Browsing Master's theses in indigenous studies by Issue Date
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- Browsing Master's theses in indigenous studies by Issue Date
Browsing Master's theses in indigenous studies by Issue Date
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Brattland, Camilla (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 2005)[+][-]
Abstract: In the thesis, we follow the development of a discourse on coastal Sami rights on the local level and in public discourses from the 1970s up until today. In Norwegian fisheries management, fishing is only to a certain extent protected from regulations that threaten culture, livelihoods and settlement in coastal Sami areas. Resource use in coastal Sami areas has previously not been a subject of research, and it has been argued that coastal Sami fishing is not culturally specific in the meaning that coastal Sami are similar to any Norwegian citizen. However, when investigating local fishing practices in a coastal Sami fjord, we find that the local population has argued for several decades that their traditional ways of fishing are threatened by the Norwegian fisheries regulations. In 1985, the Supreme Court of Norway recognized a group of fishermen’s right to compensation after their livelihood was damaged following the construction of a hydroelectric power station. Fishing practices that were documented in the beginning of the 1980s connected to the court case are investigated and compared with today’s practices in the same area. The thesis argues that some practices have stood the test of time, while others are rejected, as the circumstances require a flexible approach to resource management in the fjord. Coastal Sami rights are to a great degree unspoken among the fishermen in the area of research. The local fishermen’s association in Kåfjord has acted as a resource management institution and a channel for local complaints, but it has not argued in terms of indigenous rights until recently. This is due to the process of assimilation and local circumstances, where expressing any kind of Sami belonging has been sanctioned before the coastal Sami revitalization process made an impact in the Lyngen region in the 1990s. In public discourses, the issue of coastal Sami fishing rights meets with challenges. During the course of a project aiming at local management in the Lyngen fjord, issues pertaining to the process of expressing a Sami identity in the three municipalities involved in the project, was one of the factors leading to the project’s abortion. Another factor was the general power structure in Norwegian fisheries management, where communities stand few chances against a few large fishing companies of controlling fisheries in fjords and at sea where the local population has fished for centuries. Coastal Sami thus face a double challenge in their struggle for recognition of their fishing rights. Today, coastal Sami rights discourse is met with better conditions both on the local level and from the authorities, giving hope for the future if indigenous rights claims are able to overpower capitalistic interests. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/1384 File(s) in this item: 1
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Ciocîrlie, Elena Mirona (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 06-Jun-2005)[+][-]
Abstract: My work of cultural analysis is a labyrinth for cultural understanding and mediation. At work are the disciplines and trends of analysis - cultural, historical and legal-, the minotaurs. ''Cultural Mediation. A Case Study of Sami Research'' is the nest of a magpie with bits and pieces gathered in a mixed style, interdisciplinary, translating the oral tradition of the academic lectures in the lanscape of the Sami and Norwegian geo-political and economic landscape. The argumentative talks between the students and the lecturers in the Programme, on the methodology used in the Indigenous Studies Programme at the University of Tromsoe, as shared by both well-established academic fields and newly emerged fields such as Indigenous Studies, allowed the room for developing this style and discussion on and of old and new texts and performative acts, artistic qualities imbeded, and differences underlined or merged. The personae, Ande Somby and Henry Minde, as discussed in the paper are only discursive instances and fabulae of their written and performed acts. I apologise for any discrepancy, wrong or missing reference, which might interfere with the conventions of the academic writing in the text - they were possibly left out due to the economy of a Master thesis (as opposed to a PhD thesis, for example) of time, money and experience, and especially of time. The thesis contains four parts: 1. Introduction - discussing the research problem, 2. Theory and Methodology - stating the definitions used for concepts employed in the thesis, such as ''discourse'', ''ethics'', ''autobiography'', ''political and juridical indigenous discourse'', ''symbolic action'', 3. Ande Somby: ''Some Hybrids of the Legal Situation on the Sami People in Norway'' - discussion of Ande's project as artistic manifestation, performativity, cultural mediation, 4. Henry Minde: ''Assimilation of the Sami-Implementation and Consequances'' - history writing and the Sami political changes, staging as discursive mode, Norwegianisation strategies, state institutions, Sami community, assimilation stages, ''voice'' as discursive strategy. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/2929 File(s) in this item: 1
