scholarly journals Being a ‘White Muslima’ in the Netherlands Ethnicity, Friendships and Relationships—The Dutch Conversion Narrative

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 345
Author(s):  
Bat Sheva Hass
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Dutch Society ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
Conversion Narrative ◽  
Conversion Narratives ◽  
Conversion Experience ◽  
Muslim Communities

This article, which is part of a larger ongoing project, examines relationships, friendships and levels of belonging in Dutch society, as well as in the Dutch Muslim community in narratives of women converted to Islam. The ethnicity of these women is always visible as ‘native Dutch’ and shapes their conversion narratives. This ethnography raises a number of questions that form the basis for the analysis presented here: How do Dutch Muslim women shape their identity in a way that is both Dutch and Muslim? Do they incorporate Dutch parameters into their Muslim identity, while at the same time weaving Islamic principles into their Dutch sense of self? The findings show how the conversion narrative can be mobilized by Dutch Muslim women to serve identity formation, levels of belonging and personal (religious) choice in the Netherlands, where Islam is largely considered by the non-Muslim population to be a religion that is oppressive and discriminatory towards women and is associated with foreignness and being the Other. It is argued that, in the context of being Dutch and Muslim, these women express their freedom of choice, which is manifested through friendships, relationships and marriages (Islamic vs. civil), while their ethnicity and conversion experience is a visible component in their identity. In so doing, these women push the limits of the archetypal Dutch identity and are able to criticize Dutch society while simultaneously stretching the meaning of Islam and being critical of Dutch Muslim communities to craft their own hybrid identity.

scholarly journals Fashion and Faith: Islamic Dress and Identity in The Netherlands

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bat Sheva Hass ◽  
Hayden Lutek
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
Dutch Identity ◽  
Dress And Identity ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Islamic Dress

This paper focuses on the relationship between clothing and identity—specifically, on Islamic dress as shaping the identity of Dutch Muslim women. How do these Dutch Muslim women shape their identity in a way that it is both Dutch and Muslim? Do they mix Dutch parameters in their Muslim identity, while at the same time intersplicing Islamic principles in their Dutch sense of self? This study is based on two ethnographies conducted in the city of Amsterdam, the first occurring from September to October 2009, and the second took place in August 2018, which combines insights taken from in-depth interviews with Dutch Muslim women and observations in gatherings from Quranic and Religious studies, social gatherings and one-time events, as well as observations in stores for Islamic fashion and museums in Amsterdam. This study takes as its theme clothing and identity, and how Islamic clothing can be mobilized by Dutch Muslim women in service of identity formation. The study takes place in a context, the Netherlands, where Islam is largely considered by the populous as a religion that is oppressive and discriminatory to women. This paper argues that in the context of being Dutch and Muslim, through choice of clothing, these women express their agency: their ability to choose and act in social action, thus pushing the limits of archetypal Dutch identity while simultaneously stretching the meaning of Islam to craft their own identity, one that is influenced by themes of immigration, belongingness, ethnicity, religious knowledge and gender.

scholarly journals The Burka Ban: Islamic Dress, Freedom and Choice in The Netherlands in Light of the 2019 Burka Ban Law

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bat-sheva Hass
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Face ◽  
Dutch Identity ◽  
Islamic Dress ◽  
The Relationship

This article, part of an evolving and large project, examines the relationship between clothing, freedom and choice, and specifically Islamic dress in shaping the identity of Dutch Muslim women after the Burka Ban that was voted into law on 1 August 2019 in the Netherlands. It discusses the debates before and after this date, as well as the background to the ban. A veil covering the face is a garment worn by some Muslim women to adhere to an interpretation of hijab (modest dress). It can be referred to as a burqa or niqab. In the aftermath of the Burka Ban that prompted considerable public alarm on the part of Muslim men and women, niqab-wearing women, as well as women who do not wear a veil, but are in solidarity with their niqabi sisters, raised a number of questions that form the basis for the analysis presented here: how do Dutch Muslim women shape their identity in a way that it is both Dutch and Muslim? Do they incorporate Dutch parameters into their Muslim identity, while at the same time weaving Islamic principles into their Dutch sense of self? The findings show how Islamic clothing can be mobilized by Dutch Muslim women to serve identity formation and personal (religious) choice in the Netherlands, where Islam is largely considered by the non-Muslim population to be a religion that is oppressive and discriminatory towards women. It is argued that in the context of being Dutch and Muslim, these women express their freedom of choice through clothing, thus pushing the limits of the archetypal Dutch identity and criticizing Dutch society while simultaneously stretching the meaning of Islam to craft their own identity.

scholarly journals The Dutch inside the ‘Moslima’ and the ‘Moslima’ inside the Dutch: Processing the Religious Experience of Muslim Women in The Netherlands

