Stories of Solidarity and Polarization during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Diary in Excerpt

A Diary in Excerpt

Abstract

In this article I look back at the things written in my Curare Coronavirus Diary. I write in hindsight about the observations made by me about solidarity and polarization in Dutch society in times of COVID-19. The paper touches upon various examples of solidarity that emerged in Amsterdam at the start of the pandemic, how polarization rooted, and what groups are involved in the process of polarization. The paper was inspired and written using observations made of the media, protests and demonstrations, and the current Zeitgeist in Dutch society. Although others think that the current polarization will have a lasting effect on Dutch society, I argue that when the crisis is over there is room for reconciliation. The paper’s argument states that it might not be easy to overcome certain, often deeply engrained, differences that have developed in the past year. But with a unifying factor such as the sense of citizenship and Dutch identity it is possible to overcome said differences.