Out of the many examples that contribute to the global rise in right-wing extremist sentiments, Malaysia cannot be excluded. Malaysia is known as a multi-ethnic and culturally diverse nation....Show moreOut of the many examples that contribute to the global rise in right-wing extremist sentiments, Malaysia cannot be excluded. Malaysia is known as a multi-ethnic and culturally diverse nation. However, this public identity is in contrast with the political reality of Malaysia. This multi-ethnicity comes paired with ethnic segregation, where political parties only represent their ‘own’ ethnicity and their ‘own’ people. Though the ethnic Malay community is the most privileged in the country, politicians spread the idea that the ethnic Malays are under a constant threat of marginalization by ethnic minorities. To take this a step further, the privileged position of the ethnic Malay community is protected through the Constitution, resulting in the exclusion of ethnic minorities from political and public spheres. Advocating for ethnic equality and inclusive politics is considered to be going against the Constitution and is taken as a direct attempt at subordinating the Malay community. This has resulted in far-right sentiments surrounding the position of the Malay community vis-àvis the ethnic minorities. In this context, this paper analyses how institutionalized practices of ethnic segregation in Malaysia have created an environment of right-wing extremism.Show less
Leaving one’s home is never an easy undertaking. Whether having left voluntarily or not, migrants face various challenges in their new host states. Many rely on their co-nationals and diaspora...Show moreLeaving one’s home is never an easy undertaking. Whether having left voluntarily or not, migrants face various challenges in their new host states. Many rely on their co-nationals and diaspora communities to remain connected to their homeland and to navigate their new host countries. One way to remain connected to the home country are joking relationships. Prevalent in West African states, joking relationships or cousinage assume make-believe family ties, which in turn allow people to jokingly insult their “cousins”. Commonly known as traditional conflict resolution techniques, these relationships play important roles in people’s everyday life. This thesis investigates the impact that cousinage has on the community of the Senegalese diaspora in Germany, as well as the question whether diaspora activity and involvement can facilitate integration. In the course of this thesis, an in-depth case study of the Senegalese diaspora in Germany was conducted, for which 28 members of the diaspora were interviewed. The research found that joking relationships are a way for the diaspora to create community feeling based on ethnic and national identities. Furthermore, the thesis shows that diaspora involvement facilitates the integration process of migrants by offering active support.Show less
An in-depth analysis of the linguistic features and the use of verbs and adjectives in fantasy literature was done to establish whether gender, culture, and time had any influence in relation to...Show moreAn in-depth analysis of the linguistic features and the use of verbs and adjectives in fantasy literature was done to establish whether gender, culture, and time had any influence in relation to character related verbs and adjectives. The analysis is based on two different female authors: Nalini Singh and Sarah J. Maas. The two authors were born into different cultures, are from different ethnicities, and are part of different generations. A sample of passages was selected from several of their published works which contain descriptions of the characters’ personality and appearance, and/or contains verbs that describe actions performed by or to the protagonist. Verbs and adjectives that met the criteria were analysed and divided into different categories, such as transactive/non-transactive, and descriptive/non-descriptive adjectives. The sets of data were compared to each other and analysed based on prior research in order to determine which author could be considered to be more progressive and why.Show less
This thesis examines ethnic conflicts in contemporary Fiji through historicizing this social phenomenon. Considering Fiji’s colonial past and its post-colonial time, it also investigates the idea...Show moreThis thesis examines ethnic conflicts in contemporary Fiji through historicizing this social phenomenon. Considering Fiji’s colonial past and its post-colonial time, it also investigates the idea of race and its relationships between colonialism and nationalism, arguing that the racial categories used in Fiji’s ethnic conflicts were first created under several colonial practices and were strengthened during the nation-building process of Fiji. Apart from that, based on firsthand interviews with locals, this thesis proposes that the racial rhetoric mainly around indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians reflects the iTaukei-vulagi contradictions in their everyday life. This thesis also takes this ethnic tension further and connects it with a concrete case study field—the Fiji Museum—to see how this ethnic tension in Fiji has become an ideology of exclusion through nation-building processes that have permeated every aspect of Fijian society.Show less
This thesis seeks to explore and understand the manner in which elite actors in Iraq constructed the sectarian violence in 2006 between the Shia and Sunni communities. To comprehensively analyse...Show moreThis thesis seeks to explore and understand the manner in which elite actors in Iraq constructed the sectarian violence in 2006 between the Shia and Sunni communities. To comprehensively analyse this period, this paper will make use of Dexter and Jackson's framework "the Social Construction of Organised Political Violence". It will show how elites – called agents of political violence – used specific discourses and discursive sites to bring about the conditions necessary for political sectarian violence. However, this paper also argues that one cannot understand the sectarian violence in 2006 outside of the context of the U.S' invasion and subsequent occupation.Show less
This thesis explores the social landscape of nineteenth century Melaka. It surveys the various communities present and their historical roots in the region, as well the relations of these groups...Show moreThis thesis explores the social landscape of nineteenth century Melaka. It surveys the various communities present and their historical roots in the region, as well the relations of these groups with each other and the colonial regime.Show less
Right-wing populism is becoming increasingly popular in Western Europe, this is also evident when looking at the Netherlands. Geert Wilders, party leader of the Partij Voor de Vrijheid (PVV), has...Show moreRight-wing populism is becoming increasingly popular in Western Europe, this is also evident when looking at the Netherlands. Geert Wilders, party leader of the Partij Voor de Vrijheid (PVV), has been the face of right-wing populism in the Netherlands for a long time, however, it seems that he has now been replaced by Thierry Baudet. Baudet is the party leader of the Forum voor Democratie (FvD), the two-year-old party has managed to win the provincial elections back in March of this year. With the rise of right-wing populist rhetoric, also the exclusion of people has become prominent. This thesis aims to research and analyse how the rhetoric of contemporary right-wing parties contributes to discrimination and xenophobia in the Netherlands.Show less
This thesis examines the contradictions at the heart of Malaysia's national narrative, where the perception of a unified national Malaysian identity conflicts with such institutional ethnic-based...Show moreThis thesis examines the contradictions at the heart of Malaysia's national narrative, where the perception of a unified national Malaysian identity conflicts with such institutional ethnic-based laws and rights as exemplified by the NEP. It investigates if the possibility of middle class affiliation, as illustrated by the Bersih movement, offers an alternative way of imagining Malaysian identity that transcends persistent ethno-religious classifications, moving towards a sense of universal, inclusive citizenship.Show less
In 2001, the Chinese government officially recognized Zhongdian County in Yunnan Province as Shangri-La, which is a fictional concept that signifies paradise introduced by the British author James...Show moreIn 2001, the Chinese government officially recognized Zhongdian County in Yunnan Province as Shangri-La, which is a fictional concept that signifies paradise introduced by the British author James Hilton (1933). Ever since the region has been renamed, some visitors have started to express that Shangri-La County has transformed into a theme park and has lost its authenticity. The current essay explored, by using Bryman’s (2004) theory of Disneyization as a framework, whether it can be said that the name change into Shangri-La has changed the region into a theme park. The resources of this research were scholarly literature, travel blogs and TripAdvisor reviews about Shangri-La. Of the four principles mentioned in Disneyization, that all describe a trend common to a theme park, the principles of theming, hybrid consumption and merchandising were all found to be take place in the Shangri-La region. Only performative labor, as defined in the theory, was considerably less present in Shangri-La County. However, in regard to how Chinese theme parks (like Yunnan Ethnic Folk Village) function, such as the lack of smiling service, the principle of performative labor may still apply to Shangri-La. Thus, the result indicates that Shangri-La is comparable to a theme park and that how the theory of Disneyization is defined currently has no universal validity because it takes no cultural differences in account. Furthermore, in view of Jean Baudrillard’s (1994) account of postmodernism, Shangri-La is similar to a theme park in that they both create a hyper-reality in which a highly similar but ‘unreal’ reality is experienced by visitors through the processes of simulation or simulacrum. In this sense, the Shangri-La narrative has bestowed a frame by which tourists started to percept and experience the region’s authenticity. However, considering that Western tourists are predominantly the ones seeking authenticity in Shangri-La – may it be an authentic setting or an authentic self – it is their confrontation with the touristic environments like Dukezong that sways them to evaluate the region as a theme park. The voices of the local population and Chinese tourists were not brought into account in the current research; future research should therefore explore deeper how these groups’ experience the changes in Shangri-La County.Show less
In this thesis, I analysed and interpreted 9 articles of the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the CCP, that most immediately followed the 5 July Urumqi events in 2009. When analysing, I...Show moreIn this thesis, I analysed and interpreted 9 articles of the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the CCP, that most immediately followed the 5 July Urumqi events in 2009. When analysing, I focused on how the authors of the newspaper frame the Uyghur ethnic group. I expected that this newspaper would frame this ethnic group in a negative way and that the riots would be described as terroristic and a danger to the unity of the PRC. However, Most of my expectations of the analysis turned out to be untrue. The People’s Daily did not frame the Uyghur ethnic group in a negative way, as it did not even mention the existence of this group. It did frame the organizers, planners, and ‘bandits’ of these events in a negative way, but the articles never relate them to the Uyghur ethnic group. Also, the articles never related the events to terrorism directly. While they stated that the events threatened the unity of the Chinese multi-ethnic nation, the term terrorism was only indirectly linked with the 5 July events. This denial of the existence of a Uyghur collective identity can be interpreted as a matter of power, as the Uyghur separatists can not take part in the discourse created by these articles without being associated with the malicious forces from abroad. However, the articles frame the Uyghur ethnic group indirectly within the nationalist discourse of ethnic unity. I argue that the articles of the People’s Daily, by repeating the importance of maintaining ethnic unity and opposing ethnic discrimination, reflect the CCP policy of ronghe. Ronghe means the assimilation of the minorities to the majority, the Han. By not blaming the Uyghur ethnic group, but some far away vague forces and organizations, the CCP tries to maintain the Chinese multi-ethnic nation, including the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.Show less
This thesis examines the relation between post-colonial Kenyan nationalism and ethnicity, and the construction of modern Kenyan identities. It analyses how hybrid identifications are created in...Show moreThis thesis examines the relation between post-colonial Kenyan nationalism and ethnicity, and the construction of modern Kenyan identities. It analyses how hybrid identifications are created in light of a Western colonial education in Kenya, as well as increased urbanisation and Westernisation.Show less
The thesis approaches the complex of ethnicity in Rwanda under German colonial rule (1885-1916) and focuses on how Rwandan social structures were perceived by German colonialists and influenced by...Show moreThe thesis approaches the complex of ethnicity in Rwanda under German colonial rule (1885-1916) and focuses on how Rwandan social structures were perceived by German colonialists and influenced by their policy. The research question – what was the German approach to ethnicity in the former protectorate of Rwanda, what informed it, and how did it impinge on the society? – already suggests that this period is severely under-researched. Challenging the contemporary discourse that it was the Belgian rule under which Hutu and Tutsi were divided into two premordial entities, the thesis argues that it was earlier, during the German period, that social differences were introduced as racial differences. This argument gets developed on the basis of archive material and with a focus on four key personalities who were implementing German racial ideology in Rwanda by translating it into colonial policy. Without attributing direct responsibility for the 1994 genocide to the German rule, the case shows that the search for root causes of ethnic conflict in Rwanda must consider this timespan as a crucial incision for the further developments that tore society apart along racial lines.Show less
Events of extreme ethnic violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda shook up the international community in the 1990s. In the years after genocide and ethnic cleansing both countries employed in...Show moreEvents of extreme ethnic violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda shook up the international community in the 1990s. In the years after genocide and ethnic cleansing both countries employed in different strategies for rehabilitating ethnic groups and mitigating ethnic tensions. This thesis focuses on the electoral institutions, and thereby aims to contribute to the literature on power sharing institutions. In Bosnia international actors have attempted to reconcile ethnic groups by dividing power in the country’s most important political institutions along ethnic lines. Though Bosnia has remained peaceful in the last two decades, cooperation between the Bosniak, Croat and Serbian ethnic minorities has proven difficult. The Office of the High Representative has used his ‘Bonn powers’ frequently to pass legislation or remove politicians that frustrated the peace process. In Rwanda the story is entirely different. The Arusha Peace Agreement of 1993 entailed democratization and power sharing between the Hutu government and Tutsi rebels, the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF). However, in a society in civil war, where ethnic discrimination was prevalent, power sharing catalysed a genocide. Now the RPF are in firm control of Rwanda’s political institutions. The RPF aims to ban the notion of ethnicity from the political sphere.Show less
