Abstract. Since the signing of the Maastricht Treaty and the formation of the EMU, the Eurozone has progressively transformed into a political economic regime characterised by stringent fiscal...Show moreAbstract. Since the signing of the Maastricht Treaty and the formation of the EMU, the Eurozone has progressively transformed into a political economic regime characterised by stringent fiscal discipline and the legalised enforcement of austerity on its member states. Within the literature on the political economy of austerity various competing explanations have been given for this transformation. This thesis will explore the limits of these accounts through a case study of the political economy of the Netherlands over the past decade. Based on the findings of this case, it will argue that current accounts on the rise of austerity fail to properly account for its emergence because they do not properly account for the political elements of its implementation and execution. Consequently, this thesis will explain the rise of austerity by combining a critical political economy approach with a state-centric perspective. In order to so, it will demonstrate the historically politicised nature of austerity through a historiography of one of its most ardent supporters, the Netherlands. Finally, it will explain this Dutch position by arguing that the production of austerity has historically been a political strategy employed by certain state actors within the context of a Weberian market struggle over the structure of the European Monetary Union.Show less
The thesis aims to illustrate how Food Aid, Free Trade Agreements, and Agricultural Dumping are closely related. By drawing the relation between these three seemingly separate issues, a divergent...Show moreThe thesis aims to illustrate how Food Aid, Free Trade Agreements, and Agricultural Dumping are closely related. By drawing the relation between these three seemingly separate issues, a divergent perspective upon the global trading system is exposed. The thesis reaches its outcome by using both macro and micro analyses. Where macro analyses allows the debate to have a more theoretical nature, the micro analyses of the case study on Agricultural Dumping in Mozambique shows a more practical side of the debate. By the use of these two analytical tools, the thesis illustrates how Agricultural Dumping is a negative effect of Food Aid, enabled through Free Trade Agreements. As open market policies and low domestic protection are part of these agreements, local agricultural markets in sub- Saharan Africa become unable to compete with subsidised imported agricultural goods. Hence, the three issues all contribute to an unequal market system that, in certain situations, provides advantages for the donor country and leaves the receiving country at a disadvantage.Show less
This thesis adopts a critical political economy approach in order to give/provide explanations as per why the peace process (Economic Peace initiative and the Oslo Peace Process) between Israel and...Show moreThis thesis adopts a critical political economy approach in order to give/provide explanations as per why the peace process (Economic Peace initiative and the Oslo Peace Process) between Israel and Palestine failed to improve the situation of Palestinian workers in the Occupied Territories and Israel. By applying Sara Roy’s conceptualization of ‘de-development’ to the case in analysis, this thesis shows that the precariousness of Palestinian workers, and their dependence on the Israel labour market, is a direct result of the economic and political policies that Israel implemented in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 1967. By strengthening rather than loosening de-development in the Occupied Territories, the peace processes failed to ameliorate the political and economic status of Palestinian workers; thus, causing their precariousness and dependence on the Israeli labour market to persist.Show less
