Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
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The thesis discusses the role of vulnerable households in the energy transition. These households do not have the resources and are at risk of energy poverty, yet they often live in houses that...Show moreThe thesis discusses the role of vulnerable households in the energy transition. These households do not have the resources and are at risk of energy poverty, yet they often live in houses that need the most investments. This thesis looks at this dilemma up close, asking how responsibility for the energy transition is parsed, and what kind of misfits and frictions this creates.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
This thesis explores how moral and ethical ideas are translated into how actors are designing or contesting future spatial development of the Nieuwe Waterweg, contributing to our understanding of...Show moreThis thesis explores how moral and ethical ideas are translated into how actors are designing or contesting future spatial development of the Nieuwe Waterweg, contributing to our understanding of why it is hard to change the logics embedded in these systems. Based on recent anthropological studies and the data gathered in this research, I hypothesise that part of the reason other proposals for the Nieuwe Waterweg's future are disregarded is not only simply clashing ideas of what function actors believe the Nieuwe Waterweg should prioritise. Rather, it is the different ideologies about just relations between human and nonhuman actors that cause conflicting ideas about how environments should be organised and why (Larkin 2013; Scaramelli 2019; Star & Ruhleder 1996). Despite the disagreements over the political functions of the Nieuwe Waterweg, all actors alike praise the symbolic, poetic value it serves (Larkin 2013). Its international reputation on port activities, association with water safety and overall symbol of innovativeness could once again be the key to contest the current logics and systems and convince policy makers of ones more sustainable and suitable for the future.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
The research focuses on the execution of the policy program called Resilient Bospolder/Tussendijken 2028. The main aims of this policy are to reduce CO2 emissions and to improve the quality of life...Show moreThe research focuses on the execution of the policy program called Resilient Bospolder/Tussendijken 2028. The main aims of this policy are to reduce CO2 emissions and to improve the quality of life in called Bospolder/Tussnedijken. Frequently referred to simply as BoTu, this neighborhood in Rotterdam is often presented as having higher than average poverty rates. In this study, I will try to understand how the two mentioned sets of goals combine under the term resilience. I will do that by focusing on the implementation of the program and the way residents of BoTu experience it. The concepts of citizenship and energy ethics will be crucial for my research. I will discuss debates surrounding these concepts and try to build upon them. With this, I will try to also contribute to academic debates about policy implementation, citizenship, and energy ethics. I will also touch upon the concept of resilience and temporalities concerning policy projects. The first will help me understand resilient projects in general, while the second will be beneficial for conceptualizing findings in my field. This study is based on my fieldwork in BoTu from January 2022 to early April 2022. It was conducted as part of Port City Futures research program and in collaboration with Veld Academie. The latter is an organization tasked by the municipality of BoTu to monitor the development of the resilience program.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
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In this case study I investigate a unit of six people in the Woondiversiteit: a community in which Dutch students and Syrian status holders are living together. This paper attempts to show how...Show moreIn this case study I investigate a unit of six people in the Woondiversiteit: a community in which Dutch students and Syrian status holders are living together. This paper attempts to show how mutual social support, language learning and cultural learning have emerged within the informal context of this living community. It will be argued that this way of living creates opportunities for intergroup contact which results in positive effects of cross-cultural interaction, such as the reduction of prejudices and the development of family-like relations. These relationships being, on the one hand, ones that stimulate the willingness to contribute to supporting status-holders to integrate in Dutch society, and on the other hand to generate an understanding amongst the Dutch students of the condition that these status holders find themselves in and to learn new ways of being and interacting. This research consists partly of an observational film that shows these interactions. Visual ethnography as part of participant observation has been used as the principal method, to create a deeper understanding of relational learning within this community. I will discuss the different roles which the camera has played in these processes and as a medium of investigation.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
