A Conditional Welcome: Early Dutch Television and the Affective Terms of Postcolonial Inclusion

This article examines how early Dutch public television in the post-World War II era mediated the repatriation of Indo-Dutch and Moluccan migrants, bringing together the intertwined histories of media and migration as television emerged as a central cultural institution. Analysing broadcasts from the 1950s and 1960s, it argues that early television did not simply document migration but actively shaped the emotional and political terms under which repatriates were permitted to belong. In the 1950s, news and current-affairs programs framed repatriation as a national success story that foregrounded Dutch benevolence while rendering repatriates visible yet voiceless. These broadcasts positioned them as ‘others’ whose inclusion remained conditional within the moral economy of postwar reconstruction. In the 1960s, new genres introduced interviews and testimonies that brought experiences of displacement, racism, and marginalisation into public view, forming a critical counter-discourse, though defensive narratives persisted. Drawing on Sara Ahmed’s theories of hospitality and affect, the article shows how early television negotiated the limits of Dutch postcolonial inclusion and shaped the cultural memory of repatriation.