Research has noted the persistence of hostile campus environments for underrepresented college students. However, Native and Indigenous students continue to be one of the most understudied populations within higher education, particularly as it relates to their campus experience and ways in which they navigate institutional climates. In addition to illuminating the campus climates Native students face at predominantly White institutions, this dissertation examines the impact that Indigenous cultural centers have on their overall campus experience and persistence. As the primary method, it draws on 12 semi-structured interviews with Indigenous students at a predominately White institution within the Southeast United States. Findings from this study demonstrate the systemic colonization which exists in higher education through the analysis of microaggressions students regularly face. Unique to Native students, these were most often laden with narratives of erasure. However, in the face of less-than-ideal climates, participants in the study also derived a sense of community, affirmation, and support from the existence of a Native student center. Though participants derived many benefits from having such a space, they also indicated that the Native center was not always immune to the climate issues faced within the larger campus. These accounts contrast existing research on cultural centers. Findings from this study suggests that the narrow understanding of Indigenous identity as an exclusively racialized one, functions as a powerful tool in advancing erasure narratives within the space itself. / Doctor of Philosophy / Research has noted the persistence of hostile campus environments for underrepresented college students. However, Native and Indigenous students continue to be one of the most understudied populations within higher education, particularly as it relates to their campus experience and ways in which they navigate institutional climates. In addition to illuminating the campus climates Native students face at predominantly White institutions, this dissertation examines the impact that Indigenous cultural centers have on their overall campus experience and persistence. As the primary method, it draws on 12 semi-structured interviews with Indigenous students at a predominately White institution within the Southeast United States. Findings from this study demonstrate the ways in which colonization manifests in the higher education setting through the analysis of participant encounters in and out of the classroom. For Native students, these were most often laden with narratives of erasure or the idea that Native peoples have all but ceased to exist. However, in the face of less-than-ideal climates, participants in the study also derived a sense of community, affirmation, and support from the existence of a Native student center. Though participants derived many benefits from having such a space, they also indicated that the Native center was not always immune to the climate issues faced within the larger campus. These accounts contrast existing research on cultural centers. Findings from this study suggests that the narrow understanding of Indigenous identity as an exclusively racialized one, functions as a powerful tool in advancing erasure narratives within the space itself.

"Slash-and-burn" agriculture, or shifting cultivation, is perceived by many to be the leading cause of land degradation in tropical forests. Performed mainly by resource-poor farmers, shifting cultivation is the most widespread form of agriculture in the tropics. Concern over its environmental impacts has led to calls throughout the twentieth century for alternatives by policy-makers and development planners. This study employs a constructivist framework, post-colonial perspectives, and rhetorical methods to understand the images which support such assertions regarding shifting cultivation, primarily in policy-oriented depictions. Elements of Kenneth Burke's "dramatistic" method are used, including the analysis of hierarchies which structure discourse, and pentadic analysis. / Ph. D.

This study offers an interpretation of political change in Israel through an examination of amendments to Israel's personal status laws (PSLs) - ""laws governing marriage, divorce, death, inheritance, and adoption. I found that separate ethno-religious groups, including Arab Muslims, non-Western Jews, and non-religious persons (including some secular Jews), do not enjoy equal access to the civil right of marriage and divorce that citizens commonly enjoy within other Western liberal nations. Marriage and divorce within Israel are only accessble through, and sanctioned by, religious institutions. I argue that Israel's PSLs reflect a significant paradox within liberalism, namely the inherent tension between the state's guarantee of religious rights versus the constitutional protection of citizens' civil rights. My research begins within political theory, grounded in theories of liberalism, biopolitics, nationalism, and post-colonial studies. Part one traces the history of Israel from the late Ottoman period through the founding of the State in 1948, with consideration paid both to Israel's founders (and the political Zionisms they espoused) and to political Zionism's critics (including Hannah Arendt, Isaiah Berlin, and Judith Butler). I then turn to a examination of Israel's PSLs, asking what is at stake when a liberal, democratic nation bases its laws governing marriage and divorce upon religious law rather than developing civil laws governing these institutions. Part two considers four legal arrangements caught in a crucial political paradox: laws and programs regulating the lives of women, laws outlawing polygynous marriages, changes in laws surrounding exogamous and cross-border marriages, and the treatment of Ethiopian Jews under the law. Each of these cases demonstrate the ways PSLs are used to address growing concerns over the security and national identity of the Jewish State. Through these four examples, Israel's concerns over national identity, citizenship, and security become manifest, and one important instance of the paradox of liberalism comes into focus. Ultimately, while Israel is unique as the world's only Jewish state, Israel becomes understandable as a liberal state experiencing many of the same anxieties and internal liberal problematics experienced by other states as well. / Ph. D.

