PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

Anti-Discrimination Bureaus in the Netherlands developed from ad-hoc action groups to professional organisations in the 1980s and 1990s. So far, no research has been done on the effects of this institutionalisation on the identity of the Anti-Discrimination Bureaus. Therefore, this paper studies two cases of Dutch Anti-Discrimination Organisations, an Anti-Discrimination Bureau and the national expertise centre for Anti-Discrimination Bureaus. Based on commemorative publications, produced on the occasion of the organisations' anniversaries, the self-positioning of the Anti-Discrimination Organisations in relation to people who experience discrimination is analysed. It is argued that the investigated organisations created narratives about a "situated neutrality" to describe themselves as professional organisations. This "situated neutrality" implies a professional distance to their "clients". Concurrently, both organisations insist on advocating victims of discrimination. This ambivalence allows other political actors to criticise the position of Anti-Discrimination Bureaus in relation to people who experience discrimination.