|
|
The effect of education on nationalism and ethnic exclusionism in modern Russia
Pachkov, Aleksandr ; Escriba, Abel (vedoucí práce) ; David, Maxine (oponent)
In authoritarian contexts, such as present-day Russia, textbooks often become vehicles for ideological messaging and reinforcing political narratives. The present study endeavors to scrutinize the role of history education in Russian schools, specifically exploring its contribution to the cultivation of nationalism and ethnic exclusionism within the country's socio-cultural fabric. By investigating the institutional transformations that have transpired in history education since 1992, this research aims to discern the underlying mechanisms employed by the Russian government to imbue schools with indoctrination and harness national history textbooks as vehicles for propagating nationalistic discourses. Consequently, the primary research question emerges as follows: How have Russian schools embedded the narratives of nationalism and ethnic exclusionism through history education? This inquiry is further guided by two subquestions: (1) How has the Russian government indoctrinated history education in schools and used national history textbooks for nationalistic discourses? and (2) How do national history textbooks contribute to the perpetuation of narratives of ethnic exclusionism in present-day Russia? By delving into these questions, this study aims to shed light on the intricate interplay between history...
|
|
|
What has been the role of the EP in the externalisation of migration policy since the 2015 migration crisis
Maes, Silke Rosie M ; Váška, Jan (vedoucí práce) ; Escriba, Abel (oponent)
In 2015, an unprecedented number of migrants entering the EU, and the failure to coordinate the inflow of migrants on the basis of solidarity led to an exponential growth in externalisation policies aimed at curbing migration flows. Readmission composed an important part of this strategy, constituting one of the EU's priorities. Many of the readmission agreements signed during the 8th parliamentary term took the form of informal agreements in which the European Parliament has no formal role. Previous research on the topic has argued that, in the wake of the migration crisis, the European Council cast a "shadow of hierarchy" on the European Parliament, actively undermining its role. However, an in-depth analysis of the arguments and drivers from the perspective of the European Parliament had, so far, not been conducted. Therefore, this thesis aimed to answer the following question: what drives contestation by the European Parliament of informal readmission agreements? To explain limited but varying Parliamentary opposition to informal readmission agreements and identify the drivers and arguments for contestation, this thesis conducted a qualitative comparative small n case study of 3 agreements (Turkey, Afghanistan and Ethiopia). The theoretical framework by Thevenin, which identifies means and...
|
|
|
Securitization Theory and Danish Discourse during the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020-2021)
Hierl, Mathias Finn Thisted ; Weiss, Tomáš (vedoucí práce) ; Escriba, Abel (oponent)
Using the case of Danish discourse during the COVID-19 pandemic, this thesis explores the influence of counter-securitization on a primary securitization narrative. In doing so, this thesis identifies the characteristics of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's primary securitization of the COVID-19 pandemic. The counter-securitization narrative in question is the securitization of the government's crisis management by the Men in Black protest group. The thesis employs discourse analysis to uncover how counter-securitization impacted the primary securitization narrative. The findings suggest that the counter-securitization of the Men in Black, indeed, had a significant effect on the primary securitization narrative. The presence of the counter-securitization narrative prompted the primary securitization actor, Mette Frederiksen, to change her construction of the threat and the referent object. It also caused her to focus her justifications for the security construction on other actors besides herself. The insights gained from the findings add to the academic debate about the impact of counter-securitization. Keywords: Securitization, Counter-securitization, COVID-19, Discourse analysis, Denmark, Social policy language, Mette Frederiksen, Men in Black
|
|
|
Understanding the future of the transatlantic relation: The impact of Donald Trump's populist foreign policy rhetoric on the US Congress' debates on NATO
Solares Morales, Covadonga ; Góra, Magdalena (vedoucí práce) ; Escriba, Abel (oponent)
After his election in 2016, Donald Trump became the first president to openly question whether Europe was in America's interests, and his blatant disregard for the historical ties with the other side of the Atlantic found in NATO the perfect target. This thesis aims to contribute to knowledge on the field by conducting a study on the potential impact that the populist foreign policy rhetoric of the 45th President of the United States had on the Congress' bipartisan consensus on NATO, by examining if Trump's narrative on the alliance was replicated by Congress members. Understanding this becomes crucial at a time when the US support for its European counterparts is the cornerstone of the international world order and the key partnership to overcome global challenges ahead. The chosen methodology is a two-step deductive-inductive discourse analysis, that first analyzes a sample of Trump's public statements to extract his main arguments on NATO, to then create a codebook that is used to identify the appearance of these arguments in the US Congress' debates and hearings on NATO. In light of the sample material analyzed, it can be safely argued that the political actors in the House of Representatives of the US Congress do not fully reproduce Trump's populist arguments used to criticize the alliance. Even though...
