During the Egyptian Revolution in 2011, protesters and dissident behaviour were severely condemned by agents of the state. Among the protesters were women who were subjugated to gender-specific...Show moreDuring the Egyptian Revolution in 2011, protesters and dissident behaviour were severely condemned by agents of the state. Among the protesters were women who were subjugated to gender-specific violence to the criticism of many Egyptians. As awareness of misconduct towards women grew during the Egyptian revolution, it can be argued that the revolution also instigated a shift in thinking about the role of women in Egyptian society, since it opened up a new space for women to express themselves in the process of self-definition. Therefore, I will argue that a gendered analysis of the revolution will help us understand resistance better while interrogating the gender-dynamics in revolutionary Egypt. Hence, I will investigate how the revolution contributed to a shift in the construction of gender roles for women in Egypt. The research problem is understanding how the previously assigned gender roles, framed by nationalist ideologies, played a role in the way women were treated during the public protests. In order to answer this question, I will focus on Egypt under Mubarak and under the SCAF who reigned until 2012. Secondly, I will investigate the role of the state, its patriarchal character and its adherence to a security regime. Thirdly, I will analyse how women protesters were changing the status quo by their acts of protest and how it provoked a different way of thinking about women. The latter, has been aided by female graffiti artists too who used their graffiti as a way of 'speaking back'. This will be contextualised by an analysis of a selection of graffiti made by women during the Egyptian Revolution.Show less
Over the years, China has engaged in a multiplicity of strategies to coerce Taiwan towards unification, and the Taiwanese towards assimilating under a singular Chinese identity. After the 2014...Show moreOver the years, China has engaged in a multiplicity of strategies to coerce Taiwan towards unification, and the Taiwanese towards assimilating under a singular Chinese identity. After the 2014 Sunflower Movement protests in Taiwan, China identified the Taiwanese youth as a target demographic for coercive measures. The state has rolled out a number of incentives to induce young, talented Taiwanese to migrate to China. Through a series of in-depth interviews with young Taiwanese migrants in China, this paper seeks to ascertain whether or not living in China for extended periods of time affects Taiwanese attitudes towards national identity and cross-strait unification. The paper finds that although Taiwanese are gratified with the personal development and career development time in China affords them, they do not change their attitudes towards national identity nor unification by virtue of living in China and interacting with Chinese people. They undertake several practices in order to negotiate their national identity that ultimately end up reinforcing it.Show less
National identity is the one of the basic elements of a modern state because the belonging of people to the nation is based on their belonging to their identity. For every Third World country, the...Show moreNational identity is the one of the basic elements of a modern state because the belonging of people to the nation is based on their belonging to their identity. For every Third World country, the defining of national identity and the construction of national belonging is especially crucial to the social stability and the social development. Egyptians identity issue merged in 19th century, when Egyptian intellectuals were influenced by Western “nation state” thought and tried to identify the national identity of Egyptians. From the 19th century to 1967, we can find that the development process of Egyptian nationalism has a clue --- from a vague distinction of “Egyptians” and “un-Egyptians” to an attempt of construction the national history; from “the lack of nationalism” to the struggle between different kinds of nationalism to the dominant of Arabism. However, the disastrous rout of Egypt in 1967 Arab-Israeli War cut down this process and a series of political events in Sadat era was finally resulted in a new identity crisis in Egypt society. In that case, Egyptian government had no option but to re-shape the Egyptian national identity for the sake of repairing the crack of society which made by the identity crisis and maintaining its legitimacy. In Sadat era, Egyptian government amended history textbooks, constructed some new national museums and introduced some new symbols. However, The measures undertaken by the Egyptian government under Sadat did not create a new consensus over what the ‘Egyptian nation’ is. Quite on the contrary, many national identities compete with each other but none of them can be a dominant ideology.Show less
This thesis examines what role the Arctic plays in contemporary Russian politics. For this purpose, a thorough analysis of the Russian domestic discourse on the Arctic region is conducted. The...Show moreThis thesis examines what role the Arctic plays in contemporary Russian politics. For this purpose, a thorough analysis of the Russian domestic discourse on the Arctic region is conducted. The discourse analysis covers the period 2007-2018 and focuses on a few key figures who have arguably a significant impact on the Arctic discourse due to their centrality in Russian politics. The analysis shows that the individual narratives on the Arctic strengthen Russian national identity by promoting notions of foreign encirclement and the country’s exceptionalism and great power identity. Moreover, the discourse on the Arctic is provided with a temporal and overall coherence by selectively manipulating historical memory and drawing on a wide range of symbolic actions. In the second part of the paper the findings from the analysis are placed within the wider Russian political context. Thereby, it is shown that the Arctic discourse is not an isolated phenomenon, but that it is representative of a general shift towards an increasingly nationalist and patriotic rhetoric during Putin’s third term in office. It is argued that by creating a coherent and compelling national identity, the Putin regime seeks to buttress its fragile legitimacy. These findings imply that foreign observers and representatives need to be aware of Russian domestic political developments in order to properly assess Russia’s actions and interests in the Arctic region.Show less
Using three different national representations from the 55th Venice Biennale as case studies, this thesis investigates the complexities of post Yugoslav national identities as articulated through...Show moreUsing three different national representations from the 55th Venice Biennale as case studies, this thesis investigates the complexities of post Yugoslav national identities as articulated through different positions and experiences of their makers. Through the examination of individual local and state narratives across selected post Yugoslav states (Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo), I ask whether we can begin to see a larger picture of the region in question, in the process that Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak refers to as “learning to speak to”.Show less
