Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
This thesis explores the relationship between humans and non-humans within a sea turtle conservation organization in Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. Through eleven weeks of in-depth visual ethnographic...Show moreThis thesis explores the relationship between humans and non-humans within a sea turtle conservation organization in Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. Through eleven weeks of in-depth visual ethnographic fieldwork, I investigate the influence these human/non-human relationships have on scientific knowledge production. The output of this research consists of an ethnographic film ‘The Turtle Team’ and this article. This research underscores the necessity of adopting transdisciplinary methodologies in which non-humans are integrated, which is crucial in the era of the Anthropocene. It provides a nuanced understanding of how human/non-human relationships shape the production of scientific knowledge in this team of conservationists and emphasizes the interwovenness of humans and non-humans. This research contributes to the existing literature on the Anthropocene and the nature-culture debate and I argue that the interwovenness of humans and non-humans should be discussed more within scientific research, especially in conservation biology.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
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This research is the result collaborative multimodal ethnography project conducted in early 2024 on the island of Parem, in the Chuuk Lagoon. The project explored the relationship between chon...Show moreThis research is the result collaborative multimodal ethnography project conducted in early 2024 on the island of Parem, in the Chuuk Lagoon. The project explored the relationship between chon Chuuk and their land through film, photography, drawings, and storytelling. The study revealed that islanders consistently aimed to engage with the chon Chuuk diaspora abroad while reflecting on their relationship with their land during emigration. This research has two primary objectives. First, it advocates for the integration of collaborative multimodal outputs in ethnographic research. Secondly, it suggests that to understand chon Chuuk relationship to their land it is necessary to look at it as dynamic, and relational, produced by the interaction between broader political structures and internal social ties, particularly kinship relationship. The project produced both physical and digital works to connect with Chon Chuuk families on the islands and overseas. This book features photographs, drawings, and brief texts co-produced by the author and the family of the village of Epinun. Additionally, a short fictional film, co-written with islander Deejay Welle, portrays the memories of a young boy leaving the island. These outputs serve as transnational objects and artifacts, bridging the geographical and emotional gaps between those who have left and those who remain. A reflective article combines a discussion of relevant literature on place, emigration, and transnationalism to analyze the process, result, and diffusion of the multimodal output.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
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This article traces the connections between failure and masculinity at Dean Lane skatepark. My research is based on 10-weeks of ethnographic research at a skatepark in Bristol, U.K., where I used...Show moreThis article traces the connections between failure and masculinity at Dean Lane skatepark. My research is based on 10-weeks of ethnographic research at a skatepark in Bristol, U.K., where I used audiovisual means and sensory participant observation to produce an ethnographic film, a scrapbook, and a textual thesis. In this thesis, I explore how skaters would narrate experiences of failure and negotiate their masculinity within these stories. I build on Geckle & Shaw (2020) study on queer failure, by using the concept of ‘sticky’ masculinity to show how stories of failure often celebrate masculine values of hardness and bodily sacrifice. Moreover, I draw connections between ‘sticky’ masculinity and the neoliberal idea of the self-made man to argue that the celebration of failure can take place through meritocratic ways of thinking. Finally, the interviews highlight what is expected of skaters within the environment, what cultural norms become the ‘stickiest’ and how they relate to larger structures.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
closed access
Based on ten weeks of ethnographic fieldwork, I have conducted participation observation to understand how the rollerblading crew Careen from New York City navigate public space, to understand how...Show moreBased on ten weeks of ethnographic fieldwork, I have conducted participation observation to understand how the rollerblading crew Careen from New York City navigate public space, to understand how their participation in this group and sport builds a sense of community. I have always been fascinated with rollerblading and noticed a gap on this sport in the social sciences on how these participants engage in public spaces. Public spaces are everyday spaces like plazas, streets, sidewalks, and parks that provide opportunities for socialization and leisure activities. During my research, I lived with my interlocutors, went on skate sessions in the city and watched them make a seasonal skate video. As for my methodologies, I conducted participation observation, semi-structured interviews, informal conversation, filming, mapping, and photography. In this thesis, I argue that Careen’s embodied practices in rollerblading is a form of resistance to neoliberal spaces. I explore how Careen’s engagement in public spaces through rollerblading and filming shapes an inclusive rollerblading crew by understanding how they reappropriate and share public space and their creative direction in making skate videos. This thesis will discuss the theoretical concepts: skilled vision, place-attachment, and community, how I used my methodologies, and my findings.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
