This thesis critically explores the issue of access to biological resources and Indigenous knowledge Historically, biological resources collected and documented, and knowledge associated with their use, have been considered the 'common heritage of mankind' The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) changed this understanding to tights of states over biological resources, but also gave rise to issues of equity and justice, especially with regard to Indigenous Nations encapsulated within First World states-so-called 'Fourth World Nations', A central concern of Fourth World Peoples is their marginalisation within access negotiations, despite their claims of connate (birth) rights to r esou.r ces and knowledge they identify as their own. Increasing global Indigenous activism over their concerns, has in turn raised an increasingly important policy gap that is becoming recognised in fora and processes with regard to access to biological resources. My thesis addresses this policy gap. I explore some of the complex historical, political and cultural dimensions that led to the emergence and resilience of this policy problem The failure to address the concerns of Indigenous peoples, and Fourth World Nations in particular, is more important and problematic now because of contemporary biotechnological developments and the emergence of bioprospecting. Bioprospecthg refers to the practice of appropriating biological resources, and Indigenous knowledge of those resources, and incorporating them into biopharmaceutical processes. Literature on bioprospecting as a problematic issue for Third World States has been emerging steadily over the last decade under the impact of the commercialisation of biodiversity, which has become big business for biopha.rmaceutical companies. The unique interests and experiences of Fourth World Nations are not recognised within this literature as significantly different to that of the Third World, and of their encapsulating states.. This study has addressed this significant gap by utilising and developing an analytical approach that uses Fourth World theory, synthesised with elements of Foucault's analytics of power. When combined, these two theoretical approaches provide a new and rich under standing of how dominant 'ways of knowing' and 'ways of owning' have been privileged, while other knowledge and ownership systems have been, and continue to be, marginalised, Eoucault's understanding of discursive power as having the capability to be either, or both, dominant and resistant is important to my analysis, as it accommodates the Fourth World as a discursive site of resistance to dominant power. I posit that richer insights are gained through the development and application of this theoretical framework to the issue of fair and equitable access to biological resources, than other approaches offer. I demonstrate the framework's utility by applying it to a case study on bioprospecting in Australia. Important findings have emerged while tracking the activities of Fourth World peoples on the international stage, and their attempts to challenge dominant power/knowledge structures within political institutions For example, participation at the international level has enabled Fomth World peoples to apply pressure on their encapsulating states to accommodate their interests. This has been furthered through forming alliances with, for example, environmentalists, and through the adoption of the language of effective participation within international fora.. Overall, however, the study found that the participation of Eourth World peoples within international, central state and local state policy processes is not always empowering in challenging dominant interests Instead, the more accurate impression is that at this stage of the discursive policy terrain, it may only create an illusion of participation that actually serves to entrench their disempowerment. This places pressule on policy processes to address and resolve this access issue equitably if social turbulence is to subside, justice be served, and certainty provided for all.

Having a home is one of the most basic human needs and everyone attempts to accommodate this need as well as possible. We consequently decide what approach is most advantageous for our needs - whether to rent a home or whether to buy and own one. If we decide owning a home is the right option, we then have to decide, how to go about purchasing it. Not everyone can afford paying for a property upfront in cash and at that is when banks come into play, lending us money to buy property. This paper focuses on whether having a mortgage is the correct strategy for acquiring a home. This will vary individual to individual based on his or her life goals and other factors. Generally, it can be said that purchasing a home using a mortgage can be advantageous, but the difference between renting and buying on a mortgage might not be that significant. Renting a home does have its own specific advantages, and when one's financial plans are managed correctly, it can be a better option for accomplishing financial independence.

