom do they collaborate? Which factors inhibit female victims in seeking help? In addition to women’s organizations, the government is involved in combating violence against women. What are the challenges facing the government in ending the violence? What is impeding government success? The outcomes of this work are encouraging, despite strong socio-cultural barriers. The theories and practices that may alleviate women’s suffering and lead to their empowerment have come to the fore. Women’s organizations have achieved important progress, and they have the potential for more. The findings suggest that local women’s organizations and international NGOs know that combating violence against women presupposes “conscientization”. This “critical consciousness” cannot be imposed on people, and it does not come from outside. But it can be developed through dialectical interaction and start within citizens who are in “limit-situation” which, according to Pinto, are the boundaries where all possibilities begin (Vieira Pinto in Freire 2003:99). |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/2054 |
| Abstract: | Along 188 years Peru and Ecuador maintained an open dispute over their shared border line. A Conflict that started in 19th century based on Independency theories over South-American boundaries had its end in 1998 through a peaceful process of conflict resolution. The peace process was influenced by International Relation theories and ideas such as international regimes, globalization, integration, cooperation, social development and political regional traditions. The conflict resolution process did not focus only in bringing peace by settling the border line between Peru and Ecuador, but it focused instead on the creation of an international regime between Peru and Ecuador to proportionate binational/and regional social and economic development, economic integration, and political cooperation. The conflict resolution process was successful and it highlighted a new era for South-America International Relations. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/2076 |
| 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 |
| Abstract: | This thesis comes at a time when there is much talk on democratic deficit and questions concerning whether and how cultural groups should be recognized in politics in ethnically divided societies. The study therefore uses the Anglophone Cameroon North West/South West ethno-regional divide as an entry point to contribute to this issue of global concern. By employing a variety of research techniques and using ethnic and psycho-social conflict theories as tools of analysis, the study arrives at the conclusion that the recurrent antagonism between the two Anglophone provinces should be seen as a logical outcome of divisive policies at the national level as well as an expression of complex politico-economic and historical forces played out at the regional level. But what maintains the antagonistic interaction in their every day life is the old gap that divides them and which is ingrained in their psychology. Therefore, according to this study, Identity politics is used as a survival strategy under difficult life conditions and not as a cause to the recurrent antagonism. As such, the study rejects claims that cultural identities and diversity necessarily lead to social, economic and political conflict. By doing so, it stimulates further discussions and research on the need to assess the prospects for identity politics in world peace. Perhaps, the most striking finding of this study is that once there is a dominating conflict like that between Anglophone North Westerners and South Westerners, other small conflicts in the region are “translated” into this dominant one. Reflecting concern over this, it makes a strong appeal for a shift in conflict resolution perspective from a general to a contextual model. Indeed, this study analyses the North West/South West gulf to provide a holistic understanding of the phenomenon by placing it within the larger social context of liberal democracy, group rights and national development. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/142 |
| Abstract: | The World Trade Organization claims to help keep peace in their declaration Ten Benefits of the WTO trading system (WTO 2008a). This thesis is a critical study of this peace claim within the frames of both peace- and development studies. The main argument of the thesis is that the peace claim of WTO is exaggerated. When adopting peace studies own definitions of peace and view it together with WTO’s narrow peace definition, the peace claim of WTO is up for debate. Current globalization and trade processes, conducted in the realm of neoliberal policies, causes marginalization and deprivation for poor countries and poor people. What development studies labels as deprivation and marginalization are within peace studies labeled structural violence. When structural violence is present there cannot be peace. It is the main argument of this paper that WTO and the international trade system inflict structural violence. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/2395 |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT Volunteering in Third World countries is a modern trend. People, from all over the world, and of all ages, are devoting their time helping others to escape poverty. This help however, is often the source of additional problems, creating more challenges to overcome. This paper is meant to tell every person with the will to help others to “do no harm”. The idea of all the NGOs sending volunteers to remote parts of the world is to improve the lives of people who have less possibilities than we do, living in the western world. However, each volunteer comes with their own ideas of the world around them, their own ideas of what is their role in helping people living in totally different culture. Volunteers often disregard the differences between themselves and their new surrounding. Then consciously or subconsciously these westerners are imposing on the local communities certain behaviours or way of thinking. Most oftenly harming people by making them dependent on the western aid and western ideas of “good” life. This paper is meant to show how a group of kids at small school in Freetown (Sierra Leone) are being influenced by those western ideologies. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/4019 |
| Abstract: | The thesis deals with child labour in artisanal and small scale mines in two case studies: Kalima and Kampene, Province of Maniema, Democratic Republic of Congo. The paper answers three research questions: which are the working conditions of child miners, what is their self-perception, and what are the consequences of the lack of a functioning state for child miners. A qualitative approach is used, employing multiple-methods: interviews, observation, and audio-visual material with a support role. After describing the working conditions of children in the mining sites, the thesis focuses on the analysis of the self-perception of children following Rossatto’s “Freirean Mapping of Optimism and Desire” that identified four attitudes: antagonism, fatalistic optimism, resilient optimism, and transformative optimism. Combining this theoretical model and the empirical data gathered during fieldwork, an explanation of the attitudes of children towards their situation as “oppressed group” is given. Consequently, employing Freire’s theory of oppression, it was possible to analyse the answers of child miners concerning their future. This showed that children tend to legitimize myths (their oppressors) and to conceive their future as an intangible destiny, highlighting that the majority of child miners are in a pre-conscientização phase. The last section identifies the consequences of the lack of a functioning state on child miners, namely: lack of future critical intellectuals, dehumanization, powerlessness, marginalization, and inversion of roles. The thesis concludes with some future implications for both research as well as practice. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/2479 |
