Sofie Vandermarliere
GLOBAL CITY-REGION BRUSSELS
Language, policy & identity in historical perspective
1. INTRODUCTION & KEY CONCEPTS
BRUSSELS (GOVERNANCE) = ?
Typical for the government of Brussels is the fragmentation
CONTRASTED PERCEPTIONS OF THE GOVERNANCE OF BRUSSELS
Brussels is seen as a problem of governance in Belgium
French and Dutch speakers oppose each other
We can’t understand how Belgium functions in a political point of view if you don’t understand
how Brussels functions
=> Brussels as a cornerstone of the Belgian political system
“Despite the rise of the ethno-national state, over 90% of world states are comprised of at least one significant
minority group (Smooha, 1978, Connor, 1973). Understanding how differing ethnicities can peacefully
coexist within a common state or society therefore remains a challenge …. The challenge is even greater in
instances where the authority and legitimacy of the state are themselves contested by these different
ethnopolitical groups” (O’Connor, 2011, 13).
URBAN POLITICS (IN BRUSSELS)?
Learning goals: introducing key concepts, course structure & evaluation
Content:
A. Why focusing on:
1. What are global city-regions?
2. Brussels & the link between “historical conflicts” and current debate?
3. Politico-linguistic “structural problem zones” impacting the political system?
B. Theories of Urban Politics & the concept of Power.
1. THE RELEVANCE OF GLOBAL CITY-REGIONS?
Concepts & definitions
THE “URBANIZATION” OF THE WORLD (& EUROPE)
1
,Sofie Vandermarliere
What is a city? How could you define a city?
• Definition of “city”? # interpretations
• UN: based upon national censuses, e.g.:
- Demographical criteria: +2.500 (USA) or +5.000 (India) inhabitants (+density?) Japan: 50.000
- Housing criteria: +100 constructions (Algeria)
- Administrative function: Province & District Centers (Turkey)
- Belgium: (often) related to historical city privileges (e.g. defensive walls, taxation, voting
rights, …)
Really depending on interpretation! Definition of a city varies much
RELEVANCE OF CITIES & URBAN GOVERNANCE RESEARCH
1) Multidimensional relevance of cities
a. Actor/Facilitator/Provider of services in the economic, social & cultural domain (e.g.
education, housing, transport, arts …)
b. Yet, (large) cities are as well a political actor: considered as “a political system as
such” (Rhodes, 1999, 16)
2) Cities/City-regions as “political actor”?
a. Belgium as “Decentralized Unitary State” since 1831: local government conceived as
a political counterweight and rooted in the Constitution
b. As of 1970: slow & gradual process of regionalization of the national State
(empowering local/regional politicians in Brussels as well)
=> varies from country to country (France: very centralistic, national dimension is the most
important)
Belgium became independent in 1830; first draft of constitutional law: “Belgium as a decentralized
unitary state” Influences the economy of Brussels today
2. WHY FOCUSING ON BRUSSELS?
Rankings & labels
BELGIAN CITIES ON THE RANKING OF WORLD CITIES
Important to focus on Brussels because Brussels only plays a role in the highest category – Brussels
is a world city because of the European government & NATO (EU doesn’t have a capital: has
institutions in different cities, but Brussels is an important one)
2
,Sofie Vandermarliere
Brussels ranked amongst global cities:
Brussels & the link between “historical conflicts” and current debate?
First world congress was held in Brussels (even before World War 1) - before the existence of those
international networks, Brussels was already positioning itself like the central city
- 1907: embedding of 42/109 international organizations (39%)
- 1910: 1st World Congress of international organizations
Capitalizing on image of (unofficial) “capital” of EU (seat of EUinstitutions)
Current impact of supra-national & international organizations in Brussels: ca. 17% of jobs labour
market
3. WHY FOCUSING ON (POLITICAL) “STRUCTURAL PROBLEM ZONES”?
Politics = conflict?