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Bhattarai, Sundar (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 08-Jun-2006)[+][-]
Abstract: This thesis is devoted to a study of the reciprocal labor exchange system bola, and the indigenous knowledge that it supports. The field study took place in a rural area of Nepal where agriculture is the main occupation. I observed the system in action in Manamaiju village where Newari peasant groups, including their farmer groups Jyapu, live and which is situated in Kathmandu District. The Newar people are the second largest population group in the village and they are successfully maintaining bola on their terms. It is recognized that there are 59 Indigenous Nationalities in Nepal and one of them is the Newar. Nepalese social structure is mainly based on Hindu rule and, in addition, the Newar of Kathmandu Valley have their own caste hierarchical system. It was formed on the basis of their traditional work descriptions in the period of the Malla Dynasty around 15th century BC. According to traditional social structure, Jyapu and Matwali (alcohol user by birth) remain cultivator groups as a Sudra for the Hindu Varna system. There are various Jat (sub-castes) groups that exist only in Jyapu group and who belong to a ranked system of higher and lower status positions. Accordingly, Maharjan and Rajbahak are the main Jyapu groups in the village which covers almost 50% of the total area of the Manamaiju Village Development Committee (VDC). In this regard I am only looking at these particular groups and their performance of the bola system. The key queries of this study are: what does the bola system look like in the village; and, how are they maintaining it as a successful living practice when there is a liberal economic policy in front of them? Regarding the latter, it has been found that their subsistence farming and social and cultural values are the most significant influential factors. Furthermore, their own Newari / Nepal Bhasa language, powerful Guthi (social structure) system, strong social commitment, traditional food and deeply ingrained festivals are some of the significant factors of the bola system. Hence, it plays an important role in maintaining the Newari as a distinct ethnic group and in making their adaptation economically sustainable. In this perspective the bola system might be a source of inspiration to other indigenous agricultural worlds. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/154 File(s) in this item: 1
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Abate, Abebe Gizachew (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 09-Jun-2006)[+][-]
Abstract: The questions of land rights, identity and power are related to what constitutes nation-states, the relations between nation state and their constituent peoples and territories. These questions are debatable in artificial African nation states emerged in the wake of European colonialism. The notions of territoriality defined in context of African nation states are more likely sources of frictions and contests than `imagined community` notion of (Anderson 1991) used to reflect on historical origins of nation. This is due to the fact that international boundaries of African nation states were grounded on the denial and subjections of rights, cultures, world views and existence of indigenous peoples. Based on the contemporary ethnographic and historical data from Oromia regional state of Ethiopia the study examines complex relationships and contradictory processes of the effects of resource based-development policies of the Ethiopian regimes on land rights related to Oromo peasant livelihoods, environment and development. The thesis discusses the rights to define; allocation and use of resources have been related to the fundamental questions of land rights, identity and power. The compressive analysis focuses on how the power to define resource use and rights are socio-culturally and historically constructed and ideologically driven. In concern to this humane issues students of society and culture have studied social and cultural changes unfolded related to the integrations of indigenous nations or peoples into nation-states, colonial regimes, and world capitalist economy. Indigenous peoples suffered from the asymmetric power relationships and assimilative packages of those forces. Some of the works view indigenous people as passive victims of those forces. However, this study suggests that indigenous Oromo peasants and pastoral communities resist and sometimes obstruct encroachments of those forces into their livelihoods. II But given the asymmetric power relationships, the question is how indigenous people with different views of rights encapsulated into modern nation states enjoy cultural continuity and their rights to existence as a people maintained within this framework, where their views of land rights connected to ethnic identity and development is not `legal `? Analytically , a new ethnographic paradigm of approaching the notions of land rights, power and resistance that problematize custom as static culture vs. dynamic understanding of culture opens up a more dynamic, practical , contextual and relational understanding of ` rights`. The analytical paradigms that focus on historical context of cultural and legal processes of indigenous relations to their land and nation state-indigenous people relationships allows looking into the constraints and limitations of actions and practice of the governance of land rights .This thesis has selected four conflicts of interests over the use of land and natural resources among different stakeholders in Oromia with particular focus on the two recent court cases: the case of Inxoxilsh and Hidha Gamme in Alam Gana to examine the continuity of challenges of land rights of the Oromo peasants in Ethiopia. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/153 File(s) in this item: 1
