The Netherlands has historically been a very multicultural society, though the right wing

[pampango]

populist party (the Freedom Party) professes otherwise.

http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/ISN-Insights/Detail?lng=en&id=132383&contextid734=132383&contextid735=132379&tabid=132379&dynrel=4888caa0-b3db-1461-98b9-e20e7b9c13d4,0c54e3b3-1e9c-be1e-2c24-a6a8c7060233

Since 2010, the Netherlands have been governed by a right-wing coalition, that, under pressure of the populist Freedom Party, is in the process of breaking with a century-long tradition of tolerance. Dutch tolerance was a product of the seventeenth-century Golden Age which has sent multiculturalism flowing through our culture ever since. Nowadays, multiculturalism is seen as an evil by the ruling Dutch right-wing coalition. Moreover, Dutch minister of Homeland affairs, Piet-Hein Donner, says, “Netherlands’ society is not multicultural at all.” This is clearly not a descriptive statement. What he means is, “Holland ought not to be multicultural.” This statement marks a dramatic breach with a century-long historic Dutch tradition, a breach with Dutch political culture. It is not “typically Dutch” at all. If we examine why and in what way tolerance and multiculturalism form the essence of Dutch cultural identity, we will soon see that these virtues brought prosperity to the Netherlands. In the light of these findings, it is highly doubtful that discarding multiculturalism is likely, as claimed, to lead to a better society.

In the seventeenth century Dutch Republic, pluralism of religion was at the core of our culture. ... There was no single, dominant religion. There was also not an absolute majority religion. Instead, each province and each town had its own religious cultural groups. In the Republic everyone had individual freedom of conscience and no one could be prosecuted for his or her religious views. The Republic was therefore unique in Europe. It was a state in which diversity was the essence of its culture.

Nowadays, the right-wing government of the Netherlands stands for unifying the nation. People with unique cultural backgrounds have to be assimilated to our Leitkultur. However, there is no such thing as ‘typical’ Dutch culture, since our culture has essentially always been multicultural. This populist fashion to call for assimilation only leads to ‘Us-Them’ thinking. Minority cultures, especially Muslim culture, is seen as different from Dutch culture and thus as deviant. This sort of thinking soon undermines social cohesion and cultural reconciliation and removed the basis for consensus.

The fact remains, that diversity has always led to economic prosperity on the macro-level. Will Kymlicka rightly points out that multicultural nations belong to the most prosperous in the world. On a micro-level, in companies for instance, diversity ensures creative thinking and this complements the virtues of competition. All these positive aspects of multiculturalism are in danger of being destroyed, as long as right-wing populism remains in power in the Netherlands.