The Moroccan-Dutch Mayor of the city of Rotterdam (53) was chosen by the Dutch rightist magazine Weekly Elsevier as Dutch Person of the Year 2014. The city of Rotterdam has had much negative media exposure over the years because of issues related to migration and integration, being one of the cities with the largest migrant…
Why do so called second generation ‘social climbers’, identify with their ethnicity? When do these adult children of immigrants, who reached high educated levels, identify in ethnic terms and why? How do their identifications develop over time? Many in the Netherlands wonder why children of immigrants, especially when they are higher educated, ‘still’ identify with…
The Dutch current affairs program Nieuwsuur (News Hour) has dedicated a special program to Muslim perspectives on integration and Islam in the Netherlands. Middle East reporter Jan Eikelboom and editor Milena Holdert for several months interviewed Dutch Muslims on issues related to Islam currently debated on in Dutch society. In Dutch media coverage about Islam…
Several days before the vote for the UMP presidency, Nicolas Sarkozy mentioned “one of his favorite themes,” that is, “integration the French way.” According to Sarkozy, it is the “biggest failure in thirty years.” He quickly elaborated on this statement, saying, “It is not a question of our fellow Muslims, most of whom bring honor…
SALAFISM Utopian Ideals in an Unruly Reality By Martijn de Koning, Joas Wagemakers en Carmen Becker Three Dutch expert academics on Islam published a book on Salafism in the Netherlands, named “Salafism: Utopische Idealen in een Weerbarstige Praktijk” (English: Salafism: Utopian Ideals in an Unruly Reality). Salafism has been a highly debated current in Dutch…
