Jacob Kristian Worsøe

Short presentation

I hold a master’s degree in Geography from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Wisconsin-Madison with specialisation in Economic Geography and Development Studies. I joined the Centre of African Studies as a PhD fellow in December 2016.

Research Interest 

My research interest is within the political economy of rural development and natural resource management in Africa. In particular, I am interested in the connection between global economic integration, environmental change, nature conservation, and rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa. I draw on the interdisciplinary field of political ecology and its concern for the intimate connection between ecology and the broader political economy. I use this analytical framework to explore how nature is produced as a result of human interaction and how discourses are shaping African environments. Specifically I focus on the role of the market as both the cause of environmental degradation and a potential solution to environmental problems.

Current Research

My current research focus on the connection between ecotourism and rural development in relation to Uganda’s protected forest landscapes. Ecotourism has been hailed as a panacea of sustainable development for its potential of merging poverty alleviation and environmental conservation. Encouraging ecotourism development has therefore been a strategy to fight rural poverty and counteract rapid deforestation and forest depletion in Uganda. In my current research project I explore the potential and limitations of this strategy and seek to address how current ecotourism interact with struggle over livelihoods and historical relations of exclusion and control over access natural resources.

Teaching

I have been teaching following courses at the University of Copenhagen:

• Environment, Society and Development on MSc program in Geography & Geoinformatics

• Global Business and Economics on MSc program in Global Development

• Methodology Lab on MSc program in African Studies