The relationships between gender and the environment have been explored most fully throughout the field of ecofeminism, which examines environmental problems through the lens of gender, revealing the ways that the oppression of women and the exploitation of nature are conjoined and mutually reinforcing. However, ecofeminism has often been ignored, re-named, or subjected to critiques of gender essentialism. As a result, I return to the 1993 Clayoquot Sound protests on Vancouver Island, British Columbia to re-examine the theory and praxis of ecofeminism. I argue that the main environmental organization, the Friends of Clayoquot Sound (FOCS), consciously invoked ecofeminist principles of equality, consensus and non-violence to direct the camp and campaign. Ecofeminism within Clayoquot Sound kept gender equality at the forefront of the environmental movement while challenging traditional hierarchical power relations and systems of dominance that many social movements experience. Clayoquot Sound was therefore a watershed social movement that integrated a gendered perspective into environmental discourse, analysis, and action. I urge further research and reflection among both activists and academics regarding the intersections between environmentalism and feminism, especially in today’s worsening climate crisis. / Graduate

The Arctic—warming at twice the rate of the rest of the planet—is a source of striking imagery of amplified environmental change in our time, and has come to serve as a spatial setting for climate crisis discourse. The recent alterations in the Arctic environment have also been perceived by some observers as an opportunity to expand economic exploitation. Heightened geopolitical interest in the region and its resources, contradicted by calls for the protection of fragile Far North ecosystems, has rendered the Arctic an arena for negotiating human interactions with nature, and for reflecting upon the planetary risks and possibilities associated with the advent and expansion of the Anthropocene—the proposed new epoch in Earth history in which humankind is said to have gained geological agency and become the dominant force over the Earth system. With the Arctic serving as a nexus of crosscutting analytical themes spanning contemporary history (the late twentieth and the early twenty-first century until 2015), this dissertation examines defining characteristics of the Anthropocene and how the concept, which emerged from the Earth system science community, impacts ideas and assumptions in historiography, social sciences and the environmental humanities, including the fields of environmental history, crisis management and security studies, political geography, and science and technology studies (STS). The primary areas of empirical analysis and theoretical investigation encompass constructivist perspectives and temporal conceptions of environmental and climate crisis; the role of science and expertise in performing politics and shaping social discourse; the geopolitical significance of telecoupling—a concept that reflects the interconnectedness of the Anthropocene and supports stakeholder claims across wide spatial scales; and implications of the recent transformation in humankind’s long duration relationship with the natural world. Several dissertation themes were observed in practice at the international science community of Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard, where global change is made visible through a concentration of scientific activity. Ny-Ålesund is furthermore a place of geopolitics, where extra-regional states attempt to enhance their legitimacy as Arctic stakeholders through the performance of scientific research undertakings, participation in governance institutions, and by establishing a physical presence in the Far North. This dissertation concludes that this small and remote community represents an Anthropocene node of global environmental change, Earth system science, emergent global governance, geopolitics, and stakeholder construction in an increasingly telecoupled world.

The Arctic—warming at twice the rate of the rest of the planet—is a source of striking imagery of amplified environmental change in our time, and has come to serve as a spatial setting for climate crisis discourse. The recent alterations in the Arctic environment have also been perceived by some observers as an opportunity to expand economic exploitation. Heightened geopolitical interest in the region and its resources, contradicted by calls for the protection of fragile Far North ecosystems, has rendered the Arctic an arena for negotiating human interactions with nature, and for reflecting upon the planetary risks and possibilities associated with the advent and expansion of the Anthropocene—the proposed new epoch in Earth history in which humankind is said to have gained geological agency and become the dominant force over the Earth system. With the Arctic serving as a nexus of crosscutting analytical themes spanning contemporary history (the late twentieth and the early twenty-first century until 2015), this dissertation examines defining characteristics of the Anthropocene and how the concept, which emerged from the Earth system science community, impacts ideas and assumptions in historiography, social sciences and the environmental humanities, including the fields of environmental history, crisis management and security studies, political geography, and science and technology studies (STS). The primary areas of empirical analysis and theoretical investigation encompass constructivist perspectives and temporal conceptions of environmental and climate crisis; the role of science and expertise in performing politics and shaping social discourse; the geopolitical significance of telecoupling—a concept that reflects the interconnectedness of the Anthropocene and supports stakeholder claims across wide spatial scales; and implications of the recent transformation in humankind’s long duration relationship with the natural world. Several dissertation themes were observed in practice at the international science community of Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard, where global change is made visible through a concentration of scientific activity. Ny-Ålesund is furthermore a place of geopolitics, where extra-regional states attempt to enhance their legitimacy as Arctic stakeholders through the performance of scientific research undertakings, participation in governance institutions, and by establishing a physical presence in the Far North. This dissertation concludes that this small and remote community represents an Anthropocene node of global environmental change, Earth system science, emergent global governance, geopolitics, and stakeholder construction in an increasingly telecoupled world. / <p>QC 20151211</p>

