White Dutch Research Articles

Credibility of Churches’ Antiracism Engagement

Abstract This article aims to explore how the entanglement of Protestant Christianity and race and racism is manifested in contemporary Dutch society, and to identify which themes for introspection this yields for majority white Dutch Protestant churches. We argue that introspection on perceived superiority of white Dutch Protestantism is crucial to uncover subtle, unconscious mechanisms and ideas that are present in majority white Dutch Protestant churches and that contribute to maintaining racism. Furthermore, we argue that contemporary topical issues such as racism and colonial history run the risk of being pushed to the margins again as long as there is no systematic review of power and privilege of white Dutch Protestantism.

Screening Cover Crops for Utilization in Irrigated Vineyards: A Greenhouse Study on Species' Nitrogen Uptake and Carbon Sequestration Potential.

This study examines the potential of 23 plant species, comprising 10 legumes, 9 grasses, and 4 forbs, as cover crops to enhance carbon (C) sequestration and soil nitrogen (N) in vineyards. After a 120-day evaluation period, cover crop biomass was incorporated into the soil, and grapevine seedlings were planted in its place. Among the established cover crops, the C input potential ranged from 0.267 to 1.69 Mg ha-1, and the N input potential ranged from 12.3 to 114 kg ha-1. Legume species exhibited up to threefold greater shoot dry weight (SDW) compared to grass species. Ladino white clover, Dutch white clover, and Clover blend were superior in SDW, total dry weight (TDW), total C content, and total N content. Legumes exhibited slightly higher root dry weight (RDW) than grasses, with the exception of Fall rye leading at 15 g pot-1, followed by Ladino white clover and Dutch white clover at an average of 12 g pot-1. Legumes, particularly clover blend and Alsike clover, displayed high shoot N concentration at an average of 2.95%. Root N concentration in Legumes (Fabaceae) were significantly higher at 1.82% compared to other plant families at 0.89%, while their root C/N ratio was lower at 18.3, contrasting with others at 27.7, resulting in a faster turnover. Biomass production exhibited a negative relationship (R2 = 0.51) with soil residual NO3-. Fall rye, Winfred brassica, and buckwheat had the highest N utilization efficiency (NUtE) values (ava. 121 g g-1). Alsike clover, Ladino white clover, and clover blend showed the highest N uptake efficiency (NUpE) values (ava. 75%). The Readily Available N (RAN) Reliance Index (RANRI) is introduced as a novel indicator for quantifying the extent to which a plant relies on RAN for its total N requirement. The RANRI value represents the percentage of the plant's total N sourced from RAN, ranging from 11% for legumes to 86% for grasses. This implies a substantial influx of nitrogen through a pathway independent of RAN in legumes. Grape shoot N concentration positively correlated with soil NO3- (R2 = 0.31) and cover crop C/N ratio (R2 = 0.17) but negatively correlated with cover crop TDW (R2 = 0.31). This study highlights legume plants as more effective in C and N assimilation during establishment but cautions about potential soil mineral N depletion before reaching their full biological N fixation capacity.

Living in a world with(out) racism: everyday reflexivity among older White Dutch

ABSTRACT This article explores how older White Dutch people produce reflexivity on race and racism in the context of the public controversy around the “Zwarte Piet” (black Pete) tradition. Reflexivity refers to a conscious effort to become aware of and address one’s unconscious biases. Fourteen semi-structured in-depth interviews with older Dutch White individuals (65+) from (suburbs of) big to medium-sized cities located in the Netherlands were qualitatively analyzed with a combination of thematic and critical discourse analysis. We found that participants reflexively engaged with race and racism within three discursive contexts: (1) generational (dis)connectedness, (2) ever-evolving public discourses, and (3) identity (re)considerations. Across these contexts, the production of reflexivity entails rapid shifting from openings for critical reflection to epistemological and ontological anxieties. We show how the avoidance strategies offered by hegemonic Whiteness discourses offer comfort and perceived escape routes from such anxieties, while also creating new uncertainties for our participants.

