India has a mixed stance on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) norm due to its partial support to only pillars one and two and not pillar three. The first two pillars go hand in hand with the...Show moreIndia has a mixed stance on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) norm due to its partial support to only pillars one and two and not pillar three. The first two pillars go hand in hand with the country’s foreign policy on humanitarian assistance. The third pillar that states the responsibility of the international community to protect citizens from mass atrocities using militarily intervention is incompatible with Indian foreign policy’s longstanding commitment to sovereignty and non-intervention. To comprehend India’s stance on the R2P norm, this thesis traces India’s views on the earlier principle of humanitarian intervention. India’s past humanitarian interventions into its neighbours have taught the country that social change cannot be achieved through forced military intervention. While India has always been suspicious of western intentions behind intervention, the R2P norm is also a direct threat to India’s own sovereignty as it focuses on India’s domestic vulnerabilities such as its human rights situation. Combining Amitav Acharya’s theory of norm localisation and feedback, and Negron-Gonazales’ and Contarino’s theory on compatibility between strategic interests and local norms, this thesis argues that localization of the R2P norm has not been possible in India due to incompatibility of its strategic interests, domestic norms or both with the third pillar of the R2P norm. In order to localize and accept the norm, India has attempted to limit the definition of mass atrocities under the norm to ease the threat on India’s own sovereignty.Show less
In de 17e en 18e eeuw voerde de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie handel op de Malabarkust. De belangrijkste reden waarom ze in dit gebied handel dreven was de grote hoeveelheid peper van...Show moreIn de 17e en 18e eeuw voerde de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie handel op de Malabarkust. De belangrijkste reden waarom ze in dit gebied handel dreven was de grote hoeveelheid peper van hoogwaardige kwaliteit waar deze organisatie een monopoliepositie over probeerde te verkrijgen. Om dit streven te bewerkstelligen was het voor de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie noodzakelijk om goede relaties te onderhouden met de vier grote rijken in dit gebied (en met name het rijk Cochin) en de grote hoeveelheid kleinere rijken in dit gebied. De heersers van deze rijken hadden echter vaak een ander idee over hun relatie met de Compagnie waardoor er vaak onderlinge verschillen waren tussen de verschillende partijen. Op de problematiek in dit gebied worden theorieen zoals de theatre state, segmented state en de patrimonial state op los gelaten waardoor er een beter beeld naar voren komt van de verschillen in optiek van de verschillende partijen.Show less
Climate change is a controversial concept. While in the US the debate is ongoing to whether it is caused by humans, in India anthropogenic climate change is largely endorsed. Here, the dispute...Show moreClimate change is a controversial concept. While in the US the debate is ongoing to whether it is caused by humans, in India anthropogenic climate change is largely endorsed. Here, the dispute concerns the question of responsibility; they are engaged in a debate dealing with the issue of historical versus current emissions, and the concept of equity and climate justice. Media coverage of climate change in India has changed largely over the years. Firstly dominated by the concept of carbon colonialism and a nationalist discourse, it gradually shifted towards a co-benefits approach and green growth narrative. Whereas in the early 2000’s media coverage was largely framed along a risk-responsibility and North-South divide, with the Copenhagen summit in 2009 the narrative had become more nuanced and India’s growing emissions were no longer ignored. During the negotiations in Paris, both the risk-responsibility as well as the North-South divide could be observed again and much attention was given to India’s vulnerability to climate change.Show less
This thesis aims at analysing the foreign policy paradigm shift that happened in India in the post-liberalisation period, by focusing on the transformation of the non-alignment strategy towards a...Show moreThis thesis aims at analysing the foreign policy paradigm shift that happened in India in the post-liberalisation period, by focusing on the transformation of the non-alignment strategy towards a multi-alignment strategy in order for India to preserve and further its economic interests, but also its maritime and energy security through various strategic partnerships and joint military action with the example of the Look East/Act East Policy, or the Indo-US nuclear deal.Show less
This thesis gives an overview of programs used by the Government of India, from independence until today, to improve conditions in the country's slums and critically analyzes the contents of India...Show moreThis thesis gives an overview of programs used by the Government of India, from independence until today, to improve conditions in the country's slums and critically analyzes the contents of India's current urban poverty alleviation and slum improvement program, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Housing for All). The aim of this analysis not only is to determine how well India's slum improvement policies help to improve the conditions in slums, but specifically how well these policies address the determinants of health in slums. The thesis argues that although in theory slum improvement programs can have a positive influence on determinants of health and well-being, in India, implementation of programs has been fraught with challenges and it is unlikely this will change anytime soon. A lack of political will seems to be one major reason for the absence of large-scale improvements in living conditions in India's slums.Show less
