Researcher
Margrete Seiersnes-Killingland
Contactinfo and files
Summary
Margrete is a junior research fellow in the research group Global Order and Diplomacy (GOaD). Her master thesis’ in Human Geography from the University of Oslo investigated the localisation discourse in Norwegian-Ugandan aid chains and the barriers to its practical implementation. Her research interests include (de)colonialisation, power, sustainable development, ethics in development, East Africa and qualitative methods. She has carried out several fieldworks in Uganda and ran a Norwegian-Ugandan clothing business from 2019-2023. Margrete contributes/has contributed to the Nupi projects POPSARC, ANGER and DEVINT.
Expertise
Education
2024 Master’s degree in Human Geography, University of Oslo
2021 Courses in Social Anthropology, University of Oslo
2020 Bachelor’s degree in Development Studies, University of Oslo
2017 Norec exchange (6 months) in Mbale, Uganda
Work Experience
2024 – Junior research fellow, NUPI
2023 – 2024 Teaching assistant, Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo
2019 – 2023 Co-founder SELA the Brand, clothes production in Uganda
Aktivitet
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Clear all filtersNorsk forsvarsvilje og forsvarsevne: Hva kan vi lære fra Ukraina?
Hva skaper forsvarsvilje og hvordan vedlikeholdes den? Russlands angrepskrig i Ukraina og hvordan Ukraina har maktet å stå imot gir oss et unikt vindu for å undersøke og forstå disse spørsmålene. I denne rapporten benyttes nylig innsamlede data fra Ukraina for å kartlegge og forstå grunnlaget for Ukrainas forsvarsvilje. Dette gjennomgås i rapportens første del. I den andre delen brukes dataene fra Ukraina til å diskutere hva dette innebærer for norsk forsvarsvilje. Hvilke av erfaringene og lærdommene fra Ukraina er relevante for Norge? Hva er grunnlaget for norsk forsvarsvilje og hvilke utfordringer står Norge ovenfor når forsvarsviljen ikke bare må opprettholdes, men også styrkes?
Comrade, Customer, Client, or Critic? European States’ Engagements with China’s Belt and Road Initiative
Why do some European states embrace China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), while others keep it at arm’s length or actively oppose it? States like Greece and Hungary have welcomed BRI investments as a political counterweight to Brussels, while Germany and others have remained skeptical, despite their economic ties to China. To capture the variation in how states respond to the BRI, we draw on theories of incomplete contracts and relational contracting, which foreground recipient states’ agency in negotiating with a more powerful counterpart. Here, what shapes the engagement is the character of the relations between the parties rather than the content of the contracts. We propose four ideal-typical relations of Comrade, Client, Customer, and Critic, each associated with distinct policy behaviors and underlying drivers, to assess how the BRI interacts with domestic politics and historical and existing relations. We argue that the BRI does not necessarily change existing alignments, but rather that it may reinforce or be adapted to them—and that such changes are contingent on domestic and institutional recalibrations. The proposed ideal-typical patterns help us understand the different, specific trajectories that emerge in the four studied cases—Greece, Poland, Hungary, and Germany—and how they are mediated by domestic politics. Further, the ideal-typical relations proposed here can help us assess the political and economic significance of the BRI while also contributing to broader debates about possible changes in China’s global position and the building blocks of an emerging international order.