Despite the voluminous literature on North-South macroeconomic interactions and the key role of terms of trade variations in growth transmission from one region to another, a significant research gap persists for two reasons. First, there has been very little empirical work on testing of the relationships between growth patterns and terms of trade movements. Second, the empirical studies dedicated to testing the Prebisch-Singer Thesis (PST) focused on testing the long-run tendency for the terms of trade of primary commodities to deteriorate and neglected the joint nature of the predictions arising out of a complete formulation of PST. This dissertation seeks to properly specify the PST, provide a generalization of it to the case of imbalanced trade, and extend it to a three-region framework through a structuralist North-South model. Multiple paths of growth divergence/convergence and terms of trade deterioration/improvement emerge depending on the structural changes influencing the income-elasticity differentials. I carry out two sets of empirical analyses. First, I use aggregate data on North-South terms of trade indices to test the presence and significance of a downward trend. Second, I use panel data analysis and rolling regressions to show the evolution of income-elasticity differentials. The results suggest that the growth rates of developing countries during the 1980s declined in both absolute and relative terms partly as a result of the downward trend in terms of trade and partly as a result of income elasticity differentials reflecting the productive and technological asymmetries between the developed and developing economies. However, these structural asymmetries have not remained constant: the results show that they changed both over time and over cross-sections of different groups of countries. In general the countries that diversified towards manufactured exports had better chances of eliminating the elasticity differentials, and thus attaining relatively higher rates of growth. The cross-country study is complemented by a comparative case study of Turkey and Malaysia. The results show that industrial and trade policies, if carefully designed and effectively implemented, can counter potential costs of external market dynamics while taking advantage of the opportunities for advancing dynamic comparative advantages.

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Drawing mainly on Lefebvre’s, Soja’s and Smith’s theorizations of space in order to understand the spatial dynamics of social inequality, this study investigates how a low-income Syrian refugee community negotiates its precarious location in a neighborhood on the periphery of one of Cairo’s desert ‘New Towns’. It also examines the way in which urban spatiality shapes the everyday lived reality of this particular community of Syrians. Through an ethnographic focus, I explore how Syrian people living in Cairo are marginalized through broader processes of neoliberal capitalist development which in turn give rise to socio-spatial disparities within cityspace. By developing the concept of socio-spatial exclusion imbued with defiant (hyper)locality, I argue that although these Syrian refugees lack access to transportation and other types of social services, they nevertheless manage to disrupt the spatial status-quo by devising creative solutions to problems concerning amenity availability in the neighborhood where they live. The investigation of these urban trajectories are guided by the notion that spatiality is at once a social product as well as a force in shaping social life. Research for this project draws on multiple sources, including conversations with neighborhood residents, interviews with NGOs and Cairo-based specialists on refugees and urban development, as well as ethnographic observation, an online questionnaire, satellite imagery and social media content.

What happened in the post-Soviet, European grain-belt after collective farms were dissolved and in what way can we say that collective farm legacies influence agrarian developments in this region today? These are the main questions of this thesis, which is a work of critical human geography, but is also inspired by theories, methods and approaches from the social sciences, broadly defined. Territorially, the focus is Ukraine, but several articles in this thesis take a wider geographic perspective beyond Ukraine, in particular taking into account the role of Nordic investors in the agrarian sector in Ukraine and Russia. The main aim of this thesis is to examine how farms of different sizes – from small peasant farms to super large corporate farms – develop and change in post-communist circumstances. Another purpose is to reinterpret Soviet agrarian history, in light of what happened after the collapse of communism, in order to incorporate the Soviet experience in a global historical narrative, and to better understand the legacy of collective farming today. These issues are explored in four papers and a comprehensive summary. The first article examines small-scale, household “peasant” agriculture in southern Ukraine and shows the conditions and factors, which have contributed to an impressive intensification of farming in certain villages. The second article investigates large-scale, Nordic investments in Ukrainian and Russian