This is a study of a colonial economy from an agricultural perspective, focusing on the interaction and conflicts between rice and sugarcane production in Java during the late colonial period. Rice...Show moreThis is a study of a colonial economy from an agricultural perspective, focusing on the interaction and conflicts between rice and sugarcane production in Java during the late colonial period. Rice is the most important staple food, while sugarcane has been the principal cash crop between 1870s and 1920s. Since the natural habitats for two crops are similar in many respects but large-scale intercropping was precluded due to different irrigation practices, rice and sugarcane have been competing for the limited resource of land since the dawn of mass production at the end of the nineteenth century. This thesis attempts to answer whether the proliferation of sugar plantation contributed to the rice shortage in Java, and how the shortfall in rice might influence the distribution and expansion of sugar plantation in the tropical island. Besides the quantitative analysis with agricultural statistics, it also investigates the process of policy-making, in which the colonial government exerted regulatory influence over different interest groups as far as the production of rice and sugar were concerned in the 1910s and 1920s.Show less
Hoe religie en de natuur op bepaalde punten samen lijken te komen volgens Charles Dupuis en George Faber. Twee perspectieven uit dezelfde tijd. Een Franse en een Engelse gedachte zien verbanden...Show moreHoe religie en de natuur op bepaalde punten samen lijken te komen volgens Charles Dupuis en George Faber. Twee perspectieven uit dezelfde tijd. Een Franse en een Engelse gedachte zien verbanden maar ook verschillen, hoe is dit verklaarbaar?Show less
In one way or another, the civilizations who ruled over Egypt in antiquity could all boast a close connection to the concepts of 'law' and 'justice'. Balance, justice, and order - all personified...Show moreIn one way or another, the civilizations who ruled over Egypt in antiquity could all boast a close connection to the concepts of 'law' and 'justice'. Balance, justice, and order - all personified by the goddess Ma'at - were the cornerstones of Ancient Egyptian religion and society. The Greek Ptolemies, who ruled over Egypt between 323 and 30 BC, would become famous for their advanced and intricate bureacracy, which also featured a highly effective law enforcement system. The Romans, more than any, prided themselves on their laws, which remain influential in modern societies to this day. This thesis sets out to discover the manner in which criminal justice in Egypt developed from the times of the New Kingdom, through the Ptolemaic era, and under Roman rule. Not only for the abovementioned anecdotal reasons, but also because the capability to deal with crime and to maintain order can serve as an indicator for a successful administration in general. Because criminal law forms an integral part of a legal system as a whole, which, in turn, is inseparable from the general administrative system of a country, all of these will be taken into account. The following questions will be answered in this thesis: how were the various legal and administrative systems organized?; which actions were considered to be crimes by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans?; who possessed the legal authority to deal with these matters?; and in what manner were criminal transgressions dealt with in practice? In the end, the aim is to not only find out how criminal justice developed in the course of nearly two millennia, but also to offer an explanation as to why these developments took their specific course.Show less
Een verhandeling over de politieke stijl van Bolkesteins optreden tijdens het nationale minderhedendebat (gestart met een krantenartikel van F. Bolkestein in 1990)
This thesis investigates both political and military responsibilities of Maarten van Rossem (1498?-1555), stadholder of the province of Luxemburg between 1553 and his death in 1555. The research is...Show moreThis thesis investigates both political and military responsibilities of Maarten van Rossem (1498?-1555), stadholder of the province of Luxemburg between 1553 and his death in 1555. The research is based upon an extensive corpus of original correspondence.Show less
This thesis investigates the authorship of the Dutch Beke continuation (written ca. 1420-1432). The chronicle is studied within the historical culture of the Low Countries and specifically the...Show moreThis thesis investigates the authorship of the Dutch Beke continuation (written ca. 1420-1432). The chronicle is studied within the historical culture of the Low Countries and specifically the episcopacy of Utrecht during the first half of the fifteenth century. Through the discourse the author displays, it is argued that he was working for the city council of Utrecht.Show less