|
|
|
Resilience Against External Disinformation Campaigns
Kvirikashvili, Gvantsa ; Kołodziej, Jacek (vedoucí práce) ; Escriba, Abel (oponent)
How can a democratic society respond to disinformation in the modern age, and what methods are available at the highest levels? Disinformation has become a widespread discursive manifestation of the current worldwide political climate since the past decade. Tackling the phenomenon, without a doubt, necessitates a relentless emphasis on researching and analysing the steps taken by states, social platforms, international or local organisations. Hence, the thesis sets out to explore the traits of the EU's discourse on online disinformation and research the concept of building resilience against disinformation campaigns. For this reason, this study examines the EU's counter-disinformation policies, which have been set in action since 2015, when the Union recognized the phenomenon as a threat to democracy. Subsequently, in 2018, the EU unveiled a new strategy to address digital disinformation followed by a self-regulatory Code of Practice and the communication about tackling COVID-19 disinformation in 2020. The study of disinformation is undoubtedly complex due to the wide variety of actors involved, ongoing technological developments, individual psychological mechanisms and the difficulty of defining the concept. Therefore, the dissertation will narrow down its focus on the main strategic points found...
|
|
|
Female perspective on politics: comparative study between the Netherlands and Finland. (Critical discourse analysis w/ elite interviews. Comparing views on female representation and its progression w/ policy documents & media reports. )
ten Hulsen, Victoria Isabelle Luisa ; Palacio Ludena, Maria Gabriela (vedoucí práce) ; Escriba, Abel (oponent)
Female political representation differs significantly between countries. Patriarchal structures and gender biases that hinder women's representation are pervasive and can be identified in seemingly progressive governments, challenging claims of increased gender equality in the global North. This thesis explores the differences in female political representation in parliament between two popularly deemed progressive European countries: the Netherlands and Finland. It does so by adopting a novel approach and engaging with the top-down personal perspective of politicians within parliament. Using semi-structured elite interviews, this thesis focuses on the causes for the gap in female political representation between these countries while also discussing what the interviewees envision as possible improvements. The parliamentarians provided unique insights into how gender stereotypes, gatekeeping, and unpaid care work determine the level of women's political representation. The results indicate that female parliamentarians, next to having more role models, centred childcare and parental leave at the core of the policies to address the disparity in female representation between the Netherlands and Finland and increase female political representation overall. This thesis thus contributes to gender and...
|
|
|
Securitisation of the 5G rollout in Germany - An analysis of the extent to which the 5G rollout in Germany has been securitised
Schuierer, Nicolas Timo ; Oster, Jan (vedoucí práce) ; Escriba, Abel (oponent)
The fifth generation of mobile communication networks (5G) has the capability to facilitate ground-breaking innovation as well as to contribute to a digital transformation of societies and economies alike. While this new network standard has game-changing potential, it has also brought about security concerns. Due to societies as well as industries being projected to develop a greater dependency on services facilitated by these networks, many countries have grown concerned by potential threats such as espionage or sabotage. This thesis analyses the case of the 5G rollout in Germany placed in a global as well as European context. Securitization Theory is used as a theoretical framework. Embedded in the context of cyber-security the study then tests whether the theory aids in explaining the rollout of the 5G network in Germany. By means of discourse analysis, speech acts from actors in the industry, the media as well as from political actors are examined. The study finds that the rollout of the 5G network in Germany was partially securitised. This study shows that, despite the lack of security incidents, securitisation nevertheless occurred.
|
|
|
Finding the European Union's Grand Strategy Understanding the Commission's role in formulating grand strategy
Fagliano, Lucas Agustin ; Broad, Matthew (vedoucí práce) ; Escriba, Abel (oponent)
Complexity is a crucial barrier to our understanding of how actors behave in the international arena. Market power, normative power, regulatory power, global power, civilian power, are all concepts which have been utilised to describe the EU international actorness. However, the interaction between these concepts, and how the EU employs these comprehensively has been less debated. Complexity, in this case, has the upper hand, as it is naturally an overwhelming task to parse the pieces together of the EU's strategic behaviour, because of the unique nature of the EU and the numerous avenues it utilises to exert influence in the international arena. It is only natural that different academics argue that the EU behaves according to different sources of power, as after all, the EU power has many facets. If we concentrate on trade agreements, there would be a natural inclination to think of market power. 1 However, if the focus is on the EU's use of its international identity and its diplomatic efforts to defend liberal values, a rather normative power would be more visible. 2 However, focusing on only one does not provide us with the full picture. Thus, this thesis argues that to avoid the tunnel vision which may result from looking at only one aspect of the EU's strategic behaviour prism it could be more useful...
|
|
|
Between Westbindung and Ostpolitik: Reconceptualising German-Russian Relations 2014-2017
Jacobs, Jonathan ; Stepanovic, Vera (vedoucí práce) ; Escriba, Abel (oponent)
German-Russian relations have remained strong since the Cold War, despite continuing in traditions of multilateralism and integrated into the Western order. Despite recent tensions and deterioration since the Ukraine Crisis, German-Russian relations are a subject of intense debate between the political parties CDU/CSU and SPD that governed Germany in a coalition from 2014-2017. This thesis utilises a social constructivist method to focus on social factors and party-political legacies relevant in the evolving relationship. It then analyses the evolving discourse of the parties about Russia in the years 2014-2017, focusing on the different ways the discourse uses and connects with the factors and legacies. Although a parallel movement is discerned between the foreign policy positions of the CDU/CSU and SPD, the parties' positions do not converge but remain in conflict about the future of European security, cooperation with Russia and the desired foreign policy role of Germany. Throughout, the analysis suggests that contemporary theories about German-Russian relations and about Germany's foreign policy role should look at the internal debates and factors to get a more complete picture of German foreign policy. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
|
host ::
RSS.