Speaking Together: exploring discourses of ‘Dutchness’ in language learning, voluntarism, and active citizenship Rhiannon Michelle Mosher A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Social Anthropology York University Toronto, Ontario September 2015 © Rhiannon Michelle Mosher, 2015 Abstract My dissertation examines everyday understandings of citizenship as expressed by voluntary Dutch language coaches in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Based on thirteen months of ethnographic research, the primary methods used in this study were in-depth semi-structured interviews and participant observation. These methods were complemented by archival research examining policy documents, key discussions in mainstream Dutch media, and promotional materials developed by the voluntary organizations studied. Adopting a Foucauldian approach to governmentality informed by the work of Tania Li, Mitchell Dean, Ann Laura Stoler, and Aihwa Ong, this study considers how volunteer Dutch language coaches both reproduce and challenge contemporary discourses around citizenship and belonging in Dutch society. Since the 1990s, in the Netherlands and across the European Union, concerns over increasing cultural diversity and diminishing social cohesion have centred on marginalized, non- Western (Muslim) newcomers and their descendants. These concerns have developed concurrently with neoliberal interventions that have included the downloading of social service provision – including immigrant integration – to lower levels of government, private and not-for- profit civil society organizations, and individual citizens as volunteers. Cross-cutting historical, colonial calculations of ‘Dutchness’ and more recent expressions of neoliberal “active” citizenship (Ong 1996; Muehlebach 2012), the Dutch language has emerged as a key symbol of belonging, and technique for teaching the technology of government to newcomers. In this context I argue that Amsterdam’s Dutch language coaching volunteers fill an important role as front-line citizenship educators, offering a unique perspective through which to study citizenship. Alongside teaching newcomers the language skills required to naturalize, coaches convey their ii own ideas of citizenship and belonging as an everyday ethic and practice of community building. Through their voluntary work and expressions of meaningful social integration and citizenship, these research participants consent to and extend the reach of government into the private lives of (potential) citizens. The tensions, practices, and contradictions around belonging revealed by these participants underscore the “awkward continuities” (Dean 2010:57) with the powerful grammar of difference and Dutchness developed through the experience of empire, and how entangled discourses of cultural difference and neoliberal “active” citizenship shape state and everyday notions of morally and culturally attuned citizenship practice. iii Acknowledgements This dissertation is the culmination of years of work that could not have been accomplished without the support of many different individuals and organizations. Over the course of this degree countless people have offered inspiration, advice, feedback and support, for which I offer my thanks. I thank my supervisor and mentor, Daphne Winland. Daphne has helped me to see this project through from its inception to the final draft of the dissertation. Her considered feedback, probing questions, and heartfelt care has helped me to develop as a scholar and is greatly appreciated. I am also indebted to my committee, David A.B. Murray and Albert Schrauwers, for pushing me to consider new directions and pointing to the tools with which to explore them. Many thanks to my classmates and colleagues who have and continue to make the York Anthropology Department a productive and supportive space to explore our work. Thanks especially those of you who have read and given feedback on my work in our graduate writing group, during courses, at conferences, and in other much less formal capacities. Thank you to the Anthropology Department staff, Karen Rumley, Diana Baldassi, Colleen Robinson, as well as the late Sylvia Vettese , for their help with all things bureaucratic. I would like to acknowledge the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for supporting my doctoral studies with a Canada Graduate Scholarship (2006-2009). I must also thank the many people who participated and contributed to this project throughout my fieldwork in Amsterdam, some of whom may be named and many who cannot. Van harte dank aan alle mijn onderzoek participants. Met name dank aan de vrijwilligers en taalcoaches, hun organisaties, de begeleiders, en anderen