The aim of the research was to uncover the question: “how did colonialism impact cultural and legal views on homosexuality in Uganda?”. This question was answered through the employment of...Show moreThe aim of the research was to uncover the question: “how did colonialism impact cultural and legal views on homosexuality in Uganda?”. This question was answered through the employment of qualitative research and postcolonial historiography. This dissertation intended to underscore the West’s role in the increasing heterosexism in Uganda, as this is an aspect of the situation that is not addressed enough. The research suggested that the criminalisation of homosexuality in Uganda was directly linked to British colonial rule. Before the advent of British imperialism, there were no laws that prohibited same-sex relations in what is now known as Uganda. Moreover, the application of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill and the Sexual Offences Act was influenced by the American evangelist group The Family and Ugandan pentecostal pastors. Furthermore, the support of these two laws are plausibly also a strategic tool for politicians in order to gain religious legitimacy and so they can use queer people as scapegoats. Additionally, the laws justifies violence towards queers, are a violation to human rights, and poses risks to the public health.Show less
To answer the question posed by the title of this thesis, which is "In what ways is China's rising influence in the Lebanese economy and society altering the identity formation of the militant...Show moreTo answer the question posed by the title of this thesis, which is "In what ways is China's rising influence in the Lebanese economy and society altering the identity formation of the militant group Hezbollah?," this thesis employs a social-constructivist method. Accordingly, it concentrates on the overlap and interaction between domestic society and foreign policy, which is defined in the overall aims of this seminar. In recent years, China has established commercial links with a number of the nations in the region, and the One Belt, One Road program is intended to foster further collaboration in the future(Gresh, 2016). OBOR is focused on securing a stable energy supply for China's rapid economic development and comprises a wide range of investment projects that might be advantageous to the region (Horesh, 2016). China participates in the politics of neighboring countries on a very seldom basis and has no intention of unseating the United States. Despite the fact that the emergence of an increasing Chinese influence is easily recognised, the implications of this influence on identity and culture are rarely mentioned in constructivist literature on the Middle East and Lebanon. That is because the body of constructivist analytic literature is still relatively limited when compared to the neoliberal approach, which is the predominant school of thought in the field of international relations. It was discovered that this is the case in each and every one of the domains that were examined, including constructivism and IR theory, constructivism in the Middle East, and China and the Middle East. Constructivist research in the subject of International Relations theories has garnered the attention of an ever-expanding corpus of published work since the 1990s. This thesis will build on the work accomplished by Raymond Hinnebusch, David Campbell, and Alexander Wendt adopting constructivism as perspective, and therefore will primarily involve Joseph Alagha and Pol Bassedas in the research on the identity formation of Hezbollah. There is still a great deal of ambiguity regarding the connection between international politics and the role that the influence of China plays in the process of identity creation inside Hezbollah. With the use of Hezbollah as a case study, the purpose of this study will be to make a contribution to the existing body of knowledge in an effort to address a knowledge gap relating to expanding Chinese participation and identity creation in the Middle East.Show less
This thesis engages in the debate surrounding the EU's NextGenerationEU recovery fund: more than €800 billion to member states to help them through the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. These...Show moreThis thesis engages in the debate surrounding the EU's NextGenerationEU recovery fund: more than €800 billion to member states to help them through the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. These funds are raised through common EU debt and some of them are provided in the form of grants. This combination led to discussions about the significance of the programme for European integration and the EU's possible evolution from an international organisation towards a federal state, specifically whether it bears similarity to the 'Hamiltonian moment,' a set of 18th-century fiscal reforms in the United States. The thesis compares NGEU and the Hamiltonian moment in terms of their respective context, content and consequences. It finds that the NGEU programme did not constitute Europe's very own Hamiltonian moment due to its very different and much less significant impact on the functioning of fiscal policy in its polity.Show less
From the era of Daoud Khan to the rise of the Taliban, Pashtun-centric ideology has consistently influenced Afghan political discourse. This thesis investigates the impact of colonial legacies,...Show moreFrom the era of Daoud Khan to the rise of the Taliban, Pashtun-centric ideology has consistently influenced Afghan political discourse. This thesis investigates the impact of colonial legacies, Orientalist paradigms, and power dynamics on the shaping of Afghanistan's socio-political landscape. By analyzing the connections between national identity formation and ethnicization, the study aims to deepen the understanding of Afghanistan's complex political dynamics. Ultimately, it seeks to promote a more inclusive and diverse dialogue on Afghan politics and identity.Show less
There are currently 281 million international migrants in the world who experience dietary alterations as a result of being placed in a new environment, away from their home: some foodstuffs become...Show moreThere are currently 281 million international migrants in the world who experience dietary alterations as a result of being placed in a new environment, away from their home: some foodstuffs become unavailable, others are discovered and integrated into migrants’ culinary practices. Since food is culturally relevant, and culture is a component of one’s identity, altering culinary practices means altering identity. In Switzerland, this impacts 88.000 immigrants from the American continents. However, little research focuses on taste as a sensory experience connected to home and identity, and even less on Latin Americans in Europe or Switzerland. Therefore, this thesis observes how Latin American immigrants in Geneva, the second biggest Swiss city, use culinary practices to reproduce their regional/ethnic identity and build a new home. It argues that, despite some discontinuation and unavoidable adaptation, they maintain many pre-migration practices and create new ones through transnationalism and community-building. As such, Latin Americans in Geneva reproduce some aspects of their identity and produce others: they maintain a Latin American ethnic and familial identity, and create a Genevan and transnational one. Their sense of self becomes from here and from there and manifests itself through the upkeep and construction of various homes across borders, using cooking as a homing tool.Show less