This moral anthropological study has explored the moral narratives of right- and far-right users of the subreddit pages /FreeDutch and /Forum_Democratie, and compared these to the tactical choices...Show moreThis moral anthropological study has explored the moral narratives of right- and far-right users of the subreddit pages /FreeDutch and /Forum_Democratie, and compared these to the tactical choices of the Dutch political party Forum voor Democratie. The central elements of these moral narratives were freedom and personal responsibility as ways to navigate the changing cultural circumstances in which my interlocutors felt blamed, demeaned and sidelined. These feelings were tied to a perceived moral judgment by political adversaries, and were most evoked regarding the perceived charge of racism. The Dutch far-right populist party Forum voor Democratie has capitalized on these emotional experiences by subsuming them under a narrative that epistemologically and emotionally discredits and distances outside parties by painting them as corrupt and ill-intentioned, facilitates social and political polarization, and ultimately delegitimizes democracy as a whole.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
Thousands of migrants and asylum-seekers are entering the Netherlands in various (legal) ways and are stuck in a waiting time in different aspects of their procedures of acquiring residency. This...Show moreThousands of migrants and asylum-seekers are entering the Netherlands in various (legal) ways and are stuck in a waiting time in different aspects of their procedures of acquiring residency. This research project explores realms of migrating to the Netherlands by focussing on the perception of temporalities, documentation and communication with Dutch authorities like the IND (Immigration and Naturalization Service). Diving into the theoretical concepts of power-chronography, delaying, waiting and errance, I explore how appointments with the IND, being transferred, and having no legal residence documents and other (bureaucratic) challenges are experiences in the lived experiences of my collaborators. All four collaborators present in this thesis, as well in the audiovisual output in the form of a zine, have their own ambitions and coping strategies with caring for their time while being in documentation and bureaucratic challenges, such as waiting for the second interview with the IND. Embedded within the framework of visual ethnography, this thesis attempts to dive into methodological reflections of zine-making as process and as audio-visual product in a multimodal way (including film and soundscapes accessible via QR codes). Together with the four young male collaborators from Kenya, Guinea, Yemen and Afghanistan, we aim to show parts of the asylum procedure in an artistic manner and critically question the current Dutch migration system and distribute the zines to engage with the research in line with the zine history of anti-institutionalism and activism. This research contributes to critically unpacking what the intersections of power, documentation and temporalities mean for the four collaborators in their lived experiences, shedding light on in which forms they find agency and control while currently being in the residency acquiring in the Netherlands. Thereby this research project in form of the written thesis and the accompanying zine contribute to the discourse of temporalities and migration.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
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This thesis foregrounds what an ethnographer can learn from unexpected waiting. In particular, it looks at the ways analogue photography can help navigate a research project that is perpetually...Show moreThis thesis foregrounds what an ethnographer can learn from unexpected waiting. In particular, it looks at the ways analogue photography can help navigate a research project that is perpetually deferred. Before entering the field, the preliminary focus of this research was on the organised Heem days. Heem is a young initiative that aspires to evoke interfaith encounter through gardening and making art on designated Heem days. The intention of this research was to research the interfaith encounter between participants through gardening together and making art. When entering the field, the Heem days were repeatedly delayed. At the end of the fieldwork period, no Heem days had taken place. This period of waiting created a space and necessity to pay attention to the slow process and everyday aspects of Heem, through the people and place. Analogue photography was an adequate method to study this waiting process. Due to the limited number of photos that can be made, it stimulates the researcher to be in the moment and preselect what is important and what not. Through the concepts of waiting, everyday and analogue photography, this study explores the purchase of waiting for ethnography. The key finding of this study is that also in the (unexpected) process of waiting for something to happen in the field, a lot of valuable information can be found. Furthermore, analogue photography can teach us to slow down and look at our field – and personal lives – with new eyes. The research has a multimodal output that consists both of a textual part and an ethnographic photobook. The first reflects on the unexpected process of waiting for the organized days of Heem to happen, using the concepts waiting, everyday and analogue photography. The ethnographic photobook expresses the process of waiting at Heem, including the place, the mundane happenings and objects and the people of and around Heem. The photobook ends with photos of an organised Heem day that I participated in after fieldwork to also show what Heem was preparing for.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
