Previous studies suggested that Spanish colonisers imposed their northern-based beliefs and ideas, including the Christian religion and cisnormativity, on their occupied territories under colonial...Show morePrevious studies suggested that Spanish colonisers imposed their northern-based beliefs and ideas, including the Christian religion and cisnormativity, on their occupied territories under colonial rule. This thesis aims to determine whether colonial legacies still influence the perceptions among present-day Mexican Twitter users. Specifically, it addresses the ways in which the muxe, a third gender among the Zapotec community, are perceived. To test the hypothesis, 112 tweets, including 37 visual objects, were examined using a mixed-methods approach. All tweets were written in Spanish and published between January 1, 2021, and April 30, 2022. The sample (n=112) has been coded and analysed with the software program ATLAS.ti. The results showed that the majority (59.82%) of the authors demonstrated cisnormativity by misgendering the muxe, and little more than one-fifth (20.54%) exercised epistemological colonisation through the misusage of northern-based terminology. Correspondingly, 40.18% of the authors correctly adopted non-biased muxe descriptions, such as third gender. Interestingly, three of the six videos explicitly touched upon how colonialism altered Mexican attitudes towards the muxe. Considering previous literature, the results of this thesis suggest that colonial legacies affect to some extent the ways in which contemporary Mexican Twitter users perceive muxes as gender identity. However, since the results demonstrated no definitive agreement, no firm conclusion can be drawn about the hypothesis. By applying statistics, further research might be conducted to confirm the significance of these results.Show less
Recent feminist movements, such as Ni Una Menos, have been protesting Argentina’s gendered social structure since 2015, which has been challenged and evolved over the past 40 years through the...Show moreRecent feminist movements, such as Ni Una Menos, have been protesting Argentina’s gendered social structure since 2015, which has been challenged and evolved over the past 40 years through the actions of other social movements. As Argentina entered a new period of economic uncertainty in 2018, Ni Una Menos emerged as a key actor in opposing the government’s economic policies, seemingly drifting away from its original goal to advance women’s rights in the country. This thesis therefore analyses the movement’s motivations behind its involvement in protesting the current debt crisis in Argentina. It finds that economic crises undoubtedly impact women to a higher extent than men, explaining Ni Una Menos’ involvement. Furthermore, an analysis of the declaration of strike of March 8th, 2020, suggests that the movement might be motivated by a desire to increase its mobilisation base. By using the consequences of the economic crisis and the implications of the debt to foster critical consciousness in the Argentine population, it can increase protests and advocate for deeper structural change.Show less
This paper argues that Bolsonaro’s communication campaign in the 2018 Brazilian presidential election, notably through disinformation in WhatsApp may explain his victory. It relates his campaign to...Show moreThis paper argues that Bolsonaro’s communication campaign in the 2018 Brazilian presidential election, notably through disinformation in WhatsApp may explain his victory. It relates his campaign to post-truth politics and disinformation, and populist communication. It draws on agenda-setting effect theory in order to assess the effect of his campaign on the media (traditional and social media) and on voting intentions. The main findings are that (i Bolsonaro managed to influence the media agenda through WhatsApp and (ii this in turn influenced the public agenda and the electorate in his favour. Account must be taken of important technical limitations relating to access to sources and range of media examined.Show less
As migration increases in the world, many countries struggle to address it. Some governments have taken on a necropolitical stance on the matter, meaning that they have deliberately failed to help...Show moreAs migration increases in the world, many countries struggle to address it. Some governments have taken on a necropolitical stance on the matter, meaning that they have deliberately failed to help migrants and asylum seekers in their territories, effectively abandoning them to die. As migration trends also increase in Brazil, the current administration of Jair Bolsonaro could be following in the same path as those governments. This thesis will analyze the presence of necropolitics in Bolsonaro’s discourse, arguing that he uses language to justify the ‘letting die’ of immigrants.Show less
This thesis explores the role of a teacher under Bolsonaro regime in Curitiba, Brazil. More specifically, it will answer the following research question: how have the oppressive structures of...Show moreThis thesis explores the role of a teacher under Bolsonaro regime in Curitiba, Brazil. More specifically, it will answer the following research question: how have the oppressive structures of neoliberalism under the Bolsonaro regime affected teachers' capabilities in Curitiba, Brazil? The disseratation explores the question through the framework of neoliberalism, the commodification of education and knowledge on the one hand and transformative education on the other. The goal is to identify and analyse the impact of Bolsonaro's neoliberal policies on teachers' experiences in the classroom and society. The research is based on six, qualitative, semi-structured interviews with six teachers in Curitiba. The analysis indicates that teachers find it increasingly difficult to realise their ideological aspirations towards transformative education within the framework of Bolsonaro's neoliberal policies. Based on the data, the Bolsonaro regime's neoliberal educational policies that have led further commodification of education and knowledge which deteriorate teachers' professional status, working conditions, support and pedagogical liberty. Through critical premises, this research engages in the ongoing political debate on the commodification of education.Show less
