This master’s thesis investigates the role of language and expression in normalizing structural violence in Cuba and the capacity of poets to change these structures. Cuba’s nationalist narratives are examined from the top-down, while the capacity of Cuban poets to lead social change and political transition is explored from the bottom-up. Fieldwork for data collection took place in May and June ...

This study seeks to explore an understanding into the multi-actor resilient approach that was adapted as a response to the conflict-induced displacement situation that occurred in the West-Guji and Gedeo Zones of Ethiopia 2018. The study draws on semi-structured interviews, observations and some reports and proposals from aid workers, displaced people or returnees, government officials ...

Positive peace has not yet been achieved worldwide. The closest version of ‘peace’ one can see is a negative sort that is full of different forms of violence. If we want to see positive peace, structural ecological violence must be addressed. This thesis takes the premise that the natural environment is the missing key to peace. I argue that taking an environmental perspective to current peace ...

Imagery can be a powerful tool to raise awareness in a society, with research showing that imagery can realize both social and political change. Media plays an important role by setting the agenda of what is important, and the media can therefore have a significant role for activists when disseminating their images. This study aims to determine and analyse the effect imagery can have on a society ...

This thesis is focused on pipeline resistance in the United States, specifically drawing from the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance and the current resistance against Line 3 in Minnesota. Indigenous peoples from all over the globe became engaged in resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and there were predictions made about the future in terms of how meaningful this resistance was. The resistance ...

The United Nations’ fifth Sustainable Development Goal on gender equality states that it is “not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world” (UNSDG5). The goal itself aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by providing them with access to education, health care, decent work, representation in political and ...

By sending peacekeeping and observer missions to the world’s troubled spots over the past seventy years, the United Nations (UN) has devoted its attention and resources to promoting living standards and human rights throughout the world. Despite this, the peacekeeping missions often fail to establish peace in a turbulent region. What dynamics play into the strategy of the peacekeepers? How can a ...

The Belt and Road Initiative is a cross-border economic belt initiated and led by the Chinese government in 2013. Its scope covers the history of the Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road through China, Central Asia, North and West Asia, the Indian Ocean coast, the Mediterranean coast countries and regions. The country and region covered by the initiative are vast, and the impact is therefore enormous. ...

Every day in American society, acts of violence are committed in the form of trauma, injustice and inequality. Within each victimization looms the potential for further destruction, but also lies an opportunity for healing and a pathway to peace. This thesis considers victim services as the frontline in encountering all forms of latent and overt violence—direct, structural and cultural. The purpose ...

This thesis asks the question: “how can the concepts of governance and social capital contribute to the MCDC-report’s analytical framework to further expose a society’s vulnerabilities and subsequent susceptibility towards hybrid threats”. By using the concepts of hybrid threats (HT) together with governance and social capital (SC) in the aspect of democracy, this thesis looks at the conflict in ...