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Introduction
Most of my recent research has been on 20th-century public discourse on religion and (same-sex) sexuality. My main sources are newspapers, and my focus is on 'discursive associations' -- e.g., how discussions of religion evoke discussions of sexuality, and vice versa. For identifying such associations, and temporal breaches in them, I use a quantitative technique (see "Hellish Evil, Heavenly Love"). Another research interest of mine is the history of ('bad') prayer in the modern era.
Additional affiliations
September 2012 - present
Publications
Publications (59)
Content analysis of a handful of Dutch books and treatises, published between the end of the eighteenth, and the middle of the nineteenth century. What qualities, properties, dispositions, virtues or achievements -- apart from formal training -- were Dutch, Reformed ministers of religion thought to need? Why were these qualities thought to be impor...
In de hoofdstukken 13 tot en met 18 beschrijven we de veranderingen die zich sinds het begin van de jaren zeventig in Nederland hebben voltrokken in de omgang met homo- seksualiteit en homoseksuelen. We concentreren ons op vijf minderheidsgroepen: Surinaamse, Marokkaanse, Turkse, Chinese en behoudend protestantse Nederlanders. Alvorens we aan die c...
This (fully open access: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-56326-4_2) chapter offers an overview of changes in Dutch perceptions of, and attitudes toward, same-sex sexuality and the part religion played in them. It discusses landmark events and publications from 1730—when “sodomy” became a public issue—until the present. It descri...
The Netherlands, too, has a Bible Belt, which is the habitat of a specific, sizeable, well-organized category of conservative Protestants, colloquially called Refo’s. Unlike Pentecostals and Neo-Calvinists, these Pietist, Puritan Calvinists (a.k.a. "experiential Reformed") tend to shun secular society and culture. Unsurprisingly, then, they were sl...
A history of the religious-sexual character of "the ex-gay" in the Netherlands. In around 1960, Catholic and mainline Protestant opinion leaders (notably clergy, psychiatrists and psychologists) began to advocate acceptance of homosexuality. Meanwhile, Pentecostal or "Full Gospel" preachers pleaded for a very different form of "liberation," based o...
The opening-up of marriage to same-sex couples, which became Dutch law in 2000–2001, is often presented as a triumph of emancipation and secularization. Well into the 1990s, however, the majority of Dutch LGB organizations would have none of it – whereas Catholic and mainline Protestant initiatives at solemnizing homosexual relationships had been t...
Drawing on Marcel Mauss, this article contends that historians and sociologists should not focus on what prayer brings about, but on how it is brought about or “produced.” Specifically, it aims at bringing to light normative conceptions of prayer, through content analysis of Protestant children’s books, written by the Netherlands’ most important tw...
Based on qualitative and quantitative analyses of Dutch newspapers, radio and television programs, this article offers a long-term genealogy of the present-day discourse on Islam and homosexuality in the Netherlands. It argues that this discourse dates from well before 2001 and even before 1989, without being a mere continuation of 19th century Ori...
Introduction to a double thematic issue, the second part of which will appear in print in 2017. The authors argue that a truly historical understanding of spirituality is complicated by the historical claims of present-day proponents of spirituality, as well by the commonplace that “spirituality” is distinct from, or an alternative to “institutiona...
Preface to a special issue of Tijdschrift voor Biografie [Dutch journal of biographical studies] on "Pink lives." The author discusses the importance of biographical studies to the historiography of homosexuality and to LGBTI emancipation as well as its pitfalls. e.g. appropriation of the past ("pink washing"). Sexual orientation does not efface ot...
In the Netherlands, the legalization of same-sex marriage was preceded by public performances that celebrated homosexual relationships, notably in a religious setting. This paper discusses three spectacular examples, from 1967-1970. It argues that these ‘stunts’ , and the public response to them, indicate fundamental shifts in the social representa...
