Sjaak Koenis’ book ‘Voices of the People. Pluralism in Dutch Politics (1994-2014)’ was originally published in Dutch in 2008 and was nominated as one of the best philosophical books of that year. The analysis of the socio-political events of ‘the roaring 2000s in the Netherlands’ will also be interesting for non-Dutch readers.
In the wake of 9/11 and the murders of Pim Fortuyn (2002) and Theo van Gogh (2004), Dutch politics and society changed dramatically. The widely shared belief that the Netherlands is a modern country was dealt a severe blow. The Dutch discovered that they live in a country whose cultural and national identity is contested. In politics and society, national culture and identity became an important theme and new dividing lines emerged.
In Voices of the People, philosopher Sjaak Koenis analyses these changes. To understand why culture and identity became so important in the Netherlands, it is not enough to blame politicians who were unwilling to face troublesome facts about migration, integration and the role of Europe. Rather, it was their belief in the modernization of the Netherlands that blinded them to the resurgence of the desire for community.
In the first part of the book, this belief in modernity is analysed in view of its consequences for politics. In the second part, the temptation of culture is examined. Both ‘modernists’ and ‘culturalists’ misconceive what politics can do and what needs to be done to safeguard the famous Dutch tradition of political pluralism.