Birthday cafés in Seoul consist of a multi-layered circulation of goods that is mediated through a fascinating type of gift economy in which there are varying types of distributer-recipient...Show moreBirthday cafés in Seoul consist of a multi-layered circulation of goods that is mediated through a fascinating type of gift economy in which there are varying types of distributer-recipient relations. Within these economies I focus on value in the sociological sense and value in the economic sense, as I explore to what extent the sociological understanding of value informs the economic sense of value and vice versa. Furthermore, I discuss the prominent role that the value of creativity plays and how this interacts with both the sociological understanding of value as well as the economic one. With this focus, I aim to tease out the tangled network of values that make up the economy of a birthday café in Seoul.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
The displacement of the Betawi after Indonesia’s independence is an example of how processes of evictions in urban cities led to the essentialization of the indigenous culture and a loss of...Show moreThe displacement of the Betawi after Indonesia’s independence is an example of how processes of evictions in urban cities led to the essentialization of the indigenous culture and a loss of heritage. Urban displacement of Indigenous peoples can cause spatial dispersion, which can break their community’s cohesion apart, which in turn can result in a loss of knowledge and identity, together with the possibility of the emergence of smaller local communities. This ethnographic research raises questions concerning the perseverance of the Betawi within Jakarta after their evictions and uses a multimodal approach to explore how they adapt to their new environments, if they experience a sense of displacement, and how they express their heritage. This written text and documentary film are in dialogue with each other. Where the film shows how the Betawi express and perform their cultural heritage, the written text describes the attributes of the moment they express their cultural heritage. Together, they argue that urban displacement negatively impacts the identity of the Betawi since they lost their collective legitimacy for a common identity. The story of the Betawi foregrounds the broader issues of displacement, community, and culture in a postcolonial and urbanized country.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
closed access
In the context of the climate and economic crises, calls for the decarbonisation of human activities are ever more present. However, if climate adaptation and mitigation strategies do not consider...Show moreIn the context of the climate and economic crises, calls for the decarbonisation of human activities are ever more present. However, if climate adaptation and mitigation strategies do not consider existing and persisting inequalities, they may aggravate them. This is particularly true of renewable energy projects concerning First Peoples in Canada who are engaged in processes of cultural, linguistic, territorial, and identity reappropriation, affirmation, and self-determination. This research sought to explore through multimodal ethnographic means the lived realities and perspectives of Innus living in Sept-Îles and Uashat Mak Mani Utenam on Quebec’s North Shore as I aimed to understand the extent to which partnerships between Innu First Nation communities and non-Indigenous industrial developers for sustainability projects uphold environmental justice and a decolonisation of climate action. This research provides insights about the decolonisation of climate action research and the socio-cultural challenges of the Anthropocene. It also engages a critical reflection on the complexity of enacting a decolonial approach as a non-Indigenous researcher with a limited timeframe for collaboration. Through a systemic and intersectional lens provided by the concept of environmental justice, we understand how industrial renewable energy partnerships with Innu communities, tainted by corruption, economically benefit a minority of actors and do not address the socio-cultural needs of Innus living in their community or in the off-reserve urban milieu. In turn, small and local entrepreneurial partnerships could have positive social impact and foster the sharing of Indigenous and non-Indigenous expertise, practices and values. Additionally, it is apparent that the Nutshimit is a place and space for Innus to find a sense of belonging by following their ancestors’ paths inland, undergo a healing process from multigenerational traumas from colonial assimilation, and engage in a reappropriation and affirmation of Innu culture (aitun) and language (aimun).Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