‘Dutch’ according to children and mothers: Nationality stereotypes and citizenship representation

AbstractThis research examines the endorsement of the nationality stereotype Dutch = White among children and associations with citizenship representations of their mothers (Study 1). Additionally, Study 2 explores how mothers include the concept of Dutch citizenship in the upbringing of their children. Study 1 shows that children (n = 197, 57% girls, 7–13 years old) from different ethnic‐racial backgrounds (White Dutch, Turkish‐Dutch, Black Dutch, Chinese‐Dutch) all endorsed the nationality stereotype and did so to a similar extent. Most mothers rated civic citizenship as more important than ethnic citizenship, but maternal citizenship representations were unrelated to child nationality stereotype. Study 2 shows that mothers often do not actively and consciously include the topic of Dutch citizenship in their upbringing, but might confirm the nationality stereotype in more implicit ways. Future studies are needed to examine how to work towards a more inclusive view of nationality among children in the Dutch context.

The role of parents in predicting gender‐stereotypic attitudes towards HEED occupations and gender‐stereotypic interest in these careers

AbstractThis study examined adolescents’ gender‐stereotypic attitudes towards HEED (Health care, Early Education, Domestic) occupations and gender‐stereotypic interest in HEED careers and the role of parental gender‐stereotypic attitudes, role model behaviour and socialization values. We used questionnaire data from 501 White Dutch families. Our results showed that adolescents’ gender‐stereotypic attitudes towards HEED predicted their stereotypic interest in these careers. Further, parental gender‐stereotypic attitudes, stereotypical role model behaviour and socializing values of self‐expression predicted adolescents’ gender‐stereotypic attitudes towards HEED. From these parental characteristics, only a stereotypic division of household tasks predicted boys’ lower interest in HEED careers. In conclusion, reducing gender‐stereotypic attitudes and, for boys, encouraging self‐expression seems important in fostering more male representation in HEED occupations and deserves more attention from policymakers, educators and parents.

Navigating danger through nuisance: Racialized urban fears, gentrification, and sensory enskilment in Amsterdam

AbstractIn this article, I employ the notion of sensory enskilment to investigate the embodied relations through which White Dutch middle‐class residents of the Indische Buurt, a rapidly gentrifying multicultural neighborhood in the east of Amsterdam, learn to tune in to sensory nuisance to discern safe and unsafe bodies and places in their surroundings. The analysis involves examining those institutional and interactional avenues of (unwitting) sensory learning through which habituated perceptual patterns of stigmatization that conflate the everyday sensory order of Moroccan‐Dutch youths with feelings of urban insecurity are cultivated, produced, and consolidated. Studying the ways in which sensory knowledge is implicated in the reproduction of socioeconomic exclusions in contested urban territories can shed new light on discussions around urban sensory politics and draw attention to the enrolment of the senses in revanchist urban renewal.

Fathers' and mothers' sensitivity during free play with gendered toys.

This study examined whether fathers' and mothers' sensitivity toward sons and daughters varies depending on whether they play with stereotypical girls' toys or boys' toys. In a sample of 144 predominantly White Dutch families with a child aged 4-6 years, fathers' and mothers' sensitivity was observed during two free play episodes while they played with their son or daughter. One play episode was with stereotypical boys' toys, and the other was with stereotypical girls' toys. Results showed that mothers' but not fathers' sensitivity scores, depended on whether they played with a son or daughter and whether they played with stereotypically boys' toys or girls' toys. Mothers were more sensitive to their daughters when they played with girls' toys than with boys' toys. In addition, mothers playing with daughters were more sensitive than mothers playing with sons when they played with girls' toys. Mothers' differential sensitivity during gender-typed play could be a gender socialization practice that subtly contributes to gender inequality in societal roles and careers, especially for daughters. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Same-Sex Kissing and Having a Gay or Lesbian Child: A Bridge Too Far? Parent-Child Similarities in Homophobic Attitudes and Observed Parental Discomfort

ABSTRACT This study examined parent-child similarities in homophobic attitudes and observed parental discomfort with coming-out vignettes in interactions with their adolescent children (14–18 years old). Based on gender schema theory and the family process model we expected parent-child similarities in homophobic attitudes to be stronger in same-gender dyads. Further, we expected that observed parental discomfort with coming-out vignettes would occur and is stronger when the gender of the parent, child, and character in the vignette match. We used questionnaires and observation data from 199 White Dutch families in the Netherlands. Our results showed that parents’ homophobic attitudes were associated with their children’s homophobic attitudes. For same-sex kissing and (imagining) having a gay son, these associations were stronger between parents and children of the same gender. Further, parental discomfort with coming-out vignettes occurred and was stronger when parents and children had the same gender, regardless of the gender of the vignette character. In conclusion, policies aiming at gay and lesbian inclusion should not be limited to accepting gay/lesbian identities, but also pay attention to the acceptance of same-sex intimacy expressions, having gay or lesbian family members, and normalizing discussions about gay/lesbian lives.

