Left-Behindness or Self-Imposed Passivity? Unpacking Tamsma’s Political Geography of the Northern Netherlands

In 1972, Tamsma’s paper on regional inequality was an unconventional contribution, explaining how the Northern Netherlands was a victim of both left-behindness and self-imposed passivity. Tamsma’s narrative lacks reflection on his positionality, yet it seems obvious that his personal views influenced his writing. This forum contribution delves into Tamsma’s ideas on political geography, using one of his syllabi from the course ‘Politieke Geografie’ in Groningen during the 1970s–1980s to guide this exegesis. His comprehensive model of political geography includes an early advocacy for neo-endogenous development. However, he lingers in his critique of the current political situation and places his hope in ambitious ‘moonshot’ projects in the northeastern part of ‘the North’. The paradox of Tamsma’s narrative seems to resonate in contemporary Northern Netherlands: ‘the Hague’ and ‘the North’ are both guilty of causing regional discontent, but exogenous catalysts are still considered essential to solving discontent.