Politics of Belonging, from National to Personal: The Political Framing of “Dutch” Identity and Ethnic Minority Citizens

Abstract

Why do nations still matter in citizenship studies? In this chapter, we explore this question from an individual and lived perspective. We argue that the macro level of the nation-state is very relevant for citizens who are seen as ethnic and religious minorities. Using the case of the Netherlands, we show how the experiences of highly educated Moroccan and Turkish Dutch individual citizens are influenced by the dominant discourse about citizenship and national belonging circulated by state actors. We first describe how this discourse impacts certain conceptions of “Dutch” national identity and “Dutch” national culture. Like in the dominant discourses in other Western European countries such as Denmark and France (Bowen et al. 2014), who belongs and who does not belong in the Netherlands is largely formulated in culturalized and emotive terms. As a result, particularly Muslims, citizens from Moroccan and Turkish descent, are scrutinized. Their belonging is most explicitly questioned on the grounds of culture and loyalty to the nation. In the first part of this chapter, we show that national state actors play crucial roles in the creation and persistence of this citizenship discourse. In the second part, we reveal how these “politics of belonging” influence feelings of belonging among minority individuals and how this general discourse trickles down into daily interactions, influencing how individuals position and present themselves in concrete social settings. This analysis stems from empirical data from in-depth interviews with highly educated second-generation Moroccan and Turkish Dutch. The impact of the nation-state on experiences of citizens cautions us not to discard the continued relevance of the nation-state when it comes to framing belonging and crafting the parameters of citizenship.