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Concept
Pillarisation
Summary
Pillarisation (from the verzuiling) is the vertical separation of citizens into groups by religion and associated political beliefs. These societies were (and in some areas, still are) divided into two or more groups known as pillars (Dutch: zuilen). The best-known examples of this have historically occurred in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Each pillar may have its own social institutions and social organizations. These may include its own newspapers, broadcasting organisations, political parties, trade unions, farmers' associations, banks, stores, schools, hospitals, universities, scouting organisations and sports clubs. Such segregation means that many people have little or no personal contact with members of other pillars.
The Netherlands had at least three pillars, namely Protestant, Catholic and social-democratic. Pillarisation was originally initiated by Abraham Kuyper and his Christian Democratic and neo-Calvinist (gereformeerd) Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) in the late 19th century; it was part of its philosophy of sphere sovereignty.
The Catholic pillar had the highest degree of organisation, because Catholic clergy promoted the organisation of Catholics in confessional institutions. Yet, the conservative Protestant pillar and the Socialist pillar, which mainly consisted of industrial workers, were nearly as tightly knit. The Protestant (hervormd) Christian Historical Union (CHU) (formed in 1908) did not organise a pillar of its own but linked to the Protestant pillar shaped by the ARP.
People who were not associated with one of these pillars, mainly middle- and upper-class latitudinarian Protestants and atheists, arguably set up their own pillar: the liberal or "general" pillar. Ties between general organisations were much weaker than within the other three pillars. Liberals rejected the voluntary segregation of the society, and denied the existence of a "liberal pillar". The political parties usually associated with this group were the Free-minded Democratic League (VDB) and Liberal State Party (LSP).
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