Trouw articles in English
Welcome to the english section of trouw.nl, the website of Trouw newspaper, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In this section you will find a selection of articles that were published originally in Dutch in our paper, and which we think are interesting for a broader, international audience as well. Trouw was orginally founded as a (protestant) resistance newspaper during the Second World War, and is now one of the leading quality newspapers in the Netherlands. Education, healthcare and the role of religion and (new) religious groups in rapidly changing society are just a few of our major topics. Our articles in English can also be read on signandsight.com, a Berlin-based website that wants to stimulate debate on a european level by translating articles from various european newspapers into english.
The vegetarian as the better person
Trouw editor Iris Pronk considers herself a low profile vegetarian. Meat eaters regularly attempt to convert her. ,,I don’t mind. Maybe, I now realize, I even like it."
I am all I have
Many feel that depression is threatening to become the Number One epidemic. Cultural critics search for explanations. Is it society that pushes us? Are we wimps and cry-babies who can’t take anything anymore? Or is it the cunning pharmaceutical industry that talks us into it? Ethicist Frits de Lange has a different explanation.
’Testing breast cancer drug in India unethical’
A report has claimed that pharmaceutical companies are violating ethical rules when they test medicines in developing countries. Read the newsreport and feature by Joop Bouma, investigative journalist at Trouw newspaper
India a testing ground for Western medicines
Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has tested an experimental drug for breast cancer – now also available in the Netherlands – on women in India. This practice contravenes ethical standards, according to Wemos, a lobbying organization on international health issues. Today sees the publication of a report on drug research in India.
Calvinistic: from honorary nickname to term of abuse
At the start of the Year of Calvin, who was born 500 years ago, Lodewijk Dros investigates the fluctuating meaning of the term ‘Calvinistic’ in the Netherlands. ,,Regardless of how conflicting the meanings may be, they have one thing in common: They invariably entail a negative judgement."
Sensitive words
The philosopher Austin Dacey attended the ninth meeting of the Human Rights Council in Geneva en saw how islamic countries are increasingly succesfull in undermining the freedom of speech where religion in the public debate is concerned. „Blasphemy has returned to the world political stage."
This strange negativism
Were the old days all that good? Nahed Selim consciously chose to live in the Western world she fervently defends. „No civilization in the history of mankind has brought so many good things to so many people at the same time, as the modern, Western, capitalist society."
This might be hilarious if it weren’t so tragic!
At the 2001 UN Conference against Racism in Durban, anti-colonialism bared its anti-Semitic face. Democracies should stay away from a repeat performance next year in Geneva.
Islamization crept in a long time ago
Talking about the islamization of society is apparently taboo in the Netherlands, according to Muslima Nahed Selim. Why is that? "I think many Dutch people do not fully understand the term." She hopes that many more warnings will follow Geert Wilders’ film.
Suffer, fight, become a saint
Lidwina of Schiedam (1380-1433) was bedridden for forty years after a fall on the ice. According to Dutch sociologist Jolande Withuis there are more similarities between this roman-catholic saint and modern radical Muslimas than differences. Their self-sacrifice has nothing to do, however, with a ‘female nature’. An essay on the potential threat of terrorism from young Dutch Muslimas.
Not their son
There has been trouble in the Amsterdam district of Slotervaart following a few violent incidents involving youths of minority background. Many immigrant parents seem to withdraw from the outside world, which they percieve as hostile. When their child goes astray, they therefore blame this outside world.
Wandering man seeks muse
Many of the films presented at the Netherlands Film Festival in Utrecht this year are about men searching for something. About passive dreamers who hope for deliverance, preferably in the shape of a young woman. He knows, but that’s the way it is. The new man, like the old, needs a muse.
Designer bags and vaginas
A few weeks ago it was all over town. A billboard with a picture of a beautiful almost-naked female body, wearing only a bra. Eyes invisible. In front of her vagina a small designer bag. The poster carried this text : ‘lesson 84: lead him into temptation.’