Every choice between owning and leasing corporate real estate is unique. Therefore every single case needs to be analyzed very thoroughly. The analysis can be in the form of a cash flow analysis and must be done on both cases: to own and to lease. Factors other than the purely financial ones must also be considered. The way the lease contract is written is very central to the choice between owning and leasing. Almost everything can be regulated in the lease contract. Another factor that has great impact on the decision between owning and leasing is the way one looks on risk vs. return. The result of the cash flow analysis is very dependent on the risk, so it’s obvious that the discount rate has an important role in the decision making. It is the author’s strong belief that the trend is to lease more and own less. This is applicable for private enterprises. Regarding Swedish municipalities it seems to be the other way around. The majority of the municipalities don’t have any plans on selling their real estate. The difference between owning and leasing can be very vague because lease contracts can be written in so many different ways. Therefore there is almost never a clear answer which is best, owning or leasing. My ambition with this text has never been to find a right or wrong, but to analyze the different aspects of leasing and owning real estate. / Varje enskilt fall måste noggrant gås igenom för att kunna dra någon slutsats om huruvida det är bäst att äga eller hyra ett fastighetsbestånd. Man måste räkna, med hjälp av t.ex. en kassaflödesanalys, på de båda fallen. Andra faktorer än de direkt ekonomiska från teorin måste även tas hänsyn till. Valet mellan hyra och äga beror till stor del av formuleringen av ett eventuellt hyreskontrakt. I kontraktet går nästan allt att reglera. Hur man ser på och utvärderar risk kontra avkastning är en faktor som även den till stor del påverkar valet mellan äga och hyra. Risken påverkar diskonteringsräntan som ligger till grund för den kassaflödesanalys som måste göras för att utvärdera de olika investeringsalternativen. Trenden, inom den privata sektorn, går mot att hyra mer. Bland kommuner är denna trend inte alls tydlig. Tvärtom så verkar de flesta kommuner inte ha planer på att sälja ut sitt fastighetsbestånd. Eftersom ett kontrakt kan vara utformat sådant att det knappt går att tala om att äga eller hyra, utan något mellanting, så finns det sällan något entydigt svar på vad som är bäst av att äga eller hyra. Det var aldrig min ambition att hitta något rätt och fel på det stora hela.

No description available.

Underpinned by Pierre Bourdieu and Abdelmalek Sayad’s sociological theories and Erving Goffman’s theory of social stigma, this study bridges the ideas of these three sociologists by examining the relationship of capital owning, stigma, migration and the strategies immigrant families build towards education around these notions. With the aim of exploring the role of education for refugee immigrants, the research area has been restricted to a specific city in the South-East of Turkey. The city, Diyarbakir, has been deliberately chosen for this study in terms of the value it holds for the immigrant group examined. As a method, interviews have been conducted in Diyarbakir with the aim of constructing a qualitative study. The data, in the form of interviews, used in this study has been collected within one month, which took place in November 2017. With the conducted interviews and the theoretical framework shaped, the immigrants are discussed through their assets, the conversion of different types of capital within the country of immigration, the recognized values deriving from similar ethnic identity shared with the majority in the city of immigration and the strategies they build towards the education system in Turkey. The scope of this study covers the school-aged children from any level, including students in higher education. Families’ perception of education plays a crucial role in their children’s education path as they build certain strategies towards it. Accordingly, this study explores how the Syrian immigrants in Turkey perceive education in relation to their different types of capital or lack of them. By doing so, the study concludes that the perception of the families in relation to their cultural capital and encountered stigma divides the social group explored through three main categorizes, namely the pragmatic, oblivious and resistant approaches they take towards the education system in Turkey. The study also argues that immigrant children’s education in Turkey acts as an impeding condition for their parents’ return to the country of origin.

