The Puzzle of Dutch Welfare Solidarity and the Politics of Old Age Pension Reform (1945-1975)

2021 ◽  
Vol 136 (4) ◽  
pp. 58-80
Author(s):  
Dennie Oude Nijhuis

During the first three decades of the post-war period, the Netherlands developed a system of welfare provision that by most standards belonged to the most equitable and solidaristic in the world. It did so under the patronage of Christian democratic governments, which are generally viewed as being predisposed to rejecting solidaristic welfare reform. The purpose of this article is to explain why the Dutch Christian democrats came to adopt such a solidaristic welfare stance during the formative post-war period of welfare state expansion. Rather than attributing this stance to electoral or strategic considerations, this article focuses on the formative role of the Christian democratic labour union movement in persuading these parties to gradually adopt a more solidaristic welfare stance.In de eerste drie decennia van de naoorlogse periode ontwikkelde Nederland een stelsel van sociale voorzieningen dat naar de meeste maatstaven tot het meest rechtvaardige en solidaristische ter wereld behoorde. Dit stelsel kwam tot stand met steun van christendemocratische regeringen, waarvan over het algemeen wordt aangenomen dat zij geneigd zijn solidaristische welzijnshervormingen af te wijzen. Het doel van dit artikel is om te verklaren waarom de Nederlandse christendemocraten een solidaristische welvaartskoers zijn gaan varen in de naoorlogse periode, een tijdvak dat gekenmerkt werd door uitbreiding van de verzorgingsstaat. In plaats van deze houding toe te schrijven aan electorale of strategische overwegingen, richt dit artikel zich op de christendemocratische vakbeweging. Deze speelde een invloedrijke rol in het overreden van christendemocratische partijen om geleidelijk een meer solidaristische welvaartshouding aan te nemen.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennie Oude Nijhuis

This book examines how the Netherlands managed to create and maintain one of the world’s most generous and inclusive welfare systems despite having been dominated by Christian-democratic or ŸconservativeŒ, rather than socialist dominated governments, for most of the post-war period. It emphasizes that such systems have strong consequences for the distribution of income and risk among different segments of society and argues that they could consequently only emerge in countries where middle class groups were unable to utilize their key electoral and strong labor market position to mobilize against the adverse consequences of redistribution for them. By illustrating their key role in the coming about of solidaristic welfare reform in the Netherlands, the book also offers a novel view of the roles of Christian-democracy and the labor union movement in the development of modern welfare states. By highlighting how welfare reform contributed to the employment miracle of the 1990s, the book sheds new light on how countries are able to combine high levels of welfare generosity and solidarity with successful macro-economic performance.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henk-Jan Dekker

In an effort to fight climate change, many cities try to boost their cycling levels. They often look towards the Dutch for guidance. However, historians have only begun to uncover how and why the Netherlands became the premier cycling country of the world. Why were Dutch cyclists so successful in their fight for a place on the road? Cycling Pathways: The Politics and Governance of Dutch Cycling Infrastructure, 1920-2020 explores the long political struggle that culminated in today’s high cycling levels. Delving into the archives, it uncovers the important role of social movements and shows in detail how these interacted with national, provincial, and urban engineers and policymakers to govern the distribution of road space and construction of cycling infrastructure. It discusses a wide range of topics, ranging from activists to engineering committees, from urban commuters to recreational cyclists and from the early 1900s to today in order to uncover the long and all-but-forgotten history of Dutch cycling governance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Justine Atkinson ◽  
Firdoze Bulbulia

As a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns across the world, digital access has become paramount, as most aspects of education have moved online. Drawing together five case studies located in South Africa, Argentina, the Netherlands, India and Ethiopia, this article assesses the role of film education during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a specific focus on the impacts of digital access. We examine multimodal forms of film education, and how these were used to inform, entertain and educate children during the crisis by the varying work undertaken by the organizations. Applying theories of intersectionality, we address the need for context-specific approaches to film education, focusing upon the impact that the societal and individual contexts had on the dissemination of film education in each country.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-166
Author(s):  
Fachri Aidulsyah ◽  
Gusnelly Gusnelly

