Wed, 22 February 2012
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Jong Rast is a theatre project for young people of different cultural backgrounds in Amsterdam West, one of the capital’s many multicultural neighbourhoods. For years the members of the theatre company have worked together as a team. Cultural differences are not ignored – if anything they are often accentuated.
Integration in Holland
Like it or not, the Netherlands is a multicultural society. Through the centuries, immigrants have come to live here and have assimilated to a great extent. Portuguese Jews of the 15th century, European-Indonesian migrants who came after World War Two are examples. They learned the Dutch language and customs and passed these on to their children. Not only did they transform themselves, they also changed the society around them, influencing the speech, cuisine and many other aspects of Dutch culture. As this transformation was happening, few took notice.
Today this is very different. As immigrants adapt to Dutch society, the process is being studied as if under a microscope. Academic researchers, politicians and journalists are continuously observing and commenting on integration. Some paint a negative picture of today's immigrant: preferring the burqa to blue jeans, couscous to cabbage and potatoes. Unwilling or unable to learn Dutch, taking little on board and offering little in return to the culture.
Naturally this is a narrow view, though it's clear the differences between Dutch and immigrant cultures are a source of conflict. Integration can be a painful - and painfully slow - process. As it continues, Radio Netherlands Worldwide explores some of the problems encountered, and the solutions offered, on the path to integration.
Klaas den Tek
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