Societies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bat Hass ◽  
Hayden Lutek
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
Religious Knowledge ◽  
Dutch Identity ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The City ◽  
Depth Interviews

This research focuses on Dutch Muslim women who chose to practice Islam, whether they were born Muslim (‘Newly Practicing Muslims’) or they chose to convert (‘New Muslims’). This study takes place in a context, the Netherlands, where Islam is popularly considered by the native Dutch population, as a religion oppressive to women. How do these Dutch Muslim women build their identity in a way that it is both Dutch and Muslim? Do they mix Dutch parameters in their Muslim identity, while at the same time, inter-splicing Islamic principles in their Dutch sense of self? This study is based on an ethnography conducted in the city of Amsterdam from September to October 2009, which combines insights taken from in-depth interviews with Dutch Muslim women, observations from Quranic and Religious classes, observations in a mosque, and one-time events occurring during the month of Ramadan. This paper argues that, in the context of being Dutch and Muslim, women express their agency, which is their ability to choose and act in social action: they push the limits of archetypal Dutch identity while simultaneously stretching the meaning of Islam to craft their own identity, one that is influenced by themes of immigration, belongingness, religious knowledge, higher education and gender.

Social Policy, Cultural Integration and Faith: A Muslim Reflection

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 625-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dilwar Hussain
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
British Society ◽  
Cultural Integration ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
Big Society ◽  
Economic Reality ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Muslim Communities ◽  
The Uk

This article is a reflection on some of the discussions around faith and public life, within the context of Muslim communities and their interaction with public policy. It looks at the gap between popular debates on Muslims and the actual lived socio-economic reality of most people of Muslim background, and then goes on to look at aspects of identity formation and Muslim identity politics in the UK. It also considers the idea of integration and looks briefly at emerging Islamic discourses that are grappling with some of the challenges presented by modern British society. Finally, the article explores the role of faith in the public sphere and if it can help to build social capital and play a role in ideas such as the Big Society. The article concludes by emphasising the need to move beyond identity politics and communitarianism and asks where the real divides in society are – between religious and ideological groups or within them?

scholarly journals ‘They Make Us Feel Like We’re a Virus’: The Multiple Impacts of Islamophobic Hostility Towards Veiled Muslim Women

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 44-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Zempi ◽  
Neil Chakraborti
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Multiple Impacts ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Muslim Communities ◽  
The Individual

Within the prevailing post-9/11 climate, veiled Muslim women are commonly portrayed as oppressed, ‘culturally dangerous’ and ‘threatening’ to the western way of life and to notions of public safety and security by virtue of being fully covered in the public sphere. It is in such a context that manifestations of Islamophobia often emerge as a means of responding to these ‘threats’. Drawing from qualitative data elicited through a UK-based study, this article reflects upon the lived experiences of veiled Muslim women as actual and potential victims of Islamophobia and examines the impacts of Islamophobic attacks upon victims, their families and wider Muslim communities. Among the central themes we explore are impacts upon their sense of vulnerability, the visibility of their Muslim identity, and the management of their safety in public. The individual and collective harms associated with this form of victimisation are considered through notions of a worldwide, transnational Muslim community, the ummah, which connects Muslims from all over world. We conclude by noting that the effects of this victimisation are not exclusively restricted to the global ummah; rather, the harm extends to society as a whole by exacerbating the polarisation which already exists between ‘us’ and ‘them’.

scholarly journals The Construction of Authentic Muslim Identity among Nationally Diverse Women: The Case of an Arab Woman

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 166
Author(s):  
Burcu Gokgoz-Kurt
Keyword(s):  
Identity Construction ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
Economic Wealth ◽  
Muslim Majority ◽  
Asymmetrical Power ◽  
Heritage Politics ◽  
Muslim Communities ◽  
Nationally Diverse

This paper examines religious and ethnic identity construction among nationally diverse Muslim women, and shows how Muslim women may reflect asymmetrical power relations regarding their religiousness. While Muslims are usually treated as one homogenous community by those who are not very familiar with the Muslim communities, within the Islamic world, in fact, some Muslim-majority countries may be more strongly associated with Islam than others. Drawing on data gathered through spontaneous conversations, and informal, unstructured interviews during a gathering of four Muslim women, the present study reveals how one Muslim woman belonging to the Arab world authenticates herself in the presence of non-Arab Muslims through her discourse. Several factors such as economic wealth, heritage, politics, and language seem to help her claim “genuine” membership of Islam. 