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Phiri, Victoria (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 16-Jun-2006)[+][-]
Abstract: Health is one of the major problems facing most developing countries like Zambia. Poor economies, low funding, shortage of staff, epidemics like AIDS, coupled with poor and sometimes inaccessible facilities make the provision of health difficult. The 1978 Alma Ata conference’s call for health for all seemed a far cry for such countries. But the conference was aware of this problem and thus, its recommendation for the utilization of traditional practitioners in an integrated health system. One of such integration is that of Traditional midwifery with the health system. Under this system, observations and questions arise; does the traditional midwife lack any form of knowledge that can be exchanged between the two systems of medicine? What does the traditional midwife know? Is it knowledge from the point of view of the traditional midwife herself, from her clients or indeed from the biomedical professionals? Thus, the focus of this thesis is knowledge. Traditional midwifery is analyzed from a point of view of knowledge; how it is perceived, recognized and/or utilized, in such an integrated system. The analytical frame work in this thesis consists of situated knowledge, Epistemology discrimination and Feminist critique on development theories. Qualitative methods were the main methods used to collect primary data during the field work in Kabuyu, Zambia. In this thesis, I argue that what the traditional midwife practices is knowledge. Based on the local experiences and traditions, this knowledge may be different from what is commonly called “western” knowledge. However, this difference should not be the basis of discriminating it from the world body of knowledge. I suggest communication between the different kinds of knowledge systems under the integrated program for any meaningful development to take place. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/157 File(s) in this item: 1
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Yangzong, Ciren (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 23-Jun-2006)[+][-]
Abstract: The implementation of the Household Responsibility Contract System (HRCS) for grassland is ongoing in the pastoral area of Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR). The main purposes of the HRCS are to reverse the degradation of the rangeland, promote sustainable development of grassland and to increase nomadic production to transform traditional animal husbandry into a more modern development. In this thesis I have address two main questions: 1) Does the Household Responsibility Contract System really protect grassland? 2) Is HRCS compatible with the intended development of the Chang Tang conservation area? HRCS implements a shilft from a common management system to an individual management system. Thus, the starting point for this argument is the comparison of the two management systems and their suitability and adaptability to TAR’s pastoral area in relation to my study area, the Shenchen township pastoral area. I attempt to demonstrate how common property systems have traditionally served and benefited the Shenchen nomads, and how they have traditionally co-existed with the wildlife using this system. I have compared my study area to those areas where the grassland policy has already been implemented in other pastoral areas in China. I analyze how HRCS is working in my particular area; especially in the Chang Tang conservation area and whether it is having an effect on nomad’s culture and environment. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/291 File(s) in this item: 1
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De Wet, Priscilla Felicity (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 30-Jun-2006)[+][-]
Abstract: The government of the Republic of South Africa established a human rights enshrined constitution. To implement it, various commissions were established to promote constitutional democracy by embracing their diverse cultures and take up the challenge of changing the racist and segregationist ideals of the recent Apartheid past to a nation unified in its diversity and embracing its’ Africanness. The CRL Commission was established, as an agent for social change, to address issues relating to cultural, religious and linguistic communities. Two examples show that both on group and individual level, members of the commission have been able to mediate and by bringing in new research based information in the first case and the shared African respect for ancestors graves in the second, new modes of coexistence of diverse cultures have been formed. However, this is not adequate to address the Khoe and San issue as they need a specific body that would effectively address their issues of cultural development, education, economic upliftment, restoration of their territories and especially their power relation with the nation state. Khoe and San are not just minority groups but a people who have lived in Southern Africa since time immemorial. Their language group is only found in this region of the world. The CRL Commission cannot address the issue of the Khoe and San. Because of the power shift from colonial