Conflicts as the quintessence of politics?
Cf. Daniele Caramani (2008, 2):
Politics is “the activity of acquiring (and maintaining) the power of making … decisions and of exercising
this power. It is the conflict or competition for power and its use”. Þ Power & Conflict as key constituents
of Politics
politics is about conflict, power and conflicts are related to each other, you can’t separate
them
3
, Sofie Vandermarliere
COMPETING PERSPECTIVES ON THE NATION/NATION-STATE
What is a nation (state)? “one nation one language: cohesion between people to have a nation ->
policy for one language” - Belgium did this too in the beginning: only French as an official language
until the late 19th century
Socially constructed by elites
ó Everybody living on the territory can live in the nation = very different perception of what a
nation can be
Cartoon: two villages competing (FR ó DU)
THE PAST (IN BRUSSELS) AS A “PROBLEM” IN BELGIAN POLITICS?
Article of Geert Buelens in De Standaard: ““Never too late. … As long as leading French-speakers
do not recognise that Flemings were treated as second-class citizens until deep into the twentieth
century ... marches and calls for unity and solidarity have no sense whatsoever”
Never too late for a French speaker to recognize the injustice that has been done to Dutch
speakers in the past, they were treated badly
2011: Does the Belgian “francophone elite” have to recognize the “historical injustice” “the Flemish”
underwent since 1830?
Historical conflicts impact the current political debate
Long tradition of linguistic struggle, esp. regarding “Brussels”
Main issue: towards a Belgian State with 2 drivers (BEL2) or 3 drivers (BEL3)? Key to the debate =
the position of Brussels
BEL2 (FL and W: cultural focus on language and rights, education: Flemish demand to have control
over media etc. - Walloon demand to have control over their economic resources) -> shared rule
(Brussels perspective: does not have autonomy) and BEL3 (FL W and BXL: three equal entities in
Belgium! Brussels has its own political autonomy => self-rule for Brussels decision makers)
4
GLOBAL CITY-REGION BRUSSELS
Language, policy & identity in historical perspective
1. INTRODUCTION & KEY CONCEPTS
BRUSSELS (GOVERNANCE) = ?
Typical for the government of Brussels is the fragmentation
CONTRASTED PERCEPTIONS OF THE GOVERNANCE OF BRUSSELS
Brussels is seen as a problem of governance in Belgium
French and Dutch speakers oppose each other
We can’t understand how Belgium functions in a political point of view if you don’t understand
how Brussels functions
=> Brussels as a cornerstone of the Belgian political system
“Despite the rise of the ethno-national state, over 90% of world states are comprised of at least one significant
minority group (Smooha, 1978, Connor, 1973). Understanding how differing ethnicities can peacefully
coexist within a common state or society therefore remains a challenge …. The challenge is even greater in
instances where the authority and legitimacy of the state are themselves contested by these different
ethnopolitical groups” (O’Connor, 2011, 13).
URBAN POLITICS (IN BRUSSELS)?
Learning goals: introducing key concepts, course structure & evaluation
Content:
A. Why focusing on:
1. What are global city-regions?
2. Brussels & the link between “historical conflicts” and current debate?
3. Politico-linguistic “structural problem zones” impacting the political system?
B. Theories of Urban Politics & the concept of Power.
1. THE RELEVANCE OF GLOBAL CITY-REGIONS?
Concepts & definitions
THE “URBANIZATION” OF THE WORLD (& EUROPE)
1
,Sofie Vandermarliere
What is a city? How could you define a city?