| Abstract: | The thesis looks at the education problems of the Roma communities in Northwestern Bulgaria and investigates the prerequisites for their successful inclusion in schools and their integration. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/3495 |
| Abstract: | The focus of my thesis is how the ‘war on terrorism’ was discursively constructed as the appropriate response to the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001. To answer this research question, a discourse analysis was undertaken of six of President George W. Bush’s speeches and one official strategy document by the Bush administration. The background for my thesis is that the US today is a hegemon with the power to do virtually whatever it wants, and thus it is important to understand what it does and how it does it. However, in this study my focus is on from what premises and worldview the hegemon starts. This thesis is thus an attempt to reframe the ‘war on terrorism’. I start from a specific constructionist epistemological assumption, namely that our understanding and knowledge about the world is historically and culturally contingent. The focal point of the analysis is on the discursive construction of the ‘war on terrorism’ and on giving a critical review of this construction by exposing the contingency of particular representations of ‘us’ and ‘them’. The particular representations identified in my material are the structured oppositions of freedom and fear, good and evil and civilization and barbarism. I argue that the key component in discursively constructing the war is continuous discursive reinforcement of a simplistic dualism between ‘us’ and ‘them’. Furthermore, I suggest that ‘us’ and ‘them’ are not only differentiated and set in opposition to each other; a hierarchy is also imposed where the subordinate sign (‘them’) is placed outside the boundaries of what is desirable. I view reasoning in this manner with a simplistic paired zero-sum relation between ‘us’ and ‘them’ as a blueprint for heightened difference and conflict. I view it as an attempt to unite through the logic of confrontation: either you are with ‘us’ against ‘them’, or you are with ‘them’ and thus against ‘us’. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/412 |
| Abstract: | The border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea was concluded in 2000 with the signing of the Algiers agreement. Under the Algiers agreement, the two parties established a border commission to delimit and demarcate the borderline In April 2002; the commission delivered its delimitation decision. However, 6 years after the commission’s decision was delivered, the conflict between the two countries is not yet settled. Tensions between the two countries are still high and the possibility for another round of violence is within reach. This thesis, first and fore most, attempts to find out explanations why the overall peace process was not able to bring an end to the conflict in general and to the border incompatibility in particular. Secondly, it attempts to air the silenced views of the local people living along the disputed boundary. By doing so, this thesis argues that the Ethiopian and Eritrean boundary is inhabited by two closely related people and any solution to end the currently prevailing deadlock and resolve the border disagreement needs to be done with the participation and consultation of the local people. Any solution that will be imposed on the local people is likely to face resistance, undermining the sustainability of the peace that could be achieved. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/1605 |
| Abstract: | Medical peace work and peace education are requested and practiced. Experiences in practice and teaching are, however, unstructured and fragmentary; there is a need for a sound and comprehensive theoretical concept. Applying Galtung’s distinction between direct, structural and cultural violence, and between negative and positive peace, the framework of ‘peace medicine’ is presented as a possible new discipline in peace and health science, specializing on the health sector’s contribution to all forms of violence prevention and sustainable peace building, both on a macro and micro level. In order to explore the range of medical peace education, interviews were conducted with 25 representatives from Norwegian organizations and institutions that deal with peace work, education or research. 97 self-selected medical peace practitioners answering to an online questionnaire then prioritized the information on content and strategies. The results revealed a preference for human rights violation and torture, poverty and development needs, refugee problems and racism, and other global peace and health challenges. Communication and cultural sensitivity, bio-psycho-social understanding of health and local/global context, as well as compassion and respect for others were identified as the most relevant skills, knowledge and values/attitudes for medical peace work. The most recommended teaching methods were predominantly of a practical nature, such as student exchange and fieldwork, or experience-based lectures. Institutional co-operation with poor or conflict-prone countries was seen as the best way to improve medical peace education in Norway. A systematic literature search in the medical database MEDLINE revealed that little has been published on global peace education. Well-established micro-level frameworks like ‘violence prevention’ and ‘medical ethics’ seem to be suitable for teaching most of the requested peace qualities, but emerging macro-level frameworks (e.g. ‘global health’ and ‘peace through health’) fit better. Yet, global education could benefit from the rich teaching and incorporation experiences of the former. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/146 |
| Abstract: | The study had three main objectives: firstly, it examined the livelihoods strategies of Liberian women refugees in Ghana. Secondly, it examined the role(s) played by the UNHCR, internationals and local NGOs, state agencies and other Community Based Organizations in providing material assistance to Liberian women refugees in Ghana; and thirdly, it examined problems encountered by these refugee women in the pursuit of earning a living.The study found Liberian refugee women as being involved in various income-generating activities, including, petty-trading, hair-dressing and dress-making. A few informants had formal wage employment and even those jobs were mainly with aid agencies.From the findings, it was recommended inter alia that aid agencies should help establish credit scheme for women refugees. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/1599 |
| Abstract: | This dissertation discusses the “roles of female combatants and ex-combatants in Maoist People’ War in Nepal” landing evidences about their experiences as a combatant in PLA life. The study documents and analyses their struggle for integration into their own family and society. The role of female combatants changed many times. Firstly, their traditional subordinate role got changed undergone political transformation. Their roles were equal and no less than male combatants during decade long civil war; however, the challenges they faced were much more than the male combatants—pregnancy, motherhood, physical complicacies and alike. After discharged, their role had to change again into the same old traditional subordinate role. As a result, female combatants are facing persistent problems in adjusting in their traditional family and society owing to the fact that they lived in a different combatant communist ideology dominated society for a decade long time; because, the dualism between adopting and rejecting this new culture to integrate into old orthodox culture still persists. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/3980 |
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