What we are wit­ness­ing in the Nether­lands, and across Europe, is the exploita­tion of the pro­duc­tive inde­ter­mi­na­cy of cul­ture and race “for the monop­o­li­sa­tion of virtue and a defence mech­a­nism against the loss of self,” both in an eco­nom­ic, and polit­i­cal sense—what Sherene Raza­ck names “a way of puri­fy­ing and regen­er­at­ing one’s own race.”

I Didn’t Mean To!” Trac­ing the Roots of ‘Dutch Inno­cence’ | Processed Life

Being a white, rea­son­ably well-off Dutch­man, this makes for some uncom­fort­able read­ing, not in the least because much of it rings true—there appears to be a lot of unex­am­ined racism behind Dutch propriety.

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Kars Alfrink

Kars is a designer, researcher and educator focused on emerging technologies, social progress and the built environment.