The study explores the shift in anti-immigrant discourse of the French far-right party leadership with regard to the Ukrainian refugee crisis. A discourse analysis of the tweets and their...Show moreThe study explores the shift in anti-immigrant discourse of the French far-right party leadership with regard to the Ukrainian refugee crisis. A discourse analysis of the tweets and their accompanying media for Marine Le Pen (RN) and Éric Zemmour (R!) was conducted for the presidential campaign and election period of February to April 2022. The material selected was coded through ATLAS.ti into themes informed by the literature review and the theoretical framework. The findings indeed confirm a shift in emerging discourse, whereby solidarity towards and welcoming of Ukrainian refugees is grounded on the pretense of the traditional Christian spirit of providing asylum as well as their cultural and geographic proximity. Simultaneously, the limits of the Christian spirit towards non-European asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants was justified through discourse relying on neo-racist rhetoric based on ‘cultural differentialism’. These arguments often encompass non-European refugees fleeing from Ukraine.Show less
Among the groups of civilians caught up in civil war, internally displaced populations are often assumed to have little say about their courses of action. In particular, current theoretical...Show moreAmong the groups of civilians caught up in civil war, internally displaced populations are often assumed to have little say about their courses of action. In particular, current theoretical accounts of civilian agency in civil war expect that, when facing high levels of violence, civilians can choose between staying or leaving their communities, and only if they stay, they can choose to resist against armed groups. This thesis challenges that these choices are always so clear-cut. Relying on secondary sources, it investigates how populations in northern Guatemala combined displacement and resistance during the most violent period of the Guatemalan Civil War. More generally, this thesis proposes that short-time horizons (civilians’ belief that displacement will be temporary), harsh living conditions that require cooperation during the early moments of displacement, and shared negative perceptions towards one or more armed groups, might lead civilian population towards the organization of collective resistance while being internally displaced.Show less
Throughout the last sixty years, foreign aid donations have experienced various transformations. Due to significant changes with an increased involvement of the business community and strategic...Show moreThroughout the last sixty years, foreign aid donations have experienced various transformations. Due to significant changes with an increased involvement of the business community and strategic elements, such donations can be understood with a new theoretical framework from Corporate Social responsibility (CSR). The theoretical perspective contributes to a new understanding of governments’ foreign aid behavior. More specifically, this study focuses on one part of the theory, named Institutional Window Dressing, to investigate whether governments appy masked communication efforts to maintain legitimacy while changing the initial agenda or not. The investigation conducts a discourse analysis exploring Norwegian foreign policy documents. In addition, explores the opposing forces of altruism and self-interest while investigating the governments during three different periods. The results find multiple CSR stakeholder strategies in Norwegian foreign initiatives. In addition, the policies currently indicate a clear step away from initial and altruistic aid principles towards increased self-interest forces and business components in foreign aid. However, the most valuable finding is that the more self-interest and business elements indicated, the more CSR strategies detected in the policies. While considering the strong legitimacy of Norwegian foreign policies among its stakeholders, these results can signify that high levels of CSR strategies can give a legitimate view of states' foreign aid involvement. The reason is that the purpose of the strategy is to inscribe the government with legitimacy and benefits that gives considerable room for maneuvering.Show less
This study examines the organization and funding of the election campaigns of independent local parties in the Netherlands. Due to their representation in the national parliament, Dutch national...Show moreThis study examines the organization and funding of the election campaigns of independent local parties in the Netherlands. Due to their representation in the national parliament, Dutch national parties receive public subsidy. As such, they are able to transfer funds to their local divisions in the municipalities across the country, in order to finance their party activities including election campaigns. Independent local parties, however, do not qualify for these funds, since they are not represented in the Dutch legislature. How, then, do independent local parties fund and organize their election campaigns? Based on a survey amongst more than 300 respondents, the most important campaign activities, most common expenditures and the most common sources of income could be identified. The most common methods of campaigning include placing campaign boards and posters throughout the municipality, participating in election debates, flyer actions, publishing the election program on the party’s website, performing local radio or television shows, advertising in local or regional newspapers and enhancing familiarity by using Facebook. The most parties have spent their money on campaign boards and posters, advertisements and flyer actions, while the most money per party is spent on advertisement, canvassing and other expenditures. On the revenue side, the most parties received their money for the campaign budget from council member contributions, membership fees and private member donations, while the highest amounts of money per party were received from council member contributions, aldermen contributions and other income sources. It is also found that the number of party members, the municipality size, the number of council members and the number of aldermen on the one hand, and the size of the campaign budget on the other hand are positively correlated. Their explanatory value on the organization of the election campaigns, however, is low, just as the influence of the party type. While about 45 percent of the respondents thinks public funding of their election campaigns is necessary, a larger proportion of them thinks public funding would be a desirable development. The key argument is that almost all respondent want a level playing field when it comes to regulations on private donations and public party funding. The results of this study show that proponents and opponents of public party funding both think that independent local parties and national parties should be treated the same in this regard.Show less
How do homeland tours influence the presumed relation young diasporans have with their ‘homeland’? This research has shown that Birthright has an impact on the Dutch participants’ identity and...Show moreHow do homeland tours influence the presumed relation young diasporans have with their ‘homeland’? This research has shown that Birthright has an impact on the Dutch participants’ identity and feelings of belonging to a Jewish community mainly through the socialization process of the group. Nonetheless, it also showed the limitations of political socialization on a homeland tour. The agency of the participants and other, stronger forms of political socialization are preventing Birthright from establishing a strong connection and support for Israel. On top of that, the in-depth interviews shed light on the complex realm of identity formation, feelings of belonging and attachment, that has been absent from previous survey-based research on the influence of Birthright. It tried to fill the gap left in the literature that has primarily been focused on Jewish-American relations with Israel by examining young Dutch Jews. This research led to more questions and it presents that much more research on Jewish-Dutch relations with Israel is necessary.Show less
In this thesis I have defended the claim that a state which is neutral about the different conceptions of the good in society, cannot guarantee the personal autonomy of its citizens.
Articles that investigate minority influence on foreign policy-making have mainly concentrated on minorities living in the United States. Research on national minorities outside the United States...Show moreArticles that investigate minority influence on foreign policy-making have mainly concentrated on minorities living in the United States. Research on national minorities outside the United States has been limited. This paper tries to compare two cases that are dissimilar to the United States, namely Turkey and Israel and this essay asks the question: to what extent do the Kurdish and Arabic minorities influence Turkish and Israeli foreign policy? There is a particular emphasis on foreign policy influence of Pro-Kurdish and Pro-Arabic political parties. The party websites of the Pro-Arabic, Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) and Meretz are looked into. With regard to Turkey, the party website of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) is examined. The BDP has been established in 2008, which is considerably later compared to the pro-Arabic political parties in Israel. Unfortunately, it is impossible to investigate pro-Kurdish parties from before 2008, as these parties were banned by the Turkish Constitutional Court. It is argued in this paper that no proof can be found of pro-Arabic and pro-Kurdish political parties influencing foreign policy. Since Israel and Turkey are truly dissimilar to the United States, other cases need to be examined in order to find out whether minorities in other countries influence foreign policy. Moreover, international organizations, such as the Council of Europe and the European Union, can play a role in accommodating minorities. More research is necessary to find out whether international organizations, as the Council of Europe and the EU, play a role in protecting minority rights.Show less
