The LGBTIQ rights landscape in the European Union is undergoing change. Government-endorsed discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity has been on the rise in its...Show moreThe LGBTIQ rights landscape in the European Union is undergoing change. Government-endorsed discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity has been on the rise in its Easternmost member states. In response to recent events, the European Commission has communicated that the Union must be at the forefront of efforts to better protect LGBTIQ people’s rights. This study critically examines the changing self-perception of the European Commission as it engages with the conflict over LGBTIQ rights. Process tracing of the emergence, (lack of) diffusion and subsequent contestation of the LGBTIQ norm in the region reveals that the ongoing dispute of values between the East and the West is a self-inflicted wound which can be traced back to the Eastern enlargement accession negotiations. The timid approach to the enforcement of European Union membership criteria has caused a normative gap post-accession, resulting in a regional identity crisis. Norm polarisation theory is proposed as a theoretical framework which can describe the deepening rift between the Union’s human rights profile on one hand, and Polish insistence on the right to tradition and sovereignty on the other.Show less
This thesis is a qualitative analysis of how Andean Indigenous Knowledge (IK) challenges prevailing assumptions about sustainable development. Through the examination of the global fashion industry...Show moreThis thesis is a qualitative analysis of how Andean Indigenous Knowledge (IK) challenges prevailing assumptions about sustainable development. Through the examination of the global fashion industry, the study hypothesises that Andean IK challenges dominant beliefs in economic growth and technological progress as preconditions for sustainable development and reveals its anthropocentric nature. A thematic document analysis of content produced by two Andean fashion brands – Allpamamas and Pachacuti – reveals the importance of respecting nature as an innate part of human well-being and achieving sustainable development. Thus, a framework is created to reimagine sustainable development through the re-evaluation of the relationship between humans and nature, broadening the potential for policies to address sustainability in the global fashion industry.Show less
