The Nativist Triangle: Religion, race, and sex in the Netherlands

This paper examines how nativism emerges today as a dominant mode of belonging in the Netherlands through socio-ethnic leveraging. In particular, we look at gay rights rhetorics to explore their role within the culturalization of citizenship - a process in which Muslim citizens especially are framed as outsiders to the nation. Acknowledging that race has always been a composite of biology and culture, we ask how notions of race may change as a consequence of this shifting focus on religion and (gay) sexuality. For example, where does this particular focus on Muslims as cultural others leave other ‘others’ of the nation, such as postcolonial Dutch citizens of African descent? In other words, how does this current nativist paradigm draw on and intersect with older, colonial forms of racism? We argue that today nativism has become a powerful formation precisely through s socio-ethnic leveraging, changing ethnic hierarchies based on race, religion, and sexuality.