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Politicization of Religious (Hindutva) Ideologies Fostering Extremism and Anti Minority Sentiments
Gill, Fateh Singh ; Prina, Federica (vedoucí práce) ; Schottli, Jivanta (oponent)
Despite modernization and globalization being at the forefront of the society, religion still seems to be dominant and evolving concept in response to the expanding international relations. This might be noticed with the global development of religious nationalism. Most religious nationalist parties are characterized with puritanical element that color their political platforms and ways of attaining power. Furthermore, in many nations, religious nationalists argue for economic austerity or severe anti-corruption measures via moral appeals and rhetoric. Lastly, religious politics often reveals a majoritarian nationalism that strives to redefine the society. India merits a more in-depth examination due to its democratic orientation and size. The intersection between religion and politics in India is problematic. The revival of the Bhartiya Janta Party (Henceforth BJP) brought religion back to the forefront of Indian politics. Introducing an alternative nationalism that is not secular in character but rather founded on the idea that Indian and Hindu cultures are the same. The thesis will argue by implementing the secularization thesis and its critical discourse as the theoretical concept and analyses the rise of Hindu nationalism throughout history. As well, explore its evolution from its birth to...
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"God's Country" in crisis: Racial justice, ontological (in)security, and white Christian nationalism in the United States
Tetterton, Trent ; Weinfurter, Jaroslav (vedoucí práce) ; Prina, Federica (oponent)
The modern United States has witnessed the contemporaneous rise of an ongoing war against "critical race theory" (CRT) and more virulent expressions of white Christian nationalism (WCN). Opponents maintain the narrative: CRT is an evil ploy by the Marxist Left that now poses a mortal threat to America. Despite the unequivocal success of the narrative, its affective drivers remain under-examined. Accordingly, the dissertation asks: why has the anti-CRT narrative succeeded, and how is WCN related, if at all? Building on early ontological security scholarship and Lacanian theory on affect, discourse, and subjectivity, it argues that WCN is a project of ontological security that provides the subject with an internal (if unstable) sense-of- self. CRT serves to threaten this narrative, while the external anti-CRT narrative serves to reify it. Its success to this end can be attributed to its use of three "affective sticking points", to include valued signifiers, fantasies, and intertextual links to broader biographical narratives. To provide empirical support for this claim, the project examined a series of City Journal and Fox News articles, discursive sites of narrative (re)production, for traces of these linguistic phenomena. The analysis reveals that the narrative makes use of signifiers such as...
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Easier said than done: Analysis of EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse in the online realm
Vega Torrelo, Ana ; Prina, Federica (vedoucí práce) ; McDonagh, Ken (oponent)
2 Abstract This research aims to understand the securitization process of online child sexual abuse by analysing the EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse in the online realm published in 2020 and other additional sources. The objectives are to get insights into how this institution presented this threat, to analyse what tools are being used and how whether a securitization process is being carried out. For that purpose, employing critical discourse analysis as the research method and following Balzacq's conceptualization of the securitization theory, this research examines all the initiatives proposed in the strategy, analysing the securitization through speech and practice. The main finding is that the European Commission has failed to successfully securitize online child sexual abuse. Gaps between the speeches and practices have been identified: measures to tackle this issue have been presented, but the needed actions that follow have not been completely executed. Further, issues concerning the Commission's authority and unbalanced power relation with the functional actors, lack of prioritization of the initiatives as well as lack of criticism and suitable connexions among the initiatives have been identified. Keywords: online child sexual abuse, securitization process, EU...
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Framing of Indonesian Radicalisation Pathways in the Australian news media: A Comparison of Broadsheets and Tabloids
Jung, Hansol ; Conway, Maura (vedoucí práce) ; Prina, Federica (oponent) ; Špelda, Petr (oponent)
This study examines how radicalisation in Indonesia is treated in the Australian press. Radicalisation is widely defined as a dramatic shift in the belief system of an individual or a group, denial of democratic means, and justifying the use of violence to achieve the political aims in this paper. Although there are various types and drivers of radicalisation, the researcher limited this research to identifying the framing of six pathways of Islamic radicalisation in Indonesia identified by Hwang and Schulze and Idris. For this purpose, 301 articles from selected Australian broadsheets and tabloids, dating up to 8 May 2020, were collected. Using quantitative and qualitative content analysis to generate the frequency of terms and metaphors used to describe radicalisation pathways in Indonesia, the study finds that the securitising and stigmatising frames are mainly employed in the Australian press in portrayal of radicalisation in Indonesia. In addition, the study explores the different style of coverage employed in Australian broadsheets and tabloids. Before conducting the comparative study, the researcher surmised that broadsheets will cover radicalisation in Indonesia with neutral tone while tabloids will sensationalise the issue. However, the outcome revealed that the framing employed by...
