Browsing by Subject "post-development"
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(2017)This Master’s thesis examines the contested relations between extractivism and Bolivian endogenous view of ‘development’ through the case of lithium production in Bolivian Salar de Uyuni, Potosí. During the past ten years under president Evo Morales’s administration, Bolivia has introduced the concept of Vivir Bien, living well, in official state strategies replacing at least to an extent the concept of development. Vivir Bien is based on indigenous cosmologies that hold social justice, community and being one with the nature as priorities, and according to these ideals, nature should not be reduced to a commodity. But in practice dependency on extractions of natural resources in Bolivia has only increased in this time period. Lithium deposits in Bolivia are vast, and lithium is a growing industry that could be coupled with sustainable alternatives to hydrocarbon-based sources of energy. But industrialising a high-expertise raw material in a poor and fairly uneducated country such as Bolivia is a complicated endeavour. The principle methodology this research uses is semi-structured qualitative interviewing, which is complemented by critical analysis of policy documents and academic studies that connect with the topic. The empirical findings of the lithium production project unveil issues with planning, transparency and the centralisation of decision making, as well as dubiousness in regard to the environment of the area. The thesis contributes to the academic literature that has shown that while Vivir Bien is a promising and interesting alternative to development at an ideological level, in political practice it remains to a large part a rhetorical instrument and actual politics of the Morales administration can be described as neo-extractivist human development. Additionally, it offers further demonstration of the inherent contradictions within neo-extractivism as a political economic strategy. The findings also underline the significance of resource nationalism in Bolivian politics, which this research argues that functions as a bridge between seemingly incongruous Vivir Bien and extractivism.
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(2022)Violence against women is a deep-rooted global injustice, yet it is less often scrutinized as a category of political economy. In this research relating to human rights advocacy in Pakistan, I seek to do so. I study the ways in which local women's rights organizations attempt to hold state to account for eliminating the malice and removing its structural causes. In particular, I examine how feminist constructions of VAW and advocacy practices towards curbing it take part in the politics of development. The research is based on fieldwork which I conducted in the mid-2010's in urban Pakistan. Interviews with 17 informants representing 12 women's rights groups, NGOs and government agencies constitute the primary data. I use ethnographic lens in mapping the organizational field, yet my main deconstructive method is critical discourse analysis. The research is underpinned by post-development theory, postcolonial feminist critique, anthropology of modernity and feminist violence research. The findings consist of three discourses and two developmental logics. Each discourse explains VAW as an issue of individual infringement of rights and a question of state structures with a distinct orientation – those of gender equity, legal protection and political reform. The discourses are rooted in 'human rights developmentalism' and neoliberalism, yet they are still locally contingent in varied ways. The developmental logics of 'saviorism in solidarity' and 'commonsense hope' render visible ways in which the organizations deploy civilisation narrative and an unquestioned hope in aid's capacity to deliver 'development' as political resources. I argue that the discourses construct VAW by reference to apolitical notions of 'backwardness' not only to justify organizational advocacy practices that center upon delivering "higher awareness and morals" to the "ignorant masses". Instead, such notions contribute to building a counter discourse to the misogynous state ideology as well as an alternative political space that enables women's rights organizations persevere in Pakistan. While the discourses fail the 'beneficiaries' of aid by upholding empty developmentalist promises, they nevertheless do not exacerbate VAW. The research suggests that development ideologies, albeit contributing to global inequalities, may serve as meaningful political tools for undoing local adversities.
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