"Wij zijn eigenlijk altijd multicultureel geweest"

The Netherlands has been engaged in a multiculturalism debate since many years. Studies have principally centered on communication between autochthonous Dutch people and immigrants, until now. This dissertation of Jennifer Vos focuses on the interactions between Muslim and Christian migrants from the former Dutch colonies of Indonesia and Suriname.00The author argues that people from Indonesia and Suriname do not consider multicultural society as a drama, as some politicians claim. Migrants, and particularly the younger ones, do have an inclination to accentuate their religious identity in their ?country of arrival?. However, this does not necessarily result in "loyalty conflicts". They have been taught from a very young age that it is perfectly possible to live peacefully together, even if you fundamentally disagree with each other on a number of points, for example regarding questions of faith.00The Indonesian and Surinamese migrants studied mainly wished to nuance the one-sided and negative image of Islam in the Netherlands. Furthermore they wished to impress upon their fellow migrants, particularly from Morocco and Turkey, that they should adapt more to Dutch culture; that according to them the multiculturalism debate has indeed become harsher, but that on the other hand, a number of matters are well organized for migrants in the Netherlands.