Right-wing populist parties have been known for their illiberal positions on gender issues, and their recent critique of the rising “gender ideology”. What is puzzling, however, is an unexpected...Show moreRight-wing populist parties have been known for their illiberal positions on gender issues, and their recent critique of the rising “gender ideology”. What is puzzling, however, is an unexpected emphasis on issues related to gender typically ignored by these right-wing populist parties in their discourses and agendas. To explore the reasons behind these contradicting trends, this thesis aims to examine how right-wing populist parties are integrating gender into their discourse. The typical right-wing populist Dutch Freedom Party (PVV) will be the main research objective and a content analysis has been used to analyse their Tweets. The main finding in this thesis is that the adoption of liberal stances by the PVV demonstrated through a positive commitment to gender equality, looks like a strategic tool for promoting an anti-Islam and anti-migration agenda. Moreover, the conservative stances of the PVV towards the broader concept of gender, including diverse gender identities, the integration of gender in institutions and gender studies, can be explained by the “gender ideology”. The anti-elite element of the right-wing populist ideology is evident in the data, as the PVV consistently attributes the perceived problems with diversity and multicultural policies to elitist actors.Show less
The increasing impacts of climate change particularly affect vulnerable countries, such as many conflict-affected states. This is visible in the increase of conflict-outbreak over natural resources...Show moreThe increasing impacts of climate change particularly affect vulnerable countries, such as many conflict-affected states. This is visible in the increase of conflict-outbreak over natural resources. Environmental peacebuilding approaches, which aim to integrate natural resource management as a peacebuilding strategy, are increasingly used to tackle these new dynamics. However, the effects of environmental peacebuilding approaches, such as on social cohesion, are generally unknown. This is a critical limitation, considering frequent conflict escalation over ethnic identities. Through a mixed methods approach, analyzing an environmental peacebuilding project in the Nigerian states of Nasarawa, Taraba, and Benue, and conducting expert interviews with practitioners, this research explores the effect of environmental peacebuilding on social cohesion. It looks specifically at social cohesion as trust, shared identity, and equality, as these align with the main dimensions environmental peacebuilding approaches aim to address. This research found a significant effect of environmental peacebuilding on inter-group trust and equality, highlighting the necessity for an integrated approachShow less
Right-wing extremism in much of the Western world looks far different than it did even a decade ago. Extremists are getting younger, and radicalization is an increasingly online process. According...Show moreRight-wing extremism in much of the Western world looks far different than it did even a decade ago. Extremists are getting younger, and radicalization is an increasingly online process. According to most contemporary theories of radicalization, personal and political grievances are critical foundations for this process. Despite this, research into the forms these grievances take, especially in this new cohort of younger, more online extremists is rare. This study seeks to address this research gap by asking the question: What kinds of personal and political grievances are most likely to push young people to get involved with right-wing extremist groups online? It answers by performing a process of content analysis on messages sent between users of six large right-wing extremist group chats on the popular instant messaging platform Discord between early 2017 and early 2020 with the goal of identifying individual grievances and larger common themes in this cohort of extremists. Out of an initial dataset of 308,207 messages, over three hundred discrete examples were identified and further classified into 35 different thematic subcategories. Two clusters of especially prevalent interrelated grievances were also identified which tended to appear together, signaling the possibility that more similar clusters exist and reaffirming existing theories about the role of grievances in right-wing extremist radicalization pathways.Show less
Establishing power over life is a biopower conduct by the state. In the case of Palestine, where children have been borne, this power has extended as far as to implicitly deny Palestinian prisoners...Show moreEstablishing power over life is a biopower conduct by the state. In the case of Palestine, where children have been borne, this power has extended as far as to implicitly deny Palestinian prisoners in Israel of the possibility to procreate. This research aims uncovers the underlying meaning in the bearing of children that is often framed with language of freedom and victory over the occupier. News articles from prominent Palestinian news outlets have shown how the bearing of children is mainly contributed to the Palestinian prisoner who mostly is male, and thus denies the Palestinian woman of agency in this part of the national struggle. The case study of this research is exemplary to show how politicized Palestinian life has become: mundane parts of life, here childbearing, are hindered. The resistance provided by Palestinian couples in childbearing lays in the framing of the bearing of children as a victory over the power over life that is attempted to be established over Palestinians.Show less