Learning about racism: A week-by-week qualitative exploration of two white Dutch primary student teachers’ emotional responses during a Critical Race Theory based course

This qualitative study explored emotional responses of two white Dutch student teachers during a Critical Race Theory (CRT) based course. Following Plutchik's (2001) classification of 32 emotions, the analysis of their weekly diaries resulted in the identification of 16 emotions. In both diaries similar emotional responses were identified. However, the analysis did not reveal a straightforward path these students emotionally went through. The number and types of emotional responses, both comfortable and uncomfortable, fluctuated weekly and occurred simultaneously in various combinations. Even when similar emotional responses were identified, students connected differently to the course content. This could be explained by different starting points both students had when entering the course. The findings add to past work by identifying a variety and complexity of emotional responses of white student teachers during a CRT based course and can be used to create course conditions to prepare teachers for contributing to anti-racist education.

كلمة العدد (إنجليزي)

كلمة العدد (إنجليزي)

White Racism and Dutch Churches: In Search of Liberative Practices

For more than 50 years Dutch churches have spoken out against racial injustices. Yet, this call has rarely translated into transformative practices. This article identifies two obstacles currently preventing churches from combatting white racism: (1) a challenging social climate, including a polarised public debate concerning racism and a lack of interaction between churches of diverse racial compositions, and (2) the role of Christian theology in constructing and maintaining racial ideologies of white supremacy. This article proposes two liberation hermeneutics methods, which combined have the potential to confront these challenges and transform practices.

The Grand Indo Meeting and the Grand Indo Future

Indos are a globally dispersed population who trace their ethnic heritage to the mixed-race Indische Nederlander caste in the Dutch East Indies colony. In the wake of the independence of Indonesia from Dutch colonial rule in the mid-twentieth century, thousands of Indos fled to the Netherlands, where they and their descendants now constitute a sizeable fraction of the Dutch population. Indo cultural gatherings in the Netherlands have evolved greatly in the seventy years since ‘repatriates’ first began to arrive in Rotterdam. These gatherings and the performances they platform have responded to a host of outside stimuli inclusive of the initial stigmatization of Indo ethnicity, the subsequent rapid assimilation of Indo people into normatively white Dutch life, the political demands of other post-Indies populations, and the desires of Indo individuals to perform their identities in community with one another (and make a guilder or two in the process.) I describe my experiences at an Indo gathering in Utrecht in 2022, just as Indo festivals were once again permitted after the loosening of restrictions on gatherings imposed by the Dutch government to control the COVID-19 pandemic. This proved a potent site to examine how Indos meet each other in the twenty-first century. I question whether the methods of community formation which served Indos in the past – specifically, gathering over Indonesian cuisine, playing Indo rock music, and Indo line dancing – will meet the needs of the future marked by contagion, intensified migration, and climate catastrophe. Finally, I question my own positionality vis-à-vis this gathering: as US Indo, how do I meet this community, whose experiences are so different from my own? And how can we meet the future of our dispersed culture together?

The Dutch Reckon with Their Slave Past

The Dutch have a liberal reputation, but they have not been eager to confront their colonial past, especially slavery. Unlike in the United States, slavery took place not in the Dutch Republic itself but in faraway colonies. This has made it easier to deny forced labor’s foundational role in Dutch history. Priding themselves on their fabled tolerance, many white Dutch citizens consider racism an American phenomenon and slavery an artifact of deep history best left alone.1 But white complacency is beginning to change. Pressured by immigrant communities with ancestral ties to slavery and movements like Black Lives Matter, the Dutch are increasingly reckoning with colonialism and slavery. The city of Amsterdam sponsored research into its slave past and in July 2021, officially apologized for its role in slavery.2 Other major cities are following suit. Towns are renaming streets, and people are debating what to do about colonial monuments. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands recently announced that until the Dutch collectively take account of their history, he will no longer ride in the recently restored “Golden Coach.” The carriage, donated to his great-grandmother in 1896 and used by the royal family for formal occasions, has become, the king acknowledged in a recent address, a source of pain. It features a panel, “Tribute to the Colonies,” that glorifies colonialism and white supremacy.

