There is currently a struggle about land between indigenous people and farmers in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The conflict has already caused deaths, and both sides point to the other as the instigator. This ...

The barriers to energy savings in institutions and private homes are well known and include people’s lack of interest, awareness, knowledge and human and financial capacity. Experiences made in several countries show that ...

Recent debates on African agency in China–Africa relations highlight how China provides African governments with an alternative to traditional donors that should allow African policy-makers to experiment with policy ...

This article reviews the empirical literature on women’s empowerment through electricity access and the methodologies that have been used. Statistical studies have looked at areas with access to the grid and measured the ...

The MMR – maternal mortality ratio – has risen from obscurity to become a major global health indicator, even appearing as an indicator of progress towards the global Sustainable Development Goals. This has happened despite ...

In 2013, the Norwegian Armed Forces decided to introduce a meat reduction scheme in its military mess halls, for both health reasons and environmental concerns. This article explores Norwegian soldiers' reactions to the ...

The promotion of conservation agriculture (CA) for smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa is subject to ongoing scholarly and public debate regarding the evidence-base and the agenda-setting power of involved stakeholders. We ...

The Ebola epidemic of 2014-2015 was the largest Ebola outbreak ever, killing over 11,000 people. In this thesis, I explore the Norwegian response to this crisis, focusing particularly on two projects conducted by the ...

Ferrosilicon is one of the fundamental building blocks of modern society, yet seldom discussed outside the factory halls in which it is produced. Products from the ferrosilicon industry end up in everything from cars to ...

This study focuses on a Saminist (Sedulur Sikep) community in Java – Indonesia, particularly related to the contemporary anti-cement movement. With their Javanese puritanical traits and non-violent resistance, the Sedulur ...

Based on a qualitative study of Chinese-led construction projects in Mozambique, this article explores how Chinese engagement in the construction sector affects workplace regimes. The study addresses the following set of ...

Self-help literature has attempted to change people’s mindsets for more than a century, but its potential to make a difference for the environment has barely been studied before. This thesis uses an interdisciplinary ...

Climate change has been framed in terms of disaster, cost, uncertainty, and sacrifice for decades. Many researchers have argued that we have to talk about climate change in a different way. My aim in this thesis has been ...

En vårkveld i 2011 stod ikke mindre enn fem ministre samtidig på podiet på Litteraturhuset. De overgikk hverandre i superlativer for å beskrive betydningen av samarbeidet med et latinamerikansk land. Anledningen var ...

Indigenous peoples around the world and particularly in Latin America are struggling to strengthen their control over land and the territories they inhabit. The strengthening of rights has come as a result of multiple ...

Este artículo presenta resultados de un estudio sobre las estrategias de los Grupos Empresariales Diversificados (GED) centroamericanos en frente a la globalización. Busca comprender cómo estos han cambiado en el proceso ...

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is one of the so-called ‘Rio Conventions’, three multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) ensued from the ‘Earth Summit’ of 1992. Unlike its two ‘sisters’ ...

In a world facing a global climate crisis, the debate about the role and responsibility of the corporate sector in finding a solution rises. While sustainability and green growth are suggested as means to reconcile the ...

Meliponiculture, or stingless bee domestication, is an ancient Maya practice that has been at the edge of disappearance in the past 20 years. Thanks to an alarming preoccupation of the future of stingless bees, many ...

This research seeks to understand the way a new modal shift in mobility has become popular among population in Mexico City. The modal mobility system that is studied is the use and popularization of the bicycle, which ...

Addressing the environmental challenges that are a result of the ballooning Chinese economy is becoming an increasingly important national priority. Today, China has the highest number of deaths linked to ambient air ...

Agriculture is one of the most controversial industries in the world. The population is growing and the need for food is too. But the strain that agricultural production puts on the environment, and the imbalance between ...

Alternative food networks (AFNs), in their myriad forms, have the potential to challenge the destructive tendencies of the globalized food system, affecting how food is produced, distributed and consumed and the logics ...

To achieve Millennium Development Goal 5 on maternal health, many countries have focused on marginalized women who lack access to care. Promoting facility-based deliveries to ensure skilled birth attendance and emergency ...

Drawing on cultural sociology and memory studies, this thesis offers a new framework for understanding post-industrial urban development. Focusing on the case of the Lower Area of Vítkovice in Ostrava, the Czech Republic, ...

Nicaragua has a long history of health activism and government policies aimed at achieving various models of participation in health. Drawing on ethnographic research in rural Nicaragua, this article situates contemporary ...

In this paper, an interdisciplinary team of economists and anthropologists study the perplexing case of Norwegian households’ heat pump ownership. The heat pump is a technology that has the potential to reduce electricity ...

The private car comes with promises of modernity and comfortable mobility for the growing middle class in Vietnam. Vietnam’s government has also targeted the domestic automobile industry as a “spearhead industry” in an ...

