This thesis examines Dutch knowledge and representations of early modern Barbary and its peoples, through analyses of ethnographic descriptions, newspapers and captivity narratives. On the basis of...Show moreThis thesis examines Dutch knowledge and representations of early modern Barbary and its peoples, through analyses of ethnographic descriptions, newspapers and captivity narratives. On the basis of the first two bodies of texts, it argues that detailed and specific information on Barbary was available to a relatively large audience. Captivity narratives, on the other hand, reveal that this information was not necessarily picked up by the Dutch public, as the words their authors used to designate North African polities and peoples were rather abstract, and more closely resembled stereotypes projected upon Barbary.Show less
Research master thesis | African Studies (research) (MA)
open access
2020-09-01T00:00:00Z
This thesis is an attempt to place the decline of the Marinid Empire in a wider perspective, in order to gain a better understanding of the causes of the decline. Although long considered to be a...Show moreThis thesis is an attempt to place the decline of the Marinid Empire in a wider perspective, in order to gain a better understanding of the causes of the decline. Although long considered to be a weak and ineffective polity in modern historiography, the Marinid Empire was perhaps one of the wealthiest polities of the medieval world. By controlling and facilitating the Trans-Saharan trade networks, the Marinids had access to the largest source of gold in their time, which enabled them to become an important regional polity. Their relative short reign and quick collapse however, cast a shadow over their legacy. But what caused their collapse? This thesis focused on the influence of the Black Death and its possible causative role in the decline of the Trans-Saharan gold trade. By doing so, a series of interesting correlations emerge that suggest that there is a causative relation between the arrival of the Black Death in West Africa, the decline of the Trans Saharan gold trade in the late 14th century and the Marinid decline itself.Show less
The question of the negative Chinese impact in African countries needs to be discussed in wider terms than positive or negative. Indeed, Chinese investment and behavior in Africa have been...Show moreThe question of the negative Chinese impact in African countries needs to be discussed in wider terms than positive or negative. Indeed, Chinese investment and behavior in Africa have been questioned, as for instance about the trade imbalance in China’s favor, its impact on domestic markets and industrialization process and also the impact of its high competitiveness, which are seen as hurting African economies. Chinese goods dumped in African countries are highly price-competitive manufactured goods, and most of African economies have an underdeveloped industrial sector, therefore limiting their development and the possibility to compete on their domestic market. International trade should be based on the establishment of an order of equality and not the one of exploitation. A first superficial glance on Sino Algerian relations might give a negative, or pessimistic view of the relationship, yet a deeper analysis and the incorporation of an understanding of the Algerian officials’ behavior will allow for a more nuanced approach of the relationship.Show less
Historiography has characterised Roman North Africa as consisting of 'two worlds', a world of Roman cities on the one hand and indigenous rural hinterlands on the other. Using geographical analysis...Show moreHistoriography has characterised Roman North Africa as consisting of 'two worlds', a world of Roman cities on the one hand and indigenous rural hinterlands on the other. Using geographical analysis, survey archaeology and discourse analysis, this thesis researches the extent to which the marginal hinterlands (or 'shatter zones') of Late Antique North Africa were integrated into the wider Roman, Mediterranean state space. Despite the topographic difficulties for the Roman Empire to control the mountainous and steppe inland of the region, survey archaeology reveals a landscape that became thoroughly transformed under the later Roman Empire. Integration in the third to fifth centuries ended in the sixth century under the pressure of emperor Justinian's ideology of imperial renovatio.Show less
