Alive and Kicking? Multiculturalism in Flanders

Abstract

Flanders, the Flemish part of Belgium, is in mid-2004 still embracing the idea of multiculturalism – the recognition and protection of immigrants as distinct ethnic groups – while this idea is in crisis in the neighbouring country of the Netherlands from where it was imported. Two reasons can be cited to explain the survival of multiculturalism in the region. First of all, the transformation of the Flemish political landscape, in which issues pertaining to immigrant incorporation are of central importance, accounts for the resilience of the idea and practice of multiculturalism in Flemish policy-making. In addition, the multicultural model has been able to survive due to the intertwining of issues linked to immigrant incorporation on the one hand, and multinational politics on the other, in the context of the Brussels- Capital Region.