Fair Trade is an international movement which aims to strengthen the livelihoods of producers in the South, and to give the opportunity for conscious customers in the North to buy socially and environmentally friendly products. The conventional trade system is criticised, as well as the efficiency of aid to support developing countries. The core idea of Fair Trade is therefore “Trade not Aid”, where marginalised producers are given the chance to improve their living conditions by fair wages, market access and improved working conditions. The aim of the thesis is to investigate the potential of Fair Trade to contribute to sustainable development and empowerment, which therefore also act as the theoretical frameworks for this thesis. Sustainable development is investigated by its division into economic, social and environmental sustainable development. Fair Trade is furthermore investigated through specific key elements connected to these theories, by performing interviews with managers and producers within five separate Fair Trade organisations in India and Sri Lanka.  The main findings within this study reveal how Fair Trade does have the potential to contribute to sustainable development and empowerment to a certain degree. It is specifically prominent regarding social development and empowerment, while economic development occurs mainly on an individual level. The contribution to environmental development is also possible to detect, even though it remains clear how the initiative to do so might not always be fully related to environmental causes. / Fair Trade är en internationell rörelse som fokuserar på att förbättra livssituationen för producenter i Syd, och att ge medvetna konsumenter i Nord möjligheten att köpa produkter med miljöhänsyn och socialt ansvar. Det konventionella handelssystemet kritiseras, såväl som effektiviteten för bistånd att stödja utvecklingsländer. Grundtanken med Fair Trade är därmed “Trade not Aid”, då marginaliserade producenter får möjligheten att förbättra sina livssituationer genom rättvisa löner, tillgång till en marknad och förbättrade arbetsförhållanden. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka Fair Trades potential att bidra till hållbar utveckling och empowerment, vilket därmed är det teoretiska ramverket för den här studien. Hållbar utveckling undersöks även genom att dela upp det i ekonomisk, social och miljömässig hållbar utveckling. Fair Trade utreds även utifrån specifika indikatorer kopplade till dessa teorier, genom intervjuer med managers och producenter inom fem separata Fair Trade-organisationer i Indien och Sri Lanka. De huvudsakliga upptäckterna inom denna studie visar hur Fair Trade har potentialen att bidra till hållbar utveckling och empowerment i viss utsträckning. Det är speciellt framträdande vad gäller social utveckling och empowerment, medan ekonomisk utveckling främst sker på individnivå. Det är även möjligt att observera hur rörelsen kan bidra till miljömässig utveckling, även om det är tydligt att initiativet till att göra så inte alltid är av en miljörelaterad anledning.

The final months of Sri Lankan civil war, the 26 year military campaign between the Government of Sri Lanka and the insurgent separatist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, are marked by allegations of war crimes committed by both parties of the conflict, including attacks on civilians, summary executions of prisoners, enforced disappearances, restrictions on humanitarian assistance and recruitment of children. Since the attempts to put the Sri Lankan issue on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council failed on the unwillingness of China and Russia, the UN bodies in Geneva have taken a leading role in promoting the peacebuilding process on the island. The thesis aims to analyse the impact of the Geneva-based human rights bodies, in particular of the United Nations Human Rights Council, on the process of reconciliation in Sri Lanka, for which is crucial that the alleged violations of human rights in the last months of the civil war would be properly investigated and that the perpetrators would be held accountable. In order to put the activity of the UN Human Rights Council into broader context, the paper will examine the political development in Sri Lanka since the end of the civil war in 2009 as well as the failed efforts of Sri Lankan governments to launch the process of reconciliation.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the major themes of female suicide bombers in Chechen widows and Tamil Tigers. For my thesis I chose empirical- analytical methodology and methodology of comparative case studies. In both cases, the first studies dealing with the historical circumstances under which the group is established, the status and role of women in society there, leading motivation to attack their targets and then mention the most important examples of attacks perpetrated by members of the terrorist group. Research suggests that in neither case is not only one motive, but rather a multi-causal phenomenon. Black widows are predominantly motivated by religious and secular motives, specifically the personal motivation because of the death of a loved one, they want revenge. In Tamil Tigers is the main motive separatist when trying to get the rights for the Tamil minority and achieve an independent state of Eelam. Despite the geographical distance and differences in religion can be proportioned to find the same in both groups. Both groups can be seen as a gender dimension - women's efforts to deal with men.

The aim of the master thesis is to determine factors that contribute to peace settlement of separatist conflicts. It compares two separatist conflicts with different forms of termination. The Indonesian government signed a peace agreement with separatists in province of Aceh and offered them greater autonomy, whereas the government of Sri Lanka decided on military suppression of Tamil separatists. The analysis of the conflicts is based on six factors that are built on the study of Barbara Walter about the concept of reputation building. According to the concept, governments are less likely to go for peace settlement when facing more imperilling separatist groups, seeing that governments have to invest in reputation building. The comparative case study is based on following factors: potential future separatists, value of land currently under dispute, proportion of total population and territory, balance of power between separatists and government, political system with focus on democracy, degree of centralization/ federalism. The evidence seems to be strong that the theory of reputation building does not apply to selected cases because the peace settlement was achieved in Indonesia which has far more potential separatist groups than Sri Lanka. In conclusion, the thesis identifies following factors...

