Multiculturalism in the Netherlands

Multiculturalism in the Netherlands began with major increases in immigration during the 1950s and 1960s. As a consequence, an official national policy of multiculturalism was adopted in the early 1980s. This policy subsequently gave way to more assimilationist policies in the 1990s and post-electoral surveys uniformly showed from 1994 onwards that a majority preferred that immigrants assimilated rather than retained the culture of their country of origin. Even though the general acceptance of immigrants increased, opinion polls from the early 1980s and after showed that many were critical of immigration.[1][2] Following the murders of Pim Fortuyn (in 2002) and Theo van Gogh (in 2004) the political debate on the role of multiculturalism in the Netherlands reached new heights.[citation needed]

Lord Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, distinguishes between tolerance and multiculturalism, and says that the Netherlands is a tolerant, rather than multicultural, society.[3]

  1. ^ Damhuis, Koen (2019). ""The biggest problem in the Netherlands": Understanding the Party for Freedom's politicization of Islam". Brookings. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  2. ^ Paul Dekker and Josje den Ridder, 2017, “Publieke opinie,” in: De sociale staat van Nederland 2017, eds. Rob Bijl Jeroen Boelhouwer and Annemarie Wennekers (The Hague: Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau, 2017), p 75
  3. ^ "Multiculturalism: What does it mean?". BBC News Online. 7 February 2011.