Het moderne feminisme en het sociaal kapitaal van Nederland

Abstract

Some commentators see the feminist movement, that slowly conquered Dutch society from the late 1960s onwards, as an important factor in the demise of social capital among the citizens of the Netherlands, In this article the author examines the available data, to find out whether that judgement is justified, The point of reference is Putnam's description of social capital that has two components; social networks and norms underpinning the mutual obligation to support and help. An additional criterion, in how far a movement furthers the introduction of the people it claims to represent into the political elates, is borrowed from Van Deth. An analysis of research on Dutch public opinion, of the history of ideas of Dutch feminism and of women in political elates in the Netherlands, shows that Dutch feminism has not been detrimental, but indeed formed an important contribution to social capital measured by the criteria mentioned above.