Focusing on the city of Bihać, Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH), this thesis discusses the ways in which urban space is contested and negotiated between People on the Move (PoM) and Migration...Show moreFocusing on the city of Bihać, Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH), this thesis discusses the ways in which urban space is contested and negotiated between People on the Move (PoM) and Migration Managers. Bihać, a small city in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, has since 2018 become an important node on the so-called “Balkan Route.” The route is traversed by many people from the Global South seeking to migrate to Western Europe. Importantly, Bihać lies some mere 5 km from the Croatian border, making the city an ideal place for PoM to plan their way forward on the route, or rest after an illegal pushback at the border. Often, people in transit irregularly reside in abandoned buildings. Many of such occupied buildings, also known as squats, have been evicted by local Migration Managers repeatedly over the past five years. Yet, despite the evictions, PoM would often come back from the camps where they had been deported, and re-occupy the squats in Bihać. These cycles of evictions and (re)occupations are framed in this thesis as contestations of urban space. Such space contestations, recounted using relational ethnography, are then given further theoretical grounding through the bi-focal lens of biopolitics and resistance. In light of these theoretical elaborations, camps in the area of Bihać are speculatively characterized as biopolitical technologies of control, dispersal, and governance of migrant lives and mobility. In contrast, squats are understood as cases of resistance against the border regime, by virtue of their role as Infrastructures of border crossing.Show less
This thesis explores the layers of meaning of resistance represented in protest art inspired by the Woman, life, freedom movement that erupted in Iran in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini in the...Show moreThis thesis explores the layers of meaning of resistance represented in protest art inspired by the Woman, life, freedom movement that erupted in Iran in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini in the hands of the morality police. This thesis engages with themes such as performativity, martyrdom, and intersectionality.Show less
Destroy My Face (2020) by Erik Kessels was part of BredaPhoto festival in 2020 but the artwork was removed after a week of display. Online criticism had risen on multiple social media platforms...Show moreDestroy My Face (2020) by Erik Kessels was part of BredaPhoto festival in 2020 but the artwork was removed after a week of display. Online criticism had risen on multiple social media platforms stating that the work incited violence towards women. The activist group ‘We Are Not a Playground’ also published an open letter demanding that the work be taken down. These events were framed as an example of ‘cancel culture’: an online phenomenon where people are publicly shamed and silenced for crossing societal norms. In this thesis I investigate the events surrounding Destroy My Face in relation to destruction, censorship and ‘cancel culture.’ I argue that ‘cancel culture’ can function as a tool for resistance to the dominant narratives in society, especially for marginalized groups. However, it can fall into the trap of creating a mere spectacle to be consumed by the public instead of raising critiques.Show less
Abstract: Previous literature on the role of food in the diaspora indicates that social groups communicate their identity to outsiders through culinary culture and traditional recipes. What food is...Show moreAbstract: Previous literature on the role of food in the diaspora indicates that social groups communicate their identity to outsiders through culinary culture and traditional recipes. What food is produced, how it is cooked and with what available ingredients it is prepared has extremely meaningful cultural implications, especially in circumstances of migration, hardship and loss. Social media, however, has profoundly blurred the boundaries of knowledge implicit to social groups and “followers” who do not belong to the community, but who still consume food content online. In a way, social media has brought the traditionally domestic practice of food culture onto a public platform. On this platform, exclusion and praise have faced diaspora communities in relation to their cuisine in the food influencer community. Publicity, sponsorship and an international audience have changed how the Palestinian diaspora relates to its identity-marking food practices.Show less
Over the last 30 years, the Moroccan migration waves in the Netherlands contributed to a change of ''the Dutch culture’’. The arrival of this group has influenced this dynamic process. The...Show moreOver the last 30 years, the Moroccan migration waves in the Netherlands contributed to a change of ''the Dutch culture’’. The arrival of this group has influenced this dynamic process. The integration policies of the government changed as well over time. Since 9/11 and the murder of politician Pim Fortuyn and director Theo van Gogh, the political debate in the Netherlands seems to be entirely focused on how the ‘national identity’ is threatened by Muslim fundamentalism and the alleged failure of the ethnic integration policy of a multicultural society. In the current Dutch political climate, Dutch-Moroccan youth are often labelled as a root problem, paired with a lot of negative (media) attention. The (mostly) negative appearance of Dutch-Moroccan youth in the public sphere also affects the formation of their identity. Aside from being subjected to many negative stereotypes, this group received little academic nor media attention within the Dutch society. Trying to break from the negative stereotypes, Dutch-Moroccan rappers use hip-hop music as a tool to resist. This research analysed Dutch-Moroccan rap music to understand the process of identity formation. Through this research, the main question is answered of what the role is of Dutch Moroccan rap music in the process of identity formation among Dutch Moroccan youth in the Netherlands. This provided a deeper understanding of how the analysed Dutch Moroccan rappers present themselves, and represent others. The analysis of the lyrics provided an insight into the individual story of the analysed Dutch Moroccan artists: Appa and Salah Edin.Show less
Deze scriptie gaat over het verborgen verzet (infrapolitics) van de lokale bevolking uit Frans Congo tegen de Compagnie Commerciale de Colonisation du Congo Français (4CF). Deze compagnie was voor...Show moreDeze scriptie gaat over het verborgen verzet (infrapolitics) van de lokale bevolking uit Frans Congo tegen de Compagnie Commerciale de Colonisation du Congo Français (4CF). Deze compagnie was voor het grootste deel in handen van het Nederlandse bedrijf NAHV, die deze compagnie samen met twee andere oprichtte nadat Frans-Congo in concessies werd verdeeld. In deze scriptie betoog ik allereerst dat de geweldscontext in Frans-Congo minder absoluut was dan in Belgisch-Congo. Daarna wordt ingegaan op de houding van de bevolking en haar agency: de bevolking wilde meewerken wanneer dat goed uitkwam, maar werkte tegen zodra dat mogelijk was. Zo blijkt enerzijds dat 4CF nooit echt een succes werd, met name door het gebrek aan middelen en het machtsvacuüm dat er was, en anderzijds de ruimte en de wil van de lokale bevolking om zich op allerlei verborgen wijzen te verzetten tegen de koloniale machthebber.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
