Trajecta - Volume 28, Issue 1, 2019

Abstract Over the course of the nineteenth century, the rite of circumcision became a hotly debated issue in several Jewish communities across Europe. All European countries followed their own path in the circumcision debates, depending on the country’s political and social environment. The Dutch circumcision debates concentrated exclusively on the medical and hygienic improvement of the rite. Between 1820 and 1890 Read More

Abstract The Jewish Question was one of the central themes in politics in the second half of the nineteenth century in the Netherlands and Germany. By examining the recent historiography on the subject, this article compares the views of Abraham Kuyper and Adolf Stöcker and challenges the general conclusion among researchers that Kuyper turned his back on Stöcker and the Jewish question after 1879. Furthe Read More

Abstract The Netherlands remained neutral during the First World War. For this reason, the impact of the war on this country was neglected for a long time. However, in the last decades, the way the war affected the Netherlands has been studied in more detail. Still, the cultural impact of the war has received only little attention. Therefore, this article studies the way in which a group of Catholic intellectuals, involved with the c Read More

Abstract In 1925 Alfons Loogman, a Holy Ghost Father, established the Catholic Swahili monthly paper Rafiki Yetu (‘Our Friend’) in Kenya. In the literature little is known about this journal, although it developed into the most important Catholic Swahili journal of East Africa. Loogman did not get much support of the apostolic vicar and his confreres for his initiative, so the publication of the journal became a personal enterpris Read More

Abstract In recent years, Islamic religious and cultural heritage has enjoyed growing interest in the heritage sector and academia. The attention to this specific heritage can be related to a broader attention to religious heritage and to the theme of migration, both at national and international level. It has often been argued that this heritage has the potential of increasing the social participation of migrants or can serve as an a Read More

Abstract In this article we want to sketch an example of how new alliances between secular and religious conservative actors and activists takes shape in contemporary Dutch society. To do so we focus on the case of a conservative catholic activist organization, Civitas Christiana, and its activist subsidiary, Cultuur Onder Vuur ‘Culture Under Fire’. This organization has become a vocal player in several nation-wide controve Read More