The global migration of art, culture and knowledge leads to processes of interculturalisation and raises the question of what is one's own and what is foreign. This affects our self-image and identity. Global cultural transmission and transformation have, throughout history, led to convergence, homogenisation and loss of variety on the one hand and to greater diversity on the other. Investigating these interactions and network connections in the past and present offers insight into the origins of the imagination of identity, and can explain philosophical, ethical and aesthetic self-images. Knowledge about the emergence of these images is important, for instance, in processes of global migration and European unification in which the Netherlands will have to define its position culturally, economically and legally.
Connecting character
The question of our identity, self-image and its relation to globalisation is strongly related to current events coloured by issues of nation-building and migration flows. Scholarly questions concern, for instance, the role of the media-determined image when we conceive culture as a product of migration. Or about the relationship between culture of the motherland and diasporic cultures. Or about the role stereotyping plays in forming our self-image. For the future position of our country and the adaptive capacity of its inhabitants, understanding how the Netherlands has related to the rest of the world over time is important. The history of slavery and its spillover into current affairs is a telling example. The social importance of research around this question lies in the resilience of society, in which stability is a necessary condition for our economic and social development.
