This study examines what individuals of limited pecuniary resources in an urban society have to say about how they conceive of or interact with family, neighborhood, city, and society at large, as well as what some of the material and metaphorical boundaries are they meet, and how these function. The narratives they tell delineate ways, directly or indirectly, the consultants attempt to make sense of their lives, and explicate certain of their intertanglements with and perspectives on boundaries they encounter. When boundaries are placed, according to their characteristics, on a soft to hard continuum, an opening presents itself, signaled by specific, identifiable components, to reveal the constructions of empowerment and disenfranchisement that lie behind some seemingly unbreachable barriers. The consultants for this paper tell of skills and creativity they use to re-frame, ignore, cross, or otherwise get around many prevalent constrictive boundaries in order to conduct fulfilling lives. Since much of the success of ethnography, particularly that based on participant observation, hinges on capabilities to cross boundaries in order to understand different communities, the consultants' knowledge of ways to contend with boundaries can be applied productively to anthropological investigations. / text

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

There is a growing interest in how to build sustainable peace in the world, preventing countries from relapsing into violent conflict. Recognising that there are several important peacebuilding actors, this Master thesis takes its point of departure in local civil society actors as a peacebuilding force. For this interpretative qualitative study, Colombia is used as the case of investigation. This is as a result of a renewed interest in the country due to the peace negotiations that were initiated between the Colombian government and the largest guerrilla group in the country, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in October 2012. Interviews with diverse civil society actors in Colombia were used as primary data, and in addition literary reviews of primary and secondary information have been added to the material. There are diverging views of what peacebuilding means, and one of the research objectives of this thesis is to draw from previous research to build a general framework for what peacebuilding wants to achieve, i.e., identify the international peacebuilding objectives. The second research objective is to compare the seven activities and functions of civil society in peacebuilding, as described by Paffenholz and Spurk in the Comprehensive framework for the analysis of civil society in peacebuilding, to see how the work of civil society in Colombia compares to the international peacebuilding objectives. The research shows that all seven activities and functions of civil society in peacebuilding: protection, monitoring, advocacy and public communication, in-group socialisation, social cohesion, facilitation/mediation, and service delivery, are performed by the interviewed civil society actors. When the activities and functions are compared to the international peacebuilding objectives, the research demonstrates that the peacebuilding activities carried out by civil society adds to the efforts performed by other actors to achieve stability and security, restore political and judicial institutions, address socio-economic dimensions and transform relations. Acknowledging the particular regional dynamics of the Colombian internal armed conflict and recognising the need for local ownership for peacebuilding to be successful, the conclusion drawn is that peacebuilding in Colombia has to be attained at the local, regional as well as national level. The polarisation and distrust between civil society and the state hinders a joint effort to build peace in Colombia, which further complicates the prospects for attaining sustainable peace in the country. Based on the understanding gained from the conducted research, this thesis affirms that peacebuilding must be adapted to the local realities and requires active participation from both government and civil society.

In an effort to expand the scholarship dealing with the topic of civil society in Cuba, this thesis deals with the question of Cuban civil society and its relationship with socially conscious underground musicians. It is argued that these musicians have established a tradition of political and social involvement on the island throughout the revolutionary period, and that they have been particularly effective and vocal during the years 1990-2010. The main theme has been analyzed through a Post-Marxist framework with the objective of taking into account not only the political and social value of the music, but also the aesthetics of it and its popularity among the Cuban population and particularly the youth of Cuba. Some of the artists featured in this thesis include hip hop duo Los Aldeanos, trovador Carlos Varela, and the rock band Buena Fé.

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