
When Ways of Life Collide
Multiculturalism and Its Discontents in the Netherlands
Princeton University Press
Published on 22. February 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
176 pages
978-0-691-14101-5 (ISBN)
Description
In 2004, Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was brutally murdered on a busy Amsterdam street. His killer was Mohammed Bouyeri, a twenty-six-year-old Dutch Moroccan offended by van Gogh's controversial film about Muslim suppression of women. The Dutch government had funded separate schools, housing projects, broadcast media, and community organizations for Muslim immigrants, all under the umbrella of multiculturalism. But the reality of terrorism and radicalization of Muslim immigrants has shattered that dream. In this arresting book, Paul Sniderman and Louk Hagendoorn demonstrate that there are deep conflicts of values in the Netherlands. In the eyes of the Dutch, for example, Muslims oppress women, treating them as inferior to men. In the eyes of Muslim immigrants, Western Europeans deny women the respect they deserve. Western Europe has become a cultural conflict zone. Two ways of life are colliding. Sniderman and Hagendoorn show how identity politics contributed to this crisis. The very policies meant to persuade majority and minority that they are part of the same society strengthened their view that they belong to different societies.
At the deepest level, the authors' findings suggest, the issue that government and citizens need to be concerned about is not a conflict of values but a clash of fundamental loyalties.
At the deepest level, the authors' findings suggest, the issue that government and citizens need to be concerned about is not a conflict of values but a clash of fundamental loyalties.
Reviews / Votes
Winner of the 2008 Robert E. Lane Award, Political Psychology Section of the American Political Science Association "The authors of When Ways of Life Collide deem the Dutch multicultural experiment to be a grand and unequivocal failure. In their view, multiculturalism and liberal democracy are fundamentally incompatible. Their argument is a relatively simple one: By encouraging 'difference' among ethnic subgroups, multiculturalism ends up turning these groups into targets of resentment and thereby insuring their rejection by the majority culture."--Richard Wolin, The Nation "Sniderman and Hagendoorn expertly describe how, beginning in the 1980s, elite politicians and academics in the Netherlands advocated for an extreme form of accommodation for Dutch immigrants."--T.D. Boswell, Choice "When Ways of Life Collide is a provocative, yet empirical assessment of intrinsic, yet nebulous multiculturalism in today's society."--David Marx, David Marx.co.uk "When Ways of Life Collide is a clever book that offers insight into the attitudinal mechanics of prejudice. These are important issues with high political salience that should interest students of the Netherlands and many other countries around the world."--Rahsaan Maxwell, Review of Middle East Studies "This thought-provoking book provides many interesting insights into the relationships between a culture's values, prejudice, perceived cultural and economic threats, and exclusionary reactions against immigrants, derived from the analysis of a skillfully designed survey. It is relevant to a wide audience concerned with attitudes towards immigrant minorities, immigration, and multiculturalism, as well as to those interested in innovations in survey design."--Eline A. de Rooij, European Sociological ReviewMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
15 line illus. 19 tables.
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
269 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-14101-5 (9780691141015)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Paul M. Sniderman | Louk Hagendoorn
When Ways of Life Collide
Multiculturalism and Its Discontents in the Netherlands
E-Book
02/2009
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€30.99
Available for download

Paul M. Sniderman | Louk Hagendoorn
When Ways of Life Collide
Multiculturalism and Its Discontents in the Netherlands
Book
02/2007
Princeton University Press
€43.40
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Previous edition

Paul M. Sniderman | Louk Hagendoorn
When Ways of Life Collide
Multiculturalism and Its Discontents in the Netherlands
Book
02/2007
Princeton University Press
€43.40
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Paul M. Sniderman is Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr., Professor of Public Policy at Stanford University. Louk Hagendoorn is Professor of Social Science at Utrecht University.
Content
List of Figures and Tables ix Preface xi CHAPTER ONE: Introduction 1 CHAPTER TWO: Muslims 17 CHAPTER THREE: Prejudice 43 CHAPTER FOUR: Identity 71 CHAPTER FIVE: Top-Down Politics 100 CHAPTER SIX: Tolerance 123 A Note about the Data 139 Bibliography 141 Index149