Paternalizing mothers: Feminist repertoires in contemporary Dutch civilizing offensives

Abstract

The stress in Dutch policy texts and policy practices on the emancipation of migrant women from their family and spouses goes hand in hand with a focus on precisely women's role within the family: that of the mother. In this paper, we ask the question how this is possible. We aim to shed light on this question by understanding contemporary policy texts and policy practices in the context of 1) a strong domestic motherhood ideology and 2) a Dutch tradition of paternalism. These tensions between notions of autonomy and emancipation from the family and marriage on the one hand, and motherhood on the other hand, lead to paradoxical practices of teaching migrant women to become emancipated within their role as mothers. Feminist discursive repertoires are put to work in paternalist policy practices that focus on autonomy in particular ways. In this article, we analyse these notions in policy discourses and in practices that we recorded in ethnographic research in parenting courses in Rotterdam.

‘I volunteer at home too!’ Gendering affective citizenship

“…These concerns proliferate in a European-wide discourse with colonial roots that ties racial and cultural others to gender oppression and violence (Ticktin, 2011b; Van den Berg and Duyvendak, 2012). Migrant women, especially Muslim women, are assumed to be particularly vulnerable and constrained in their movement and, through a combination of a patriarchal culture and the isolating effects of migration, to be relegated to the home.…”

The Aesthetics of Work-Readiness: Aesthetic Judgements and Pedagogies for Conditional Welfare and Post-Fordist Labour Markets

“…Aesthetic judgements in welfare offices are not new. In fact, especially in the Netherlands, there is a long history of civilizing offensives, particularly in the context of the welfare state (Van den Berg, 2016b; Van den Berg and Duyvendak, 2012). Disciplining the poor and working classes to be clean and proper and holding that as a condition for help can in fact be considered part and parcel of paternalism (Van den Berg, 2016b).…”

Becoming (more) Dutch as medical recommendations: how understandings of national identity enter the medical practice of hymenoplasty consultations

“…In the Netherlands, where there has been a resurgence of the populist anti‐immigration agenda, many politicians and public figures today have started to define what it means to be Dutch (Van Reekum and Duyvendak ; De Leeuw and Van Wichelen ). This agenda is reflected within national media debates (Prins ; Eyerman ) and in more tangible forms such as during civic integration courses (Suvarierol and Kirk ), naturalisation ceremonies (Verkaaik ) and parenting classes (Van Den Berg and Duyvendak ). Scholars claim that citizenship in the Netherlands is increasingly understood by state elites in primarily cultural terms (Verkaaik ; Van Reekum and Duyvendak ; Shadid ; Van den Berg and Schinkel ; Duyvendak et al ).…”

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