• Definition of “city”? # interpretations
• UN: based upon national censuses, e.g.:
- Demographical criteria: +2.500 (USA) or +5.000 (India) inhabitants (+density?) Japan: 50.000
- Housing criteria: +100 constructions (Algeria)
- Administrative function: Province & District Centers (Turkey)
- Belgium: (often) related to historical city privileges (e.g. defensive walls, taxation, voting
rights, …)
Really depending on interpretation! Definition of a city varies much
RELEVANCE OF CITIES & URBAN GOVERNANCE RESEARCH
1) Multidimensional relevance of cities
a. Actor/Facilitator/Provider of services in the economic, social & cultural domain (e.g.
education, housing, transport, arts …)
b. Yet, (large) cities are as well a political actor: considered as “a political system as
such” (Rhodes, 1999, 16)
2) Cities/City-regions as “political actor”?
a. Belgium as “Decentralized Unitary State” since 1831: local government conceived as
a political counterweight and rooted in the Constitution
b. As of 1970: slow & gradual process of regionalization of the national State
(empowering local/regional politicians in Brussels as well)
=> varies from country to country (France: very centralistic, national dimension is the most
important)
Belgium became independent in 1830; first draft of constitutional law: “Belgium as a decentralized
unitary state” Influences the economy of Brussels today
2. WHY FOCUSING ON BRUSSELS?
Rankings & labels
BELGIAN CITIES ON THE RANKING OF WORLD CITIES
Important to focus on Brussels because Brussels only plays a role in the highest category – Brussels
is a world city because of the European government & NATO (EU doesn’t have a capital: has
institutions in different cities, but Brussels is an important one)
2
,Sofie Vandermarliere
Brussels ranked amongst global cities:
Brussels & the link between “historical conflicts” and current debate?
First world congress was held in Brussels (even before World War 1) - before the existence of those
international networks, Brussels was already positioning itself like the central city
- 1907: embedding of 42/109 international organizations (39%)
- 1910: 1st World Congress of international organizations
Capitalizing on image of (unofficial) “capital” of EU (seat of EUinstitutions)
Current impact of supra-national & international organizations in Brussels: ca. 17% of jobs labour
market
3. WHY FOCUSING ON (POLITICAL) “STRUCTURAL PROBLEM ZONES”?
Politics = conflict?
Conflicts as the quintessence of politics?
Cf. Daniele Caramani (2008, 2):
Politics is “the activity of acquiring (and maintaining) the power of making … decisions and of exercising
this power. It is the conflict or competition for power and its use”. Þ Power & Conflict as key constituents
of Politics
politics is about conflict, power and conflicts are related to each other, you can’t separate
them
3
, Sofie Vandermarliere
COMPETING PERSPECTIVES ON THE NATION/NATION-STATE
What is a nation (state)? “one nation one language: cohesion between people to have a nation ->
policy for one language” - Belgium did this too in the beginning: only French as an official language
until the late 19th century
Socially constructed by elites
ó Everybody living on the territory can live in the nation = very different perception of what a
nation can be
Cartoon: two villages competing (FR ó DU)
THE PAST (IN BRUSSELS) AS A “PROBLEM” IN BELGIAN POLITICS?
Article of Geert Buelens in De Standaard: ““Never too late. … As long as leading French-speakers
do not recognise that Flemings were treated as second-class citizens until deep into the twentieth
century ... marches and calls for unity and solidarity have no sense whatsoever”
Never too late for a French speaker to recognize the injustice that has been done to Dutch
speakers in the past, they were treated badly
2011: Does the Belgian “francophone elite” have to recognize the “historical injustice” “the Flemish”
underwent since 1830?
Historical conflicts impact the current political debate
Long tradition of linguistic struggle, esp. regarding “Brussels”
Main issue: towards a Belgian State with 2 drivers (BEL2) or 3 drivers (BEL3)? Key to the debate =
the position of Brussels
BEL2 (FL and W: cultural focus on language and rights, education: Flemish demand to have control
over media etc. - Walloon demand to have control over their economic resources) -> shared rule
(Brussels perspective: does not have autonomy) and BEL3 (FL W and BXL: three equal entities in
Belgium! Brussels has its own political autonomy => self-rule for Brussels decision makers)
4