white rule to African black rule all black Africans are not indigenous to Africa anymore as the term indigenous addresses inequalities with regard to economic resources and the relationship between marginalised national minorities and the state. The change from addressing a hostile regime to addressing a well meaning regime, whose main shortcomings lay not so much in what is done than what is not being done, calls for a very different tactic and lines of arguments. The Khoe and San have become part of the global Indigenous arena who are using ethno-politics as a tool to reverse the negative stereotypes directed towards their ‘primitiveness’ and heritage as a means to decide their distinctiveness and therefore moral commitment by the state to address their issues. African nations have to transcend the postcolonial conditions and move towards modernities that unite ancient and modern knowledge. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/155 File(s) in this item: 1
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Hoque, Abdul (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 23-Aug-2006)[+][-]
Abstract: Sustainable livelihood means to live with the close harmony without losing ecosystem both in economical, social, environmental and cultural elements. Or other ways we can say live without the degradation of economical, social, environmental and cultural elements of an indigenous group is sustainable livelihood. Radio has the strong role in the sustainable livelihood of indigenous people. Mother language is the most powerful instrument of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. Promoting the recognition and practice of mother language media, especially radio, has its distinctive role. Radio is the cheapest and easiest, strongest and personal medium that can be useful every moment of a person’s life, though he/she is at works. So the radio has an impact on the indigenous people’s sustainable livelihood. ‘Sal Gittal’ is one of the programme broadcast from Bangladesh Betar, Dhaka for the Garo people. Within last thirty years they have had enormous benefit like lyricists, singers, artists come from them, they could present their language and culture in the national radio, which gives them inspiration to protect and flourish their culture and heritage. On the other hand Rakhaing, has no radio programme of their own. So their language and culture has no significant development, even diminishing day by day. Some of the Rakhaing people are now trying to retrieve their language, culture and heritage. Study findings showed that the Rakhaing feel them excluded from the world; and only a single programme in radio can give them a feeling of being a member of the world. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/156 File(s) in this item: 1
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Ansoglenang, Gilbert (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 23-Aug-2006)[+][-]
Abstract: In an attempt to alleviate poverty and empower poor people, many NGOs and government line agencies have been providing credit and social services to rural women in the Lawra District of Ghana. The essence of these credit schemes is to help the rural poor, especially women, earn a decent living through their on-going income generating activities (IGA). The study emphasized that rural women play an important role in the provision of domestic welfare. Many women resort to multiple occupations in order to satisfy the welfare needs of their household members. While these women are engaged in several paid activities simultaneously, they still perform their unpaid and gendered domestic activities. It was realized that women have assumed certain household responsibilities, which were formerly men’s gender roles, such as providing money and other material resources for house keeping. These added responsibilities have afforded rural women a rare voice in household decision-making processes. A derived benefit of empowered women was that they spoke for their men folks; women advocated for jobs and credit schemes for men in their communities. The study concluded that micro-credit schemes help reduce rural poverty and empower women. Despite the enhanced and visible roles assumed by these women due to the credit schemes, there were serious operational lapses: the loans given to the women were inadequate to start and run any viable IGA, leading these social actors to refer to the loans as ‘chop money’ and not ‘business money’ (money sufficient to start with a viable business). Lack of formal education, time, improved technology and ready market for products, which often run down rural enterprises, still persisted and thereby reducing the women’s current productivity relative to their evident potentials. In the light of this, inter alia, the study made the following recommendation towards the empowerment of women: an appreciable increase in the loans, prioritizing girl-child education, developing and encouraging the use of appropriate technology, and engendering the loan scheme or helping rural women side-by-side their men folk. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/310 File(s) in this item: 1
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Zhirkova, Sargylana (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 29-Aug-2006)[+][-]
