Bijdragen en Mededelingen betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden. Deel 117

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Summaries

The Dutch Labour Party and the war in Vietnam

During the 1960s, many people demonstrated against the war in Vietnam. However, the Dutch government, along with most of the major political parties in the Netherlands, chose to ignore the vox populi and refused to reject America's policy regarding Vietnam. One exception to that rule was the Dutch Labour Party. From an early stage, the social-democrats had kept a critical watch on American policy and exhibited an increasing resistance to the subsequent military intervention. In adopting this attitude towards the Vietnam War, the Labour Party had to take several developments into account. The reduction in Cold War tensions, the Cultural Revolution and, above all, the shifts in domestic politics all affected the point of view on Vietnam. One very important consideration that should be taken into account was that, at the time, the Labour Party was trapped between new forms of activism and firm opposition, on the one hand, and the wish to join the government on the other. Under these circumstances, a formal letter to the American Ambassador seemed to be the safest vehicle through which Labour's critical attitude towards Vietnam could be expressed.

Struggling for freedom. Social theory on strike actions in Belgian politics, 1884-1914

In nineteenth century workers' songs, the strike was presented as a heroic struggle for freedom. At first sight, the arguments in political debates more or less followed this same line of thought, in that several ‘socially progressive’ politicians defended strike actions using the argument of ‘right of association’; a right that the working class also claimed in their struggle for emancipation. Yet the dominant political attitude towards the social question during those years was inspired by social control rather than emancipation. Therefore, when petitioners had to arouse parliamentary sympathy for strikes, they smartly abandoned the discourse linked to the struggle for freedom, and instead chose to present strikes not as heroic, voluntary actions, but rather as something inevitable; a ‘force majeure’. This presentation was a radical departure from the traditional liberal values of individual responsibility, and was, instead, inspired by a very modern sociological discourse. This even went so far as to question the ultimate roots of the legal system itself, viz. the basic principles of civil law.