“Taking Up Space: Waste and Waste Labor in Developing South Korea” examines South Korean development experiences through the remnants of its industrialization and modernization processes, including... Show more“Taking Up Space: Waste and Waste Labor in Developing South Korea” examines South Korean development experiences through the remnants of its industrialization and modernization processes, including material waste, excess labor, or surplus population. I juxtapose the history of informal waste pickers with the transformation of waste management and the reconfiguration of its labor during the period from the 1960s to the early 1990s. By connecting the material, social, and symbolic dimensions of waste, I demonstrate how waste shaped their stigma and social position, degraded the urban environment as much as it deteriorated their living and working conditions, and brought social and environmental forces that further drove their marginalization. The case studies—waste picker camps and Seoul’s Nanjido Landfill—illustrate how concepts such as informality, precarity, and societal marginalization have been historically mediated and grounded in individuals’ lives during the country’s compressed development process.This study demonstrates how the production of marginalized populations and the disregard for their labor practices served to consolidate the developing nation-state and its middle-class citizens. It argues that the informal labor at the urban periphery was instrumental in the development process and should be recognized as legitimate labor rather than mere subsistence activities. Waste pickers not only served as agents of development but also as a precedent for precarious workers in modern Korea. The prevalence of waste pickers in contemporary South Korea indicates a diachronic implication of this dissertation, as their labor remains crucial for urban conditions while simultaneously establishing an urban form of precarity. Show less
Why do some children easily find their way in social situations and are satisfied with their social lives, while others experience more difficulties? One key component that may explain this is... Show moreWhy do some children easily find their way in social situations and are satisfied with their social lives, while others experience more difficulties? One key component that may explain this is social competence: the ability to fulfill both own and other’s social goals. This thesis focused on individual differences in social competence from childhood to adolescence by examining contextual, developmental and neurobiological influences on aggressive and prosocial responses to social evaluation. Findings showed robust neural processes related to social feedback and subsequent aggression already in middle childhood. Additionally, this thesis revealed that the period between childhood and adolescence is important for the behavioral and neural development of inhibition of aggression following negative, neutral and positive social feedback. Aggression following social feedback decreased towards adolescence, but aggression following positive feedback decreased earlier in childhood than following negative feedback. Moreover, the involvement of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, known for its role in executive functioning, decreased over time. Finally, results indicated that the co-occurrence of aggression following rejection and prosocial behavior following observed rejection may possibly protect against externalizing behaviors and promote wellbeing. This thesis highlights the importance of examining the interplay of developmental processes across social contexts to understand mental health outcomes. Show less
The overarching goal of this thesis was to examine the behavioral, computational, and neural mechanisms underlying social learning in adolescence. The first aim was to examine developmental... Show moreThe overarching goal of this thesis was to examine the behavioral, computational, and neural mechanisms underlying social learning in adolescence. The first aim was to examine developmental patterns across adolescence of two forms of social learning: (1) learning about other people, specifically, whether they are (un)cooperative and (un)trustworthy, and (2) learning for other people (prosocial learning) to know what actions may benefit or help others. I made use of multiple experimental paradigms based on well-known economic games and/or probabilistic reinforcement learning paradigms to assess these forms of social learning. Secondly, I aimed to examine underlying mechanisms and factors that account for age-related and individual differences in social learning. Applying computational modeling and functional neuroimaging as additional tools contributed to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms and how these develop across adolescence. The findings in this thesis converge to early-to-mid adolescence as a key developmental period for developing well-adjusted social behaviors, and especially in the cooperative domain there are pronounced improvements. These studies make an important contribution to the literature on social development and learning, and may eventually contribute to interventions targeted at promoting well-adjusted behavior in typically developing adolescents, as well as youth with maladaptive social tendencies. Show less
This thesis investigated the development of emotional functioning in 2-to-6-year-old children with and without autism. Whereas autistic children experienced more challenges in the emotional domain,... Show moreThis thesis investigated the development of emotional functioning in 2-to-6-year-old children with and without autism. Whereas autistic children experienced more challenges in the emotional domain, their emotional abilities improved with age, and developed in similar ways as observed in non-autistic children. On the one hand, this thesis showed that autistic children might deal with emotions in a different way, and they might experience various difficulties when communicating emotions with non-autistic people. One the other hand, it is important to note that the difficulties could be bidirectional. As stated by the “double empathy problem”, non-autistic people may experience the same difficulties when communicating with autistic people. This could be a meaningful direction for future research, investigating emotional communication as a two-way interaction rather than focusing only on how people with autism react to people without autism. Furthermore, this thesis showed that autistic children had the potential to learn and to develop in the emotional domain. Again, this points to the importance of investigating how to create an inclusive social environment, which is not only nurturing for children without autism, but can also benefit the development of children with autism and with other special needs. Show less
