This thesis investigates the surprising number of shipboard insurrections during the transatlantic voyages of captain Jan Menkenveld and his former officers: David Mulders, Daniel Pruijmelaar and...Show moreThis thesis investigates the surprising number of shipboard insurrections during the transatlantic voyages of captain Jan Menkenveld and his former officers: David Mulders, Daniel Pruijmelaar and Willem de Molder. Compared to the other registered insurrections on Dutch slave ships in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, these MCC captains appear to have experienced the most insurrections on their triangular voyages. By carefully interplaying the muster rolls, ships’ journals and correspondence of their voyages on which insurrections occurred, this thesis traces the surrounding conditions aboard the slave ships and answers to what extent the captaincies kindled shipboard insurrections.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is certainly not the first instance in which humor emerged as a by-product of political turmoil. In times of extreme societal change, people must adapt physically and...Show moreRussia’s invasion of Ukraine is certainly not the first instance in which humor emerged as a by-product of political turmoil. In times of extreme societal change, people must adapt physically and mentally to survive. Yet, because these adjustments are not immediate, one reaction that can help people acclimate to new circumstances is humor. In answering the research question “What were the functions of digital Ukrainian humor in the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine?”, this thesis finds that coping, cohesion, and criticism have emerged in as humor’s primary uses. Specifically, humor functions to create a buffer between old and new realities, define in- and out-groups, and form a medium for commentary. Yet, beyond this, through thematic discourse analysis, the thesis at hand also identifies the sub-categories of humor functions which help explain the means through which humor can meet the stress-relieving, superiority-affirming, or incongruity-resolving needs of groups and individuals in political turmoil. In turn, the thesis reaffirms that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could be labeled a ‘TikTok War’, as the social media became the primary platform for the sharing of Ukrainian humor. In studying visual data, the research contributes to spotlighting the integral role of images as tools of political influence in the digital age and as artifacts the study of which enhances scholars’ holistic understanding of the ramifications of Russia’s invasion. With these findings, humor can be appreciated as a highly nuanced and conscious part of Ukrainian resistance and social resilience.Show less
This thesis focuses on songs by Mzwakhe Mbuli during and after apartheid South Africa to illustrate the importance of songs and cultural orature in the context of a struggle. Analysis is based on...Show moreThis thesis focuses on songs by Mzwakhe Mbuli during and after apartheid South Africa to illustrate the importance of songs and cultural orature in the context of a struggle. Analysis is based on three songs, one during Apartheid and two post-Apartheid. One of the songs is in Zulu to analyse significancy and differences in communication. Mzwakhe Mbuli was considered to be the people’s poet in South Africa, an iimbongi, who had a significant status between South Africans. He has used his music as a cultural resistance against state policies. Mbuli’s music embodies social comments on themes such as peace and nation-building during Apartheid. However, he also remained remarkably critical in the new South Africa because of the government’s broken promises as well as the ills of the society.Show less
This thesis aims to address the question: “How does the representation of Kurdish cultural resistance in visual art made by the Kurdish-Dutch diaspora fit within the Kurdish political discourse?”...Show moreThis thesis aims to address the question: “How does the representation of Kurdish cultural resistance in visual art made by the Kurdish-Dutch diaspora fit within the Kurdish political discourse?” To answer this question, films by Beri Shalmashi and Reber Dosky were analyzed by means of Visual Discourse Analysis on the basis of themes and symbols that fit within Kurdish political discourse. Unlike traditional International Relations (IR), this thesis takes an aesthetic turn and presents a more expressive and critical view from a diasporic narrative of the Kurdish question, which will deepen the knowledge concerning this conflict through visual discourse analysis. The themes and symbols discussed are cultural memory and collective trauma, the geo-linguistic homeland, autonomy, feminism, and the Kurdish mountains. These themes and symbols are all linked to Kurdish nationalism and cultural resistance and play an important role in the creation of a Kurdish identity among the Kurds living in diaspora. Moreover, this thesis demonstrates how the Kurdish diasporic community represents itself and how politicized Kurdish culture is.Show less
