Then I Guess I’m a Nazi. That was supposed to have been the title of the public version of Nikki Sterkenburg’s doctoral thesis, in which she followed a number of Dutch far-right activists. At least, until the publisher commented that maybe that wasn’t such a good idea: “Nobody is going to read a book with a title like that on the train.” And so it was changed to But You Can’t Say That, a saying used often and ironically amongst the activists. “Because they know full-well that legally, you can say an awful lot in the Netherlands,” says Sterkenburg over the phone. “Rightly so, as freedom of expression is a very good thing. However undesirable their thoughts may be, the government should not become the thought police.”
"Intimidating those with differing opinions has become normalised. Just look at what Sylvana Simons and Sigrid Kaag have to deal with"
Rather, the reaction should come from society itself, she argues in her book: a social debate about what we consider permissible, an active response to far-right displays. However, she concludes ruefully, that is often lacking.
Where far-right radicals in the nineties were often socially isolated because of their opinions, the extremists she has been following since 2015 are able to express them without rebuttal and without social consequences. She describes the shocking, everyday example of an activist, who works in care, who would prefer not to have to wash people of colour and gets away with it. “There seems to be a belief,” says Sterkenburg, “that all opinions should be allowed to exist side by side. But such a liberal live-and-let-live attitude fails to take into account that some people’s opinions would actually restrict other people’s ability to live their lives the way they want.”
"We can't see it, so it no longer exists"
Maybe, she sighs, “we let down our guard a little at the turn of the millennium: the far-right Centre Democrats were voted out of parliament, their leader Janmaat died, the movement shrank. ‘We can’t see it, so it no longer exists’, they thought.” At the same time, the far-right movement repackaged its harsh words into a softer message. “Instead of ‘race’, it’s about ‘culture’ or ‘ethnicity’. So we don’t necessarily recognise the far-right ideology for what it is. You see it in discussions about ‘omvolking’. Yes, the composition of Dutch society is changing, but the idea that there is some grand scheme to replace the ‘original’ Dutch population is a conspiracy theory”, which has nonetheless been the subject of debate right up to the levels of parliament. “Or the idea that it is acceptable to treat some minorities as second-class citizens, from the point of view that, ‘We have freedom of religion, but not for everybody’.”
Wolves in suits
As part of her research, she followed over forty activists, from outspoken neo-Nazis to the ‘intellectual wolves in suits’ of the alt-right movement, which has made its way across from America. It’s a small group, Sterkenburg acknowledges, and “maybe only a few individuals would ever actually escalate to violence”. However, their rhetoric has a far greater reach, especially online, than their numbers might suggest. That has an effect in the ‘real’ world: “What was once written down in a dark corner of the internet, is now discussed in the House of Representatives. And intimidating those with differing opinions has become normalised. Just look at what politicians like Sylvana Simons and Sigrid Kaag have to deal with.”
Or Sterkenburg herself: “When I give an interview and it goes viral, it can often get quite unpleasant for a bit. Not just online, no, but I think it would be better if I don’t say anything more.”
"You have to keep speaking to people and make abundantly clear that you find their opinions problematic, not them personally"
Back to the time of social isolation, then? Sterkenburg doesn’t see that as an option. Interviews with Dutch jihadis and far-right extremists have taught her “that deradicalisation always starts with a comment from someone close, which starts to sow seeds of doubt about their own opinions. So you have to keep speaking to people and make abundantly clear that you find their opinions problematic, not them personally. That’s what you have to keep focusing on: ‘You want the Netherlands to be white? How? Are you going to sterilise people? Or deport them?’ When people then voice their opinions out loud, it can sometimes be shocking to them.”