Since 2009, northeastern states in Nigeria have been heavily plagued by the insurgency group Boko Haram. Additionally, an upsurge in recruitment and radicalization among Nigerian youth can be...Show moreSince 2009, northeastern states in Nigeria have been heavily plagued by the insurgency group Boko Haram. Additionally, an upsurge in recruitment and radicalization among Nigerian youth can be observed. Subsequently, fear and distrust in youth among communities arise, where young Nigerians are perceived as inherently dangerous, feared to be involved with Boko Haram. The emergence this stereotype has profound implications for the position of youth in society and prompts questions regarding the factors that contribute to the perpetuation of this stereotype. Therefore, this research aims to explore how youth in northeast Nigeria are portrayed through public and policy discourse, especially in regards to Boko Haram. Employing Critical Discourse Analysis as the methodological framework, this research critically scrutinizesif the Nigerian media, politicians and policymakers depict youth as a threat to society. Findings of the discourse analysis reveal a prevailing negative rhetoric surrounding youth in northeast Nigeria. They are presented as a demographic who are often unemployed and excluded from society. Additionally, young Nigerians are consistently associated with recruitment, radicalization, crimes and involvement in violent extremist groups such as Boko Haram. All these components appear interconnected, revealing a vicious cycle of stigmatization and violence. Drawing upon securitization theory, this research concludes that media, policymakers and politicians wield their influence to portray youth as a threatening actor to society, contributing to the perpetuation of a detrimental narrative that further fuels stigmatization and marginalization of youth in northeast Nigeria.Show less
The prevalence of right-wing extremism (RWE) in the United States and Europe has risen in recent decades with the aid of online spaces. Online or “virtual communities” continue to attract...Show moreThe prevalence of right-wing extremism (RWE) in the United States and Europe has risen in recent decades with the aid of online spaces. Online or “virtual communities” continue to attract individuals from around the world by providing an environment where otherwise disconnected peoples may form a community. This paper looks at the white nationalist aspect of RWE which places an emphasis on racial categorization and nationalism as its ideological foundations. On the white nationalist forum Stormfront.org a thriving international community has formed in what initially appears to be contrary to the nationalistic and culturally homogentisic inclinations of white nationalism. This research asks how the Stormfront community’s discourse incorporates international members into the WN movement. Through a poststructuralist discourse analysis this paper finds that unifying racial perspective legitimizing the construction of a white identity frames locally perceived issues as part of global and increasingly existential threats. This paper emphasizes the impacts of globalization on white nationalist perspectives as they adapt their movement to a globalized environment. The parallelization theory of globalization is implemented to explain the parallel and often contradictory perspectives maintained by the community.Show less
Far-right has been a traditional debate and conflicting phenomenon since 1945. In this thesis I aim to demonstrate the changes that far-right discourse has undergone during the fourth-wave of far...Show moreFar-right has been a traditional debate and conflicting phenomenon since 1945. In this thesis I aim to demonstrate the changes that far-right discourse has undergone during the fourth-wave of far-right. In this analysis we use as a starting point, ‘the winning formula’ of Kitschelt that mainly indicates how the far-right tends to adopt the economical aspect in their discourse, especially in times of great social despair. In order to demonstrate this change, we are examining in this paper the following cases: the case of Golden Dawn, National Front and UKIP. In these cases, we are examining the political discourse of the parties, the relationship between the discourse and a crisis, to what extent the far-right is a danger to the present political system and lastly, their eurosceptical aspect. By answering these questions, and by proving the strong presence of economy within the far-right’s discourse, we aim to highlight the changes that the far-right has undergone, and how these changes are a path to normalization.Show less
Sometimes, legislative anomalies codify societal discrimination based on the mass psyche, consequently marginalizing the very communities legislators serve. This thesis explores the intersection of...Show moreSometimes, legislative anomalies codify societal discrimination based on the mass psyche, consequently marginalizing the very communities legislators serve. This thesis explores the intersection of sex work and welfare systems by using the lens of exclusionary legal diktats to demonstrate how the ensuing ambiguity of laws contort the lives of sex workers in the geography of my research - Sweden and the Netherlands. I conclude my study with specific recommendations based on academic research and the lived experiences of sex workers in the geographical area of my study.Show less
