Immigrant integration : the Dutch case

The Dutch developed a systematic policy of immigrant integration earlier than many other European countries. This policy, as well as the recent economic benefits of the so-called polder model have made The Netherlands internationally known for their success in the area of immigrant integration. But has socio-economic integration been as successful as is generally believed and how does it relate to the cultural aspects of the integration process? In answering these questions, this study devotes attention to the differences and similarities between and within the main target groups of Dutch integration policy - the people of Moluccan, Surinamese, Antillean, Southern European, Turkish and Moroccan descent. This book provides a unique overview of a long-term process of integration among the main immigrant groups and demonstrates that cultural assimilation is not the highway to upward mobility that classical assimilation theory envisioned. It points to similarities with immigrant integration elsewhere while at the same time clarifying specific circumstances and developments of the Dutch.