•  392
    In the early 1990’s, many feminist philosophers found that the practice of the women´s movement as well as those of other new social movements, could be articulated most adequately in terms of citizenship. The classical political vocabulary of citizenship seemed to offer a viable alternative to the vocabularies that until then had been dominant in feminist political theory: the individualistic, rights-oriented discourse of liberalism, and the structuralist, interest-oriented perspectives of soci…Read more
  •  51
    Narrative Accounts of Origins: A Blind Spot in the Intersectional Approach?
    European Journal of Women's Studies 13 (3): 277-290. 2006.
    This paper uses a study of the life story narratives of former classmates of Dutch and Moluccan descent to argue that the constructionist approach to intersectionality, with its account of identity as a narrative construction rather than a practice of naming, offers better tools for answering questions concerning intersectional identity formation than a more systemic intersectional approach. The case study also highlights the importance of the quest for origins in narratives. It demonstrates tha…Read more
  •  42
    Sympathetic Distrust
    Social Theory and Practice 34 (2): 243-270. 2008.
    This paper compares two recent public debates in the Netherlands: the debate initiated by Ayaan Hirsi Ali on the position of Muslim women on the one hand, and discussions regarding the situation of female sex workers since the legalization of Dutch prostitution in 2000 on the other. It is argued that liberal public policies should not always be guided by the unconditional respect for the autonomy of (adult) citizens, but that it sometimes seems wiser to adopt an attitude of sympathetic distrust …Read more
  •  29
    Integriteit
    Krisis 6 (4): 12-15. 2005.
  •  16
    How to face reality : genres of discourse within Dutch minorities research
    In Thranhardt Dietrich & Bommes Michael (eds.), National Paradigms of Migration Research, V&r Unipress. pp. 81-108. 2010.
    Since the early eighties, the Netherlands has pursued an active policy to further the integration of ethnic minority groups in Dutch society. Subsequent governments put scientific experts to work to investigate the history, socio-economic position and cultural background of different minority groups – investments which testified to a strong belief in social engineering and the ´makeability´ of Dutch society. In this paper, I will discern four significant genres of discourse within Dutch minoriti…Read more
  •  11
    The Ethics of Hybrid Subjects: Feminist Constructivism According to Donna Haraway
    Science, Technology and Human Values 20 (3): 352-367. 1995.
    This article discusses the viability of a feminist constructivist approach of knowledge through the careful reading of the work of the feminist scholar and historian of science and technology, Donna Haraway. Haraway proposes an interpretation of objectivity in terms of "situated knowledges. " Both the subject and the object of knowledge are endowed with the status of material-semiotic actors. By blurring the epistemological boundary between subject and object, Haraway's narratives about scientif…Read more
  •  11
    The Nerve to Break Taboos: New Realism in the Dutch Discourse on Multiculturalism
    Journal of International Migration and Integration 3 (3&4): 363-379. 2002.
    This article traces the emergence of one particular genre of discourse, the genre of “new realism”, in the Dutch public debates on multicultural society from the early 1990s till Spring 2002. The focus upon different “genres” implies an interest in the performative power of discourse, i.e. the way in which any discourse, in or by its descriptions of reality, (co)produces that reality. Four distinctive characteristics of “new realism” are detected in three subsequent public debates, culminating i…Read more