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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
1

Natural resource rent and stakeholder politics in Africa: towards a new conceptualisation

Omeje, Kenneth C. 11 January 2016 (has links)
Yes / This paper critically revisits the debate on natural resource rent, curse and conflict, interrogating some of the key assumptions that have become received knowledge in extant discourses. The paper demonstrates how orthodox theories’ preoccupation with issues of resource rent and resource curse tend to be marred by slants of ahistoricity and state-centricity. Adopting a stakeholder approach to the issues of resource rent and conflict in Africa, the author argues that natural resource rents produce and attract a multiplicity of competitive stakeholders, both domestic and external, in the resource-rich states. The competition and jostling of stakeholders for access to, and appropriation of, rentier resources is too often an antagonistic process in many emerging economies that has consequences and implications for violent conflict. The paper attempts a new conceptual explanation of how natural resource rents dialectically generate stakes, stakeholders and political conflict. The paper concludes by proposing the need for the more conflict-prone African rentier states to transition to a more functional state model, the transformative state.
2

Dilemmas of regional governance : sub-national territorial politics and river basin management in the USA, France, China, and India

Moore, Scott Michael January 2013 (has links)
This dissertation identifies and explores the dilemma of regional governance, namely how to address political and economic challenges which occur at the meso-, as opposed to local, national, or international scale. Drawing on a large body of theoretical work on decentralization and federalism, this dissertation addresses the question, how do different institutional arrangements for political, fiscal, and administrative decentralization influence the capacity of political systems to capture regional-scale externalities? It does so by examining the responses of four different political systems, two federal and two unitary, to the problem of capturing economic externalities through River Basin Management (RBM), a quintessential regional issue. RBM outcomes are operationalized in terms of efficacy of capture of both water quality and quantity externalities which occur within inter-jurisdictional river basins. Through close historical analysis of six paired case studies across the four country cases, the dissertation argues that the capacity of political systems to capture regional-scale externalities depends on the ability of sub-national jurisdictions to pursue localized preferences, which is in this dissertation referred to as sub-national territorial politics. These politics are most prevalent in federal systems, which typically accord sub-national territorial jurisdictions with greater political power and fiscal resources. These political systems feature fewer and weaker regional governance institutions, and generally less effective regional-scale externality capture, than their counterparts. This dissertation contributes to a growing "sub-national turn" in comparative politics in two ways. First, it identifies the geographically-rooted interests which often shape sub-national actor preferences, particularly with respect to natural resource issues. Second, the dissertation discerns the lack of political incentives for central governments to resolve disputes between sub-national administrative jurisdictions, particularly in the federal systems in which these units are the basis for political representation at the national level.
3

Moving beyond natural resources as a source of conflict / Exploring the human-environment nexus of environmental peacebuilding

