Randi Kaarhus | Norwegian University of Life Sciences (original) (raw)

Knowing a coastal Sámi landscape in Finnmark: transmission and regeneration of knowledge and identity across three generations, 2023

This article discusses the role of knowledge and practices related to the natural environment in ... more This article discusses the role of knowledge and practices related to the natural environment in constructing and regenerating identities as Coastal Sámi across generations. The discussion draws on empirical material from a local community on the coast of Finnmark in northern Norway. To what extent are coastal Sámi identities today related to knowing specific landscapes? We explore how knowing a landscape through practical engagement and livelihood-related tasks in the local environment is part of identity regeneration in succeeding generationsfrom grandparents to grandchildren. Our discussion is situated in a growing field of academic and ethnopolitical contributions exploring Sámi knowledge and relationships to local landscapes and environments, drawing upon some key concepts in the broader literature on local knowledge and relational conceptions of knowledge and knowing in inter-generational transmission. We show how this transmission is performed as active re-generation through shared lived experiences of practice, as well as through narratives transmitted across generations. The empirical material analyzed here consists of narratives collected through interviews with members of three generations in eight families belonging to a predominantly coastal Sámi community in coastal Finnmark during 2018-2019.

Inﬂuential discourses present Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as essential for agricultural devel... more Inﬂuential discourses present Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as essential for agricultural development in Africa; a parallel, more critical debate on ‘land rushes’ has denounced Land Grabs, demanding increased accountability in FDIbased land deals. This article explores an initiative located in central Mozambique, the Beira Agricultural Growth Corridor (BAGC). It shows how the international fertiliser company Yara set out to enrol actors at different levels in business, governance and agricultural development into BAGC as a public-private partnership to promote commercial agriculture. Very soon, however, Yara made shifts in its engagement and market strategy, leaving the BAGC initiative to supporting donors and local producers. The analysis presented here shows how the tension between ‘patient-capital’ requirements, high risks and low immediate returns have shaped this case over time – in the context of a national political economy framed by extractive-resource dynamics.

Forum for Development Studies 0803-9410 (print)/1891-1765 (online) Original Article 2010 Norsk Ut... more Forum for Development Studies 0803-9410 (print)/1891-1765 (online) Original Article 2010 Norsk Utenrikspolitiske Institutt (NUPI) 37 2 000000June 2010 RandiKaarhus randi.kaarhus@umb.no

Employing diet and cuisine as analytical concepts, this article focuses on cultural categories an... more Employing diet and cuisine as analytical concepts, this article focuses on cultural categories and social meanings of food in Malinzanga village in southern Tanzania. Through analyses of access to foodstuffs, sequence of meals, and methods of preparation, the article shows how key elements in a basic meal structure are used locally to characterize and classify people—both in terms of ethnic group membership and in terms of respectable social status versus " disgraceful " poverty as perceived locally. The population in Malinzanga includes four ethnic groups: two pastoralist groups, Mang'ati and Masai, and two agricul-turalist groups, Hehe and Bena. It is argued that patterns of food consumption among the people in Malinzanga cannot be attributed to access to resources and purchasing power alone. Food consumption can also be seen as a means of expression of what Malinzanga villagers think about own identities, status, and social distinctions.

This article explores food culture and child feeding practices, focusing on children below five y... more This article explores food culture and child feeding practices, focusing on children below five years among the Bena and Luguru ethnic groups located in Njombe and Mvomero rural districts in Tanzania. In these two societies existing cultural norms, and beliefs related to child feeding focusing on breastfeeding and complementary feeding were investigated aiming at understanding how everyday practices on child feeding are socially and culturally constructed by actors including parents or guardians, thus giving cultural meanings that are attached to everyday realities on child feeding. The article is part of a larger research project whose overall purpose was to investigate the outcome of milk based nutrition interventions involving dairy goat and cattle keeping with the aim among others to improve health and nutritional status of family members, especially children below five years in societies where prevalence of malnutrition particularly undernutrition is rather high. Methods used included participant observation, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews.

A Lei de Terras moçambicana aprovada em 1997 pretende estabelecer regras flexíveis de acesso à te... more A Lei de Terras moçambicana aprovada em 1997 pretende estabelecer regras flexíveis de acesso à terra, garantindo, ao mesmo tempo, os direitos costumeiros das populações locais, bem como a igualdade de direitos entre mulheres e homens. Com base em observação participante durante um processo de delimitação de terras na região centro de Moçambique, este artigo analisa a complexa negociação que decorre da aplicação da Lei de Terras numa comunidade local. Mostra como o processo de delimitação abriu espaço para afirmar papéis – masculinos – de poder e autoridade, enquanto as mulheres locais eram cada vez mais marginalizadas no processo. Apresentando testemunhos orais de mulheres da comunidade, os autores procuram equilibrar a descrição, com perspectivas das mulheres sobre o carácter, altamente dependente do género, dos interesses na terra, do acesso a esta e da exclusão da mesma. A análise termina com a pergunta: O que seria necessário para dar espaço às mulheres locais para, durante o próprio processo de delimitação, darem conta dos seus interesses num acesso seguro à terra?