Vietnam’s recent economic and social transformations are manifested in the streets of its capital city through millions of motorbikes and a rapidly growing presence of cars. Based on ‘motorbike ethnography’ in the streetscapes ...

This thesis sets out to investigate the factors that challenge a reduction of food waste within households of young adults in Norway. Food wastage is one of the biggest barriers to ensuring a sustainable food system, with ...

Global interest in and attention to forests have grown as concerns about global warming and climate change have taken a heightened position in international policy debates. Forests have been repositioned in international ...

In spite of the realization that Norway and other rich, industrialized countries need to move towards a less meat-heavy diet, and in spite of a blossoming general interest in vegetarian practices, not much research has ...

This thesis is based on a longitudinal study and it examines the social impacts of the introduction of genetically modified (GM) soya in Santa Cecilia, an agricultural colony located in northern Argentina. Two additional ...

It is difficult, if not impossible, to satisfactorily answer the question ‘Why does poverty persist?’ Nonetheless, there appear to be two approaches that can provide a useful start. One alternative is to examine why poverty ...

This thesis looks at Parque 3 de Febrero and Parque Las Heras in Buenos Aires in an attempt to establish the role of public greenspace in ‘modernizing’ a city. Rather than looking at modernity as a stagnant collection of ...

This research looked into the emerging role of ‘slow fashion’ within the Danish clothing market and the factors that enabled this nation to become an industry leader. The research employed both primary and secondary research ...

This thesis seeks to examine how food consumption and provisioning practices involving the fridge and other supporting appliances are being shaped in São Paulo. Everyday practices are becoming energy intensive in affluent ...

A direction which sustainable development in energy systems could take is towards electricity ‘co-provision.’ Here, centralised fossil-powered generation is partly replaced by decentralised, renewable micro generation ...

The nature of global development has changed substantially over the past three decades in step with the intensified globalisation of capitalism and its imperatives of growth and expanding consumption. Most significant is ...

Inspired by research on rural sustainability and development in China, this thesis presents a case study on The Loess Plateau Watershed Rehabilitation Project (LPP), a state-led, World Bank-funded environmental improvement ...

The topic of elites has always been controversial in Latin American social sciences. Elites have been studied indirectly as landowners, capitalists, business-leaders or politicians, and have also been approached directly ...

Household energy consumption accounts for the largest proportion for the emissions of greenhouse gas emissions. These gases are the main contributors to global warming. World leaders have set a goal to limit warming to a ...

The study looked on differences of cycling culture between Dar es Salaam and Tanga cities in Tanzania. The study attempts to find factors behind a thriving cycling culture in Tanga and factors for a weakening cycling culture ...

This thesis intends to explore and analyse the discrepancies that exist between the accepted global narratives that promote investing in hydropower projects with the argument that it will bring development, economic growth ...

Consumption of red meat has been recommended reduced from a climate and health perspective. In Norway, National Nutrition Council has pointed it out through their dietary advice published in 2011. Meat production is an ...

The increasing use of internal carbon pricing among companies demonstrates the possibility of an interaction between business and environmental interests. An internal carbon price is a price that is voluntarily placed on ...

This thesis provides a critical overview of the theoretical evolution of CSR and current international frameworks. It also examines the drivers and institutional environment for CSR in China today, before discussing the ...

Indian democracy has often been characterized as "a puzzle" that "defies theories". But any theory on democratic practice will need to take into account the world's largest democracy. We assert that Indian democracy is ...

Electricity provides a range of desirable services such as the electric light and the use of mobile phones and is regarded as a conditional factor for economic growth. Gender equality and women's empowerment are also ...

Las protestas de los movimientos contra la industria extractiva, particularmente en Guatemala, han sido enfrentadas en la mayoría de los casos con respuestas violentas de parte del Gobierno y de las compañías mineras. El ...

This thesis is a case study based on the urban development project Harstadpakken . It seeks to 1) identify leading discourse or discourses in the projects planning documents and how this, or these discourses influence the ...

The Blue Nile Basin has for the past century been characterized by Egyptian dominance, both directly and through British colonial rule. This dominance is institutionalized through the Nile Water Agreements and the Anglo-Italian ...

¿Qué es lo que motiva a investigadores de las ciencias sociales de un país pequeño, periférico y lejano como Noruega a estudiar fenómenos sociales en América Latina? ¿En qué medida podemos decir que el pensamiento social ...

The rapid developments in Vietnam since the economic reforms (doi moi) initiated in 1986 have led to a transformation of urban mobility. In less than 20 years, motorbike ownership in the country increased tenfold, and there ...

How genomic selection enables species to adapt to divergent environments is a fundamental question in ecology and evolution. We investigated the genomic signatures of local adaptation in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) along ...

Over the last couple of decades, the number of bilateral free trade agreements has accelerated on a global scale. Close geographic proximity seems to matter little, as new arrangements around trade are emerging. About one ...

Acts of resistance against forced displacement can manifest itself through a wide variety of social and cultural expressions. This thesis explores resistance against the dam-induced displacement in the highlands of Georgia ...

The purpose of this dissertation is first to provide a historical overview and discuss the progress of the status of indigenous knowledge in Mexico. How has it advanced from being a repressed tradition to becoming part of ...

Since the 1960s democratic member based organizations (DMOs) have formed the back bone of the Norwegian environmental movement (NEM). A series of recent developments, however, have challenged both their dominant position ...

Cabins have a special place in the hearts of Norwegians. A main aspect of cabins is their function as meeting places between nature and civilization. It is therefore meaningful to read the cabin as a symbol of Norwegian ...

Mauna Kea is located on the Big Island of Hawai i. It is a dormant volcano and the highest mountain in the world measured from sea bottom. Mauna Kea first attracted astronomers in the 1960s. Since then there has been a ...

In this paper, we investigate the extent to which the use of in-home displays affects daily practices and electricity consumption. Through two pilot projects, in-home displays were installed in 33 Norwegian homes, and we ...

This study was conducted in Moshi-Tanzania. The research topic is Coping with Power Interruptions in Tanzania.An Industrial Perspesctive:A Case Study of one Small Scale Animal Food Processing Industry in Moshi Municipality.The ...

The focus of this work is on the phenomena surrounding the increasing consumption that has been occurring among the poor in developing countries over the past decades. People who were confined to subsistence levels of ...

This paper investigates the spaces for participation that have been created by readiness preparations launched in connection with the international initiative “Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation” ...

This thesis is concerned with the significant cultural, physical, and emotional losses of the Ojibwe people and their current efforts to use food as a means of regaining their sovereignty and self-sufficiency. In Ojibwe ...

Background: There is extensive use of polystyrene (PS6), polypropylene (PP5) and other plastics in packaging practices in Iceland today, despite these materials being a threat to the environment. As Iceland is portrayed ...

The objective of this thesis is to find out how music festivals in Norway communicate environmental awareness to their audience. Through the use of mixed methods for collecting data, I measure the impact that the music ...

This thesis discusses political participation, democracy and development in Khayelitsha in Cape Town. It looks at channels for participation and how participation relates to issues of democracy and development. In South ...

This thesis sets out to explore the factors that have challenged the introduction of Meat-Free Monday in the Norwegian Armed Forces. The need to address the unsustainable levels of meat consumption, especially in the West, ...

It is often contended that individuals and states fail to act on knowledge of climate change as it is too abstract and intangible. What then of the so-called hotspot communities situated in the most dramatically impacted ...

Barcarena, a city located in the Brazilian Amazon, was a small town until the 1970 s, but a massive aluminium production plant was built in the region in the 1980 s and the alumina and primary aluminium plants were responsible ...

This article presents and discusses results from an empirical study of people’s uses of various types of heat pumps in Norwegian homes. We analyze the rebound effect from a practice theory perspective. In-depth interviews ...

This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Emerging Economies and Challenges to Sustainability on 10 October 2014, available online: http://www.routledge.com/9781315797106

Modern food production and consumption practices release greenhouse gases and other pollutants, contributing to global warming, as well as causing resource depletion and environmental degradation of local landscapes. As ...

Ethics - how we ought to live and act in relation to other human beings - is an integrated part of our everyday lives, and it is accepted as an important part of public debates. But other human beings are not the only ones ...

The success of the garment and textile industry has contributed immensely to a culture of mass consumption. In 2011 Norway accounted for 16.2 billion NOK worth of clothing imports (Garberg, 2012), with households spending ...

The term voluntary simplicity is attributed to the social reformer Richard B. Gregg, who in 1936 wrote an influential pamphlet in favour of the conscious and deliberate simplification and repurposing of life, to the ...

This thesis is an attempt to approach the questions of environmental ethics from a Rortyan, anti-foundationalist perspective. I draw on the writings of Richard Rorty in order to construe a perspective on environmental ...

Ecovillages are small scale communities, striving for environmental sustainability and social integration. This thesis is based on a fieldwork of three months duration in a Danish ecovillage. The thesis explores their ...

This study sets out to examine the potential of four Oslo museums / learning centers for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). ESD has gained ground in the course of UNESCO`s Decade for Education for Sustainable ...

One of the most significant multifaceted national challenges in Ghana is the spread of illegal gold mining activities. This type of informal mining is a major source of employment in many parts of a country. This study ...

A common conclusion of studies on Central America’s democracies and political economy is that the weakness of institutions and the strength of elites are a main reason for the region’s problems. Recently, a set of studies ...

The aim of this paper is to examine people’s attitudes towards electricity and electricity consumption within the Norwegian market context. The empirical material is based on 18 in-depth interviews and eight focus group ...

Central America as a region has made world headlines mainly due to civil wars, insurgencies, and, more recently, drug-trafficking and youth gang violence. Central American enterprises are only rarely studied; even less so ...