This thesis looks into the effects of horizontal inequalities on civilian victimisation during civil wars. The contribution of this paper is two-fold. First, it gave an extensive overview of...Show moreThis thesis looks into the effects of horizontal inequalities on civilian victimisation during civil wars. The contribution of this paper is two-fold. First, it gave an extensive overview of relevant research from numerous fields, which were subsequently combined into one overarching theoretical framework. Secondly, a preliminary empirical analysis was conducted using multiple linear regression (OLS) models to test the resulting expectations - that horizontal inequalities (economic and political) are likely positively related to civilian victimisation during civil wars. The analysis came back with mixed results, and at best limited and indirect support for the expected positive link between horizontal inequality and civilian victimisation.Show less
Environmental protection is an increasingly salient topic for contemporary society, especially in the context of the climate crisis. People all around the world are engaging in environmental...Show moreEnvironmental protection is an increasingly salient topic for contemporary society, especially in the context of the climate crisis. People all around the world are engaging in environmental activism, yet environmentalism research has disproportionately centered on the West. Considering how most countries on the front lines of climate change are non-Western, this gap must be rectified. Southeast Asia (SEA) is a region severely overlooked in this regard, particularly in terms of what environmentalism actually brings here. There is insufficient knowledge on how SEA states respond to environmental activism, despite the relevance for its citizens and environmental sector practitioners, who witness some of the worst repercussions of environmental degradation. Therefore, this paper aims to expand our understanding of state responses to SEA environmentalism and contentious political action by investigating Vietnam and the Philippines. A comparative study was conducted on these two cases, which employed qualitative content analysis on texts like news articles to study responses to environmentalism. Findings reveal that both countries display a variety of responses, but are most inclined to repress. However, they differ considerably in how they approach each response type in terms of methods, actors involved, and consistency. It is proposed that each country’s distinct response pattern is linked to its respective regime type, as suggested by existing literature on contentious political action. Beyond the popular notion that non-democracies are more likely to repress contentious claim-making, this study illustrates how hybrid regimes can be more covert and lethal in their repression than other regimes. From these findings, this paper stresses the importance of local socio-political contexts for those engaged in environmental protection and advocacy. Additionally, this investigation hopes to spur similar research on other SEA countries and expand the political science literature on this region.Show less
The ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ Movement that started in 2022 in Iran brought another wave of women’s rights movement. The involvement of Iranian diaspora communities in cyberspace successfully...Show moreThe ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ Movement that started in 2022 in Iran brought another wave of women’s rights movement. The involvement of Iranian diaspora communities in cyberspace successfully transformed this movement into the online sphere. This paper seeks to answer the following research questions: How do Iranian diaspora communities construct identity through cyberfeminism in the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement? The paper aims to explore the effectiveness of cyberfeminism and more importantly, it aims to identity the role of X and diasporic websites in constructing Iranian diaspora’s identity through an inductive approach. Frame theory is utilized as a lens to examine how Iranian diasporas frame themselves in the cyberspace and make connections between those inside and outside Iran. This paper finds three framing strategies, namely: identification of common enemies, victimization, and empowerment of women that contribute to forming a collective identity within diasporas.Show less
Transitional justice aims to address the aftermath of gross human rights violations and facilitate societal healing and recovery. Traditionally, transitional justice mechanisms have been state...Show moreTransitional justice aims to address the aftermath of gross human rights violations and facilitate societal healing and recovery. Traditionally, transitional justice mechanisms have been state-centric, relying on the capacity and will of states for their implementation. In fragile states—characterised by weak authority, capacity, and legitimacy—this approach often leads to an "implementation gap," where policies are designed but not enacted. This study explores the extent to which civil society can fill this gap. Focusing on Actoras de Cambio, a civil society organisation in post-war Guatemala, this research examines how civil society operates within this state-centric framework, evaluating its ability to fulfil the five pillars of transitional justice: truth-seeking, justice, reparation, memorialisation, and guarantees of non-recurrence. The findings suggest that civil society can effectively address truth-seeking, memorialisation, and psycho-social reparation, but faces limitations in delivering justice and guarantees of non-recurrence, areas requiring broader legal and structural reforms. These results underscore the importance of a synergistic approach between the state and civil society in transitional justice processes, particularly in fragile states. This research advocates for a more inclusive and holistic transitional justice framework, recognising the critical role of civil society in fragile states and informing more tailored international responses to mass atrocities.Show less
How the EU deals with regulating migration at its borders has been the subject of heated discussions for years. Headlines accentuating the dangers of immigration are ever-present. It is thus...Show moreHow the EU deals with regulating migration at its borders has been the subject of heated discussions for years. Headlines accentuating the dangers of immigration are ever-present. It is thus crucial to critically analyse these discourses’ origins, present features, and potential future consequences. This paper wants to investigate what securitisation of migration in the EU looks like in connection to the 2015 “refugee crisis”, and what consequences and compromises it led to, especially in terms of “formal informality”. Analysing EU-Libya relations, this thesis finds that a shift towards more securitised discourse starting from 2015 impacted informal measures, specifically through bilateral agreements such as the Italy-Libya Memorandum of 2017. Given recent backlash for the EU's management of external migration, and reports of mistreatments and abuses in migrant detention camps, this thesis aims at showing the importance of critically analysing discourse by EU institutions, in order to keep them accountable and prevent further rights violations.Show less