The thesis focuses on the experiences of inclusion and participation of deaf and hard of hearing people in team sports, considering their own perspectives towards their reduced hearing, then...Show moreThe thesis focuses on the experiences of inclusion and participation of deaf and hard of hearing people in team sports, considering their own perspectives towards their reduced hearing, then translating this to their experiences on the sports field. Attributes that either support or obstruct inclusion are brought forward by sports policies and programs, the participants themselves, and literature research. While the research has given directly observable examples and tools of how inclusive practices in sports can be enabled, it has also shed light on indirect and structural issues that somehow impact sports experiences: general participation in the deaf or hearing world; the sense of belonging one has in each; the ability of sign language as an influencing and communicative tool; and the interaction or lack thereof with other deaf or hard of hearing people. Thus, a distinction is made between physical participation and social participation in team sports, where each pertains to a different side of what it means to achieve inclusion.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
This study investigates what factors influence ethnic identity and sense of belonging amongst first- and second- generation individuals of the Ghanaian diaspora in the Netherlands. The experiences...Show moreThis study investigates what factors influence ethnic identity and sense of belonging amongst first- and second- generation individuals of the Ghanaian diaspora in the Netherlands. The experiences shared by interlocutors portray that ethnic identity is fluid and interchangeable, instead of a fixed phenomenon. Ghanaian interlocutors demonstrated that they live within a double consciousness, as they are able to move between worlds of connectedness and disconnectedness with their Ghanaian and Dutch identities. Furthermore their sense of belonging is closely related to larger structures of (everyday) racism prevalent in Dutch society and personal notions affiliated with The Netherlands as home. Then in Ghana sense of belonging is also multifaceted as they are perceived as too "Dutch".Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
Severe menstruation pain is often normalized by society. However, this can be a sign of endometriosis. Endometriosis is a condition that affects people with a uterus1, where endometrial tissue...Show moreSevere menstruation pain is often normalized by society. However, this can be a sign of endometriosis. Endometriosis is a condition that affects people with a uterus1, where endometrial tissue grows outside the uterus. Often this tissue grows in the pelvic, the ovaries, abdominal cavities. Despite the fact that one in ten people with a uterus have endometriosis, there is little attention for or understanding of this condition. Therefore, this research, consisting of a documentary and accompanying text, explores the complexity of the everyday life experiences of four women with endometriosis living in a Dutch and Belgian context. By placing this research topic in a larger anthropological discourse about illness experiences, it allowed me to approach endometriosis as a condition that is socially constructed by people women themselves and society. Three major themes play a major role in the women's everyday illness experiences. First, there is a lack of awareness for the condition in society that often results in misunderstandings and false diagnoses. Second, the ongoing process of grief and acceptance. Finally, the desire of women for a more holistic approach to endometriosis care. The aim of the research is to create more awareness for the condition and to help us think more openly about chronic pain linked to menstruation.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
closed access
In this visual ethnographic research is explored what processes enabled embodiment of traumatic experiences through performed text and dance. The main method of observational cinema enabled to...Show moreIn this visual ethnographic research is explored what processes enabled embodiment of traumatic experiences through performed text and dance. The main method of observational cinema enabled to follow the creation process for the performance of Birds in embodying emotions and trauma of the main character that are based on the personal experiences of the choreographer and director of the performance, Dalton Jansen. Exploring and building the narrative of traumatic experiences of the main character of Birds enabled further steps into embodying the emotions and narrative connected to the traumatic experience by the performers through performed text and dance. By analysing performed text and dance separately insights are found in how they each enabled to express trauma and emotions in different ways. However, the connection exercises and space-holding for trauma at the beginning of the creative process, formed the base that enabled the embodiment in the performers.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
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Despite the remaining importance of academic achievement and successful study completion of all students, little is known about the impact of the campus environment on students beyond the study...Show moreDespite the remaining importance of academic achievement and successful study completion of all students, little is known about the impact of the campus environment on students beyond the study programme, on their social and institutional belonging, which also contribute to academic success. Therefore, this thesis explores two themes. One, how students of Leiden University experience feeling “at home” or alienated in their campus environment in the age of the growing student mobility, within and across borders, and the role study associations and (D&I-supported) student-led networks play in this. Two, the role diversity awareness (practices and projects) play in students feeling “at home” or alienated at the university, by looking at the Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) policy in practice, particularly as seen from the students’ perspectives.Show less