Abstract: The present state of the traditional culture of indigenous people in Russia can characterised as critical. It is well known that education was used as a main tool for acculturation and assimilation of non-Russian ethnic groups during the policy of Russification. In recent time the revitalisation of the indigenous minority culture stimulates a process of bringing back the nomadic schools. The nomadic school is defined as a special type of elementary school which was adapted to the extreme northern conditions of Siberia: this model started under the Soviet in the 1920's and 1930s. This type of school moves with reindeer herders and it makes the school accessible for the children of nomadic people. It seems strange that in a modern time the indigenous people decided to return not only to their traditional culture but also to the type of schooling which was used by their parents. The first nomadic school in Russia was created in the 1930s and now this kind of school starts to work again in nomadic communities. I have decided to write about the nomadic school because education is an important aspect of life of the indigenous people: it opens doors for indigenous people. Today the nomadic school is a new educational institution for the indigenous nomadic children. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/158 File(s) in this item: 1
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Mundu, Bineet J. (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, Nov-2006)[+][-]
Abstract: This thesis, ‘On the Future of Indigenous Traditions: The Case of Adivasis of Jharkhand, India’ on the whole by making it a case study brings a focus on the Adivasis as the indigenous peoples of India. It touches upon a few important historical facts of the groups of Adivasis now located in the central-east part of country. Additionally it goes on into the sources that determine their traditional institutions, which play an important role in their social and cultural administration. These institutions also manifest their social cultural identity that these groups of people are the historical communities who need their due recognition to assert their collective rights within the present nation-state. This focused case touches upon different perspectives on the collective rights vis-à-vis state’s individual rights issue. This thesis brings forth the conceptual and practical realities of Adivasis’ institution and its relevance today. The customary social-cultural institution of the Adivasi peoples, symbiotically linked to the cycles of nature reflected in their cultural practices, evolves a politics that needs to be studied in the discourse of the modern nation-state. This thesis gives an introduction to the issue of Adivasis’ identity as the research problem within its own limitation and the use of methodologies. To start with, it deals with different sets of sources, which determine that the Adivasi are the indigenous peoples of the country. At the same time it explains how Adivasis distinctiveness is signified and represented through their existing customary practices. However, their customary practices have become less influential due to historical reasons in contemporary period. Within this reality the role of State and its impact on the Adivasis is also discussed. It further discusses with the political association of the Adivasis that is derived from their customary practices and the benchmarks in the present national legislative system. This includes the conflict of their communitarian identity with the society at large and the State. The main focus henceforth is on the strengths of customary system in the reality of the legal system of the State. The empirical data supplements the above positions taken with case illustration and analysis. The study concludes with a discussion on broader issues, issues which has affected the basis of the customary practices of the Adivasis and gives an analysis with findings indicating certain area which the thesis identifies it to be considered for further research in the academic discourse. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/1291 File(s) in this item: 1
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Zhang, Qian (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 13-Dec-2006)[+][-]
Abstract: This thesis is dedicated to a better understanding of Mongolian pastoralism transformation in the contemporary Inner Mongolia context. Such a comprehension requires both the knowledge of common resource management and a historical analytical approach. A multidisciplinary approach based on institutional theory is proposed, primarily because the research rationale on reflection of fieldwork information raises the hypothesis that outside forces are the main cause of Mongolian pastoralism transformation; also because the long-standing controversy over common resource management needs a comprehensive approach instead. Moreover, a historical dimension can be very well integrated in the institutional change theory. Hence, the transformation of Mongolian pastoralism is an imposed institutional change process in which external institutions constantly pushes internal institutions out of functions. The thesis is thus structured: From the presentation of internal institutions of traditional Mongolian pastoralism, to the explanation of external institution transformations, and to the observation of internal institutions adapting to the changing institutional environment. The discussion concentrates on the present change of Mongolian pastoralism under the Household Production Responsibility System and other related management policies. The appropriation of the present external management system is questioned through a cost-benefit evaluation, in which the vulnerabilities both of Mongolian pastoralism and the pastoralists are exposed. Therefore, the socio-economic, environmental and cultural predicaments faced by these people can actually be interpreted as the phenomena or outcome of institution maladjustments or institutional defects. New forms of cooperative usage of rangeland, as an expression of micro-level motive for “appropriate” institutional arrangement in sustaining pastoral practices, are finally discussed to suggest the transformation prospect. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/513 File(s) in this item: 1
