Post-Colonial Immigrants and Identity Formations in the Netherlands
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IMISCOE (.) Post-colonial Immigrants and Identity Formations in the Netherlands explores the RESEARCH Dutch post-colonial migrant experience in relation to the speci c histories and composition of the various post-colonial groups in this country and the peculiarities of Dutch society. Over years and three generations of migration history is presented, alongside an impressive body of post-colonial literature, much of which Post-colonial Immigrants and Identity Formations in the Netherlands Formations and Identity Immigrants Post-colonial has never before reached an international audience. More than per cent of these migrants were Dutch citizens before even reaching the Netherlands, as they did in huge waves between and . How did they form their identities? What were Post-colonial Immigrants relationships with locals like? How have second and third generations responded? Ulbe Bosma is a senior researcher at the International Institute of Social History in and Identity Formations Amsterdam. in the Netherlands “Fascinating, comprehensive, and historically grounded, this essential volume reveals how the colonial past continues to shape multicultural Dutch society... It is an important counterpart to work on France, Britain, and Portugal.” Andrea Smith, Lafayette College, Easton, PA (USA) (.) “A much-welcomed inquiry into processes and relations associated with colonialism and slave trade – notably, racism and disparities based in ascribed status. is book invites further exploration in and comparison with other European and extra-European contexts.” Margarida Marques, New University of Lisbon .. A MSTERDAM U NIVERSITY P RESS Post-Colonial Immigrants and Identity Formations in the Netherlands IMISCOE International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion in Europe The IMISCOE Research Network unites researchers from, at present, 30 institutes specialising in studies of international migration, integration and social cohesion in Europe. What began in 2004 as a Network of Excellence sponsored by the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Commission has become, as of April 2009, an independent self-funding endeavour. From the start, IMISCOE has promoted integrated, multidisciplinary and globally comparative research led by scholars from various branches of the economic and social sciences, the humanities and law. The Network furthers existing studies and pioneers new scholarship on migration and migrant integration. Encouraging innovative lines of inquiry key to European policymaking and governance is also a priority. The IMISCOE-Amsterdam University Press Series makes the Network’s findings and results available to researchers, policymakers and practitioners, the media and other interested stakeholders. High-quality manuscripts authored by Network members and cooperating partners are evaluated by external peer reviews and the IMISCOE Editorial Committee. The Committee comprises the following members: Tiziana Caponio, Department of Political Studies, University of Turin / Forum for International and European Research on Immigration (FIERI), Turin, Italy Michael Collyer, Sussex Centre for Migration Research (SCMR), University of Sussex, United Kingdom Rosita Fibbi, Swiss Forum for Migration and Population Studies (SFM), University of Neuchâtel / Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lausanne, Switzerland Agata Górny, Centre of Migration Research (CMR) / Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, Poland Albert Kraler, International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), Vienna, Austria Jorge Malheiros, Centre of Geographical Studies (CEG), University of Lisbon, Portugal Marco Martiniello, National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS), Brussels / Center for Ethnic and Migration Studies (CEDEM), University of Liège, Belgium Marlou Schrover, Institute for History, Leiden University, The Netherlands Patrick Simon, National Demographic Institute (INED), Paris, France Miri Song, School of Social Policy and Sociology, University of Kent, United Kingdom More information and how to join the Network can be found at www.imiscoe.org. Post-Colonial Immigrants and Identity Formations in the Netherlands edited by Ulbe Bosma IMISCOE Research Cover design: Studio Jan de Boer BNO, Amsterdam Layout: The DocWorkers, Almere ISBN 978 90 8964 454 1 e-ISBN 978 90 4851 731 2 (pdf) e-ISBN 978 90 4851 732 9 (ePub) NUR 741 / 763 © Ulbe Bosma / Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2012 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Table of contents 1 Introduction: Post-colonial immigrants and identity formations in the Netherlands 7 Ulbe Bosma 2 Dutch politicians, the Dutch nation and the dynamics of post-colonial citizenship 27 Guno Jones 3 Representations of post-colonial migrants in discussions on intermarriage in the Netherlands, 1945-2005 49 Charlotte Laarman 4 Group-related or host state-related? Understanding the historical development of Surinamese organisations in Amsterdam, 1965-2000 77 Floris Vermeulen and Anja van Heelsum 5 Post-colonial migrant festivals in the Netherlands 99 Marga Alferink 6 Closing the ‘KNIL chapter’: A key moment in identity formation of Moluccans in the Netherlands 117 Fridus Steijlen 7 Tjalie Robinson (1911-1974): A mediator between East and West 135 Wim Willems 8 History brought home: Post-colonial migrations and the Dutch rediscovery of slavery 155 Gert Oostindie 9 Cultural memory and Indo-Dutch identity formations 175 Pamela Pattynama 6 POST-COLONIAL IMMIGRANTS AND IDENTITY FORMATIONS IN THE NETHERLANDS 10 Why is there no post-colonial debate in the Netherlands? 193 Ulbe Bosma Collective references 213 List of contributors 233 Index 235 1 Introduction Post-colonial immigrants and identity formations in the Netherlands Ulbe Bosma 1.1 Introduction Whereas the post-colonial condition has been extensively discussed in the Anglophone and Francophone countries, hardly anything of this has reso- nated in the Netherlands. This book explores how this phenomenon is re- lated to the specific histories and composition of the various post-colonial groups in this country and the peculiarities of Dutch society. The least one can say is that post-colonial immigrants in the Netherlands came from highly diverse backgrounds. Among them were metropolitan Dutch (who were repatriated during and after the Indonesian War of Independence), Moluccan militia, Indo-Chinese, Afro-Caribbeans and Surinamese originat- ing from India, Java and China. This heterogeneity is not specific for the Netherlands, however. In the Dutch case, one could even claim that one can speak about ‘post-colonial migrants’ as a distinct category, because probably more than 90 per cent of these newcomers were already Dutch citizens before their arrival in the Netherlands. Their elites were steeped in Dutch culture and often had had their (academic) education in the metro- polis or colonial mother country. One can also point to the agendas of post-colonial migrant organisations, many of which, one way or another, were shaped by colonial issues. But there are also counterarguments. Almost half of the post-colonial migrants to the Netherlands found themselves in the same dire social and economic circumstances as labour migrants. This was particularly the case for post-colonial immigrants who were not immediate descendants of metropolitan Dutch, were usually lower educated and entered the Dutch labour market in the 1980s. Another objection would be that even if colo- nialism shaped Dutch culture, it is not something very visible. Again, the Netherlands is not exceptional in this regard. The only pan-European publi- cation on post-colonial immigrants even has ‘invisible’ in its title: Europe’s invisible migrants (Smith 2003). This invisibility has been noted by quite a 8 ULBE BOSMA few Dutch scholars, some of whom also contribute to this volume. But this point precisely could be turned on its head, into an argument in favour of discussing post-colonial immigrants as a distinct category. Their identity formations are solidly linked to the erratic and convoluted ways in which the colonial past is rendered in Dutch collective memory: compounded by taboos and silences (Bosma 2009; Oostindie 2010; Van Leeuwen 2008). The most straightforward argument for discussing post-colonial immi- grants and their identity formations within a single analytical framework is the fact that they constitute a substantial segment of Dutch society that ar- rived in huge waves over a relatively short period of time. Decolonisation and post-colonial immigrations changed the Netherlands demographically in a post-colonial society. Today, about 6.3 per cent of the Dutch popula- tion comes from the former colonies, or has at least one parent born there. By and large, this figure is smaller than the other Western European twenti- eth-century colonial powers. France and Great Britain probably have be- tween 7 and 8 per cent first- and second-generation post-colonial immi- grants. In Portugal the proportion might approach 10 per cent (Bosma 2009: 349-350; Bosma, Lucassen & Oostindie 2012; Oostindie in this volume). What sets the Netherlands apart from France, the UK and Portugal is that post-colonial migrants only make up half of the extra- European immigrants.