Locked between Europe and Asia, the Republic of Kazakhstan is a country rich in resources, strategically located, and aiming to become a relevant power within the region of Central Asia. It is a...Show moreLocked between Europe and Asia, the Republic of Kazakhstan is a country rich in resources, strategically located, and aiming to become a relevant power within the region of Central Asia. It is a fascinating example of a post-Soviet country that has managed to remain friendly not only with Russia, but also with western countries, a foreign policy often coined ‘Multi-vector.’ However, ‘Multivectorism’ remains unclear on how Astana can continue to balance its relations in the coming years, in light of new geopolitical tensions between Kazakhstan’s partners. This thesis will address this problem by analysing Kazakhstan’s multi-vector foreign policy. It aims to answer the following question: To what degree can a partnership with the EU help sustain Kazakhstan’s multi-vector foreign policy in light of current geopolitical developments? The relevance of this question is two-fold. First, there seems to be relatively little research done on the exact nature of Kazakhstan’s multi-vector foreign policy, particularly in the ways it can be sustained. Although several models are proposed, there is little consensus on what multi-vector foreign policy exactly is, and how it works. Second, there is a political relevance to this research. Kazakhstan needs to balance at all costs in order to stay independent; aligning itself too much to the West or towards Moscow may endanger its sovereignty and security. Thus, how Astana conducts its foreign policy is vital to its survival as a sovereign state. For the EU, this research is relevant in showing how a partnership with this country could look like and what expectations it can have, as well as to highlight how Kazakhstan perceives a partnership with the EU. Using data, interviews, and by analysing a large body of literature, this thesis aims to provide a comprehensive answer to the research question. Showing how Kazakhstan has managed its relations with its partners, in particular with Russia, over the past few decades, the thesis will highlight the large role of the EU in Kazakhstan's efforts to sustain Multivectorism.Show less
This thesis aims to investigate how agency of Iranian women can be explained through the political landscape during both the Constitutional Revolution (1905-1911) and the Mahsa Amini protests (2022...Show moreThis thesis aims to investigate how agency of Iranian women can be explained through the political landscape during both the Constitutional Revolution (1905-1911) and the Mahsa Amini protests (2022). This study builds on the theoretical framework of agency, defining agency as the “communal capacity to act,” and identifying a gap within agency, situated between the capacity to act and the capacity to impact. This study poses that this gap can be explained through the political landscape and hypothesizes that the political landscape during both the Constitutional Revolution and the Mahsa Amini protests has functioned as a barrier to the agency of the Iranian women’s movement. Lastly, this thesis proposes that during the Constitutional Revolution, the Iranian women’s movement capacity to impact was primarily restricted; and that during the Mahsa Amini protests, the Iranian women’s movement’s capacity to act was primarily restricted.Show less
In recent years, countries all over the world have seen a great number of alleged cases of Chinese espionage and unwanted interference. The Netherlands is no exception. Instances of Chinese...Show moreIn recent years, countries all over the world have seen a great number of alleged cases of Chinese espionage and unwanted interference. The Netherlands is no exception. Instances of Chinese espionage and interference have become a ‘hot topic’ for Dutch media and politicians and seemingly caused much concern about national security, but to what extent did this reach the bilateral relations between the Netherlands and China? To provide more insight into this topic, this thesis aims to answer the question: how has Chinese espionage and unwanted interference impacted Sino-Dutch relations? It finds that while there have been increasing frictions between the Netherlands and China, also due to other issues, Sino-Dutch relations have not been significantly impacted by Chinese espionage and unwanted interference. This is due to several reasons, of which the most significant one is that the Netherlands has refrained from too much confrontation and for any actions that the Netherlands does take China blames the United States. Besides, other issues in the past, have also never had a significant impact on Sino-Dutch relations. However, while so far espionage and unwanted interference have not significantly impacted Sino-Dutch relations, it is uncertain whether the bilateral will remain as robust, especially because of geopolitical issues and a potentially more assertive Netherlands.Show less
Since 2020 Poland has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, with the Law and Justice (PiS) government continuously diminishing women’s rights during their 2015-2023 ruling period....Show moreSince 2020 Poland has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, with the Law and Justice (PiS) government continuously diminishing women’s rights during their 2015-2023 ruling period. Therefore, as the Civic Coalition (KO) along with their coalition partners won the 2023 parliamentary elections, the hopes for overturning the trend were very high, considering how vocal the party was about strengthening women’s rights. In this context, the paper examines the differences in the PiS and KO discourse about abortion rights between 2015 and 2023. It argues that both parties instrumentalize women’s rights, which is investigated by using the Critical Discourse Analysis method. The analysed statements of the party politicians are categorized by time periods, which allows to distinguish discursive shifts, as well as, changing types of language, targeted audience and strategies. The results show that even though PiS and KO use different types of discourse, both parties instrumentalized women’s rights between 2015 and 2023. This implies that the crucial voice of female voters is often overused for political purposes, having a detrimental effect on women's rights.Show less
