In 2013, the small Latin American republic of Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalise the production, distribution and possession of cannabis, whether it be for recreational,...Show moreIn 2013, the small Latin American republic of Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalise the production, distribution and possession of cannabis, whether it be for recreational, medical or scientific research purposes. This move has received harsh criticism and at the same time was hailed as ‘the tipping point in the War on Drugs’. This thesis will assess the origins of the policies as put forward by the Uruguayan state. The thesis is divided in three chapters. The first chapter will provide the academic debate surrounding legalisation of drugs in general and cannabis legalisation in particular, and the most important arguments in favour of, as well as against legalisation. The second chapter will provide the historical and international context of the Uruguayan drug policies up to legalisation in 2013. In the third chapter a case study will be presented and this will answer the question as to why the Uruguayan Government of José Mujica chose to legalise cannabis, as well as present the results of the policies up until today. It will be argued that questions and concerns about security lay at the heart of the policies and their justification, but that the impact on the security situation in the country will be limited. The thesis will also contend that other objectives of the regulations, primarily aimed at ‘harm reduction’, the reduction of the negative social and health consequences of drug policies, are only limitedly achieved.Show less
Why would two countries that cooperate economically build a wall at their border? Why do two befriended nations separate its citizens by a wall? This thesis deals with the peculiar coexistence of...Show moreWhy would two countries that cooperate economically build a wall at their border? Why do two befriended nations separate its citizens by a wall? This thesis deals with the peculiar coexistence of NAFTA, aiming at eliminating (trade) barriers, and the border wall between Mexico and the United States, which aims to prevent people from crossing the border illegally.Show less
Deze BA scriptie behandelt het koloniale bestuur van Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen in Nederlands-Brazilië. Er wordt gekeken in hoeverre het koloniale bestuur van hem bijzonder te noemen valt. Als...Show moreDeze BA scriptie behandelt het koloniale bestuur van Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen in Nederlands-Brazilië. Er wordt gekeken in hoeverre het koloniale bestuur van hem bijzonder te noemen valt. Als vergelijkingsmateriaal worden de Franse en Engelse koloniën in Afrika genomen. Direct-rule en indirect-rule vormen een belangrijk component in deze scriptie.Show less
This thesis examines to which extend the Doha declaration, made by the World Trade Organisation in 2001 which promotes the universal access to medication and aims to protect human health, has had...Show moreThis thesis examines to which extend the Doha declaration, made by the World Trade Organisation in 2001 which promotes the universal access to medication and aims to protect human health, has had an impact on the provision of AIDS medication. In addition, since research has claimed that the provision of AIDS medication causes a drop in AIDS-related mortality rates, the second question which the thesis aims to answer arises whether the provision of the AIDS medication indeed contributed to a higher decrease in the AIDS-related mortality rates. Both questions will be examined in the context of Brazil since this country was the first developing/middle-income country which implemented the provision of free AIDS medication as a national policy. In order to answer both questions, this thesis compares the data found concerning Brazil's provision of the AIDS medication and Brazil's AIDS-related mortality rates, between the period before and after the Doha declaration in 2001. The comparison of the data shows that a negligible difference can be find in the provision of AIDS medication before and after the Doha declaration in 2001. Nevertheless, the difference in the data of the AIDS-related mortality rates in Brazil is rather significant and represents a high decrease in the AIDS-related mortality rates after the implementation of the Doha declaration in 2001.Show less
Historically, many types of public security reform policy have been tried and implemented in Brazil, ranging from demilitarizing the police; new penal codes; strengthening internal accountability...Show moreHistorically, many types of public security reform policy have been tried and implemented in Brazil, ranging from demilitarizing the police; new penal codes; strengthening internal accountability systems, and restructuring police forces; but so far, seemingly the most promising and popular approach has been community oriented policing (COP). Leaving behind the more traditional, militaristic styles of policing that dominate police discourse throughout the region of Latin America, COP is a preventive approach based on the idea that society is the first line of defence against crime and insecurity. It focuses on the causes of crime, which can motivate citizens, to engage in police community partnerships, and it attempts to use crime statistics more effectively. The focal points of this paper, therefore, is to investigate community oriented policing in Brazil, known as Unidade de Policia Pacificadora (UPP), and to critically assess its strengths and weaknesses in the context of urban landscapes of Rio de Janeiro in the 21st Century. The paper will seek to compare public security reform critiques, as well as make an in depth analysis of what factors determine the success or failures of police reform endeavours, particularly, those in El Salvador and Brazil. Theses critiques are centred around short term initiatives that fail to identify the main problems inherent with police in Latin America; the international community’s requirements for ‘democratic police’; and the states’ inability to alter the culture of ‘non-questioning military hierarchy’.Show less
