Why are expressions of corporate responsibility increasingly politicizing in the United States and what is Ben & Jerry’s role in this as a leading progressive brand? I examine the newly found...Show moreWhy are expressions of corporate responsibility increasingly politicizing in the United States and what is Ben & Jerry’s role in this as a leading progressive brand? I examine the newly found politicized marketing strategy in the US in which political opinion is increasingly expressed and discuss whether this derives from an increasing neoliberal rationality in society, the economy, and business life rather than that it stems from true social values and activism.Show less
This thesis researches the representation of East Asian characters and culture in two popular American movie productions that are based on novels; Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) and Crazy Rich Asians ...Show moreThis thesis researches the representation of East Asian characters and culture in two popular American movie productions that are based on novels; Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) and Crazy Rich Asians (2018). To do so, it will examine the use of Asian stereotypes and gender stereotypes in these movies, and will investigate whether the East Asian characters in the productions are three-dimensional. In the end, this thesis will argue that while in Memoirs of a Geisha, East Asian characters are generally portrayed in a stereotypical manner and women are sexualized, Crazy Rich Asians exposes and combats existing stereotypes through exaggeration and clashes between various ethnic Chinese characters, and offers three-dimensional East Asian characters. .Show less
Charles Bukowski was an influential German-American poet, novelist and short storywriter who has received little scholarly attention despite his popularity among readers from all walks of life. One...Show moreCharles Bukowski was an influential German-American poet, novelist and short storywriter who has received little scholarly attention despite his popularity among readers from all walks of life. One of the reasons his work has been overlooked by scholars is that his work has often been described as chauvinist and misogynist for depicting characters that present hegemonic gender roles. This statement is valid to a certain extent as Bukowski’s early works especially presents male characters as macho men and female characters as passive, dependent women. This thesis, however, shows that Charles Bukowski's representation of hegemonic masculinity through the character Henry Chinaski, who is the protagonist of his novels, was less one-dimensionally chauvinistic and sexist, and started to become more flexible at an earlier stage in his writing than previously thought. Scholarly critics have formerly merely focused on Bukowski’s first three novels Post Office (1971), Factotum (1975) and Women (1978) in their discussion of Bukowski’s gender portrayal. This thesis, however, takes on a broader approach by reading additional short stories, poems and another 'Chinaski' novel Hollywood (1989), in order to analyze a diachronic development in the representation of masculinity and whether this development can be traced in general throughout his work, instead of in merely his first three novels. This thesis employs gender theory to firstly read whether the characters in Bukowski’s writings subvert or adhere to hegemonic gender roles, and secondly how their behavior is motivated by their gender identity.Show less
The late 1910s and the early 1920s in the United States were marked by a period of African American activism that is referred to as the New Negro Movement. Although this movement promised radical...Show moreThe late 1910s and the early 1920s in the United States were marked by a period of African American activism that is referred to as the New Negro Movement. Although this movement promised radical and lasting change in American society, much of the activists' efforts lacked this power. In contemporary history, this relative failure is blamed on various external factors. This thesis looks at the "Marcus Garvey Must Go Campaign" which was the result of a conflict between black nationalist Marcus Garvey and socialists A. Philip Randolph and Chandler Owen. By analyzing the feud, it is argued that interpersonal conflicts, instead of external factors, came to determine the movement and contributed to its weakening.Show less
“Colorism”, the unofficial term for discrimination or preferential treatment not based on the construct of “race”, but based on skin color, is a term created by writer Alice Walker in 1982....Show more“Colorism”, the unofficial term for discrimination or preferential treatment not based on the construct of “race”, but based on skin color, is a term created by writer Alice Walker in 1982. Although the term is reasonably new, the construct it represents is not. At the intersection of race, class and gender there is the construct of “colorism”which has for hundreds of years influenced Blacks in America. It is the construct of “colorism” of African American women within the Black American community in the early twentieth century during the New Negro Movement or Harlem Renaissance which I have examined in this MA thesis. Focusing on the writings, and imagery from the covers and advertisements of the highly influential Crisis Magazine when created and under the leadership of scholar and activist W.E.B Du Bois from 1910 until 1934, and supported by theories on race and whiteness, I have researched the dominant middle class Black beauty ideals of the early twentieth century, through the “passing” narratives and images of "black" women in the magazine.Show less
This research offers a new perspective to existing scholarship on the Alien and Sedition Acts that includes the political voices of ordinary citizens and immigrants
This thesis considers the role of the Iroquois in the American Revolution. It examines the Iroquois' own motives for reaching decisions to either support the British or Americans. Mostly based on...Show moreThis thesis considers the role of the Iroquois in the American Revolution. It examines the Iroquois' own motives for reaching decisions to either support the British or Americans. Mostly based on primary sources, this thesis discusses long-standing alliances, the role of missionaries and other factors that contributed to the Iroquois' participation in the Revolutionary War.Show less
