| dc.description.abstract | Increasing human pressure on ecological systems has triggered a need to understand
the complexities of human-environment dynamics. Using land-use as an example this
thesis asks, how do individuals belonging to different social strata perceive and
experience land-use? As well as, what do these perceptions and experiences say about
the relationships between the post-structurally defined concepts agency, knowledge
and landscape in the land-use dynamics? Perceptions and experiences are analyzed
together with the post-structural concepts in order to understand the conscious and
unconscious human and non-human forces that affect human-environment dynamics.
This is applied on a case study in Kenya, West Pokot, Chepareria where a land-use
change has taken place. Data was collected through one to two hour-long semistructured
interviews with respondents in Chepareria on their individual perceptions
and experiences of land-use change. The concepts agency, knowledge and landscape
are used to encourage analyses into; power as a multidimensional, dynamic and
decentralised force; the effect of social structures and institutions; and the
contextualisation and social construction of time and space.
Through the analysis of land-use change in Chepareria, interesting themes emerge on
land-use dynamics. Subjectivity is found to have an important effect on land-use
decisions and outcomes, which is seen for instance clearly in gender structures. Power
saturates these structures of subjectivity, affecting agency and knowledge in their
multiple forms for groups and individuals. Individual perspectives and experiences of
the agency individual’s hold, and the forms of knowledge individual’s possess,
constrains and creates opportunities, ultimately materialising and manifesting in the
landscape. This can be seen in the politics of land-use where social orders can be
including and excluding. Individual land-use perceptions and experiences are thus
affected by a multitude of factors such as, but not limited to, different social structures
and institutions, access to information, land-use constraints and opportunities,
external and internal pressures, and future and past expectations and fears. Finally, all
these aspects are affected by global, national and local levels that co-produce
structures within the Cheparerian context. The findings show that post-structural
social theory can contribute by highlighting the important, but often overlooked,
human and non-human factors affecting human-environment dynamics. | sv |
