This thesis is a comparative case study on the reasons behind the negative European attitudes toward refugees in both the post-WWII European Refugee Crisis and the 21st-Century European Refugee...Show moreThis thesis is a comparative case study on the reasons behind the negative European attitudes toward refugees in both the post-WWII European Refugee Crisis and the 21st-Century European Refugee Crisis. By comparing the two crises it needs to become clear whether there is continuity in the negative European attitude toward refugees. The comparison mainly focusses on three real-world concerns: national security, national identity, and economic livelihood.Show less
PVV leader Geert Wilders is seen as one of the most remarkable and provocative Dutch politicians of the past 20 years. This is partly a consequence of the Islamophobic discourse that he uses in...Show morePVV leader Geert Wilders is seen as one of the most remarkable and provocative Dutch politicians of the past 20 years. This is partly a consequence of the Islamophobic discourse that he uses in order to argue that Islam, Muslims, and immigration pose a threat to the liberal Dutch and Western society. People have often argued that this Islamophobic discourse is discriminative and racist and is for that reason in conflict with the ideology of liberalism. However, Wilders and his supporters argue that the contrary is true and that he is actually protecting the Western liberal society from the dangerous illiberal Islam. Moreover, it has often been argued that liberalism is in fact a paradoxical ideology that historically has distinguished people on the basis of race, class, and gender. For that reason, Wilders seems to position himself well within the ideology of liberalism. By the means of a discourse analysis, this study attempts to demonstrate that Wilders’ Islamophobic discourse is in fact very much in line with the liberal ideology despite its racist and discriminative content.Show less
Women have generally been subjugated to supportive roles in patriarchal Islamic groups, however the last number of years has seen a rise in their mobilization in violent extremist roles within...Show moreWomen have generally been subjugated to supportive roles in patriarchal Islamic groups, however the last number of years has seen a rise in their mobilization in violent extremist roles within those organisations. This trend is unusual considering that the tradition, culture and religion of these groups have traditionally served to limit women's engagement to auxiliary positions. While mobilising women in such positions benefits these groups in numerous ways, it also comes with a number of costs that need to be considered by such groups and that have generally prevented women's entry into such positions in the past. This paper seeks to understand what has motivated this shift in tactics, by use of a benefit-cost analysis, as well as examining current theories and conducting three case studies. The findings suggest that group duress is the strongest factor influencing an organisation's decision to engage women in violent acts of terror.Show less
This thesis is about the development in the institutional position of the Iranian clergy between 1953-1979 through the lens of New Institutionalism. In the thesis an overview of the role of the...Show moreThis thesis is about the development in the institutional position of the Iranian clergy between 1953-1979 through the lens of New Institutionalism. In the thesis an overview of the role of the clergy in the decennia leading up to the Islamic Revolution is presented.Show less
