Feeling Dutch: the culturalization and emotionalization of citizenship and second-generation belonging in the Netherlands

The integration debate in the Netherlands is more and more framed in culturalist and emotive terms. A ‘progressive consensus’ has formed among the Dutch since the 1960s, which is increasingly intolerant to those who do not share these morals. Citizenship, in terms of who is Dutch and who is not, is defined in culturalist terms of sharing ‘Dutch’ norms and values, and in emotive terms of ‘belonging’ and ‘feeling at home’. Because this discourse has a ‘nativist’ essence, immigrants and their children are regarded with suspicion, particularly those of Moroccan and Turkish descent, of which the majority is Muslim. Based on the results of various empirical studies, we explore feelings of belonging among second generation Moroccan and Turkish Dutch. We find that the culturalist and emotive integration discourse has counterproductive effects. Even though these effects are not all-pervasive, as they do not completely block processes of acculturation, and do not seem to negatively affect identification with the local environment, the discourse hampers identification as Dutch among second generation immigrants, contrary to what is formulated as the goal of culturalist integration policies.