In my work, I will be discussing specifically the recent Chinese influence on transportation in Nigeria, mostly through investments in railways. I will present it in a frame of China-Africa...Show moreIn my work, I will be discussing specifically the recent Chinese influence on transportation in Nigeria, mostly through investments in railways. I will present it in a frame of China-Africa relations with the history and specifics of China-Nigeria relations included. To explain the partnership on railway development, it will be essential to present the condition of Nigerian transportation and its struggles. I will also discuss the significance of transportation infrastructure in general. For a better understanding of conclusions, I will also explain the relative and absolute gains theory. As I mentioned, there already are plenty of works discussing different aspects of China-Africa relations. Therefore, I will include the main points emerging from the existing analyses with my comment on it. It is significant for my framework to present the debate on China-Africa relations as it contains general arguments on the advantages and disadvantages of the partnership for Africa. I will address those in my analysis. The literature review will also contain phrases and language used in the public debate that was crucial in shaping the relationship. In the final chapters, the data and the discussion about it will be analysed from the perspective of relative and absolute gains.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
By advertising nature based recreation, companies associated with the winter sport industry are inherently reliant on reinscribing a dualistic nature/culture opposition. While nature is advertised...Show moreBy advertising nature based recreation, companies associated with the winter sport industry are inherently reliant on reinscribing a dualistic nature/culture opposition. While nature is advertised as something ‘out there’, the practise of nature based recreation, offered by skiing resorts, is excessed in fully regulated human made spaces. By turning an infrastructural lens on the high alpine region, the practical ontologies of human and nonhuman co-creation are examined. While the practise of nature based recreation has positive effects on the environmental attitudes of practitioners, the ecological irony of winter sports tourism is stretched. By employing the techniques of audiovisual research and infrastructural inversion as analytical strategies, the hidden workings of regional infrastructures are explored. By analysing infrastructural changes within and outside the skiing resort Kitzsteinhorn (AT) a correlation between infrastructural arrangements and environmental attitudes was examined. This is a multimodal thesis submitted in the course of the Master Specialisation in Visual Ethnography at the faculty of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology of Leiden University. Its results are presented in the form of this written thesis and an ethnographic short-film Surfing Frozen Oceans (26 min.)Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
closed access
In 2015, the incumbent President Jacob Zuma claimed that the Dutch were the beginning of South Africa’s problems. Zuma claims that the problems arose because of Dutch colonialism and the subsequent...Show moreIn 2015, the incumbent President Jacob Zuma claimed that the Dutch were the beginning of South Africa’s problems. Zuma claims that the problems arose because of Dutch colonialism and the subsequent introduction of slavery. In this thesis, I try to investigate how the Dutch Consulate General in Cape Town executes its economic mandate by considering the dark shared heritage between South Africa and the Netherlands. I had the opportunity of doing an internship as the Communications and Public Diplomacy intern and therefore, have six months of accumulated ethnographic data. I found that the Dutch CG in Cape Town executes its economic mandate through their initiative called #cocreate which operates through projects. In addition, the Dutch CG claims to put the emphasis on South Africans which does not necessarily translate when looking at these projects. I found that although their intentions may be good, the Dutch CG often ends up overpowering any positive results by controlling the final say so closely. Also, I found that there is a strong reluctance to tackle particular problems surrounding their shared heritage. Such fears ultimately result in the neglect of communities that truly need their help and would have benefited from initiatives such as these.Show less
Japan and China are competing for infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia. They have both launched their own international infrastructure development strategies: China’s Belt and Road Initiative...Show moreJapan and China are competing for infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia. They have both launched their own international infrastructure development strategies: China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Japan’s Partnership for Quality Infrastructure and Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy. This paper will investigate how China and Japan frame their respective strategies and how they occupy different roles in Southeast Asian infrastructure development.Show less