The Mozambican Land Law of 1997 intends to provide flexible rules of access to land, while securi... more The Mozambican Land Law of 1997 intends to provide flexible rules of access to land, while securing local people’s customary rights, as well as equal rights for women and men. Drawing on
participant observation during a ‘land delimitation’ process in central Mozambique, this article analyses the complex negotiation ensuing from the implementation of the land law in a local community. It shows how the delimitation process provided spaces for asserting – male – roles of power and authority, while local women were increasingly marginalised in the process. By presenting oral testimonies from women in the community, the authors seek to balance the account, providing women’s perspectives on the highly gendered character of interests in, access to, and exclusion from land. The analysis ends with the question: What would be required to provide a
space for local women to articulate their interests in a secure access to land during the delimitation process itself?

Papers by Randi Kaarhus

Tidsskrift for Samfunnsforskning, Nov 23, 2006

Africa Spectrum, Aug 1, 2011

People from five different ethnic groups share the territory that is Isiolo District, situated in... more People from five different ethnic groups share the territory that is Isiolo District, situated in northern Kenya. This article gives an account of the different groups' claims to land in this inter-ethnic setting, which is located in the border area of the vast drylands southeast of the Sahara. Presenting contemporary claims in a narrative form, the authors illustrate how these claims seek legitimacy through reference to historical processes, to first-comer status and to former governments' decisions, to citizenship dues, as well as to "tribal" group rights. Taking into account the fact that the broader constitutional, political and social contexts related to these narratives and claims are, at present, in a state of transition, the article seeks to situate the local people's perspectives and local land dynamics within broader discourses on land conflict and land policy reform in Africa. In this way, it also provides context for the series of new inter-ethnic clashes that took place in Isiolo District in 2011.

This chapter describes the revision of the Carnivore Management Plan for the Nordland region in n... more This chapter describes the revision of the Carnivore Management Plan for the Nordland region in northern Norway. The national government expected this revision to harmonize conflicting interests, expressed in a 'double objective' of safeguarding sustainable carnivore populations and maintaining local pastoralist livelihoods. 'Clear zoning' has been established as a basic management instrument to achieve national 'population goals' for carnivores. In the Nordland Regional Carnivore Committee, which includes political parties' and Sami Parliament representatives, a majority opted for a revision that challenged this zoning principle. The Committee's revised plan, submitted in early 2017, was first returned by the Ministry of Climate and Environment to the regional level with instructions to comply with 'clear zoning'. In summer 2018, it was finally overrun by the Ministry. We describe three successive acts in this revision process, analysed as a 'discursive field' where local actors, especially pastoralists' representatives, seek to articulate relevant views on the nature of the problem and the rules defining what counts as evidence and valid knowledge in carnivore management.

Ediciones Abya-Yala,, Quito: 1989., Aug 22, 2021

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), 2011

49, 2003

This report was also published in English, title: CSOs and SWAPs: The role of civil society organ... more This report was also published in English, title: CSOs and SWAPs: The role of civil society organisations in the health sector in Mozambique

48, 2006

Sciences (UMB). Noragric's activities include research, education and assignments, focusing parti... more Sciences (UMB). Noragric's activities include research, education and assignments, focusing particularly, but not exclusively, on developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Besides Noragric's role as the international gateway for UMB, Noragric also acts on behalf of the Norwegian College of Veterinary Medicine (NVH) and of Norwegian Agricultural Research International (NARI), which form alliances with UMB. Noragric Reports present findings from various studies and assignments, including programme appraisals and evaluations. This Noragric Report was commissioned by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) to Noragric. Extracts from this publication may only be reproduced after prior consultation with the employer of the assignment (NORAD) and with the consultant team leader (Noragric). The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this publication are entirely those of the authors and cannot be attributed directly to the Department of International Environment and Development Studies (UMB/Noragric).

The Journal of Peasant Studies, Nov 27, 2017

In Brazil, Afro-descendant quilombola communities were for the first time in history recognised a... more In Brazil, Afro-descendant quilombola communities were for the first time in history recognised as legal rights-holders to land in the 1988 constitution – 100 years after the abolition of slavery. Drawing on fieldwork in the quilombo Bombas in the state of São Paulo, and a review of relevant literature, this contribution explores the historical trajectory of the constitutional quilombo provision and how it has been translated into practice. Combining a discussion of the use of self-identification and the concepts of ‘regulation’, ‘force’, ‘market’ and ‘legitimation’ when analysing the dynamics of access and exclusion, we show how struggles over land are simultaneously enacted in controversies over the meanings of quilombola identity and its implications.