Attempts to identify the causes of democratic transitions have been made by studying electoral procedures, electoral outcomes, political rights, and rule of law. Despite the variety of approaches...Show moreAttempts to identify the causes of democratic transitions have been made by studying electoral procedures, electoral outcomes, political rights, and rule of law. Despite the variety of approaches used, no clear mechanism has emerged. Agreement is additionally impeded by incomplete understanding of hybrid regimes, which are preponderant in the Global South. This article argues that contextualised, historicised approaches may be better placed to capture democratic transitions in sub- Saharan Africa. We employ a logistic regression analysis of four rounds of cross-national Afrobarometer survey data within a single-case study of Zanzibar. By juxtaposing assessments of Zanzibar’s status as a democracy onto a critical analysis of its experience with electoral democracy, we attempt to glean associations between democracy and power-sharing. In light of observed regional divergences in assessments of democratic quality, we argue that the question of political inclusion is central to conceptions of democracy in Zanzibar. Furthermore, we urge subsequent scholarship to articulate conceptions of democracy which align with local experiences.Show less
There are 88.313 people in the Netherlands that are categorised as nationality unknown in the Dutch Personal Record Database. This categorisation is not the same as being stateless in the...Show moreThere are 88.313 people in the Netherlands that are categorised as nationality unknown in the Dutch Personal Record Database. This categorisation is not the same as being stateless in the Netherlands, since people with an unknown nationality are expected provide the necessary national documents to obtain the Dutch nationality. This often leaves them in a de facto stateless position, without the mechanisms in the Netherlands to determine statelessness. With this paper, the aim will be to gain insights into the lived experiences of people with a Dutch residence permit with an unknown nationality and to examine the position of being in between statuses of a residence permit and citizenship, since most of the people in this group can to a great extent (with certain limitations) participate in the Dutch society. Through semi-structured interviews, this paper concluded the pivotal role of AZCs, building a life in the Netherlands and the mechanisms of politics of belonging.Show less
National identity is underlined in the Dutch integration policy but within society, it is a controversial term up for debate. This study aims to reveal how national identity is understood (in the...Show moreNational identity is underlined in the Dutch integration policy but within society, it is a controversial term up for debate. This study aims to reveal how national identity is understood (in the light of this controversy) by studying the integration exam. The research has analyzed practice books and exams through discourse analysis by focusing on markers of national identity found in the literature. The analysis presents two themes: historical events and equality of men and women qualified for further discussion. These themes revealed a discrepancy between the understanding of national identity in the exam, in comparison to broader society and academia. Furthermore, the understanding was not a collective understanding, but created top-down, even though the literature stresses the importance of group feelings. The results indicate that the integration exam’s use of national identity is not in line with society's views. Therefore, it does not represent the collective views on national identity present in society and discussed in academia.Show less
Despite the theoretical aversion of good governing practices and democracy to corruption, empirical findings to this point have yielded oft-conflicting results, suggesting the need for a more...Show moreDespite the theoretical aversion of good governing practices and democracy to corruption, empirical findings to this point have yielded oft-conflicting results, suggesting the need for a more nuanced understanding between the relationship of democracy and corruption outcomes. Moving beyond general indices of liberal democracy, some scholars have examined the role of elections in curtailing corruption. In particular, their explorations into this relationship have focused on the ways in which elections vary across countries. From this literature, three electoral qualities have been identified as the most significant in their association with corruption: political competition, political polarization, and campaign finance regulations. Though, these qualities have yet to be explored comparatively. This study addresses that gap by employing multiple regression models in a cross-country analysis to further assess the relationships between each of these electoral qualities and corruption outcomes. In sum, political competition, both de facto and de jure, shows positive correlations with clean governance. Political polarization shows inverse relationships to corruption outcomes, with polarization amongst elites positively correlated with clean governance and societal polarization negatively associated with clean governance. Lastly, transparency of campaign donations shows a positive, albeit minimal, correlation with clean governance, while publicly funded campaign finance programs are negatively associated with clean governance.Show less
In this paper, I aimed to analyze how alt-right rhetoric influenced the way race is framed within incel ideologies. This research is beneficial to actors interested in understanding the influence...Show moreIn this paper, I aimed to analyze how alt-right rhetoric influenced the way race is framed within incel ideologies. This research is beneficial to actors interested in understanding the influence extremist ideologies have over the development of other extremist ideologies. This study builds on theories from incel literature, alt-right ideology, norm diffusion, online extremism, and critical race theory to gain a deeper understanding of the intricacies of the incel philosophy. Using various tools of discourse analysis, this research discovered the internalization of several alt-right racialized tropes, along with the emulation of language popularized by critical race scholars. This emulation is used by incels as a targeted campaign to introduce their ideology to mainstream audiences.Show less
