Oude onbekenden : Het politieke en publieke debat over postkoloniale migranten, 1945-2005

Abstract

Postcolonial migrants form the largest migrant groups in the Netherlands in the period 1945-2000. The leading question of this study was by whom, when and why discursive strategies were used in political and public debates on the inclusion or exclusion of postcolonial migrants. Which factors influenced the use of these strategies? Approximately 7.000 newspaper articles (mostly non-digitalized) were used, as were political debates, television broadcasts and novels. By the metaphors, arguments, terminology and words that were used in these debates, we can try to grapple with how these postcolonial migrant groups were perceived in the Netherlands. This influenced the government policies that were formulated. The actors that participated in the debates differed per group and period. Especially pressure groups and journalists were successful in changing or justifying policy. Postcolonial migrant groups are especially interesting in this sense as there were discussions on both their juridical and discursive citizenship. These discussions show that not only juridical citizenship is pivotal to admittance, but the discursive citizenship is equally, if not more, important. The second reason to study these groups is that it is also possible to branch out into premigratory influences on admittance, integration and policy making