Difference, Deviance, Threat?

This book examines the political discourse on ethnic issues in the Netherlands and in France. It was written to highlight the socially constructed character and social effects of this discourse and its different variants and expressions, and thus offer perspectives for evolution and change. The underlying conviction is that discourses, and thus the beliefs and knowledge that they contain, are historically specific phenomena that are constructed in communities in particular times and places. In other words, knowledge is not as objective as it sometimes pretends to be: it is affected by gender, class, ethno-cultural origin, and the political affiliations of its producers.

This book has been written for an international audience of academics, politicians, journalists, policymakers, and members of social movements engaged in the development of truly diverse societies and interested in the role of politics in attaining such an objective.

Ineke van der Valk is researcher at the Department of Discourse Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam. Prior to researching, she worked as a community organizer with the migrant movement, the anti-racist movement, and the human rights movement. She has published on the history of the migrant movement in the Netherlands, human rights in Morocco, and the discourse on ethnic minorities in the Netherlands and France. She also works as a consultant and trainer in the field of diversity management.