Meanings given to (super-)diversity in the Dutch national team by Dutch football commentators: A historical approach

International football can be considered the main site for meaning-making processes related to national and racial/ethnic diversity. Various scholars have argued how international football, with the World Cup as its apex, can be seen as a barometer for understanding dominant attitudes towards societal diversity. A key domain where this diversity is interpreted and given meaning to is mediated football. To provide a wider overview of – often intersecting – meanings given to nationality and race/ethnicity over a longer period of time, this explorative study uses a historical approach to inquire how Dutch-mediated football – especially football commentary on television – has given meaning to a diversifying Dutch national team at three moments in time (the World Cups of 1974, 1998 and 2014). Further, it discusses how mediated football serves as a site for the (re)construction of discourses surrounding nationality and race/ethnicity in the Netherlands. Our findings show that meanings given to nationality and race/ethnicity are fluid, context-dependent and reconstructed in a particular temporal context. Further, it appears that key players have provided a significant role in meanings given to (super-)diversity of the Dutch national football team. Commentary on White Dutch key players was dominated by positive comments (in the World Cups of 1974 and 2014), while comments on Black Surinamese Dutch key players was relatively more negative (in the 1998 World Cup). Moreover, our results contrast with earlier studies in that Dutch commentators did not rely on stereotypical representations of Black Dutch footballers as ‘naturally’ athletic.

Development of a Clinical Prediction Model for 1-Year Mortality in Patients With Advanced Cancer

To optimize palliative care in patients with cancer who are in their last year of life, timely and accurate prognostication is needed. However, available instruments for prognostication, such as the surprise question ("Would I be surprised if this patient died in the next year?") and various prediction models using clinical variables, are not well validated or lack discriminative ability. To develop and validate a prediction model to calculate the 1-year risk of death among patients with advanced cancer. This multicenter prospective prognostic study was performed in the general oncology inpatient and outpatient clinics of 6 hospitals in the Netherlands. A total of 867 patients were enrolled between June 2 and November 22, 2017, and followed up for 1 year. The primary analyses were performed from October 9 to 25, 2019, with the most recent analyses performed from June 19 to 22, 2022. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to develop a prediction model including 3 categories of candidate predictors: clinician responses to the surprise question, patient clinical characteristics, and patient laboratory values. Data on race and ethnicity were not collected because most patients were expected to be of White race and Dutch ethnicity, and race and ethnicity were not considered as prognostic factors. The models' discriminative ability was assessed using internal-external validation by study hospital and measured using the C statistic. Patients 18 years and older with locally advanced or metastatic cancer were eligible. Patients with hematologic cancer were excluded. The risk of death by 1 year. Among 867 patients, the median age was 66 years (IQR, 56-72 years), and 411 individuals (47.4%) were male. The 1-year mortality rate was 41.6% (361 patients). Three prediction models with increasing complexity were developed: (1) a simple model including the surprise question, (2) a clinical model including the surprise question and clinical characteristics (age, cancer type prognosis, visceral metastases, brain metastases, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, weight loss, pain, and dyspnea), and (3) an extended model including the surprise question, clinical characteristics, and laboratory values (hemoglobin, C-reactive protein, and serum albumin). The pooled C statistic was 0.69 (95% CI, 0.67-0.71) for the simple model, 0.76 (95% CI, 0.73-0.78) for the clinical model, and 0.78 (95% CI, 0.76-0.80) for the extended model. A nomogram and web-based calculator were developed to support clinicians in adequately caring for patients with advanced cancer. In this study, a prediction model including the surprise question, clinical characteristics, and laboratory values had better discriminative ability in predicting death among patients with advanced cancer than models including the surprise question, clinical characteristics, or laboratory values alone. The nomogram and web-based calculator developed for this study can be used by clinicians to identify patients who may benefit from palliative care and advance care planning. Further exploration of the feasibility and external validity of the model is needed.