The world’s biggest nickel producer and owner of the largest nickel reserve, Indonesia, has banned the export of its nickel ore two years ahead of schedule in 2020. This action prompted the...Show moreThe world’s biggest nickel producer and owner of the largest nickel reserve, Indonesia, has banned the export of its nickel ore two years ahead of schedule in 2020. This action prompted the European Union to file a complaint at the World Trade Organization in November 2019. Two years later, the Panel has ruled in favor of the European Union. Specifically, Indonesia’s export prohibition and domestic processing requirement on nickel ore were deemed inconsistent with the prohibition of export prohibitions and restrictions under the purview of Article XI:1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Instead of backing down, Indonesia has now appealed the Panel Report to the Appellate Body. This thesis draws from International Compliance Theory and combines the management approach and enforcement approach. Through descriptive qualitative analysis utilizing primary and secondary resources, it aims to investigate the reasons behind Indonesia's non-compliance. Indonesia’s appeal and persistent downstreaming efforts are deeply rooted in its ambition to reach high-income status by 2045, thus shedding light on the political-economic significance of the nickel sector. Lack of clarity on exemptions regarding export restrictions and inactive Appellate Body further provides an opportunity to prolong non-compliance with WTO Ruling.Show less
The rise of right-wing populism has received much attention in academic literature. However, most of the research on right-wing populism focuses on what drives the electoral success of these...Show moreThe rise of right-wing populism has received much attention in academic literature. However, most of the research on right-wing populism focuses on what drives the electoral success of these parties. Less light has been shed on factors that mitigate voting on right-wing populist parties, although there are indicators that the welfare state can play a key role here. Therefore, this thesis investigates the relationship between welfare state generosity and right-wing populist vote share. Using a Tobit analysis, this thesis analyses 91 elections in 16 countries over the period 1997-2018. The results of this model indicate that a generous welfare state can weaken the positive effect of trade globalization on electoral support for right-wing populist parties.Show less
The Occupy movement remains one of the defining aspects of political life in the early 2010s as a global social movement attempting to address the concerns of post-2008 politics. Drawing...Show moreThe Occupy movement remains one of the defining aspects of political life in the early 2010s as a global social movement attempting to address the concerns of post-2008 politics. Drawing inspiration from preceding movements and inspiring movements to come, its insistence on not articulating concrete demands as well as its dependence on pre-figurative politics was met simultaneously with amazement by activists and confusion by those attempting to grasp the movement. Through its global diffusion, beginning with Occupy Wall Street in New York and spreading all over the world, Occupy became a global phenomenon, entering the realm of international relations, with individual movements acting as agents that influence local and international politics, and the overall movement serving as connector between local actors on a global scale. Social movement theory often models mobilisation as happening either directly, through contact with activists, or indirectly, through equivalences in structure, demographic, or culture to other activists. The mobilisation and global diffusion of the Occupy movement however challenged both of these models, with local movements often self-mobilising and demonstrating a high level of heterogeneity in demographic make-up, social position, or movement culture. This thesis sets out to address this challenge by analysing the narratives put forward by Occupy movements as movement-building relays which aid the self-mobilisation of new activists. It argues that the common element between movements, as well as the potential for its global diffusion through self-mobilisation is not to be found in the narratives’ content, but rather in their structural aspects serving as movement-building relays. For this, 27 documents published by local Occupy movements were analysed in a structural-narratological approach. The thesis identifies relevant movement-building relays in the temporal, spatial, actantial, and social structures of the Occupy Wall Street narrative and traces their diffusion to the narratives of other local movements within the Occupy movement. Through this analysis, the thesis offers a novel approach to the study of contemporary global social movements whose diffusion is more often based on self-mobilisation and who demonstrate high levels of heterogeneity. Through the study of the Occupy movement, it thus seeks to provide a framework for which contemporary global social movements can be understood better.Show less
Climate change, environmental regulation, and the transition to renewable energy sources have a significant impact on the private and professional lives of workers in all parts of the world. In the...Show moreClimate change, environmental regulation, and the transition to renewable energy sources have a significant impact on the private and professional lives of workers in all parts of the world. In the absence of international law, multinational corporations (MNCs) are often relocating production to countries with insufficient social and environmental legislation, for the sake of profit maximalisation. Global union federations (GUFs) have started negotiating global framework agreements (GFAs) with MNC management to ensure the social rights of MNC employees in countries with inadequate legislation. As environmental strategies of MNCs are increasingly affecting employees, GFAs have been portrayed as a platform for union involvement in environmental issues. This thesis has investigated the potential of the inclusion of environmental issues in the GFA between the MNC Safran and IndustriALL Global Union. The results indicated that while the environmental clauses of the GFA had little concrete impact, the benefits of the inclusion are two-fold. Firstly, the creation of transnational social dialogue on the topic increased worker involvement on the MNC!s environmental strategy. Secondly, the GFA created conflict resolution for potential future labour conflict on environmental issues.Show less
