Organizing for Access? The Political Mobilization of Turks in Amsterdam

Abstract

This essay addresses the issue of the relationship between political and organizational mobilization of Turkish immigrants in Amsterdam. Data on Turkish councilors in Amsterdam over time and on the boards of local Turkish organizations in Amsterdam between 1970 and 2002 reveals that a majority of the municipal councilors of Turkish origin in Amsterdam have been on the board of a Turkish organization. However, it seems that the political influence of the Turkish organizations is rather limited in the process of recruitment of the local political elite when compared to the role of Dutch political parties. Interviews with Turkish councilors in Amsterdam show that once elected, the councilors seem to develop more nuanced ties with the Turkish community.

Notes

1. “Turks” (or “of Turkish origin”) refers to first‐ and second‐generation immigrants of Turkish origin, regardless of their nationality. This terminology follows that of the Dutch administrative definition (see website of Statistics Bureau (CBS) www.cbs.nl).

2. At the national level, since the elections of 2006 there has been one secretary of state (Justice) of Turkish origin and three members of parliament (Tweede Kamer), out of a total of 150 MPs. In the Senate (Eerste Kamer), there are no elected politicians of Turkish descent. If they hold Turkish nationality only, Turks are not entitled to vote at the national level. Approximately two thirds of the Turkish population has dual citizenship. See staline.cbs.nl.

3. Dirk Jacobs, Nieuwkomers in De Politiek. Het Parlementair Debat omtrent Kiesrecht voor Vreemdelingen in Nederland en België (1970–1997) [Newcomers in Politics. The Parliamentary Debate on the Enfranchisement of Foreigners in the Netherlands and in Belgium (1970–1997)] (Gent: Academia Press, 1998), p.114–17.

4. Jean Tillie, De Etnische Stem, Opkomst en Stemgedrag van Migranten tijdens Gemeenteraadsverkiezingen, 1986–1998 [The Ethnic Vote, Turnout and Party Choice of Migrants at Municipal Elections, 1986–1998] (Utrecht: Forum, 2000), p.12.

5. In 2006. See CBS Statline, http://statline.cbs.nl.

6. Samuel J. Eldersveld, Lars Strömberg and Wim Derksen, Local Elites in Western Democracies, a Comparative Analysis of Urban Political Leaders in the U.S., Sweden and the Netherlands (Boulder: Westview Press, 1995), p.3.

7. Robert D. Putnam, The Comparative Study of Political Elites (Englewood‐Cliffs: Prentice‐Hall, 1976), pp.22–23; Jacques Lagroye, Bastien François and Frédéric Sawicki, Sociologie Politique [Political Sociology], 4^th edition (Paris: Presses de Sciences Po/Dalloz, 2002), p.468.

8. Jan C. C. Rupp, John Schuster and Huibert Schijf, “Toetreding en Terugdringing: de Opkomst van een Lokale Politieke Elite,” [Getting in and Pushing Back: The Emergence of a Local Political Elite] in Meindert Fennema and Huibert Schijf (eds.), Nederlandse Elites in de Twintigste Eeuw [Dutch Elites in the Twentieth Century] (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2003).

9. Pippa Norris, “Introduction: Theories of Recruitment” in Pippa Norris (ed.), Passages to Power, Legislative Recruitment in Advanced Democracies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp.1–14.

10. This is also the case in a majority of EU countries. See Rainer Bauböck, “Migration und politische Beteiligung: Wahlrechte jenseits von Staatsgebiet und Staatsangehörigkeit,” (Migration and political interest. Voting rights from the side of national territory and nationality) in Manfred Oberlechner (ed.), Die missglückte Integration? Wege und Irrwege in Europa (The failed integration? Paths and wrong paths in Europe), (Wien: Braumüller, 2006), pp.115–29.

11. David M. Farrell, Electoral systems, a Comparative Introduction (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001), pp.165–66.

12. Monique Leijenaar, Kees Niemöller and Astrid van der Kooij, “Kandidaten Gezocht,” Politieke Partijen en het Streven naar Grotere Diversiteit onder Gemeenteraden [Candidates in Demand, Political Parties and the Strive for Greater Diversity in Municipal Councils] (Amsterdam: Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek, 1999).

13. Ibid., p.41.

14. Ibid., p.105.

15. Ibid., pp. 46, 105.

16. Ibid., pp. 66–74.

17. Below, it is shown that this is reflected in the number of Turkish politicians affiliated with these different parties.

18. There are studies that predate 1994: Paul Pennings, Migrantenkiesrecht in Amsterdam. Een Onderzoek naar de Participatie en Mobilisatie van Etnische Groepen bij de Gemeenteraadsverkiezingen van 19 Maart 1986 [Migrant Enfranchisement in Amsterdam. A Study of the Participation and Mobilisation of Ethnic Groups at the Municipal Elections of March 19th, 1986] (Amsterdam: Gemeente Amsterdam, Bestuursinformatie, Afd. Onderzoek en Statistiek & Universiteit van Amsterdam, vakgroep Politicologie, 1987); Jan Rath, Kenterend Tij. Migranten en de Gemeenteraadsverkiezingen van 21 Maart 1990 te Rotterdam [Turning Tide, Migrants and the Rotterdam Municipal Elections of March 21st, 1990] (Utrecht: RUU, Vakgroep Culturele Anthropologie, 1990). However, the research methods that were used are very different and results are therefore difficult to compare with the findings of 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006.

19. The surveys held for each election since 1994 followed the same procedure. On the very day the municipal elections were held, voters coming out of pre‐selected polling stations were asked to fill in a questionnaire about their party choice and, more generally, their party preferences, as well as some personal characteristics (e.g., gender, age, birthplace, education level, and ethnicity). An important element at stake was the definition of ethnicity, which is identically defined by all Dutch municipalities on the basis of the respondent’s country of birth as well as his or her parents’ birthplaces. All voters, even those who did not complete the questionnaire, were counted to assess turnout rates overall. Turnout was measured by comparing the number of all people leaving a chosen polling station with the number of registered voters for each ethnic group in the same polling station (the latter number was provided in advance by the municipality).

20. Laure Michon and Jean Tillie, Amsterdamse Polyfonie, Opkomst en Stemgedrag van Allochtone Amsterdammers bij de Gemeenteraads‐ en Deelraadsverkiezingen van 6 Maart 2002 [Polyphony in Amsterdam, Turnout and Party Choice of Immigrants in Amsterdam at the Municipal and District Elections of March 6th, 2002] (Amsterdam: IMES, 2003), p.8.

21. Robert D. Putnam, Making Democracy Work, Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (Princeton N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1993).

22. Meindert Fennema and Jean Tillie, “Political Participation and Political Trust in Amsterdam: Civic Communities and Ethnic Networks,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol.25, No. 4 (1999), pp.703–26.

23. Fennema and Tillie use the number of interlocking directorates that exists across organizational boards, which measure the density of the network, as an indicator of civicness. See Fennema and Tillie, “Political Participation and Political Trust in Amsterdam.”

24. Ibid., “Political Participation and Political Trust in Amsterdam.” See also Meindert Fennema, Jean Tillie, Anja van Heelsum, Maria Berger and Rick Wolff, Sociaal Kapitaal en Politieke Participatie van Etnische Minderheden [Social Capital and Political Participation of Ethnic Minorities] (Amsterdam: IMES, 2000), p.19.

25. Fennema and Tillie, “Political Participation and Political Trust in Amsterdam,” p.721.

26. Michon and Tillie, Amsterdamse Polyfonie, p.44.

27. Anja van Heelsum, “Turnout and Party Choice in the Local Elections in the Netherlands,” paper presented at the Metropolis Conference, Lisbon, October 2–6, 2006, p.10.

28. An exception is the study of Boelhouwer, who suggests that structural abstention is mostly observed among people with low income and/or a low level of education, youngsters, and the unemployed. See Jeroen Boelhouwer, “Achtergronden van Niet‐Stemmers,” [Background of Non‐Voters] in Paul Dekker (ed.), Niet‐Stemmers, Een Onderzoek naar Achtergronden en Motieven in Enquêtes, Interviews en Focusgroepen, [Non‐Voters. A Study of Background and Motives in Surveys, Interviews and Focus Groups] (Den Haag: SCP, 2002), p. 21–42.

29. Michon and Tillie, Amsterdamse Polyfonie, p.15; Anja van Heelsum and Jean Tillie, Opkomst en Partijvoorkeur van Migranten bij de Gemeenteraadsverkiezingen van 7 Maart 2006 (Amsterdam: IMES, 2006), p.12–14. However, in 2002, second‐generation Turks voted relatively more for the social‐liberal party Democrats 66 (D66), and relatively less for the Green Left party (GL) than did first‐generation Turks.

30. Michon and Tillie, Amsterdamse Polyfonie, p.17; van Heelsum and Tillie, Opkomst en Partijvoorkeur van Migranten, p.16.

31. Christian Joppke, “Transformation of Immigrant Integration, Civic Integration and Antidiscrimination in the Netherlands, France, and Germany,” World Politics, Vol.59 (2007), pp.243–73.

32. Party preferences were measured by people’s response to the question: “Do you think you will ever vote for this party in the future?” See Tillie, De Etnische Stem.

33. Voters surveyed in the IMES studies of 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006 were asked about the parties they had voted for in previous elections.