Ingroup and outgroup preference and rejection among young children of different ethnic groups in the Netherlands

AbstractThe current study investigated the ethnic hierarchy in ingroup and outgroup preference and rejection among 6‐ to 10‐year‐old children of the dominant White Dutch group (n = 145), and the underrepresented Turkish‐Dutch (n = 78), and Afro‐Dutch (n = 57) groups (55% girls, M = 7.49, SD = .98) in the Netherlands. Results from a social preference task indicated that White Dutch children showed clearly more preference for their own ethnic group (ingroup preference) compared to the two outgroup preferences (Middle Eastern and Black), while Turkish‐ and Afro‐Dutch children showed limited ingroup preference. Both White and Turkish‐Dutch children showed less preference for and more rejection of the Black outgroup compared to Afro‐Dutch children. Younger children showed more Black rejection compared to older children. This study provides much‐needed evidence for the generalizability of prejudice patterns in children beyond the United States, and suggests that interventions aimed at improving interethnic relations are already relevant at primary school age.

Priming attachment and diversity ideologies: Effects on ethnic bias in children's altruistic sharing in a dictator game

Children often show a positive ingroup bias in altruistic behaviors such as sharing. Insight in factors related to ethnic bias in sharing can help towards understanding the origins of inequality in the distribution of resources in society. The present study examined the effect of priming secure attachment (versus positive affect) and multiculturalism (versus color-evasiveness) on ingroup bias in dominant ethnic group children's altruistic sharing. One hundred twenty-five White Dutch children (45 % boys, 55 % girls) between 7 and 11 years old (Mage = 8.47, SDage = 0.87) participated in a Dictator game after being primed. The Dictator game was played against three same-gender children with different ethnic backgrounds (White, Black, Middle Eastern). Results support the idea that priming secure attachment and multiculturalism can decrease ingroup bias in dominant ethnic group children's altruistic sharing, although the effects do not strengthen each other and are effective in situations with different trade-offs and interaction partners. Future research is needed to disentangle the effectiveness of secure attachment and multiculturalism messages in different sharing situations and with interaction partners with different ethnic backgrounds. Results from the present study provide starting points from which to further examine which messages potentially positively impact children's interethnic relations.

Everyday embodied othering experiences of young Muslims in the Netherlands

ABSTRACT The Muslim Other stands outside the somatic norms of white Dutch society. Thinking through the body as a phenomenal lived body, we explore the ways through which the Muslim Other is (re)constructed through embodied encounters and intersections of sensoriality, corporeality, and affectivity in the urban Dutch. We identify how (1) the Muslim Other is (re)produced through a set of multisensorial encounters based on the look, hearing, and touch; (2) Othering is intercorporeally practised; (3) Othering affectively charges the atmospheres of everyday life to the point that even the objects that Muslims carry cause anxiety. We further outline how this Othering trilogy provides avenues of possibility whereby the imposed anger and ‘dis-orientation’ can potentially be transformed into hope and ‘re-orientation’.

What Happens to Black in the Afro-Surinamese Transatlantic Diaspora?

This essay tells a narrative of various contexts in the Afro-Surinamese diaspora that share a struggle around the meanings of Black. What happens to Black in the Afro-Surinamese transatlantic diaspora? Some of the questions addressed are, Which terms have African descendant people in Suriname and in the Netherlands used for themselves in different periods? What have Whites called African descendant people in Suriname and in the Netherlands in different periods? When does Black come to the fore? Who mobilizes the term and for what purposes? This exercise brings forward important features of the Afro-Surinamese “cultural archive”: the orderings of the world, specifically the terms of ethnic self-reference, that Afro-Surinamese forged historically. These terms also traveled to the Netherlands, where they met with clashing cultural-political terms and understandings in the dominantly White Dutch world.

Maternal color-consciousness is related to more positive and less negative attitudes toward ethnic-racial outgroups in children in White Dutch families.

A prerequisite to anti‐racist socialization in families is acknowledging ethnic‐racial (power) differences, also known as color‐consciousness. In a sample of 138 White Dutch families from the urban Western region of the Netherlands with children aged 6–10 years (53% girls), observations and questionnaires on maternal color‐consciousness and measures of children's attitudes toward Black and Middle‐Eastern ethnic‐racial outgroups were collected in 2018–2019. Variable‐centered analyses showed that maternal color‐conscious socialization practices were related to less negative child outgroup attitudes only. Person‐centered analysis revealed a cluster of families with higher maternal color‐consciousness and less prejudiced child attitudes, and a cluster with the opposite pattern. The mixed results emphasize the importance of multiple methods and approaches in advancing scholarship on anti‐racism in the family context.