NOTES TO PAGES 537–44- Unni Wikan,Generous Betrayal: Politics of Culture in the New Europe(Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 2001). - Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth,Redistribution or Recognition? A Political-Philosophical Ex-
change(London: Verso, 2003).
Job Cohen, Can a Minority Retain Its Identity in Law? The 2005 Multatuli Lecture
note:This lecture was delivered in the Grote Kerk of Breda on October 21, 2005. The Multatuli
Lecture is a joint Dutch-Flemish annual event. It has taken place since 1996, alternately in Breda in
the Netherlands and in Leuven, Belgium, and is supported by the governments of the provinces of
Noord-Brabant and Vlaams-Brabant, as well the cities of Breda and Leuven and several private
parties. The event is organized by the Multatuli Foundation, the European Centre for Ethics, and
various socio-cultural organizations.
The Multatuli Lectures concern topics related to multiculturalism, addressing such questions
as: Under what circumstances will cultural confrontation lead to enrichment rather than antago-
nism? In what way is culture exploited for political ends? and What role can culture play in the
development of democratic relations?
Multatuli, which is Latin for ‘‘I have born much,’’ is the pseudonym of the Dutch writer and
journalist Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820–87). After eighteen years of colonial civil service in the
Dutch East Indies, he returned to Europe in 1856 a disillusioned man. The way indigenous peoples
were treated in the Dutch East Indies, by their own people as well as by the Dutch rulers, offended
him so much that he resigned after a public conflict. In his novelMax Havelaar, published in 1860,
he recorded his experiences. The book, the first anticolonial novel written in the Netherlands, was
an instant success and became a bestseller throughout Europe. Multatuli became a kind of Dutch
national conscience of his time, inspiring movements such as the freethinkers, socialists, and anar-
chists—even though in Dutch society he remained an outsider with little popularity. He is now
considered one of the greatest writers in the Dutch language.
The form of Multatuli’s writings was diverse: sometimes they consisted in only one or two
sharply formulated sentences; at other times he wrote novels. Many of these miscellanies were
published in uniform volumes calledIdeas, of which seven appeared between 1862 and 1877. ‘‘Idea
no. 7,’’ mentioned at the start of my lecture, is taken from the first volume ofIdeas, published in
1862.
In the conception and writing of this lecture, I am indebted to Maria Cuartas y de Marchena,
my chief of staff and principal speechwriter.
The Dutch text of the lecture can be accessed at: http://www.amsterdam.nl/gemeente/documenten/
toespraken/cohen/2005. Its Dutch title is ‘‘Ruimte’’ (Space).
- Piet de Rooij,Republiek van rivaliteiten(Republic of rivalries) (Amsterdam: Mets & Schilt,
2002). - See Job Cohen, ‘‘Cleveringarede 2002,’’ University of Leiden, 2002.
- Hans Boutellier,Intermediair, October 31, 2002.
- Interview by Bart Top with James Kennedy inReligie en verdraagzaamheid(Religion and
tolerance) (Ten Have: Uitgeverij, 2005), 36–47. - Sjoerd de Jong inNRC Handelsblad, November 30, 2004.
- See Top, interview with James Kennedy,Religie en verdraagzaamheid, 42.
7.Staatsblad(Stb) 2004, 681.
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