34. Tillie, De Etnische Stem, p.78; Michon and Tillie, Amsterdamse Polyfonie, p.39.

35. Michon and Tillie, Amsterdamse Polyfonie, p.32.

36. See Tillie, De Etnische Stem.

37. Tillie, De Etnische Stem; Michon and Tillie, Amsterdamse Polyfonie; van Heelsum and Tillie, Opkomst en Partijvoorkeur van Migranten.

38. Matthijs Rooduijn and Lisette Dekker, Politieke Participatie van Migranten in Utrecht [Political Participation of Migrants in Utrecht] (Amsterdam: Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek, 2004), p.15; Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek (IPP), Nieuwsbrief Zomer 2006 [Newsletter Summer 2006] (Amsterdam: IPP, 2006), p.8.

39. It is important to note, however, that only three percent of all municipal councilors in the Netherlands have a foreign background (Amsterdam, IPP, 2006), p.8.

40. This method of identification based on the ethnic origins that names evoke is reliable to a certain extent. Martiniello discusses the advantages and shortcomings of this method in Marco Martiniello, “Les Elus d’Origine Etrangère à Bruxelles: Une Nouvelle Etape de la Participation Politique des Populations d’Origine Immigrée,” [Representatives of Foreign Origin in Brussels: A New Step in the Political Participation of the Population of Immigrant Background] Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales [European Journal of International Migrations], Vol.14, No. 2 (1998), pp.123–47. See p.134. Whenever possible, the origins of councilors were cross‐checked using newspaper archives, Internet searches, and information supplied by political parties.

41. See Brieuc‐Yves Cadat and Meindert Fennema, “Les Hommes Politiques Issus de l’Immigration à Amsterdam: Image de Soi, Image des Autres” [Politicians of Immigrant Background in Amsterdam: Self‐ and Other‐Images,] Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales [European Journal of International Migrations], Vol.14, no. 2 (1998), pp.97–121.

42. Floris Vermeulen, The Immigrant Organising Process. Turkish Organisations in Amsterdam and Berlin and Surinamese Organisations in Amsterdam, 1960–2000 (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2006).

43. In the 1980s these religious organizations were mainly the DITIB, Suleymanci, and Milli Görüş organizations. Affluent Islamic organizations in this period were Hollanda Diyanet Vakfi Fatih Amsterdam, Sociale Culturele Vereniging Milli Görüş, and Stichting Islamitisch Centrum Amsterdam.

44. Vermeulen, The Immigrant Organising Process.

45. Marlou Schrover and Floris Vermeulen, “Immigrant Organizations,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 31 (2005), pp. 823–32; Floris Vermeulen and Maria Berger, “Civic Networks and Political Behavior: Turks in Amsterdam and Berlin,” in S. Karthick Ramakrishnan and Irene Bloemraad (eds.), Civic Hopes and Political Realities: Immigrants, Community Organizations and Political Engagement (New York: Russel Sage Foundation, 2008), pp.160–92.

46. Steven Pfaff and Anthony J. Gill, “Will a Million Muslims March? Muslim Interest Organizations and Political Integration in Europe,” Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 39 (2006), pp.803–28.

47. Anja van Heelsum, Migrantenorganisaties in Nederland Deel 1 Aantal en soort organisaties en ontwikkelingen [Migrant Organisations in the Netherlands Part I Number, Kind of Organisations and Developments] (Utrecht: FORUM, 2004).

48. Floris Vermeulen, “Organizational Patterns: Surinamese and Turkish Associations in Amsterdam, 1960–1990,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 31 (2005), pp. 951–73.

49. Vermeulen, The Immigrant Organising Process.

50. Ibid.; Vermeulen, “Organizational Patterns: Surinamese and Turkish Associations in Amsterdam.”

51. For 2002, a database containing all of Amsterdam’s registered non‐profit organizations and their active board members was used.

52. This could be an indication that active board membership and political positions are now less often linked with each other, but it also could be a consequence of the limitations of our database.

53. The most common non‐political Turkish organizations in which these councilors have served are Turks Platform Bos en Lommer en De Baarsjes, Amsterdams Turkse Jongeren Vereniging, and Stichting Turks Volkshuis Osdorp. These organizations have also functioned as bridge‐builders between different ideological camps of the polarized Turkish organizational field in Amsterdam. Turkish organizational leaders of the different movements have met in these neutral organizations incorporating all different parties from the Turkish community (Vermeulen and Berger, “Civic Networks and Political Behaviour (cited in endnote 45)).

54. See Cadat and Fennema, “Les Hommes Politiques Issus de l’Immigration à Amsterdam.”

55. Positive discrimination here refers to what may, in a non‐European context, be more commonly called “affirmative action.”

56. Fennema and Tillie, “Political Participation and Political Trust in Amsterdam”; Fennema et al., Sociaal Kapitaal en Politieke Participatie van Etnische Minderheden.