The purpose of this case study is to examine and explore the consequences of reintegration among female ex-combatants in Sri Lanka and Nepal. DDR-programs have often been critiqued by scholars for their lack of gender perspective, consequently this research aims to understand the unique challenges and outcomes faced by women with different intersectional identities. This study uses structured, focused comparison, to systematically compare social, economic and political aspects of reintegration based on several comparing factors such as psychological health, stigmatisation, employment opportunities, education, financial support, political participation and representation. Through this methodology, and the creation of the theoretical framework based on critical feminism and the analytical tool intersectionality, the study aims to answer what differences and similarities can be found in the two countries. The findings shows that social identities such as gender, class, caste, ethnicity, age and ideology have a significant impact on female ex-combatants’ access to reintegration. Furthermore, that prior education levels of female ex-combatant have a decisive influence on the possibility of a meaningful reintegration in society.

This study investigated stakeholders’ views of multicultural policies and practices in multicultural secondary schools in Sri Lanka and a comparator school in England, in order to elicit what new insights could be gained that could lead to educational improvements in Sri Lankan schools. Specifically, students and staff in five Sinhala-medium secondary schools in the Colombo region, all with reputations for good multicultural education practice, together with local community leaders and national policy makers, were interviewed. A series of questionnaires was designed to examine a wide range of stakeholder perspectives across these five schools, using as a conceptual framework Banks’s (1986, 1989 and 2004) international work on multicultural policy and practice in schools and teacher education. A similar interview schedule and questionnaire were used to elicit views and experiences of multicultural education in a comparator school in an urban area of the East of England. There were a number of reasons for this. The modern school system of Sri Lanka had its beginnings during the British colonial administration. Now that there is peace in Sri Lanka after a long period of civil war, the government is focusing on ways to develop the curriculum to integrate multicultural education into its peace education curriculum in order to foster intercultural understandings. England has a longer tradition in multicultural education and policies in its education system. Using Banks’s work (op. cit.) for analysis, there may therefore be lessons to be drawn from the Sri Lankan schools identified as having good multicultural practice and the English experience that are of use in Sri Lanka. Major findings from this research project include the need for careful consideration of ways to foster greater multilingual competence among both teachers and students if Sri Lanka is to reach its goal of greater intercultural understandings and communication between the various ethnic groups. It seems from this study that, in Sri Lanka, whilst there were some differences in the strength of perception of different ethnic groups of students, overall they felt comfortable and safe in school, which is a testament to government efforts to achieve harmony in schools and, thus, social cohesion in society. However, some groups of students are more advantaged than others in the same schools in their access to the acquisition of languages and, therefore, access to the curriculum and to further and higher education and future enhanced life chances. The teachers acknowledged that language was a major concern in multicultural classrooms, partly because some students could not communicate effectively in Sinhala medium, and partly because they themselves were not always fluent in both national languages. Further, despite central government policy that all secondary teachers in Sri Lanka should be trained to degree level and should be qualified in their profession, the highest qualification that nearly one half possessed was A-level General Certificate of Education. All teachers in both Sri Lankan, and the English comparator, schools expressed a wish for training in multicultural practices.

With the emegence of an empire, many of the devices and instruments adopted for the governance of England, were extended beyond the seas to the colonies. One such device was royal commissions of inquiry. Royal commissions, the origins of which in England have been traced as far back as the time of the Norman Conquest, were utilised by the administration in England from time to time to investigate particular problems in colonies, and suggest ways and means of solving them. In the first empire, the American settlements received bodies of somewhat similiar nature on some occasions, but their true value was displayed only when the second empire was being founded. During the turbulent years of the French and Napoleonic wars the empire was continuously extended, but only after peace was established did it become possible for the ministers in England to take stock of the empire which had been acquired. What were the purposes of the empire, what were the nature and the conditions of the colonies conquered, in what manner should this new empire of a diverse and amorphous character be governed, were some of the numerous questions which faced them through the following years. These clearly emphasised above all the need to obtain information about the colonies. The information provided by their Governors did not prove to be adequate, and there was no possibility of officials at home acquiring the much needed information. To resolve the problem, they fell back upon the age old method: royal commissions of inquiry.

This study analyzes and maps barriers preventing Sri Lankan female workers in Export Processing Zones (EPZs) from participating in awareness raising activities by NGOs. These barriers can furthermore be discussed as preventing them from an enhanced empowerment. The gathered data is mostly based on interviews conducted during a three-week long fieldtrip in Sri Lanka. By using both a literature analysis on the field of research together with group interviews with both female EPZ workers as well as with personnel from a women’s organization in Sri Lanka the study identifies five barriers hindering the women’s participation; time and distance; lack of motivation or interest; limited knowledge of the organization; someone opposing the choice; and fear of loosing the employment. The study derives the root-causes of the barriers to the current social norms and roles, which are internalized in the young women’s mind from their background as well as through the reproduction of them in their new environment, but also to EPZs as discouraging an improvement of the women’s situation.

published_or_final_version / Comparative Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / English / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy