Does anybody else feel that at least a part of this might be due to the
murder of Theo van Gogh? Seemingly unrelated, but the killing caused turmoil
and this is the first chance that the Dutch people have had to express
themselves publicly since that happened...
Jon Cloke (Durham)
From: Justus Uitermark <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Justus Uitermark <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: dutch no
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2005 17:56:10 +0200
hi,
I haven't seen any reports in the news about Muslim/migrant voting patterns.
My impression is that many migrants have not been particularly involved with
the campaigns or debates. There has certainly not been a large mobilisation
on the part of migrants to support or reject the constitution.
But this is what I know:
Some migrant and Muslim organisations that cooperate closely with, or have
been created by, local and national governments have asked their
constituents to vote in favour of the constitution on the grounds that the
constitution is not based on explicit Judea-Christian values, is committed
to the accommodation of cultural diversity and will facilitate a more humane
migration policy (!?).
The only problem is that they don't really have members or a clearly
identifiable constituency. One of my colleagues who has been active in
several migrant and anti-racist initiatives was very angry about this call
to vote yes and she says that many share her view of the constitution as
part of a neoliberalisation project as well as her view that
government-sponsored migrant organisations are there for the government
rather than the migrants.
Curiously, the radical Arabic European League does not mention the
referendum on its website
Milli Gorus, the largest Turkish organisation in the Netherlands, advices
its members to say yes.
best
Justus
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of James Derrick
Sidaway
Sent: donderdag 2 juni 2005 17:32
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: dutch no
Thanks for this. Has anyone seen a similar map for France? I am currently in
the UK and have noticed how the British media are presenting the French and
Dutch "no" as overwhelming (without any breakdown by region, social class
and so on) - although the overall proportion of the electorate who voted no
in France is not overwhelming...hardly more more than the percentage of
Brits who voted for Blair in the UK's general election last month!
Also, muslim friends in France tell me that most muslim citizens there
mostly voted yes....since the EU is seen as a protection of sorts against
the racist right. Did this also apply in the Nederlands?
James D Sidaway
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers on behalf of Justus
Uitermark
Sent: Thu 02/06/2005 19:50
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc:
Subject: dutch no
Dear all,
for those of you interested in the Dutch 'no', here is a nice map:
http://www.nu.nl/news/535080/11/Nederland_wil_pas_op_de_plaats_in_Europese_Unie.html
It shows that the strongest resentment against the constitution comes from
regions that traditionally are dependent on industrial employment
(especially the Southern part of the Randstad) and that have a strong
socialist heritage (Groningen in the North East).
Regions that have a lot of high-tech services and university students and
graduates have a higher share of yes voters (Brabant, Amsterdam, Utrecht and
the lonely blue spot in the North that represents the student city of
Groningen). The top-10 of yes voting municipalities are known as elite towns
and villages, the rich suburbs of the Randstad cities (Wassenaar,
Bloemendaal, etc).
The no-vote is generally considered as a declaration of discontent against
the established political parties in The Hague and the "Eurocrats" who are
accused of turning the Netherlands into a province of a European super
state. The socialist party (which has 8 out of 150 seats in the Second
Chamber) was the largest and most vocal critic of the constitution. Geert
Wilders, who is building a party around his idea that "the vagaries of
Islam" need to be stopped, was also with some success campaigning against
the constitution.
best wishes
Justus
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