Since, as anthropologists and cultural critics have argued, food and food practices constitute a system of communication that conveys social meaning, food as a cultural and social practice and as a...Show moreSince, as anthropologists and cultural critics have argued, food and food practices constitute a system of communication that conveys social meaning, food as a cultural and social practice and as a literary trope provides insight into society and culture and the identities they produce. If we are what we eat, food is an important means to define and, more specifically, perform our identities. In a globalizing world, in which both people and products constantly travel, food follows migratory flows. When placed in a political, economic, and cultural context food functions as a boundary marker as well as a boundary crosser. This makes food a useful trope in postcolonial and other migrant literature in particular, as these novels explore the effects of migration and cultural encounters on the formation, negotiation, and performance of identities. Placing my reading of Desai’s postcolonial novel The Inheritance of Loss in the theoretical framework of food theories, I will argue that Desai uses food as a metaphorical instrument not only to deconstruct colonial identities, such as that of the Anglophile judge and his friends, and fixed ethnic identities, such as Biju’s, but also to imagine more fluid, multiple, migrant identities, such as Saeed Saeed’s, and to focus attention on unequal power relations and the fluidity of nationhood and national identity.Show less
This paper explores how ‘foreignness’, in the form of recipes, was included and excluded from nineteenth century Dutch cookbooks. This was a time of low migration in the Netherlands. However, while...Show moreThis paper explores how ‘foreignness’, in the form of recipes, was included and excluded from nineteenth century Dutch cookbooks. This was a time of low migration in the Netherlands. However, while other factors, such as political developments, the rise of the middle class and the development of more cosmopolitan identities were all important, the influence of migrants over the inclusion of foreign content in the cookbooks should not be discounted. The openness of Dutch society to these culinary innovations was indicative of attitudes in other spheres.Show less
The thesis analyzes the role of memories of past emigrations within the context of discourses on immigration, integration and citizenship policy-making in Spain from 1980 to 2010. It contends that...Show moreThe thesis analyzes the role of memories of past emigrations within the context of discourses on immigration, integration and citizenship policy-making in Spain from 1980 to 2010. It contends that these memories were a crucial part of the discourse of policy-makers in the process of the transition of Spain from being a country of emigration to being an immigrant-receiving society. The thesis analyzes in depth how memories are employed by different sides of the political spectrum in different manners to cater to different political aims. From this empirical analysis it seeks to draw a theoretical understanding of the role of collective memories of emigration in the context of a country's migrational transition.Show less
This thesis is about the life of the Surinamese women in the Netherlands. The Surinamese are one of the largest populations in the Netherlands. There has been a continuous emigration from Suriname...Show moreThis thesis is about the life of the Surinamese women in the Netherlands. The Surinamese are one of the largest populations in the Netherlands. There has been a continuous emigration from Suriname to the Netherlands for almost 40 years and it has always been an interesting question if the Surinamese people really could fully integrate in the Dutch society. Likeall women, Surinamese women have been trying to improve their position into society. Among other reasons, they came to the Netherlands for this particular reason. Whether it regards the structural integration or the socio-cultural integration,the Surinamese women have always been facing challenges while integrating. Because of these aspects and the still increasing arrival from the Surinamese women in the Netherlands, it is getting more important to investigate this particular demographic group and the possible integration challenges they may be facing. So, this study explores the question: “What difficulties and possibilities are experienced by the Surinamese women living in the Netherlands?"Show less
The famous archaeological site of Bamiyan in present day Afghanistan, besides portraying grand achievements of culture and religion, was also the foci for trans migration around the Hindu Kush...Show moreThe famous archaeological site of Bamiyan in present day Afghanistan, besides portraying grand achievements of culture and religion, was also the foci for trans migration around the Hindu Kush region. Between the 5th and 8th centuries, Bamiyan and other adjacent archaeological sites in Central Asia, were connected by a highly developed network of trade. The visual culture of Bamiyan, aside from the two Great Buddhas, suggests there was a necessity to represent ideology and power of the social elite in symbolic ways. At Bamiyan, frescos depict many figures with different type headdresses or crowns. The depiction of these crowns is also found in other archaeological sites and on coins distributed throughout present day Central Asia and China. The details of a headdress or crown suggest characteristics of the social or political identities of the individual or group depicted. The similar type crowns found on figures in other geographical contexts may indicate a degree of interaction between Bamiyan and other religious and trade centers.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
closed access
My main interest is to investigate the adjustment of the young returning migrants to the Caribbean. Attention will be paid to their status in terms of cultural adjustment and settlement. The...Show moreMy main interest is to investigate the adjustment of the young returning migrants to the Caribbean. Attention will be paid to their status in terms of cultural adjustment and settlement. The gendered nature of their experience of return migration will be specifically considered. How race intersects and impacts the processes of return migration will be also examined. Special attention will be given to the socio-economic aspect of the young returnee’s lives; here the position of the young returnee in the employment market is going to be analyzed. By concentrating on this relatively small group I take distance from populations such as returning retirees which has been widely studied in the Caribbean migration studies.Show less
