Abstract: Sultan Abdulhamid II, is considered by many to be the creator of Pan-Islamism. An ideology that seeks to unite Muslims around the world under political leadership of one ruler. Today,...Show moreAbstract: Sultan Abdulhamid II, is considered by many to be the creator of Pan-Islamism. An ideology that seeks to unite Muslims around the world under political leadership of one ruler. Today, this idea, which originated in a different colonial context, is still very much alive. That Abdulhamid was after a political instrument that undermined colonial authority is also accepted in historiography to this day. This research explains how this idea became accepted in academia and the public sphere due to a transnational network of Orientalists. Although each country had a different relationship towards the Ottoman Empire under Abdulhamid, Orientalists from those countries conducted their research on the Orient together in a connected international network. With the increasing academic achievement and connectedness of this network, their specific conclusions started to weigh more heavily. Internationally connected scholars influenced the knowledge formation during Abdulhamid’s reign between 1876-1909 to the extent that they introduced and adjusted certain terminology. Based on preserved correspondences, academic output and involvement in public debates traced in Dutch digital databases of newspapers, the understanding of the terminology they introduced themselves fell under their own authority. In the same era we also find a new form and changing practice of Orientalist research. The Orientalists started to travel more often and actually went to the Orient to carry out their fieldwork. As a result, more attention was paid to the religiopolitical sphere of the Orient fostering integration both ways. A shift in the perception of what was regarded science was the outcome. Scholars were expected to provide practically useful knowledge to one’s own country. As in the case of Snouck Hurgronje for the Netherlands, this turned the innovative Orientalist scholar into an authority who could provide the government practically useful knowledge. Scholars started to travel more often to the Orient while simultaneously staying involved in the European public and academic spheres. As a consequence, they were also seen as authorities in Europe. Because, who could better interpret the area than he who had seen it himself? Snouck Hurgronje and Arminius Vámbéry were two of the innovative mobile Orientalists that influenced knowledge formation regarding pan-Islam in the European continent from outside of it. Due to the authority their new method of Orientalist practice gave them, they found themselves in a position to be officially and publicly involved in matters related to Islam. Snouck Hurgronje’s acquired practical knowledge in the Dutch-Indies provided the international Orientalist network with an empirical gateway to the contemporary world of their subjects. Also, in the European public the same authority gave them a voice. Pan-Islam as a term was introduced, adapted and adjusted by independent Orientalist who conducted their field work for their own countries’ sake, but at the same time influenced academic and public opinion as well. Pan-Islam lends itself as a case study to understand knowledge formation as connected to colonial contexts, because the term was introduced and adapted by Orientalists whose authority derived from their new practical way of knowledge formation in the Orient.Show less
"The enforcement of Sharia law in Aceh, the northern-most province of Indonesia, has influenced debates on the preservation of women’s rights under Islamic rulings. Practices pursued by the local...Show more"The enforcement of Sharia law in Aceh, the northern-most province of Indonesia, has influenced debates on the preservation of women’s rights under Islamic rulings. Practices pursued by the local government have gained significant international attention. Certain rituals are considered infringements of fundamental human rights by international institutions; however, they could be sought by women and considered important steps in their personal growth. Through a case-study analysis on two main practices under Sharia law, namely caning as corporal punishment and female genital mutilation, this thesis will contribute to the global understanding of women’s rights and their relation to Islamic law and its cultural traditions. It will do so by generating insights into the potential violation of their rights in Aceh. Particularly, it will define how the separation of powers in the region and the incompetence of the law enforcement lead to discrimination against women. Finally, the thesis will suggest future research to focus more on a culturally dependent notion of human rights and analyse its impact on women’s rights."Show less
This thesis will argue that the collaboration between local elites in Aceh, the uleebalang, and the Dutch colonials after the establishment of civil governance in 1918 was an uneasy one. In...Show moreThis thesis will argue that the collaboration between local elites in Aceh, the uleebalang, and the Dutch colonials after the establishment of civil governance in 1918 was an uneasy one. In contrast with existing historiography that depicted the position of uleebalang merely as the henchmen of the colonial authorities, this thesis will examine a specific event, that is the involvement of several uleebalang in North Aceh into the mass organization Sarekat Islam (Union of Islam) in the 1920s, to provide new insight into the nature of the collaboration and the making of modern political life in Aceh. In brief, this case presented anxiety and distrust of Dutch officials towards their local collaborator, the uleebalang, due to their activity in Sarekat Islam. By focusing on 1918-1923, this thesis attempts to analyze how Aceh was integrated into the colonial administration of the Dutch East Indies by means of collaboration with its local elites, the uleebalang. Rather than looking at the selected events of Sarekat Islam in North Aceh merely as local dynamics as previous research has done, this thesis will discuss the connection between local events with wider networks of anti-colonial resistance in the Dutch East Indies between 1918-1923. In doing so, this thesis aims to fill the gap in the historiography of colonial Aceh in its early years of civil rule while also contributing to the historiography of colonial civil administration of the Dutch East Indies.Show less
This thesis elaborates the development of anti-colonial movement in the east coast of Aceh, wherein the railway network stretched, during the late colonial period (1926-1932). Each chapter in this...Show moreThis thesis elaborates the development of anti-colonial movement in the east coast of Aceh, wherein the railway network stretched, during the late colonial period (1926-1932). Each chapter in this thesis based on a separate set of sources: the annual reports 'Politiek Toestand in Aceh' from the Archive of the Ministry of the Colonies and two Malay-language publication, 'Soeara Atjeh' and 'Kareta Api'. By looking at these different sources, one could identify how the movements in Aceh resonate within a wider anti-colonial movement in Dutch East Indies.Show less
Through quantative analysis Siri Aas Rustad and Helga Malmin Binningsbø, in their 2012 joint study ‘A price worth fighting for? Natural resources and conflict recurrence’, find that there is a...Show moreThrough quantative analysis Siri Aas Rustad and Helga Malmin Binningsbø, in their 2012 joint study ‘A price worth fighting for? Natural resources and conflict recurrence’, find that there is a significant correlation between conflict recurrence and conflicts over natural resource revenue distribution. This paper takes this study and tests whether their quantative findings can be applied to two cases. The aim of this paper is to gain a greater understanding of the motivations of actors who spoil peace agreements concerning petroleum conflicts. The motivations tested are economic grievance over distribution of oil, greed displayed by belligerents wanting a greater share of wealth than they are entitled to, and political motives of actors who use a recurrence of conflict to achieve or promote their political goals. The two case studies considered are the Aceh conflict concerning the breakdown of the 2002 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, and the Chechen conflict featuring the breakdown of the 1996 Khasavyurt Agreement and the peace process thereafter.Show less
