Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
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This paper explores the cultural relevance of hip-hop music in understanding and analyzing the complex social, political, and cultural issues affecting African American men in America. Focusing on...Show moreThis paper explores the cultural relevance of hip-hop music in understanding and analyzing the complex social, political, and cultural issues affecting African American men in America. Focusing on the recognition of hip-hop as a legitimate form of culture, it investigates how this art form prioritizes the voices of the oppressed, providing a window for outsiders to grasp the lived experiences of black life. By examining the concepts of double consciousness and structural violence, as theorized by W.E.B. Du Bois and Fanon, the paper delves into the personal and individual complexities experienced by African American men. It further explores the role of the mass incarceration of African American men as a result of the War on Drugs, emphasizing how this perpetuates a forced criminal narrative. Finally, it addresses the role of racial discourse in the critique of violent rap music and its impact on the perpetuation of the criminal narrative.Show less
Despite their scientific promise, gene editing technologies (GETs) have been subjected to many debates regarding the ethics, politics, and social consequences of genetic modification. This is...Show moreDespite their scientific promise, gene editing technologies (GETs) have been subjected to many debates regarding the ethics, politics, and social consequences of genetic modification. This is largely due to its similarities with old eugenics policies, as well as trends seen in healthcare practice and access for other innovative medical technologies (e.g. geographical practice variations, and socio-economic disparities in access to care and medical innovativeness). Currently taking part in these debates are the scientific community, historians, and ethicists. As such, the public does not yet have a seat at the table, though this is necessary to devise succesful policies and regulations pertinent to the (potential) wider adoption of GETs in the healthcare system. Therefore, this study aims to gauge the public perception on GETs, while accounting for Race and Level of Education. More specifically, this study focusses on the predictiveness of said variables for the degree to which one is accepting of GETs, and to what extent they fear that GETs are discriminatory in nature. This is achieved by means of multiple linear regressions. It was found that Race and Level of Education were insignificantly predictive of acceptance of gene editing technologies (R2 = .002, F(2, 137) = .154, p = .857). Further, they were insignificantly predictive of fear of gene editing technologies being discriminatory (R2 = .036, F(2, 130) = 2.441, p = .091).Show less
The anti-imperialists in the United States, unified in the Anti-Imperialist League (AIL) used race among various other arguments to oppose the annexation of the Philippines after the Spanish...Show moreThe anti-imperialists in the United States, unified in the Anti-Imperialist League (AIL) used race among various other arguments to oppose the annexation of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War (1898). The primary argument of the AIL was that the annexation devalued the American founding principles, although other arguments, such as race, were raised as well. Earlier works have examined the relation between race and (anti-) imperialism in the context of American imperialism at the end of the nineteenth century, albeit in a broader context. This thesis aims to determine in what ways race was fundamental to the AIL’s views of the annexation of the Philippines. To determine how fundamental race was to these views, this thesis analyses documents and speeches of six AIL members, belonging to three different movements within the AIL: the rights activists, the Social Darwinists, and the white supremacists. These documents show that the perception of race plays a role in structuring the argument of race, yet it also structures other political, administrative, and labor-related arguments. These results show that the perception of race was fundamental in the shaping of several arguments against annexation.Show less
Police brutality in the United States has sparked a national outcry, as this year again far too many black people have fallen victim to police shootings. Though activists have been advocating for...Show morePolice brutality in the United States has sparked a national outcry, as this year again far too many black people have fallen victim to police shootings. Though activists have been advocating for change and scholars have examined the current flawed system, they have not studied the black struggle from a contemporary genocide lens. This thesis examines American policing practices in lights of genocide, and it offers a brief history of policing practices and slavery, as well as discusses the various findings of African American Studies scholar. This thesis shows how after decades of slavery there are still genocidal tendencies in the police force, which is analysed through Stanton’s stages of genocide, as well as notions of indirect genocide. The findings indicate that policing practices pass the first six stages of Stanton, classification, symbolisation, discrimination, dehumanisation, organisation and polarisation. Though fortunately, not all stages have been realised, this thesis wishes to elucidate the deeply entrenched racial biases that are causing unbearable living situations for black Americans and to listen to those who have been silenced over the years.Show less
