Pillarisation (Verzuiling in Dutch, Pilarisation in French) is a term used to describe the way the Dutch and Belgians used to deal with their multicultural (but not multiethnic) societies. Society was "vertically" divided in several smaller segments or "pillars" according to different religions or ideologies, which operated separately from each other. Austrian and Maltese societies were other examples of this phenomenon. Multiethnic societies, in contrast to nationalistic societies, integrate different ethnic groups irrespective of differences in culture, race, and history under a common social identity larger than one nation in the conventional sense. ... ... An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ...

These pillars all had their own social institutions: their own newspapers, broadcasting organisations, political parties, trade unions, schools, hospitals, building societies, universities, scouting organisations and sports clubs. Some companies even only hired personnel of a specific religion or ideology. This led to a situation where many people had no personal contact with people from another pillar. This article is about a sociological concept. ... Publieke Omroeps logo Publieke Omroep is the Dutch broadcasting company that is responsible for the Dutch TV Channels Nederland 1, Nederland 2 & Nederland 3. ... A political party is a political organization subscribing to a certain ideology or formed around very special issues. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... American high school students in a school A school is most commonly a place designated for learning. ... A physician visiting the sick in a hospital. ... Building society was the name given in 19th century Britain for working mens co-operative savings groups: by pooling savings, members could buy or build their own homes. ... A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees at all levels (bachelor, master, and doctor) in a variety of subjects. ... It has been suggested that Section (Scouting) be merged into this article or section. ...

Situation in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands there were (at least) three pillars: Protestant, Catholic and Socialist. Almost all Catholics were part of the Catholic pillar. Orthodox and conservative Protestants joined the Protestant pillar, while more latitudinarian Protestants and atheists either joined the Socialist pillar or were pillarless. The Protestant party Christian Historical Union did not organise a pillar of its own but linked itself to the Protestant pillar shaped by the Anti Revolutionary Party. People in the Socialist pillar were mainly working class. People who were not associated with one of these pillars, mainly middle and upper class latitudinarian Protestants and atheists set up their own pillar: the general pillar. Ties between general organisations were much less strong. The political parties usually associated with this pillar were the liberal VDB and LSP, although these parties opposed pillarisation. Communists and ultra-orthodox Protestants also set up similar organisations, these however were much smaller. Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Socialism is an ideology of a social and economic system in which the means of production are collectively owned and administered by all of society. ... Separate articles treat Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Orthodox Judaism. ... Latitudinarian was initially a pejorative term applied to a group of 17th century British theologians who believed in conforming to official Church of England practices but who felt that matters of doctrine, liturgical practice, and ecclesiastical organization were of relatively little importance. ... For information about the band, see Atheist (band). ... The Christian-Historical Union (CHU) was a Dutch Protestant party. ... The Anti-Revolutionaire Partij (ARP, Anti-revolutionary Party) was a political party in the Netherlands from 1879 until 1980. ... The term working class is used to denote a social class. ... The middle class (or middle classes) comprises a social group once defined by exception as an intermediate social class between the nobility and the peasantry. ... The term upper class refers to a group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. ... This article discusses liberalism as a major political ideology as it developed and stands currently. ... The Communist party of the Netherlands (CPN, in Dutch Communistische Partij Nederland) was a communist party of the Netherlands. ...

The following table shows the most important institutions per pillar:

After the second world war liberals and socialists, but also Protestants and Catholics began to doubt the pillarised system. They founded a unity movement, the People's Movement Nederlandse Volksbeweging. Progressives of all pillars (including the Catholic resistance movement Christofoor) were united in this. They wanted a breakthrough (doorbraak) of the political system. But pillarisation was ingrained in Dutch society, and could not be defeated that easily. Even the People's Movement suffered from this, it was associated with the socialistic party, SDAP, and its ideology was socialism combined with democratic principles. Only the left liberal VDB and the minor Protestant CDU joined the SDAP to form a new political party: the Labour Party, Partij van de Arbeid in 1946. Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Socialism is an ideology of a social and economic system in which the means of production are collectively owned and administered by all of society. ... The Anti-Revolutionaire Partij (Dutch for Anti Revolutionary Party) was the first Dutch political party. ... The Christian-Historical Union (CHU) was a dutch protestant-christian party. ... The Dutch Reformed village church of St. ... Rooms-Katholieke Staatspartij (Roman-Catholic Political Party, RKSP) was a Dutch Catholic Christian-Democratic political party. ... Social Democratic Labour Party (in Dutch: Sociaal-Democratische Arbeiders Partij), a political party which exisited between 1894 and 1945. ... Categories: Politics stubs | Liberal related stubs | Historical liberal parties | Netherlands political parties ... Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of... Categories: Politics stubs | Liberal related stubs | Historical liberal parties | Netherlands political parties ... Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of... The Katholieke Volkspartij (KVP) was a conservative Dutch political party started 22 December 1945. ... The Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA), or Labour Party, is a social democratic political party in the Netherlands. ... The Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD), literally Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, is a free market liberal party in the Netherlands. ... NCRV or Nederlandse Christelijke Radio Vereniging (Dutch Christian Radio Association) is a radio and television broadcaster in the Netherlands, mostly transmitting over Nederland 1. ... The VPRO (originally an acronym for Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep, or free-thinking protestant radio broadcasting company, but since long the acronym has been kept but its meaning dropped) was established in the Netherlands in 1926 as a religious broadcasting organization, linked to the protestant pillar. ... Kro (sometimes referred to as the Warlord Kro) is a is a Marvel Comics supervillain. ... Vara is an old Spanish and Portuguese unit of length. ... Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond (CNV, The National Federation of Christian Trade Unions in the Netherlands) is a federation of trade unions of the Netherlands. ... Trouw is a Dutch newspaper. ... De Volkskrant is a Dutch newspaper. ... NRC Handelsblad is a Dutch evening newspaper. ... The Vrije Universiteit is a university in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ... The Radboud University Nijmegen, formerly called University of Nijmegen is the university of the Dutch city of Nijmegen. ... A Morris dance is a form of folk dance. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Sociaal Democratische Arbeiders Partij, a Dutch political party that later merged into the Partij van de Arbeid Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei, a German political party that later merged into the Social Democratic Party of Germany Service Discovery Application Profile, a network protocol used in Bluetooth This is a disambiguation page — a navigational... Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of... VDB is a three-letter abbreviation with multiple meanings, as described below: Verity database Video Data Bank Virtual Database Visual Database Voluntary Denied Boarding This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page—a list of articles associated with the same title. ... The Christian-Democratic Union (in Dutch: Christelijk-Democratische Unie) was a minor christian left party in the Netherlands in the interbellum. ... For the Belgian political party of the same name, see Partij van de Arbeid (Belgium). ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...

