Changes

After 1970  the pillarized model began to break down in politics, as religion became less central in the lives of most people, the parties reorganized across the old religious and cultural lines, and labor unions merged.<ref>Paul Dekker and Peter Ester, "Depillarization, Deconfessionalization, and De-ideologization: Empirical Trends in Dutch Society 1958-1992." ''Review of Religious Research'' 1996 37(4): 325-341. Issn: 0034-673x uses survey data, showing that religious factors declined first, followed by secular factors. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/3512012 in Jstor]</ref> The fast growing Muslim immigrant community is building its own separate pillar along religious lines such as was common a century ago, and is still allowed by Dutch laws. There are now Islamic and Hindu schools.   

After 1970  the pillarized model began to break down in politics, as religion became less central in the lives of most people, the parties reorganized across the old religious and cultural lines, and labor unions merged.<ref>Paul Dekker and Peter Ester, "Depillarization, Deconfessionalization, and De-ideologization: Empirical Trends in Dutch Society 1958-1992." ''Review of Religious Research'' 1996 37(4): 325-341. Issn: 0034-673x uses survey data, showing that religious factors declined first, followed by secular factors. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/3512012 in Jstor]</ref> The fast growing Muslim immigrant community is building its own separate pillar along religious lines such as was common a century ago, and is still allowed by Dutch laws. There are now Islamic and Hindu schools.   

The leadership in the Netherlands realizes the need for immigration in the era of globalization, falling birth rates and labor shortages.  At issue is whether the immigrants will be Europeans, which is tolerated, or be Muslims from Turkey and Morocco, which is controversial. Rotterdam is nearly half Muslim and in every city second- and third-generation Muslims are Dutch and speak Dutch as their first language, but have not been well integrated into mainstream Dutch society. They remain between two cultures and some listen to radical Islamist preachers.  However, two-thirds of the immigrants are Dutch citizens and they are well represented in national and local government.  The rapidly growingf Dutch economy absorbed the new workers, driving down the unemployment rate for immigrants from 35% to 10% in 2001.  

The leadership in the Netherlands believed that mass immigration was necessary in an era of [[globalization]], falling birth rates, and labor shortages.  The real debate in their eyes was whether the immigrants will be Europeans, which is tolerated, or be Muslims from Turkey and Morocco, which is controversial. Rotterdam is nearly half Muslim and in every city second- and third-generation Muslims are Dutch and speak Dutch as their first language, but have not been well integrated into mainstream Dutch society. They remain between two cultures and some listen to radical Islamist preachers.  However, two-thirds of the immigrants are Dutch citizens and they are well represented in national and local government.  The rapidly growing Dutch economy absorbed the new workers, driving down the unemployment rate for immigrants from 35% to 10% in 2001.  

At first there was a gentlemen's agreement among political leaders that immigration and ethnicity were not to become political issues.  That ended and Dutch politics took a right-wing-populist turn following the emergence of Pim Fortuyn, the charismatic leader of a new party, and his assassination in 2002, followed by the ritual murder of anti-immigrant spokesman Theo van Gogh in 2004.<ref>Mark Leon Goldberg, "The Death of van Gogh," [http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?articleId=8915 ''The American Prospect'' Dec. 3, 2004]; Rinus Penninx, "After the Fortuyn and Van Gogh Murders: Is the Dutch Integration Model in Disarray?" [http://www.cicerofoundation.org/pdf/lecture_penninx.pdf online paper 9 June 2005]</ref>  Hostility to Islam has created an increasingly restrictive national immigration and integration policy. A policy of Europeanization rejects "multiculturalism" (which like pillarization would allow Muslins complete control over their schools) and instead calls for civic integration for new immigrants, who are expected to learn Dutch, accompanied by antidiscrimination laws to benefit settled immigrants and their children. The 1998 Newcomer Integration Law (Wet Inburgering Nieuwkomers, "WIN") obliges most non-EU immigrants to participate in a twelve-month integration course, consisting of six hundred hours of Dutch language instruction, civic education, and preparation for the labor market.  An immigrant must pass an integration test to get or renew a residence permit.<ref>Joppke, "Transformation of Immigrant Integration," ''World Politics'' 59.2 (2007) 43-273</ref>

At first, there was a gentlemen's agreement among political leaders that immigration and ethnicity were not to become political issues.  That ended and Dutch politics took a right-wing-populist turn following the emergence of Pim Fortuyn, the charismatic leader of a new party, and his assassination in 2002, followed by the ritual murder of anti-immigrant spokesman Theo van Gogh in 2004.<ref>Mark Leon Goldberg, "The Death of van Gogh," [http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?articleId=8915 ''The American Prospect'' Dec. 3, 2004]; Rinus Penninx, "After the Fortuyn and Van Gogh Murders: Is the Dutch Integration Model in Disarray?" [http://www.cicerofoundation.org/pdf/lecture_penninx.pdf online paper 9 June 2005]</ref>  Hostility to Islam has created an increasingly restrictive national immigration and integration policy. A policy of Europeanization rejects "multiculturalism" (which like pillarization would allow Muslins complete control over their schools) and instead calls for civic integration for new immigrants, who are expected to learn Dutch, accompanied by anti-discrimination laws to benefit settled immigrants and their children. The 1998 Newcomer Integration Law (Wet Inburgering Nieuwkomers, "WIN") obliges most non-EU immigrants to participate in a twelve-month integration course, consisting of six hundred hours of Dutch language instruction, civic education, and preparation for the labor market.  An immigrant must pass an integration test to get or renew a residence permit.<ref>Joppke, "Transformation of Immigrant Integration," ''World Politics'' 59.2 (2007) 43-273</ref>

 

==Historiography==

==Historiography==