Race in fantasy offers a ‘safe space’ to engage with racial discourse, but races are often narrowed down to one dimensional stereotypes. Guild Wars 2 is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing...Show moreRace in fantasy offers a ‘safe space’ to engage with racial discourse, but races are often narrowed down to one dimensional stereotypes. Guild Wars 2 is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game that features race in a similar way, but offers insight in various themes regarding racial discourse, postcolonialism and International Relations. Videogames more so than other popular media, have the power to be political because they allow for interactive engagement with the medium. This thesis presents the argument that engagement with fantasy games featuring racial discourse can open up valuable and critical discussions of multiculturalism, the meaning of race, Orientalism and postcolonialism in our real life societies.Show less
The United States is currently in the process of replacing many of its traditional public schools with semi-private institutions called charter schools. Though this process only became widespread...Show moreThe United States is currently in the process of replacing many of its traditional public schools with semi-private institutions called charter schools. Though this process only became widespread within the last few decades, its origins are rooted in the political turmoil that occurred during the American Civil Rights movement more than 50 years ago. By implementing critical race theory, this study investigates the relationship between long standing racism and the push to privatize U.S. public schools by using the New Orleans public school system as a focal point. Court documents, historical accounts, interviews, era specific newspaper articles and prior research into the field are all used to accomplish this aim. Analyzing these materials illustrates how current arguments in favor of privatization were born out of white resistance to racially integrated public schools in the mid-20th century, and still echo the talking points used during the Civil Rights era to challenge forced integration. Based on these analyses, this study concludes that the American charter school movement is poorly regulated, racially biased, and creates classroom inequality in New Orleans, and throughout the United States.Show less
The leading question in this research is how sir Granville St John Orde Browne imagined the ideal colonial labourer in correspondence and reports written in the course of his career, 1885-1945. It...Show moreThe leading question in this research is how sir Granville St John Orde Browne imagined the ideal colonial labourer in correspondence and reports written in the course of his career, 1885-1945. It asks specifically how men and women were represented or omitted within this imagining and why. It is argued that in the context of colonial labour, Orde Browne imagined the ideal colonial labourer as male and hereby excluded women from the realm of wage labour opportunities, instead discursively assigning them to the sphere of domesticity and recommending policies that limited female wage labour opportunities and reified a colonial idealization of wife-hood and motherhood. This exclusion was based on assumptions of women as especially traditional and conservative, a sexualization and associated demoralization of the independent presence of women in the compounds, and women being deemed inferior labourers. Men, on the other hand, were represented as objects of exploitation, whose bodies and minds were to be controlled through colonial policies with the aim of making labour migration as efficient and profitable as possible. Women within this structure were visualized as dependents who could either hinder said effective exploitation through the spread of disease and immorality, or could enable even more efficient and stable exploitation and ensure the reproduction of a future generation of workers.Show less
This thesis analyses the racial relations and political participation of the Brazilian public during the reign of ex-president Lula da Silva, (2003-2011). This thesis realises an analysis of...Show moreThis thesis analyses the racial relations and political participation of the Brazilian public during the reign of ex-president Lula da Silva, (2003-2011). This thesis realises an analysis of national identity and identity politics between the years 2003-2011 in combination with an analysis of racial representation within the government, but also within Brazilian society during this time in relation to the legacy of the theory of racial democracy. This thesis analyses whether or not the socio-economic setting for ethnic minorities such as Afro-Brazilians has improved since the colonial era.Show less
This thesis focuses on African American hip-hop music. How does this music form produce a connection between black people and how does it create a community? Hip-hop music has a performative...Show moreThis thesis focuses on African American hip-hop music. How does this music form produce a connection between black people and how does it create a community? Hip-hop music has a performative function in producing a collective identity based on race, and now that new generations of African Americans are growing up in a world steeped in hip-hop culture, it is important to try and understand this performativity. How does hip-hop music produce a construct of blackness? And how is this performative function complicated by the many contradictions in hip-hop: commercial hip-hop balances on a fine line between emancipating African Americans and reproducing negative stereotypes of African Americans.Show less
