Sociologie

In 1927 the modern American comic strip was introduced in the Netherlands: Sjors van de Rebellenclub, an adaptation of the American comic strip Winnie Winkle. This article traces the immigration and integration of this particular American comic strip, and the genre as a whole, into the Netherlands. First, it argues that Sjors is an example of indirect Americanization: it was not imported directly from the us, but it was an illicit copy - sometimes slightly adapted - of a French translation of the American original. Second, the import of the modern American comic strip, characterized by its innovative use of the speech balloon, was an example of unnoticed Americanization. Sjors was not perceived as a new phenomenon, but rather as part of an existing tradition of illustrated children's tales. Hence, the comic strip also wasn't criticized as an example of Americanization until much later.

During the 1950s and the heat of the Cold War, discrimination against African-Americans turned out to be the Achilles heel of America's foreign policy. Dutch newspapers, except the communist ones, had a hard time finding their voice: they were grosso modo pro-American and anti- Russian, and were for a long time reluctant to see the civil rights situation as part of America, their liberator and friend. Instead, they presented it as a historical and Southern problem. The Little Rock crisis of 1957 changed all that: the disturbing images led to an understanding of discrimination as ‘an American dilemma’. America's cultural diplomacy programs sought to influence Dutch public opinion, smoothing over the damage. Yet, the civil rights situation was a hard sell: the illustrations used in usis publications of harmoniously integrated American life stood in too sharp a contrast with the newspapers' images of discrimination and its aftermath to be effective. At home, as a Cold War imperative, the State Department became a force for integration, hoping that an improved situation would yield the most effective stories. Unfortunately, progress would take years, and in the meantime, Vietnam assumed centre stage.

The American kitchen has become the symbol of postwar us modernism and abundance. As a visual aid, the kitchen turned into a model of American success of consumer capitalism during the Cold War projecting a grand master narrative of us advance and European backwardness. In this article, the author questions that narrative by showing that the gadget-filled American dream kitchen never existed as a stable category, a prototype, or a practice. The American kitchen mostly served as a technological promise and a propaganda tool for corporate America and the Marshall Plan in postwar Europe for the future, but was never actually built in Europe. By contrast, the millions of European kitchens built as part of the welfare states' mass-scale housing projects outperformed the American counterpart in terms of numbers. That kitchen never acquired a similar iconic status, however. On a theoretical level, the case study of the kitchen serves as yet an other example in the growing literature in American, technology, and cultural studies to show the complexities of Americanization as a hybrid transformation rather than an easy transfer from one Atlantic shore to the other.

American television series are imported in all European countries, but with significant national differences in the nature and amount of programmes broadcast in different countries. This article compares the import of American television series in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland, using interviews with television buyers in all four countries and secondary materials. The article argues that variations in the influx of American television are shaped by the interaction between the global, American-dominated television market and national media fields, rather than by cultural or linguistic similarity vis-à-vis the us. The buyers, who are strongly oriented towards the international television field, make their decisions based on similar logics, but applying the same rules in different fields they unintentionally create distinct national patterns. Central to buyers' decisions is the audience's familiarity with American tv, which is mainly the result of the interaction between international market pressure and national protectionist policies. Increasing audience familiarity makes it ‘safer’ to schedule American programmes. Hence, Americanization leads to more Americanization.

Since 9/11 and the assassinations of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh, the political debate in the Netherlands seems predominantly focused on how Dutch national identity is endangered by Muslim extremism and the issue of ethnic integration. The fear that the national identity could be undermined by the cultural imperialism of Americanization has conspicuously disappeared from the political agenda. Using the concept of karaoke Americanism, this article examines recent commercial rap songs that use African-American hip-hop to comment on Dutch current affairs, thereby not only showing how pop culture and politics have become intertwined, but also providing telling examples of Americanization as a form of active cultural appropriation.

To many Europeans, the United States is a country that epitomizes individual success. However, American students are not only encouraged to develop themselves as unique individuals, but to also look at role models. From a Dutch point of view, those two developmental goals are contradictory. Dutch students are expected to develop their personal goals individualistically. Role models, as following others, do not fit into this picture.
In this study, twenty American and twenty Dutch university students were interviewed on their role models. Among the insights obtained from the data, one stood out as fundamental. In the us, ‘individuality’ appeared as developing one's own character and choices to converge with a shared set of ideals. In the Netherlands, however, individuality referred to pursuing one's own ideals rather than adapting them to a common cause.
As developmental theories suggest, role models are important in identity formation. However, as data shows, Dutch students do not learn to reflect on this process. In fact, mentioning role models causes unease in the Netherlands. This article describes how American students learn from role models, and are inspired by role models. This motivational aspect of role models especially raises questions on the Dutch ‘free’ upbringing.

In this article the author assesses the extent to which Dutch politicians have looked at the United States as an example to emulate in terms of its political organization, its institutions, and its political processes. More than two centuries are covered. The author argues that the remarkable absence of tendencies to implement American interpretations of political theory in Dutch politics derives primarily from great differences in historical experience. The Dutch have never fought their way from colonial status to freedom and independence. The focus on individual rights that is typical for the rugged individualism in the American society of ‘immigrant’ citizens who face all kinds of threats to their existence, is clearly absent in Dutch constitutional law. So is the American view of the ideal separation of powers ‘à la Montesquieu’. When the Dutch constitution was formulated in de first quarter of the Nineteenth Century, memories of Spanish rule and the Dutch struggle against it during the Eighty Years War (1568-1648) were less relevant to the Dutch ‘founding fathers’ than contemporary concerns. The latter asked for a relatively strong and unified state. In the Depression era of the 1930's people looked in admiration at the way the New Deal was invented and put into operation. This however never led to any serious cry for the kind of leadership that fdr displayed. In Dutch society those who were looking for a way out of their economic predicament chose to look East, towards Germany and the Soviet Union. The Dutch ‘pillarized society’, characterized by the strong cohesion of the political ‘columns’ (comprising the various parties and other politicized institutions), remained relatively immune to foreign influence. Even at the high point of Dutch pro-Americanism in the 1940's and 1950's there was little enthusiasm about the American political system. Only in recent years there has been some debate on the issue of judicial review of laws (which allows the American Supreme Court to strike down a law that violates the constitution), but even in that case inspiration is drawn from European examples rather than from America.

In the wake of 9/11 and America's undeclared global war on terror, America's global esteem has nose-dived. Its loss of prestige is commonly attributed to a worldwide surge of anti-Americanism. This article argues the term stands in the way of a more detached analysis of what inspires views critical of America and actions protesting its policies. The current high point in worldwide negative views of America has inspired many historians and social scientists to revisit the concept of anti-Americanism and to place it squarely within its diverse historical and geographic contexts, while at the same time highlighting its multi-dimensionality and polyvalence. Taking its cue from such recent reflections this article then looks at the case of the Netherlands as an illustration of these more recent insights.

This essay explores how Norbert Elias's theory of civilising (and decivilising processes) is relevant to understanding the social development of the usa, as well as to how Americans see themselves and are seen by others today. It is argued that the key historic experience shaping American habitus and ‘national character’ is of their country constantly becoming more powerful relative to its neighbours. The essay focuses especially on manners and the formation of habitus, on violence, and on state formation processes and their continuation in empire formation processes, ending with some reflections on the geopolitical position of the usa at the present day.