Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
closed access
This thesis dives into the stories and lives of female low-caste garment workers in South India, uncovering their agency and strategies within the complex web of social norms and expectations. It's...Show moreThis thesis dives into the stories and lives of female low-caste garment workers in South India, uncovering their agency and strategies within the complex web of social norms and expectations. It's all about understanding how factors like caste, gender, and labor intertwine to shape their lives in the bustling world of textile factories. The journey starts by shining a light on the influence of big international brands on the factories' conditions and how the caste systems still affects people’s lives and opportunities. We dig into how traditional gender roles shape the lives of these female workers, dealing with both unequal power dynamics and family expectations. With the guiding question, "How exactly do female low-caste garment workers in South India show their power, and how do they tackle the challenges they face in their lives and jobs?" in mind, the research takes us through six chapters. The heart of the matter reveals that these workers, despite the odds, aren't just passive players. They've got agency and plans, like prioritizing their children’s education if their financial situation allows it in order to break free from the cycle of struggle. And then there's the central role of NGOs like READ, who give them skills and a voice to demand better conditions. Wrapping it all up, the conclusion shows strength doesn't always mean pushing back hard; it's often about finding ways to stand tall and find strategies when facing difficulties. All said and done, this research paints a vivid picture of these female workers' multi-faceted strengths, highlighting how they navigate their world with grit and grace, all while shaking up the social norms that surround them.Show less
Labeled Language analyses the use of language in the Mencius with the goal of finding out how gender differences feature in this Confucian text. It uses an innovative (original) methodology that...Show moreLabeled Language analyses the use of language in the Mencius with the goal of finding out how gender differences feature in this Confucian text. It uses an innovative (original) methodology that fuses text (data) mining and traditional close reading analysis, building from a gap in the academic literature on the topic of language and gender in the Mencius.Show less
'Ukiyo' was both a state of mind and a world of pleasure-seeking. It offered freedom from the limitations placed by the Tokugawa shogunate. It also gave the merchant class, and urban life in...Show more'Ukiyo' was both a state of mind and a world of pleasure-seeking. It offered freedom from the limitations placed by the Tokugawa shogunate. It also gave the merchant class, and urban life in general, a break from the controlling samurai warrior class. Edo (present-day Tokyo) society was generally regarded as a highly controlled society. Not unexpectedly, the Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka pleasure districts were likewise restricted. The most well-known of them was the Yoshiwara licensed brothel district, a separate walled town to the north of the main city that was exclusively created to entertain its male inhabitants. While ukiyo-e like paintings, prints, and illustrated books portrayed nearly every element of coeval Japanese society in Edo, pictures of female entertainers and pleasure districts in Yoshiwara were the most prevalent. A large selection of these portrayed women, although perhaps unintentionally by the artist because of the different social roles women had back then, are depicted in an objectifying manner. This is especially the case in bijinga, literally translated as ‘images of beautiful women’. The women, although it is debatable whether the depicted women are supposed to represent the actual women from the Edo period or if they are merely icons, are put down as objects of desire and vessels for reproduction among other things. In this paper, I will shed light on this issue and question whether ‘celebration’ or ‘aesthetic’ are used as a justification for these forms of objectification or not. Using ambiguous prints, I will give an analysis of the different perspectives and explanations that exist about that specific print.Show less
Rojava, or Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, is an autonomous region that operates under the premises of democratic confederalism, a political theory based on direct democracy,...Show moreRojava, or Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, is an autonomous region that operates under the premises of democratic confederalism, a political theory based on direct democracy, political ecology and gender egalitarianism. This study will analyse the implementation of gender egalitarianism through the lenses of the Political Process Model, a theory of social movements that aims to situate human agency in the centre of the analysis. The Political Process Model considers three elements in order to assess the emergence and development of social movements: mobilising structures, political opportunity structure and framing. These three elements will show different strategies that women have implemented in order to ensure their liberation in political, economic, and social terms.Show less
During the Cumberland election in 1768 Lady Mary Coke (1723-1811), together with a group of women, visited the Commons at least eight times. Elite women, often related to English politicians, were...Show moreDuring the Cumberland election in 1768 Lady Mary Coke (1723-1811), together with a group of women, visited the Commons at least eight times. Elite women, often related to English politicians, were active in the socio-political world, although there is no historiographic consensus about the intensity of their actions in the second half of the eighteenth century. This thesis challenges the view of some historians; namely that women were cut off from the political world in the period. Unlike most scholars, this research adopts a broader definition of the term ‘politics’ in which the social side is included because women were able to express their opinions more easily within the social realm. This paper aims to find out whether elite women’s political actions became more limited and less effective throughout the century or not. This will be assessed by looking at different women throughout the century, including the insufficiently researched women of the first half of the century. Furthermore, unlike other studies, this thesis will evaluate the obstacles that women encountered by examining society’s reaction to these activities through printed sources, like prints and magazines. It will show how women dealt with these obstacles in three socio-political activities within the public and private spheres: politicized gatherings, political patronage, and publications. This thesis argues that women were not only politically active throughout the century, but also that their activities increased, and that their influence can be easily perceived in the more local and personal levels of society.Show less
