This study examines the solidarity alliances of the Armenian, Assyrian and Kurdish communities in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Additionally, it poses the question, whether these alliances challenge a more...Show moreThis study examines the solidarity alliances of the Armenian, Assyrian and Kurdish communities in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Additionally, it poses the question, whether these alliances challenge a more exclusive national identity that is established in the official Turkish discourse. The alliances that are touched upon are the political environment of Diyarbakir; the celebration of Newroz; the commemoration of murder of Hrant Dink; and Armenian and Assyrian Genocide commemorations. I argue that the main manifestation of most of these solidarities is creation of more openness about the Genocides, in especially Kurdish discourse. The alliances depicted in this paper are each different and each form a different degree of challenge to the Turkish national identity. I conclude that the political environment of Diyarbakir forms the greatest threat, which can be perceived in the state’s crackdown of its established institutions and initiatives of cultural practices, as it does not fit the homogenous identity that the Turkish State ascribes to itself.Show less
This study examines the solidarity alliances of the Armenian, Assyrian and Kurdish communities in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Additionally, it poses the question, whether these alliances challenge a more...Show moreThis study examines the solidarity alliances of the Armenian, Assyrian and Kurdish communities in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Additionally, it poses the question, whether these alliances challenge a more exclusive national identity that is established in the official Turkish discourse. The alliances that are touched upon are the political environment of Diyarbakir; the celebration of Newroz; the commemoration of murder of Hrant Dink; and Armenian and Assyrian Genocide commemorations. I argue that the main manifestation of most of these solidarities is creation of more openness about the Genocides, in especially Kurdish discourse. The alliances depicted in this paper are each different and each form a different degree of challenge to the Turkish national identity. I conclude that the political environment of Diyarbakir forms the greatest threat, which can be perceived in the state’s crackdown of its established institutions and initiatives of cultural practices, as it does not fit the homogenous identity that the Turkish State ascribes to itself.Show less
This thesis researched if there is a media bias present in English language media when reporting on Iran’s nuclear program in 2021. Ten articles from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal,...Show moreThis thesis researched if there is a media bias present in English language media when reporting on Iran’s nuclear program in 2021. Ten articles from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and The Times (UK) were carefully selected for this research. Resulting in forty articles in total (N=40) that were part of the content analysis. All four newspapers tended to have a negative bias toward Iran’s nuclear program in 2021, although to varying degrees. This thesis found that The Wall Street Journal had the most bias, followed by The New York Times and The Guardian, ending with The Times (UK) having the least amount of bias.Show less
This research demonstrates the influence of the social environment during the divorce process and the obstacles Muslim women have to overcome while obtaining it. There is no guideline for the women...Show moreThis research demonstrates the influence of the social environment during the divorce process and the obstacles Muslim women have to overcome while obtaining it. There is no guideline for the women to have a “correct” religious divorce which results in an unstable process with a lot of uncertainties.Show less
This thesis investigates the processes of repression and exclusion of the Palestinian refugee in the Arab host-state. A theoretical framework using theories from Michel Foucault, Hannah Arendt,...Show moreThis thesis investigates the processes of repression and exclusion of the Palestinian refugee in the Arab host-state. A theoretical framework using theories from Michel Foucault, Hannah Arendt, Giorgio Agamben, Michael Hardt, and Antonio Negri, is used to analyse the situation of the refugee in the three case studies of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. It is argued that biopolitics are employed to control and exclude the Palestinian refugee. The host-state excuses this exclusion through the retoric of the incommensurability of the right of return to Palestine with citizenship of the host-state. Gaining citizenship of the host-state supposedly cancels the right of return to Palestine. This discourse is a tool that is employed by the host-states when he refugee proses a threat to their status quo. This thesis disagrees with this supposed incommensurability argueing that the two can co-exist. Furthermore, an analysis of the situation of the Palestinian refugee in the case studies leads to the conclusion that Hannah Arendt and Giorgio Agamben were right when argueing that the nation-state is the only institution capable of upholding human rights and that without citizenship the refugee is vulnerable and without protection. Because of this, serious steps need to be taken towards citizenship for the Palestinian refugee.Show less
May 7, 2021 marks the starting point of escalating unrest in Palestine and increased Palestinian uprisings. These events are part of a larger history of similar incidents like these. Over the years...Show moreMay 7, 2021 marks the starting point of escalating unrest in Palestine and increased Palestinian uprisings. These events are part of a larger history of similar incidents like these. Over the years, social media has become more popular and with it the role it plays in social and political activism, which is what makes these recent events deviating from previous situations. Previous studies have used quantitative research methods to examine the role of social media during activism and mobilization. Alternatively, this research uses a qualitative discourse analysis to explore how social media shape spaces and opportunities for the Palestinian struggle. Based on the analysed data, retrieved from five Instagram accounts, four categories were created: information, the Palestinian identity, violence and mobilization. The content of the analysis was interpreted using knowledge gained on the history, as well as on the aftermath of social media and activism in Palestine. The categories show how social media shape spaces and opportunities for Palestinians to: share their own narrative and experiences, seek support and mobilize.Show less