Forum for development studies, Jun 1, 2010

... trade. But soon the missions saw another challenge in the family structure of the matrilineal... more ... trade. But soon the missions saw another challenge in the family structure of the matrilineal groups. The mission-aries generally taught that according to the Bible, husbands should be 'household heads' (Hinfelaar, 1994: 57). 10 ...

Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift, Feb 20, 2002

Journal of Modern African Studies, Mar 1, 2018

Influential discourses present Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as essential for agricultural deve... more Influential discourses present Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as essential for agricultural development in Africa; a parallel, critical debate on 'land rushes' has denounced Land Grabs, demanding increased accountability in FDIbased land deals. This article explores an initiative located in central Mozambique, the Beira Agricultural Growth Corridor (BAGC). It shows how the international fertiliser company Yara set out to enrol actors at different levels in business, governance and agricultural development into BAGC as a public-private partnership to promote commercial agriculture. Very soon, * The initial fieldwork on which this article is based was funded by Norad, Norway. Many people have in different ways contributed to the development and encouraged the publication of this article. I wish to thank

Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift, Nov 28, 2003

Knowing a coastal Sámi landscape in Finnmark: transmission and regeneration of knowledge and identity across three generations, 2023

Tidsskrift for Samfunnsforskning, Nov 23, 2006

Africa Spectrum, Aug 1, 2011

Ediciones Abya-Yala,, Quito: 1989., Aug 22, 2021

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), 2011

49, 2003

48, 2006

The Journal of Peasant Studies, Nov 27, 2017

Forum for development studies, Jun 1, 2010

Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift, Feb 20, 2002

Journal of Modern African Studies, Mar 1, 2018

Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift, Nov 28, 2003

Forum for development studies, Dec 1, 2005

Abstract The 2003 World Bank Policy Research Report titled Land Policies for Growth and Poverty R... more Abstract The 2003 World Bank Policy Research Report titled Land Policies for Growth and Poverty Reduction presents a diversified and—to some extent—revised neoliberal approach to land policies and property rights. This revision includes a modification of earlier World Bank perspectives on the privatisation of communal property rights as a general condition for economic growth and rural development. The report further provides broad perspectives and a fairly comprehensive overview of research-based knowledge in the field of land policies and property rights, complemented by lessons learned and experiences drawn from earlier—and partly failed—interventions. Thus it also makes a valuable contribution to current debates on the need for formal registration and titling in order to secure poor people's rights and access to livelihood resources. Conditions at national and local levels that are conducive to securing poor people's—including women's—rights and livelihoods are specifically addressed, while possible contradictions between equity and growth are not. Still, this text will no doubt become a standard reference in the field, and as such is indispensable reading.

Routledge eBooks, Apr 17, 2020

Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift, 2011

Geoforum, 2018

In this article, we present an empirically based and critical investigation of the ways in which ... more In this article, we present an empirically based and critical investigation of the ways in which a Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) project in Zanzibar takes steps to establish the systems required to produce a forest carbon commodity eligible for sale in the global carbon market. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth knowledge about REDD+ processes in Zanzibar, we discuss how the commodification of forest carbon is at odds with local norms, practices and social relations at local level in Zanzibar, and show how commodification processesin a context of highly volatile carbon marketscreates new uncertainties and relations of dependence. We argue that, by converting the local forest into a source of one single commodity for sale ('forest carbon'), the project reduces the use value of the forest for local women and men, thus undermining the longer-term rationality inherent in local norms and socially embedded forest practices. We indicate that these also include norms that serve to protect forests. In the context of contemporary debates about the functioning of REDD+ and commodification of forest carbon more in general, this article contributes to enhance current understanding of REDD+ practices and impacts at local level.

The Journal of Modern African Studies, 2015

ABSTRACTThe Mozambican Land Law of 1997 intends to provide flexible rules of access to land, whil... more ABSTRACTThe Mozambican Land Law of 1997 intends to provide flexible rules of access to land, while securing local people's customary rights, as well as equal rights for women and men. Drawing on participant observation during a ‘land delimitation’ process in central Mozambique, this article analyses the complex negotiation ensuing from the implementation of the Land Law in a local community. It shows how the delimitation process provided spaces for asserting – male – roles of power and authority, while local women were increasingly marginalised in the process. By presenting oral testimonies from women in the community, the authors seek to balance the account, providing women's perspectives on the highly gendered character of interests in, access to, and exclusion from land. The analysis ends with the question: What would be required to provide a space for local women to articulate their interests in a secure access to land during the delimitation process itself?

Randi Kaarhus | Norwegian University of Life Sciences (original) (raw)

Papers: Social aspects of NRM by Randi Kaarhus

Papers by Randi Kaarhus