This study examines the language used in RTLM broadcasts during the Rwandan Genocide, conducting sentiment analysis with the Python tool VADER to explore the role of propaganda in disseminating...Show moreThis study examines the language used in RTLM broadcasts during the Rwandan Genocide, conducting sentiment analysis with the Python tool VADER to explore the role of propaganda in disseminating hate speech. The research investigates the changing rhetoric and discourse targeted towards the Tutsi ethnic minority, seeking to understand the role of language in intensifying ethnic polarization. By decoding the destabilizing effects of the broadcast language, the research aims to answer the research question: "How did the use of language towards the Tutsi minority group in the RTLM broadcasts change throughout the Rwandan genocide?" The findings contribute to understanding the powerful influence of propaganda on intergroup relations and the perpetuation of genocidal sentiments.Show less
This is a M.A. thesis on the forces contributing to the acknowledgement of genocides by the perpertrating states. It is comparing the Australian genocide of the Aborigines, the German genocide of...Show moreThis is a M.A. thesis on the forces contributing to the acknowledgement of genocides by the perpertrating states. It is comparing the Australian genocide of the Aborigines, the German genocide of Nama and (Ova-)Herero in Namibia, the Canaduan genocide of Native Canadians and the U.S. American genocide of Native Americans with eachother. The composure of the government as well as a lack of threat to the social identity of a state are identified as the key factors in the perpetrator state acknowledgment.Show less
The understanding of life as a complex system is becoming more and more prominent in many academic disciplines. This study applies this systems’ perspective to understand how transitional justice ...Show moreThe understanding of life as a complex system is becoming more and more prominent in many academic disciplines. This study applies this systems’ perspective to understand how transitional justice (TJ) practice contributes to reconciliation. Based on existing literature, a theoretical framework is constructed which theorizes that in the social network of TJ society, there is an emergent process towards reconciliation. This process is based on the value of interconnectedness. TJ practices emerge as part of this process and can serve as a catalysator. This emergent process is impacted by formal TJ structure and the TJ governance network. Consequently, this study applies this theoretical framework to the case of the post-genocide gacaca trials in Rwanda. The findings demonstrate that the model provides insights into the case. However, further research is needed to validate the theoretical framework.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
closed access
Julius Caesar beschrijft in de De Bello Gallico dat hij 430.000 Usipetes en Tencteri heeft gedood. Een enorm aantal slachtoffers dat in onze maatschappij al snel de stempel genocide zou krijgen. In...Show moreJulius Caesar beschrijft in de De Bello Gallico dat hij 430.000 Usipetes en Tencteri heeft gedood. Een enorm aantal slachtoffers dat in onze maatschappij al snel de stempel genocide zou krijgen. In de Romeinse tijd werd Caesar hier niet voor aangeklaagd, maar werd er een aanklacht ingediend tegen hem om het breken van officieuze internationale wetten. Dit laat al een verschil in perspectief zien tussen de Romeinse en onze maatschappij. In dit onderzoek wil ik in kaart brengen wat het verschil is in perspectief van de Romein en van de moderne mens met betrekking tot de vele Germaanse slachtoffers in de veldslag tussen Caesar en de Usipetes en Tencteri in 55 v.Chr en hoe Caesar dit beeld heeft kunnen beïnvloeden door middel van het schijven van de Gall.Show less
As one of the longest lasting ongoing conflicts, the Genocide in Darfur has prompted condemnation from the international community for nearly two decades. Most explanation of the violence used by...Show moreAs one of the longest lasting ongoing conflicts, the Genocide in Darfur has prompted condemnation from the international community for nearly two decades. Most explanation of the violence used by the Sudanese government center on ethnic tensions between African and Arab tribes, but fewer analyses have applied the concept of genocide as strategy to the case of Darfur. This qualitative research approaches the conflict through a constructivist lens by applying two theories that fit this mold, Draining the Sea and Genocidal Consolidation. Through an analysis of the genocide’s timeline constructed from public and academic sources, it concludes that the government’s actions conform to President al-Bashir’s objective of retaining his position, but not that the mass killings were strictly meant to starve rebels of their support base.Show less
The Ukrainian famine or ‘Holodomor’ of 1932–1933 claimed the lives of an estimated 4 to 4.5 million people. General consensus has it that the famines that swept the Soviet Union were caused largely...Show moreThe Ukrainian famine or ‘Holodomor’ of 1932–1933 claimed the lives of an estimated 4 to 4.5 million people. General consensus has it that the famines that swept the Soviet Union were caused largely by the collectivisation drive of the First Five-Year Plan, after which the situation in Ukraine was exacerbated by Stalin’s policies in the winter of 1932–1933. However, the underlying motives for Stalin’s actions with regard to Ukraine remain a matter of lively debate. Combining the existing literature on the initiation of mass indiscriminate violence in general and on the causes of the Holodomor in particular with novel insights from studies on authoritarian politics, I posit that the Ukrainian famine may have been intentionally aggravated because the Ukrainian leadership was considered a liability to Stalin’s rule. Rather than facing these elites head on, I suggest that Stalin weaponised the famine as a means of mass indiscriminate violence to enable the capture of local institutions and to undermine the individual support bases of his potential rivals. In this way the Ukrainian Communist Party was purged from the bottom to the top, culminating with the executions of Stanislav Kosior and Vlas Chubar and the expulsion of Grigory Petrovsky, as well as the executions of Pavel Postyshev and Vsevolod Balytsky during the Great Purges of 1937–1939.Show less