This thesis carries out a discourse analysis on three popular newspapers in Mexico who reported on feminist protests in response to the feminicides of Ingrid Escamilla and Fátima Cecilia in...Show moreThis thesis carries out a discourse analysis on three popular newspapers in Mexico who reported on feminist protests in response to the feminicides of Ingrid Escamilla and Fátima Cecilia in February 2020. The research question aims to answer how newspaper writing reproduces structures of silence surrounding feminicide which prevents challenges to established structures of power. Using Fairclough’s method of discourse analysis, the thesis scrutinizes seven newspaper articles on the basis of two hypotheses. Hypothesis One postulates that news coverage focuses on vandalism rather than on feminicide, and hypothesis Two posits that the articles fail to link to the larger societal context and do not discuss the role of gendered violence in Mexico. The analysis concludes that the discursive practices of the newspapers represent a continuation of social practices of the past which support and reproduce structures of silence that prevent a resolution of the feminicide epidemic in Mexico.Show less
Reggaeton has risen in popularity, spreading outside its continent of origin and entertaining both Latino and non-Latino people alike in recent years. However, the songs within this music style...Show moreReggaeton has risen in popularity, spreading outside its continent of origin and entertaining both Latino and non-Latino people alike in recent years. However, the songs within this music style have been criticized for their degrading lyrics that perpetuate machista behavior, which is still prevalent in Latin American countries like Chile. This paper analyses how machismo manifests in reggaeton and the extent to which its songs’ specifically vulgar lyrics affect Chilean women’s perception of gender roles, their self-worth and the state of gender equality in their society. This investigation has been conducted via an online survey in Chile among women between the ages of 18 and 30. The findings of the research indicate that the women are more or less likely to be affected by the lyrics based on their individual state of mind and demographic factors such as age, education level, and geographical location. However, seeing as the majority of the women that answered the survey could be categorized as members of the middle- and upper-classes, the results cannot be generalized beyond these particular strata of women without further research. Nonetheless, the data indicates that reggaeton still plays a role in the reproduction of machismo in Chilean society.Show less
The following thesis uses Critical Discourse Analysis to perform a qualitative examination of four statements made by pro-choice campaigners during the 2018 abortion legalisation campaign in...Show moreThe following thesis uses Critical Discourse Analysis to perform a qualitative examination of four statements made by pro-choice campaigners during the 2018 abortion legalisation campaign in Argentina. On August 8th, 2018 the Argentinian Senate held a historic vote in which they rejected the request to make reproductive laws less restrictive. The following work hypothesises that the statements released by pro-choice campaigners were made to rebel against the concepts of marianismo and motherhood in order to attempt to reconstruct the traditional female gender identity in Argentina. It finds that the campaigners used the discourse within their statements to try to create a new framework for Argentinian women in which they could rebel against the traditional constraints of marianismo and redefine their position in society. Furthermore, within the statements, the research identifies the formation of a collective sisterhood against patriarchal institutions and oppressive structures.Show less
This thesis is about the confrontation between two forms of justice. One institutionalized as law, and the other, depending on situational embodied forms of doing justice. Further, it is about the...Show moreThis thesis is about the confrontation between two forms of justice. One institutionalized as law, and the other, depending on situational embodied forms of doing justice. Further, it is about the confrontation between sources of law. One source relates to sovereign nation states as top down mechanism, and the other, to indigenous peoples as bottom-up process. The analysis applies a bottom-up approach, as suggested by decolonial critical thought, that questions elemental assumptions about dominant neoliberal institutional frameworks. This thesis cannot solve these tensions. It tries to investigate their dynamics on the basis of a specific case, which is, the ethical tribunal, established by Maya Mam indigenous peoples in 2012, that accuses the Canadian mining company Goldcorp for committing human rights violations through its extractive activities in the area of San Marcus Ixtahuacán, Guatemala. Instead of coming up with a solution, the thesis wants to question dominant legal frameworks that permit human rights violations and reveal the capacity of informal legal compositions to install grounds of justice. It was identified that the ethical tribunal contributed to unfold the seemingly uncontested nature of neoliberal extractive activities through its potential to challenge impunity and establish access to cognitive, and epistemic forms of justice.Show less
Comparing corruption with an infectious disease, the United Nations Convention Against Corruption refers to corruption as “an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on...Show moreComparing corruption with an infectious disease, the United Nations Convention Against Corruption refers to corruption as “an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on societies” (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2004, iii). With this in view, corruption is considered to be systemic to Mexico. Corrupt behaviour on highest political and economic levels is passed down across society and excludes the poorest from access to social and public services, economic participation and support. Given the stagnating poverty level, with an estimated 47,3% of people living in poverty in 2016, corruption is seen as a major impediment to economic and social development in Mexico (CONEVAL 2016; Castro and Nevárez 2015, 220-1). Although the Mexican government has, time and again, made efforts to introduce binding anti-corruption laws, these legislative changes have proved inefficient due to weak