Polarization is a hot topic. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk wrote a book about it (De Verdeelde Nederlanden) and it has been discussed extensively in Dutch media. The Volkskrant recently gave his book 5 stars.  

According to Sjoerd Beugelsdijk, polarization is not a coincidence. “It is not just the result of social media, but has roots that go deeper. The book discusses these underlying drivers. I unpack important societal, economic and political trends, put these in historical context and try to do so in non-academic language. It is a popular scientific book in Dutch about the Netherlands derived from 20+ years of academic research.”

The incentive system at universities is not geared towards books in Dutch about the Netherlands. Why spend so much time and energy on writing this book?

“I am indeed part of a generation of scholars who have been trained and socialized in a system that mostly rewards English language international (top) journal publications. Yet, I have always tried to combine my academic interests with societal implications and relevance. This was one of the reasons for being involved in the national identity project of a Dutch government advisory think tank (Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau). This book builds on that experience and is in a way a continuation of my ambition to balance societal and academic interests.”

Was it picked up?

“Yes, luckily it was, right after publication mid September. It was and still is extensively covered in the Dutch press. Most people appreciate the careful explanation of the trends that I see as the driving factors of ongoing polarization of the country. I also compare the Dutch situation with other countries, especially The United States. Many people fear the Netherlands is becoming like the USA. I explain in my book this is not likely to happen despite the fact that many of the underlying determinants are similar.”

 What trends do you mean? Can you explain them shortly?

“Economically we have experienced a shock that radically changed the system. The economic shock is rooted in rapid technological change combined with globalization. This has changed the economic system with new winners and losers of globalization. Culturally, the Netherlands has one of the highest levels of societal individualism. The dominant norm “Dat bepaal ik zelf wel” (No one needs to tell me, I decide on that myself) is the result of the enormous freedom to make our own decisions, but also comes at a price. That price has to do with erosion of community feelings. The “I” clashes with the “we” and people increasingly look for their identity and the group they feel they belong to. Notions of us versus them have become part of that identity search.

Parallel to these developments it is the role of the government and the state that has changed. From a universal welfare state, we have now organized the welfare system in a more transactional manner, a so-called needs-based system in which people have to satisfy more and more conditions in order to qualify for state support. Citizens themselves have become customers and behave like clients, and as a result of new public management practices the government itself is run like a firm. On top of that we have a political system with 19 (!) political parties and social media. It is the combination of all these social, economic, technological and political trends that has such a poisonous effect because they mutually reinforce one another. The solution is thus not obvious and I describe that it is important to deal with each of these root causes.”

You are a professor of International Business. Isn’t it a bit unusual to write a book that is so sociological for a business professor?

“Good question. I was trained as an economist doing research on socio-economic systems. These systems differ between countries. That is where international business comes in. I have done multidisciplinary research from the day I started my PhD, mostly combining economics and sociology. International business deals with differences between business systems which are deeply rooted in culture. International business logically combines the economic dimension with the cultural and increasingly also the political dimension.”

What’s next?

“Time to think about the next big project. I have a long-standing ambition to put together a textbook on international business. With an emphasis on the systems part, thus again combining the multidisciplinary notions that shaped my research career since the day I started more than 20 years ago. It never stops, because it is so much fun to work on stuff that matters.”

 For more information, please contact Sjoerd Beugelsdijk (s.beugelsdijk@rug.nl)