The Politics of Home. (2011-2019)

This book addresses prominent debates in Western Europe and the United States on themes as seemingly diverse as national identity and nostalgia, migration and integration, gender relations and ‘caring communities’. At the most fundamental level, all of these debates deal with the right to belong and the ability to ‘feel at home’. The book examines what has happened to the ‘home feelings’ of the majority under the influence of the two major revolutions of our times: the gender revolution and increased mobility due to globalization. It analyzes how ‘home’ has been politicized, examines the risks of this politicization, as well as exploring alternative home-making strategies that aim to transcend the ‘logic of identities’ where one group’s ability to feel at home comes at the expense of other groups.

Download PDF
Publisher’s webpage
Flyer book presentation UC Berkeley with Arlie Hochschild

Reviews

‘Duyvendak cleverly dissects the idea of home at very different levels, and different continents, weaving together strands of sociology that are usually kept far apart’


Professor M. Jasper, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, USA 

‘In this important work of comparative historical sociology, community studies and social theory, Jan Willem Duyvendak explores the changing meanings associated with “feeling at home” in contemporary western Europe and North America. Exhaustively researched, methodologically rigorous and accessibly presented, this book will be of great interest to all social scientists concerned to understand the remaking of social attachment and cultural belonging under early 21st century conditions.’


Professor Neil Brenner, New York University, USA

‘Through contrasting ideologies of “home as nation” in Europe, and “home as safe haven” in the United States, Duyvendak traces the growing obsession with place and rootedness, home and homeland, as a reaction to globalization and the gender revolution. His analysis reveals the underlying tensions between liberal definitions of citizenship and a more conservative discourse of the right to belong with surprising results. His insightful comparison sheds light on the emerging contradictions inherent in the notion of home and its contemporary political reality and deployment.’


Professor Setha Low, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, USA 

Project publications

Books and book chapters

Popular scientific publications

Columns

Newspaper and weekly articles

Interviews

Lectures

  • 13-1-2012: Urban Debates Seminar, Utrecht University
  • 12-12-2011: ‘The Politics of Home. The struggle to belong at home and at work, in the neighborhood and in the nation’, New York University
  • 05-12-2011: ‘The Politics of Home. The struggle to belong at home and at work, in the neighborhood and in the nation’, University of California, Berkeley
  • 01-12-2011: ‘Populisme: racisme of nativisme?’, De Andere Blik, UvA
  • 14-11-2011: ‘Thuis in de planologie’, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.
  • 09-11-2011: ‘The Importance of Feeling at Home’, ILIV, Brussels
  • 19-10-2011: ‘The Politics of Home. Belonging and Nostalgia in Western Europe and the United States’, Amsterdam School in Paris
  • 13-10-2011: Cordaanlezing ‘Thuisvoelen in de langdurige zorg’ 
  • 03-10-2011: Book Launch of The Politics of Home at Spui 25 (Academic and cultural center of the UvA) in collaboration with the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
  • 03-10-2011: ‘Thuisvoelen in Nederland. Integratiebeleid en grondgebonden waarden’, Ministerie van BZK
  • 14-9-2011: ‘Hoe Nederlands is emancipatie? Over links, populisme, cultuurrelativisme en grondgebonden waarden’, Uitsluitend emancipatie-congress
  • 24-2-2011: ‘Op zoek naar een nieuw thuis’, NAi
  • 18-5-2010: ‘Feeling at Home in Urban Studies’, Paris
  • 26-3-2010: ‘Op zoek naar een nieuw thuis?’, FORUM/RMO, UvA
  • 08-10-2008: ‘Op zoek naar een nieuw thuis’, NICIS-Stedentop 2008

The emotionalization of politics: an expression of democratization or a risk to democracy?

Emotions in politics are not new, nor are negative evaluations by sociologists. After the failures…

Buitenlandse gebeurtenissen worden in Nederland vaak een binnenlands probleem

Met Thijs van Dooremalen op StukRoodVlees In een mondialiserende wereld hebben gebeurtenissen potentieel niet alleen…

Benoemd tot lid van de KHMW

Jan Willem is benoemd tot wetenschappelijk lid van de Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen. Jan…

‘Milders’ en de normalisering van nativisme

Van het (zelf)beeld van Nederland als een progressief en tolerant land is weinig over nu…

Geert Wilders kán zich niet matigen

“Nativisten in de regering splijten een toch al verdeelde samenleving verder. Want het normaal worden…

Beleid zorg en welzijn: mammoettanker op drift

Mensen moeten niet meer worden gedwongen tot zelfredzaamheid en zelfregie, zegt hoogleraar Jan Willem Duyvendak…

‘Het moet in de politiek niet gaan om wie nu de ‘echte’ Nederlanders zijn en wie niet’

“De aantrekkingskracht van nativisme is dat er een verband is met de omgeving, de stad…

Debate night: Promises and Pitfalls of Liberalism.

Navigating between nostalgic nativism and hopeful realism. March 29, SPUI25 together with Amsterdam Centre for…