Ecofeminist debate around ‘women as closer to nature’ centers the intersection between gender and climate. This assumption is put as unreliable, however ethnographic findings reveal that women of...Show moreEcofeminist debate around ‘women as closer to nature’ centers the intersection between gender and climate. This assumption is put as unreliable, however ethnographic findings reveal that women of the Greek island Corfu redefine ‘closeness to nature’ through the practice of herbalism. This study shows a nuanced depiction of the relationship between women and the natural environment, by revaluating notions of care and labor. Through ethnographic methods based on participant observation, in-depth interviews and filming, data is obtained. The data shows that the women of Corfu use herbalism as a means to be independent from their demanding role as caregivers; traditional knowledge is based on connections with past generations that refer to survival skills; herbalism teaches how mainstream society can live more sustainable. Concluding, herbalism is more than a practice. In the context of Corfu, herbalism critiques capitalist economies and creates a sustainable relationship with the natural environment. Through redefining labor and performing care as herbalist practice, lived experiences refine discussions on ‘women as closer to nature’.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
Academic freedom is a core value of Western higher education, with freedom of speech and research being its main pillars. When it comes to Palestinian rights, however, these principles are often...Show moreAcademic freedom is a core value of Western higher education, with freedom of speech and research being its main pillars. When it comes to Palestinian rights, however, these principles are often applied selectively or fail to materialize at all. By conducting qualitative ethnographic research on and in collaboration with Palestinian advocacy groups in the Netherlands, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of how and why anti-Zionist dissent is often silenced in the context of Dutch academia. This multimodal research focuses on one particular event of academic censorship that resulted in the cancelation of a panel discussion organized by “Students for Palestine” (SfP). The visual output shows my main interlocutors gradually reconstructing what happened through a decolonial lens; they bear upon colonial and orientalist practices in order to deconstruct this specific incident. I then elaborate on these practices in this article, in order to provide a deeper understanding of what laid the foundation of this censorship case. I do this by looking at the impact that orientalist and neoliberalist practices have on the institutional censorship of Palestine. The written output also more accurately discusses the aftermath of this event, that is the way the student group resisted this discrimination case by means of an academic boycott. Moreover, both the visual and text portions of this thesis offer a thorough analysis of what it means for minoritized and racialized voices to be silenced and delegitimized, and how censoring attempts affect Palestinian identity. Finally, the article provides a reflexive analysis that is meant to gauge the extent to which internalized sentiments of fear and paranoia within the movement at large influenced my own ability to gain access and trust throughout the realization of this study.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
The global climate crisis shows the need to take measures to reduce our emissions. With agriculture taking up more than half of the land in The Netherlands, policies to achieve this primarily focus...Show moreThe global climate crisis shows the need to take measures to reduce our emissions. With agriculture taking up more than half of the land in The Netherlands, policies to achieve this primarily focus on the agrarian sector. Consequently, the uncertainty for farmers’ future practices led to big national farmers’ protests, followed by a national win for the farmers’ party on a provincial level. With farming deeply rooted in culture and place, acknowledging the need to look at the social side of the issue is vital for establishing a sustainable agricultural system. This research uses visual ethnography’s strengths, giving insight into a sustainable practice in the Anthropocene and providing a new view of human-environment relationships. It does so by looking at a Dutch agroforestry farmer who acknowledges an inherent connection between humans and non-humans within his practices. Moreover, the motivation for his practices lies in his ideologies, prioritising non-human nature over humanity. These perspectives can help us find a way to overcome the agrarian crisis in The Netherlands by producing an alternate view on human-environment relationships. It overall inspires us to think that when we care for the non-human, we will ultimately take care of ourselves.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
The interest towards music of Turkey in Europe is growing in the last decade under the emerging genre of “Neo-Anatolian” music in relation to migrants from Turkey living in Germany. Even though...Show moreThe interest towards music of Turkey in Europe is growing in the last decade under the emerging genre of “Neo-Anatolian” music in relation to migrants from Turkey living in Germany. Even though migration studies have always put the conditions of guest workers from Turkey living in Germany under the magnifying glass, there hasn’t been much research regarding the relationship between the sense of nostalgia, material culture and music among new-wave migrants. This research was set out to bridge this gap. The research was conducted from January 2023 until March 2023 with new-wave migrants from Turkey living in Berlin by employing structured observation, participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and music elicitation interviews as methods. With the findings of the fieldwork and in relation to the existing literature, the research project concludes that nostalgia in relation to music is experienced to construct a relationship between the self and personal history, nostalgia became a commodified experience in the music scene with the revival of gazinos and the emergence of the arabesque genre among the new wave migrants and musical objects may help us to reconstruct certain memories and provide a material dimension to our personal history.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
