ABSTRACT
Known internationally as an emblem of progressivism and tolerance, the Netherlands has emerged as a frontrunner in the European revival of nationalist and anti-immigrant sentiment. The turning point occurred around the turn of the century, with the dramatic rise and brutal assassination of the right-wing populist Pim Fortuyn in May 2002. In the elections that followed, his party List Pim Fortuyn (LPF) went on to score a stunning victory, in what is commonly called ‘the Fortuyn revolt’. In the years that followed, Dutch politics experienced a sharp swing to the right. As this book will show, the Fortuyn revolt was accompanied by a conservative intellectual current that took aim against the 1960s, against the welfare state, against permissiveness and against cultural relativism. First coming to the fore in the intense debates on immigration, multiculturalism and national identity in the 1990s, this conservative tendency remains an often-ignored factor in the rightward shift in Dutch politics. This book identifies this tendency as the Dutch New Right. Inspired by Anglo-American conservative movements overseas, this loose and heterogeneous current of conservative politicians, journalists and intellectuals has been able to set the terms of the debate.
