Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is about the historical embeddedness of discursive and practical manifestations of culturalism, primarily in two countries, Norway and the Netherlands. Norway and the Netherlands are chosen as the core countries because of their differences as much as because of their similarities: the Netherlands has a long colonial history and an even longer history as a crossroad's in Europe; Norway has been more isolated and is a relative newcomer to the European immigration experience. Cultural recognition is part and parcel of a democratic culture. One of the basic preconditions for this democratic culture is tolerance. According to Pihl, the Norwegian education system is based on a single, ethno-national Norwegian, Christian culture, and marginalizes its immigrant pupils. Van der Haar demonstrates how culture and a cultural perception of the other are at work within the practices of social workers in the Netherlands.