Pillarization

The following characterization of a ‘pillar’ captures the Dutch situation rather nicely: ‘A pillar is…defined as a subsystem in society that links political power, social organization and individual behaviour and which is aimed to promote—in competition as well as in cooperation with other social and political groups—goals inspired by a common ideology shared by its members for whom the pillar and its ideology is the main locus of social identification’ (Erik H. Bax). But how exactly do the several pillars relate to each other? Does the pillarization metaphor not suggest a false symmetry and uniformity? It has been a matter of debate whether the social democrats and the liberals could be aptly described as ‘pillars’. Various motives and aspects have played a role here. Important is the aspect of the emancipation of underprivileged groups, either in religious (Catholics and orthodox Protestants) or social respects (labourers). Second, the defence against secularizing tendencies—in particular against the ‘neutral’ state and its monopoly on schools—has been often mentioned. A third element concerns the wish of the elites to control the lower classes and to establish political stability in a pluralist society. Although pillarization was at its height between 1917 and 1968, confessional mobilization and organization had already started in the 1870s. The lens of ‘pillarization’ offers an important perspective by which to understand the specific process of modernization that characterized Dutch society from the late nineteenth century until well into the twentieth century.