Barbara Henkes

Shifting identifications in Dutch-South African migration policies (1910-1961)

Abstract This article examines the migratory movement from the Netherlands to South Africa and the associated migration policies in both countries over the years 1910 to 1961. Migration acts as a lens through which shifting constructions of national, transnational and racial identities can be observed. Depending on the politicians in charge, the contribution of Dutch migrants to the South African nation was alternately framed in terms of their white, civilised Europeanness (as opposed to black, uncivilised Africanness), and in terms of their alleged ‘kinship’ (stamverwantschap) with the Afrikaners (as opposed to the British). Under the restrained immigration policy of the Nationalist Party in the 1950s this gave Dutch immigrants a privileged position regarding admission to South Africa, and it gave South Africa a special appeal as country of destination for Dutch emigrants. This changed only when the ethnic identification with white Afrikaners, and European settlers in general, since 1960 gradually gave way to an internationally shared political identification with the struggles of black Africans against apartheid. By studying the migration dynamics between both countries we may gain insight into the making and unmaking of both Dutch and South African national and racial identifications, against the backdrop of a colonial heritage.

Een warm welkom voor blanke nieuwkomers? Nederlandse emigratie en Zuid-Afrikaanse natievorming (1902-1961)

This article examines the dynamics between European emigration and the South African immigration policy and nation building in the years 1902-1961. It investigates changing ideas and regulations that promoted or impeded transnational mobility of certain national and ethnic categories of ’white’ migrants from Europe to South Africa, and it shows how Dutch emigration fitted into this pattern. A pattern that was determined by a controversy between advocates of an inclusive policy that aimed at opening up the country to white immigrants from all over Europe, and those who were in favour of an exclusive policy that was primarily concerned with strengthening their ‘own’ Protestant, Afrikaans political culture (protecting it from British, Jewish, and catholic influences). When the Dutch government found it necessary to stimulate Dutch emigration, it called on the alleged ‘kinship’ (stamverwantschap) between Dutch and Afrikaner part of the South African population to overcome the obstacles.Dutch newcomers soon were welcomed again to strengthen Afrikaner nationalism and thus support the Apartheid regime.

Negotiating the ‘(Ab)normality’ of (Anti-)Apartheid: Transnational Relations within a Dutch-South African Family

Abstract This article examines how the politics of Apartheid manifested themselves in networks that connected South Africa and the Netherlands. It analyses the transfer of narratives, images, ideas and political practices within a transnational kinship network, as well as through networks of political activists in both countries and worldwide. The footage a Dutch documentary maker shot during the 1980s, especially his focus on his well-established, ‘white’ relatives from South Africa and their encounters with ‘black’ compatriots, is used to trace these transnational dynamics. His material reveals the various narratives and markers of whiteness by which his relatives presented their privileged position in Apartheid South Africa as ‘normal’, while interviews with the filmmaker and some of his relatives in South Africa and the Netherlands some 25 years later give insights in how their performances were reshaped and received as ‘abnormal’ within the Dutch political context at the time. The post-apartheid memory work involved, show how the political and moral dilemmas are still felt to this day.

De Bezetting revisited. Hoe van De Oorlog een ‘normale’ geschiedenis werd gemaakt die eindigt in vrede

The Occupation revisited. How Wartime and Repression are converted into ‘Normal’ History At the end of 2009, a new television series about the Netherlands during the Second World War (called The Wa r) was broadcast on Dutch television. Barbara Henkes examines how this audiovisual history can be interpreted and contextualized within Dutch historiography concerning the Second World War and the holocaust. The Wa r was inspired by the wish to take a stand against the viewpoint that was articulated by figures such as the well-known historian, Loe de Jong. During the years 1960-1965 he presented a history of the Netherlands during the war on Dutch national television. This was the first of its kind and was entitled The Occupation . The program depicted the Netherlands as a violated nation whose citizens rose up en masse to oppose the ‘tide of evil’ that swept over them from Germany. De Jong’s national epic, which was also presented in a series of famous books, acquired the status of a master narrative , although it remained somewhat controversial. Soon afterwards other, more ambivalent perspectives on this dramatic episode in Dutch history were presented on Dutch television, with the trailblazing documentary entitled ‘ Resolute, but Flexible and in Moderation ’ (1974) leading the way. The program makers of The War ignore these alternative narratives and instead present us with a ‘new’ master narrative : their War has Hegelian traits in which coincidence or ‘fate’ determined whether someone collaborated with the Nazi’s, got involved in some form of resistance or carried on with business as usual; a scenario in which ‘human agency’ seems to disappear in the maelstrom of history.

Verschillende opvattingen over taak en wezen van geschiedschrijving

Different Views on the Role and Nature of History In his defence of the documentary series De Oorlog [The War] , Hans Blom stresses how recent studies, new source material and proven forms of presentation determined this renewed public history of the Second World War. In doing so, he and the television team would have managed to avoid political and moral positions. Instead, I emphasize that – since Hayden White at the latest – we know only too well how the selection and combination of any kind of information are crucial to the histories we present and the political/moralxa0 messages that are implied. This exchange reveals the substantial differences in our views on the role and nature of history and I hope it will stimulate more critical assessments of audio-visual histories.