Since July 2021 the Lower Germanic Limes has become UNESCO world heritage, this not only led to more public attention to the north-western part of the Roman Empire but also to more scholarly...Show moreSince July 2021 the Lower Germanic Limes has become UNESCO world heritage, this not only led to more public attention to the north-western part of the Roman Empire but also to more scholarly attention. However, most of the scholarly research on the Roman limes in the Netherlands has been done by archaeologists causing historians to be barely involved in the debate. This thesis therefore aims to contribute to the recent developments and tries to re-examine the Roman past closer to home from a historian’s point of view, to see what the events, processes, causes and reasons were that led up to the creation of the Lower German Limes which eventually also resulted in the consolidation and official incorporation of the region into the province Germania Inferior, by not only looking at the political and military events but also the economic and social aspects.Show less
This research examines the causes behind the emergence of border conflicts in Venezuela. One of the main objectives is to demonstrate that an internal crisis externalises itself in the shape of...Show moreThis research examines the causes behind the emergence of border conflicts in Venezuela. One of the main objectives is to demonstrate that an internal crisis externalises itself in the shape of territorial disputes. Venezuela´s case is tested against other relatively recent border conflicts in South America. This thesis proves the influence of internal crisis and historical precedents on the emergence of border conflicts, and adds value to the existing literature by examining causes instead of consequences.Show less
It seems to have become a tendency to focus on the negative consequences of higher migration flows. More open borders would supposedly undermine the sovereignty of states and lead to an unfavorable...Show moreIt seems to have become a tendency to focus on the negative consequences of higher migration flows. More open borders would supposedly undermine the sovereignty of states and lead to an unfavorable lack of control over who enters the country and who does not. Yet I believe there are many good reasons to defend looser border controls and actually far fewer reasons to support strict immigration policies. The conviction with which almost every country in the world defends the right to leave a country, while they simultaneously resist to acknowledge a subsequent right to enter another country, is suprising to me. As Phillip Cole pointed out “one cannot consistently assert that there is a fundamental human right to emigration but no such right to immigration; the liberal asymmetry position is morally ethical, but also conceptually incoherent” (Cole, 2000, 46). Cole argues that in case of nation state, the right to exit one’s state is dependent upon entry elsewhere because there is no livable ‘space’ of statelessness (2011, 203-204). I share the same conviction that the notions of depart and entrance are conceptually intertwined. An analysis of the concept of rights, duties and democratic legitimacy will demonstrate that there is a moral right to leave and a subsequent moral right to enter a country.Show less
European states have increasingly come to make use of surveillance technologies to control people’s mobility at –and beyond- the external EU borders. The use of surveillance technologies and...Show moreEuropean states have increasingly come to make use of surveillance technologies to control people’s mobility at –and beyond- the external EU borders. The use of surveillance technologies and techniques at state borders, however, does not stop at the geographical borderlines of a territory: the state’s focus has shifted from an emphasis on border control to a more general focus on the control or management of people’s mobility. Not all people, however, are faced with the same level of surveillance. All those regarded as (potential) deviants and/or as ‘not-belonging’, are being treated as an ‘Other’; and consequently, are subjected to intensified surveillance (Walby 2005: 184). In this thesis, I have investigated if and how these various intensity-levels of state surveillance affect people’s right to freedom of movement. In doing so, I have tried to find (an) answer(s) to the following question: How does the use of surveillance technologies at the border, as conducted by the EU, influence people’s degree of mobility?Show less