This thesis explores the role that museums in the provinces of North and South Holland play in the formation of Dutch national and local identity. The Dutch Revolt and Dutch Golden Age were crucial...Show moreThis thesis explores the role that museums in the provinces of North and South Holland play in the formation of Dutch national and local identity. The Dutch Revolt and Dutch Golden Age were crucial times for the formation of Dutch national identity. Museums play an important role in negotiating historical fact and myth. The first chapter of the thesis explores the themes of "Geography", or how museums define "The Netherlands", "Location and Experience", or how museums create a sense of place, "Chronology" or how museums present the passage of time and "Interactivity" or how museums involve visitor interaction with the exhibits. The second chapter explores the subject of William of Orange as a national hero in the Rijksmusem and compares this with how the Princenhof museum in Delft uses biographical information to humanize William. The third chapter compares how two museums, the Lakenhal in Leiden and Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar, present the subject of the Dutch Revolt. In Alkmaar the museum explores sites of cultural memory of the revolt in several places in the city. In the Lakenhal, memories of the revolt and local hero Pieter Adriansz. van der Werf are renegotiated in light of historical fact. In all these examples, the role that national and local myths play is explored.Show less
With the demise of communism as a unifying ideological force, the contemporary Chinese leadership is in a rather dire situation. As economic performance alone proves insufficiently capable of...Show moreWith the demise of communism as a unifying ideological force, the contemporary Chinese leadership is in a rather dire situation. As economic performance alone proves insufficiently capable of binding all citizens in the PRC territory to its political center, China's leaders have turned to nationalism for the solution. A major problem with promoting nationalism as a state-sponsored and state-guided ideology is that it too easily slides down to just being chauvinism for and by the majority Han ethnicity. The danger here is that this will alienate China's numerous so-called ethnic minorities. This thesis looks at one of the possible solutions to this existential problem to the Chinese nation state. The promotion of "zhonghua minzu" as a method of detaching ethnic connotations, and attaching more political connotations, to Chinese nationalism is the focus of the present work. It deals with efforts by the Chinese leadership since the rise of Xi Jinping to the position of Chairman to instill a sense of being Chinese in all China's citizens without depending on rhetorics of common blood, language, or religion. The author has tried to assess, and to an extent predict, the meassure of success these policies may have in keeping the PRC a unified nation and state.Show less
The thesis identifies a research question based on a solid review of primarily English-language literature on national identity formation and history education. As noted in the literature review,...Show moreThe thesis identifies a research question based on a solid review of primarily English-language literature on national identity formation and history education. As noted in the literature review, scholars have trained their attention on the ways in which schools shaped national identity but not as much on the students’ experiences or reception. An investigation into students’ experiences enriches our understanding about history education in national identity formation.Show less
Costa Rica and the national identity are the main themes of this master thesis and the major focus is to uncover what the signification and the importance of the national identity of the nation is....Show moreCosta Rica and the national identity are the main themes of this master thesis and the major focus is to uncover what the signification and the importance of the national identity of the nation is. Taking into consideration different perspectives of inhabitants or citizens and various sources or external others in addition to how the national identity is reflected regarding minorities who supposedly would be not be included in this national image or identity. When the decision was made of choosing Costa Rica and the national identity as object of study in order to execute the research that is part of the master, the matter of understanding the concept of national identity was the first major task; it is a rather comprehensive and difficult concept to clarify. The main ideas and theories discussed in this thesis concern the formation of the national identity of Costa Rica with regard to possible included white tendencies or whiteness. Elements such as these supposedly would have been incorporated in the identity of the nation; due to exclusion of minority groups within the country from the national image, such as the indigenous, Afro-Caribbean or Nicaraguan population. It is of importance to investigate if the presumed seclusion or segregation had already been integrated in the identity of Costa Rica or rather it emerged during its creation or modification.Show less
The post-punk period of 1979 to 1982 saw significant cultural transfer between elements of the Dutch, German and Anglo-American alternative music scenes. In the Netherlands, most of this cultural...Show moreThe post-punk period of 1979 to 1982 saw significant cultural transfer between elements of the Dutch, German and Anglo-American alternative music scenes. In the Netherlands, most of this cultural transfer revolved round the members of the ULTRA scene. ULTRA stood for “ultramodern” and promoted avant garde post-punk music that used new or unconventional instruments and performance modes. ULTRA was mainly based round weekly “ULTRA” nights at the Oktopus club in Amsterdam and the music released on the Amsterdam-based Plurex and Torso record labels; though similar scenes flourished in Den Bosch, Nijmegen and Eindhoven. ULTRA drew a great deal of its creative impulse from the art schools such as the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, and had close links to the both squatting and punk scenes then active in the Netherlands. However, ULTRA was transnational in outlook and often looked outside the Netherlands for inspiration and support. And a number of its most successful proponents, such as the Amsterdam band Minny Pops, garnered international critical acclaim. Using Simon Frith's principles for studying popular music (alongside content from the publication most associated with the ULTRA scene and its musicians, Vinyl magazine, as well as interviews with key actors in the ULTRA scene) the paper looks to evaluate ULTRA's cultural worth; and how its Dutch origins affected the scene in the wider rubric of international popular music.Show less
