Martijn Dekker is on strike. He therefore does not read or answer emails, according to the automatic response to the request for an interview. The reason: after months of negotiations, the board of the University of Amsterdam has “refused to respond to key parts of the union demands” formulated by the FNV trade union. This includes severing ties with Israeli universities and companies that are “complicit in serious human rights violations and violations of international law.” A demand that stems from the student protests that started in May.
Yet the political science teacher, who specializes in activism, emails back shortly afterwards. “I am now participating in a demonstration at the UvA, so this is a bit short, but I am happy to participate.” For an interview in which attention is paid to the reason for his strike and demonstration, Dekker wants to temporarily interrupt his strike.
Because Dekker is not only involved in activism as an academic, he is also an activist. Last year he took part in a campaign at least once a week, he says in his office on the Roeterseiland campus in Amsterdam. There we talk about the right to demonstrate, which was both vigorously exercised and came under heavy pressure last year.
Did the strike achieve anything?
“I don’t dare say that yet. When it comes to social movements, I know from research that you can never actually determine one-on-one whether an action has a direct effect. The number of UvA employees who have joined the FNV has doubled since the beginning of this year. We did promotions four days in a row, ending with one sit in and a march attended by hundreds of university employees.
“I think the Executive Board felt under pressure, because they did not respond to our demands for months. And now suddenly, the Friday before the strike, there was a proposal on the table. To be able to test university collaborations. Rough and no policy yet, but it is something.”
What kind of year was 2024 to demonstrate?
“It was difficult and combative. Combative because so many people took to the streets. For Gaza, for the climate. I can’t remember when there were so many before, in so many different places. But it was increasingly difficult. The pressure from politics is increasing – this government gives so many reasons to demonstrate, but at the same time wants to restrict the right to demonstrate.
“Legally, authorities are also looking for new ways to stop activists. Such as the mayor of Haarlem, who, in addition to arrests, imposed penalty payments on climate activists if they did not leave immediately after the mayor gave the order to end a protest. The judge ruled against him, but an appeal is still pending. These are ways the authorities discourage activists. That makes it really tough.”
Martijn Dekker studied anthropology and wrote both his bachelor’s and master’s thesis on nonviolent resistance in Palestine. He obtained his PhD from the Vrije Universiteit (VU) on the way in which Palestinians in the occupied West Bank organize their security. The injustice he saw and studied during his travels in the region affected him deeply.
Dekker sought out people who were committed to the Palestinian cause and joined Kick Out Zwarte Piet. He is also an ambassador for Emancipator, a foundation committed to the emancipation of men. In recent years he became involved with Extinction Rebellion.
You teach about activism and also practice it. Does that mean anything?
“I think so. I share what I know from research – and what I experience on the street. About the ways in which people resist. And about how the authority responds to this. For me, teaching is also a form of activism: teaching young people knowledge, helping them to stand firmly in the world.”
Martijn Dekker was elected lecturer of the year by students at the Faculty of Society and Behavior at the UvA in 2014 and 2019.
Does it sometimes chafe?
“Not for me. But there are quite a few colleagues who think something of disruptive climate activism, especially activism about the Middle East. And I am quite visible in both movements.”
What do they think?
“There are plenty of people who believe that activism and protest are part of a healthy society. But there is also a group that claims to have a more nuanced view of the Middle East conflict. I think that is unfair. I try to avoid the word conflict for what is happening there anyway.”
Why?
“Because it obscures what is actually going on. It suggests that there are two equal warring factions. But we are talking about an occupation here. About apartheid, genocide and ethnic cleansing. The word conflict does not do justice to that reality.
“What I find interesting: when it comes to medical-ethical issues or physics, society turns to experts. But when it comes to the Middle East, everyone goes into meltdown. Then suddenly they become opinions and it becomes uncomfortable when university employees take a position. Then the university shouts very loudly that it is not a political institute.
“While: I am an expert in this field. We can actually conclude that what is happening there is unjust. When professors fiercely fight against the use of fireworks or against the tobacco industry, it is never suggested that it is problematic that they are also activists. But they use their knowledge, just like me. You see the same thing with the climate. The science is clear. But acting on it is seen as activism.”
What kind of activist are you?
“Many of my friends will say that I have become quite radicalized in the past two years. Because I do it often. And also increasingly… more physical. Two years ago I never thought I would glue myself to anything, if I chain myself to the A12 now it would be an average Tuesday. I am pushing my limits. For me, taking physical action is a way to counteract the powerlessness I feel. It brings peace to my mind, a strange sensation.
“I also started a study with a colleague from another university. To what drives people who do physically risky work and what that brings them. These are soldiers and activists, but also law enforcement officers such as police and riot police. I find the parallels between them very interesting.”
You were also involved in the student protests this spring, during which a lot of destruction occurred.
“For me, non-violence is the starting point, I would never destroy anything. It’s probably annoying that that happened here, but I don’t condemn it. And let’s keep our eyes on the ball. It is about the genocide in Gaza and about our complicity in it as a university.”
There was also a lot of fuss about students who negotiated with the university board wearing face coverings.
“It’s very surprising that the emphasis has shifted to that. I think it is very logical that people want to remain unrecognizable, even during negotiations. Some of those students were here with a visa, so they could be sent away. I am always recognizable because I am privileged, a white man with a permanent contract. The consequences for me are much less significant.”
Does your activism lead to its own conflict, between you and those around you?
“No, because I am by nature extremely conflict-avoidant in interpersonal contact. So I believe in complete disruption of the status quo, to make a change. But when I talk to people about it one-on-one I always hear: you are very different in real life than you appear to X. Jokes are made, like ‘hey, were you stuck on the highway again yesterday?’ and then I say: ‘Well, coincidentally, yes.’ I get the feeling that people can agree with what I stand for, but not with the way I do it.
“But I have never experienced unpleasant things with colleagues and I adhere to the principle that my students and my work never suffer as a result of my activism. So lessons and revision always come first. It sometimes makes it difficult, because I work full-time and my activism also takes up many hours a week.”
What kind of year will 2025 be?
“Given all the cuts that the government wants to implement, I think this will be a hot year. Research shows that it is difficult to predict how protests will develop. The greatest influence is the interaction between the authority and the challenger. I think the challenger is persistent and combative and that the group is growing because more and more people feel denied things – students, healthcare workers. And that the authority will only become more repressive. That doesn’t bode well.
“The university clearly shows the double standard that it applies itself. Shortly after the education cuts were announced, an email arrived. University employees were called on to demonstrate en masse on the Malieveld. And the university is not a political institution, yeah right.”