ABSTRACT
The Netherlands is an interesting case when we study the process of peaceful integration in fragmented societies. In the nineteenth century, it was not a very homogeneous country. The author observes three types of fragmentation in Dutch society: the autonomy of the Dutch cities, the considerable income and wealth inequality, and fragmentation in religious terms. Nevertheless, in the twentieth century, the Netherlands became well known for its consultation economy, sometimes called ‘poldermodel’. This chapter reviews the development of the Dutch welfare state and labour relations system through the lens of social fragmentation. After a brief survey of the earlier centuries, pointing out the important role of the cities, we observe that there is a direct connection between nineteenth-century religious rivalry and twentieth-century consultation. The chapter highlights the introduction of formal consultation and of the social laws during the inter-war period, analysing three case studies in which consultation played an important role. These show that the introduction of welfare state laws hinged upon the introduction of formal cross-class consultation. In turn, the Dutch welfare state decreased fragmentation in the post-war Dutch society.
