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As removed as they may be from bodies of power and bureaucratic structures of opportunity, environmental activist groups of Eastern Blacksea Region of Turkey (BS) present us cases in which marginality becomes the very characteristic that enables counter- hegemonic discourses to emerge. By leaving politically (la politique) formulated sources of legitimacy aside and lacking the means of counter-democratic scientific knowledge production, which is decidedly the rationalizing spirit of the age, environmentalists of BS have turned to something much more primordial in constructing legitimate grounds of resistance. They challenge official developmental discourses through reinserting a pre-objective nature, free from the categories of science or economy, into the political arena (le politique). And as the reference point of an autonomous nature with a right of its own, they simply prioritize the local ways of being in the nature, which happens to have ecologist aspirations of harmony and appreciation towards the preexisting order. In this regard, here I argue that these groups, present challenging alternative theses to not only the national government in the country, but also to globally hegemonic environmental discourses, which are still, to the dismay of many, marked by scientific, developmentalist, economizing views.

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The feminist movement in Morocco is a well-established and -organized entity and on the top of that a unique successful story of women’s progress in the MENA. Together with a substantial amelioration of women’s status, the movement initiated a wave of gender-sensibilisation and democratization of the public sphere. The amendment of the Mudawanna in 2004 - Morocco’s family - is considered the flagship of their endeavors. Through advocacy work and strategic political moves, they have become a historical respected actor within civil society. Dynamics of globalization and democratization have drastically changed Moroccan society, giving rise to a young and educated generation, which aspires a better future for themselves and their society. Their discontents with the current regime and politics, combined with the changes in the Arab region, resulted in a protest called the 20th February Movement. Although not explicitly a feminist organization, this heterogeneous movement incorporates gender-equality in their organizational structure, and inscribes women’s rights in a broader demand for a free democracy. The spirit of the movement gave rise to a variety of youth initiatives that focalize on individual liberties, which include women’s issues. This study tempts to investigate the new generation of activists, and examine how they relate to the feminist movement and its components. Women’s issues, before solely treated by the traditional feminist movement, are now appropriated by actors who have emerged outside of the movement. While Moroccan feminists have always defined women’s issues as the pre-requisite for a democratic society, the new generation inscribes this in a larger spectrum of demands for individual liberties. The different conceptions on how to approach gender-equality in order to achieve a societal change, creates a tension between the two generations. The generational gap is deepened due to a difference in working methods, as the actions of t...

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Urban redevelopment processes in Bogotá, Colombia are now part of the political agenda and seem to be unstoppable. As a result, a handful of programs aiming at transforming obsolete city spaces into vital corners have originated over the last decade. This is the case of Progresa Fenicia, an “inclusive” revitalization program in the city center led, since 2010, by an unusual developer: Universidad de los Andes (Uniandes), a private school. The implementation of this Program, which implies the transition of its residents from an old neighborhood to a redeveloped area, launched the discussion on the relationships and meanings between the local people and the environment. This thesis examines the perceived relationship between community members with the environment in terms of the meaning they give to their space and networks. Additionally, the research tries to understand the kind of struggles the residents of Fenicia are facing in relation to the urban revitalization process that has already started in their barrio: their place. I addressed this challenge using the concept of “inscribed spaces”, which focuses on the relationship between humans and the environments they occupy (Low and Lawrence-Zúñiga: 2012:13). I was interested in how the Fenicia residents understand and give meaning to the space they live in and the relationships that this process entails (ibid: 14). The focus was placed in how the residents transform the meaning of “space” into “place” and how they imagine the renewed area. By mirroring on local perceptions, memories, discourses and narratives in regards to the neighborhood, I tried to identify key variables that the developer (the private university in this case) might have overlooked in previous phases of the project. But if taken into account, they could contribute to the establishment of new-meaningful relationships with the places the residents will occupy in the renewed area.It is concluded that Fenicia is the result of ...

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Before 1990, Cubans agricultural system was heavily dependent on Soviet Union goods, such as petroleum, fertilizers and pesticides. Since the Soviet Union collapsed in the nineties, Cuba faced a severe crisis, also called the Special Period. Their agricultural system changed from large scale, pesticides and machinery intensive agriculture outside the city towards small scale, organic and labour intensive agriculture within city borders. This change, enforced and stimulated through government policies, was almost out of necessity. This unique case gives the chance to have a look to farmers who have twenty years of experience with organic and urban agriculture. This thesis will look to what significant extant urban agriculture contributed to food security, the strengthening of communities, daily consumption patterns and neighbourhood relationships. Is urban agriculture a fringe activity in Cuba’s society? To what extent did it help citizens struggling through the Special Period, supporting the restructuring of daily life and exchange again? If we relate these answers with resilience theory, what significance can we conclude from that?

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C-re-aid is a young development organisation based in Northern Tanzania. With architecture being the professional background of the founder of C-re-aid, the concentration of the organisation lays on housing in informal settlements. The organisation is active since 2012 and has conducted several projects in rural areas of Moshi, Tanzania. The projects are conducted with the assistance of Western students of architecture and aim to create cooperation between the C-re-aid team, students and beneficiaries. C-re-aid collaborates on projects with families of various backgrounds, social relations and material possessions. However, the crucial similarity is that all the families received assistance from C-re-aid to make a specific material change. Thus, while the projects themselves are different, their common baseline is the research to the reception of a material change. For this thesis I have selected three projects that are most relevant for the specific topics cited in this thesis. These case studies show the social and material context, social relations within the community, and events during the process of the project. With the diversity of the projects, I can draw attention to theories on poverty, material culture, social relations and especially how those theories collaborate. Interventions undertaken in the built environment led to questions about how people involved in a project interpret the process of a project and the changes implemented by a project. This thesis deals with the conception of poverty and the reception of people to a material and social change to the house and its close physical environment. I defined my research question into "the possibilities of architecture for people confronted with poverty." Furthermore I research the influence of the presence of Western students of architecture in a Tanzanian context and what this could mean for the students. I seek to determine whether C-re-aid’s concept of people as "limited by infrastructure" is a...