Dalbai, Anais 31 August 2021 (has links)
Trotz ihrer zunehmenden wissenschaftlichen und praktischen Bedeutung sind die Zusammenhänge zwischen Umwelt und Friedenskonsolidierung (engl. peacebuilding) noch wenig erforscht. Während in der Forschungsliteratur mehrere Möglichkeiten identifiziert werden, wie gemeinsam genutzte natürliche Ressourcen als Katalysatoren für den Frieden zwischen Konfliktparteien fungieren können, gibt es kaum empirische Belege für eine direkte Verbindung zwischen Umweltkooperation und nachhaltigem Frieden. Diese Dissertation untersucht umweltbezogene Friedenskonsolidierung (engl. environmental peacebuilding) und vertieft das theoretische Verständnis des Phänomens durch eine systematische Übersicht des Forschungsstands sowie zwei empirische Fallstudien. Auf diese Weise trägt die vorliegende Arbeit zur dringend benötigten konzeptionellen Schärfung und gleichzeitig zu einem empirisch fundierten Verständnis von Environmental Peacebuilding bei. Die Dissertation ist kumulativ aufgebaut und besteht aus drei Forschungsarbeiten. Das erste Paper befasst sich mit den Bausteinen des Environmental Peacebuilding und nimmt eine Bestandsaufnahme des Phänomens vor. Es schlägt Wege und Möglichkeiten vor, wie der Fokus von Umweltkonflikten auf Umweltkooperation und Frieden verlagert werden kann. Die beiden Fallstudien basieren auf qualitativen Methoden und untersuchen, wie Environmental Peacebuilding in zwei unterschiedlichen Kontexten, dem Nahen Osten und Westafrika, abläuft. Mit diesen beiden Arbeiten leistet die Dissertation einen empirischen Beitrag zur Environmental-Peacebuilding-Forschung und schließt eklatante Forschungslücken insbesondere hinsichtlich der Rolle von lokalen Gemeinschaften und privaten Akteuren im Environmental Peacebuilding. / Despite their increasing prominence in both research and practice, the interlinkages between the biophysical environment and peacebuilding remain under-researched. While the literature identifies several mechanisms through which shared natural resources can function as catalysts for peace between conflicting parties, empirical evidence asserting a direct link between environmental cooperation and sustainable peace remains scarce. This dissertation examines environmental peacebuilding. It does so by providing a better theoretical understanding of the phenomenon through a literature review and two empirical case studies. In so doing, this dissertation provides much needed conceptual clarity as well as empirical evidence on environmental peacebuilding. This dissertation is cumulative and consists of three research papers. The first paper deals with the building blocks of environmental peacebuilding and takes stock of the phenomenon. It proposes a coherent framework through which focus can be shifted from environmental conflicts to environmental cooperation and peace thereby also adding to the ‘how’ of environmental peacebuilding. The two case studies are based on qualitative methods. They explore how environmental peacebuilding unrolls in two different contexts, the Middle East and West Africa. With these two papers, this dissertation contributes empirical evidence to the environmental peacebuilding literature and fills gaps in the research, especially concerning the role of local communities and private actors in environmental peacebuilding processes.
4

Participation and Legitimacy : Actor Involvement for Nature Conservation

Rabe, Linn January 2017 (has links)
This PhD thesis in environmental science aims to contribute to the theoretical and empirical understanding of the relation between participation and legitimacy in multi-level environmental governance. It is widely assumed that actor involvement has great potential to improve the legitimacy of nature conservation through long-term acceptance and target achievement. However, local resource conflicts problematize the way a relation between participation and legitimacy is depicted on other administrative levels. Studies exploring the effect that participation has on legitimacy are relatively rare, especially in multi-level arrangements of coastal conservation. In this thesis the relation between participation and legitimacy on the local level is examined, as well as how this relation is conditioned by multi-level governance and power. The relation is empirical studied with two local implementation processes of the Helsinki Convention’s network of marine protected areas (HELCOM MPAs). The cases are located in Sweden. Sweden and the Baltic Sea region are in the forefront of participation in nature conservation, and therefore act as a strong case for the exploration of institutional participation. However, despite apparent political will and international support, the efficiency of actor involvement for nature conservation has been questioned, also for the HELCOM MPA and especially on the local level. Based on the results of this study, I question the assumption that weak legitimacy predominantly is an issue of insufficient information sharing. The findings show that involving actors to legitimize the adoption of strict adherence to a pre-established model of conservation likely fails to create long term support for conservation. Instead, relocation of power to the affected actors seems essential in order to make participation establish legitimacy. It appears important to create room for local influence in the design, management and implementation of a particular conservation area in the particular place/context. In both examined cases, there are elements of participation that support legitimacy, for example the development of a shared vision. There are also elements that hamper legitimacy, such as, for example, the high expectations different actors have on participation to reach consensus on protective values. These unmet expectations seem to fuel conflicts of interests among actors on different levels. / Världens hav är i kris. Med ett stort internationellt tryck för att skydda dem har den svenska regeringen satt ambitiösa mål för etablering av marina reservat. Beslutsfattare och forskare har höga förväntningar på att lokalt deltagande underlättar etableringen. Men utan verkliga möjligheter för lokalt deltagande att påverka besluten så verkar förväntningarna orealistiska, med allvarliga konsekvenser för legitimitet av miljöskydd. Avhandlingen undersöker relationen mellan deltagande och legitimitet i svensk östersjöförvaltning genom att studera samrådsprocesserna för Gräsö marina naturreservat och St Anna-Missjö marina skyddsområde. Studien visar på både positiva och negativa samband mellan deltagande och legitimitet, beroende på kvalitén av deltagande. Olika lokala aktörer är djupt engagerade i resursfrågor och vill ha möjlighet att diskutera dessa med staten. Lokala aktörer uttrycker besvikelse och frustration om samråden har en begränsad inverkan på faktiska beslut. Besvikelsen kan underminera stödet för naturskydd och försämra relationen mellan stat och lokala aktörer i längden. I ett av de undersökta fallen var de lokala aktörerna engagerade i att formulera en gemensam vision för området tillsammans med myndigheterna, något som annars är ovanligt. Det visade sig ha en mycket positiv effekt på samrådsprocessen och legitimiteten av naturskyddet.
5

