Abstract In my paper, I shall trace the history of Dutch family migration policies during the second half of the twentieth century. Mindful of Stoler’s analysis of how the colonial regime of the Dutch East Indies relied on patriarchal family norms to distinguish races in terms of both status and behaviour, I shall explore if and to what extent nationalist distinctions of the post-colonial era have been similarly grounded in family norms – and, to the extent that that has been the case, how changes in family norms have affected those distinctions. I shall differentiate three periods: the period of post-war reconstruction and moral restoration (1945-1975); the period of sexual revolution and multiculturalism (1975-1990); and the period of renewed consensus regarding family norms and national identity (1990-2000). At the end of my paper, I shall question if and to what extent the present Dutch regime of nationalist exclusion can indeed be compared to the Dutch racist regime of the colonial past.
Period
12 Oct 2009
Event title
Seminar UCERF (Utrecht Centre for European Research into Family Law)