Ger Mennens

Ger Mennens LLM MA is a lawyer and social scientist, who has worked at Maastricht University and is interested in minority rights, issues of democracy and political culture.

Multiculturalism and its critics

Multiculturalism is an inclusive philosophy. Its potential for integrating newcomers and minorities into society is undermined by false notions of its tendency to produce separatism and poverty.

By Ger Mennens

/ 17 Nov 2011

Multiculturalism and social cohesion

The nuts and bolts of a Big Society require a conspiracy of effects at every level, local, national and international. It also requires multiculturalism.

By Ger Mennens

/ 10 Nov 2011

Unmasking the myths of anti-multiculturalism

If society depicts immigration and immigrants as worthless and useless for the economy, these enemy images will lead to a hostile attitude towards all newcomers. The breach between locals and immigrants will become deeper and this soon undermines the social cohesion of any society.

By Ger Mennens

/ 30 Oct 2011

Multiculturalism and Dutch political culture

In the case of the seventeenth century Dutch Republic, there was no single, dominant religion. There was also no absolute majority religion. Instead, each province and each town had its own religious cultural groups.

By Ger Mennens

/ 22 Aug 2011

Multiculturalism and postmodernity: a challenge to our political structures

Mono-cultural nationalism can no longer provide us with the national identities we need. The formation of multi-cultural civic identities requires a new way of drawing our political maps.

By Ger Mennens

/ 5 Aug 2011