Subnational climate diplomacy is a concept that has been gaining attention in the field of International Relations in recent years. It refers to the way in which state and local governments are...Show moreSubnational climate diplomacy is a concept that has been gaining attention in the field of International Relations in recent years. It refers to the way in which state and local governments are increasingly taking part in international negotiations and cooperation to advance global climate objectives. This signifies a sizable shift in the traditional approach to state-to-state diplomacy. However, the value of subnational climate diplomacy to the global fight against climate change is currently almost exclusively measured in terms of clearly quantifiable outputs, which largely overlooks its less directly quantifiable contributions and broader social, economic and political impacts. Therefore, this thesis analyzes how subnational climate diplomacy can contribute to transformative change through more indirect impacts. The indirect impacts that are measured are ‘rescaling’ and ‘entrenchment,’ based on the frameworks developed by authors van der Ven, Bernstein and Hoffmann (2017) and Setzer (2017). These two concepts serve to guide the analysis undertaken in this thesis, which aims to answer the following research question: How can subnational climate diplomacy contribute to transformative change through rescaling and entrenchment? To answer this question, the thesis includes a detailed case study of the international climate agenda of the U.S. state of California. The analysis of California's international climate agenda shows how the state’s subnational climate diplomacy is contributing to a rescaling of climate governance. By establishing international linkages along both the vertical and the horizontal axis, California is triggering a rescaling of climate governance on the subnational, national and international/supranational level. Additionally, California’s subnational climate diplomacy is fostering entrenchment by generating effects in climate governance that are durable and difficult to reverse. Overall, this study emphasizes that subnational climate diplomacy can contribute to transformative change in global climate governance, not only through producing directly quantifiable emission reductions, but also through rescaling climate governance and entrenching durable change.Show less
Abstract For the majority of its history, the Just War Tradition (JWT) has attempted to limit the occurrence of violence in the violent world it found itself. Today, out of noble causes, the same...Show moreAbstract For the majority of its history, the Just War Tradition (JWT) has attempted to limit the occurrence of violence in the violent world it found itself. Today, out of noble causes, the same tradition is becoming more interventionist by incentivizing the market for force in which Private Military and Security Companies have carved out a role for themselves. In this thesis the origin of the normalization of private violence in JWT will be accounted for and how it allows for more violence, rather than limiting it. These so-called PMSCs will be analyzed in two ways. The theological origin of arguments permitting their usage will be accounted for before analyzing the risks that comes with this. The latter part will be the main focus and is done by following the principles laid out by Aquino: 1) legitimate authority, 2) just cause, and 3) right intention. By looking at the state of the art of PMSC ethics, the debates in contemporary JWT will be accused of being disagreements in details, and not concerned with the theological foundations of their convictions. Namely, by accounting for the privatized turn JWT took, I will show how a cosmopolitan politics is causing this relaxing of norms and is at risk of being permissible to increases of violence. This originated in Pelagian theology who argued for the possibility of human perfection through social and moral progress. Kantian liberalism, the modern equivalent of this belief, has prioritized just cause over other principles and moves the JWT away from one of its core functions; namely, limiting the destructiveness of war. The other core function is to limit injustices, which has devolved into the attempt to eradicate all injustices and overturns ethical positions on private violence.Show less
This paper examines the construction of different realities concerning the social position of Afghan women after the US occupation of Afghanistan by looking at images published in Time magazine and...Show moreThis paper examines the construction of different realities concerning the social position of Afghan women after the US occupation of Afghanistan by looking at images published in Time magazine and Al Jazeera near the official withdrawal of the US Army. By implementing Roland Barthes’ theory of the linguistic, denoted, and connoted message in the examination of images and how they are framed it becomes clear that even though both news outlets worry about the future of Afghan women, Time magazine continues to justify the US occupation and blames the Taliban for the current situation whereas Al Jazeera takes a more critical stance. Therewith, framing how the current chaos in Afghanistan and the uncertain future of Afghan women is the direct result of the occupation. The frames that constrained the reading of the connoted message of the images are that of the protection scenario, Orientalism, the clash of civilizations, and the white man’s burden which exist within the overarching themes of the unveiling of Afghan women and their access to the public sphere.Show less
