When Jimmy Carter was inaugurated in 1977, he promised to make his commitment to human rights absolute. The deeply torn and racially divided region of Southern Africa would become his...Show moreWhen Jimmy Carter was inaugurated in 1977, he promised to make his commitment to human rights absolute. The deeply torn and racially divided region of Southern Africa would become his administration’s stage to illustrate their moralistic foreign policy which was based on the promotion of human rights. Whereas Carter’s commitment to human rights was motivated by his personal experiences during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, his National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was led by strategic considerations which could advance the American position in the Cold War. These conflicting approaches to a human rights policy resulted in a vague, often hypocritical, and quickly shifting policy, which started with a strong moral undertone and focus on human rights, yet ended with economic and strategic considerations as the top priorities of the administration. Through its in-depth analysis of primary sources, this study has sought to research the change in the Carter administration’s human rights policy towards South Africa, thereby also discussing the general changes within the foundations of the administration’s foreign policy.Show less
This thesis argues that practice of presenting gifts to the UN by member states constitutes a vital part of the diplomatic discourse at the UN, as the gifts contribute – positively or negatively –...Show moreThis thesis argues that practice of presenting gifts to the UN by member states constitutes a vital part of the diplomatic discourse at the UN, as the gifts contribute – positively or negatively – to social solidarity by reflecting on the identity of the UN and the gift-giving motives related to instrumentality and power. This argument is substantiated by drawing on Komter’s (2009) theoretical framework, by drawing on Lister and Wells’ (2004) cultural studies approach to visual culture and by the analysis of an American gift, Canadian gift, and Soviet gift. The main findings of the analysis of the historical context, the context of viewing, the context of production and distribution and the material, cultural and social properties of the gift indicate that the gifts donated to the UN contribute to social solidarity irrespective of the political or cultural dispositions of the donating member-state based on the three aforementioned aspects. Nonetheless, the gifts do emphasize different aspects based on the self-interest of the donor.Show less
This thesis focuses on Native Americans who voluntary enlisted end served in the European and African theaters of operations only. The Pacific theater of operations has received much more attention...Show moreThis thesis focuses on Native Americans who voluntary enlisted end served in the European and African theaters of operations only. The Pacific theater of operations has received much more attention than the other two because of the well documented service of the Code Talker Units, and will therefore not be included in this thesis. Holm, Bernstein, Franco, Townsend, and Sheffield and Riseman all examined motives behind the Native American voluntary enlistment, some more thorough than others. They also analyze whether Native Americans experienced racial prejudice or discrimination. This thesis adds and examines two other motives behind Native American voluntary enlistment, and incorporates them within the existing narrative. Incorporating those two new motives behind Native American voluntary enlistment in the existing narrative provides for a more comprehensive account than is known today. This thesis further and more thoroughly analyzes to what extent Native Americans experienced racial prejudice or discrimination, and therefore may depict a more detailed picture than heretofore known in the existing narrative.Show less
African Americans are in a continuous struggle for equality in America. The reparations debate, in which African Americans are searching for reparations for slavery and segregation that followed,...Show moreAfrican Americans are in a continuous struggle for equality in America. The reparations debate, in which African Americans are searching for reparations for slavery and segregation that followed, may help create an equal society. In June 2019 the H.R.40 Bill was presented to Congress. This Bill advocates for a commission which will study the repercussions of slavery for African Americans and propose a suitable solution, in short the Bill is a blueprint for how to execute reparations. This thesis researched the historic reparations and the recent reparation debate. More specifically, this thesis aimed to answer the following question: “In what ways is the historical reparations debate incorporated in the current debate on reparations for African Americans searching for justice, and what does that mean for the significance of the current debate?” Based on the already existing historiography, this thesis took a qualitative research approach and draws upon primary and secondary sources to see how the historic debate has influenced the recent debate. Analysis of the primary sources showed that the historic debate is very much incorporated in the recent reparations debate. Furthermore, the reparations movement has never been stronger in its goal to create an equal society. However, the current reparations movement still left some questions unanswered such as who exactly would receive reparations, and who will pay for them.Show less
The focus in Afrofuturist scholarship has always been on the ways in which the black experience, particularly the forcible dislocation of the Middle Passage, has been akin to sensations of...Show moreThe focus in Afrofuturist scholarship has always been on the ways in which the black experience, particularly the forcible dislocation of the Middle Passage, has been akin to sensations of alienation and “Othering” explored in science fiction and speculative fiction. While a range of technologies have been analyzed in the context of Afrofuturism, from sonic, to digital, to even aerospace technologies, I argue in this thesis that there is a gap in scholarship on the medical technologies that undergird the alienation experienced by African Americans. To fill this gap, my research focuses on two works of fiction, Ralph Ellison’s classic novel Invisible Man (1952) and Jordan Peele’s recent movie Get Out (2017), that deal with the oppressive power of medicine. I argue that in both narratives medical experiments are used to take control over black bodies and minds, and I position this political violence into a history of medical experimentation and abuse on African Americans as well as Afrofuturism. As much as the medical mistreatment that the protagonists in these texts suffer seems exclusive to the world of science fiction, it has been, and might continue to be, part of the real experience of black Americans.Show less
The contributions of female members are an important and understudied aspect of the Black Panther Party. Survival Programs, the Panthers’ community service programs which were governed mostly by...Show moreThe contributions of female members are an important and understudied aspect of the Black Panther Party. Survival Programs, the Panthers’ community service programs which were governed mostly by women, are a good example of nonviolent techniques carried out by the Panthers to reach some of the goals on their Ten-Point Program Since the Black Panther Party consisted of mostly women for most of its existence, this indicates a difference between the common image of the Black Panther Party and the reality of it. Therefore, this thesis will answer the question “In what ways did female members defy the stereotypical image of the Black Panther Party?” In short, it will argue that not only is the significance of the nonviolent Survival Programs undervalued in the party’s popular image; so is the significance and even the existence of (other forms of) female involvement and crucial contributions to the Black Panther Party. Indeed, although the violent, male contributions to the movement are more known, the nonviolent techniques mostly executed by female members, such as the Survival Programs, take up a larger part of what the Party truly was. This thesis will pay attention to these lesser known acts committed by the Black Panthers.Show less
When the United States was formed, the division between the North and South on the basis of slavery was not as evident as it would later become. Virginia, as a Southern state, did experience a...Show moreWhen the United States was formed, the division between the North and South on the basis of slavery was not as evident as it would later become. Virginia, as a Southern state, did experience a moment where slavery was questioned. This questioning mounted in the 1782 Virginia Manumission Law. This thesis investigates how Virginia dealt with the question of slavery in the Revolutionary Era.Show less
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
