Browsing by Subject "justice"
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(2021)The intersections of climate change and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) have increasingly received attention from international organisations but also from academia. For some, establishing these intersections is about reducing human pressure on the Earth systems, while for others it is about the human rights of vulnerable individuals and communities. Many have lauded these connections for providing a win-win solution for both. While these benefits are championed, there has been little reflection on the underlying motives and justifications for establishing these connections in the first place. Given the problematic past of population control policies, understanding these justifications is necessary to break away from the neo-colonial practices of the past. This thesis investigates the motives and justifications for establishing such intersections between SRHR and climate change. Specifically, the thesis addresses two questions, namely: 1) In what ways are the interconnections between SRHR and climate change justified in academic literature? 2) What are the implications of the ways in which these interconnections are justified? By drawing on a postcolonial feminist theoretical framework rooted in understanding this nexus critically, and carefully reflecting on the implications of these discourses, the thesis answers these questions by systematically drawing on a sustained body of research. The data consist of 88 academic publications that are systematised through discourse analysis. The findings identify six distinctive intersectional discourses which reflect the ways in which SRHR, and climate change are justified, namely: public health, population dynamics, reproductive rights, critical, sustainable development and environment discourses. Largely reflecting adherence to liberal feminist and populationist frameworks, these findings imply that the discourses, justifications, and motives do not sufficiently address the neo-colonial practices and structural inequalities that shape intersections between SRHR and climate change. Analytically, therefore, this thesis suggests that postcolonial feminism offers a more effective way for understanding intersectional discourses because it recognises how power inequalities manifest in the discourses, while contributing towards more justice-based approaches to sustainability.
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(2024)As part of the European Green Deal, the European Union has set a goal to increase its domestic raw material extraction by 2030. The EU Critical Raw Materials Act lays out concrete goals for securing and strengthening EU’s domestic supply of critical raw materials. The Critical Raw Materials Act will potentially have significant impacts on land use in Europe’s mineral rich regions. These include northern Fennoscandia which is also home to the Indigenous Sámi inhabiting Sápmi. Extractive projects have multifaceted impacts on local communities and the environment, and mining-related conflicts are on the rise globally. The EU’s goal to increase mining domestically calls for the critical assessment of mining from the perspective of justice. The theoretical framework of this thesis comprises of environmental justice and extractivism. The geographical focus of this thesis is on mining in the northern parts of Fennoscandia – Norway, Sweden and Finland. My research question is: how do different stakeholders from Norway, Sweden and Finland view increasing mining in northern Fennoscandia from an environmental justice perspective? My method is critical discourse analysis consisting of three levels of analysing discourse: textual, interpretative, and critical. I combine perspectives of environmental justice to the study of discourse and apply an environmental justice framework consisting of procedural, recognition and epistemic justice. My data consists of stakeholder feedback submitted to the European Commission’s open online consultation on the Critical Raw Materials Act proposal. The aim is to understand how different stakeholders consider environmental justice aspects as part of increasing extractive activities in northern Fennoscandia. The analysis reveals that most stakeholders agree with the need to increase mining of critical raw materials, and the northernmost Fennoscandia is coined as an important location for mining critical raw materials. Regions emphasize the involvement of local communities and the positive contributions of mining locally. Sámi representatives underline Indigenous rights and strengthening Sámi participation in decision-making. Business actors emphasize the need to accelerate mining permitting processes and to reassess environmental legislation in the context of mining projects. Many stakeholders view technological solutions as a means to conduct mining sustainably, and business actors in particular call for a change of attitudes towards mining. A critical analysis reveals that in terms of environmental justice the discourse is rather limiting; local and traditional knowledge and livelihoods are not thoroughly addressed, and the environment is viewed mainly as a resource.
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