In Latin America, where in some countries the presence of indigenous communities is still relatively high, the national governments have been confronted with moral obligations to consider the...Show moreIn Latin America, where in some countries the presence of indigenous communities is still relatively high, the national governments have been confronted with moral obligations to consider the recognition and adherence to the human rights of the indigenous communities within their domestic legislation. Nevertheless, from a legal point of view, human rights declarations do not contain any legally binding regulations, meaning that states cannot be sanctioned, which limits its value. Therefore, the main question that arises when looking at the concept of indigenous rights is about their purpose and effectiveness. The adherence and respect towards the guidelines of declarations continues to depend on influential actors such as the state, and its attitude towards the legal position of indigenous communities is especially visible when conflicts arise that require the governments to protect certain rights of indigenous peoples. In Chile, most conflicts with the numerous indigenous communities are caused by the mining industry. While at the one hand mining activity is the primary source of economic growth, its environmental and social impact on the lives of indigenous communities receives growing attention by human rights rapporteurs, national and international non-governmental organizations and the representatives of the indigenous communities.Show less
The prospective nationalization of privately owned hand holdings in Guatemala placed the democratically elected government of Jacob Arbenz on a collision course with the champions of liberal...Show moreThe prospective nationalization of privately owned hand holdings in Guatemala placed the democratically elected government of Jacob Arbenz on a collision course with the champions of liberal-capitalism; the United States. Using American Exceptionalism as a theoretical construct this paper argues that developments in Guatemala were viewed within the State Department and the CIA from a position that restated historical assumptions of American superiority. This paper looks at the CIA coup against Guatemalan President Jacob Arbenz through a unique analytical lens that seeks to move away from a strictly Cold War narrative. Contesting values of rule and governance came to the fore in conceptualising a fictitious communist threat and fostered the belief among policymakers that President Arbenz should be removed from office. This paper will address how these beliefs resonated in policy making through an appropriation of American Exceptionalism to the Guatemalan coup.Show less
De laatste jaren wordt binnen internationale betrekkingen veel aandacht besteed aan het gebruiken van medische diplomatie als soft power. De Zuid-Zuid betrekkingen van Brazilië spelen hier een rol...Show moreDe laatste jaren wordt binnen internationale betrekkingen veel aandacht besteed aan het gebruiken van medische diplomatie als soft power. De Zuid-Zuid betrekkingen van Brazilië spelen hier een rol in, met in het bijzonder de relatie tussen Brazilië en de Afrikaanse landen. In dit werk wordt besproken welke complexe beweegredenen Brazilië heeft om medische assistentie te verstrekken aan Afrikaanse landen, met name de Portugeessprekende landen, en met behulp van een casus zal geanalyseerd worden in hoeverre de assistentie van Brazilië zich hiermee onderscheidt van de traditionelere vorm van ontwikkelingssamenwerking, en op welke manier Brazilië bijdraagt aan de vormgeving van een internationale gezondheidsdiplomatie.Show less
Deze scriptie bevat een analyse van sociaal-culturele elementen van het fenomeen geweld tussen intieme partners in Bolivia, volgens de richtlijnen van het I(ntimate) P(artner) V(iolence) Contextual...Show moreDeze scriptie bevat een analyse van sociaal-culturele elementen van het fenomeen geweld tussen intieme partners in Bolivia, volgens de richtlijnen van het I(ntimate) P(artner) V(iolence) Contextual Framework van K. M. Bell en A. E. Naugle (2008: 1102). In een onderzoek uitgevoerd door de Pan American Health Organisation tussen 2003 en 2009 in twaalf Latijns-Amerikaanse landen naar geweld tegen vrouwen, kwam Bolivia als slechtste naar voren met een percentage van 53.3% van alle vrouwen in een relatie die ooit blootgesteld zijn aan fysiek of seksueel partnergeweld (Bott et al., 2012: 16). Daarom is het interessant te onderzoeken wat de parameters zijn die ervoor zorgen dat partnergeweld juist in Bolivia zo vaak voorkomt; een land dat in vergelijking met andere Latijns-Amerikaanse landen niet als zeer onveilig of gewelddadig wordt beschouwd. Het toepassen van het gehele IPV Contextual Framework is vanwege het zeer brede scala aan variabelen uit verschillende studiedisciplines binnen het model niet haalbaar met de tijd en middelen toegekend voor deze Bachelor scriptie. Daarom spitst dit onderzoek zich toe op het bestuderen van één bepaalde context uit het model, namelijk context Verbal Rules. Deze bestaat uit: houding tegenover geweld, houding tegenover relaties, houding tegenover vrouwen, houding tegenover niet-gewelddadige conflictoplossingsstrategieën en houding tegenover alcohol en drugsgebruik.Show less
A pesquisa aborda a problemática do crack no Brasil, que surgiu na década de 1990 em São Paulo. Desde seu surgimento em 1990 o problema aumentou consideravelmente. A pesquisa analisa o papel dos...Show moreA pesquisa aborda a problemática do crack no Brasil, que surgiu na década de 1990 em São Paulo. Desde seu surgimento em 1990 o problema aumentou consideravelmente. A pesquisa analisa o papel dos assistentes sociais que trabalham com os usuários do crack no município de Recife. Avaliam-se as redes de atenção psicossocial existentes no município de Recife, e as políticas implantadas voltadas para a questão do crack ao nível municipal e estadual, pela Prefeitura de Recife e as Secretarias responsáveisShow less
Sinds het begin van de Speciale Periode in Cuba heeft stadslandbouw in Havana en de rest van Cuba een enorme groei gekend. Wereldwijd zijn het vooral vrouwen die in deze activiteiten deelnemen als...Show moreSinds het begin van de Speciale Periode in Cuba heeft stadslandbouw in Havana en de rest van Cuba een enorme groei gekend. Wereldwijd zijn het vooral vrouwen die in deze activiteiten deelnemen als producent en positieve effecten ondervinden op het vlak van voedselzekerheid en empowerment. Deze scriptie onderzoekt in welke mate vrouwen betrokken zijn bij stadslandbouw in Havana, welke voordelen zij daardoor ondervinden en of er ook in dit geval sprake kan zijn van het vergroten van empowerment van vrouwen door stadslandbouw.Show less