This research examines the migration history and social construction of ethnic identities of two generations of Surinamese-Javanese in the Netherlands from 1973 onwards. It incorporates the...Show moreThis research examines the migration history and social construction of ethnic identities of two generations of Surinamese-Javanese in the Netherlands from 1973 onwards. It incorporates the perspective that the creation of ethnic identities must be considered transformative processes of social boundaries. In this particular case, the social boundaries that are used to create a distinction between the Surinamese-Javanese community and the Dutch society as a whole, are mainly played out in the areas of citizenship, religion, and language. By having used oral history as methodology, two generations of Surinamese-Javanese, one generation born in Suriname, one in the Netherlands, have contributed to this research. Based on their accounts, ways are showed in which individuals partake in creating or challenging a collective identity. Furthermore, it reveals how the overall socio-political structures, and the colonial migration history, have been of continuous influence on the ways social boundaries are negotiated between and by both generations. In order to analyse these processes of continuous transformation and fragmentation, a historical point of view has been deemed necessary to uncover the long-term changes and continuities. In the end, this research aims to contribute to the theoretical discussion regarding ‘groupness’, the social construction of ethnicity, the power relations related to mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, and the agency of migrants. Also, by taking on a different approach, it strives to gain new insights into the migration history of the Surinamese-Javanese, and into Dutch colonial history.Show less
This thesis constitutes the first monograph on British propaganda for Spain during the Second World War, as part of the British war effort to diminish Nazi influence in Spain and to keep Franco out...Show moreThis thesis constitutes the first monograph on British propaganda for Spain during the Second World War, as part of the British war effort to diminish Nazi influence in Spain and to keep Franco out of the war or to defer his entry as long as possible. From his appointment as ‘special’ ambassador to Spain, Sir Samuel Hoare’s personal appeasing initiatives quickly escalated into a systematic and well-organised propaganda organisation with headquarters at the Madrid embassy. With the help of the embassy staff, Hoare managed to establish an important network of contacts that ensured that British propaganda material breached Franco’s restrictions and reached Spaniards from all classes and regions. As this study argues, the embassy’s propaganda successes were mainly due to the fact that the propagandists knew how to adjust British interests to Spanish customs and norms. For instance, this thesis will give detailed account on the functioning of some peculiar methods of propaganda such as the so-called Religious Propaganda and the Embassy Medical Service. Lastly, this study will also analyse the propagandists’ constant exposure to violent aggressions at hands of the police and the members of the Falange, as well as their struggle to keep British opinion as neutral as possible regarding Spain.Show less
Een analyse naar de berichtgeving over de zwarte Amerikaanse soldaat in de jaren zestig van de 20e eeuw. De analyse heeft betrekking op de New York Times, de (New) Pittsburgh Courier, Jet Magazine...Show moreEen analyse naar de berichtgeving over de zwarte Amerikaanse soldaat in de jaren zestig van de 20e eeuw. De analyse heeft betrekking op de New York Times, de (New) Pittsburgh Courier, Jet Magazine en Negro Digest.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
De film Schindler's List, geregisseerd door Steven Spielberg, vormde een hoogtepunt in het debat rondom Holocaustrepresentatie. Mocht de Holocaust op een dergelijke manier verbeeld worden en zo...Show moreDe film Schindler's List, geregisseerd door Steven Spielberg, vormde een hoogtepunt in het debat rondom Holocaustrepresentatie. Mocht de Holocaust op een dergelijke manier verbeeld worden en zo niet, hoe moest dat dan wel gebeuren? Deze scriptie heeft als doel te kijken hoe de film ontvangen werd door de Nederlandse geschreven pers, of en hoe men over de film discussieerde en welk standpunt de Nederlandse pers innam binnen het internationale debat.Show less
On March 24, 1999, NATO launched Operation Allied Force, a bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in response to ongoing hostilities in Kosovo. US President Bill Clinton...Show moreOn March 24, 1999, NATO launched Operation Allied Force, a bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in response to ongoing hostilities in Kosovo. US President Bill Clinton proudly called the intervention in Kosovo 'the first ever humanitarian war.'1 Others condemned the war, arguing that it was illegal and that NATO was acting on its own interests rather than on humanitarian motives. So why did NATO really intervene in Kosovo? This thesis draws on constructivist and Gramscian theory to explain why NATO intervened in Kosovo, and to shed light on the most salient issue: the relationship between and the relative importance of humanitarian values and strategic interests. Constructivists believe that state identities and interests are not given, instead, they are socially constructed. Interests are not only defined by material facts but also by social facts, like norms and ideas. Therefore, foreign policy decision making is more about defining