About
My positionality is first of all based on being a professor in development studies at a university in a wealthy and fossil fuel producing country in the Global North. I find it vital to conduct research as well as to teach about justice implications of climate policies and green transformation strategies in the case of my own country Norway. I discuss climate justice from the two broad perspectives of climate justice in time and space. I look at consequences of present climate decisions in Norway for future generations as well as for people today in the Global South, and with a special attention to people living in poverty and vulnerability. Moreover, I try to explain why injustices tend to take place. Finally, I engage in discussions about how policies can be changed from neo-colonialism and unsustainable development and into more just and sustainable alternatives. I think schools and universities could play a seminal role here, equipping students with knowledge and tools that enable them to critically examine and engage in their countries’ choices of alternatives towards climate justice in time and space.
Examples of my publications:
Svarstad, H. 2021. Critical climate education: Studying climate justice in time and space. International Studies in Sociology of Education 30(1-2):214-232. Open Access: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09620214.2020.1855463
Benjaminsen, T.A. and H. Svarstad. 2021. Political Ecology: A Critical Engagement with Global Environmental Issues. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Svarstad, H. & T.A. Benjaminsen. 2020. Reading radical environmental justice through a political ecology lens. Geoforum 108 (1-11). Open access:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718519303161
Svarstad, H., T.A. Benjaminsen & R. Overå. 2018. Power Theories in Political Ecology. Journal of Political Ecology. Vol. 25: 350-363. Open Access.
Svarstad, H. & T.A. Benjaminsen 2017. Nothing succeeds like success narratives: A case of conservation and development in the time of REDD. Journal of Eastern African Studies 11(3): 482-505.
Field of study
Environment Climate Development studies Nature conservation Political ecology Sustainable development
Research groups
Research projects
Ongoing research projects
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CENSU - Climate Change Energy Sustainability
CENSU is a Norwegian-Tanzanian-Mozambican university collaboration within education and research which focuses on sustainable gas extraction and governance in the context of vulnerable communities and climate change.
Publications and research
Scientific publications
Koot, Stasja; Zwieten, Nowella Anyango-van; Sullivan, Sian; Dressler, Wolfram; Spierenburg, Marja; Trogisch, Lisa; Marijnen, Esther; Fletcher, Robert; Rakhmani, Inaya; Afiff, Suraya Abdulwahab; Benjaminsen, Tor A; Milne, Sarah;
Svarstad, Hanne
; Büscher, Bram; Dutta, Anwesha; Lowe, Celia; Rai, Nitin D.
(2025).
Intimidation as epistemological violence against social science conservation research.
Conservation Biology.
Vol. 39.
https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14454
Svarstad, Hanne
; Benjaminsen, Tor A
(2024).
Political ecology and the power of sociology.
Overdevest, Christine (Ed.).
Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Sociology. p. 447-453.
Edward Elgar Publishing.
https://doi.org/10.4337/9781803921044.ch79
Svarstad, Hanne
; Jornet, Alfredo; Peters, Glen Philip;
Griffiths, Tom G.
; Benjaminsen, Tor A
(2023).
Critical climate education is crucial for fast and just transformations.
Nature Climate Change.
Vol. 13.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01875-2
Benjaminsen, Tor A;
Svarstad, Hanne
(2021).
Political ecology: a critical engagement with global environmental issues.
ISBN: 9783030560355.
249 p.
Palgrave Macmillan.
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/4349718
Svarstad, Hanne
(2021).
Critical climate education: Studying climate justice in time and space.
International Studies in Sociology of Education.
Vol. 30.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09620214.2020.1855463
Benjaminsen, Tor A;
Svarstad, Hanne
; Tordarroch, Iselin Katinka Shaw of
(2021).
Recognising Recognition in Climate Justice.
IDS Bulletin.
Vol. 53.
https://doi.org/10.19088/1968-2022.136
Svarstad, Hanne
; Benjaminsen, Tor A
(2020).
Reading radical environmental justice through a political ecology lens.
Geoforum.
Vol. 108.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.11.007
Benjaminsen, Tor A;
Svarstad, Hanne
(2019).
Political Ecology.
Elias, Scott A.; Alderton, David; Bliznak, Vojtech; Cochran, Kirk; DellaSala, Dominick A.; Funiciello, Francesca (Ed.).
Encyclopedia of Ecology. Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences. p. 391-396.
Elsevier.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.10608-6
Svarstad, Hanne
;
Hansen, Camilla
(2018).
Kyndig veiledning av norske studenter på praksis i det globale Sør.
Tveiten, Sidsel; Iversen, Anita (Ed.).
Veiledning i høyere utdanning. En vitenskapelig antologi.. p. 189-201.
Fagbokforlaget.
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/4985278
Benjaminsen, Tor A;
Svarstad, Hanne
(2018).
REDD og norsk klimakolonialisme i Tanzania.
Internasjonal Politikk.
Vol. 76.
https://doi.org/10.23865/intpol.v75.654