Społeczeństwo holenderskie i los Żydów: skomplikowana historia

2016 ◽  
pp. 425-434
Author(s):  
Dan Michman
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
Dutch Society ◽  
Nazi Occupation ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Western European ◽  
Post War ◽  
Of Greece

The percentage of victimization of Dutch Jewry during the Shoah is the highest of Western, Central and Southern Europe (except, perhaps of Greece), and close to the Polish one: 75%, more than 104.000 souls. The question of disproportion between the apparent favorable status of the Jews in society – they had acquired emancipation in 1796 - and the disastrous outcome of the Nazi occupation as compared to other countries in general and Western European in particular has haunted Dutch historiography of the Shoah. Who should be blamed for that outcome: the perpetrators, i.e. the Germans, the bystanders, i.e. the Dutch or the victims, i.e. the Dutch Jews? The article first surveys the answers given to this question since the beginnings of Dutch Holocaust historiography in the immediate post-war period until the debates of today and the factors that influenced the shaping of some basic perceptions on “Dutch society and the Jews”. It then proceeds to detailing several facts from the Holocaust period that are essential for an evaluation of gentile attitudes. The article concludes with the observation that – in spite of ongoing debates – the overall picture which has accumulated after decades of research will not essentially being altered. Although the Holocaust was initiated, planned and carried out from Berlin, and although a considerable number of Dutchmen helped and hid Jews and the majority definitely despised the Germans, considerable parts of Dutch society contributed to the disastrous outcome of the Jewish lot in the Netherlands – through a high amount of servility towards the German authorities, through indifference when Jewish fellow-citizens were persecuted, through economically benefiting from the persecution and from the disappearance of Jewish neighbors, and through actual collaboration (stemming from a variety of reasons). Consequently, the picture of the Holocaust in the Netherlands is multi-dimensional, but altogether puzzling and not favorable.

W cieniu Anny Frank. Szanse Żydów na przeżycie w okupowanej Holandii

2014 ◽  
pp. 384-406
Author(s):  
Bob Moore
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Jewish Population ◽  
Hostile Environment ◽  
Dutch Society ◽  
German Occupation

During the German occupation of the Netherlands between 1940 and 1945, around 75% of the country’s Jewish population were deported and killed, primarily in the extermination camps of Auschwitz and Sobibor. Much attention has been paid to the factors which explain this, but this article questions how any Jews managed to survive in an increasingly hostile environment where there were no ‘favorable factors’ to aid them. The analysis centers on the attitudes of the Jews towards acting illegally, their relationships with the rest of Dutch society, and the possible opportunities for escape and hiding. It also looks at the myriad problems associated with the day-to-day experiences of surviving underground

Prawne aspekty eutanazji w Holandii

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-253
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Stefanowicz
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Public Authority ◽  
Dutch Society ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Limited Length ◽  
The Law ◽  
Death On Demand ◽  
The Way

This article undertakes to show the way that has led to the statutory decriminalization of euthanasia-related murder and assisted suicide in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It presents the evolution of the views held by Dutch society on the euthanasia related practice, in the consequence of which death on demand has become legal after less than thirty years. Due attention is paid to the role of organs of public authority in these changes, with a particular emphasis put on the role of the Dutch Parliament – the States General. Because of scarcity of space and limited length of the article, the change in the attitudes toward euthanasia, which has taken place in the Netherlands, is presented in a synthetic way – from the first discussions on admissibility of a euthanasia-related murder carried out in the 1970s, through the practice of killing patients at their request, which was against the law at that time, but with years began more and more acceptable, up to the statutory decriminalization of euthanasia by the Dutch Parliament, made with the support of the majority of society.

Do Dutch dermatologists care for venereology? An inquiry among all non-academic dermatologists in The Netherlands

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 45-47
Author(s):  
◽  
J M Mommers ◽  
W I Van Der Meijden
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Outpatient Clinics ◽  
National Society ◽  
Dutch Society ◽  
Regional Collaboration ◽  
Fruitful Cooperation ◽  
Municipal Health ◽  
Do So

The financing of STD outpatient clinics in The Netherlands is currently undergoing structural changes. Because these changes also have implications for the infrastructure of STD care as a whole, the STD committee of the Dutch Society for Dermatology and Venereology (STD committee NVDV) and the National Society of Municipal Health Services (GGD-Nederland) are currently exploring the possibilities and feasibility of intensified regional collaboration between Municipal Health Services (MHSs) and dermatologists. However, for fruitful collaboration it is essential that a substantial number of dermatologists has an interest in STD care. Therefore, the STD committee NVDV has conducted a structured survey in order to study the support of Dutch dermatologists for such a regional collaboration. In this paper, the results of the survey are presented. It appears that the majority of Dutch dermatologists is (still) interested in STD, and although a minority currently collaborates with local MHSs on a regular basis, a large group is willing to do so in the future. We conclude that the majority of dermatologists in the Netherlands (still) cares for venereology and that there is a sound basis for a fruitful cooperation with MHSs.

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