This research investigates the increasing importance of the Kazakh language in Kazakhstan, a process referred to as Kazakhization, and its implications for employment opportunities and economic...Show moreThis research investigates the increasing importance of the Kazakh language in Kazakhstan, a process referred to as Kazakhization, and its implications for employment opportunities and economic outcomes. The study highlights several key factors contributing to this linguistic shift, including governmental language policies, educational reforms, and the rising bilingual requirements in the job market. Concurrently, the study highlights that demographic shifts, particularly the decreasing proportion of ethnic Russians and the increasing share of ethnic Kazakhs, further bolster the use of Kazakh. Contrary to earlier findings that suggested a significant income gap between Russian and Kazakh speakers caused by language proficiency in Russian, this research demonstrates that income disparities are more influenced by demographic and socio-economic factors such as age and regional economic conditions rather than linguistic factors.Show less
The thesis explores how the abject reproductive system in Ulysses conveys a sense of a lost future and how it reveals the discourse of reproductive futurism in Irish Roman Catholicism in early...Show moreThe thesis explores how the abject reproductive system in Ulysses conveys a sense of a lost future and how it reveals the discourse of reproductive futurism in Irish Roman Catholicism in early twentieth century.Show less
This thesis analyzes what academic literature describes as a so-called "GID discourse", which arose in Japan in the late 1990s and strongly changed how transgender people came to be seen and...Show moreThis thesis analyzes what academic literature describes as a so-called "GID discourse", which arose in Japan in the late 1990s and strongly changed how transgender people came to be seen and treated. This discourse, related to the medical term Gender Identity Disorder (性同一性障害, seidōitsuseishōgai), is generally problematized for pathologizing transness, reinforcing binary gender norms, and privileging some trans people over others. Academic texts on the topic tend to treat the emergence of this discourse as something that happened to Japan's trans population, without exploring the role played by trans people themselves. Using Critical Discourse Analysis as its primary methodology and dealing primarily with texts produced by trans people, this thesis demonstrates how trans people helped spread and institutionalize the "GID discourse", but also how it has been, and increasingly is, opposed by trans people. The thesis argues that the pathologizing discourse acted as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it made big socio-political changes possible that positively affected many trans people in Japan. Key examples are the legalization of sex reassignment surgery and the ability to change one's legal gender. On the other hand, the discourse serves as a conduit for social structures such as trans-, hetero- and cisnormativity, that negatively affect trans people.Show less
An analysis of the emergence of the farmal in the Netherlands between the period of 1850 and 1950. The work details the emergence of industrialised, banked and householder farms in the Netherlands...Show moreAn analysis of the emergence of the farmal in the Netherlands between the period of 1850 and 1950. The work details the emergence of industrialised, banked and householder farms in the Netherlands and shows how there is no correspondence between the farmal farm and the communal farm.Show less
Integrating into the host society is an important aspect of migration. Yet this does not always go smoothly and there are several bumps to overcome. For instance, there may be cultural differences...Show moreIntegrating into the host society is an important aspect of migration. Yet this does not always go smoothly and there are several bumps to overcome. For instance, there may be cultural differences between the newcomer and the native society, which can lead to mutual misunderstanding. In addition, municipalities have an important and decisive role in the integration of a newcomer. They make and implement local or national integration policies and thus determine which requirements a newcomer has to meet. Based on the cases of the municipalities of Rotterdam and Vleuten-De Meern, this thesis examines to what extent local integration policies differ from each other and how this difference affects the integration process of newcomers. In other words, does it matter where in the Netherlands a newcomer integrates? The term local turn is important here: how does a local government implement national policy? This study on the integration policies of Rotterdam and Vleuten-De Meern found, based on policy documents, that differences are indeed visible between local policies. Rotterdam has developed its own integration policy due to the size of the municipality and their focus on discrimination and crime. In addition, the tone of their integration policy can be described as negative, mainly caused by the interference of the right-wing party Leefbaar Rotterdam. Vleuten-De Meern, on the other hand, was less susceptible to political discussions, as it was - first unofficially and from 2001 officially - attached to the municipality of Utrecht and followed national integration policy. In addition, the municipality of Vleuten-De Meern was small compared to Rotterdam, making it easier to resolve conflicts internally. It can therefore be argued that integrating in a large, multicultural municipality poses different challenges than integrating in a small municipality.Show less
With the awareness of climate change our experience of literature has fundamentally changed. Using the heideggarian notions of world and earth, as well as key insights of Timothy Morton regarding...Show moreWith the awareness of climate change our experience of literature has fundamentally changed. Using the heideggarian notions of world and earth, as well as key insights of Timothy Morton regarding the experience of climate change and the experience of literature according to Maurice Blanchot, this thesis tries to show how our experience of literature has changed. The literary texts may have stayed the same, the way in which we read them has certainly not. The awareness of climate change has forced us to recognize that we are connected to and have a bearing on everything else on earth. This awareness makes it so that we read literary texts according to this awareness.Show less
In this thesis we analyse the ways in which Huaraz, a Peruvian city in the Andes, presents itself culturally to the world, in particular to the tourist world, and compare those with the cultural...Show moreIn this thesis we analyse the ways in which Huaraz, a Peruvian city in the Andes, presents itself culturally to the world, in particular to the tourist world, and compare those with the cultural identity as perceived by the people in this city. For the first part we have analysed tourism promotion websites, and how history and actuality are presented in various ways: in museums and archaeological sites, in handicrafts, and in street nomenclature. We addressed the second part, the perceived cultural identity, through interviews and participant observation. We conclude that the cultural identity perceived by the inhabitants of Huaraz is totally different from the cultural self-representations, and we give a beginning explanation for this difference.Show less
