This paper is motivated by the assumption that ‘terrorism’ is a loaded and politically significant term, the use of which exudes and produces power relations. It acknowledges this, and also argues...Show moreThis paper is motivated by the assumption that ‘terrorism’ is a loaded and politically significant term, the use of which exudes and produces power relations. It acknowledges this, and also argues that not everyone has an equal right to use the term. This leads to an examination into the kind of power that is manifested in the use of the term, by putting the social constructivist framework to work and placing the semantic field of terrorism within that framework. It identifies a kind of power attached to the enunciation of the term ‘terrorism’ and argues that it is unequally distributed between perceived potential victims of terrorism and perceived potential perpetrators of terrorism. Drawing on Nietzsche’s genealogical analysis of morality, I argue that it is counterproductive to deny potential perpetrators the power of enunciation around the term ‘terrorism’ on the basis that this leads to a kind of slave revolt in terrorism. Redistributing the power of enunciation around the term ‘terrorism’ might remove the line that separates potential victims from potential perpetrators of terrorism and work towards reducing the threat of terrorism itself by allowing those potential perpetrators to exercise this capability within mainstream society, as opposed to seeking alternative communities to do so outside of it.Show less
In the wake of the Asian financial crisis Indonesia was faced by a political transition, when president Suharto was forced to resign in May 1998 after an authoritarian rule of more than thirty...Show moreIn the wake of the Asian financial crisis Indonesia was faced by a political transition, when president Suharto was forced to resign in May 1998 after an authoritarian rule of more than thirty years. This event was of tremendous historical significance as it marked the beginning of a democratization process, leading to general elections in 2001 and the first presidential elections in Indonesian history three years later. The thesis focusses on the foreign policy of Indonesia in the post-Suharto period. More specifically an answer is given to the following research question: to what extent do democratic values shape Indonesian foreign policy? In order to answer this question the thesis uses the policy towards Myanmar during the presidencies of Megawati Sukarnoputri and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as a case study. As the theoretical framework used for this thesis, the value-action framework, argues that the content of foreign policy depends on the actors involved, the investigation is split into three parts. In the first part, the policy during the Megawati presidency on the bilateral level, within ASEAN and the UN is investigated. This process is repeated for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's presidential terms in the second and third part.Show less
Non-material factors, such as a person’s ideas and values concerning Europe, are very influential with respect to the way persons perceive Europe (Vollaard, n.d., p. 2). These associations with...Show moreNon-material factors, such as a person’s ideas and values concerning Europe, are very influential with respect to the way persons perceive Europe (Vollaard, n.d., p. 2). These associations with Europe are formed by a person’s upbringing, but also through education. Several studies have researched the relationship between a person’s level of education and his or her support for Europe. These researchers show that generally the higher educated Dutch people are the more positive they are about Europe (Dekker et al., 2007, p. 19; Dekker and Ridder, 2012, p. 56; Hakhverdian et al., 2013, p. 531; Op de Woerd, 2014, section para. 13, own translation; Dekker and Den Ridder, 2014, p. 25)? Could the reason for this be that the way Europe is represented at lower education levels is different from the representation of Europe at higher education levels? The main research aim of this thesis is to find out if lower educated obtain different information than higher education concerning Europe in social studies’ textbooks used at VMBO-bk, VMBO-kgt, HAVO and VWO in Dutch secondary education. It is also possible that the amount of information students receive about Europe differs from one education level to the next. As such, a possible explanation of the relationship between a person’s level of education and his or her support for Europe may be the way Europe is framed in different social studies textbooks. This thesis uses content analysis to explore and describe how Europe is represented in social studies textbooks in the Netherlands. Firstly, this work analyses how much information about Europe can be found in Dutch social studies textbooks by counting the number of pages. The results show that the lowest amount of information about Europe is found at VMBO-bk where, on average, 9.33 pages per book refer to Europe. The highest amount is found in VWO social studies text books with an average of 56.76 pages per book referring to Europe. Secondly, this thesis examines the positive and negative associations with Europe occurring in these textbooks. The outcomes are that at VMBO-bk and VMBO-kgt no specific positive associations prevails, whereas at HAVO and VWO, the focus lies on European economic and trade benefits. At VMBO-bk and VMBO-kgt no negative notion prevails, whereas at HAVO and VWO, the negative association ‘loss of sovereignty’ took prevalence over the other negative associations. Thirdly, the thesis analyses how the Netherlands is portrayed in the 12 textbooks, because the views of the nation itself and its relation to Europe also influences the way Europe is perceived (Harmsen, 2008, p. 318). The research finds that many different associations with the Netherlands exist in these books: from an international trade perspective, to a heaven for freedom, to a welfare state. Moreover, the fit between the associations with Europe and with the Netherlands have been explored. It was discovered that at both education levels a clear fit could not be found.Show less