agriculture, with the aim of explaining why many (but not all) such investments have not succeeded to the degree that investors hoped. The third paper focuses on the legacy and afterlife of Soviet-era investments in large-scale irrigation in southern Ukraine, and uses the post-Soviet reincarnation of irrigation in this region to problematize traditional narratives on Soviet environmental management in a global context. The fourth paper, with a wider historical lens, explains the link between collective farms and today’s agroholding agriculture in much of the region, while also discussing the sustainability crisis in agriculture both in a Soviet and post-Soviet context, concluding with a description of a possible and ironic (but by no means inevitable) scenario whereby post-Soviet agriculture saves global capitalism.  Theoretically, this thesis is informed by agrarian political economy; related, contemporary debates on the financialization of agriculture; and critical human geography discussions on uneven development and the geographies of difference. This thesis also is inspired by Actor Network Theory, and the view that reality is constituted by hybrid subject-objects, which are instantiated through the agency of an assemblage or network of different actors, material things, discourses, institutions, etc... While such Actor Network approaches are certainly not new, their application to Soviet and post-Soviet change is relatively new. The source material, which is the basis for the empirical approach of this thesis, is eclectic, and produced via mixed methods from different locations. Analysis is based on interviews (75 interviews in southern Ukraine, in Kyiv, and in Stockholm, plus 28 visits to household farms in one study village in southern Ukraine); participant observation (carried out in the study village in southern Ukraine and in corporate shareholder meetings mostly in Stockholm); various texts, such as corporate documents and newspaper commentary; agricultural statistics; and satellite data.  Among other conclusions, this thesis argues that, given certain factors, small-scale, household agriculture can be viable, at the same time that the concentration and consolidation of agriculture into large-scale holdings is likely to continue, at least in the short term. This thesis also highlights similarities between Soviet and capitalist agriculture in a global historical context, which is one reason that the transformation from Soviet to capitalist agriculture could occur so fast in some areas. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

This thesis examines the development of communication skills of children with developmental dysphasia, with the use of augmentative and alternative communication. The work is made up of theoretical and practical part. The research focuses on the influence of elements augmentative communication intervention in children with developmental dysphasia in preschool facilities. The research part is formed by empirical research based on a case study of a boy with developmental dysphasia, case reports describing the progress of special education intervention in preschool institutions, research part is completed by the conclusions of the investigation and recommendations for practice. The aim is to show the positive influence the course of education of children with developmental dysphasia support structured learning and noticeable advances in communication development of children with the support of the graphic expression.

La perspective écologique qui s’est développée en criminologie adopte une notion implicite de la spatialité qui réduit l’environnement à un simple site géographique et exclut les rapports de pouvoir, les dynamiques sociales et culturelles ainsi que les valeurs qui y sont véhiculées. La présente étude interroge donc l’importance de l’espace géographique en criminologie. Elle se penche particulièrement sur le rôle de l’espace dans la (re)production et la régulation d’illégalismes et de déviance ludique ainsi que sur la production du savoir par le biais du concept de liminalité compris comme un espace-temps symbolique. Pour exposer le concept de liminalité, la thèse repose sur une ethnographie de 5 mois et demi réalisée dans deux villes balnéaires du Costa Rica. Elle montre comment les pratiques néolibérales de l’industrie touristique créent un espace liminaire qui répond aux quêtes d’exotisme, mais surtout de sens et d’authenticité recherchées par les touristes qui souhaitent rompre avec leur vie quotidienne. Alors qu’un pan de la littérature scientifique considère la liminalité comme un espace où les normes quotidiennes sont suspendues, cette thèse suggère que les touristes adhèrent aux normes présentes dans cet espace, soit à celles qui reposent spécifiquement sur la consommation d’un hédonisme agressif. Cela les mène à une consommation d’alcool et de drogues ainsi qu’à une sexualité dites hors de l’ordinaire. S’inscrivant dans une approche interdisciplinaire, cette étude emprunte, dans un premier temps, la notion d’espace à la géographie culturelle. Cette conception de l’espace qui comprend une dialectique idéaliste-matérialiste permet d’adopter une perspective analytique de développement inégal. Celle-ci permet de comprendre non seulement pourquoi certains endroits, lieux, régions et pays sont connus