During the 1960s these pillars, particularly under political criticism from D66 and the group Nieuw Links (New Left) in PvdA, largely broke down. For example, VPRO moved towards the general pillar in years. Television was also pillarised, but in its early years (the 1950s) it had only one station, which meant that everyone watched the same broadcasts. Young people did not want to be associated with these organisations. Because of this and increased mobility many people saw that people from the other pillar weren't that different. Increased wealth and education made people independent of many of these institutions. In 1973, ARP and CHU of the Protestant pillar united with Catholic KVP in CDA. In 1976, the Catholic trade union NKV merged with NVV of the Socialist pillar to form the FNV in 1982. The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... Democraten 66 (D66), is a social liberal party in the Netherlands. ... The VPRO (originally an acronym for Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep, or free-thinking protestant radio broadcasting company, but since long the acronym has been kept but its meaning dropped) was established in the Netherlands in 1926 as a religious broadcasting organization, linked to the protestant pillar. ... // Events and No. ... An institution is a group, tenet, maxim, or organization created by a group of humans. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1973 calendar). ... The Christen Democratisch Appèl (Abbriviated: CDA, English: Christian-Democratic Appeal) is a Dutch christian-democratic political party. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1976 calendar). ... The Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (FNV, Federated Netherlands Labour Movement) is the largest federation of trade unions in the Netherlands. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

By the 21st century, pillarisation has disappeared but many remnants can be seen: public television for instance is divided over several pillarised organisations, instead of being one organisation. Nevertheless, there are small pillars that still exist today. Usually, members of the Reformed Churches (liberated) have their own schools, a university, their own national newspaper, and several organizations such as a Labor Union, psychiatric hospitals, et cetera.

Situation in Belgium

Belgian society is equally pillarised. In contrast to the Netherlands there wasn't a Protestant pillar. Also there was no "general" pillar but a politically well-organised liberal pillar. In both Flanders and Wallonia societies are pillarised. In Flanders Catholics were the dominant pillar, in Wallonia the Socialists were formed the strongest pillar. Even though the liberals are stronger in Belgium, than in the Netherlands, they are still relatively weak, due to their rather small, bourgeois support: Liberal unions are very small. The De Tijd, a financial daily, is the paper aligned with the liberals. This is only due to its readers, not editorial policies. However, a Dutch newspaper with historical liberal roots, Het Laatste Nieuws also exists. Like in the Netherlands, denominational, Catholic, schools often receiving public money so that tuition was almost completely free. Belgian universities charge more or less the same, relatively low tuition fees Flanders (Flemish, Fleming) (Dutch: Vlaanderen (Vlaams, Vlaming)) has-diddley two-diddley main-diddley designations-diddley: a-diddley geographical-diddley region-diddley in-diddley-diddley-diddley the-diddley north-diddley of-diddley Belgium-diddley, corresponding-diddley to-diddley the-diddley Flemish Region, a-diddley consituent-diddley part-diddley of-diddley the... Wallonia (French: Wallonie) or the Walloon Region (French: Région Wallonne) is the predominantly French-speaking region that constitutes one of the three federal regions of Belgium, with its capital at Namur. ... De Tijd, formerly De financieel-economische Tijd, is a Belgian newspaper with much content on economics and business. ... Het Laatste Nieuws is a Flemish language newspaper based in Brussels. ...

After the second world war the pillars split over the language issue that became the most significant divisive issue in the nation. Now every language group has three pillars of its own. The pillar system was the primordial societal divide much longer in Belgium than it was in the Netherlands. Only near the end of the Cold War did it begin to lose importance, at least at the individual level, and to this day it continues to influence Belgian society. For example, even the 1999 - 2003 "Rainbow Coalition" of Guy Verhofstadt was often rendered with the terms of pillarisation. The Cold War was the protracted geostrategic, economic, and ideological struggle that emerged after World War II between the global superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States, supported by their respective and emerging alliance partners. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Rainbow Coalition refers to at least three groups. ... Guy Verhofstadt Guy Verhofstadt  Pronunciation (born April 11, 1953) is the current Prime Minister of Belgium. ...

Pillarisation was visible even in the everyday social organisations such as musical ensembles, sport clubs, etc. Although weakened in the contemporary milieu, many major social organisations (trade unions, cooperatives) still strictly follow the lines of pillars. The following table is limited to the most important institutions.