The Dutch bourgeois civilising offensive in the nineteenth century

Abstract

The term ‘burgerlijk beschavingsoffensief’(bourgeois civilising offensive) was first coined in 1979 by the Dutch historian Piet de Rooy, in his book on Unemployment in the Netherlands during the Great Depression. Almost thirty five years later, the concept has spread widely and proved very flexible, both in academic circles, and in the media. For example, it has been used to analyze episodes in the Middle Ages, in departmental papers on the relation between government and the art world, and even to study the role of pot plants in civilising working class homes. In this paper. I will revisit the origin of the concept.