3.2 Marco Conceptual
3.2.17 Aspectos dinámicos de RUP
3.2.17.2 Elaboración:
the same time, however, occupational and residential dispersion increased.
The Identification of Self and Others
Identification processes are grounded in social structure. Identities are socially created and sustained and thus do not vary independently of interaction patterns. The identification of self and others can therefore be analyzed by focussing on the process through which boundaries are delineated and perceived by both in-group members and 'outsiders'.
The religious world-view of the Reformed Dutch migrants who settled in Kingborough was one characteristic which differentiated them from other members of the receiving society. It led to the following of behavioural norms which were not conducive to the development of social ties with 'outsiders'. In order to maintain the purity of their religious beliefs they established a community with a high degree of institutional completeness which was eventually able to maintain itself without the constraint of geographical isolation.
The community was characterized by the existence of a wide range of formal organizations and voluntary asssociations and the closure of social networks. The density, durability and intensity of social ties in this network increased over time as relatively specific role relationships were transformed into diffuse quasi-kinship ties. As a result, the community's boundaries were clearly defined by a variety of factors including nationality, regionality, dialect and religion. When applied in this situation, the concept of 'ethnicity' encompasses all of these shared characteristics and the 'we-feeling' felt by community members. For these migrants, religious commitment was part of their ethnic heritage. Religion and ethnicity overlapped and reinforced each other.
The overlap in ethnicity and religion is clearly illustrated by an analysis of Reformed Church membership. In theory, one could join the
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Reformed Churches of Australia irrespective of ethnic origin. The only requirement was a strong commitment to the tenets of orthodox Reformed theology. In reality, however, this world-view was shared by very few conservative Calvinist denominations none of which was represented in Tasmania prior to the establishment of the Kingston Reformed Church. Since commitment to such a unique world-view is typically acquired through a long-term socialization programme it becomes clear why membership in the Reformed Church was, in practice, confined to Dutch migrants of Reformed background.
A similar process occurred in relation to involvement in the Calvin Christian School. Although officially interdenominational and, like the church, non-ethnic, its unique educational creed produced a situation where, in practice, those involved in the school were predominantly Dutch migrants of Reformed background.
Initially, the most significant differentiating characteristic of these migrants had been their religious world-view. It was this characteristic which had motivated them to embark on the process of 'social engineering' which culminated in the development of an institutionally complete community functioning as a 'plausibility structure' for Reformed orthodoxy. However, an unintended consequence of this process was the maintenance of 'ethnicity' as a salient feature of social interaction among community members.
Just as the 'culture' of the community established by Reformed Dutch migrants was both ethnic and religious in nature, so were the social ties between members. The closed social networks and diffuse relationships among members can be described as ethno-religious. Thus, in each social context in which members were consciously expressing their religious world-view, they were also consciously and unconsciously expressing their 'ethnicity' in a shared and taken-for
transmitted to the second generation through both formal and informal socialization processes.
The community boundaries were thus defined by both religion and ethnicity. However, the
relative
salience of ethnicity or religion in the process of the identification of self and others varied across situational contexts and over time.On their arrival in Tasmania, these Reformed Dutch migrants accepted the assimilationist orientation which had been presented to them by both the Australian and the Netherlands governments. Their desire to 'become Australian' is illustrated by their high rate of naturalization as soon as possible after meeting residential requirements. It is also evident in the foreword to the 1961
Yearbook of
the Reformed Churches of Australia
. Written by a prominent Reformed Church minister it represents the official viewpoint of the church:11We are warned against making overhasted (sic)
statements. Immigration is a process, and its results are not to be judged after ten years, but rather after
generations .... Nevertheless .... compared with Canada we surely have the favourite (sic) conditions of smaller congregations,
with the advantage of getting integrated
sooner
(VanderBom,1961:7; italics added).In the same publication, in which he surveys the history of the church from 1959 -1961, VanderBom again emphasises religious over and above ethnic considerations:
"It is true that some Australians have become interested in our cause, but there are only the very few that have joined hands with us to serve the common cause, and make our churches more fit to fulfill their earnest desire to become Reformed Churches of Australia.
