This thesis explores how urban night spaces have been, and how they are currently produced, imagined, experienced, and narrated among the Cabo Verdean migrant community in Rotterdam. The common... Show moreThis thesis explores how urban night spaces have been, and how they are currently produced, imagined, experienced, and narrated among the Cabo Verdean migrant community in Rotterdam. The common thread that runs through this research is music, which is analysed through lyrics, performances, and as an integral part of nightlife. The Netherlands and Rotterdam are sung about or mentioned in many songs by Cabo Verdean artists from different generations. Cabo Verdean music about Rotterdam is distinctive in that it contributes significantly to processes of place-making as it reflects on and generates representations of specific places which were important during the times in which that music was written. It traces places and routes through the city and uncovers daily and nocturnal rhythms, echoing a particular atmosphere. Simultaneously, night spaces were used to mobilize the community politically in times of the independence struggle against Portugal and are still essential in generating a collective sense of self. With Rotterdam continuously developing, the histories of particular Cabo Verdean night spaces are appropriated in contemporary nightlife, as organisers draw on collective memories of historical nightlife events. As such, cultural texts and events not only shape Cabo Verdean life in the city, but they also facilitate the re-memorisation and re-experiencing of diasporic lives in current events and cultural productions. Show less
Controlling mobilities in the EU is increasingly depending on information and information technology. Abolishing permanent border control between Schengen Member States has created the dilemma... Show moreControlling mobilities in the EU is increasingly depending on information and information technology. Abolishing permanent border control between Schengen Member States has created the dilemma of economic benefits versus security issues of the freedom of movement. The solution to this issue is often sought in the development and implementation of information technology. While expectations of information and information technologies are high, empirical research on how such border technologies are used in practice is scarce and subsequently little is known about to what extent the envisioned benefits are actually achieved. This dissertation aims to gain more insight in the use of information and information technology in controlling mobilities in intra-Schengen border areas by using a case study of the Mobile Security Monitor as carried out by the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. Through extensive observations of border checks, focus groups with border patrol officers, interviews with Marechaussee staff members, discourse analysis of political debates and policy documentation and quantitative data, this dissertation aims to gain insight in the decision-making process on the political, organizational and street-level and the role of information and information technology therein. Show less
Op de lijst van potentiële 'hot topics' voor de komende EU-verkiezingen vinden we vergrijzing, economische malaise en de vraag met welke maatregelen Europa's lage geboortecijfers opgekrikt kunnen... Show moreOp de lijst van potentiële 'hot topics' voor de komende EU-verkiezingen vinden we vergrijzing, economische malaise en de vraag met welke maatregelen Europa's lage geboortecijfers opgekrikt kunnen worden. De problematiek van de nog verse 21ste eeuw. Maar die is niet zonder precedenten volgens oud-historici gespecialiseerd in de sociaal-economische en demografische geschiedenis van Romeins Italië. De laatste twee eeuwen voor Christus, toen Rome van een stadstaatje tot een wereldrijk werd, waren roerige tijden voor de burgers van Italië. Zij werden betrokken in oorlogen, waren getuige van grootscheepse politieke veranderingen en leefden met snel groeiende immigranten en slaven in een nog sneller verstedelijkende samenlevering, volop dynamiek, dus. Lang werd gedacht dat het bestaan van de 'oude kern' van Romeinen temidden van deze hectiek van meerdere kanten af werd uitgehold. Met, inderdaad, economische maliase en vergrijzing en ontvolking als gevolg. Deze dissertatie betoogt echter dat het allemaal wel meeviel. Terwijl burgers met in name de landbouwsector in de regio rond Rome getroffen werd, groeiden de kansen in andere sectoren van de Romeinse economie. Gunstige klimaatomstandigheden en de voordelen van imperialise verzachten de problematiek. De economische schade bleef, met andere woorden, beperkt. En die baby's dan? Hier speelden specifieke culturele en sociale omstandigheden een rol. Een 'mamacultuur'en het dorpsleven met familie en buren nabij, ondervingen een goed deel van de potentieel nagatieve gevolgen van armoede voor het Romeinse geboortecijfer. Deze en andere factoren doen vermoeden dat de periode zelfs, in tegenstelling tot wat eerder gedacht werd, ruimte liet voor bevolkingsgroei. Een gedachte die aansluiting vindtin een nieuwe interpretatie van de met raadsels omgeven volkstellingscijfers van Rome's eerste keizer, Augustus. Doemdenkers en pessimisten onder oudere generaties oud-historici lijken daarmee door de geschiedenis te worden ingehaald. Een geruststellend lichtpuntje anno 2009 Show less
This rich ethnographic study explores the life and work of successful marabout women in Dakar. it is set against the background of their private family lives, of developments in Senegalese society,... Show moreThis rich ethnographic study explores the life and work of successful marabout women in Dakar. it is set against the background of their private family lives, of developments in Senegalese society, and of global changes. While including female experts in spirit possession and plant-based healing, it also gives a rare insight in the work of women who offer Islamic knowledge such as Arabic astrology, numerology, divination and prayer sessions. With the analysis of marabout women's work this study sheds light on the ways in which women's authority is negotiated, legitimated, and publicly recognised in Dakar. The study focuses especially upon marabout women's strategies to gain their client's trust. Reference to rural areas is a significant element in this process. This study thus contributes to an understanding of a gendered way in which trust ans skepticism are related to marabout's work and of the the role of a connection between Dakar and the rural areas therein. Show less