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Gemechu Jemal Geda (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 18-May-2007)[+][-]
Abstract: The Faraqasa indigenous pilgrimage center is one of the most popular pilgrimage centers in Ethiopia. It was founded by a woman named Ayyo Momina in the first quarter of the twentieth century and it is situated at a place called Faraqasa, in Arsi zone of the Oromia region in Ethiopia. It is important to study this institution since it shades light on one of the indigenous beliefs and practices in Ethiopia. Having said this, how did this indigenous pilgrimage center come to such dominance in Ethiopia? What are the factors that contributed to this? In order to answer these questions, a fieldwork has been conducted and existing literatures has been researched. There are some reasons that contributed a lot to the coming into dominance of the Faraqasa pilgrimage center in Ethiopia. These are, firstly, the belief in the spiritual power of the leaders of the center. They are believed to have possessed supernatural powers of healing the sick and performing various miracles. Secondly, the belief that taking part in ritual ceremonies at Faraqasa is one method of getting relief from these worldly problems, such as physical and psychological illnesses. The practices at the Faraqasa pilgrimage center demonstrate the tolerance that exists among some adherents of different religious, ethnic, linguistic, and political backgrounds in Ethiopia. Hence, this work is believed to increase peoples’ awareness of the values of tolerance and understanding. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/965 File(s) in this item: 1
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Asebe Regassa Debelo (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 29-May-2007)[+][-]
Abstract: This study deals with ethnicity and inter-ethnic relations in African context, with particular emphasis on the new ‘Ethiopian Experiment’ of ethnic politics. The study challenges the already existing thoughts on ethnicity, which map the concept on contours of polar extremes and suggests an approach to transcend the primordialist/constructivist perspectives. It is argued that in the face of rising ethnic politics in Africa, and particularly in Ethiopia where everything is ethinified, ethnicity can no longer remain only an analytical concept nor can inter-ethnic relations be understood separately from the political context. This study thus makes use of ethnicity both in analytical and political contexts. The concepts of politicised ethnicity or ‘Formal Ethnicism’ and its policy instrument - ‘Ethnic Federalism’ - are used in drawing the contours of national discourse on ethnicity and the dynamics of local inter-ethnic relations, taking the Guji-Gedeo relations in Southern Ethiopia as a case study. In this study, I agued that with the politicisation of ethnicity in the country’s political scene, particularly following its articulation in a formal political programme of the government in 1991, ethnic entrepreneurs activated elements of dichotomies at the expense of mutual co-existences like the Guji-Gedeo case. The historical relationship between the Guji and Gedeo ethnic groups has been examined in the context of economic interdependence, sharing some elements of cultural practices, political allegiances, belief in ancestral curse in case of homicide and myth of common ancestor. It also addresses the 1990s conflicts between the two groups drawing lines of connection between the national discourse on ethnicity and the local realities. This study also casts some light on the convergence between ethnicity and indigenousness in an African context, both concepts inconveniently sidelined by the bogus ambitions of post-colonial African leaders who try to build ‘nation-states’ at the expense of the rights of their member groups. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/990 File(s) in this item: 1
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Romanova, Evgenia (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 19-Jun-2007)[+][-]
Abstract: This thesis is mainly focused on theoretical study of ethnicity and indigenousness, with some particular attention to language and politics. Some aspects of identity building and self-awareness among the Veps people living in Karelia are in focus. The study is interdisciplinary and thus also methodologically plural though the primary approach to ethnic identity is based on idea that ethnicity is socially constructed image. The actors of the revitalizing movement are nowadays engaged in the creation of ethnic markers, such as a common group name (Veps), elements of common culture and a common history (or a myth of common origin and the Finno-Ugric world). A discission about different symbols of ethnicity leads to the conclusion that the most urgent issue for the Veps is to preserve their dying-out language. And consequently, the language is only one marker of their distinctive culture in the modern globalized and urbanized milieu. But the gap between the ordinary people, official authorities and ethnic leaders in the area of language development is a reason of the continued effect of the assimilation processes among the Veps. The investigation is based on the fieldwork data collection conducted in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, in June-August 2005. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/1156 File(s) in this item: 1