This thesis attempts to explore why the Native American community, Standing Rock Sioux community, has been denied its right to partake in the decision-making process surrounding the construction of...Show moreThis thesis attempts to explore why the Native American community, Standing Rock Sioux community, has been denied its right to partake in the decision-making process surrounding the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. This specific project resulted in various confrontations between the tribe, the extractive industry and public and private investors. One of the main reasons behind these protests was that the tribe wanted to protect Lake Oahe and the Mississippi River from any potential oil spills. As such, this thesis analyses the resistance movements and the social media activism that ensued through Facebook and internet-memes that were used to protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. This thesis argues that social media activism empowered the protestors to raise awareness about the negative impact that the pipeline’s construction would have on the environment. It additionally critically analyses the concepts of civic environmentalism, Free, Prior to Informed Consent (FPIC) and social media activism.Show less
Photography is a versatile medium that is able to freeze a single moment in time as well as provide insight into the zeitgeist of a longer period. Therein lies part of the value of the medium of...Show morePhotography is a versatile medium that is able to freeze a single moment in time as well as provide insight into the zeitgeist of a longer period. Therein lies part of the value of the medium of photography, as well as a political application. This thesis explores this claim further and considers photography as a tool for resistance in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. This illustrates a larger point, namely that aesthetic theory adds to our understanding of international relations, especially regarding power relations and resistance. This premise is located in larger body of literature as part of Bleiker’s aesthetic turn in IR and Danchev’s concept of witnessing. From this flows an analysis of parrhesia, as the South African photographer speaks truth to power, as well as an examination of visual normativity, everyday resistance and memory. The conceptual framework is constructed on Sontag en Butler’s review on the medium of photography, and Rancière’s treatment of the relation between aesthetics and politics. Images from apartheid photographers such as David Goldblatt and Ernest Cole are analysed to shed light on these theoretical concepts and further demonstrate how power operated during apartheid, but also how norms are subverted and the white hegemony resisted. This thesis thus concludes that aesthetic theory in general and photography in particular is an important resource in the field of IR to foster a better understanding of power relations, conflict and resistance.Show less
There have been numerous instances of marginalization of the Okinawa people throughout history. Even to this day, the island has been overgrown by a very disproportionate amount of U.S. military...Show moreThere have been numerous instances of marginalization of the Okinawa people throughout history. Even to this day, the island has been overgrown by a very disproportionate amount of U.S. military bases and personnel. This comes with a lot of tension and friction which have frequently resulted in protests by the Okinawan people. Music is a strong form of protest, which has been the case in Okinawa as well. Providing a combination of resistance and resilience towards the U.S. military bases through messages that appeal on a different level than regular narratives, makes music an interesting aspect of culture to consider in this protest against the world's most powerful countries.Show less
The way in which a group of individuals can develop a collective memory has fascinated scholars for decades and gave birth to different definitions and conceptualisations of memory. From the...Show moreThe way in which a group of individuals can develop a collective memory has fascinated scholars for decades and gave birth to different definitions and conceptualisations of memory. From the studies conducted on memory, one notion stands out for its particular and captivating character: cultural memory, a form of collective memory that embraces ongoing societal and historical changes. Cultural memory has proven to be powerful and influential in various domains of human life. This thesis aims at investigating the influence of cultural memory on the shaping of social movements, a yet little explored field. Through a thorough analysis of two case studies – Germany and Italy – this research will shed light on the ways in which remembering and forgetting past experiences intertwine with the development of social movements.Show less
The thesis deals with resistance and Hegemony in between tribal Bhil Communities in South Rajasthan. The case study is based on field reasearch I personally conducted in 2017 in the Udaipur...Show moreThe thesis deals with resistance and Hegemony in between tribal Bhil Communities in South Rajasthan. The case study is based on field reasearch I personally conducted in 2017 in the Udaipur district. The main finding of this reasearch is the political capacity of the local tribes to shape the historical events around them.Show less
This thesis offers a close reading of three neo-slave narratives, Octavia Butler's "Kindred," Toni Morrison's "Beloved" and Charles Johnson's "Middle Passage" focusing on the themes of slave and...Show moreThis thesis offers a close reading of three neo-slave narratives, Octavia Butler's "Kindred," Toni Morrison's "Beloved" and Charles Johnson's "Middle Passage" focusing on the themes of slave and post-slavery community, family and gender in relation to the historical trauma of slavery. This thesis first addresses the historiographical debates about the agency and resistance of enslaved people within a system of systematic oppression and dispossession and then demonstrates how the three novels negotiate this issue. Both "Kindred" and "Beloved" probe into the limitations and possibilities of the community as a site of black male and female empowerment. Instead of romanticizing life in the free and enslaved black communities, both Butler and Morrison challenge these sites and call attention to the costs of resistance to the slavery regime. On the other hand, in his effort to liberate his fiction from black identity politics that foreground the works of Butler and Morrison, Johnson explores the cultural hybridity of his protagonist, but he ultimately only reproduces patriarchal values he overtlty parodies.Show less
