The intimate state Remaking political landscapes in the Netherlands

Dutch social policy is shaped by the aspiration for an ‘intimate state’—a proximate, human and effective welfare state that works in partnership with responsible and engaged citizens. In her inaugural lecture, Anouk de Koning shows how this aspiration produces everyday realities full of dilemmas and contradictions and a political landscape in which the distinction between government and society becomes increasingly blurred.
De Koning starts by highlighting the innovative insights an anthropological perspective brings to the study of welfare. She then traces the contours of this intimate state by examining both the promise of the intimate state and the dilemmas and contradictions that arise in its practice. She ends by calling for a critical anthropology with the state rather than against it—one in which researchers collaborate with policymakers and professionals to reflect on the ideals and pitfalls of social policy in action.