Fugitive slave narrators operated as a textual community within the abolitionist movement to contribute to the construction of broad and coherent arguments for the immediate abolition of slavery in...Show moreFugitive slave narrators operated as a textual community within the abolitionist movement to contribute to the construction of broad and coherent arguments for the immediate abolition of slavery in the Southern states. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a textual community is "a place or social circle where manuscript texts are or were produced, read, and circulated by and for a certain group." Through the production of fugitive slave narratives, the fugitive slave textual community formed a coherent discourse within the abolitionist movement that sought to persuade northern readers to support the abolition of slavery through the pluralistic nature of the production of slave narratives and the construction of overlapping forms of consensus. At the same time, by presenting themselves to the outside world, the narrators created a new collective identity of (ex)slaves. It was precisely by not focusing entirely on forming antislavery arguments that it resulted in becoming one of the most powerful antislavery arguments: through the manifestation of political agency and collective identity by writing themselves into a shared history, there was both expression in resistance to slavery and an important form of identification with northern readers.Show less
This thesis sets out to compare several landscape drawings of artists that went to Italy and those that did not. Both groups are called Italianates, but that does not always mean that they saw the...Show moreThis thesis sets out to compare several landscape drawings of artists that went to Italy and those that did not. Both groups are called Italianates, but that does not always mean that they saw the landscape first hand. What are the differences between these groups and how can we tell them apart via visual analysis? Furthermore, this thesis aims to compare the watermarks of the drawings in order to provide a technical foundation before comparing the drawings on a visual level. The artists that have been selected for this comparison are Jan Both, Thomas Wijck, Nicolaes Berchem and Jacob van der Ulft, who are all born in the Northern Netherlands at the beginning of the seventeenth century.Show less
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
During the 1620s the VOC established a presence on the island of Taiwan, then called Formosa. Research on this colony has mostly focussed on the later decades and its dramatic loss at the hand of a...Show moreDuring the 1620s the VOC established a presence on the island of Taiwan, then called Formosa. Research on this colony has mostly focussed on the later decades and its dramatic loss at the hand of a Chinese warlord in 1662. This thesis examines those early years through the construction of Fort Zeelandia, the colony’s administrative capital. This was a slow process, in places equally as dramatic as the colony’s downfall, which shows us that the advantages that allegedly fuelled European expansion could often be ill-suited to the colonial environment.Show less
Between 1914 and 1940, the SDAP dominated municipal politics in Amsterdam. Buoyed with the introduction of universal male suffrage in 1917 and the expansion of municipal tax powers in 1920, social...Show moreBetween 1914 and 1940, the SDAP dominated municipal politics in Amsterdam. Buoyed with the introduction of universal male suffrage in 1917 and the expansion of municipal tax powers in 1920, social democratic aldermen such as Wibaut and De Miranda sought to establish a welfare municipality in the capital. Through the municipalisation of basic necessities, housework, and social hygiene, and the provision of care for the sickly, elderly, needy, and unemployed, the alderman hoped to provide for the material welfare and mental well-being of the working-class. Municipal Socialism in Amsterdam was seen as a unique project in the Netherlands. However, the municipal socialist project in Amsterdam was inherently dependent on acquiescence of bourgeois parties in Amsterdam and the confessional national government in The Hague, not to speak of global developments and the world economy. Relativizing the uniqueness of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague concurrently pioneered different aspects of municipal socialism in the face of similar shortcomings. Amsterdam’s greatest distinction was its incredibly effective advertisement of municipal socialism in publications throughout the interwar period, reinforced by the opposition it inspired in the national bourgeois press. Practically, while Amsterdam’s spending and earnings in municipal socialist fields was generally above average, the capital did not spend or earn significantly more than other social democratic municipalities across all municipal socialist fields. Nor did the capital significantly outperform the two other major municipalities in municipal socialist fields. Thus, while the municipal socialist project in Amsterdam may have financially been above average in the Interwar period, it was not unique, nor significantly different. However, we cannot deny the political and ideational impact of the municipal socialist project in Amsterdam on interwar political thought and post-war public memory.Show less
This thesis deals with binary gender roles in Revolutionary Nationalism in Post-Revolutionary Mexico. By analyzing the first 20 number of the Comic book Adelita y las Guerrillas, the thesis argues...Show moreThis thesis deals with binary gender roles in Revolutionary Nationalism in Post-Revolutionary Mexico. By analyzing the first 20 number of the Comic book Adelita y las Guerrillas, the thesis argues that masculine and feminine gender roles are created in tandem, primarily through the characters Adelita and Juan sin miedo. The thesis argues that whilst portraying progressive gender roles on a superficial level, at its core, the comic book reproduces conservative gender ideology as a part of Revolutionary Nationalism.Show less
This thesis aims to explore the recent depictions of robots through the close reading of two science fiction works published within the last few years, in order to unveil the shifting,...Show moreThis thesis aims to explore the recent depictions of robots through the close reading of two science fiction works published within the last few years, in order to unveil the shifting, contradictory attitudes society has with regards to the artificial companions which continue to grow increasingly prevalent in our present-day lives. Both literary case studies exhibit the challenges of navigating a balanced hierarchy of power relations between robots and humans, because despite the mental and physical superiority of human replicas, their status as machines means robots are decidedly treated like slaves. Moreover, the thesis aims to demonstrate how both novels raise thought-provoking questions about humans' moral shortcomings in the face of their law-abiding and potentially messianic robot counterparts.Show less
This thesis examines the way in which the novels Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents present inequality based on disability, gender, class, religion and race and critically examines the...Show moreThis thesis examines the way in which the novels Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents present inequality based on disability, gender, class, religion and race and critically examines the intersections between these socioeconomic inequalities. This thesis focuses on the concept of change. Butler utilises science fiction — the genre of change — to critique social inequality on the basis of disability, gender, class, religion and race by founding Earthseed — the religion of change. Intersectionality is a tool, or lens, that aids in achieving change.Show less
In this thesis the Dementor from the Harry Potter series is studied as a monster within the framework of monster theory. The Dementor is read as a symbol for depression.