In 1966 Gerard Kornelis van het Reve [aka Gerard Reve]--one of the most important post-war Dutch novelists and the Netherland's first openly gay public figure--was charged with blasphemy, having written that the Almighty’s Second Coming would be as a Donkey, with Whom the author would have anal intercourse. In 1968 he was acquitted by Supreme Court...
Chapter in a report -- commissioned by the Dutch governement -- on the demand for, and supply of counseling with respect to gender and sexual orientation issues among ethnic and religious minorities in the Netherlands. It is argued that the group aimed at should not be narrowed down to self-identified LGBTs, leave alone to those who are open about...
Why is it that religion and homosexuality are so often being rhetorically linked in present-day debates? Is it just because same-sex sexuality has often been condemned on religious gronds? Why then has it? What is 'wrong' with homosexuality, from religious point of view? And how does the religious diversification of Western Europe and North America...
Why is it that religion and homosexuality are so often being rhetorically linked in present-day debates? Is it just because same-sex sexuality has often been condemned on religious gronds? Why then has it? What is 'wrong' with homosexuality, from religious point of view? And how does the religious diversification of Western Europe and North America...
Why is it that religion and homosexuality are so often being rhetorically linked in present-day debates? Is it just because same-sex sexuality has often been condemned on religious gronds? Why then has it? What is 'wrong' with homosexuality, from religious point of view? And how does the religious diversification of Western Europe and North America...
Why is it that religion and homosexuality are so often being rhetorically linked in present-day debates? Is it just because same-sex sexuality has often been condemned on religious gronds? Why then has it? What is 'wrong' with homosexuality, from religious point of view? And how does the religious diversification of Western Europe and North America...
Why is it that religion and homosexuality are so often being rhetorically linked in present-day debates? Is it just because same-sex sexuality has often been condemned on religious gronds? Why then has it? What is 'wrong' with homosexuality, from religious point of view? And how does the religious diversification of Western Europe and North America...
Dutch version of the English essay, in the same book, entitled: "Likewise: Religions and same-sex sexualities"
This chapter focuses on the strategic and ideological assumptions, interests, and effects of present-day constructions of sexual orientation, religion, and nationalism in public arenas. Our approach will be an explorative appraisal and critical analysis of the discursive formations of oppositional pairings of religion and homosexuality in contempor...
In present-day public debates it is often suggested that homosexuality is at odds with religion; that it is difficult or virtually impossible to be both truly 'gay' and a true believer. This 'oppositional pairing' of religion and homosexuality is constructed not only by religious conservatives and secular LGBTIQ activists, but also by populist nati...
Home’s Best: Dutch Discourse on Care and Independent Living [abstract]
David Bos, Fenneke Wekker & Jan Willem Duyvendak
In the Netherlands, as in many other Western countries, the welfare state is being fundamentally reorganized, notably in the field of long-term care (LTC). With its 2007 Social Support Act (Wmo), the Dutch government has begun to...
ETHISCHE THEOLOGIE ALS KIND VAN '48 In: B. Becking (ed.) J.J.P. Valeton als mens en theoloog: Studies over een ethisch theoloog bij zijn honderdste sterfdag. Utrecht: Th.C. Vriezenstichting 2012, p. 65-81 Betekenisvoller dan Valetons sterfjaar, 1912, is zijn geboortejaar. In de geschie-denis van veel Europese landen – met name Frankrijk, Duitsland,...
For goodness' sake, will you not fling open the windows and doors, let God's sun sparkle in the vaulted ceiling, let the morning wind blow away all the cobwebs and immemorial dust. Let the books be rebound, no, revised and updated through and through. Let the scaffold-colored benches and screens be cleared away, or otherwise - a new coat of paint,...
Concise (six pages plus one graph) typology of the different forms of Protestantism in present-day Dutch society, with a focus on the more conservative denominations and currents, notably (Neo-) Calvinists and evangelicals. The chapter makes up part of a report on homosexuality and Protestantism, but discusses general differences.