pour être des espaces dits liminaires, mais également en quoi les pratiques d’une économie capitaliste poussent ceux-ci à miser sur une image de liminalité pour (sur)vivre dans l’économie de marché. Inspirée dans un deuxième temps par l’anthropologie sociale, la thèse considère l’expérience touristique comme un rite de passage et propose que les touristes soient soumis.es à un dispositif symbolique qui les mène à performer in situ une identité de touriste. Cette performance, concrétisée par la consommation de transgressions, a pour conséquence de (re)produire l’espace liminaire. La thèse montre également que ce dispositif symbolique est un mécanisme de régulation non seulement des conduites, mais aussi des corps. Enfin, la thèse indique que le terrain de recherche est également une liminalité pour les chercheur.ses qui les affecte ainsi que le savoir produit. / Within the field of criminology, the ecological perspective argues for an implicit notion of spatiality, one which reduces the physical environment to nothing more than a basic geographical site, thereby excluding the power relationships, as well as the social and cultural dynamics, or values- and meaning-based dynamics, conveyed therein. As such, this study investigates the importance of geographical space in criminology. By employing the concept of liminality, defined as a symbolic space-time, this thesis also specifically studies the role space plays in the (re)production of both illegalisms and playful deviance, their respective regulation, as well as in the production of knowledge. In order to shed light on the liminality concept, this thesis draws on a five-and-a-half-month-long ethnography, carried out in two Costa Rican beach towns. It also illustrates how the tourism industry’s neoliberal practices produce a liminal space that caters to quests for the exoticism, and especially the hedonism and authenticity, sought by tourists seeking to escape the confines of their everyday lives. While a segment of the scientific literature views liminality as a space where everyday norms are suspended, this thesis instead suggests that tourists adhere to norms already present in such spaces, ones specifically based on an aggressive form of hedonism, which in turn result in “out of the ordinary” alcohol and drug consumption, as well as sexuality, on the part of tourists. In adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this study initially employs cultural geography’s notion of space. This conception of space, which employs an idealist-materialist dialectic, also allows for the adoption of an analytical perspective based on the concept of uneven development. It also makes it possible to understand not only why certain places, regions, and countries are recognized as being so-called liminal spaces, but also how the practices of a capitalist economy push them to rely on an image of liminality in order to survive and operate within the market economy. In additionally taking inspiration from social anthropology, this thesis views the touristic experience as a rite of passage, while also proposing that tourists are subjected to a symbolic device, which leads them to perform a site-specific tourist identity. This performance, given concrete form by the consumption of transgressions, results in the (re)production of the liminal space. The thesis also shows that this symbolic device is a regulating mechanism in regard to conducts, but additionally to bodies. Lastly, the thesis illustrates the ways in which the research field is also a liminality for researchers, one which affects them, as well as the knowledge produced therein.

Infrastructural projects to realize the energy transition are framed by governmentsfrom all around the world very positively. This is also the case for green hydrogen,which is considered as a silver bullet to solve multiple crises simultaneously. ThisMaster thesis explores the drivers behind the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy inthe global South and elaborates on socio-economic and ecological implications ofgreen hydrogen production projects to analyse the truthfulness of the positivenarratives of the benefits of green hydrogen. To accomplish this, an internationalgreen hydrogen project led by the German-British company Hyphen and planned tobe established in Namibia, was used as an emblematic case study. Following the framework of the socioecological fix, the findings strongly indicatethat green hydrogen does not significantly contribute in solving the climate crisis andsocial problems. Contrarily, strongly influenced by domestic and internationalpolitics, the project in Namibia seems to primarily fix the crisis of capitalism, which isthe overaccumulation of capital that requires new ways of circulation to makecapitalism renew itself. By commodifying and integrating natural resources in globalvalue chains, the Namibian society is disadvantaged, and few actors, primarily fromabroad, profit. Similarly, the finance approach of the project pushes Namibia intopotential financial dependencies. Besides that, the legacy from German colonialismand South African occupation before liberation is manifested in where and how theinfrastructure of hydrogen production is envisioned and planned. There is a risk thatthe hegemonies of elite social classes sustain their position