Passing environmental knowledge on to the next generation In Nepal : a narrative analysis

Abstract

This Master of Science thesis in International Environmental Studies investigates the research question: How do environmental narratives from home and (pre-) school shape children’s environmental knowledge at an early age in Nepal, and to what extent does the education system integrate local environmental knowledge in the teaching? The research question is investigated through a narrative analysis. The analysis is based on primary information, which was gathered during 4 months fieldwork in Nepal in July 2014 and from mid-September to mid-December 2014. The analysis starts with a presentation of two narratives that emerge through the collected data. It compares these narratives to already established narratives and discourses. Further, the narratives’ productive power is investigated. I analyse how these narratives frame nature and actors, how they are produced and reproduced, and what actions these narratives make preconditions for. Finally I analyse how the narratives are challenged and changed.