Races in the Afrikaanderwijk the Construction of Space and the Other, Just Outside the Doorstep
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2019 (T)races in the Afrikaanderwijk The construction of space and the other, just outside the doorstep Manou Hijlkema, BSc. MASTER THESIS HUMAN GEOGRAPHY 26-11-2019 (T)races in the Afrikaanderwijk. M.E. Hijlkema (s4843428) 2019 (T)RACES IN THE AFRIKAANDERWIJK The construction of space and the other, just outside the doorstep Manou Hijlkema Student number: 4843428 Contact: hijlkemanou@hotmail.com ABSTRACT In the Afrikaanderwijk, a very diverse neighbourhood, the latest election showed just how diverse it is with a large part of its inhabitants supporting a right-wing party with a strong nationalist sentiment and the other greater part a party supporting diversity. This thesis delves into the construction of place and the other as done by these right-wing sympathizers, sharing their closest space just outside their doorstep with others with a migration background, taking underlying structures of othering based on race and trace in consideration. Radboud University Nijmegen Nijmegen School of Management Human Geography Department Specialization: Globalization, Migration and Development November 2019 Thesis Supervisor: Dr. O.T. Kramsch Second Reader: Dr. R.A.H. Hoekstra-Pijpers Note: front page image is a self-taken picture taken of the Afrikaanderpark at the Afrikaanderwijk. i (T)races in the Afrikaanderwijk. M.E. Hijlkema (s4843428) 2019 Preface Having read about the Afrikaanderwijk, seen pictures and prepared a theoretic framework I was finally about to actually see the neighbourhood for the first time. The Metro drove into the light of day and as I stepped out into the rainy Dutch weather I looked down on an entrance of the neighbourhood for the first time and got overwhelmed by fears and uncertainties. Why would any inhabitant of the Afrikaanderwijk be interested to invest time in me? Is there even a connection of these inhabitants with the neighbourhood? Will any of these tensions I expect to find actually come up? As from this metro station looking down, it was just this grey and quiet combination of houses and streets in which a few pedestrians were walking towards their goal of the moment. The local pubs became the foundation of the answer and were in fact surprisingly cosy as well. As I was looking for right-wing sympathisers I was very self-conscious about my personal progressive left perspective. In the preparation of my research I constantly found myself struggling with the idea I was condemning people as racists, as I was pointing fingers to people living in a for me perhaps unfamiliar world, judging others from out of my ‘comfortable’ leftish bubble. As I went there and talked with these inhabitants every day, the ease of this contact, the openness of these inhabitants and the kindness towards me, also brought food for thought. Not so much that I expected them to be unkind, merely that I sometimes found myself defending their ideas to a certain amount towards those interested in my own surroundings. Besides addressing my research there was a lot of space for fun, and jokes, and watching sports together and them not taking ‘no’ for an answer when they were offering me drinks every time. The rapport I build developed and some of the hardships they experience were understandable and my interpretation of them sometimes made me feel like a traitor, as they were so kind to share their stories with me and as a thank you, I tried to find the racist in them. Of course relativizing this I was not aiming to describe them as racists, but I was looking for underlying racial structures effecting their way of constructing the neighbourhood and their Turkish neighbour, for example. Still there were many times I felt like condemning them of something I was perhaps guilty of myself; as the white innocence effect. Blaming others and while blaming others simultaneously constructing yourself as the opposite. Conducting research in my own society on a subject that matters to me and delving into the ‘other’ side of the conversation was a really interesting experience which I think should be done more often. Hochschild did so for her inspiring book Strangers in their own land: Anger and mourning on the American right (2016), and Nader (1996) also explains the need for studying ‘all directions’ and not just the appointed ‘underdog’ which is so popular in social research. There is an interesting tension between aiming for an objective relativistic stance of the researcher and the awareness of the individual that I am on the other side. I received a very warm welcome in these pubs and the inhabitants were very helpful in sharing their ideas or to point me in the right direction. I started my research both hoping for positive effects of sharing living space with the other, as well as looking for possible underlying racist structures and ended up with a deeper developed idea of society. My life has on some points probably come easier to me, as I was born in the middle segments of society, and the Afrikaanderwijk might be a neighbourhood filled with less people with a migration background before, it is however the way my new partners of conversation construct these neighbours with a migration background today, and the way negative experiences get attached or blamed to certain people, what embodies the actual food for thought and the goal for this thesis. Having sad all that, I would like to thank all the Afrikaanderwijkers who were willing to share their time with me, be so helpful and so kind for me and made this research possible. They did not only helped me with my research but helped me broaden my horizon simultaneously and this is something I will carry with me. Also I would especially thank Jelle van der M. for all the walks and inspiring talks and wish him all the best for succeeding in the positive plans he had for further ii (T)races in the Afrikaanderwijk. M.E. Hijlkema (s4843428) 2019 developing the community centre ‘T Klooster in the neighbourhood. For other inspiring help and meaningful support I would like to thank Ron van Wonderen who was my supervisor during my internship for the Verwey-Joncker Institute. With critical questions and ideas he really supported me during the research process besides the practical support of making use of their offices and everything that comes with it. Great thanks of course also goes out to Oliver Kramsch, besides being my supervisor, helping and correcting me on the way to this thesis also for being the very inspiring partner in conversation as he is. Our conversations always brought me food for thought perhaps starting with discussing my thesis but without an exception ending on subjects far beyond. Not to forget of course my family and friends. I really need to thank my parents for their patience and the here and there needed (financial) support, it would not have been possible without them. And my boyfriend Pim of course, whom also granted me patience and really supported me all the way through. Happy reading, Manou Hijlkema November 2019 iii (T)races in the Afrikaanderwijk. M.E. Hijlkema (s4843428) 2019 Table of Contents Preface ..................................................................................................................................................ii 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Entering the Afrikaanderwijk......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Context .......................................................................................................................................... 4 The Afrikaanderwijk ........................................................................................................................ 4 Relevance ........................................................................................................................................ 9 A change of terms ......................................................................................................................... 11 Thesis structure ............................................................................................................................. 11 2. Theoretic chapter .......................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Space Matters .............................................................................................................................. 12 Topofilia ......................................................................................................................................... 12 Space and place ............................................................................................................................. 12 Hoodizenship ................................................................................................................................. 15 2.2 The current state of anxieties ..................................................................................................... 18 Globalization and populism ........................................................................................................... 18 Angry voices .................................................................................................................................. 19 2.3 The Netherlands: roots and routes ............................................................................................. 21 Scape-goating in the Netherlands