Pim Fortuyn’s Nationalism and the Transformation of the Political Discourse in the Netherlands

Abstract

The aim of this master thesis is to illuminate how Pim Fortuyn’s personal nationalism was an integral part of his charismatic leadership through which he was able to change the Dutch political discourse unlike his nationalist predecessors in the Netherlands. Charismatic leadership, according to Max Weber, is comprised of the attribution of extraordinary qualities to an individual by a so-called charismatic community. While Dutch political scholars have described Fortuyn as a charismatic leader in the Weberian sense, there are few have looked at the mission for which this charismatic leader has been striving. This thesis aims to fill this gap in academic literature by examining both the ethnic and civic elements of Pim Fortuyn’s personal nationalism.