New Books in Islamic Studies
New Books in Islamic Studies

Radio ReOrient 14:8: Dutch Islamophobia and Muslim Exceptionalism, with Martijn de Koning, hosted by Marchella Ward and Amina Easat-Daas

May 22, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In 2015, the Dutch National Coordinator for Counterterrorism (NCTV) ordered municipalities to commission research on terrorism and radicalization among local Muslim communities—a request that was itself illegal, because the NCTV has no jurisdiction over municipalities. The municipalities then hired a private consultancy firm to carry out the research, also illegal. The firm’s researchers visited mosques, women’s organizations, and student groups, not announcing their real purpose, but posing as ordinary visitors. They also conducted home visits. The targets were not organizations suspected of extremism; they were the very organizations that municipalities cooperated with, because authorities were uncertain how “resilient” these communities were against radicalization. None of the investigations yielded any signs of serious threats. The response, in some cases, was not to stop but to suggest looking further. As Martijn de Koning puts it, “the interrogation never stops.”

The Myth of Dutch Tolerance and the Logic of Exceptionalism

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

Listen to Audio Summary Open in App

What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:00) **Introduction and Guest Background** - Hosts Marchella Ward and Amina Easat-Daas welcome listeners and introduce Dr. Martijn de Koning, an associate professor at Radboud University.
  • 2 (04:13) **The NCTV Affair: Definition and Mechanism** - De Koning explains an illegal surveillance program targeting Dutch Muslim communities, ordered by the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism (NCTV).
  • 3 (07:01) **Islamophobic Logic of the Surveillance** - De Koning argues the program's reasoning is inherently Islamophobic, using national security to justify extraordinary and illegal measures.
  • 4 (11:00) **The Myth of Dutch Tolerance** - De Koning explains how the "myth of tolerance" is a core national origin story that paradoxically fuels Islamophobia.
  • 5 (16:04) **Muslims as "Out of Place and Out of Time"** - The hosts and de Koning discuss how Muslims are positioned as antithetical to the national character.
  • 6 (21:37) **Muslim Resistance and Legal Victory** - De Koning describes how Muslim communities fought back against the illegal surveillance, achieving a landmark court ruling.
  • 7 (26:41) **Reaction to the Verdict and Persistent Islamophobic Tropes** - The far-right and government criticized the court's ruling, relying on the same Islamophobic reasoning that justified the original surveillance.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Amina Easat-Daas

Show Notes

In this episode Chella Ward and Amina Easat-Daas spoke with Dr Martijn de Koning about the nature of Islamophobia in the Netherlands and how this sits in relation to common perceptions about Dutch society as a liberal and tolerant society and the Islamophobic realities of the Netherlands. De Koning also spoke at length of the recent NTA affair in the Netherlands, the exceptionalising of surveilling Muslim communities and how Muslims in the Dutch context have begun to challenge this. Dr de Koning is an Associate Professor in Islam, Politics and Society at Radboud University and has published extensively on Islamophobia in the Netherlands.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/islamic-studies

New Books in Islamic Studies

More from this podcast

New Books in Islamic Studies →