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Mladonova, Anna (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 23-Aug-2007)[+][-]
Abstract: This thesis is dedicated to a better understanding of World Health Organization contribution to process of combating female genital mutilation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The World Health Organization is well known all over the world for their work in public health. This organization is dealing with many issues concerning health and well being of people, the one of these issues is combating female genital mutilation. The practice of female circumcision/female genital mutilation is practiced in many countries in African as in Ethiopia. The variety of reasons, age of the girl circumcised and many other aspects make the process of combating of this practice challengeable. The one of the many strategies for combating female circumcision is legal prohibition of this practice. World Health Organization have contributed to this process by adopting resolutions urging Member states to establish national policies to end traditional practices that are harmful to the health of women and children. However, that the practice of female circumcision is recognized as violation of internationally adopted human rights, for some groups of people is this practice seen as part of their culture, tradition and norm of the behaviour. The focus of this thesis to find out what the World Health Organization does in combating female genital mutilation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and what kind of experiences World Health Organization has in combating this practice. In addition, I am focusing on the World Health Organization’s cooperation with non-governmental organizations in the process of eliminating this practice. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/1194 File(s) in this item: 1
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Uzawa, Kanako (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 08-Nov-2007)[+][-]
Abstract: Who defines indigenous peoples, and in whose interests does the definition serve? If there is a definition that is regulated in relation to indigenous peoples, how much does it the protect rights of indigenous peoples? Considering these questions as my point of departure, I have chosen to do a comparative study on the Sami in Norway and the Ainu in Japan in the context of ILO Convention No. 169. There are great differences between the Sami and Ainu in terms of governmental policy, legal frameworks, institutional structures, levels of domestic and international movement, awareness of human rights, and social atmospheres, especially given the fact that Norway is the first country to ratify ILO Convention No. 169. A main focus of this thesis is to pursue understanding the causes of those differences as well as similarities focusing. Moreover, how ILO Convention No. 169 has or has not been implemented at the domestic and international level is another main focus in this thesis. The thesis relies on an interview method to clarify the facts, and draws upon different levels to illustrate the topic by using texts and by interviewing people who have various perspectives on the issue. For instance, I interviewed Sami representatives who have been involved with the process of ratification of the ILO Convention No. 169 at the international and domestic levels and the Ainu representatives who have dealt with the international and domestic issue. Also, the government officials and ILO representatives also provided a different perspective on this matter. Finally, the thesis concludes with description of the dilemma that has been created in the process of legal and political development of the Sami and Ainu, and it suggests possible solutions for these matters in the future. The thesis focuses mainly on the legal perspective; but also by using the author’s own subjective experience as a point of reference it brings into focus other dimensions of indigenous politics, knowledge, and reality. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/1261 File(s) in this item: 1
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Cárdenas, Rosa Inquiltupa (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 07-Dec-2007)[+][-]
Abstract: In this thesis I discuss and show how the unequal distribution of water rights results in a deprivation of economic, social, and cultural prospects for the indigenous peoples in Chinchero. I attempt to illustrate that Peruvian water legislation does not belong to the same context as the indigenous people’s cultural perception. Firstly, the Peruvian legal context based on the national Constitution and its framework of laws does not work in a traditional culture background due to the ineffectiveness of water ownership in the indigenous territories. Secondly, the Ayllu is considered the indigenous’ unit institution as far as water management is concerned, and, thus, it shapes the cornerstone of a legal system that has been a model in an ancient Inca social structure or “collective community system of ownership”. It also demonstrates that indigenous people have practiced their own rules, characteristics and principles with regard to water. As an extension, a strong argument may be made based on the “Ayni” principle, which connects humans and water. How could the ILO Convention No. 169 warrant the rights to water for indigenous population in Chinchero? The answer to this question lies in articles 14 (land ownership) and 15 (natural resources ownership) of ILO Convention 169. It may also be explained in “Water Law and Indigenous Rights” (WALIR in regard to water self-determination). The above-mentioned international legal framework may be use as a local tool in terms of defending indigenous rights. However, this is the case only when those claiming these rights are aware of them, otherwise they become useless. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/1337 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (17.29Mb) -
