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Rene Cuperus

René Cuperus is Director for International Relations and Senior Research Fellow at the Wiardi Beckman Foundation, think tank of the Dutch Labour Party/PvdA. He is also columnist at Dutch daily de Volkskrant.

Rene Cuperus

Dutch Social Democracy: Reuniting The Fragmented Left

Rene Cuperus 20th September 2017 1 Comment

So, René Cuperus, thank you very much for joining us today in the SWOT analysis project of different social democratic parties across the world. We’re going to talk about the Dutch case today, the PvdA, its position and its strategic objectives. First of all, what is the historic position of the Social Democratic party in […]

Dutch Summer Festival: How Populism Is Mindf***ing And Fragmenting Traditional Politics

Rene Cuperus 31st July 2017

Why has the nationalist-populist tsunami, expected to win all 2016-2017 elections, so far been contained to the English-speaking world? This tidal wave peaked with Brexit and Trump’s win of the US presidency. And then it stopped in its tracks. Instead, we have encountered a phenomenon that has been dubbed ’the strange non-death of Old Europe’. […]

The Dutch Referendum – Revolt Of The 60%

Rene Cuperus 18th April 2016

Highly educated versus lowly educated. Muslims against non-Muslims. ’People’ versus ‘Elite’. Young against old. Mainstream against populist. All is pointing in the same direction: countries like the Netherlands enter the future in increasingly separate worlds. The divisive tensions seem to triumph over the binding, bridging forces. Take the Dutch referendum about the EU-Association Agreement with […]

Refugees: The Bright And Dark Sides Of Modern Germany

Rene Cuperus 22nd February 2016

Germany’s Dutch neighbors are following its refugee debate closely and with a mixture of admiration, astonishment and confusion. Before “Cologne” we had great respect for the German “welcoming culture” and Angela Merkel’s courageous “We can do it”. One felt the painful contrast between a Germany that wanted euphorically to show off its good side and […]

Understanding Democracy’s Achilles Heels

Rene Cuperus 17th November 2015

A new Dutch survey signals the need for moderate forces to reinvent themselves in order to halt growing dissatisfaction with the political and democratic process. The societal tensions that have come to the surface in many European countries as a result of the refugee crisis are a symptom of a wider systemic crisis. Our postwar […]

Europe’s Populist Pandora’s Box

Rene Cuperus 10th March 2015 1 Comment

In Europe, the populist Pandora’s box has been opened. From Athens to Dresden, Paris to Madrid, we are seeing strong signs of a people’s revolt against the established order everywhere. A pan-European crisis of political trust and representation comes to the surface, focussing mainly on the presumed dark sides of migration and European integration. Nearly […]

Electoral Bloodbath For Dutch Labour

Rene Cuperus 31st March 2014 1 Comment

The Dutch Labour party (PvdA) is in a coalition government with the conservative-liberal political party (VVD) of Prime Minister Mark Rutte: recent local elections saw them lose significant traditional strongholds, with their support falling to 10%. The elections appear to signify an historic shift towards ever greater social fragmentation as ‘Big Tent’ parties fail to […]

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