Nationalising Foreigners: The Making of American National Identity

Official nationalism is on the rise, but its impact on relations between people with and without a migration background in institutions is under-studied. This study, based on 55 interviews in a Dutch ministry in 2016, shows that official Dutch nationalist framings of those relations have been taken over by civil servants. These framings trigger boundary-making between themselves and discrimination in access to career opportunities, in a climate of insecurity. However, official nationalism absorption, boundary-making and discrimination are partially neutralized by respondents resorting to institutionally ‘nested’, work-related and civic identities that enable cooperation, communication and fair allocation of career opportunities. Findings also highlight the exclusive continuities of various forms of imposed official nationalism, including ethno-nationalism and multiculturalism. They all set people with migration backgrounds apart as culturally different, which foments insecurity among them. Non-nationalist and institutionally ‘nested’ identities and procedures offer participation and inclusion to our respondents, not ethno-nationalism nor multiculturalism.