This thesis discusses two novels that use the dystopian genre to critically reflect on the political and social response to 9/11: Thomas Pynchon’s Bleeding Edge (2013) and Cormac McCarthy’s The...Show moreThis thesis discusses two novels that use the dystopian genre to critically reflect on the political and social response to 9/11: Thomas Pynchon’s Bleeding Edge (2013) and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (2006). These novels depict a United States that has been, or is going to be, devastated by a catastrophe that is seemingly, or in Pynchon’s case explicitly, inspired by 9/11 and the political and social response to it. This thesis examines how and with what effect these novels use dystopian themes and imagery to respond to the way American society is changed socially and politically because of political efforts to unify it and security measures that were taken in response to 9/11, and critically reflect on the political and social consequences of the attacks.Show less
This thesis investigates the National Interreligious Task Force on Soviet Jewry as an organization advocating for Soviet Jewish emigration and as an interreligious cooperative. It asks how the Task...Show moreThis thesis investigates the National Interreligious Task Force on Soviet Jewry as an organization advocating for Soviet Jewish emigration and as an interreligious cooperative. It asks how the Task Force, under the supervision of the American Jewish Committee, contributed to the Soviet Jewry movement and how the organization’s efforts differed from those of the leading Soviet Jewry organizations. As an interpretive framework, the tension between particularism and universalism is used. The thesis argues that the Task Force universalized the base and the agenda of the Soviet Jewry movement. By mobilizing Christians on a local, national and international level, the Task Force broadened the base, often using human rights and human rights instruments such as the Helsinki Final Act as a means to universalize the struggle. Furthermore, the Task Force universalized the agenda by including Soviet Christians in their advocacy, thus taking a universalistic approach to linkage. As an interreligious cooperative, the Task Force advanced interreligious dialogue in the United States and helped promote the particularistic American Jewish agenda. Consequently, the American Jewish Committee allowed the Task Force flexibility regarding linkage, although they preferred a particularistic approach themselves.Show less
This thesis aims explore the role of “post-blackness” in the development of hip hop in the nineties, mainly through newspaper articles and existing interviews with hip hop artists. This thesis...Show moreThis thesis aims explore the role of “post-blackness” in the development of hip hop in the nineties, mainly through newspaper articles and existing interviews with hip hop artists. This thesis contends that although black artists and the media partially show a “post-black” perception of hip hop in the nineties, this perception is also problematized because hip hop in the nineties was still rooted deeply in the notion of “black authenticity.”Show less
This thesis looks at the Greater St. Louis urban area in Missouri and Illinois, USA, roughly in the second half of the twentieth century. It takes as its central theme the notion of urban crisis,...Show moreThis thesis looks at the Greater St. Louis urban area in Missouri and Illinois, USA, roughly in the second half of the twentieth century. It takes as its central theme the notion of urban crisis, which refers to a number of interrelated phenomena that arose in numerous American cities during the second half of the twentieth century. These include suburbanization, deindustrialization, depopulation, physical blight, pollution, and increases in crime, drug addiction, poverty, unemployment, and racial inequality. Much of the historiography that tries to explain the urban crisis approaches decline from an economic and statistical perspective, and focusses on long-term, large-scale developments. While this approach has been fruitful, it also creates a gap: it reveals little about cultural context and pays little attention to the agency and experience of ordinary individuals who experienced the urban crisis. In order to help fill this gap, this thesis examines documents that reflect personal experience or opinions, such as diaries, memoirs, interviews, and opinionated newspaper articles. More specifically, the thesis consists of three smaller case studies into specific aspects of St. Louis's urban crisis: residential segregation, public housing, and suburban deindustrialization. While this project does not lead to a new 'big picture' of urban crisis, it yields various new insights, which sometimes contradict the existing historiography.Show less
After the surrender of Japan following WWII, the US occupied Japan for seven years until 1952 – while remaining in Okinawa until 1972. The aim of the occupation’s administration was to demilitarise...Show moreAfter the surrender of Japan following WWII, the US occupied Japan for seven years until 1952 – while remaining in Okinawa until 1972. The aim of the occupation’s administration was to demilitarise and democratise Japan. One of the goals to achieve this aim was the decartelisation of Japan and the dissolution of the Zaibatsu. However, while the decartelisation of Japan was an early goal of the administration, the dissolution of the Zaibatsu was never fully realised. The occupation’s administration was concerned with New Deal liberalist reforms at the onset of the occupation. However, after the first two years of the occupation, the US shifted its decartelisation policy from economic reform to economic recovery in what has been dubbed as Japan’s reverse course. The origin of the reverse course has often been explained as a Cold War phenomenon. However, through archival research, this thesis shows that domestic factors such as the US domestic economic situation and the Republican victory in the 80th Congress significantly changed the course of the Zaibatsu dissolution. As such, these “intermestic” issues influenced the shift away from economic reform to economic recovery and the result of this can be seen in the Japanese economy to this day.Show less