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This thesis moves beyond the dichotomy of analyzing normal and abnormal behavior in Japanese education, and shows that individual experiences in education need to be more thoroughly investigated....Show moreThis thesis moves beyond the dichotomy of analyzing normal and abnormal behavior in Japanese education, and shows that individual experiences in education need to be more thoroughly investigated. Being part of formal education means confrontation with existing forms of knowledge that clash with individual social practices. Although there is a strong argument to be made against the ability to practice resistance in an increasingly neo-liberal environment, this thesis shows the opposite. It is possible to differentiate between complete resistance to the expectations that accompany education and more subtle ways of resistance. In fact, all the respondents in this study have shown some form of resistance and consequently, a reconfiguration of individual behavior. This can be resistance to existing language practices, or a complete rejection of anything associated with being Japanese. This thesis shows that there is a space for resistance in Japanese education that extends well beyond teachers’ classroom practices and into students’ individual behavior. Most importantly, the analysis gives a clear example of how resistance against the neo-liberal economization of the individual can be practiced, and is already being practiced in the framework of Japanese education.Show less
The focus of this thesis is on a mysterious group of beings encountered in William S. Burroughs’ (1914-1997) literary works: the Wild Boys. These Wild Boys are a personification of many of the...Show moreThe focus of this thesis is on a mysterious group of beings encountered in William S. Burroughs’ (1914-1997) literary works: the Wild Boys. These Wild Boys are a personification of many of the central themes of Burroughs’ works, such as homosexuality, masculinity and violence, but also revolution, anarchism and utopianism. As embodiments of all the above themes, the Wild Boys offer much that is of interest in the present day political sphere because they exist as (and express) a reaction to some of the dominant ideological and social conflicts of Burroughs’ time. The structure of these conflicts may have changed but they have certainly not disappeared: family structures, masculinity and femininity, the capitalist economic paradigm, pacifism contra revolutionary desires and, last but by no means least, the relation of the West to ‘the rest,’ and in relation to this, American imperialism and its 20th century crises. Through the Wild Boys, Burroughs outlines an alternative form of social organisation which has its own internal contradictions and pitfalls, but which is ultimately concerned with possibilities of radical emancipation.Show less
This essay builds on recent work on securitization theory by scholars such as Balzacq and Floyd, and explores the still underdeveloped field of resistance and counter-securitization. A successful...Show moreThis essay builds on recent work on securitization theory by scholars such as Balzacq and Floyd, and explores the still underdeveloped field of resistance and counter-securitization. A successful securitization allows for a securitizing actor to deal with an existential threat with extraordinary measures outside the boundaries of normal politics. Resistance refers to the creation of a separate securitization move with its own existential threat and extraordinary measure in relation to the original securitization move. Counter-securitization is defined as an act to halt a securitization move, or to bring the issue back to the realm of ordinary politics. This essay further develops the concept of counter-securitization in comparison to resistance. It also strengthens Floyd’s argument on a just securitization theory by examining the role of pacifism, democracy and constitutionalism using the Japanese security debate as a case study. Finally, it illustrates how norms such as democracy and rule of law have slowly become more significant within the Japanese security debate than the pacifist ideology. It first examines the case of Prime Minister Abe’s ideology on Japanese security policy before taking a look at the political opposition in regards to Abe’s security policies. The section argues that even though the political opposition has all fought against Abe’s policies, there is a clear divide between an Old Left and a New Left. This essay then examines two grass-roots movements, the Article 9 Association and a student activist organization by the name of SEALDs. It shows how the political Old Left and the Article 9 Association have created their own securitization move to protect the pacifist constitution, while the political New Left and SEALDs have generated a counteract to bring the topic of security back to the realm of ordinary politics.Show less
This thesis elaborates the development of anti-colonial movement in the east coast of Aceh, wherein the railway network stretched, during the late colonial period (1926-1932). Each chapter in this...Show moreThis thesis elaborates the development of anti-colonial movement in the east coast of Aceh, wherein the railway network stretched, during the late colonial period (1926-1932). Each chapter in this thesis based on a separate set of sources: the annual reports 'Politiek Toestand in Aceh' from the Archive of the Ministry of the Colonies and two Malay-language publication, 'Soeara Atjeh' and 'Kareta Api'. By looking at these different sources, one could identify how the movements in Aceh resonate within a wider anti-colonial movement in Dutch East Indies.Show less
In this thesis the connectedness of Hamas and Hezbollah before and especially since the Syrian War is analyzed. In order to generate an insider perspective, a discourse analysis of publications on...Show moreIn this thesis the connectedness of Hamas and Hezbollah before and especially since the Syrian War is analyzed. In order to generate an insider perspective, a discourse analysis of publications on the two movements' official websites was carried out.Show less
This thesis tests the RAS model created by John Zaller. By using the Dutch Parliamentary Election Study from 1998 to 2003, the observed change in public opinion of Dutch voters towards non western...Show moreThis thesis tests the RAS model created by John Zaller. By using the Dutch Parliamentary Election Study from 1998 to 2003, the observed change in public opinion of Dutch voters towards non western immigrants is tested. Results include the inability to explain the changes in public opinion according to the RAS model. However, key variables such as political knowledge and political predispositions prove to be significant explanatory variables in this case.Show less