Police brutality in the United States has sparked a national outcry, as this year again far too many black people have fallen victim to police shootings. Though activists have been advocating for...Show morePolice brutality in the United States has sparked a national outcry, as this year again far too many black people have fallen victim to police shootings. Though activists have been advocating for change and scholars have examined the current flawed system, they have not studied the black struggle from a contemporary genocide lens. This thesis examines American policing practices in lights of genocide, and it offers a brief history of policing practices and slavery, as well as discusses the various findings of African American Studies scholar. This thesis shows how after decades of slavery there are still genocidal tendencies in the police force, which is analysed through Stanton’s stages of genocide, as well as notions of indirect genocide. The findings indicate that policing practices pass the first six stages of Stanton, classification, symbolisation, discrimination, dehumanisation, organisation and polarisation. Though fortunately, not all stages have been realised, this thesis wishes to elucidate the deeply entrenched racial biases that are causing unbearable living situations for black Americans and to listen to those who have been silenced over the years.Show less
This thesis explores the UN’s Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine, specifically focusing on its implementation in South Sudan from 2005 to 2018. Promulgated in 2005, the R2P doctrine aimed to...Show moreThis thesis explores the UN’s Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine, specifically focusing on its implementation in South Sudan from 2005 to 2018. Promulgated in 2005, the R2P doctrine aimed to prevent the occurrence of mass atrocity crimes, these being genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing. Most of the public debate about and literature on R2P has focused on the use of coercive measures by the international community in general and on potential military interventions for humanitarian purposes in particular. This thesis instead takes a more holistic approach to analysing R2P, discussing all three pillars of the doctrine. These are the state’s responsibility to protect (Pillar I); international assistance and capacity building (Pillar II); and a timely and decisive response by the international community in a situation where mass atrocities are imminent or are already being perpetrated (Pillar III). After exploring the literature on R2P and explaining the methodology that will be used, the thesis then explores the implementation of the doctrine before and during the South Sudanese Civil War. The thesis finds that the South Sudanese government were ineffective in adopting measures to protect its population from mass atrocities. Indeed, some policies actually increased the risk of such crimes while important government members and political elites were actively involved in the crimes that were perpetrated. It also finds that the international community’s assistance under Pillar II was generally well-intentioned but often misguided, while the timely and decisive response under Pillar III was hamstrung by an unwillingness to utilise or even consider all of the tools available.Show less
History can only be proven so far as by means of pragmatic hermeneutics. With the right motives, there will always be questions to raise about historical evidence, which is the exact reason why the...Show moreHistory can only be proven so far as by means of pragmatic hermeneutics. With the right motives, there will always be questions to raise about historical evidence, which is the exact reason why the history of the Armenian genocide can continue to be questioned. The Turkish state maintains that the deportations and mass-slaughter of Armenians in 1915-6 were not acts of genocide, but rather wartime countermeasures against an insurgent ethnic group. The intent of the Young Turk regime to homogenize Anatolia as part of their Turko-nationalist agenda by means of extermination of Christian minorities has been repeatedly proven in numerous works. These include titles written by Armenians as well as Western and dissident Turkish historians. Despite this overwhelming amount of evidence, the debate rages on and denialists continue to publish new work. This research has attempted to create a more thorough knowledge of their methods of argumentation, which can prove an essential tool in countering their narrative. This thesis is structured around the question to what extent the denial of the Armenian genocide can be labeled as a conspiracy theory or not.Show less
This paper is on one of the seminal events in Ukrainian history, the Holodomor. The paper seeks to apply the theory of genocidal consolidation to the Holodomor to determine the answer to “why”...Show moreThis paper is on one of the seminal events in Ukrainian history, the Holodomor. The paper seeks to apply the theory of genocidal consolidation to the Holodomor to determine the answer to “why” Stalin executed a genocide against the Ukrainian nation. More specifically, the paper seeks to link the mass killings in Ukraine to Stalin and Stalin’s personal position within the Soviet Union. In seeking the answer previously mentioned, the paper relies on the method of process tracing. The underlying hypothesis of the paper is that the theory of genocidal consolidation best explains the Holodomor and links Stalin to it, using the methodology previously described. By using and exploring genocidal consolidation vis a vie the Holodomor the paper also seeks to further bolster the connection between mass political violence and authoritarian politics. Additionally, the paper sought to expand on genocidal consolidation and add to the already existing research and theoretical applications by attempting to explore the Holodomor through genocidal consolidation. Lastly, it should be stated that the often ambitious aims of this paper allow for further exploration on the topic and potential missed linkages between the Holodomor and Stalin.Show less
