Here you find an overview of our publications (in Dutch and English) about Dutch culture wars in journals, columns, and newspapers.
Vaak wordt opgemerkt dat er in Nederland veel vertrouwen in de politiek is. Maar onder veel lager opgeleiden leeft juist wantrouwen. Diepgaande gesprekken bieden inzicht in deze kloof tussen burgers en politiek.
Photo: Sokin (Flickr Creative Commons)
Photo: Bas van der Schot (Erasmus Magazine)
How do you prevent a heated discussion with your uncle during Christmas dinner? Cultural sociologist Willem de Koster explains how you can safely navigate between the cliffs in these times of polarisation.
Het wantrouwen in politici wordt niet enkel gevoed door wat politici vinden, maar ook door de culturele superioriteit die zij zichzelf met name volgens lageropgeleiden toedichten met hun progressieve culturele opvattingen.
Photo: Mike Andrews (Flickr Creative Commons)
Peer-reviewed journal article in The Sociological Quarterly (April 3, 2019)
Abstract
Much of the educational gradient in trust in politicians remains unexplained by prevailing theories on material resources and institutional knowledge. Our novel explanation theorizes that: in its relationship with trust in politicians, education is a status indicator; and the lower trust in politicians among the less educated reflects the latter’s opposition to the former’s status signaling. Analyses of representative Dutch survey data (n = 1,296) demonstrate that indicators of affinity with elite culture do indeed largely underlie the association between the level of education and trust in politicians. We discuss the relevance of our findings for debates on “culture wars.”