Communitarianism and harmony ideology have their proponents and critics, particularly as viewed through the lens of conciliation-based dispute resolution. Both features being prominent in the Tibetan Diaspora in India, I hypothesized that the strengths and weaknesses of these orientations could be assessed through the rationale behind the norms of social control operative in the community, and the efficiency and effectiveness of those norms in terms of voluntary compliance. I found that the informal Tibetan mechanisms for dispute resolution were effective and efficient in supporting Indian systems of law enforcement, while allowing a ritualistic affirmation of community. Contrary to proponents of legal centralism and court justice, I found that liberalist values underpinning litigative process were disruptive of social expectations, and had the potential to exacerbate rather than relieve social tensions. The harmony norms that predispose pro-social behavior within Tibetan settlements failed to protect the interests of community members, however, when the challenge came from local Indian groups operating on the basis of their own standards of particularistic allegiance. Legal ethnography best describes the methodology used for this research. Fieldwork drew on: 1) Interviews with twelve settlement officers whose mandate specifically includes mediation of disputes; 2) In-depth interviews with two disputants fighting cases before the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission; and 3) Interviews with over 70 informants (including senior and mid-level exile government officials and settlement residents), together with archival material, to situate findings and verify interpretations. This research contributes a unique non-Western body of data in support of Law and Society scholars, such as Amitai Etzioni and Phillip Selznick, who have argued for devolution of law-like responsibilities to local levels where internalized norms are an everyday means of social control. It also argues against the pejorative interpretation of harmony ideology as depicted by legal centralists such as Laura Nader. By reframing harmony as a function of norm rationale, efficiency and effectiveness, the research offers new variables for assessing the costs and benefits of community. Finally, the Tibetan case studies provide an important comparative for cosmopolitan states that are debating how to accommodate diversity and legal pluralism.

Communitarianism and harmony ideology have their proponents and critics, particularly as viewed through the lens of conciliation-based dispute resolution. Both features being prominent in the Tibetan Diaspora in India, I hypothesized that the strengths and weaknesses of these orientations could be assessed through the rationale behind the norms of social control operative in the community, and the efficiency and effectiveness of those norms in terms of voluntary compliance. I found that the informal Tibetan mechanisms for dispute resolution were effective and efficient in supporting Indian systems of law enforcement, while allowing a ritualistic affirmation of community. Contrary to proponents of legal centralism and court justice, I found that liberalist values underpinning litigative process were disruptive of social expectations, and had the potential to exacerbate rather than relieve social tensions. The harmony norms that predispose pro-social behavior within Tibetan settlements failed to protect the interests of community members, however, when the challenge came from local Indian groups operating on the basis of their own standards of particularistic allegiance. Legal ethnography best describes the methodology used for this research. Fieldwork drew on: 1) Interviews with twelve settlement officers whose mandate specifically includes mediation of disputes; 2) In-depth interviews with two disputants fighting cases before the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission; and 3) Interviews with over 70 informants (including senior and mid-level exile government officials and settlement residents), together with archival material, to situate findings and verify interpretations. This research contributes a unique non-Western body of data in support of Law and Society scholars, such as Amitai Etzioni and Phillip Selznick, who have argued for devolution of law-like responsibilities to local levels where internalized norms are an everyday means of social control. It also argues against the pejorative interpretation of harmony ideology as depicted by legal centralists such as Laura Nader. By reframing harmony as a function of norm rationale, efficiency and effectiveness, the research offers new variables for assessing the costs and benefits of community. Finally, the Tibetan case studies provide an important comparative for cosmopolitan states that are debating how to accommodate diversity and legal pluralism.