This thesis analyzes the Suruí Forest Carbon Project in the context of settler colonialism. By exploring the three core principles of settler colonialism as outlined by settler colonial scholar Patrick Wolfe: access to land, elimination of the native, and the understanding that settler colonialism is a structure and not an event, I will demonstrate how each one of the three principles helped contribute to creating the context within which the Suruí Forest Carbon Project was situated. By taking this approach, I will be able to demonstrate the limits and possibilities of the project for the Suruí indigenous peoples. This analysis will allow me to present the challenges and contradictions associated with implementing REDD+ carbon credit projects in settler states such as Brazil and how, due to settler colonialism's structural limitations, these types of projects could be a possibility of providing some agency for indigenous peoples trying to find ways to assert their autonomy. The Suruí Forest Carbon Project was the first and still one of the only examples of an indigenous-led carbon emissions reduction project operating through the sale of carbon credits. During the first five years the project was operational, it drastically helped reduce deforestation levels within the Suruí's territory, leading many to deem the project a success. However, in 2015 and 2016, following the discovery of gold and diamonds on the Suruí's territory, the project's sight was eventually overrun by garimpeiros (small-scale gold miners), and in 2018 the project was suspended, leading some to consider it a failure. Therefore, I will present some of the challenges that arise when neoliberal conservation efforts, such as carbon credit projects, struggle to address factors outside their initial control, in this case, settler colonialism. Also, by analyzing the different components going into the project's creation, implementation, and suspension, I will present how carbon credit projects working directly with indigenous peoples can successfully halt deforestation for limited periods. But how settler colonialism makes these groups of people and their land vulnerable, which can help contribute to projects being undermined. Through my analysis, I will help demonstrate some factors that impact these types of projects' longevity and some things that would need to be implemented in the future to succeed in the long term. / Master of Arts / This thesis analyzes the Suruí Forest Carbon Project in the context of settler colonialism. My understanding of settler colonialism comes from settler colonial scholar Patrick Wolfe who believes that this specific type of colonialism has three core principles that help distinguish it from other colonial types and explain why anti-indigenous logics can continue. The three principles are access to land, the elimination of the native, and the understanding that settler colonialism is a structure and not an event. These three principles will serve as the core framework for my analysis. The Suruí Forest Carbon Project was the world's first indigenous-led carbon emissions reduction project operated by the indigenous peoples selling REDD+ carbon credits to buyers in order to achieve finances. The project occurred on the Suruí people's territory within the Sete de Setembro Indigenous Land, comprising a 250,000-ha site in the Amazon's "arc of deforestation" bordering the Brazilian states of Rondônia and Mato Grosso. The project was implemented on June 9, 2009, and in 2012 received its validation to sell carbon credits under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). Between 2009 and 2014, the project drastically helped limit the deforestation occurring within the project's site, causing many to deem it a success. However, trouble began in 2015 and 2016 following the discovery of gold and diamonds on the Suruí's territory. Shortly after this discovery, the territory began to be infiltrated by garimpeiros (small-scale gold miners), which led to increased levels of deforestation on the project's site. In 2018, the project could no longer meet the standards it needed to maintain to sell the credits and was suspended indefinitely. Therefore, based on my understanding of settler colonialism's three core principles, I will analyze the limits and possibilities of the project for the Suruí indigenous peoples to present how all three principles played a hand in creating the conditions within which the Suruí Forest Carbon Project was situated and how that impacted the indigenous peoples involved in the project ability to have agency over their forests.

Climate change and forest deforestation pose significant threats to our way of life.  In response to this challenge, various countries, companies, and nations in the Global North have launched initiatives for forest reservation and carbon credit in the Global South. This thesis examines the impacts of carbon trading projects on forest-dependent communities in Manyara, Tanzania, focusing on environmental conservation efforts and socio-cultural justice for local people. It is based on a qualitative field study that includes interviews with community members and key stakeholders. The findings indicate that while carbon trading projects can generate economic benefits and contribute to forest biodiversity,  they also apply significant restrictions on local communities' access to forest resources, leading to socio-cultural inequality and increasing dependency. / Institutionen för naturvetenskap, miljö och teknik, School of Natural Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies

French colonial regimes in West Africa and the Caribbean left the diverse populations fragmented without a central set of cultural values to unify them. The search for identity permeates postcolonial francophone literature with the mother symbol at its center. Coinciding with popular ideologies, the portrayal of motherhood has evolved from the source of ancient roots in traditional African society to the enterprise of the future by cultivating their own mores. By analyzing the mother symbol in a variety of texts from West Africa and the Caribbean and by situating them in their historical and social context, I will assess the role of the mother in the quest for a new identity. The earlier works written by male authors in the l 940s and 1950s tend to associate the mother figure with nostalgia for the native land and tradition, and gave her stereotypical characterizations of femininity such as docility, smothering sentimentality, and dependence. The more contemporary works show mothering outside of the conventional practices, especially the female authors who include a variety of mother figures in their texts in an attempt to dispel repressive definitions. Nevertheless, all of the literary works in the study equate mothering with a prospect of hope.