Our
name is clear enough.
At every suitable occasion it is advertised that we have our Australian and New Zealand155
born ministers .... However,
the stigma that we are so
Dutch,
soforeign, still torments us
(VanderBom,1961:5- 6; italics added).The members of this community defined themselves as a
religious
rather than anethnic
group. They attempted to demonstratetheir identification with Australian society by stressing that the church was established on purely religious grounds and that the school was interdenominational and non-ethnic. During this period, religious identity took precedence over ethnic identity in the presentation of self.
In some contexts, however, ethnic identification was significant. This is apparent during the initial stages of settlement when migrants were attempting to create a support network within the receiving society. The fact that they initially attended the meetings of Dutch migrants of varying backgounds is indicative of the salience of ethnicity in the process of self-identification. The anxieties created by the naturalization ceremony is another indicator of the significance of ethnicity. This process required Dutch migrants to renounce their allegiance to Queen Juliana who was an extremely popular monarch at the time.
Ethnic identification was even stronger among those who had lived in the Dutch East Indies where their Dutch identity had been significant in social interaction. It had conferred status on them in the colonial social structure and was one of the criteria for membership into the elite. Once in Tasmania, the social networks of these migrants typically included a greater proportion of non-Reformed Dutch migrants than was true for the majority of Reformed Church members.
This process in which the relative salience of ethnicity and religion altered across situations demonstrates the dynamic nature of community boundaries. Group identity was thus negotiable and dependent upon the situational context.
Native-born Australians interpreted the desire of Reformed Dutch migrants to establish their own organizations and to interact predominantly with each other as a consequence of their ethnicity. The religious differences were not meaningful to them and therefore were not recognized as a significant basis for categorization. On the other hand, 'ethnic' differences in the form of language and folkways, were visible. Furthermore., the dominant ideology and political rhetoric of the post-war era legitimated the process of labelling groups on the basis of their ethnicity (cf.Martin., 1978 :207-210).
While this chapter has presented an analytical description of the development of a Dutch 'community' in southern Tasmania it has been necessary to oversimplify the situation for ease of exposition. In reality, a complex set of links exists between members of the ethno-religious community and others in the receiving society which constantly alter the context within which adaptation occurs thereby affecting the very process of adaptation itself. The complexity of this process will become evident in the next chapter which describes and analyzes the adaptation of Dutch migrants who were not members of the Reformed Church.
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CHAPTER FIVE: THE DUTCH IN TASMANIA: TYPE 2- INDIVIDUAL MIGRATION AND DISPERSION
Dutch migration to Tasmania began in the late 1940s and continued throughout the 1950s and '60s. The category of Dutch migrants included a significant proportion whose social characteristics differed from those of Reformed background described in the previous chapter. The present chapter describes and analyzes the process of adaptation which characterizes the remaining members of this category.
These migrants constituted an heterogenous category in terms of background characteristics. They emigrated from a number of different provinces in the Netherlands and spoke various dialects of which the language of Frieslanders was the most distinctive. They varied in terms of religious affiliation and included a significant proportion of both Catholics and those declaring themselves as non-religious. They varied in terms of class, marital status, age, stage of life-cycle, year and mode of migration. In addition, some had spent a considerable period of time in the Netherlands Indies prior to migrating to Australia.
The decision to migrate was made by individual families so that many were unaware of acquaintances who had made similar decisions. This is clearly illustrated through an incident which occurred in 1983 recorded in the writer's field notes:
Mr. de Witte attended a function recently and, to his very great surprise, met an old school friend from the Netherlands. He was obviously delighted and asked him why he was visiting Australia. He then discovered that his old school friend had been living in Australia for twenty-five years. In the course of the conversation he further discovered that they had both migrated on the