Adults who have experienced trauma in their childhood risk having a wide range of mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there may be protective factors...Show moreAdults who have experienced trauma in their childhood risk having a wide range of mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there may be protective factors that could explain why not all victims develop psychopathology in adulthood. One of these potential factors is ‘psychological resilience’: a cognitive process that determines if an individual is able to bounce back from a negative experience through flexible adaptation. The current study aims to examine the relationship between childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms, along with the possible moderating impact of psychological resilience on this relationship. This was investigated with a cross-sectional design, by means of an online selfreport questionnaire performed by 26 Dutch women aged 25 to 62 years of whom most had experienced some type of trauma. The data was collected using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SR), the PTSD Checklist for DSM-V (PCL-5) and the Resilience Evaluation Scale (RES). The results of a multiple regression analysis demonstrated that, as expected, women who experienced more childhood trauma showed an increased amount of PTSD symptoms (R² = .614, p ≤ .000), and that women with a higher level of resilience showed a lower amount of PTSD symptoms (R² = .74, p ≤ .000). However, resilience cannot be considered as a moderator of the relationship between childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms, as the interaction between childhood trauma and resilience was not significant (p = .179). Instead, the study did find that women who experienced more childhood trauma show lower levels of resilience (r = -.574, p = < .005). The current study recommends future studies to examine what exact role resilience has in the relationship between childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms. In addition, it emphasizes to boost resilience in victims of childhood trauma, because it may decrease the likelihood of developing PTSD symptoms in adulthood.Show less
During the partition, more than twelve million people crossed the border to reach Pakistan or India, soon communal violence roared in which women, out of revenge and hatred, became the victim of...Show moreDuring the partition, more than twelve million people crossed the border to reach Pakistan or India, soon communal violence roared in which women, out of revenge and hatred, became the victim of sexual violence at the hands of the other ethnic community. One of the major issues plaguing women was the widespread abductions of women by men from the other ethnic community in which many women were stuck on the other side of the border. Soon after, an interdominion agreement was drafted to recover abducted women from Pakistan to India and vice versa. In 1949 this agreement was discussed again to be renewed and possibly amended. The Constituent Assembly transcript of this debate that lasted for four days has been used to investigate through critical discourse analysis which roles of women within ethnicity are reproduced and to what extent. This thesis has used the framework from Anthias and Yuval-Davis to define those roles. Women's roles as boundaries, signifiers of difference, and biological reproducers become highly visible in the debate and most of all point to one issue: the lack of autonomy and representation of the voices of abducted women. Moreover, while the distinct roles of Anthias and Yuval-Davis are helpful, they lack a relational approach to the prescribed roles of women and men.Show less
Background: Prior research drawing on evolutionary psychology has shown a link between women’s fertility and sexual market value, suggesting a lower sexual market value for women past their prime...Show moreBackground: Prior research drawing on evolutionary psychology has shown a link between women’s fertility and sexual market value, suggesting a lower sexual market value for women past their prime reproductive ages. In relation to this, I investigated changes in women’s dating strategy as a function of age. I predicted women past their prime reproductive age to be less choosy as reflected in partner choice, sexual behavior and demands placed on a potential partner in terms of age. Methods: I used data from 323 heterosexual, female participants (aged 18-44) of an online dating paradigm. Participants were matched with a partner based on similarity on either task performance or questionnaire responses, after which they could contact their match for an (online-) date. Two follow-ups investigated how suitable they found their partner. Results: No direct relationship between women’s age and choosiness in terms of partner choice was found. However, women’s age positively predicted more unrestricted sexual behaviour, possibly reflecting lowered choosiness. The change in women’s demands placed on a partner in terms of age could not be investigated due to methodological restrictions. Conclusion: This thesis is not conclusive about age-related changes in female choosiness in terms of partner choice. However, exploratory findings are promising, suggesting lower sexual restrictiveness in older women. Further research is needed to clarify the reasons behind this finding. Further, future research needs to allow for natural age assortment in order to test changes in women’s demands in terms of age difference.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Liberal Arts and Sciences: Global Challenges (LUC) (BA/BSc)
closed access