Leonenko, Anastasia (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 04-Apr-2008)[+][-]
Abstract: The International Indigenous Riddu Riđđu Festivála has taken place every year since 1991 in Manndalen, a Coastal Saami hamlet, in the municipality of Kåfjord in the county of Troms in the North of Norway. The festival represents by itself an independent event that through indigenous management and developed ethno-relations inside the country, promoting the idea of cultural awareness and sensitivity to all ethnic groups, however different they might be, and support them in terms of preservation of their culture, language, and lifestyle in our global and developed world. This thesis is intended to show the ambiguity and complexity of the Coastal Saami identity in Manndalen, not only with relation to Norwegians, but also with reference to the situation among locals, between adults and youth, traditions and modernity. In other words, which relations between traditions and modernity does Riddu Riđđu demonstrate? Therefore this thesis will try to find out the relation of manndalinger to the cultural invention and show their chosen way of the invasion of traditions and how far they accept distortions as authentic to their heritage during the process of cultural invention and which sign-substitutions can be defined in relation to Coastal Saami culture today. Moreover, the purpose of this thesis is to understand the process by which means invented portions of culture acquire authenticity. In other words, how the social reproduction of culture – the process whereby people learn, embody, and transmit the conventional behaviours of their society (Hanson 1989:898) – is happening in the Coastal Saami community today. Therefore the Riddu Riđđu festival will be considered further as one of the examples of Coastal Saami cultural invention with the purpose of revitalization an ethnic identity. Thus, the Riddu Riđđu festival can be seen as a visible tool in Manndalen’s process of ethnic revitalisation. In this case, can the festival be considered as an example of an imagined community (Anderson 1983), created as a cultural arena for the Saami political debates and bringing Saami people, the young and the old generation, together? Further, the festival can be seen as an important tool in the process of Coastal Saami ethnic revitalisation with perspectives on northern indigenous and in general world community nowadays. What is the role of this imagined community for its participants? What challenges do manndalinger have in creating both a local and a global symbolic community? This master thesis is tended to bring up questions for further discussions and become one of the colourful pieces in the mosaic of understanding the Riddu Riđđu festival and its role in the revitalisation of Saami identity. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/1579 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (1.656Mb) -
Rojas Hooker, Sandra Carolina (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 30-May-2008)[+][-]
Abstract: This thesis discusses the Justice Administration System in Karata and the influence of Positive Law over the Indigenous Law or vice versa. The research was based primarily on participatory observation, focus group discussion, interviews with key person and literature review regarding Indigenous law, legal pluralism and conflict resolution. The conclusions reached was that Justice Administration in Karata is carried out by an administrative body composed by the Wihta, Elders, Communal Police, Religious Leader and Director from the Primary School, with the responsibility to maintain peace and social harmony in the community by the use of sanctions and punishment based on their customs and traditions such as public shame, talamana – payment of blood and exile. The Indigenous System of Law has experienced transformations that are evidenced during the oral hearing by the incorporation of elements from the Positive System of Law such as the principles of orality, immediacy and publicity among others, that requires the Wihta to have basic legal knowledge, due to the coordination/collaboration existing between authorities of the Indigenous system and the Positive System of Law. In relation to the knowledge and understanding of the Indigenous System of Law and the Positive System, the community members are aware of the existence of the Positive Law and have basic knowledge of the Human Rights instrument. Yet, the members of the community prefer the Indigenous System of Law and use the Positive System as a last resort when they claim that their standard Human Rights have been violated in the Indigenous System. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/1544 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (6.801Mb)
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