Genes, judgments, and evolution : the social and political consequences of distributional and differential conflict / Social and political consequences of distributional and differential conflict

Meyer, John Michael 24 July 2012 (has links)
The following argument offers a sharper micro-foundational lens for studying human political and social behavior by demonstrating how political science might better incorporate the theory of evolution into its behavioral models, and by showing that differential conflict occasionally prevails over the materialist conflicts depicted in much of the modern social science literature. I take evolutionary psychology's understanding of manifest behavior as a point of departure, and then analyze the manifest behavior in terms of judgments, which are binary measurements at a particular point of reference; in other words, a given manifest behavior either did or did not occur at a particular point in time. I then show that judgments can 1) transmit from one individual to the next, 2) vary according to predictable adaptive processes, and 3) are either extinguished or flourish dependent upon the process of natural selection; judgments, therefore, meet the three requirements of evolutionary theory. Judgments, rather than genes, better describe the process of human political and social evolution, which becomes especially clear when one assesses the consequences of what I term "differential" outcomes in judgments. / text
6

The hydropolitics of Southern Africa: the case of the Zambezi river basin as an area of potential co-operation based on Allan's concept of virtual water.

Turton, Anthony Richard 04 1900 (has links)
Southern Africa generally has an arid climate and many hydrologists are predicting an increase in water scarcity over time. This research seeks to understand the implications of this in socio-political terms. The study is cross-disciplinary, examining how policy interventions can be used to solve the problem caused by the interaction between hydrology and demography. The conclusion is that water scarcity is not the actual problem, but is perceived as the problem by policy-makers. Instead, water scarcity is the manifestation of the problem, with root causes being a combination of climate change, population growth and misallocation of water within the economy due to a desire for national self-sufficiency in agriculture. The solution lies in the trade of products with a high water content, also known as 'virtual water'. Research on this specific issue is called for by the White Paper on Water Policy for South Africa. / Political Sciences / M.A. (International Politics)
7

The hydropolitics of Southern Africa: the case of the Zambezi river basin as an area of potential co-operation based on Allan's concept of virtual water.

Turton, Anthony Richard 04 1900 (has links)
Southern Africa generally has an arid climate and many hydrologists are predicting an increase in water scarcity over time. This research seeks to understand the implications of this in socio-political terms. The study is cross-disciplinary, examining how policy interventions can be used to solve the problem caused by the interaction between hydrology and demography. The conclusion is that water scarcity is not the actual problem, but is perceived as the problem by policy-makers. Instead, water scarcity is the manifestation of the problem, with root causes being a combination of climate change, population growth and misallocation of water within the economy due to a desire for national self-sufficiency in agriculture. The solution lies in the trade of products with a high water content, also known as 'virtual water'. Research on this specific issue is called for by the White Paper on Water Policy for South Africa. / Political Sciences / M.A. (International Politics)
8