According to the conducted survey the majority of municipalities in Sweden own their municipal school premises, and only a few municipalities hire that type of premises. The reason why municipalities own their schools varies. In many cases it will depend on one or more of the following reasons; because of political reasons, because they have "always done so”, because of policies to own social infrastructure, or because it is considered more economically feasible. In theory, the claim that it will be cheaper to own since a private operator requires a premium to make profit, is correct. Traditionally, municipalities have also been able to borrow money cheaper than private operators. Reasons that some municipalities instead choose to rent their school premises is for instance due to the long-term benefits that the renting option brings. A building will for instance be erected faster if the municipality, instead of a traditional procurement, chooses the renting-procurement alternative. A faster erected building can have socio economic advantages. In addition, the municipality does not lock up a large portion of capital in real estate. Similar to private investors, municipalities has a limit for lending of capital. The rent option of community buildings in general, and school buildings in particular, can therefor enable investments in other buildings that contribute to the municipality's attractiveness. More tax revenue leads to the possibility of investing more in social and traditional infrastructure. The study showed no significant cost difference for renting versus owning. With the increased population and need of new school premises it is important that municipalities conduct investment analysis and base their decisions on the option that is most economically advantageous. Allowing a long-term private operator to construct and rent out the new school should therefore be seen as an option for more municipalities in Sweden, municipalities should hence conduct economic comparing calculations for the two options. The economic assessment, and later the action plan for future school constructions, should be based on the municipality's economic conditions. The assessment should also most probably result in a mix between renting and owning schools, to promote, inter alia, competitiveness and quality. / Enligt den kartläggning som genomförts framkom det att flertalet kommuner i Sverige äger sina kommunala skollokaler och endast ett fåtal kommuner hyr den typen av lokaler. Anledningen till att kommuner äger sina skollokaler varierar men beror i många fall på en eller flera av följande orsaker; på grund av sitt ideologiska styre, för att “de alltid gjort det”, för att kommunen har som policy att äga sina samhällsfastigheter, eller för att det anses vara ekonomiskt fördelaktigt. I teorin stämmer påståendet att det blir billigare att äga eftersom en privat aktör är vinstdrivande och därför kommer kräva en premie på sin affär. Traditionellt sett har även kommuner kunnat låna pengar billigare än privata aktörer. Anledningar till att vissa kommuner istället väljer att hyra sina skollokaler kan bero på de kort och långsiktiga fördelar som hyra-alternativet frambringar. Det kan till exempel gå snabbare att uppföra en skola om kommunen väljer att utlysa en hyresupphandling istället för en vanlig utförandeentreprenad. Rent samhällsekonomiskt kan det vara fördelaktigt att skolan står klar så snabbt som möjligt samt att kommunen inte låser upp för stor andel kapital i fastigheter. Kommuner har dessutom, precis som privata investerare, ett lånetak som försvårar en alltför stor kapitalanskaffning och med tanke på Sveriges rådande och kommande tillväxttakt kan ett allt för stort fokus på att äga bli en utmaning. Genom att välja hyraalternativet av samhällsbyggnader generellt, och för skolbyggnader i synnerhet, kan möjliggöra alternativa investeringar som bidrar till kommunens attraktivitet och därigenom lockar fler medborgare. Mer skatteintäkter leder till möjligheten att investera ytterligare i social och traditionell infrastruktur. I realiteten skiljer sig inte kostnaderna för att hyra kontra äga märkvärt men med den befolkningstillväxt och befolkningsprognos som i dagsläget beskrivs bör investeringsbedömningen utgå ifrån de alternativ som är mest samhällsekonomiskt fördelaktigt. Att låta en långsiktiga privata aktör uppföra den nya skolan för att sedan hyra tillbaka den bör således vara ett fördelaktigt alternativ för fler kommuner i Sverige. Istället för att göra som man ”alltid har gjort” bör det vara självklart att genomföra samhällsekonomiska jämförelsekalkyler för de två alternativen.

This work explores the connections between the constructed representations of places based on local histories, the processes of tradition reinvention and the strategies of regional development in two Russian regions. This analysis also outlines the context created by the external to the regions influences and the associated with them local conditions.

This work explores the connections between the constructed representations of places based on local histories, the processes of tradition reinvention and the strategies of regional development in two Russian regions. This analysis also outlines the context created by the external to the regions influences and the associated with them local conditions.

This work explores the connections between the constructed representations of places based on local histories, the processes of tradition reinvention and the strategies of regional development in two Russian regions. This analysis also outlines the context created by the external to the regions influences and the associated with them local conditions.

The present paper represents an overview of the most popular Russian social networking site VKontakte and its role in the formation of modern music consumption pattern in post-Soviet countries. Until spring 2017, it was known as the biggest platform for free music consumption in the region. The main distinctive feature of VKontakte was that it was providing free music content for its members and, as a result, was known for problems with international copyright law.However, in 2017 drastic changes occurred in copyright policies of the network, which affected music content distribution in it. As a result, VKontakte users were experiencing new routines and rapid evolution of their daily consumption habits. This research provides extensive analysis of digital music listening practices, based on the in-depth interviews with the members of the network.