and that social inequalitiesmight be reinforced through a project heralded as benefitting the whole nation. By assessing the political ecology of green hydrogen, I contribute to a critical researchagenda, that considers global inequalities, colonial histories, and ideologies. This willhopefully help to build a foundation for a truly decolonial and just energy transition,all around the world. / Infrastrukturprojekt som bidrar till realiseringen av energiomställningen har fått enöverlag mycket positiv inramning av regeringar i världen. Detta gäller i synnerhetgrön vätgas vilket betraktas som en lösning till flertalet olika kriser. I denna master-uppsats undersöks drivkrafterna bakom den massiva ökningen av vätgas-ekonomin iden globala södern, samt de socioekonomiska och ekologiska konsekvenserna avprojekt som behandlar produktionen av grön vätgas. Vidare utvärderas huruvidaden positiva inramningen beskriver sanningen av dessa vätgasprojekt korrekt. Föratt uppnå detta användes ett grönt vätgasprojekt som leds av det tysk-brittiskakonsortiet Hyphen, och som planeras att etableras i Namibia, som en emblematiskfallstudie. Enligt ramverket socioekologisk fix som kommer från politisk ekologi,tyder resultaten starkt på att vätgas inte bidrar väsentligt till att lösa klimat-krisen ejheller sociala problem i den globala södern. Tvärtom, starkt påverkad av inhemskoch internationell politik, så verkar bidra till att lösa kapitalismens kristendens, vilketär överackumulering av kapital som kräver nya sätt för att cirkuleras så att kapital-ismen kan förnya sig själv. Genom att göra naturresurser till handelsvaror och integr-era dem i globala värdekedjor så riskerar det det namibiska samhället attmissgynnas, medan ett fåtal internationella aktörer tjänar på det. På samma sätt lederprojektets finansierings-strategi till att Namibia hamnar i ett potentiellt finansielltberoende. Dessutom syns arvet från tysk kolonialism och den sydafrikanskaapartheidregimens ockupation i och hur infrastrukturen för produktion av vätgasplaneras. På så sätt kan hegemoniska strukturer som vidmakthåller sociala eliter ochdärmed sociala ojämlikheter förstärkas genom ett projekt som sägs gynna helanationen. Genom att utvärdera den gröna vätgasens politiska ekologi bidrar jag tillen kritisk forskningsagenda som tar hänsyn till globala ojämlikheter, kolonialahistorier och olika ideologier. Detta kommer förhoppningsvis också att bidra till attrealisar en avkolonisering och rättvis energiomställning över hela världen.

En matière d’aide au développement le droit est aussi inventif que fertile : droits économiques et sociaux, droits de l’homme, développement humain durable, etc. ; autant de matières mises en balance avec le droit du marché, de la concurrence sous couvert d’un intérêt économique général. La première option de cette étude est d’envisager les mécanismes juridiques propres à l’aide au développement à travers ces deux finalités à première vue antinomiques : l’efficience économique et le développement humain. La seconde est de délimiter le champ de recherche à la matière conventionnelle afin d’apprécier le seul processus partenarial qui, du point de vue de la coopération internationale, n’a pas livré tout son potentiel. L’intérêt de ce modèle de coopération internationale fondé sur le « Partenariat » n’est encore que secondaire comparé à la nature des parties (publique et privée) qui s’obligent, la nature des droits (politiques, économiques et sociaux) qu’il se propose de concilier, et enfin, les obligations à la fois de rentabilité et d’humanisme (le marché du développement humain) qu’il impose aux partenaires. Ainsi, la finalité de cette recherche est, certes, d’interroger les effets juridiques de tels partenariats, mais également de considérer le contrat de marchés publics d’aide au développement comme, potentiellement, porteur d’une nouvelle formule de coopération visant à résorber les inégalités de développement entre États. / As regards development aid the law is as creative as fertile : economic and social rights, human rights, sustainable development, etc. ; so many matters put in balance with the market law, the competition on behalf of a general economic interest. The first option of this study is to consider the legal mechanisms peculiar to the development aid through these two ends, at first sight paradoxical/antinomical : the economic efficiency and the human development. The second is to bound the field of research to the conventional material in order to appreciate the only process partnership which, from the international cooperation point of view, has not delivered yet all his potential. The interest of this international cooperation pattern based on the ”Partnership” remains still secondary, compared with the nature of the parties (public and private) which bind themselves, the nature of the rights (political, economical and social) that it sets out to conciliate, and finally, the bonds of profitability as well as humanism (the market of human development) it imposes upon its partners. Thus, the purpose of this research is indeed, to question the legal effects of such partnerships, but also, to regard the contract of public procurements of Development Aid, as potentially a growth market of an new model cooperation to be used for resorb inequalities of development between states.