Since 2001, billions of aid money have been pumped into Afghanistan to improve the lives of civilians, especially women. The plight of Afghan women has mobilised many NGOs to come into the country,...Show moreSince 2001, billions of aid money have been pumped into Afghanistan to improve the lives of civilians, especially women. The plight of Afghan women has mobilised many NGOs to come into the country, but not much has improved. This research attempts to find the reasons as to why so few improvements have been made, by using interviews with NGO employees working in Afghanistan to supplement and update the existing literature. Afterwards, a final analysis will be presented, combining the literature and the data from the interviews into one evaluation of the obstacles to the improvement of the position of women. The research question is: What are the obstacles to the improvement of the position of women in Afghanistan? It concludes that the main obstacles are more or less similar to the ones identified in the literature, namely the ineffective government, corruption, backlash against reforms, the deteriorating security situation, low quantity and quality of education, child marriages and baad. The research also identifies two new problems not yet identified by the literature: the tribal and religious norms regarding women and “Afghanistan fatigue”.Show less
This research aims to answer the question “How gender representation in politics affects the outcome of policymaking in the federal government of Nigeria”. And to help answer the questions, two...Show moreThis research aims to answer the question “How gender representation in politics affects the outcome of policymaking in the federal government of Nigeria”. And to help answer the questions, two hypotheses were formulated which are H1: greater women's representation in politics and decisionmaking positively affects the outcome of policymaking leading to economic growth and development of a country; H2: increasing the number of women decision-makers in politics leads to an outcome that is beneficial for women as well as their male counterparts. To test these hypotheses, a combination of desk research and informal/unstructured interview was carried out. It is emphasized that the gender representation in this research is focused on politics at the federal government level. Gender representation in politics at the federal level is selected because laws, policies, and decisions made at the federal government supersede all other levels (states and local government levels) of governance in Nigeria. The findings of this research support the two hypotheses as the desk research shows that the few women in politics who served on the federal level have positively impacted life’s in diverse ways while contributing to the economic growth of the country; from empowering the poor and vulnerable, providing jobs, developing new policies, challenge previous unfavorable status quo and above all alleviating poverty and thereby boosting the economic situation of the country. These findings were also supported by the interviewees. When women are included in political affairs such as decision making, it led to the development of laws and regulations that every inhabitant of the country benefit from. The research also contributed to knowledge by enumerating factors limiting the political representation of women at the federal government level. These main factors identified include religion, culture, marriage, fear, perception, education, and less or no fund. The dominant factors seem to be religion, culture, and marriage; these factors were further substantiated by the interviewees.Show less
This thesis investigated why Marko Vovchok, a Russian noblewoman, chose to narrate her stories through the voices of Ukrainian serf and peasant women. Likewise, this research sought to determine...Show moreThis thesis investigated why Marko Vovchok, a Russian noblewoman, chose to narrate her stories through the voices of Ukrainian serf and peasant women. Likewise, this research sought to determine what significance her use of the Ukrainian language in her early prose fiction had apart from its folkloric / national values, and whether it had any significance for the topic of gender. She was the first female Ukrainian writer. Using the Ukrainian language uttered by peasant and serf women, Vovchok found a way to talk about otherwise difficult issues through a kind of ‘wilderness’, defined by Elaine Showalter as being outside of male experience. Female bodily, cultural, and social issues were problematic in the contemporary literature of the Russian Empire. Therefore, her deployment of a neutral form of Ukrainian, but based on female peasant and serf forms of speech with folk elements, opened up a ‘wilderness’ of expression not yet available to anyone in Ukrainian – whether they were male or female authors. Another important feature of her stories and their language is their universalism: firstly, in their applicability to oppressed people everywhere, and secondly in their applicability to oppressed women everywhere.Show less
This thesis set out to analyse the eighteenth-century library of Johanna Paauw. If looking at the books in someone's bookcase offers some insight into who they are, what might one conclude on the...Show moreThis thesis set out to analyse the eighteenth-century library of Johanna Paauw. If looking at the books in someone's bookcase offers some insight into who they are, what might one conclude on the basis of Johanna Paauw's bookshelves?Show less
This thesis focuses on the representation of Jewish women in Czech Holocaust prose, providing a comparative analysis of Arnošt Lustig's The Unloved: From the Diary of Perla S., Jan Otčenášek's...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the representation of Jewish women in Czech Holocaust prose, providing a comparative analysis of Arnošt Lustig's The Unloved: From the Diary of Perla S., Jan Otčenášek's Romeo, Juliet and Darkness and Ladislav Fuks's The Cremator.Show less
In this thesis, the main theme is the access to ancient Greek religion, specifically the access of women. Not everybody had access to every aspect of ancient Greek religion, and this thesis...Show moreIn this thesis, the main theme is the access to ancient Greek religion, specifically the access of women. Not everybody had access to every aspect of ancient Greek religion, and this thesis attempts to fill a historiographical gap by posing the question of why access was selective by examining women in the ancient Greek society. Important themes are impurity and fertility. Access was restricted because of the supposed impurity of women, while religious spaces and rituals should remain pure.Show less