This project is a book which facilitates thinking about the ongoing climate crisis from a Degrowth perspective. Methods are to the greater part reading literature, watching interviews and also to a lesser extent conducting a survey, contacting a researcher and holding a workshop. The key visual tools that are used in this book are typography, infographics, illustration, layout and bookbinding. Firstly, the connection between personal experience and global warming is illustrated. Secondly, based on the severity and scope of the crisis, it is argued that radical societal change is required. Thirdly, the solution approach of shrinking the economy is investigated and suggested. Importantly, some key dynamics of capitalism are deconstructed, such as the accumulation of wealth and power, the exploitation of the global South, the disconnect of money and social value, the misconception of work and finally how these lead to disastrous greenhouse gas emissions as well. Essentially, shrinking the economy is identified as an absolute necessity to supporting and indeed extending human well-being to all.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how Dagens Nyheter and The New York Times are framing the climate crisis in their news reporting during the period 1-30 November 2020. The thesis is based on Robert Entman’s theory on framing, Shanto Iyengar’s theory on episodic and thematic framing and Maxwell E. McCombs and Donald Lewis Shaw's theory on agenda setting as a metatheory for discussion. The research questions are: (1) Which frames are being used by Dagens Nyheter and the New York Times in their news reports on the climate crisis during the period 1-30 November 2020?, (2) To what extent are these frames being used in each newspaper? and (3) To what extent do the newspapers use thematic and episodic frames?. The material consists of 26 articles from Dagens Nyheter, and 35 from The New York Times. By using both a quantitative content analysis and a qualitative content analysis, we analyzed the chosen material. Research question (1) showed that the frames that were being used were politics, environmental impact, weather/natural disasters and economy. Research question (2) showed that politics/government and responsibility were the dominant framework in both newspapers, followed by environmental impact, weather/natural disasters and economy. Research question (3) showed that the majority of the articles in both newspapers had a thematic framework. One of the differences that was identified between the newspapers was that The New York Times used thematic frames to a greater extent than Dagens Nyheter. Based on Iyengar’s theory it is therefore reasonable to assume that The New York Times portrayal of the climate crisis might have a greater effect on the public opinion than Dagens Nyheter. Dagens Nyheter, however, used episodic frames to a greater extent, which according to Iyengar often evokes stronger emotional reactions from the recipients.The study’s chosen theories proved to be a good fit for describing and explaining how climate related articles are being framed in the papers.

This paper looks at how I as a jeweller can use my craft knowledge to raise awareness of environmental issues. In our society we are informed on a daily basis how elevated average temperatures, melting glaciers and forest fires affect and will affect our future, but also future generations’ living conditions on earth. Despite this, most of us just try to live our lives as usual. But all this information worries me, mostly for the future of my children, and I don’t know how to relate to it. I think about what inheritance I will leave behind. In this paper, I explore how I, in my role as a jewellry artist, can contribute to the discussion about the climate. To investigate this, I use theories of semiotics and visual communication as a frame for my work and I have chosen to dig where I stand and use work methods that I can find at home, but which I can also link to my profession as a jeweller. I have collected plastic  packaging that is the result of my family’s consumption. With this as a starting point, I have created plastic stones that leads my thoughts to future fossils and the Anthropocene era. My main tool has been the iron, with which I have achieved heat and a certain pressure to mimic the conditions under which minerals in nature are created. The plastic stones were made into brooches and the work has finally resulted in pictures where my children wear the brooches I have made of our common waste. Both the brooches and the images are linked to the theoretical framework of the paper.

This report and design project will explore a way design can be used as a tool to create change. The process will include theoretical research on the relation between free-market capitalism and climate change. The outcome of the design project will take the shape of a board game and will work as a tool in discussions about social structures, capitalism, and climate change. The purpose of the game is to invite the players to question the human behavior of living as if Earth was disposable.

In October 2020 Peter Wolodarski, the editor-in-chief of the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN), announced that he wanted to improve the news coverage of the climate crisis. The aim of this study is to investigate whether DN has changed their way of reporting on the climate crisis through text and pictures within six months, and if so what those changes are. Framing theory is central in this study as it identifies the usage of generic and theme specific frames in DN’s articles. This is done by comparing all articles in September 2020 and March 2021 that contain the topic “climate crisis” published on their online service. The usage of pictures was also studied for additional context. In order to study this the methods qualitative text analysis and semiotic image analysis were used. To provide results the data then underwent a quantitative analysis as well as qualitative analysis.The findings of the study show that DN has shifted their usage of generic frames, meaning a change in which scale the climate crisis is portrayed, and an increased and widened usage of specific frames in their articles. However, the usage of pictures has not changed notably. In conclusion, does DN in fact seem to have changed their overall reporting on the climate crisis within the studied period. The study contribution is an added understanding of papers reporting on the clime crisis online as well as media’s usage of frames and how those can change in a relatively short period of time.

This research project explores how the method of infrastructuring can be used for ecological citizenship. A case-study analysis identified where in the infrastructuring process measures for ecological citizenship can be taken. In a co-creative workshop concept targeted towards the identification of boundary topics and the formation of a public, the empowering features of the re-shaping of mental models are explored. Infrastructuring is considered as a design method which is able to enhance citizen participation for ecological citizenship.

Narratives on the climate crisis are becoming more and more prominent in mainstream media today, with the genre of climate podcasts emerging and growing in the past years. With storytelling opening the potential of engaging audiences in taking climate action, this thesis gives insights into the storytelling of three climate podcast hosts and theor potential to encourage individual and/or collective action through storytelling in the listener. Through analytical listening, storytelling elements were found in all three podcasts that denote a deep focus on the climate crisis as a crisis that calls for collective solutions.