Political scientist and opinion maker Meindert Fennema has died at the age of 77, reports the NOS. He spent his entire working life at the University of Amsterdam and was a fierce advocate of freedom of expression. The professor of political theory was also politically active from 2009 to 2015, for GroenLinks in the city council of Bloemendaal. He was previously a member of the PvdA and the Communist Party of the Netherlands.
Also read this opinion piece by Fennema in NRC from 2020: Democracy marginalized by new conservatism
Fennema studied sociology at the University of Utrecht and political science at the University of Amsterdam. As a professor, he published extensively on anti-immigration parties and economic and political elites. His most famous book is the biography Geert Wilders. Sorcerer’s Apprentice about the PVV leader who started as a party employee at the VVD. Since Wilders himself did not cooperate, Fennema filled in many of the politician’s thoughts and feelings himself.
‘Freedom of expression also for racists’
In the HJ Schoo lecture from 2009 Fennema argued that democracy cannot exist without freedom of expression and should therefore also apply to racists. In his view, ideas cannot be combated by banning them. He also thought it was a pity that the political elite never had a serious debate with Hans Janmaat, Pim Fortuyn and Geert Wilders about their positions.
Fennema was also a columnist for a short time The Volkskrant and regularly wrote opinion pieces for newspapers, including for NRC. In one of his latest opinion articles, he wrote about the return of conservatism in the Netherlands in response to the corona crisis and noted that the right-wing also propagated government intervention.
Fennema had been ill for some time and died in his home in Amsterdam on Monday evening, according to NOS.