Politics out of place: understanding the geography of discontent in the Netherlands from a spatial justice perspective

Bram van Vulpen

doi:10.33612/diss.788178336

Politics out of place: understanding the geography of discontent in the Netherlands from a spatial justice perspective

Bram van Vulpen

Onderzoeksoutput

887 Downloads (Pure)

Samenvatting

In het afgelopen decennium werd het politieke landschap opgeschud door een nieuwe golf van populistische leiders die aan de macht kwamen in lang bestaande liberale democratieën. Geografen wezen snel op regionale patronen in de sterke politieke scheidslijnen. Dit staat bekend als de geografie van onvrede. Deze dissertatie gaat verder dan het perspectief dat onvrede slechts een populistische dreiging is en belicht de geografie van onvrede vanuit het perspectief van ruimtelijke rechtvaardigheid. Met deze benadering wordt onderzocht hoe gevoelens van onvrede zich verspreiden over regionale verdeeldheid en welke regionale verschillen een waarschijnlijke verklaring bieden voor de hedendaagse onvrede in Nederland. Het argument wordt gemaakt dat veel mensen die in de landelijke periferie wonen de perceptie hebben dat de nationale politiek geen oog heeft voor hun regio en voelen zich er niet door erkend. De mate waarin regionale verschillen onvrede verklaren, wordt empirisch getest met een mixed-methods aanpak, die beschrijvende statistieken, correlatieanalyse, kritische beleidsanalyse en named entity recognition omvat. De bevindingen tonen aan dat perifere regio's in Nederland in zekere mate benadeeld worden door ongelijke regionale ontwikkeling, onvoldoende erkenning en politieke ondervertegenwoordiging. Ook toont dit onderzoek aan dat percepties van inwoners niet altijd overeenkomen met de daadwerkelijke regionale ontwikkelingen. Daarmee spreekt dit proefschrift enkele conventionele verklaringen tegen en voegt cruciale nuances toe aan ons begrip van de oorzaken van regionale onvrede.

Originele taal-2	English
Kwalificatie	Doctor of Philosophy
Toekennende instantie	Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Begeleider(s)/adviseur	van den Berg, Caspar, Supervisor Bock, Bettina, Supervisor
Datum van toekenning	4-okt.-2023
Plaats van publicatie	[Groningen]
Uitgever	University of Groningen
DOI's	https://doi.org/10.33612/diss.788178336
Status	Published - 2023

Toegang tot document

10.33612/diss.788178336

Complete thesisFinal publisher's version, 4,06 MB
PropositionsFinal publisher's version, 302 KB

Handle.net

Permanente koppeling

Citeer dit

@phdthesis{a14d64d323bc47248de0776f78a7e58a,

title = "Politics out of place: understanding the geography of discontent in the Netherlands from a spatial justice perspective",

abstract = "In the last decade, the political landscape was shaken up by a new wave of populist leaders gaining power in long-standing liberal democracies. Geographers were quick to point out regional patterns in the strong political divides. This is referred to as the geography of discontent. This dissertation moves beyond the perspective that discontent is merely a populist threat, and exposes the geography of discontent through the lens of spatial justice. With this approach it is examined how feelings of discontent are spread across regional divides and what regional disparities are likely to explain contemporary discontent in the Netherlands. The argument is made that many people living in the rural periphery perceive national politics to be detached to their region and feel misrecognised by it. The extent to which regional disparities are likely to explain discontent is empirically tested using a mixed-methods approach, which includes descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, critical policy analysis, and named entity recognition. The findings reveal that peripheral regions in the Netherlands are to some extent disadvantaged by uneven regional development, inadequate recognition and political underrepresentation. This research also shows that residents' perceptions are not always aligned with actual regional developments. In doing so, this dissertation opposes conventional explanations and adds crucial nuances to our understanding of the triggers of regional discontent. ",

author = "{van Vulpen}, Bram",

year = "2023",

doi = "10.33612/diss.788178336",

language = "English",

publisher = "University of Groningen",

school = "University of Groningen",

}

TY - BOOK

T1 - Politics out of place

T2 - understanding the geography of discontent in the Netherlands from a spatial justice perspective

AU - van Vulpen, Bram

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - In the last decade, the political landscape was shaken up by a new wave of populist leaders gaining power in long-standing liberal democracies. Geographers were quick to point out regional patterns in the strong political divides. This is referred to as the geography of discontent. This dissertation moves beyond the perspective that discontent is merely a populist threat, and exposes the geography of discontent through the lens of spatial justice. With this approach it is examined how feelings of discontent are spread across regional divides and what regional disparities are likely to explain contemporary discontent in the Netherlands. The argument is made that many people living in the rural periphery perceive national politics to be detached to their region and feel misrecognised by it. The extent to which regional disparities are likely to explain discontent is empirically tested using a mixed-methods approach, which includes descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, critical policy analysis, and named entity recognition. The findings reveal that peripheral regions in the Netherlands are to some extent disadvantaged by uneven regional development, inadequate recognition and political underrepresentation. This research also shows that residents' perceptions are not always aligned with actual regional developments. In doing so, this dissertation opposes conventional explanations and adds crucial nuances to our understanding of the triggers of regional discontent.

AB - In the last decade, the political landscape was shaken up by a new wave of populist leaders gaining power in long-standing liberal democracies. Geographers were quick to point out regional patterns in the strong political divides. This is referred to as the geography of discontent. This dissertation moves beyond the perspective that discontent is merely a populist threat, and exposes the geography of discontent through the lens of spatial justice. With this approach it is examined how feelings of discontent are spread across regional divides and what regional disparities are likely to explain contemporary discontent in the Netherlands. The argument is made that many people living in the rural periphery perceive national politics to be detached to their region and feel misrecognised by it. The extent to which regional disparities are likely to explain discontent is empirically tested using a mixed-methods approach, which includes descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, critical policy analysis, and named entity recognition. The findings reveal that peripheral regions in the Netherlands are to some extent disadvantaged by uneven regional development, inadequate recognition and political underrepresentation. This research also shows that residents' perceptions are not always aligned with actual regional developments. In doing so, this dissertation opposes conventional explanations and adds crucial nuances to our understanding of the triggers of regional discontent.

U2 - 10.33612/diss.788178336

DO - 10.33612/diss.788178336

M3 - Thesis fully internal (DIV)

PB - University of Groningen

CY - [Groningen]

ER -

Politics out of place: understanding the geography of discontent in the Netherlands from a spatial justice perspective

Samenvatting

Toegang tot document

Handle.net

Vingerafdruk

Citeer dit