This study examines immigrant experiences of contact and conflict with the Dutch to understand the impact of social integration on reinforcing or preventing formation of modern gender-attitudes....Show moreThis study examines immigrant experiences of contact and conflict with the Dutch to understand the impact of social integration on reinforcing or preventing formation of modern gender-attitudes. For that purpose, in-depth conversational interviews were conducted with 22 first- and second-generation Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands. It contributes to the literature by revealing the process of formation through individual experiences of immigrants narrated by them. Thereby, rather than correlating their behaviours with assigned categories that often fall short of explaining the variation, we have access to the process first-hand. Since gender-attitudes are central to explain immigrant behaviour, understanding the formation is essential for both literature, and policymakers. The study demonstrates that traditional attitudes can be reformed through close contact with the Dutch whilst intergroup conflict hinders the formation. The recurred themes among the sample have been: i) Rapprochement with the Dutch, and ii) Divergence from Turkish community, as reinforcing egalitarianattitudes; i) Resentment and Segregation, and ii) Peer Pressure and Channeling, as causing maintenance of traditional-attitudes.Show less
In the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Europe, political elite articulations often link terrorist attacks to an increase in migration. The chief focus of this study is to explain how migrants...Show moreIn the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Europe, political elite articulations often link terrorist attacks to an increase in migration. The chief focus of this study is to explain how migrants were perceived in France by political elites and the media in the context of the November 2015 attacks in Paris. Manifestos of the leading candidate parties published prior to the 2017 elections and media articles published in the aftermath of the attacks have been analyzed through the discourse analysis method. This study finds that the migration-terrorism nexus was accorded increased saliency by the far-right party. However, both leading candidates attempted to securitize the issues surrounding migration and presented the migration-terrorism nexus as a threat that merits urgent action. Finally, this study explains how the media conveyed the frames surrounding the migration-terrorism nexus to the public against the background of the existing security discourse. A study of this design has contributed towards a better understanding of the portrayal that informs France’s stance on issues such as terrorism and migration.Show less
The effects of global climate change are causing new patterns of human migration, which arises questions about decision-making in climate migration. This thesis analyses the influence of distance...Show moreThe effects of global climate change are causing new patterns of human migration, which arises questions about decision-making in climate migration. This thesis analyses the influence of distance to the host country in migration decision-making through the perceptions of Marshallese and I-Kiribati. In 32 surveys and 12 in-depth interviews among these Pacific islanders, this study finds that the reason for migration – more climate security – shapes migration motivations significantly. It therefore argues that climate change should be included as a factor in research on migration distances. In addition, it uncovers that that distance is not perceived solely geographical, but that the islanders also discern sociocultural, economic, climatic and political distance. This research therefore suggests that the definition of distance will be expanded to fit it into this multi-dimensional character.Show less
The possibility of the emergence of a European demos sharing a ‘European identity’ is long debated in the social sciences. Now national identities have played a dominant role during recent European...Show moreThe possibility of the emergence of a European demos sharing a ‘European identity’ is long debated in the social sciences. Now national identities have played a dominant role during recent European crises, the emergence of and the entrance of the pan-European political movement Volt Europa into the European Parliament seemed unexpected. This study aims to answer the question of what makes a European identity, as expressed by the pan-European movement Volt, salient today in a way that it was not before, through the lens of a case study of Volt Nederland. Based on 17 semi-structured in depth interviews and attending online Volt events, I argue that this European identity has become salient through ‘facilitative’ and ‘triggering’ factors. The two facilitative factors ‘increasing cross-border interactions’ and the ‘institutionalization of universal norms and values’ having set the conditions for the triggering factors ‘increasing salience of transnational challenges’; ‘shifting geopolitical dynamics’; and ‘increasing visibility of exclusive European and national identities through the migration crisis and Brexit’ to activate Volters to give shape to their strategically and unconsciously developed European identities. My findings add to political science literature exposing reasons for European identity salience, a topic that remains underexplored and continuously developing.Show less
The research focuses on the phenomenon of organized football fandom in Bulgaria. The main goal is to apply the theory of collective action to the case of fan groups in order to assess whether this...Show moreThe research focuses on the phenomenon of organized football fandom in Bulgaria. The main goal is to apply the theory of collective action to the case of fan groups in order to assess whether this can be a new solution to the collective action dilemma. For this purpose, 18 in-depth interviews were conducted in an effort to analyze five elements which are sought to be met in order to claim that the problem can be solved – common identity, contribution, solidarity, exclusive benefits, and restricted free-riding. It is found that the free-rider issue is not overcome by the members of the group. Nonetheless, this paper contributes to the existing literature on football fandom by claiming that it is possible for organized fans to solve the collective action problem due to the special latent functions of their free-riders who ensure the group’s adaptability and cohesion that enhance the solidarity in the long run.Show less