“Accumulation by Dispossession” by the Global Extractive Industry: The Case of Canada

Kinuthia, Wanyee 13 November 2013 (has links)
This thesis draws on David Harvey’s concept of “accumulation by dispossession” and an international political economy (IPE) approach centred on the institutional arrangements and power structures that privilege certain actors and values, in order to critique current capitalist practices of primitive accumulation by the global corporate extractive industry. The thesis examines how accumulation by dispossession by the global extractive industry is facilitated by the “free entry” or “free mining” principle. It does so by focusing on Canada as a leader in the global extractive industry and the spread of this country’s mining laws to other countries – in other words, the transnationalisation of norms in the global extractive industry – so as to maintain a consistent and familiar operating environment for Canadian extractive companies. The transnationalisation of norms is further promoted by key international institutions such as the World Bank, which is also the world’s largest development lender and also plays a key role in shaping the regulations that govern natural resource extraction. The thesis briefly investigates some Canadian examples of resource extraction projects, in order to demonstrate the weaknesses of Canadian mining laws, particularly the lack of protection of landowners’ rights under the free entry system and the subsequent need for “free, prior and informed consent” (FPIC). The thesis also considers some of the challenges to the adoption and implementation of the right to FPIC. These challenges include embedded institutional structures like the free entry mining system, international political economy (IPE) as shaped by international institutions and powerful corporations, as well as concerns regarding ‘local’ power structures or the legitimacy of representatives of communities affected by extractive projects. The thesis concludes that in order for Canada to be truly recognized as a leader in the global extractive industry, it must establish legal norms domestically to ensure that Canadian mining companies and residents can be held accountable when there is evidence of environmental and/or human rights violations associated with the activities of Canadian mining companies abroad. The thesis also concludes that Canada needs to address underlying structural issues such as the free entry mining system and implement FPIC, in order to curb “accumulation by dispossession” by the extractive industry, both domestically and abroad.
9

“Accumulation by Dispossession” by the Global Extractive Industry: The Case of Canada

Kinuthia, Wanyee January 2013 (has links)
This thesis draws on David Harvey’s concept of “accumulation by dispossession” and an international political economy (IPE) approach centred on the institutional arrangements and power structures that privilege certain actors and values, in order to critique current capitalist practices of primitive accumulation by the global corporate extractive industry. The thesis examines how accumulation by dispossession by the global extractive industry is facilitated by the “free entry” or “free mining” principle. It does so by focusing on Canada as a leader in the global extractive industry and the spread of this country’s mining laws to other countries – in other words, the transnationalisation of norms in the global extractive industry – so as to maintain a consistent and familiar operating environment for Canadian extractive companies. The transnationalisation of norms is further promoted by key international institutions such as the World Bank, which is also the world’s largest development lender and also plays a key role in shaping the regulations that govern natural resource extraction. The thesis briefly investigates some Canadian examples of resource extraction projects, in order to demonstrate the weaknesses of Canadian mining laws, particularly the lack of protection of landowners’ rights under the free entry system and the subsequent need for “free, prior and informed consent” (FPIC). The thesis also considers some of the challenges to the adoption and implementation of the right to FPIC. These challenges include embedded institutional structures like the free entry mining system, international political economy (IPE) as shaped by international institutions and powerful corporations, as well as concerns regarding ‘local’ power structures or the legitimacy of representatives of communities affected by extractive projects. The thesis concludes that in order for Canada to be truly recognized as a leader in the global extractive industry, it must establish legal norms domestically to ensure that Canadian mining companies and residents can be held accountable when there is evidence of environmental and/or human rights violations associated with the activities of Canadian mining companies abroad. The thesis also concludes that Canada needs to address underlying structural issues such as the free entry mining system and implement FPIC, in order to curb “accumulation by dispossession” by the extractive industry, both domestically and abroad.

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