Anthropogenic noise negatively affects wildlife in a wide range of taxonomic groups. Especially for birds, a substantial number of observational studies have now shown negative associations between... Show moreAnthropogenic noise negatively affects wildlife in a wide range of taxonomic groups. Especially for birds, a substantial number of observational studies have now shown negative associations between noise pollution and abundance and diversity along roadsides. Researchers investigating birds’ behavioural responses to high level noise to date have mostly focused on the immediate adjustment of vocal signalling behaviour. However, there is more than one mechanism by which birds might cope with increasing noise levels. They may show immediate behavioural reactions, such as spatial avoidance and/or vocal adjustment, but also more ontogenetic adjustments with long-term consequences like changes in sensory and personality traits. To test these potential effects of traffic noise on birds, I conducted a series of experiments using zebra finches. I have demonstrated that traffic noise per se can contribute to spatial avoidance in birds and cause variation in parental behaviour, and that there can be changes in noise avoidance behaviour in the course of a lifetime. These results provide new insights into the potential impacts of noise on birds. Show less
This dissertation is about the Baduy, an adat community in Banten Province, Indonesia. It argues that the conversion of the Baduy was influenced by their self-concept, which requires them to detach... Show moreThis dissertation is about the Baduy, an adat community in Banten Province, Indonesia. It argues that the conversion of the Baduy was influenced by their self-concept, which requires them to detach from modernity and development, the limited size of their land, and the increase of the population. This process of conversion was supported by the politics of religion, which differentiates local beliefs (kepercayaan) from state-recognised religions (agama) where adhering to a local belief was considered irreligious (tidak/ belum beragama) and backward. To make the adherents of local beliefs religious, the government allows followers of major religions to invite the adherents of local beliefs into their faith. Furthermore, to develop the adherents of local beliefs, the government created development policies, in particular a resettlement programme. The programme aimed at Baduy society began in 1977 and lasted until 1999. Besides developing the adat communities, this programme was also aimed at changing their beliefs so that they aligned themselves with “monotheistic views”. The fact that Muslim and Christian missionaries were targeting the same group of people caused tension, contestation, and even violence. Confronted with this situation, the adherents of local beliefs fought back and resisted the policies in various ways. Show less
Between 1960 and 1983 the Dutch economist Dr. Albert Winsemius (1910-1996) was the most influential economic adviser to the government of Singapore and one of the leading architects of Singapore’s... Show moreBetween 1960 and 1983 the Dutch economist Dr. Albert Winsemius (1910-1996) was the most influential economic adviser to the government of Singapore and one of the leading architects of Singapore’s highly successful development model. Winsemius' beliefs and recommendations chimed with the views of Singapore’s first-generation postcolonial political leaders and quickly grew in popular appeal once they started yielding impressive economic results. Winsemius’ uncompromising hostility to communism, and at the same time his sympathy toward moderate trade unionism, were of particular importance here.This research identifies strategies and policies that contributed to Singapore's development, and that can be traced to Albert Winsemius as a historical principal. It concludes that in essence, many of these successful strategies and policies were based on Winsemius’ experiences in his earlier life and career: the economic reconstruction in the Netherlands in the years after World War Two, in which he played a key role, his empathy toward the United States and the American way of life, his contacts with other right-wing governments, and his involvement during the Cold War in the production of arms. Show less
Several studies have highlighted the uniqueness of the human immune system in early life. Due to the scarceness of human fetal tissues and technical limitations, a system-wide and detailed... Show moreSeveral studies have highlighted the uniqueness of the human immune system in early life. Due to the scarceness of human fetal tissues and technical limitations, a system-wide and detailed phenotypical characterization of the composition and development of the human fetal immune system was lacking. Here, I delineate the composition and development of the human fetal immune system using an array of advanced high-throughput technologies. First, mass cytometry analysis of the innate lymphoid cells revealed a previously unrecognized subset named int-ILC in the fetal intestine, which can give rise to NK cells and ILC3s. Moreover, by combining the acquired datasets from (imaging-) mass cytometry, single-cell RNA-sequencing and TCR sequencing with advanced computational analysis tools and functional analysis this revealed that memory-like CD4+ T cells were already generated in the developing human fetal intestine, indicative of in utero exposure to foreign antigens. Additionally, (imaging-) mass cytometry analysis of the immune cells in the fetal intestine, spleen and liver revealed an early-life immune compartmentalization in these different fetal tissues. Overall, our results deepens the understanding of prenatal immunity and may ultimately be useful for the development of “early” intervention strategies to prevent the development of immune mediated diseases later in life. Show less
