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This thesis investigates how human rights responsibility is constructed and negotiated between the Zambian state and foreign mining companies in Zambia’s mining sector under conditions of economic dependence on foreign investment. The study is motivated by observations from an internship in Zambia, where mining was consistently framed as central to development while questions of responsibility rem
While the British Empire is no longer a political reality, it continues to shape the organization of British state institutions, including the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO). As people with ethnic heritage from formerly colonized countries enter the British diplomatic service, they occupy the unique position of representing the state that colonized their ancestors. Existing l
This thesis examines how India’s rise as a major economic actor shapes EU-India trade relations and the EU’s economic security in strategic sectors, technology and energy. The thesis asks how developments of increasing global trade fragmentation and geopolitical competition shape the EU's economic security and how the EU responds to this through trade policy, regulatory instruments, and the 20
This thesis examines the transformation of Finnish international identity between Finland’s accession to the EU in 1995 and its membership in NATO in 2023. The study is significant as Finland’s NATO accession has frequently been portrayed as a sudden and unprecedented rupture in Finnish foreign and security policy following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Challenging this interpre
Against the backdrop of escalating US-China competition, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is situated in a key geopolitical position. This is not the first time ASEAN has faced great power competition within the region. During the Cold War, to respond to the US-Soviet rivalry, ASEAN developed neutrality as one of its fundamental norms. This thesis aims to explore the role and evo
Virtual currencies have recently emerged at the intersection of Internet and finance, bringing unprecedented innovations in payment systems, money and finance. In particular, Bitcoin is examined as the first example of virtual currency, dating back to 2009. Ever since virtual currencies emerged, they received increased attention from public, private and societal regulators, especially in the field
This thesis explores a group of young Western-oriented Chinese consumers called xiaozi in Shanghai, comprised mainly by young individuals from an urban lower middle-class background who attempt at adopting a lifestyle and identity marked by a taste for fine arts and foreign culture. The study shows that by means of social distinction through taste and foreign cultural practices the xiaozi youth ca
Previous research has showed that Iranian immigrant women integrate easier and have a more positive attitude towards the Swedish society than Iranian men when they resettle here. In light of this, I employ a gender and social identity approach with the intent to understand the integration differences between Iranian immigrant men and women from Iran who live in Sweden. Gender and social identity t
The first aim of this thesis were to analyze China’s discourse of soft power in relation to their investments in the Zambian mining industry from the year 2000 to 2012. From a combination of Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis and Joseph Nye’s soft power theory, I can conclude, that in the 12 years period the Chinese soft power discourse was dominating and China could persuade and attr
After the years of the Cold War rivalry the relations between China and Russia reached one of the highest points in history in the early 2000’s. The arms trade became one of the major aspects of the bilateral relationship. China became one of the main buyers of the Russian arms in the 1990’s, even before the formal rapprochement happened. After reaching its peak in the beginning of the 2000’s the
Nowadays, very few public services could be delivered by only one department or organization. In order to deal with those "wicked" issues, like transportation, housing, environmental protection, food safety or some other problems, collaboration between departments has been a need. Meanwhile, cross-departmental collaboration has been proved to be an important means for governance, which h
The present study is concerned with the expansion of biofuel production and two revealing and contrasting impacts caused in Honduras. The biofuels complex emerges as a sustainable alternative to cope with pressing problems related to climate change, energy insecurity and environmental degradation. However such an argument becomes problematic as land expansion for biofuels entails land-use changes
This thesis aims to explain the effect of Turkey’s accession process to the European Union on its asylum policy’s evolution. By applying two branches of new institutional theory––rational choice and social institutionalism––the thesis analyzed the Europeanization phenomenon of the European Union’s accession effect on domestic policy change. In order to do so, process tracing and document analysis
Since the formation of the European Union (EU), European integration and the policies adopted to achieve this objective are a growing topic of interest and concern for different fields of scholarship. The single market driven EU project involves a proliferating and complicated bureaucracy which in itself, generates more bureaucracy. Coping with this development has seen the EU establish decentrali
Pan-Africanism is a diverse philosophy and political ideology that has conflicting views about how unity among Africans can be achieved economically and within a single political system. Some versions of Pan-Africanism support market capitalism and other theorists take the position that the collective ownership of capital and resources is essential for creating a national unity. The Agenda 2063 is
Climate change is not only a pressing global challenge but also a cross-border issue that has far-reaching impacts on communities and ecosystems worldwide. As nations grapple with the urgent need for climate action, it becomes crucial to consider the perspectives and voices of indigenous peoples who have longstanding relationships with their lands and possess valuable traditional knowledge. Indige
This thesis investigates how the civil war in Syria and flight to Sweden has affected male Syrian refugees’ national identity. I conducted individual interviews with 10 informants, a focus group with 4 informants and participant observation at a café. In this thesis, national identity is defined as a part of an individual’s personal identity and consists of a person’s sense of belonging to a speci
The interest of this research lies in the nexus between the state and the individual in providing social care for people searching asylum in Finland. The study explores the experiences of host families involved in offering home accommodation for asylum seekers. More specifically, it aims to understand the subjective role that host families assign to themselves when providing social care for this t
The international financial crisis has hit southern European countries remarkably hard. As a consequence, governments have introduced economic austerity in order to cope with such a difficult situation. Perhaps most important, left-wing and right-wing parties have contributed to the implementation of these economic policies. Given this unexpected consensus, this thesis examines the Italian case st
The female child marriage research landscape in Zimbabwe concludes reasons, consequences, and solutions as a means to bring awareness. However, there is an absence in the current literature of an individual perspective focusing on rural females experiences of child marriage and a theoretical contribution that highlights their actions, choices, and understandings before, during and after the marria