Amid the ongoing controversy over Affirmative Action in the admissions policies of elite colleges in the US, the term “model minority,” and its implicit racial link with the Asian American...Show moreAmid the ongoing controversy over Affirmative Action in the admissions policies of elite colleges in the US, the term “model minority,” and its implicit racial link with the Asian American community, has once again resurfaced in American national discourse. As such there is an increasing need to understand the Model Minority Myth in a wider, historical perspective. Drawing on Claire-Jean Kim’s racial triangulation theory, this thesis examines how Japanese American newspapers in California during the 1930s engaged in discursive self-essentialization, and dissociation from other non-white minorities as a means of survival in American society, and by doing so inadvertently contributed to the further perpetuation of a white-dominated racial hierarchy in the United States and a further solidification of the reputation of Asian Americans as an alleged Model Minority. It then critically analyzes the work of two contemporary Asian American authors known for their embrace of the Model Minority Identity, Amy Chua and Yukong Zhao, and demonstrates how the tactics they deploy in their works reiterate discursive strategies used by their Japanese American predecessors during the Depression Era. Rather than viewing model minority discourse as a strictly American phenomenon or a product of white American agency, this thesis argues for a wider, transnational lens with which we view patterns of discrimination across borders and time, taking into account conflict and compliance, action and reaction. In this way the thesis aims to contribute to an improved understanding of systems of discrimination and oppression and, more importantly, how to dismantle them.Show less
This thesis analyses how prolific musicians of the time Gilberto Gil and Criolo have provided social and political commentary on behalf of traditionally marginalised communities in Brazil, and in...Show moreThis thesis analyses how prolific musicians of the time Gilberto Gil and Criolo have provided social and political commentary on behalf of traditionally marginalised communities in Brazil, and in what way they have been able to provide such commentaries.Show less
Up until now, there has been a lot of studies done on the topic hafu in Japan. Although, a gap can be identified when we consider gendered aspects of the mixed-race identity. Social aspects within...Show moreUp until now, there has been a lot of studies done on the topic hafu in Japan. Although, a gap can be identified when we consider gendered aspects of the mixed-race identity. Social aspects within an identity such as race and gender, should not be simply observed separately but investigated on how they interact with or affect each other. This thesis examines the mixed-race identity as a multidimensional concept by focusing on the intersectionality of race and gender. The main question is: “how does the intersection of racial and gendered identities contribute to the identity experience of hafu in Japan?” Firstly, this thesis argues how the intersectionality theory, primarily introduced by Crenshaw, adds value to understanding the mixed-race identity. It will highlight the importance of this angle. Secondly, it will provide a historical background of hafu in Japan and discuss the gaps in the literature on this topic. After a critical discussion of the issue, an analysis investigates how representations of hafu in Japanese advertisements are contributing to the identity of hafu. It will provide an insight of how images in advertisements show intersecting gendered and racial identity assumptions for male and female hafu.Show less
We know black women struggled to obtain more rights; they did in abolitionism and they did in the suffrage movement. We know black suffragists existed – for example, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells,...Show moreWe know black women struggled to obtain more rights; they did in abolitionism and they did in the suffrage movement. We know black suffragists existed – for example, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, or Harriet Tubman, yet they are left out of the picture. They were women who had to live under the same patriarchical structures as any other woman. But at the same time, these black women had to endure a second type of injustice, solely because of the colour of their skin. Race plays a crucial part in this, as it became an intricate barrier preventing wide-scale cooperation between black and white suffrage activists. How did race as a divisive factor become apparent in the women’s movement?Show less
Research master thesis | History: Societies and Institutions (research) (MA)
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This thesis is about two scientific expeditions to Dutch New Guinea.The first to the Wisselmeren (1939)just before the Second World War, the second to the Sterrengebergte (1959) a few years before...Show moreThis thesis is about two scientific expeditions to Dutch New Guinea.The first to the Wisselmeren (1939)just before the Second World War, the second to the Sterrengebergte (1959) a few years before the transfer of Dutch New Guinea to Indonesia. These expeditions were organized by the Dutch Royal Geographic Society (Koninklijk Nederlands Aardrijkskundig Genootschap or KNAG). Many disciplines were involved: zoology, botany, geology, anthropology and many more specialisations. This research looks specifically at the interaction between the colonial state and the scientific expedition and the knowledge resulting from this relationship. Therefore it focuses on colonial anthropology and the changing notions of race and the 'other'.Show less
Research master thesis | History: Societies and Institutions (research) (MA)
open access
In this thesis I have attempted to determine to what degree the colonial discourse(the publicly expressed world view and moral codes of the ruling colonial elites)in the Netherlands-Indies...Show moreIn this thesis I have attempted to determine to what degree the colonial discourse(the publicly expressed world view and moral codes of the ruling colonial elites)in the Netherlands-Indies conflicted with the phenomenon of colonial hybridity. I have distilled the colonial discourse from the writings of multiple researchers and confronted this with everyday reality. I have gained my data about everyday in the Netherlands-Indies from the biographical interviews contained in the SMGI collection at the KITLV institute and from a pair of Indies writers. What I have found during my research was that everyday reality was far more hybrid and that people would associate and mix with other ethnic groups far more than the colonial discourse as spread by the colonial elites would suggest. The thesis itself is in Dutch.Show less
