Whatever happened 2 Racism in the Netherlands?
Explicit talk about racial differences is conspicuously absent in in the public debate in The Netherlands. The question is: what happened to racism in the Netherlands?
The debate is part of the conference Culturalization of Citizenship: On Racism, Populism and Authenticity, which is held from 12-14 December.
Hierarchical and discriminatory statements are phrased in the tonality of culture. Islam and the ethnic specificities of newcomers hailing from the Global South are emphasized. Most politicians, academics and policy makers, aver that though racism exists, today race is not the main focal point in relation to how most citizens seek to come to terms with the multicultural drift. As such what emerges is the culturalization of citizenship: the ideology and related practices of cultural engineering.
The idea being that what is necessary is the common tuning of the emotions and rationale of all Dutch citizens towards ultimate allegiance to the Dutch nation. Therein nativism raises its head as oldcomers argue that they ought to have more say in how the new project of Dutchness is given form.
The question is whether this is all about culture, in which in time equal Dutchness can be achieved by newcomers, or, whether biologically based ascription remains a hidden transcript in the culturalization of citizenship.
So the question is: Whatever happened to racism in the Netherlands?
To answer this question, prof Paul Gilroy (London School of Economics) and other groundbreaking scholars will compare the Dutch case in relation to similar processes in Europe.
Speakers
- Prof. Paul Gilroy (London School of Economics)
- Amade M' Charek (University of Amsterdam)
- Andree van Es (Wethouder)
- Francio Guadeloupe (University of Amsterdam), moderator
- Peter Geschiere (University of Amsterdam), moderator
Application and location
No need to apply, just be in time.
Location: Compagnietheater Amsterdam, Kloveniersburgwal 50