Postcolonial Citizens, Ethnic Migration, and Political Incorporation in Liberal Democracies: Locating the Dutch and Japanese Cases

Abstract

The Netherlands is said to be a ‘reluctant country of immigration’ and Japan a ‘latecomer to immigration’ (Cornelius et al., 1994). Both countries present critical cases because, in the last century, these ‘older’ (Dahl, 1989) liberal democracies have had contentious experiences with mass postcolonial citizen and ethnic migrations. If political incorporation is difficult for advantaged legal immigrants, it should be even more daunting for others. Hence, postcolonial citizens and ethnic immigrants in the Netherlands and Japan can act as miners’ canaries (Guinier and Torres, 2002) for all. This book is the first to comparatively shed light on the political stories of Dutch Antillean and Aruban citizens in the Netherlands, and Latin American Nikkeijin (Japanese descendants) in Japan, who inherit host state access as postcolonial citizens and ethnic immigrants. It is among a very few works to investigate cross-regionally the role of citizenship and ethnicity in migration, political incorporation, and political transnationalism in the age of globalization.

As far as the judicial system goes, and constitutional system, we [Dutch Antilleans and Arubans] are Dutch, full stop.

— Dutch Antillean Origin Official of the Dutch Council of State, 9 January 2007

In any country, if people have blood ties or descendants from that nationality, the same nationality, then of course it is easier to accept those people. It is also true to say in Japan … This … is not limited just to the South American Nikkeijin [Japanese descendants], it also includes of course, the US, China, all around the world, anyone who has got Japanese blood connections.

—Japanese Official of Japan Ministry of Justice’s Immigration Office, 1 August 2006