The workshop touched upon a multitude of topics. These can be subsumed under the following main headers:It included methodological considerations around doing comparative law and combining methods... Show moreThe workshop touched upon a multitude of topics. These can be subsumed under the following main headers:It included methodological considerations around doing comparative law and combining methods of comparative law with methods from other fields such as history, political science, sociology, computer science and accounting research.Empirically, it focused on understanding how a transplant process actually works and why it takes place, i.e. who the actors are that make a transplant happen. This included meso-level perspectives, focusing on actors such as bureaucracies, experts, lawmakers, companies, accounting firms and others, but also perspectives which focused more on states as a whole and their role as norm makers and takers. The analyses thereby drew from experiences from many different countries around the world and included a number of historical perspectives as well. The participants also discussed evidence on the extent to which convergence is occurring, using the example of the tax treaty system and the implementation of the BEPS standards.Theoretically, several key concepts were discussed such as the notion of “expertise”, “international standard”, the concept of “transplant” itself and possible alternative metaphors as well as the history of the idea. It was also examined how one can approach the empirical fact of transplants or international convergence of rules from a normative and philosophical point of view.This document reports the discussions that took place during the five days in a chronological manner. The last section contains an outline of possible topics and approaches for a follow-up workshop.The report does not systematically differentiate between individual opinions that not everyone might share and consensus. It rather reports which bits and pieces of the debates caught the attention of the reporters and other note takers. It may therefore rather be seen as something stimulating further discussion than a fixed document. Show less
In this thesis we aimed to get insight in how the methylome is established during development and subsequently degenerates during ageing using an integrative approach to the analysis of DNA... Show moreIn this thesis we aimed to get insight in how the methylome is established during development and subsequently degenerates during ageing using an integrative approach to the analysis of DNA methylation in conjunction with other levels of genomics data. The first two empirical chapters of this thesis describe the establishment and the maintenance of the epigenome during fetal development and in later life in multiple tissues. In the subsequent two chapters we investigated the loss of control over the methylome in blood and other tissues. Show less
This book is about the creation and enforcement of labour law in Indonesia, a topic that reflects the broader processes of social and political change in the country. Its starting point is... Show more This book is about the creation and enforcement of labour law in Indonesia, a topic that reflects the broader processes of social and political change in the country. Its starting point is the notion of the trade union as a crucial institution in any modern industrial capitalist society, with the potential of promoting some measure of equity and social justice in society. The book discusses three case-studies relating to three major pieces of labour legislation enacted since the Reformasi of 1998 in Indonesia. The first is about trade union legislation, the second about minimum wage policy, and the third about the Industrial Relations Court. These cases show how labour law in Indonesia is best understood as the result of the struggles between different social groups and competing ideologies, which change over time. The author argues that despite all the problems and challenges there remains hope for the development of a sound and effective labour law in Indonesia. This is due in particular to the development of the trade union movement in the country. Unions form a countervailing power against capital and corporate power, and may thus ensure that the results of development are redistributed fairly throughout society. They are also agents of education: their efforts to develop new labour laws and enforce labour standards make workers aware of their rights and may even help in developing a higher degree of rights-consciousness in society more generally. This book is about the creation and enforcement of labour law in Indonesia, a topic that reflects the broader processes of social and political change in the country. Its starting point is the notion of the trade union as a crucial institution in any modern industrial capitalist society, with the potential of promoting some measure of equity and social justice in society. The book discusses three case-studies relating to three major pieces of labour legislation enacted since the Reformasi of 1998 in Indonesia. The first is about trade union legislation, the second about minimum wage policy, and the third about the Industrial Relations Court. These cases show how labour law in Indonesia is best understood as the result of the struggles between different social groups and competing ideologies, which change over time. The author argues that despite all the problems and challenges there remains hope for the development of a sound and effective labour law in Indonesia. This is due in particular to the development of the trade union movement in the country. Unions form a countervailing power against capital and corporate power, and may thus ensure that the results of development are redistributed fairly throughout society. They are also agents of education: their efforts to develop new labour laws and enforce labour standards make workers aware of their rights and may even help in developing a higher degree of rights-consciousness in society more generally. Show less
Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are the progenitors of the gametes, responsible for transmitting genetic information from generation to generation. Although there is a long history of gamete biology... Show morePrimordial germ cells (PGCs) are the progenitors of the gametes, responsible for transmitting genetic information from generation to generation. Although there is a long history of gamete biology research, there is still a lot to be learned about many of the mechanisms underlying germ cell development. This dissertation describes and discusses the dynamics of PGCs in the chicken, with a focus on their migration to the gonads and meiosis that takes place when PGCs are already settled there. We also discussed the advantages of using the avian model in epithelial ovarian cancer research. Moreover, we revisited an often overlooked model for amniogenesis in which the proamnion plays a crucial role. Show less
The embryonic development of the human cochlea (the organ of hearing) has been investigated for over one hundred years. However, little is still known about the development on a cellular and... Show moreThe embryonic development of the human cochlea (the organ of hearing) has been investigated for over one hundred years. However, little is still known about the development on a cellular and protein level, which is important to better understand etiologies and pathologies of various types of sensorineural hearing loss. Knowledge of the normal gene expression patterns and cell fate specification in the human cochlea has therefore the potential to aid in the development of gene and cell-based therapeutic strategies. For this reason, we acquired a series of human fetal cochlea of different stages of gestation and investigated several aspects of the normal development of the human cochlea such as the hair cells, the spiral ganglion neurons and the stria vascularis. Also, we investigated the neural crest stem cells residing in the hair follicle bulge. We showed that a protein (TUBB3) often used in immunochemistry to detect a neuron is also expressed both in skin and hair follicle melanocytes in humans meaning that the proposed neural crest stem cell residing in the hair follicle bulge might need revision. Show less
Children and adolescents who are chronically rejected by their peers suffer from widespread impairments in daily life, ranging from poor academic achievement and dropping out of school, to... Show moreChildren and adolescents who are chronically rejected by their peers suffer from widespread impairments in daily life, ranging from poor academic achievement and dropping out of school, to delinquency and the development of mental health problems. To gain a better understanding of the developmental processes that give rise to such impairments, the research described in this dissertation examined the neurocognitive underpinnings of processes that play a role in the emergence and maintenance of peer group rejection and acceptance. The first part of this dissertation focuses on neurocognitive processes underlying reactions to social exclusion. The second part concentrates on the neurocognitive processes involved in sharing valuable resources, based on the widely established finding that frequent displays of prosocial behaviors, such as cooperating, helping, and sharing, are associated with both gaining and maintaining acceptance among peers. The empirical work in this dissertation demonstrates that a developmental cognitive neuroscience approach provides unique insights into the emotional, regulatory, and socio-cognitive processes thought to play a role in the emergence and maintenance of peer group acceptance and rejection. Show less
Self-control abilities are crucial for successful functioning in daily life. At the core of self-control lies the ability to intentionally inhibit one__s actions. Intentional inhibition differs... Show moreSelf-control abilities are crucial for successful functioning in daily life. At the core of self-control lies the ability to intentionally inhibit one__s actions. Intentional inhibition differs from externally driven inhibition in that it is driven by an internal thought process rather than an external stimulus that tells one to stop. The goal of this thesis was to examine the development of intentional inhibition and compare this with externally driven inhibition. In order to investigate the covert process of intentional inhibition, the research described in this thesis made use of neurobiological measures such as phasic heart rate changes and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In addition, to learn more about self-control in context, the final empirical chapter examined intentional and externally driven inhibition in the context of relevant and irrelevant emotions. Show less
The main focus of the research that makes up this thesis was to translate rodent behavioural assays to larval zebrafish for better time and resource management in biomedical research,... Show moreThe main focus of the research that makes up this thesis was to translate rodent behavioural assays to larval zebrafish for better time and resource management in biomedical research, pharmaceutical research and development. __The larval zebrafish is a useful model in toxicology and drug discovery. However, its predictivity is restricted by compound class. __Light-dark cycle plays an important role in the normal development of the zebrafish embryo, and abnormal lighting regimes during rearing can result in malformations. __The hyperactivity displayed by zebrafish larvae following the onset of sudden darkness is an intrinsic characteristic. Zebrafish larvae quickly habituate with repeated stimuli of onset of darkness with short interstimulus interval. __Zebrafish larvae are able to discriminate colours, and they show a preference for orange and green, but aversion towards red, yellow, blue and black. The larvae also show freezing behaviour in the complex environment which is attenuated with diazepam.. __Zebrafish larvae raised in an abnormal lighting regime changed some aspects of their colour preference, although orange and red remained as preferred and avoided colours respectively. __In short, the zebrafish larvae is a useful complementary animal model in behavioural research amenable to high-throughput screening of compounds and drug discovery Show less