Despite having been the most influential Jewish population in the world, seventy-eight years after the Shoah Jewish life in the Netherlands remains ambiguous. For Dutch Jews, especially those non-...Show moreDespite having been the most influential Jewish population in the world, seventy-eight years after the Shoah Jewish life in the Netherlands remains ambiguous. For Dutch Jews, especially those non- religious, a post-war memorialisation of genocide overwhelmingly determines what it means to be Jewish today. This Dutch post-war reality materializes in the omnipresence of Jewish death (monuments, memorials, and museums) and the absence of Jewish life (shops, bakeries, and restaurants) in Dutch public spaces which contributes to the invisibility of Jewish contemporary life, vitality and joy. This has led to a generational search for ways to reclaim, co-construct and make space for contemporary Dutch Jewish identity and life. This research is an expression of such a search, where it simultaneously explores and constructs a future-oriented rethinking of being and doing Jewish in a Dutch contemporary context. It does so by using ‘future-memory work’ as a methodological tool to explore what it could mean to be Jewish in the Netherlands today, making sense of a contemporary Jewish experience in relation to the past and the future. The study is an auto- ethnographic film project in which unaffiliated (not a member of a practising community) millennial Dutch Jews from Amsterdam, the Dutch city that had the largest Jewish population before the second world war, embark on a collaborative open-ended search for Jewish identity and community to learn about and beyond their families’ past.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
Exploring the countryside has been a phenomenon in the United Kingdom for many decades. In contemporary discourse, challenges to who frequents these landscapes have risen. Indeed, ethnic minorities...Show moreExploring the countryside has been a phenomenon in the United Kingdom for many decades. In contemporary discourse, challenges to who frequents these landscapes have risen. Indeed, ethnic minorities are underrepresented in the UK outdoors communities. As stories of human’s relation to nature are foremost told from Eurocentric, white, and male perspectives, this thesis centres Black women and women of colour who are members of the women’s outdoors organisation Bristol Steppin Sistas (BSS). Operating as a safe space for black women and women of colour, the organisation organises multiple walks a month to get local women to explore rural landscapes in the UK’s South West region. This ethnographic research comprises two complimentary elements: a 30 min.-long film, and an article, which examine the role walking and talking in nature plays in the daily lives of black British women. It uses data gathered from interlocutor observation of BSS members, semi-structured sit-down interviews, and un-structured walk-along interviews with three members of the group, during two months of fieldwork. This article has the dual purpose of making theoretical arguments and discussing methodological considerations in reference to the film. In doing so, three key themes emerge: (1) BSS challenges racial and gender stigmas around exploring British nature, (2) the group provides a safe space for its members to gain a sense of belonging, strengthening their individual identities, (3) Black British women living in urban areas need the outdoors to lessen anxieties and better physical health. By claiming space in the South West UK’s countryside, BSS provides an indispensable community for black women and women of colour living in the hectic urban environment of Bristol.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
The world of football is constantly changing and is now a global industry with employers, employees, investors, and consumers, and the football shirt can be seen as the commodity par excellence of...Show moreThe world of football is constantly changing and is now a global industry with employers, employees, investors, and consumers, and the football shirt can be seen as the commodity par excellence of this industry. However, both in professional and amateur football, the football shirt and other elements of football material culture, acquire meanings and value that exceed the consumeristic and capitalistic dynamics. Through Photo and Video Elicitation Interviews and Oral and Life History Interviews, the participants of this research project, who are six members of the Liberi Nantes amateur football club based in Rome, Italy, demonstrate how the club’ shirt is more than just a football shirt as it is something that reinforces their sense of belonging towards each other and towards the team, how this shirt becomes a lens through which it is possible to think about broader issues and questions such as migration flows and the movement of people, how elements of football material culture become the glue that connects the world of amateur football to the one of professional football, and how amateurs’ perspectives and opinions become interesting prompts for further discussions and reflections about the recent economic and financial changes in this sport and about a possible switch towards a non-Eurocentric football.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