rule of law and the lack of transparency in the political administration (Davis 2008, 55-6, Tromme and Otaola 2014, 573). The structural digitisation of bureaucratic processes in the public sector is seen as a possible means to curb corruption by establishing transparency, efficiency and the rule of law (Boucher 2017 12; Kshetri and Voas 2018, 12; Hughes 2017, 661-3). Yet, in the Mexican case, although a collective political will to implement such strategies for structural digitisation is visible, there is adverse evidence to the effectiveness of such efforts as systemic corruption seems to be perpetuated at individual level, undermining collective efforts. Given these circumstances, Blockchain technology has recently emerged as a technological solution to many of these issues related to corruption. In fact, the technology has been ascribed the potential “to fundamentally shift the way in which society operates” (Wright and De Filipi 2016, 2). As such, the proposed paper hypothesises that a government-led application of Blockchain technology in public administration and services could indeed facilitate a structural eradication of the prevalent systemic corruption in Mexico. Based on this assumption, a practical framework is suggested for the structural implementation of Blockchain technology in Mexico’s public administration and services.Show less
This thesis deals with the current inequality levels present in Chile and how these are highly reflected in the education system. In-depth research has been conducted on how the implementation of...Show moreThis thesis deals with the current inequality levels present in Chile and how these are highly reflected in the education system. In-depth research has been conducted on how the implementation of the neoliberal economic model has created segregation in education. The higher level of education has been used as a case study in order to illustrate the levels of inequality and social discontent present in Chile. Finally, in order to gain better knowledge and overview of the reluctance towards this neoliberal system in education, two student revolutions (2006 and 2011) are taken into analysis. These manifestations have risen due to the unequal access and opportunities in higher education and is seen as a symptom of this. Although Chile has the healthiest economy in the region of Latin America, it is also the country that presents one of the highest levels of inequality in the world, making it an ideal country to analyse. Since the implementation of the economic neoliberal model in 1973, Chile has performed with great economic growth. It has even been labelled as the “Economic Miracle”. Nevertheless, the neoliberal model has had various consequences, which are analysed throughout this paper. Moreover, the economic model in education is put into question as it is benefiting mainly students from higher class families and putting into financial burden those from lower social classes.Show less
The influence that the United States has in Latin America is great, and Honduras is no exception. This thesis examines the political influence of the United States in Honduras from June 2009 until...Show moreThe influence that the United States has in Latin America is great, and Honduras is no exception. This thesis examines the political influence of the United States in Honduras from June 2009 until today, looking at three key events: the 2009 coup d’etat, the 2013 presidential elections, and the 2017 presidential elections. Through the concept of hegemony and the United States as a hegemonic power, media sources from both the United States and Honduras are analysed so as to show the influence that the United States has had in each of the aforementioned events. It is found that the hegemonic presence of the United States in Honduras has allowed them to disregard democracy and maintain support for authoritarian governments that favour the economic and geopolitical interests of the United States.Show less
The Mapuche are the largest indigenous community in Chile and they speak their own language, Mapudungun. Unfortunately, over the course of history, the Mapuche have experienced many hardships,...Show moreThe Mapuche are the largest indigenous community in Chile and they speak their own language, Mapudungun. Unfortunately, over the course of history, the Mapuche have experienced many hardships, especially in relation to the Chilean state. One of these hardships is the gradual loss of their language in favour of Spanish. This development can be seen through the fact that younger generations stop to speak the language and that Spanish is taking over the traditional use of Mapudungun in family affairs and ceremonial situations. Therefore, and in order to compensate for the historical debt that the Chilean state has with the Mapuche, the government implemented a Bilingual Intercultural Education Programme in 1996. Additionally, this is a good example of a method of revitalisation, which could help reverse the existing language shift. However, the programme in its current state has a lot of deficiencies, making it unsuccessful in achieving its objective. Consequently, this thesis will argue for the improvement of the programme, in order to increase its contribution in revitalising Mapudungun and to prevent the possible extinction of the language. The previous is important in the scope of the demands for rights of self-determination for which the Mapuche have struggled throughout history.Show less
Penicillin discovered in 1928 by Sir Alexander Fleming was the start of a revolution in the medical world, allowing scientists to develop antibiotics and doctors to cure bacterial diseases. Today,...Show morePenicillin discovered in 1928 by Sir Alexander Fleming was the start of a revolution in the medical world, allowing scientists to develop antibiotics and doctors to cure bacterial diseases. Today, only 89 years after its discovery, we are encountering that due to human behavior this therapeutic drug is becoming less effective. Bacteria have mutated and created resistance. The loss of effectiveness of bacteria is denominated in medical papers as Antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial resistance is a development which concerns the global population and is most difficult to stop in countries ruled based on a neoliberal paradigm and without means to enact on governmental regulations. Chile is a good example of such a country.Show less
