ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an auto-biographical review of Ruut Veenhoven's journey into the intellectual and social-political contexts. Ruut grew up in the safe post-war era in an upper middle class family. As a youngster he did not do too well in school and an academic career was therefore one of the last things to think of. His initial plan was to study law and specialize in public administration. He decided to study sociology and enrolled at the then-Netherlands School of Economics in Rotterdam which had just started a policy-oriented department of sociology. He got involved through student matters, such as the sale of condoms in university buildings and overnight stays in student houses. This brought him into wider issues, such as the taboo on premarital sex, restrictions on pornography, and discrimination against homosexuals. He plunged into the literature on the matter and informed himself about lobbies in other countries such as the British Abortion Law Reform Association.
