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  • At the center of my research interests is a critical engagement with theories of rural development, environmental gov... moreedit
The 1990s have been the decade of state decentralisation both in India and in Sweden. Decentralisation of political power has been accompanied by the rhetoric of community participation in natural resource management and rural development... more
The 1990s have been the decade of state decentralisation both in India and in Sweden. Decentralisation of political power has been accompanied by the rhetoric of community participation in natural resource management and rural development initiatives. In light of this, questions about ...
Institutional theory has often been criticized for not taking the question of power seriously in its analyses. In this paper, drawing on John Mohr’s critique of the spatial metaphor of the institut...
ABSTRACT
What does it mean to study places in ‘crisis’ and how does that affect the research done on the ‘rural’? To be considered to be in crisis is not really new as any literature review of rural studies indicates. And yet, we live now in a new... more
What does it mean to study places in ‘crisis’ and how does that affect the research done on the ‘rural’? To be considered to be in crisis is not really new as any literature review of rural studies indicates. And yet, we live now in a new context, with new challenges for ‘rural’ research, in particular that of sustainability. Sustainability is the new policy focus and is increasingly reflected in research on rural Europe. Although scholars are beginning to theorize on what is sustainable in and for rural areas, our intention is to take this further. We theorize on what the focus on crisis and, increasingly on sustainability, means for the research we do and the knowledge we produce on rural Europe. Our aim is to bring attention to the politics of past and present knowledge production on the rural to be able to imagine just and sustainable futures. In an analysis of literature primarily from Sweden and the UK, we argue that two construals, that of a rural crisis and that of rural–urban polarization, have set the tone for rural studies and may have overshadowed a more plural approach. We outline what might be needed from rural research to meet future challenges and what the notion of sustainability, with its emphasis on the entanglements of the social, economic and environmental, might mean for the future of rural research.
The story of the role of the Federation of Community Forestry Users in Nepal (FECOFUN) in working to keep the Bara Forest for the people of the area is well known, but the role played by the Forests, Trees and People (FTP) network as a... more
The story of the role of the Federation of Community Forestry Users in Nepal (FECOFUN) in working to keep the Bara Forest for the people of the area is well known, but the role played by the Forests, Trees and People (FTP) network as a platform for community forestry in ...
What does it mean to study places in ‘crisis’ and how does that affect the research done on the ‘rural’? To be considered to be in crisis is not really new as any literature review of rural studies indicates. And yet, we live now in a new... more
What does it mean to study places in ‘crisis’ and how does that affect the research done on the ‘rural’? To be considered to be in crisis is not really new as any literature review of rural studies indicates. And yet, we live now in a new context, with new challenges for ‘rural’ research, in particular that of sustainability. Sustainability is the new policy focus and is increasingly reflected in research on rural Europe. Although scholars are beginning to theorize on what is sustainable in and for rural areas, our intention is to take this further. We theorize on what the focus on crisis and, increasingly on sustainability, means for the research we do and the knowledge we produce on rural Europe. Our aim is to bring attention to the politics of past and present knowledge production on the rural to be able to imagine just and sustainable futures. In an analysis of literature primarily from Sweden and the UK, we argue that two construals, that of a rural crisis and that of rural–urb...
We address two aspects of forest lives—violence and care—that are central to forest outcomes but often invisible in mainstream discussions on forests. We argue that questions of violence and care work in forests open up debates about what... more
We address two aspects of forest lives—violence and care—that are central to forest outcomes but often invisible in mainstream discussions on forests. We argue that questions of violence and care work in forests open up debates about what forests are, who defines them, and how. We draw primarily on feminist work on forestry, violence, and care to examine the gendered nature of forest conflicts and the ‘quiet politics’ of resistance to violence grounded in the everyday work of care that are crucial to understanding forests and their governance. We show how varied practices of resistance to violence and injustice are grounded in cooperative action of care and are an intrinsic part of shaping and regenerating forests. We highlight the importance of close attention to seemingly mundane actions rooted in people’s daily lives and experiences that shape forests.
Abstract Two long-term trends characterized the response to the influx of asylum seekers in rural Sweden in 2015. First, current integration policies with an increasing focus on the individual migrant, especially in relation to education,... more
Abstract Two long-term trends characterized the response to the influx of asylum seekers in rural Sweden in 2015. First, current integration policies with an increasing focus on the individual migrant, especially in relation to education, employment and housing, provided the framework for the response. Second, the shift of rural governance from state control to collaborative arrangements with nonstate actors, enabled the unprecedented involvement of civil society in the reception and integration of asylum-seekers in rural areas. The consequences of the confluence of these two approaches are most visible in rural areas. In this paper, we explore the new landscape of collaborative governance in relation to migrant reception and integration and ask: what kind of space for maneuver might be available for migrants in the context of collaborative governance of integration in rural Europe? We argue that the new context of rural governance in tandem with integration policies focusing on individual migrants/ families rather than also considering group and ethnic belongings can leave newcomers at the mercy of an informal and unknown institutional terrain of collaborative governance, one that can exacerbate their vulnerability and lead to a situation of “double isolation”- from co-ethnic networks as well as from local society.
Environmental organizations play an important role in mainstream debates on nature and in shaping our environments. At a time when environmental NGOs are turning to questions of gender-equality and ethnic diversity, we analyze their... more
Environmental organizations play an important role in mainstream debates on nature and in shaping our environments. At a time when environmental NGOs are turning to questions of gender-equality and ethnic diversity, we analyze their possibilities to do so. We argue that attempts at ethnic and cultural diversity in environmental organizations cannot be understood without insight into the conceptualizations of nature and the environment that underpin thinking within the organization. Serious attempts at diversity entail confronting some of the core values on nature-cultures driving the organization as well as understanding the dimensions of power such as class, gender, and race that structure its practices. We study what nature means for one such organization, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, and the ways in which thinking about nature dictates organizational practice and sets the boundaries of their work with diversity in their projects on outdoor recreation. We base our ...

And 63 more

The impacts of climate change, as well as efforts to address it, stand to exacerbate care work. Since responsibility for care work is frequently unequally distributed among men and women, climate change stands to undermine gender justice... more
The impacts of climate change, as well as efforts to address it, stand to exacerbate care work. Since responsibility for care work is frequently unequally distributed among men and women, climate change stands to undermine gender justice in multiple ways. Within this context, the aim of this report is to articulate the multiple points of interaction between climate change and women’s disproportionate responsibility for  care work, and to describe the principal opportunities to minimize the negative (and accentuate the positive) outcomes of these interactions.
Research Interests: