This research concerns the identity of the Taliban as a non-state actor in the political environment of Afghanistan. Although much has been written on identity from a constructivist perspective,...Show moreThis research concerns the identity of the Taliban as a non-state actor in the political environment of Afghanistan. Although much has been written on identity from a constructivist perspective, very few authors do so from the perspective of a ‘bad actor’ and none have been found that describe the Taliban’s identity based on its own discourse. This research will do so by analyzing statements of the Taliban made on its website on what they state about the Taliban’s relational comparisons. Using this analysis, the Taliban’s identity is described using Abdelal et al.’s four elements of identity: the actor’s cognitive model, its relational comparisons, its social purposes, and its constitutive norms.Show less
The topic of this thesis revolves around the identity of the Indisch Dutch in the Dutch East Indies during the Second World War and the Bersiap period. This topic has been researched through the...Show moreThe topic of this thesis revolves around the identity of the Indisch Dutch in the Dutch East Indies during the Second World War and the Bersiap period. This topic has been researched through the perspective of societal security, as put forward by the approach of the Copenhagen School in the Critical Security Studies, combined with Rogers Brubakers’ theorization of identity. It combines ethnic identity and ‘securitization’ in such a way that there is being investigated if an identity can be shaped, or further developed, by the occupier to ‘securitize’ this group (i.e. to identify them as an existential threat to society).Show less