Between 1945 and 2001 possibilities for homosexual men to move to the Netherlands improved considerably. This thesis examines how and why this development took place. In 1967 for the first time men...Show moreBetween 1945 and 2001 possibilities for homosexual men to move to the Netherlands improved considerably. This thesis examines how and why this development took place. In 1967 for the first time men were allowed to stay in the Netherlands officially, despite their sexuality. From 1974 partner migration became possible, allowing the foreign partner to stay 'because' of his sexuality. In 1981 the Netherlands was the first country that allowed asylum seekers to be granted refugee status on the basis of their sexuality. Main reasons for this change are the secularisation of the Netherlands, a liberalisation of family law, progressive politics in the 1970s because of the social (and sexual) revolutions in the 1960s. Also very important was the emergence of the gay emancipation movement in the Netherlands which became politically active in the 1970s. Nevertheless, implementation of these novel opportunities to settle in the Netherlands proved more difficult. Local police forces applied their own moral judgments on immigrants and it took until the 1990s before a homosexual asylum seeker was granted refugee status for his sexuality. This thesis therefore argues that the Netherlands wanted to show abroad how progressive its policies were, while practically, the results of the policies were not so progressive at all. Nevertheless, the Netherlands became to be known abroad as a safe haven for homosexual men. This was an image that the Dutch government tried to avoid in the 1960s, while it embraced the image in the 1990s. This thesis adds to the debate of policy change, as well as to the debate around the difference between policy and practice, taking immigration of homosexual men as a case study.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
This study shows that Afrikaans speaking South African immigrants living in the Netherlands create a sense of home and belonging through a variety of products, activities and networks. They do this...Show moreThis study shows that Afrikaans speaking South African immigrants living in the Netherlands create a sense of home and belonging through a variety of products, activities and networks. They do this within the institutional framework, consisting of rules, regulations and constraints of the Netherlands. Like the respondent who smuggles in Grandpa powder, a headache powder used in South Africa, although EU regulations do not allow this. Blockages thus also exist after one has migrated, and are not only of influence during the process of migration from one place to another. Within the institutional framework of the Netherlands, Afrikaans speaking South Africans have found several ways to make use of products, activities and networks in their efforts to feel at ease.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
Migrant children are an unexamined subject, even though they experience several interesting processes in adapting to a new society. Migrant children who are residing in Rosettenville have...Show moreMigrant children are an unexamined subject, even though they experience several interesting processes in adapting to a new society. Migrant children who are residing in Rosettenville have integrated well into the South African society and enjoy living in South Africa. The research showed a pattern among the migrant children which is connected with the relationship the children have with their country of origin. The children either choose to keep a connection with their home country or not to maintain a bond with their home country, which determines the way children acculturate in the society and develop a sense of belonging. Coherent to this is the division between home and school, whereby some children who value their home situation more, compared with children who are more interested in everything outside their home situation, including school, friends and the South African society. This again is related to the relationship the children have with their country or origin, whether they choose to value home or school. Even though they have migrated to a new country, the country of origin will always play a role in the lives of migrant children.Show less
By means of a sample of 200 railway, post and police workers from the Leiden population register around 1900 patterns and systems are found out concerning career migration in the Netherlands. The...Show moreBy means of a sample of 200 railway, post and police workers from the Leiden population register around 1900 patterns and systems are found out concerning career migration in the Netherlands. The sample is analysed on migration patterns like city of birth, city of provenance and city of departure, on ages and family situations and on adresses in Leiden.Show less
This thesis explores how participants of Dutch migration to Canada in the 1920s portrayed this migration in the Dutch newspapers,by analyzing newspaper articles.
Research master thesis | History: Societies and Institutions (research) (MA)
open access
German migrants have a reputation of creating a blooming associational life in their places of settlement. Therefore, a better understanding of German migrant life might be acquired if we better...Show moreGerman migrants have a reputation of creating a blooming associational life in their places of settlement. Therefore, a better understanding of German migrant life might be acquired if we better understand the associational life of these migrants. This thesis tries to provide a functionalist account of German associational life abroad based on case studies of the sailors homes and German schools in the German colonies of Antwerp and Rotterdam in the early twentieth century. Though it is often assumed that nationalist considerations and pressures from sending states are decisive in shaping the functionality of migrant organizations, I argue that the economic, moral and class related interests of the local environment provide a more elucidating picture of the functioning of the researched migrant organizations.Show less