Onder de meeste van de vijf minderheden die we in deel 4 onder de loep namen, blijken zich voorzichtig positieve veranderingen te voltrekken in de omgang met homoseksuali- teit, ook al ligt homoseksualiteit in deze gemeenschappen vaak nog zeer problematisch. Alvorens we ons verdiepen in deze tekenen van verandering, staan we daarom eerst
stil bij b...
Minister of the Word, shepherd and teacher—the titles of Dutch pastors exude authority and prestige. In the course of the nineteenth century, however, their social position was slowly undermined by the separation of church and state, the emancipation of Catholics and dissenters, and the rise of all sorts of secular “shepherds” and “teachers.” This...
Historical-sociological study, commissioned by the Dutch government, on changes in Dutch Protestants' ways of dealing with homosexuality from the late 1950s onwards. These changes are initially described on the basis of developments in the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (RCN): a denomination founded by Abraham Kuyper and other neo-Calvinists,...
Based on in-depth interviews, historical sources and literature, this chapter describes and analyzes how Moroccan-Dutch citizens' attitudes to homosexuality have changed since the late 1960s / early 1970s.
Historical-sociological essay on the development of permissive alcohol and drug policies in the Netherlands. It is argued that tolerance does not result from weakness but rests on collective efficacy: citizens' ability to control themselves and their peers.
Essay in a special issue of the Netherlands' leading cultural-literay periodical, in which present-day authors take up themes discussed by Michel de Montaigne. The present essay discusses the prominent role of prayer in children's books by the prolific 20th century writer Willem Gerrit van de Hulst (alias Vandehulst alias Vanholst; 1879-1963), whos...
"The Netherlands is generally regarded as a gay-friendly country. It was the first country in the world where partners of the same sex were allowed to marry. Any number of famous Dutch figures openly profess their homosexuality, including one of the ministers in the present Dutch cabinet. And according to international comparative research, homosex...
Parallel met de verandering in opinies over homoseksualiteit zijn in de loop
der jaren de rechten van homoseksuele mannen en lesbische vrouwen steeds meer gelijkgetrokken met die van heteroseksuelen. Met de openstelling van het burgerlijk huwelijk voor paren van hetzelfde geslacht in april 2001 liep Nederland zelfs voorop in de wereld. Algemeen bes...
Content analysis of discussions of homosexuality in Dutch Internet forums, with a focus on music and leisure communities, conservative Protestants, Muslims, Moroccan-Dutch and Turkish-Dutch youth, and far-right groups. It is concluded that extreme opinions are often corrected by fellow participants.
Weet je, ik was sporter, ik was geen homoseksueel – daar ging het mij niet om. Dus ik heb het nooit aan de grote klok gehangen, maar men wist het denk ik wel. Dus hoe het was? Ik weet niet hoe het was. Want ik ben niet echt gaan zeggen: dit is het – this is me' (Inez, 43 jaar). 6.1 Sport en homoseksualiteit Sport is een interessante sector voor ond...
‘Strangers amongst us. Migrants and ethnic minorities in Maandblad Geestelijke volksgezondheid, 1946-1991"
This article reviews and analyses the writings in Maandblad Geestelijke volksgezondheid (MGv, the leading Dutch mental health periodical) about Jewish orphans, colonial returnees from Indonesia, refugees, labour migrants and their descendants....
Traditionally, the overwhelming majority of present-day Dutch, Protestant ministers are university-trained theologians. In broad outline, the curriculum of their university training remains as it was around 1950 – or even 1900. A remarkable difference, however, is that the present-day curricula comprise a fair amount of sociology and, more importan...
Essay on the alleged heritability of the pastoral ministry in Dutch Protestant churches. For centuries, a quarter to a third of all Reformed pastors were pastor's sons. It is argued that this share is actually quite low in comparison with the percentage of physician's sons and lawyer's sons who walked in their fathers' footsteps. What set the cleri...
