‘Talking back’ or small steps from within: strategies of immigrant-origin politicians and activists for more substantive political representation in Dutch politics

This chapter focuses on descriptive and substantive political representation by Dutch politicians and activists with an immigrant background. Our interest here is in how politicians and activists view the role that these parties play within the perceived descriptive and substantive political representation of minorities in Dutch politics and compare their perceptions with the perceptions of those functioning in mainstream political parties. It allows us to make different perspectives on how to understand governance networks in the Netherlands more inclusive and to achieve a better understanding of the role and function of these new smaller political parties. For our research, we spoke to a group of 21 individuals comprising Dutch politicians, representatives of interest groups and people who contribute to public debates around diversity and inclusion.