Communitarianism and harmony ideology have their proponents and critics, particularly as viewed through the lens of conciliation-based dispute resolution. Both features being prominent in the Tibetan Diaspora in India, I hypothesized that the strengths and weaknesses of these orientations could be assessed through the rationale behind the norms of social control operative in the community, and the efficiency and effectiveness of those norms in terms of voluntary compliance. I found that the informal Tibetan mechanisms for dispute resolution were effective and efficient in supporting Indian systems of law enforcement, while allowing a ritualistic affirmation of community. Contrary to proponents of legal centralism and court justice, I found that liberalist values underpinning litigative process were disruptive of social expectations, and had the potential to exacerbate rather than relieve social tensions. The harmony norms that predispose pro-social behavior within Tibetan settlements failed to protect the interests of community members, however, when the challenge came from local Indian groups operating on the basis of their own standards of particularistic allegiance. Legal ethnography best describes the methodology used for this research. Fieldwork drew on: 1) Interviews with twelve settlement officers whose mandate specifically includes mediation of disputes; 2) In-depth interviews with two disputants fighting cases before the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission; and 3) Interviews with over 70 informants (including senior and mid-level exile government officials and settlement residents), together with archival material, to situate findings and verify interpretations. This research contributes a unique non-Western body of data in support of Law and Society scholars, such as Amitai Etzioni and Phillip Selznick, who have argued for devolution of law-like responsibilities to local levels where internalized norms are an everyday means of social control. It also argues against the pejorative interpretation of harmony ideology as depicted by legal centralists such as Laura Nader. By reframing harmony as a function of norm rationale, efficiency and effectiveness, the research offers new variables for assessing the costs and benefits of community. Finally, the Tibetan case studies provide an important comparative for cosmopolitan states that are debating how to accommodate diversity and legal pluralism. / Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies / Graduate

Research on livelihoods has been conducted across various fields but there has been less focus upon detection and analyzing of the interconnected relationships between space and livelihoods. This study investigates these relationships from a place-specific point of view utilizing the Tibetan exile community in India as a case study. The qualitative method of semi-structured, in-depth interviews has been employed in order to gather primary data. Theoretically, this thesis draws it framework mainly from the human geography perspective on space and place combined with the conceptual Sustainable Livelihood framework.  This thesis argues that it is possible to distinguish four examples of reciprocal relationships between space and livelihoods in the places studied. These are spatial congregation into an ethnic enclave, the altering of place specific time-space relations which in turn alters livelihood possibilities over time, migration and spatial dispersion of livelihoods. These results are case specific and not generalizable. / Forskning kring försörjningsmöjligheter har utförts inom en rad vetenskapliga fält men få har fokuserat på att finna och analysera ömsesidiga relationer mellan space och försörjningsstrategier. Denna studie undersöker dessa relationer med en plats-specifik utgångspunkt och använder det tibetanska exilsamhället i Indien som fallstudie. Den kvalitativa metoden semi-strukturerade djupintervjuer har använts för att samla in primärdata. Uppsatsen drar sitt teoretiska ramverk från det samhällsgeografiska perspektiven på space och place i kombination med det konceptuella ramverket Sustainable Livelihood framework.  Uppsatsen menar att det är möjligt att särskilja fyra exempel på de ömsesidiga relationerna mellan space och försörjningsstrategier. Dessa är rumslig ansamling i en etniska enklav,  förändringar i platsspecifika tid-rum relationer vilket påverkar försörjningsmöjligheter över tid, migration och rumslig spridning av försörjning. Dessa resultat anses vara fallspecifika och därför inte möjliga att generalisera.

Background: In Tibet, as well as in their exile community in India, there is a widespread issue of female oppression and gender inequality within healthcare. Few studies explore the progressive work of organizations fighting these issues, which can contribute to a retrogression of discrimination awareness.  Aim: The aim of the study was to describe healthcare workers' perspectives on how and to what extent the Tibetan Women’s Empowerment Policy can be used to create equal opportunities in healthcare.  Method: Ethnographic method consisting of semi-structured interviews and observations has been used for data collecting and qualitative content analysis has been used for data analysis. Result: There are four recurring perspectives amongst the participants: (1) The policy has contributed to a change of attitude regarding female empowerment, female leadership and feminism. (2) The policy has contributed to the development of adequate healthcare services for women. (3) Limitations of support from the community. (4) The policy is not impactful. Conclusion: There are indications which show that the Tibetan women’s empowerment policy can create equal opportunities within healthcare in terms of attitude changes and accessibility to adequate healthcare. However, there are also practical complications in regard to its theoretical outlines as well as limitations of support from the community. It is concluded that the policy is part of a female progression within the community, yet there are still improvements regarding sufficiency and awareness needed to be made.