Suez is a seaport city which is one of the two gates of the Suez Canal. Most media talked about Tahrir Square in Cairo as the epicenter of the Arab Spring in Egypt. However the truth is that Suez...Show moreSuez is a seaport city which is one of the two gates of the Suez Canal. Most media talked about Tahrir Square in Cairo as the epicenter of the Arab Spring in Egypt. However the truth is that Suez was genuinely the center of the unprecendented uprising, as it was the first city to rise up against Hosni Mubarak. Likewise, Suez was also sadly known for being the city where the first protester was killed in Egypt during the January 2011 uprisings. Therein, Suez was renowned across Egypt for carrying ‘The Flame of Revolution‘. As such, some activists referred to Suez as the ‘Egyptian Sidi Bouzid’.Show less
This thesis concerns the social contract theory of Hobbes and Locke. The question that will be answered here is whether there is any room for resisting the social contract in their respective...Show moreThis thesis concerns the social contract theory of Hobbes and Locke. The question that will be answered here is whether there is any room for resisting the social contract in their respective theories, and if so, whether this is problematic for their theories. The thesis begins by giving a historical background to Hobbes and Locke and then moves on to problems concerning Hobbes' theory of the social contract and self-defense against the state. Following Hobbes we look at Locke's theory and the problem of the initiation of the social contract. In conclusion this thesis looks at the possibilities of maintaining a social contract even if they are found to be problematic through a synthesis of the theories discussed.Show less
Literature on wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese American describes the opposition and resistance to the governmental policies mostly in terms of deficiency. This interpretative bias is...Show moreLiterature on wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese American describes the opposition and resistance to the governmental policies mostly in terms of deficiency. This interpretative bias is characterized by privileging the governmental account of the removal and incarceration over the Japanese American accounts while disregarding any incident short of civil disobedience as unimportant. Moreover, Japanese Americans' cooperation is seen as contributing greatly to the success of the procedures that ultimately deprived them of their liberty. This view, though widely held, does not provide an accurate description of Japanese American attitudes and actions during the fateful months after the Pearl Harbor attack. I will argue that the number of strikes, the extent of community organization, and the scope of individual and group protest inside the relocation camps testify that Japanese Americans' reaction to their wartime removal and incarceration was anything but passive. Japanese Americans protested against the injustice of their evacuation and incarceration, but they were systematically silenced, intimidated, and punished by the government. Moreover, the relocation program officials and generations of relocation scholars contributed to the marginalization of Japanese American resistance by uncritically accepting the governmental account of mass removal and incarceration which refused to recognize evacuee resistance as legitimate protest.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
closed access
To what extent are there democratic developments in Myanmar? My paper highlights the democratic transition in Myanmar by portraying an overview of the process and actions in its struggle for...Show moreTo what extent are there democratic developments in Myanmar? My paper highlights the democratic transition in Myanmar by portraying an overview of the process and actions in its struggle for democracy. The transitional process is triggered by the change in the regime's/government's perception concerning the adoption of general election. However, the fact that the military still practices suppression against the citizens continues to limit the democratization process, especially on the question of human rights. The paper also shows that the military suppression is challenged by resistance groups, both unorganized (such as villagers resisting their recruitment into forced labour), and organized, such as the freedom movement of Aung San Suu Kyi. The paper thus questions the kind of "democracy" which exists in tandem with undemocratic practices. Democracy should not only about implementing elections, but more substantially, it should include effective respect towards democratic freedoms in everyday practice. Although Myanmar currently adopted an electoral democratic system, stimulates tourism, modernization and economic growth, yet the failure to respect political, social and economic rights has placed Myanmar in a category of semi-democracy. The question is whether the reforms are only used to create an image of good governance in order to attract international support and investments, or to work towards a substantial democracy after all.Show less
