This thesis examines the patient registers of the Stadsziekenhuis in Hoorn. A database was constructed to analyse the patterns in patient admission and patient mortality between 1867 and 1915....Show moreThis thesis examines the patient registers of the Stadsziekenhuis in Hoorn. A database was constructed to analyse the patterns in patient admission and patient mortality between 1867 and 1915. Firstly, the function of the hospital as an institution is investigated. Subsequently, this thesis explores the characteristics of the patients that were admitted. Finally, the mortality patterns are examined to provide an answer to the question of which patients were most likely to die during their hospitalisation.Show less
The past historiography on the Boxer Rebellion was often characterized by an Orientalist perspective. Contemporary literature strives to surpass this approach, however, treating Westerners and...Show moreThe past historiography on the Boxer Rebellion was often characterized by an Orientalist perspective. Contemporary literature strives to surpass this approach, however, treating Westerners and Orientals as two different “beings” and using two measures in the analysis, reiterates the same paradigm. Focusing on Jane Elliot’s revisionist approach, this work shows the post-Orientalism stemmed from the necessity of surpassing the classic Orientalism, more subtle and devious. By comparing the Chinese and the European vision of the other, Occidentalism and Orientalism in both writings and pictorial sources (such as Boxer postcards and nianhua), a more clear and more precise vision of the events is drawn. Thus, this thesis expands the current literature on the Boxer Rebellion and displays the necessity of considering both parts in order to have a complete picture.Show less
Stillbirth and the way that parents express their grief are still sensitive topics in the twenty-first century. This thesis ties in with the debate on whether or not parents grieved their stillborn...Show moreStillbirth and the way that parents express their grief are still sensitive topics in the twenty-first century. This thesis ties in with the debate on whether or not parents grieved their stillborn children, as it was long believed that parents were ‘indifferent’ to the deaths of infants and baby’s due to high mortality rates in the nineteenth century (and earlier centuries). By examining Dutch death notices and family announcements placed in newspapers between 1870 and 1990, this thesis expands the existing historiographic debate and shows that parents did in fact grieve their stillborn children in the late nineteenth century and twentieth century.Show less
The discourse surrounding sex work in Amsterdam has evolved, reflecting shifting approaches by municipal authorities and stakeholders. Currently, a proposal for an "erotic center" seeks to relocate...Show moreThe discourse surrounding sex work in Amsterdam has evolved, reflecting shifting approaches by municipal authorities and stakeholders. Currently, a proposal for an "erotic center" seeks to relocate sex work from the Wallen district to address issues of over-tourism and congestion. However, this proposition has ignited controversy, as sex workers voice concerns about safety, social networks, and potential workspace loss. Researchers and activists advocate for recognizing sex work as tangible heritage to preserve its history and narratives. Despite initiatives of activists and advocates to document and safeguard the sector's history through the website www.sekswerkerfgoed.nl and the Prostitution Information Center, academic exploration of sex workers' experiences and sex work heritage in the Netherlands remains limited. Narratives from sex workers of color, migrant sex workers, and marginalized voices are often overlooked. Media portrayals often perpetuate stigmatization and negative stereotypes about sex work. The life stories of Nicolina Sant and Aaïcha Bergamin, two sex workers from the 20th century, offer valuable insights into Dutch sex work. Their narratives encompass diverse perspectives, encompassing ethnic backgrounds, cultural nuances, gender, and sexuality. Incorporating these stories enriches historical research on sex work, fostering a deeper comprehension of the industry and its intersections with urban life. Using the concept of urban citizenship, which emphasizes self-identity and recognition, challenges conventional notions tied to nationhood. Sex workers' claims to citizenship impact urban planning and city politics, influencing the socio-spatial fabric of the city, and reorienting research on sex workers to focus on agency rather than victimhood. Analyzing the stories of Aaïcha and Nicolina through this lens reflects on the idea of sex work as heritage while supplying an intersectional perspective to sex work history in the Netherlands.Show less
This thesis centres on the Annotatiën op de Surinaamsche Beschrijvinge van Ao. 1718 (Annotations of the Description of Suriname Ao. 1718), a redrafted monograph written between 1765-1772 by Jan...Show moreThis thesis centres on the Annotatiën op de Surinaamsche Beschrijvinge van Ao. 1718 (Annotations of the Description of Suriname Ao. 1718), a redrafted monograph written between 1765-1772 by Jan Nepveu, governor-general of the Dutch slave colony of Suriname between (acting) 1756-57 and 1768-79. Interrogating the epistemic foundations of the Eurocentric colonial metaphysical categories of the human and animal, the study combines techniques from historical discourse analysis with theory from Zakiyyah Iman Jackson’s Becoming Human: Matter and Meaning in an Antiblack World, a work that challenges the human/animal binary by reframing the black(ened) human as an entangled and integral component of modern (human) being. As examples illustrative of Dutch racism past and present, Nepveu’s representations of whiteness, blackness and animality – types of being demonstrated to be constitutive of the Enlightenment liberal universal concept of humanity – are situated in the larger context of (European-led) transatlantic slavery, conquest and colonialism. Arguing against the dominant scholarly trend that frames antiblack ideology in terms of acceptance/exclusion from the category of the human and the legal, political and social rights it entails, the category of the universal liberal human itself and the historical context from which it emerged is shown to have established and sustained race and the intertwined abjectification of the non-human.Show less
