THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Belonging to a country is often spoken of as something to be inherited, earned, or proved and determined by a status granted when a person meets certain legal or cultural expectations. An initiative of the Bahá’í of Office of Public Affairs of the Netherlands begins from another premise: that every person has a part to play in society’s shared future.
Titled “Golven van één zee” (“Waves of one sea”), the initiative does not try to settle who qualifies as Dutch. Instead, it shifts belonging from a contested definition of identity to the shared capacity to contribute: how can everyone, whatever their background, participate in the true prosperity of society and, through that contribution, come to feel at home within it?
The endeavor emerged from many discussions about discrimination, identity, and social cohesion in collaboration with diverse social actors and the Netherlands’ National Coordinator against Discrimination and Racism and led to a series of roundtable conversations that have engaged hundreds of residents from across the country. In those conversations, the Office has repeatedly encountered an underlying question: Who is considered Dutch?
Kimberley Truin, a collaborator of the Office, explained: “Attempts to answer this question by defining the qualities of Dutch identity inevitably create an ‘in-group’ and an ‘out-group.’”
“Society is not a host group in which others must find their place,” said Ms. Truin. “The principle of the oneness of humanity changes the starting point,” she added, pointing to a metaphor from the Bahá’í teachings. “Humanity is like one body, and every part has capacities needed for the well-being of the whole. Unity in diversity therefore requires not assimilation, but the participation of all.”
This perspective broadens the prevailing conception of participation, which is often measured mainly by economic activity. Participants pointed, for example, to mothers who may not be active in the formal workforce yet strengthen the life of their neighborhoods, caring for one another’s children, bringing families together, and fostering bonds among neighbors.
“When you can and want to contribute, you feel like you belong somewhere and it gives meaning to your life,” said a participant from Amsterdam.
The conversations have also brought into view the everyday obstacles that can prevent people from participating fully: from schools and workplaces to shops, sports grounds, social media, and public institutions. At one school in a rural area, participants initially felt that discrimination was not a significant concern in their surroundings. As the discussion unfolded, however, they began to recognize less visible barriers faced by people on their own streets and to consider how these might be addressed.
For the Office, overcoming such barriers calls for change at three interconnected levels: the individual, the community, and institutions.
Sherene Farag, a member of the Office, stated: “Institutions shape public opinion, and when their work is not grounded in the oneness of humanity, divisions between ‘us’ and ‘them’ will persist.”
Mrs. Farag added: “Much depends on their readiness to bring people together and to carry insights from neighborhoods into national policy, without taking over what communities must learn to do themselves.”
Any approach to inclusion falls short, observed the Office, if it does not also address the qualities that allow people to live well together: patience, dedication, and the capacity to see one another as equals.
“These are what carry a community beyond tolerance toward love and acceptance,” said Mrs. Farag.
Young people have shown particular readiness to carry insights from the conversations into action. In Weert, youth participants proposed gatherings where residents could hear one another’s life stories. In Utrecht, plans for neighborhood forums to welcome those recently arrived in the country began to take shape. At a language school for 16- and 17-year-olds learning Dutch, participants left the roundtable eager to initiate similar activities in their own neighborhoods.
Nasim, a young person engaged in Bahá’í community-building efforts, has seen how serving alongside others can foster harmonious relationships among youth who might not ordinarily spend time together. Through acting together and discussing meaningful questions, he said, differences cease to be barriers and genuine friendships can emerge.
“If you connect more and more people, it means there are fewer people you are excluding,” said Nasim.
The underlying hope at the heart of those involved found expression in the words of a 14-year-old participant from Weert: “A new generation sets a new standard.”
The Office plans to expand this ongoing conversation to more neighborhoods in the coming year. Experiences generated through these discussions will be further explored through a publication, several podcasts, and through artistic initiatives.