The green transition does not only bring positive effects, but it can also have a negative impact on groups that are in vital need of a reverse of the climate crisis to the extent that they actively oppose a sustainable initiative. This is the case in the land-use conflict between the Sámi and the wind power industry. The purpose of this study is to critically analyze the representation of indigenous perspectives in the policy document "National Strategy for Sustainable Wind Power Expansion" to investigate how the climate crisis reinforces colonial effects on the Sámi people. To achieve this, Carol Bacchi's critical discourse analysis "What’s the Problem Represented to Be?" (WPR) has been adapted in combination with the concept of green colonialism to implement a critical review of indigenous representation in the government-produced "National Strategy for Sustainable Wind Power Expansion." Conflicting land-use interests constitute an identified problem, which is intended to be resolved through coexistence—a complex issue to address for many reasons. Sámi influence is presented as both a priority and a problem in the"National Strategy for Sustainable Wind Power Expansion." This representation can be explained by colonial structures that underpin the formulation of this representation, thereby contributing to the further reproduction of colonial power structures.

Burundi became a German protectorate in August 1884. Prior to the establishment of a protectorate, the territory was ruled by Mwamis (kings) who exercised a kind of quasi-divine system of administration. Conflictual relations were quickly dealt with within this complex structure. During the German and later Belgian colonial administrations, these political structures were redefined and a social class structure based on wealth was created. Forced class division became entrenched in the social fabric of Burundian society and the hierarchical system became even more prominent at independence in July 1962. Successive post-colonial regimes have failed to bridge the social gap. The International Community, through initiatives by the United Nations, the Africa Union, Jimmy Carter, Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela have attempted to resolve the political impasse. The dissertation is an attempt to reconstruct the causes of the various crises since 1962 and to reassess whether the various facilitators has succeeded in their tasks. / History / M.A.

The thesis has investigated the place of Zimbabwean indigenous intangible heritage in a globalising environment. It used the Shona language and intangible heritage situation as a case study. It argued that Zimbabwean intangible heritage is continually being eroded by the agents of globalisation and that the only way of safeguarding it from extinction is through the preservation of Zimbabwean indigenous languages. The thesis has come to this conclusion after having established that there is an intimate and inseparable bond between language and its intangible values so much that it is not possible to talk of one devoid of the other. The relationship has been seen to be symbiotic. The Shona language has been established to embody, express and to be a carrier of all the intangible heritage of its speakers into the future by re-living them in the people’s daily life while these intangible values have been seen to conserve the language through their continued practice by the people. The research has also established that Zimbabwean intangible heritage marginalisation has roots in colonialism, dating as far back as the early Christian missionary days. The Shona intangible heritage has also been seen to be still of value despite the global threats as evidenced by the people’s continued re-living of it through language. The thesis has also noted that the Zimbabwean Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture is still using out-dated colonial language policies that still further the ascendancy of English and the intangible values it stands for while indigenous languages and values are marginalised in the education system, in government and in industry thereby worsening their predicament in the global environment. The current socio-economic and political developments in the country and some Shona novelists in Shona and in English are also culprits in this whole process as they continue to demonise and infantilise Zimbabwean intangible heritage. The thesis has therefore asserted that Zimbabwean intangible heritage is most likely to be eroded from the face of the earth if no measures are taken to safeguard it from extinction. It has therefore wound up by arguing that the survival of Zimbabwean intangible heritage lies in the survival of Zimbabwean indigenous languages through which it continues to be practised and felt by its people. The thesis has therefore recommended that the Zimbabwean government adopt sound language policies that safeguard the survival of Zimbabwean indigenous languages to enable the indigenous intangible heritage of the people to survive as well as the two are intricately related. / African Languages / (D.Litt.et.Phil.(African Languages))

have altered the context and practices of the First Nations culture and by so doing, compromised their will and capacity to implement traditional education policies, a situation that must be linked to realization of the Education Action Plan’s goals. The goal of the study was to assist policy makers, community leaders, and educators in recognizing the attitudes, social norms, and practices that are interwoven with post-colonial trust issues at the community level and to focus on the viability of preservation of First Nations heritage and culture. The inquiry documented and analyzed, in a case study approach, the dynamics of colonialism on two First Nations communities. Interviews and questionnaires, utilized in communities, were based on a matrix that directed comments to areas associated with traditional knowledge, remnants of colonialism and areas of will and capacity. The focus of the inquires referred to curriculum content, funding, school and community structure, as well as traditional knowledge, communication, participation, and the role of members in shaping the community values and school curricula. In all, 32 people were formally interviewed including teachers, Elders, education council members, principals, and community leaders. The study comprised 14 interviews and 17 questionnaires in Two Rivers, and 18 interviews and 8 questionnaires in Round Rock. The study intended to establish whether colonialism would play out in the implementation of the traditional knowledge aspect of the Education Action Plan and if so, in what areas and in what manner. Through research, it was