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Here, Radboud University presents theses written by students affiliated with various bachelor’s and master’s programmes at the university, as well as papers from students of the Radboud Honours Academy and publications in the Radboud journal Ex Tempore.
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Item Being quite certain, very decisive and absolutely wrong: A research into the characteristics of Russian disinformation campaigns and the countermeasures against them(2025-08-20)In this master’s thesis, research is conducted into the characteristics that define Russian disinformation campaigns and what countermeasures there are to combat these. The geographical scope is directed at the European Union, the Netherlands, and Lithuania. By simultaneously using both the theory of disinformation and framing, a picture is created of how these two forms of weaponized information reinforce each other. Methodologically, a qualitative research approach is adopted with the use of semi-structured interviews, conducted with experts in the fields of diplomacy, intelligence, and more, combined with a document analysis on EU and Dutch policy documents. The results demonstrate that Russian disinformation campaigns must not be viewed as innocent, isolated incidents, but as strategically employed weaponized forms of information that undermine democratic societies. The disinformation campaigns are unique, sophisticated, and tough to counter. They are a strategic part of hybrid warfare, with layered positive and negative objectives. Their strategies include igniting fires in society, election manipulation, and the continuous use of malinformation. Framing is essential, as it shapes both the strategies and the messages built on narratives such as historical revisionism and anti-supranational themes. They are characterized by their reliance on quantity, which is ensured by the use of troll factories and social media as spreading mechanisms. Countermeasures range from preventive measures, such as focusing on education, enhancing media literacy, or supporting independent media, to reactive measures, which include fact-checking, debunking, reporting facilities, and more. The targeted societies must increase their efforts to counter these threats, with a preference for the use of both preventive and reactive countermeasures that incorporate the local conditions and appeal to emotions. Effort is necessary as technological innovations will keep enhancing the Kremlin’s disinformation campaigns and pose a greater threat to democratic institutions.Item Living in the Countryside, what is the Appeal of Bronckhorst?(2025-06-15)The municipality of Bronckhorst, part of the region Achterhoek, is facing a demographic shrinkage. Caused by a greying population and the departure of young people. The region is known for its community feeling and togetherness, the so-called ‘noaberschap’. This way of feeling could contribute to welcoming new people into the region and be a solution to tackling this demographic situation. This research shows the reasons people have for wanting to move to the municipality of Bronckhorst and looks into the possible influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on these motives. Representatives of the municipality were consulted and real estate agents were interviewed. Furthermore, a policy analysis was executed and residents, who moved to Bronckhorst between 2020-2023, were asked to fill out a survey. The results show the main reason as being the availability of greenery and space. Overall most respondents have put work as being the least decisive of reasons. Through lived reality, most respondents claim that the COVID-19 pandemic has not influenced their decision to move. The research suggests three recommendations. Firstly, focus on lifelong housing. Secondly, the potential of the Achterhoek c.q. Bronckhorst is not sufficiently demonstrated. And lastly, persuade holidaymakers of the beauty of living in Bronckhorst. Keywords: shrinking region, moving motives, COVID-19, countryside livingItem Sustainability in the Fashion Industry(2025-08-28)The fashion industry is one of the most environmentally and socially impactful sectors worldwide. As awareness of climate change, ethical labor practices, and overconsumption grows, sustainability has evolved from a niche concern into a mainstream expectation. In response, fashion brands are under increasing pressure to communicate sustainability as a core part of their brand identity. However, implementing this authentically and strategically remains complex – especially given consumer skepticism, regulatory demands, and operational contradictions. This thesis examines how sustainable fashion brands communicate sustainability as part of their brand identity, and what strategies and challenges shape this process. To investigate this, a qualitative research design was employed, combining semi-structured expert interviews, brand documents, and webinars. The interview transcripts were thematically analyzed using ATLAS.ti, while brand documents and webinars – accessible only online – were analyzed manually. The findings were interpreted through the lenses of Corporate Social Responsibility, the Triple Bottom Line, the Brand Identity Prism, and narrative theory. The findings reveal that sustainability is increasingly positioned as a central element of brand identity, rather than a marketing add-on. Brands use emotional storytelling, value-driven communication, and educational efforts to translate complex sustainability goals into accessible narratives. While transparency and authenticity are crucial for building trust, they are difficult to maintain in a profit-driven and highly scrutinized environment. Brands also face tension between ambition and feasibility, especially when navigating greenwashing risks or adapting to new regulations. In this context, external frameworks such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Green Claims Directive (GCD) are viewed not only as compliance tools but also as opportunities to build credibility. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of sustainability branding as a dynamic negotiation between ethics, strategy, and communication. It calls for more nuanced brand narratives, stronger cross-sector alignment, and a recognition of branding as a site of both meaning making and responsibility in sustainable transitions. Keywords: Sustainable fashion, brand identity, sustainability communication, Corporate Social ResponsibilityItem Re-positioning the Workplace as a key enabler for Socio-ecological Transformation: Through Ecologizing Values and Place-based Approaches(2025-08-25)The current thesis explores how organizations’ sustainability strategies align with ecologizing verses economizing values, and the extent of place-rootedness evident in their corporate responsibility strategies (CSR). The thesis analyses these strategies through a lens of critical theory and decoloniality, and forwards a critique of the dominant sustainability values, often shaped by neoliberalist and developmentalist logics. This is done through undertaking a comparative analysis of a multiple-cases – three MNCs and one social enterprise based in India, through document analysis and semi-structured leadership interviews. The study draws upon Waddock’s ecologizing values and Shrivastava & Kennelly’s Place based Enterprise (PBE) framework. Findings indicate that despite that all four organizations have a Triple-Bottom Line approach, their value-orientations and place rootedness vary significantly, depending upon their scale of operations and geographic presence. An Indian conglomerate (MNC) exhibits commitment to local interventions yet, with strong economizing values – showing a tendency to instrumentalize locality. In contrast, a social enterprise demonstrates strong ecologizing values and place rootedness – evident in its advocacy for producer sovereignty, leadership sensitivity, and meaningful partnerships. The two Global North-headquartered MNCs, both show elements of a distanced form of instrumentalized locality with strong economizing values. It was seen that none of the organizations could be placed neatly within the PBE typology, except for the social enterprise – showing evidence for the need to move beyond equating TBL approach with strong sustainability orientations. The study draws upon varying streams of scholarship that continue to remain fragmented, namely – corporate sustainability, critical management studies, organizational change, transformation theories, values-practice, place-based approaches, and decoloniality. In doing so, the study calls for a greater convergence of the scholarship to move towards socio-ecological transformation.Item Navigating the future of car sharing: how anticipation shaped the strategic development of MyWheels as a niche platform(2025-08-28)This thesis investigates how anticipation has shaped the development of the Dutch car-sharing platform MyWheels and its responses to regime pressures within the broader transition towards sustainable mobility. The research focuses on the internal development of a platform over time and how it strategically adapts to a changing environment. Central to this analysis is the concept of anticipation: the way in which actors use expectations about the future to guide decisions in the present. Using an innovation biography approach, the historical trajectory of MyWheels is reconstructed from its grassroots origins in 1993 to its current role as one of the largest car-sharing platforms in the Netherlands. The development of MyWheels is examined through the lens of the multi-level perspective (MLP) and anticipation theory (anticipation for the future (AfF) and anticipation for emergence (AfE)). By tracing how anticipation for the future and anticipation for emergence shaped five different strategic responses, the thesis demonstrates that anticipation is not static but changes in function as niche actors scale and professionalize. This analysis advances anticipation research by offering one of the first empirical studies to show how different anticipatory logics co-exist and interact within an organizational trajectory.
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