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Cooperation instead of Conflict - A minor field study of Lake Victoria

Nilsson, Anna Stina LU (2010) FKVK01 20101
Department of Political Science
Abstract
Conflict over declining water resources has been a highly debated issue the last decade. Theorists suggests that environmental degradation may in some cases cause violent conflict or war. A different school of thought proposes the opposite – that water is more likely to create cooperation, rather than conflict. This thesis will focus on Lake Victoria and why there is cooperation over the lake between Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, instead of conflict. A theory on environmental cooperation by Ken Conca will be used, specifically looking at whether or not a transnational network has arisen as a part of the cooperation over water and in what way these networks have contributed to the creation of an imagined security community. The material for... (More)
Conflict over declining water resources has been a highly debated issue the last decade. Theorists suggests that environmental degradation may in some cases cause violent conflict or war. A different school of thought proposes the opposite – that water is more likely to create cooperation, rather than conflict. This thesis will focus on Lake Victoria and why there is cooperation over the lake between Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, instead of conflict. A theory on environmental cooperation by Ken Conca will be used, specifically looking at whether or not a transnational network has arisen as a part of the cooperation over water and in what way these networks have contributed to the creation of an imagined security community. The material for the thesis was collected during a
minor field study in East Africa during May-July 2010. The findings suggests that a transnational network exists, but that it does not yet reach out to enough people to have been able to create an imagined security community. This does not rule out any other community-feeling around the lake, just that it has not originated from the environmental cooperation. Instead other ethnical, historical and political factors have contributed to the nonviolent relations around the lake. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Nilsson, Anna Stina LU
supervisor
organization
course
FKVK01 20101
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
environmental peacemaking, cooperation, Lake Victoria, transnational networks and imagined security community.
language
English
id
1653060
date added to LUP
2010-09-13 09:31:34
date last changed
2015-12-14 13:34:37
@misc{1653060,
  abstract     = {{Conflict over declining water resources has been a highly debated issue the last decade. Theorists suggests that environmental degradation may in some cases cause violent conflict or war. A different school of thought proposes the opposite – that water is more likely to create cooperation, rather than conflict. This thesis will focus on Lake Victoria and why there is cooperation over the lake between Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, instead of conflict. A theory on environmental cooperation by Ken Conca will be used, specifically looking at whether or not a transnational network has arisen as a part of the cooperation over water and in what way these networks have contributed to the creation of an imagined security community. The material for the thesis was collected during a
minor field study in East Africa during May-July 2010. The findings suggests that a transnational network exists, but that it does not yet reach out to enough people to have been able to create an imagined security community. This does not rule out any other community-feeling around the lake, just that it has not originated from the environmental cooperation. Instead other ethnical, historical and political factors have contributed to the nonviolent relations around the lake.}},
  author       = {{Nilsson, Anna Stina}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Cooperation instead of Conflict - A minor field study of Lake Victoria}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}