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      SYMPOSIUM: DUTCH IDENTITY 
      VIRTUES AND VICES OF BOURGEOIS SOCIETY 
      Thursday May 6th / 2:00 - 6:15 h pm / Forum room, M-building,   
Woudestein, Erasmus University Rotterdam 
 
      http://www.eur.nl/studium/algemeen/bourgeoisenglish.html 
 
 
 
      How bourgeois was and is Dutch society? How bad is being bourgeois anyway? 
 
      Is being bourgeois a virtue? Many will rather think of it as a vice. Being bourgeois
stands for being calculating, prudent, boring and petty in one's interests. So to state
that the Dutch provinces owed their economic progress in the seventeenth century to the
bourgeois virtues of their citizens does not come across as a compliment.
 
 
      European history in the Golden Age of Flanders not only witnessed  the rise of
bourgeois culture in the economic and social realm but the advancement also set the stage
for the habits of thought that would dominate Europe since then. Bourgeois merchants
sought profits far away,
yet brought home the momentum that would speed up the further progress of 
humanistic culture in the homeland. 
 
      Deirdre McCloskey, a well known historian, economist, and  rhetorician, heralds in
her forthcoming book the bourgeois virtues of the Dutch merchants and sets them as example
for others to follow. She tries to add the Adam Smith of The Theory of Moral Sentiments to
the Smith of The Wealth of Nations. In her opinion, if the Dutch were more
bourgeois today, it would do them good. 
 
 
      Is McCloskey right? Will the bourgeois values continue to dominate  Dutch life? Did
these virtues inform, for example, the Dutch stance towards the Iraq war: no active
support but no opposition either? Does Dutch politics face up sufficiently to the
character of Dutch society?
 
 
      Guiding questions to this symposium are: what does it mean to be  bourgeois? How
important are the merchants and their mentality to Dutch society, to the Dutch economy? Is
Dutch society losing its bourgeois character, and if so, is that a bad thing?
 
 
      With prof. dr. Deirdre McCloskey (Economic History, Erasmus University Rotterdam and
University of Illinois, Chicago), dr. Ronald van Raak (politician Socialist Party, Upper
chamber), prof. dr. Robert von Friedeburg (German historian, Faculty of History and Arts,
Erasmus
University), prof. dr. Wiep van Bunge (History of Thought, Faculty of 
Philosophy, Erasmus University), prof. dr. Arjo Klamer (Economics of Art 
and Culture, Faculty of History and Arts, Erasmus University). 
 
      PROGRAMME 
 
      A BOURGEOIS VIEW 
 
      13.45 Registration 
      14.15 Opening by Prof.dr. Arjo Klamer 
      (Economics of Art and Culture, Faculty of History and Arts, Erasmus University) 
      14.25 Song 'De zilvervloot' about Piet Hein's legendary adventures   
* 
      14.30 Prof.dr. Deirdre McCloskey 
 
      (Economic History, University of Illinois Chicago and Erasmus  University) 
      15.00 Prof.dr. Wiep van Bunge 
 
      (History of Thought, Faculty of Philosophy, Erasmus University) 
      15.15 Panel discussion 
 
      15.35 Coffee / Tea 
 
      THE GOLDEN AGE - BEFORE AND AFTER 
      15.50 Song 'O Nederland let op u saek' (1626) about the Hispanic occupier * 
      15.55 Prof.dr. Robert von Friedeburg 
 
      (German historian, Faculty of History and Arts, Erasmus University) 
      16.10 Guest speaker (to be confirmed) 
 
      16.25 Panel discussion 
 
      16.45 Coffee / Tea 
 
      MODERN BOURGEOIS POLITICS 
      17.00 Song written by Vondel about the wrongful execution of Johan van Oldebarnevelt
*
      17.05 Michael Zeeman 
 
      (writer, critic and journalist) 
 
      17.20 Dr. Ronald van Raak 
      (politician Socialist Party, Upper chamber) 
 
      17.35 Panel discussion 
      18.10 Song written by Vondel in which he envisages a kind of  paradisiacal Holland
(1625) *
      18.15 Closure of programme 
 
 
      Symposium chair: Prof.dr. Arjo Klamer, Faculty of History and  Arts, Erasmus
University
 
      * For this occasion we have made a special selection of historical Dutch patriotic
and political songs. The songs will be performed by Steven Lodeweges (piano) and Albert
Edelman (tenor). Both are students of the Utrecht Conservatoire.
 
      Location 
      Erasmus University Rotterdam 
      Forumzaal, Expo- & Congress Centre 
      Burg. Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam 
      How to get there by car / public transport 
 
      Registration 
      * online registration 
      * registration at Studium Generale: H5-11 Woudestein, Monday to   
Thursday 9.30 - 17.00 hrs 
      * registration by telephone: 010 - 4081144 
      Places are limited, so registrations will be honoured in order of   
receipt of payment. You will receive a confirmation by email or post. 
 
      Costs / payment 
      students / HOVO:  E2, AC 7,50 
      others:  E2, AC 20,- 
 
      (coffee / tea included) 
      payment in cash: 
      Studium Generale, H5-11 Woudestein, Monday to Thursday 9.30 -   
17.00 hrs 
      payment by bank: 
      Studium Generale EUR, account no. 207.82.05, please state   
'Bourgeois' 
      (please make sure that the name / address of your bank account   
corresponds with your registration name) 
 
      Additional information 
      Studium Generale 
      [log in to unmask] 
      tel. 010 - 4081144 
 
      Symposium Organisers 
      Faculty of History and Arts, Erasmus University 
      (prof. dr. Arjo Klamer) 
      Erasmus Institute for Philosophy and Economics 
      (Altug Yalcintas) 
      Studium Generale, Erasmus University 
 
      With special thanks to Vereniging Trustfonds Erasmus Universiteit   
Rotterdam 
 
 
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