Justice and the Priority Right to Housing: the Case of the Moluccan Neighborhoods in the Netherlands

Abstract

In this research an answer has been given to the question: is the continued prioritization of Moluccan community members in the allocation of housing in the Moluccan neighborhoods ethically justified? The reason for this investigation is the contemporary debate within Dutch society where the justifiability of these neighborhoods is questioned. The Moluccan neighborhoods are concentrated places within the Netherlands where members of the Moluccan community live together. There, they have their own church and a community building, and in most of the neighborhoods, the members of the Moluccan community receive a priority right to housing over non-Moluccans. This unequal access to housing in those neighborhoods based on ethnicity raises questions about fairness. However, the Moluccan community did not receive this priority treatment and neighborhoods designated just for them solely based on their ethnicity. The Moluccan neighborhood policy resulted from a complex history in which the Moluccan community experienced multiple injustices related to Dutch government action.

This research shows that the Moluccan priority right to housing in the Moluccan neighborhoods continues to be justified, given (1) the negative consequences of neutral treatment related to misrecognition and cultural inequality; (2) the historical context that gave rise to the demand for preservation; and (3) given that the increase in housing opportunity for the rest of Dutch society is relatively insignificant and does not outweigh the important interest of the Moluccan community in these houses. As such, it is concluded that the preservation of the Moluccan neighborhoods, which includes a priority right for the Moluccan community, continues to be justified as long as Moluccan community members live in the Netherlands and have these additional identity-based interests in housing in the neighborhoods in comparison to non-Moluccans. Fairness requires recognition, and recognition requires the preservation of the Moluccan neighborhoods.