Rik Wester

Affected Ethnic Identities: Exploring the Effects of the Integration Debate on the Ethnic Identifications of 3rd Generation Indische Netherlanders Rik Wester

The integration debate has been one of the most prevalent public affairs in the Netherlands over the last ten years. Some scholars claim that the 'hardened' tone of the debate has negative effects on the integration and emancipation of ethnic minorities. This project seeks to look into this perspective more thouroughly. Based on the theoretical notion that third generation Indische Netherlanders have a certain freedom to move between feeling autochthon or allochthon, Dutch or non-Dutch, this category was selected as the research population. Does the integration debate have any effect on the way these young Indo's give meaning to their ethnic background? In short one could say that about half of the respondents in this project were affected by the integration debate. They feel a stronger connection to their ethnic roots and some of them claim to feel less Dutch because of the integration debate.