Within anthropological studies about climate activists (Cassegård & Thörn, 2018; Haugestad et al., 2021; Knops, 2023; Spyrou et al., 2022; Weij, 2022, i.a.), the way they imagine the future is...Show moreWithin anthropological studies about climate activists (Cassegård & Thörn, 2018; Haugestad et al., 2021; Knops, 2023; Spyrou et al., 2022; Weij, 2022, i.a.), the way they imagine the future is often overlooked (Haugestad et al., 2021), even though this imagined future could be seen as the incentive for their actions. Taking this into account, the main objective of this article is to explore the imagined future of young climate activists in the Netherlands and the effect that the imagined future had on their lives in the present. The article is based on ethnographic fieldwork in the Netherlands among climate activists connected to the Extinction Rebellion movement. Through visual ethnography, in-depth interviews, experimental ethnography, participant observation and a reflective group video elicitation interview, I researched the present-day experiences of the activists from a future-focused approach. In doing so I answered my main research question: How does the imagined future of young climate activists affect their lives in the present? My main finding is that to the activists, the imagined future is intimately present in their lives, intertwined with their present experiences regarding their worldview, their affect, and the way they organize and devote their lives. With this research I hope to create more understanding of the experiences and motives of climate activists.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
In the Lebanese 17 October Revolution in 2019, protestors occupied The Egg, a ruinous landmark of Lebanon’s modern past. The Egg hosted many events like grassroots movements, dance raves, and...Show moreIn the Lebanese 17 October Revolution in 2019, protestors occupied The Egg, a ruinous landmark of Lebanon’s modern past. The Egg hosted many events like grassroots movements, dance raves, and cultural gatherings within months of protests against Lebanon’s degrading economic and political circumstances. The thesis argues that localized, sensorial notions of the past are disregarded in general historicist and anthropological accounts of the Global North. Framing the history of the Egg as a minor literature, as proposed by Deleuze and Guattari (1983), the thesis aims to highlight the agency of Lebanese people in co-constructing experiential narratives as powerful alternatives to hegemonic historical narratives in postcolonial context. Borrowing Naeff’s (2018) argument, which posits that time is necessarily related to space(s), I examines people’s experiences of time-space (i.e., chronotopes) with regard to the Egg. I draws on three interventions that I did with local artists to illustrate the potential of chronotopes: (1) a spacelicitation, or walking interview in and around the Egg together with a local photographer; (2) a performance inside the Egg with an opera singer; (3) a sound interpretation of the Egg with a music producer. This thesis is one of the first to combine a collaborative and multimodal ethnographic approach to study chronotopes. In line with Blommaert’s (2015) definition of polyphony, I argue that the study of multiple chronotopes of the Egg can provide a polyphonic historical account that is an alternative to traditional historicist narratives, because it gives way to the multiple sensibilities and voices that history contains of.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
Bonaire became part of the Netherlands as a special municipality on the 10th of October 2010. Since this institutional change, Bonaire has experienced an influx of Dutch immigrants, leading to...Show moreBonaire became part of the Netherlands as a special municipality on the 10th of October 2010. Since this institutional change, Bonaire has experienced an influx of Dutch immigrants, leading to significant transformations on the island which has sparked debates about the loss of Bonairian authenticity. This thesis explores these cultural differences through the concept of acoustemology, as proposed by Steven Feld. The perception of noise and sound is culturally dependent. This division between noise and sound contains a hierarchy of sounds, that is parallel to the hierarchy in the dominant meaning-making process that comes from a European Dutch hegemony on the island. What is considered noise on Bonaire is shaped through a Western lens. This implies that immigrants who relocate to Bonaire unknowingly bring their cultural perspectives on noise and sound with them. However, they do this unknowingly, which is the result of what Gloria Wekker calls white innocence. Drawing on two months of fieldwork, this research explains these connections through the lived experiences of several Bonairian Locals. Their realities from the base of the practice of soundscaping that is used to illustrate how perspectives on sound may differ between cultures. These soundscapes were placed on a map to contextualise Bonaire as an interconnected space. The research adopts a multimodal approach in another way, featuring an ethnographic film that highlights the issues faced by local participants and explores the evolving relationship between them and the European Dutch researcher, employing visual ethnographic methods. The study employs self-reflexivity to analyse this dynamic. The argument made is that an understanding of the local Bonairian lived experience can be obtained through the lens of analysing sound and this understanding is essential in the building of relationships between Bonairian locals and Dutch immigrants.Show less
