This expertiselab focuses on the following subjects:
- Authorative alliances
- Buro Zend-Uit. Online talent-management research.
1. Authorative alliances
‘They are taking over our country’; ‘My friends are becoming westernized ’ ‘My son doesn’t want to consort with non-believers’; ‘I only trust genuine Dutchmen’; It’s time for a new dictatorship’.
Mentioned above are a series of random remarks that can be frequently heard in Dutch society. These remarks however hurt the feelings of a part of the population and they create polarization. What can be done to prevent this? The expertise lab ‘Resilient Identities’ is trying to find long term strategies to help young people develop in such a way that they can escape from the socio-cultural margins of society. How will institutions be able to exert moral influence on young people so that they will be able to offer alternatives to extremist propaganda? How can we ensure that young people become more resilient and resist alienation from politics and democracy? What partnerships can be made to create moral authority without resorting to the threat of violence?
This Expertise Lab explores the goals, possibilities and limitations of the so called ‘authoritative alliances’, in which adults defend society as it is while simultaneously appealing to the imagination of our nations' youth. The main reason behind the study is to find the agents and processes that contribute to building resilient identities. We will also explore what policies are needed to facilitate cooperation between schools, youth organizations and religious institutions to generate resilient political and social identification and participation processes. That way, we will gain important insights into what happens when, at the start of a possible radicalization or alienation process, we start a personal dialogue instead of ending one.