Student protest at university in the Netherlands not new: ‘There is dissatisfaction’ | RTL News

According to a spokesperson for the Amsterdam triangle (police, Public Prosecution Service and city council), the tent camp posed a safety risk.

Student protests on university grounds are not new. In fact, student occupations take place approximately every decade, says Professor of Modern Dutch History James Kennedy. “The most recent was in 2015, with the occupation of the Maagdenhuis,” he tells Editie NL. “The UvA was not in favor of that at the time, but people were angry about cuts in the humanities.”

According to Kennedy, there is a good reason that the Israel-Hamas war is now also so popular among students. “First of all, it has to do with the fact that many concerns of the protest group come together in Gaza, such as racism and colonialism,” says the historian. “These are broader themes and they provide a context for what is going on in Gaza. The protest provides participation in a major global struggle.”

‘Protest-like time’

It is not surprising that the protest took place at the UvA. “You could say that the UvA has historically been more focused on these international developments.” On the other hand, the willingness to protest can also partly be explained by the fact that we are in a ‘protest-like time’, says Kennedy. “There are many things that students do not like, such as the lack of housing, climate change. There is dissatisfaction.”

Dissatisfaction was also the reason for the largest Dutch student demonstrations in history, with students demanding democratization of their universities. “They wanted to have more participation in the universities,” Kennedy explains. Inspired by peers in France, the very first Dutch university occupation ever took place at the Catholic University in Tilburg in 1969. Students at the UvA supported the resistance and subsequently occupied the Maagdenhuis, the main administration building of the UvA, in the same year.

Inspiration effect

According to sociologist Jacquelien van Stekelenburg, the student protest over Gaza is an ‘explosive import product’. “There is a conflict that is already raising the mood in the Netherlands,” Van Stekelenburg told Editie NL. “And at the same time we also see that several of these types of actions have been held at universities abroad. So this is a kind of inspiration effect.”

According to the sociologist, the protest started in America, after which it spread to our country. “We have college protests at the university in the Netherlands, but with an encampment it really seems to have come from America.” According to experts, the same process always takes place. “In broad terms, the university is an institution where people meet each other and there consensus is formed. A subject is discussed and outrage is shared. In combination with consensus, mobilization takes place.” In other words, support for protest is created, so that the protest can ultimately actually take place.

Vietnam War

Current students are therefore somewhat following in the footsteps of their predecessors. “But this is not on the scale of the 1970s, more than 50 years ago,” Professor Kennedy continues. “It is not yet very large, but it can become so. There were also large-scale student demonstrations during the Vietnam War in 1973, but I have not seen them of that size today.”

Moreover, according to Kennedy, the willingness to protest in the late 1960s and 1970s was much greater than the unwillingness, unlike today. “We think that everyone is so ideologically driven now, but compared to 50 years ago that is not true,” says the historian. “People are less motivated to take to the streets for their motivations. After all, you can also vent your feelings and anger on social media.”

Wildfire

However, according to sociologist Van Stekelenburg, social media has actually partly accelerated the process of mobilization. “The news spreads like wildfire on social media, but that mainly works in combination with networking.” Examples include the student protests of the ‘climate truants’ a few years ago. But also the massive protest by students and teachers against the ‘lockdown requirement’, more than ten years ago. “A lot of information was shared via social media and it was also discussed in classes,” Van Stekelenburg explains.

“That ensures that consensus is formed sooner, because people are in a familiar environment, in which you can hold each other to agreements that you make to each other.” Your image is formed in that familiar environment. “And people can very well share that outrage with each other. That shared ‘mourning’ is very important for such a demonstration.”

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