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Joining The Space Club: The Impact Of India's ASAT On The Country's Relations With The Big Three
Neacsu, Laura Manuela ; Doboš, Bohumil (vedoucí práce) ; Prina, Federica (oponent) ; Dowd, Caitriona (oponent)
March 27, 2019, marked a distinct moment in South Asian history: India successfully conducted a direct-ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) missile test and destroyed its own satellite, deliberately placed in orbit for this purpose. In doing so, India became just the fourth country to demonstrate this capability, after the United States, Russia and China. Similar to India, these countries are becoming increasingly dependent on satellites for a plethora of civilian and military applications. In theory, India's newly acquired kinetic interception capability can potentially hold the satellite constellations of these powers at risk. This raises a natural question: how does India's development of an operational direct-ascent anti-satellite system impact the country's relations with the other three ASAT-capable powers? With this in mind, this research project seeks to examine the effects of kinetic ASAT systems - which have typically remained on the periphery of conventional public discourse on weapons - on the geopolitical relations between India and the few countries which similarly possess these capabilities. While this may be surprising, the results of the analysis clearly demonstrate that New Delhi's development of a kinetic interception capability will not have a dramatic effect on its relations with...
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"Refugees" or "Economic Migrants": An Obsolete Binary Categorisation for the Contemporary World
Baccovich, Giulia ; Prina, Federica (vedoucí práce) ; Fitzgerald, James (oponent) ; Ludvík, Jan (oponent)
Nowadays, more than ever, our world is developing at a fast pace, and its challenges and the priorities linked to these challenges are evolving as well. This dissertation examines the binary categorisation of 'refugees' and 'economic migrants' that is grounded on definitions and perceptions date back to the 20th century. Drawing on the case study analysis of the Nigeria situation, this dissertation aims at opening the floor to a new perspective over migration flows, highlighting the importance of developing policies and norms concerning individuals' security threats. By examining the Human Security Theory and Johan Galtung's concept of structural violence, this dissertation attempts to add a layer of analysis to the study of migration drivers. Moreover, it argues that the employment of systems of 'economic migrants' returns, emphasised by the contemporary context of securitisation of migration, is dangerous for those who are fleeing insecurity conditions not mentioned in the refugee definition.
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Securitisation of Development: USAID's Development Assemblage
Stimpson, Cassandra Rae ; Gallen, James (vedoucí práce) ; Prina, Federica (oponent) ; Ludvík, Jan (oponent)
Securitisation of Development: USAID's development assemblage By: Cassandra Stimpson Abstract The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the premier U.S. foreign aid agency, is a significant development player, whose policies affect lives around the globe. USAID provides significant fund inflows for development entities, namely international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and for-profit independent development contractors (IDCs). Yet, scholarly examinations of securitisation of development have largely focused singularly on NGOs or the State, leaving out important market actors that take up a major share of USAID funding - IDCs. Reconciling development actors with development objectives requires a fresh framework that brings together U.S. foreign policy goals with the NGO-sphere and the private market more comprehensively than simply securitisation of development, developmentalisation of military aid, or the technocratisation of both. This research adds to the conceptual framework of an evolving practical securitisation theory base that allows for context, motivations, and actors, using a sociological approach that relies on interpretivist accounts the USAID development market assemblage's political economy. The analysis examines three cases over different USAID and...
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Systems in the subcontinent: Data, power, and the ethics of medical machine learning in India
Jayadeva, Smera ; Schottli, Jivanta (vedoucí práce) ; Prina, Federica (oponent)
Absract The disruptive effects of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4) have the capacity to rapidly alter the course of India's social and economic progress. For the healthcare sector, plagued by poor infrastructure and latency, advances in big data computing and Machine Learning (ML) can have a transformative impact. However, in a socio-political landscape marred by historic hierarchies of exclusion and disparity, the data-driven technology of ML may serve to mechanise and automate social divergence based on class, caste, sex, religion or region. The research frames the issue of medical ML in India as one of lethal biases and data privacy. Through an analysis of the two, the ecosystem of such technology has been brought to light. As instances of bias in ML systems reveal more about social hierarchy and discrimination than they do technological prowess, the dissertation aims to evaluate the ethical dimensions of medical ML in India. Technology is found to not only mediate the actions of individuals but also power dynamics of human and nonhuman actants within the social whole. Notwithstanding the challenges of integrating medical ML in India, the research highlights the ethics of design and the ethics of use to ameliorate the risks of machines with lethal consequences. With a focus on the Indian subaltern,...
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Making a terrorist: The discursive construction of Islamist and right-wing extremist threats in Swiss media reporting
Margna, Livia ; Prina, Federica (vedoucí práce) ; Fitzgerald, James (oponent)
Dissertation｜2460442M Abstract The discourses structuring news coverage of terrorist attacks influence our understanding of the nature, drivers and severity of the threat emanating from a specific extremist actor category. Therefore, they are a powerful tool to further socio-political goals. Acknowledging the role of language in shaping reality, this dissertation project uses Critical Discourse Analysis/Critical Discourse Studies to reveal current discursive trends in the understudied coverage of Islamist and right-wing extremist attacks in the Swiss press. With the dominant social factor distinguishing the two extremist categories being ethnicity, it hypothesises that Western media discourses reflect the presuppositions of Orientalism and Critical Race Theory. Both theories expect texts to express, enact and legitimise social hierarchies based on racial affinity to solidify the supremacy of the white elite. The exemplarily analysis of the reporting of two recent extremist incidents by three newspapers representing political perspectives from the right-wing to the left-wing shows that while the Swiss press is indeed influenced by and reproduces racial inequalities, publications do so to a varying degree.
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