The influence of populism on tolerance: a thematic content analysis of the Dutch Islam debate

L. Kurth*, P. Glasbergen

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    Abstract

    Historically, religious tolerance has been an integral part of Dutch identity. Yet, this image has changed, particularly in the last 20 years due to the influence of populism that predominantly focused on the stigmatisation of Islam. This paper examines how this development has changed the meaning of tolerance in the public debate about Islam and what this change means for the social and political conditions for integration in the Netherlands. An analytical framework was used, breaking down the term 'tolerance' into five components: subject of tolerance, object of tolerance, hierarchy of values, power to interfere and limits to tolerance. The results show that while mainstream opinion leaders received more attention in public debate, populists managed to shape the tolerance discourse, changing the subjects and objects of tolerance, emphasising contradictions between different values, shaping the hierarchy of values and proposing intolerance for Islamic intolerance as limit of tolerance.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)212-231
    Number of pages20
    JournalCulture and Religion
    Volume18
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2017

    Keywords

    • Tolerance
    • populism
    • Islam
    • thematic content analysis
    • the Netherlands
    • integration
    • POLITICAL FREEDOM
    • TOLERATION
    • MULTICULTURALISM
    • INTOLERANCE
    • NETHERLANDS
    • INTEGRATION

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'The influence of populism on tolerance: a thematic content analysis of the Dutch Islam debate'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this