zonder wie mijn project niet mogelijk iv zou zijn geweest. Dank ook aan mijn eigen taalcoach, “Frank,” van de SamenSpraak Programma van Gilde Amsterdam. I am grateful to the organizers and participants of the Culturalization of Citizenship reading group at the Univeristeit van Amsterdam for allowing me to take part in these discussions. I would like to extend particular thanks to Jan-Willem Duyvendak, Evelien Tonkens, Peter Geschiere, as well as Rogier van Reekum. I am indebted to my fellow Canadian anthropologist, Jennifer Long, for introducing me to the scholars of the Meertens Instituut, especially Irene Stengs. Many thanks to my Dutch friends who made Amsterdam home during my year in the field. Very special thanks are owed to Martine van den Heuvel (especially for her help correcting my Dutch), Morris Beks, Annabeth Groenman, as well as Tonny Besanger and Harry Beks for their kindness, friendship and willingness to put up with all of my questions about Dutch culture. Lastly, I thank my family for always encouraging my studies and supporting my dreams. v Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents vi List of Figures ix Introduction: Foregrounding questions of citizenship in the Netherlands 1 Language coaching in Amsterdam: Teaching the technology of 9 government in everyday life Organization of the dissertation 13 1. Anthropological contributions to the study of the nation 20 Cultural particularities: ethnographic attention to national detail 22 Ethnographic and historical realities 25 Spaces and scales of the ‘national’ field 29 Locating the boundaries of national culture in citizenship 36 Educating citizens: an exploration of the will to govern 39 2. Navigating “the field”: Selecting field sites and methods 45 Points of ethnographic entry: language learning and voluntarism 46 Situating volunteers in the study of citizenship 57 Amsterdam’s Volunteer Language Coaching Initiatives 71 A city “used to immigration”: researching nationalism and citizenship in 77 Amsterdam vi 3. Imagining Dutchness: Tracing programs of social difference through empire 87 Developing a grammar of difference and Dutchness 91 Technical drift: refining problems and sites for governmental 97 intervention Definite effects: discourses of Dutchness in imperial power politics 104 Adapting tactics of governmental problematization 111 4. “What do you mean by allochtoon?” Everyday grammars of difference 116 Unanticipated effects: postcolonial and late-twentieth century migration 117 to the Netherlands The language of autochthony: newcomers, new problems, and technical 123 language Tracking the language of autochthony in everyday speech 128 Un/easy to think: everyday critiques and slippages in the language of 134 autochthony Intricacies of governmental resistance and consent 140 5. Configuring the new “savage slot”: Effects of immigration in the 144 Netherlands In defense of Dutchness: the national threat of “culturalized” difference 146 Practicing/ critiquing the everyday “common sense” of social difference 155 Raw nerves in Dutch society: tensions around race, tradition, and 166 belonging Culturalized criteria for belonging 177 6. Activating citizens: Neoliberal governmentality and the rise of voluntarism 181 “Social uplift”: religious charity and liberal governmentality in the 183 Netherlands Whose responsibility? neoliberal developments in state service 187 provision vii The rise of voluntarism 192 Expressing “active” citizenship 199 Activating citizens 203 7. Citizenship as practice: Volunteer ethics and Dutch sociality 208 Finding the right register to speak about Dutch citizenship 209 Shared interests: citizenship as practice 213 Being sociaal: communicating Dutch sociality 216 Directing and improving: the role of voluntarism in contemporary 223 citizenship practice 8. On the front lines of citizenship education 232 What does it mean to integrate? 234 “Seeing how you behave”: everyday practices of “good” citizenship 239 Language as key to “good” citizenship 242 9. Exceptions to the rule in the Dutch language of integration 250 More than just communication: sociaal spaces and making sense of 252 difference Communicating “active” citizenship through language choice(s) 256 Code-switching: English in Amsterdam 259 An exception to the rule 261 Speaking of belonging: conclusions for the study of citizenship practice 269 References 281 Endnotes 313 viii List of figures Figure 2.1 Gilde Amsterdam - Kletskoppen, Chatterbox campaign (2011) 85 Figure 2.2 Gilde Amsterdam - Kletskoppen, Chatterbox campaign (2011) 85 Figure 2.3 Image from the Gilde Amsterdam’s website (2012) 85 Figure 2.4 Amsterdams Buurvrouwen Contact (ABC) banner (2012) 85 Figure 2.5 ABC Dutch language student 85 Figure