national interests than about defending them. A constructivist analysis of the Clinton administration's decision to intervene in Kosovo reveals that this decision was shaped by social facts, like shared notions about the grounds on which it is legitimate to carry out a military intervention, and norms of behaviour, like human rights. These perceptions were shaped by social and cultural factors, like the memory of the two World Wars, the national trauma of the Vietnam war, previous wars in the Balkans and the Weinberger doctrine. An analysis of Clinton's rhetoric on Kosovo reveals that he was expanding previous understandings of what constitutes the national interest to include standing up to human rights abuses. In this sense, he was advancing humanitarian norms as a cause for action. These norms did not only influence the way in which the war was presented and defended, but also the way it was fought. The constructivist perspective therefore attaches great causal significance to norms and ideas. The neo-Gramscian school in international relations draws on the work of the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci, particularly the concept of hegemony. According to Gramsci, the hegemony of the bourgeoisie was not just based on coercive power, but also on their ability to construct a broad cultural and ideological consensus. A state can become hegemonic by constructing a world order which most other states accept or perceive to be in their interest. In the end, however, this order primarily exists to serve the interests of the elites. From this perspective, the notion of universal human rights is one element of a global civil society which is marked by a growing consensus on morals, values and rights. The end of the Cold War brought about an international order based on liberal values like democracy, free trade and human rights. Though not a complete hegemony, this world order certainly had hegemonic elements. Milosevic's actions in Kosovo were a transgression against these values. From this perspective, the war over Kosovo was essentially an international police mission, designed to punish Milosevic's deviation from international norms. The military component was supported by international institutions, like the UN Security Council, which, though it stopped short of endorsing the intervention, also failed to oppose it, and the IMF and the EU, which has already begun making plans for the reconstruction of Kosovo and the economic future of the region before the bombs had stopped falling. International civil society, represented by NGOs and the media, also played their part by promoting humanitarian values and calling attention to the humanitarian crisis in Kosovo. The extent of this hegemony is demonstrated by the failure of opposing states like Russia and China to mount an effective counter-hegemony. For constructivists, then, the decision to intervene in Kosovo reflected changing perceptions of the national interest and foreign policy priorities. Clinton claimed to act in the national interest, and undoubtedly believed this himself, but his perception of the national interest was not necessarily based on objective facts. It was shaped by historical experiences, considerations of legitimacy and shared understandings about human rights. Clinton acted as a norm entrepreneur by advancing the notion that it is legitimate to use armed force against a sovereign state to stand up to human rights abuses. Gramscians would agree with the constructivists that Kosovo represented a normative shift and that the war was fought to defend a set of values. However, the Gramscians do not take these norms and values at face value. Instead, they trace them back to the material interests of the elites. They draw attention to the striking coherence between Western military power, its ideology and international institutions. The constructivist and Gramscian perspectives have proven to be useful here because of their ability to go beyond a simple understanding of values and interests as binary opposites. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of depicting these two categories as mutually exclusive. The two theories disagree on the exact relationship between the two: constructivists believe that norms, values and ideas define interests, Gramscians believe that they ultimately serve interests. Another point of divergence is that constructivism emphasizes change while Gramscianism is more interested in continuity. From a constructivist perspective, state behavior is based on social facts which are, by nature, fluid and continually changing. For the Gramscians, the basic characteristics of the international order do not change, they continue to favour the strong over the weak. This brings out a weakness in Gramscian theory: it tends to place everything in a grand narrative about the dominance of the economic elites. When applying theory to a historical event, there is always the risk of adopting the facts to fit the preconceived notions that are present in the theoretical framework. Theory is valuable when applied critically, because it allows us to consider the facts from different viewpoints. If this analysis has succeeded in revealing different ways of looking at and thinking about the facts, then it has been a fruitful exercise.Show less