What Does Postcolonial Dutch Citizenship Mean in Political Terms? 1985–2008

Abstract

There is a legal and societal context in which postcolonial Dutch Antilleans find themselves situated in the Netherlands. Shared legal citizenship implies a ‘region of legal equality’ (Brubaker, 1992:21) and ‘full community membership’ (Marshall, 1992:45) that should facilitate immigrant political incorporation. As integral parts of the Dutch Kingdom, the peoples of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba are the only recent immigrant group that arrive in the Netherlands born and raised as Dutch citizens. They are also linguistic, social, and cultural outsiders as well as officially categorized ethnic minorities. Oostindie (2011) speaks of the advantages of postcolonial ties to the Netherlands, that is, Dutch citizenship and permanent right of abode, as a ‘postcolonial bonus’ for first generation postcolonial migrants (44–47). As in the French Antillean case (Beriss, 2004), Dutch Antilleans become Antilleans in the Netherlands and are lumped together with other immigrants and seen as part of the ‘immigrant problem’ in Dutch society (20–21). If political incorporation is difficult for Antilleans, advantaged with legal citizenship and some degree of familiarity with Dutch systems, it should be even more trying for others. Their experiences can signal the opportunities and limits to political space and inclusion for immigrants and ethnic minorities. This chapter addresses the political incorporation of Antilleans in the Netherlands.