Since few years ago, Indonesian government has been concerning to gain many benefits from Indonesian diaspora in various regions in the world. There are many events and agendas provided by the government which are aimed to embrace many Indonesian diaspora for giving a great contribution towards their homelands. However, its vision for gaining attention from Indonesian diaspora tends to low because the government do not have Indonesian diaspora maps in details, comprehensive, as well as described by historical trajectory. This paper aims to understand the contribution of Indonesian Muslim diaspora by mapping the role of Indonesian Muslim Organizations in the Netherlands by socio-historical perspectives. The main reasons of the Netherlands as locus of this research are; Indonesian Muslim diaspora are the first actors who promoted Islam faces in this country since 1920s and it also was acknowledged as one of the highest Muslim populated countries in Europe. Afterwards, this paper shows that there are numerous Indonesian Muslim organizations in the Netherlands from different perspectives, mazhabs, and backgrounds. Even though the government did not pillarize Indonesian Muslim organizations, albeit most of them have strong connections with some Muslim organizations in Indonesia, starting from Nahdhatul Ulama (NU) until Salafist Movement.


1986 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-39
Author(s):  
Gregory Anderson

Despite the proliferation of studies concerned with the unemployment problem and the mechanics of welfare provision between the world wars, most historians have focused either on the difficulties facing manual workers or on the role of state services in the provision of benefits. This emphasis is not surprising given the persistence of a high level of manual unemployment in this period, which led in turn to an unprecedented demand for maintenance and a huge increase in public expenditure on unemployment relief. However, the emphasis upon manual workers has led to an unfortunate neglect of other sections of the labour-force, while the concern with the evolution of state services has diverted attention from the continuing importance of voluntary agencies in the field of welfare provision.


2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
HUGH BOCHEL ◽  
ANDREW DEFTY

The post-war ‘consensus’ on welfare was based largely in the perceived agreement of leading politicians of Conservative and Labour parties on the role of the mixed economy and the welfare state. However, from the late 1970s economic and demographic pressures and ideological challenges, particularly from the New Right, led to cuts in spending on welfare, increased private involvement and an emphasis on more individualistic and selectivist approaches to provision. Recently some scholars have begun to discuss the emergence of a ‘new liberal consensus’ around welfare provision. Drawing upon interviews with 10 per cent of the House of Commons, this article examines the extent to which a new political consensus upon welfare can be identified. In addition to analysing responses to questions on welfare issues, it considers the extent to which MPs themselves believe there to be some degree of consensus in approaches to welfare. It also considers whether any consensus exists merely in the political language used in relation to welfare issues, or whether there is a more substantive convergence.


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 924-934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maykel Verkuyten

Discrimination of immigrant groups is an important social problem in many societies around the world. This study examines the moderating role of cultural diversity beliefs on the relation between dual identity and the intention to protest against immigrants’ discrimination. An experimental study was conducted among national samples of the three main immigrant-origin groups in the Netherlands. It was found that dual identity predicted the intention to protest against discrimination more strongly within a context of multicultural recognition compared to a context of assimilation or interculturalism. This demonstrates that multicultural recognition is a facilitating condition for dual identifiers to get involved in collective action for social change.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelino Di Rosa ◽  
Paola Castrogiovanni ◽  
Giuseppe Musumeci

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating disease widespread in the world, having a negative impact on daily activities, especially in old age [...]


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 100-108
Author(s):  
Anastasia Nevskaya ◽  

The article examines the combination of the Netherlands’ departure from the role of a transit jurisdiction for capital from all over the world and their struggle to attract the headquarters of multinational companies, including those migrating from the UK due to Brexit. It is shown that these processes are due to both fundamental reasons and the current need of countries for tax refunds to replenish their budgets to cover the consequences of the pandemic crisis. The author comes to the conclusion that the restructuring of the rules of international tax regulation which is going on now, may cause clashes of countries’ interests and strategies, which is illustrated by the example of the breakdown of the Agreement on the avoidance of double taxation between Russia and the Netherlands.


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