In the former Dutch East Indies, a large group of mixed-race Indo-Dutch people resided through years of mixed-race relations between European men and Indonesian women. In the colony, they had a...Show moreIn the former Dutch East Indies, a large group of mixed-race Indo-Dutch people resided through years of mixed-race relations between European men and Indonesian women. In the colony, they had a distinct place in society, although the community was widely diverse in economic and social status as well as the way in which they ethnically defined themselves. After the Second World War and subsequent Indonesian independence, many Indo-Dutch people relocated to the Netherlands and, to a lesser extent, other countries. In this postcolonial society, Indo-Dutch people were forced to renegotiate their social identity. This happened not only in correspondence with their receiving societies but also within the context of the diaspora and Indo-Dutch community life. It is precisely the implications of the latter that this thesis aims to explore through an intersectional lens, focusing mainly on notions of gender, race, and class. It draws on interviews with eleven Indo-Dutch people, as well as newspaper articles from the magazine Tong Tong and other primary source materials. It was found that there is a wide array of self-identifications and perceived identities of Indo-Dutch people, further enhanced by the in-group power dynamics brought about by gender, class, and (perceived) racial differences. Because of this, certain individuals were not only forced to renegotiate their social identities in the context of the receiving societies but were further marginalized within the context of the diaspora. Further, it was found that it was this variety of identities as well as these (internal) power dynamics that made it difficult to create and cultivate a unified Indo-Dutch (diasporic) identity.Show less
This research aims to understand the process of belonging by analysing where and how Syrian refugees experience belonging in the Netherlands. Against the background of national integration debates...Show moreThis research aims to understand the process of belonging by analysing where and how Syrian refugees experience belonging in the Netherlands. Against the background of national integration debates that have defined belonging and integration in the Netherlands in synonymity with being able to culturally assimilate, it is argued that that seeing belonging in terms of cultural assimilation has led to heavy focus on integration criteria like language acquisition, labour market entry, and education as conditions for being able to feel “at home”. As the data collected from semi-structured interviews show and by using Antonsich’ conceptualisation of place-belongingness as a foundation from which the process of belonging is explored, it is emphasised that feeling “at home” is a multidimensional process that stretches between and beyond different locations, with refugees developing different methods to adapt to new environments, circumstances, and communities in order to be able to feel “at home”. Apart from the physical home functioning as a safe and private environment where one can be ‘at ease’ in, the data gathered from the interviews show that experiencing feeling “at home” within the physical home is under constant negotiating with the neighbourhood environment as social connections and encounters in the direct neighbourhood affect feeling “at home” in the physical home itself, showing that the physical home is not merely an impermeable private stronghold but rather a starting point from which other places in the wider neighbourhood environment are explored. In addition to the analysis of this feeling “at home” in the physical home, concrete public places are explored for their unique qualities and provide a person with possibilities to attach to new places when such qualities are recognised. Specifically, places of restoration and places of sociality are claimed to enable belonging by their capabilities to increase self-awareness through active participation. Exploring public spaces like buurthuizen and nursing homes enabled the respondents to be a caregiver instead of a care-receiver, adding an existential dimension to their perception on how belonging is experienced and meaningful place-attachment is effectuated on a local scale.Show less
Migration to Europe has largely increased over the last decades, but there has been limited research on the networks of refugees and migrants. This paper examines the networks of sub-Saharan...Show moreMigration to Europe has largely increased over the last decades, but there has been limited research on the networks of refugees and migrants. This paper examines the networks of sub-Saharan refugees and migrants that reside in Greece. The networks play an important role in every step of their journey; from their country of origin to their trip towards Europe and their daily life in Greece. This work aims to investigate the type of networks sub- Saharan refugees and migrants form and find their common patterns. The ultimate goal is to display the importance of networks and evaluate if the type of networks migrants and refugees develop in Greece matters. This thesis is based on ten original interviews with sub-Saharan refugees and migrants who have lived in Greece for at least four years. The analysis of the interviews provides evidence that migrant networks ease and help both the trip and the integration of migrants and refugees. It is argued that the theory of ‘strength of weak ties’ is partially proven as many weak ties tend to develop to strong ties.Show less
By focussing on the persona of Henk Molleman, this thesis is to breaks down the Dutch Minorities Policy and presents a new understanding of how and why it came about. The focus is on the ideology –...Show moreBy focussing on the persona of Henk Molleman, this thesis is to breaks down the Dutch Minorities Policy and presents a new understanding of how and why it came about. The focus is on the ideology – defined by the process in which relevant ideas and practices are inherited and modified – of one of the policy's main inventors. In the attempt to build and reflect on existing literature and typologies, the guiding research question is the following: why did the Minorities Policy contain both universalist and multiculturalist traits, and how, if at all, did it strike a balance between them?Show less