Bachelor thesis | South and Southeast Asian Studies (BA)
closed access
This thesis will explore the effectiveness of the unique developmental approach of the Indian Women's Union SEWA. This women's union and activist network works through the agency of self-employed...Show moreThis thesis will explore the effectiveness of the unique developmental approach of the Indian Women's Union SEWA. This women's union and activist network works through the agency of self-employed women to empower and develop. By using the conceptual debate of structure and agency, this thesis will make a contribution to the effectiveness of projects for women empowerment in India.Show less
Glas was in de vroegmoderne tijd een populair voorwerp in Europa. Het heeft bijgedragen aan de wetenschappelijke revolutie en de renaissance. Glas werd ook veel gebruikt als exportproduct naar Azië...Show moreGlas was in de vroegmoderne tijd een populair voorwerp in Europa. Het heeft bijgedragen aan de wetenschappelijke revolutie en de renaissance. Glas werd ook veel gebruikt als exportproduct naar Azië. Waar ging het dan naar toe? En was het in Azië ook een gewild product? In deze scriptie zoek ik naar antwoorden op deze vragen.Show less
This thesis studies India's diplomatic relations with its western neighbours- namely- Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the context of increasing threats to its domestic and regional security, India has...Show moreThis thesis studies India's diplomatic relations with its western neighbours- namely- Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the context of increasing threats to its domestic and regional security, India has adopted a "soft power" approach in achieving its strategic interests. Through qualitative case selection, this thesis dwells into India's diplomatic approach especially through the study of water diplomacy in the case of Pakistan and public diplomacy in the case of Afghanistan. In this context, this thesis associate security concerns of the three countries with their national interests, particularly focusing on India. The underlying conclusion of this thesis is that while a hard power approach or use of coercion may serve as a base to further "soft power" approach, India needs to maintain a delicate balance between the two approaches for achieving regional stability and ensuring national security.Show less
People’s physical appearances and beauty ‘from the outside’ have been part of a variety of cultural discourses for a long time in history. Though, in more recent times, human bodies have...Show morePeople’s physical appearances and beauty ‘from the outside’ have been part of a variety of cultural discourses for a long time in history. Though, in more recent times, human bodies have increasingly fell subject to the democratization of social norms and values, and as a result the body has become a reflection of symbolic meanings (Baghel et al., 2014). In culturally-diverse India, the image of beauty has been changing continuously but it is argued that one perspective on Indian physical beauty has remained quite stable (or at least appears to exist in contemporary India): the aspiration of having lighter skin colors (Kumar, 2002; Glenn, 2008). Even though many researchers recognized that racial categorizations based on skin colors have been reduced in different parts of the world, there still appears to be a correlation between beauty, skin color and social identity among some people in the Indian society today (Glenn, 2008). In examining to what extent skin lightening practices and aspirations have shifted from India to the Netherlands in a transnational context, the goal is to find out the perceived sense of racial consciousness of first-generation Indian migrants living in diaspora in the Netherlands. Grounded in the theories of Social Constructivism by Berger and Luckmann and Racial Identity theory by Helms, this thesis concludes that 1. Migration to the Netherlands has not changed the racial awareness of first-generation Indian migrants consciously 2. Skin color does play a role - though marginal - in migrant’s Indian intracultural environment in terms of marriages, but it is not significant in their Dutch intercultural environment. 3. Most of the first-generation Indian migrants living in the Netherlands do not use fairness creams, and if they do, it is for medical reasons rather than to match cultural and aspirational expectations.Show less
This thesis describes in a broad manner India's current bilateral and multilateral collaborations with Central Asian countries on the topics of Energy, Trade and Security Cooperation. Subsequently...Show moreThis thesis describes in a broad manner India's current bilateral and multilateral collaborations with Central Asian countries on the topics of Energy, Trade and Security Cooperation. Subsequently it analyses the reasons and factors that underlie the current situation of India's strategic position in Central Asia, which requires taking into account the (political) actions of other regional actors like Russia and China. Through a re-appreciation of Morgenthau's theory on International Relations, this thesis will argue why India's minor strategic position has both historical and contemporary political reasons.Show less
