How Thierry Baudet Stole Geert Wilders' Votes: A Discourse Historical Analysis of Baudet's 2019 Provincial Elections Victory Speech.

Thierry Baudet's remarkable success at the 2019 Dutch provincial elections was difficult to comprehend given the hitherto increasing popularity of the long-term dominant figure in Dutch far-right politics, Geert Wilders. Although both politicians preside over strikingly similar policy agendas, Wilders' supporters appeared to abandon him in favour of Baudet. This study attempted to investigate why Dutch far-right voters may have shifted their allegiance from Wilders's Partij Voor de Vrijheid to Baudet's Forum voor Democratie through a Discourse Historical Analysis of Baudet's provincial elections victory speech and a corpus of Wilders' discursive texts. Prior to commencing this analysis, the study's methodological approach for addressing such a complex topic was justified by means ofdemonstrating the close interrelationship between context, discourse and political strategy. The analysis discovered that Baudet distinguishes himself by constructing a less repressive guise for his party through careful characterisation of the Dutch identity rather than demonising the cultural enemy like Wilders and other leaders of the new right.

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

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.

Vrijheid, burgerlijk activisme en kritiek op het absolutisme: enkele casussen van het Nederlandse republicanisme in de verlichting

The purpose of this contribution is to show how republican thought in the Netherlands developed during the last decades of the eighteenth century. To this end, I present three cases of Dutch republicanism, which, I believe, were the most crucial in the formation of Dutch identity in the early modern period. When analysing these cases, I try to show how the republican message came about: I look both at the ideology that was embedded in republican concepts, and at the rhetorical representation of republican ideas – how, in the form of texts and prints, they were presented to the reader.

Modelling the Influence of Regional Identity on Human Migration

Human migration involves the relocation of individuals, households or moving groups between geographical locations. Aggregate spatial patterns of movement reflect complex interactions among motivations (such as distance, identity, economic opportunities, etc.) that influence migration behaviour and determine destination choice. Gravity models and radiation models are often used to study different types of migration at various spatial scales. In this paper, we propose that human migration models can be improved by embedding regional identities into the model. We modify the existing human migration gravity model by adding an identity parameter based on three different sets of Dutch identity regions. Through analysis of the Dutch internal migration data between 1996 and 2016, we show that adding the identity parameter has a significant effect on the distance distribution. We find that individuals are more likely to move towards municipalities located within the same identity region. We test the impact of regional identity by comparing randomly spatially clustered and optimised identity regions to show that the effects we attribute to regional identity could not be attributed due to chance. Finally, our finding shows that cultural identity should be taken into account and has broad implications on the practice of modelling human migration patterns at large. We find that people living in Dutch municipalities are 3.89 times as likely to move to a municipality when it is located within the same historic identity region. Including these identity regions in the migration model decreases the deviation of the model by 10.7%.

Fashion and Faith: Islamic Dress and Identity in The Netherlands

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.

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

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.

Visible, Invisible: A Portrait of the Intersection Between Whiteness and Moroccanness in the Netherlands

This article explores the influence of appearance on experiences of race and racism in the Netherlands. It is based on one semi-structured, in-depth interview with a 20 year-old performing arts student who, despite his outward appearance of being white, has Moroccan heritage. The intersection between whiteness and Moroccan identity in the case of the interviewee is considered in terms of the Dutch national image, racial passing and Dutch visual culture. The results of the in-depth interview provide insight into the exclusivity of the categories of white and Moroccan in the image of Dutch identity, as well as the claims to a post-race Netherlands.