Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
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Over the last decade, the usage of self-tracking wearables – that can help with everything including but not limited to sporting, sleeping, or building habits – have seen a massive rise in...Show moreOver the last decade, the usage of self-tracking wearables – that can help with everything including but not limited to sporting, sleeping, or building habits – have seen a massive rise in popularity. Consequently, a lot of research has been conducted to study how these technologies influence our autonomy. However, most of these studies focus on autonomy from the consumer’s perspective – to better understand their opinions and experiences - which does not explain with what intentions – and with what perspectives on autonomy – these technologies are created. Thus, if we want to understand why these technologies are created the way they are, it is important to understand the way designers of self-tracking technologies envision the influence of these technologies on autonomy. Therefore, this thesis will explore how the designers who produce these self-tracking technologies perceive their technology's influence on autonomy.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
closed access
This thesis aims to dissect why the cannibalistic figure is rising in pop culture, yet remains abject. It does this through the lens that colonial understandings of sexuality have become integral...Show moreThis thesis aims to dissect why the cannibalistic figure is rising in pop culture, yet remains abject. It does this through the lens that colonial understandings of sexuality have become integral part of the depiction of cannibals.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
closed access
Unconditional love is theorized across different fields to be key for making our politics more forgiving and our social justice more effective. This is because of love’s 1) willed character in...Show moreUnconditional love is theorized across different fields to be key for making our politics more forgiving and our social justice more effective. This is because of love’s 1) willed character in contrast to mere sentimentalism, 2) its dynamic tendency towards turning love into action and help, 3) the forgiveness it brings that is necessary for embracing the heterogeneity of politics, 4) the purpose and embrace it can give to the anger that sprouts out of societal injustice, 5) the embodiedness and personal touch that they give to policies of care, and 6) a common interest with justice towards giving loveable people what they deserve. However, this is not just theory, and as a proper anthropologist I have shown how different actors longing for social justice put this love-justice relation into practice. Ranging from meditating to embody love and turn political and societal ideals of embrace into a reality, to seeing love as entailing and impulsing a drive towards LGBT+ inclusion campaigns and justice, all across the world love is employed as a vital component for making a better world. I have argued that unconditional love has a wide variety of benefits it can bring to social justice, both seen by academics and by actors that put this into practice. Because in the end, love’s dynamic character cannot let us sit still when we see that those we love deserve better.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
closed access
This paper critically examines European biometric border infrastructures, by shining light on the agency of illegalized migrants. Specifically, 'how do illegalized migrants exercise agency in...Show moreThis paper critically examines European biometric border infrastructures, by shining light on the agency of illegalized migrants. Specifically, 'how do illegalized migrants exercise agency in encounters with the biometric border control in Europe?'. In doing so, this study relies predominantly on secondary sources from migration-, security- and border studies. This paper shows that the biometric infrastructure implemented at European borders is no watertight control apparatus, as illegalized migrants appropriate the border through their performances at border crossings (e.g. appearance, dress, language) and subversion of the biometric technology (e.g. documentation fraud and spoofing). These findings humble the digital turn as they illuminate human ability to negotiate a digital interface built to instrumentalize the human body.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
closed access
In today's world, the approximate screen time on digital devices is around 7 hours a day. One hundred years ago, this was zero. This thesis questions this behavioral change, embracing the progress...Show moreIn today's world, the approximate screen time on digital devices is around 7 hours a day. One hundred years ago, this was zero. This thesis questions this behavioral change, embracing the progress of digitalization and questioning people's relationship with digital technology. Besides analyzing the 'attention economy', the profit-based digital market, and infrastructures behind 'the digital', it finally focuses on the supposed benefits of 'Digital Minimalism'. The latter encompasses choosing more intentionality in how individuals use digital technology as a means to an end as opposed to using it distractingly.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
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This thesis explores the presentation of digital identity within a digital social space through a two-month case study of practices on a platform that has not yet been extensively researched, and...Show moreThis thesis explores the presentation of digital identity within a digital social space through a two-month case study of practices on a platform that has not yet been extensively researched, and furthermore, that has been subject to incredible growth in the past few years, Twitch. By analyzing the way the audience presents itself within the chat, and furthermore, by asking viewers directly about their experience and practices within the chat of several different live streaming channels, this thesis looks at how we can understand the phenomenon of how people present themselves and experience their identity within this setting, by showing how perceptions, strategies, and challenges of viewers influence this process.Show less
