The winner of the IMISCOE Maria Ioannis Baganha Dissertation Award 2011 is Dr. Justus Uitermark from Erasmus University Rotterdam. Dr. Uitermark obtained his PhD in 2010 from the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Entitled Dynamics of Power in Dutch Integration Politics, Dr. Uitermark’s dissertation was selected for first place by the IMISCOE Award Committee in consultation with a panel of expert external referees. Of the 12 award applications submitted from prestigious institutes across Europe, the jury deemed four worthy of placement on a short list. Yet from these, Dr. Uitermark’s work stood out.
According to the IMISCOE Award Committee:
This dissertation is exceptional both in terms of conducted research and in terms of analysis. It analyses how and why power relations transformed in Dutch integration politics between 1980 and 2006. In answering these questions, the author displays a firm grasp of what power relations and change mean in theoretical terms. For this purpose, he mainly draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory, but adds two dimensions: discourses and networks. The author combines a broad range of methodological approaches to analyse these various dimensions of power in Dutch integration politics. He uses both quantitative and qualitative techniques: first, to map power relations as displayed in the opinion pages of the most important Dutch newspapers and, second, to describe the position of Moroccan, Turkish and Islamic associations within the governance structures of two local contexts, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. He gathers a vast range of empirical data, ranging from newspaper articles via interviews with key actors to subsidy allocations to associations in both cities of analysis. And, despite the complex research design, the text is written in a very accessible style.
Presentation of the award took place on 8 September 2011 at the Eighth Annual IMISCOE Conference in Warsaw, Poland.
For more information on this year’s winner, see www.justusuitermark.nl.