This research attempts to shed light on the relationship between the Syrian government and the PLO during the period from 1967 until 1985. Key events between the war of 1967 and the Palestinian...Show moreThis research attempts to shed light on the relationship between the Syrian government and the PLO during the period from 1967 until 1985. Key events between the war of 1967 and the Palestinian refugee camp wars of 1985 in Lebanon are taken as focal points of analysis for this research. The hypothesis investigated in this research is the following: The soft power of the PLO contributed to the delegitimization of the power of the Syrian government under Hafez al-Assad. To test the hypothesis a collection of primary and secondary sources is used. The primary sources include archives from the Lebanese newspaper al-Nahar and the Foreign Broadcast Information Service. For secondary sources, the research relies on authoritative literature to understand the interaction between the PLO and the Syrian government under Hafez al-Assad. The significance of this research derives partially from moving away from the dominant realist and rationalist models to explain the politics of the Arab world. Taking Joseph Nye’s notion of soft power, alternatively, enables this research to look into how other forms of power influence the behavior of these actors, and vice-versa. This research concludes that the PLO’s soft power did have a significant effect on the Syrian government’s legitimacy under Hafez al-Assad. However, this soft power has been only one factor among other factors that can be used to account for the legitimacy deficit suffered by the Syrian government. These other factors, as well as limitations of this research, are discussed towards the end of the paper.Show less
The word innovation has existed ever since humanity started, and that word has had different meanings throughout history. It has gone through many changes when at times it was considered a sin or...Show moreThe word innovation has existed ever since humanity started, and that word has had different meanings throughout history. It has gone through many changes when at times it was considered a sin or heresy to a definition that embodies prosperity and growth, it rather continuously shifts from having a negative connotation to a positive meaning. The aim of this research is to discover what innovation means to Egyptian workers in the technology industry through qualitative discourse analysis, trying to tap into their concept of innovation by conducting in-depth interviews using both inductive and deductive approaches.Show less
After the Paris Climate Agreement, oil-rich countries must also commit to making their energy mix more sustainable. The question is to what extent they are making progress here and what obstacles...Show moreAfter the Paris Climate Agreement, oil-rich countries must also commit to making their energy mix more sustainable. The question is to what extent they are making progress here and what obstacles they will encounter. In my thesis, I look at the cases of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from a political economy lens on how they deal with the energy transition in their country. The research question I formulated: Why are Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates failing to meet the renewable energy expectations created after the Paris Climate Agreement in the period 2015-2019? In my thesis, I first describe the current state of the literature on the energy transition in these countries. I predict the bureaucracy, the undesirability for the political elite of these countries and the energy subsidies for fossil fuels that are pushing renewable sources away from the energy market. Then, based on the available data and literature, I will actually look at the goals set and the results achieved in the field of renewable energy. Then I will discuss the concrete political and economic obstacles that have been created for the aforementioned countries to shape the energy transition. Ultimately, I conclude that the targets set are unclear from mainly Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but that the United Arab Emirates has set a clear target and can perceive that they are also the only country that has set significant targets in the period 2015 – 2019 . There are also clear political and economic obstacles shaping the energy transition in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. My hypothesis that there are mainly political and economic obstacles is therefore confirmed in my conclusion. At the end I recommended further research about the development in these countries the coming period.Show less
This study analyses the portrayal of women in Turkish films on the Dutch Netflix. With the help of three concepts from feminist film theory, namely male gaze, male voice and female subjectivity,...Show moreThis study analyses the portrayal of women in Turkish films on the Dutch Netflix. With the help of three concepts from feminist film theory, namely male gaze, male voice and female subjectivity, and with the help from earlier studies on the portrayal of women in Turkish films, it finds that women in the Turkish films on the Dutch Netflix are overall portrayed in more passive ways than men, that the female characters often play a supporting role as compared to the male characters and that the concepts from feminist film theorists can still be applied to recently released films. Some films in the corpus however also contain feminist themes and elements, such as female protagonists and female characters that are not occupied with a search for love, but focus on their own personal development. This study concludes that while women are overall not portrayed in a positive way in the corpus, these feminist themes show a promising development that will hopefully continue in the future.Show less
This research explores the relationship between the female gaze and feminist documentaries in the case of Palestine through three feature-length documentaries: The Judge by Erika Cohn, What Walaa...Show moreThis research explores the relationship between the female gaze and feminist documentaries in the case of Palestine through three feature-length documentaries: The Judge by Erika Cohn, What Walaa Wants by Christy Garland, and Naila and the Uprising by Julia Bacha. This thesis argues that the films demonstrate a few common features of the agency of Palestinian women and emphasize the importance of various issues related to their lives under patriarchy. This thesis argues that through their female subjectivity, experiences, and use of feminist aesthetics, this thesis argues that the female filmmakers innovatively and creatively expose these issues and put their subjects’ struggles at the forefront, as feminist documentary practices are set to do. As such, through their female gaze, the findings demonstrate that the sample of female filmmakers’ works leads to the critical re-thinking of the representation of Palestinian women and the questioning of patriarchy in Palestine.Show less
