Een op de zeven jongeren krijgt te maken met de jeugdzorg. Wat zijn hun ervaringen? Daarover gaan we in gesprek in deze editie van Jongeren aan zet.

Een nummertje, een inkomstenbron, een lastenpost: jongeren voelen zich in de jeugdzorg vaak niet gehoord. Vanavond gaan we met hen in gesprek: waar hebben zij behoefte aan (gehad)?

Over Jongeren aan zet
De jongeren van De Verrijking voelen zich te weinig gehoord in het publieke debat. Politici en beleidsmakers maken beslissingen voor hen, maar zij zien hun belangen (en die van leeftijdgenoten) amper vertegenwoordigd. In Jongeren aan zet werken de jongeren van De Verrijking samen met programmamakers van De Balie aan deze serie.

Deze serie is mede mogelijk gemaakt door VSBfonds en Fonds21.

Few words carry such heavy connotations and are at the same time so prone to misunderstanding, as the word antisemitism. What do we talk about when we talk about antisemitism? British historian and author Mark Mazower discusses how the meaning of antisemitism has changed over time. 

In his latest book On Antisemitism: A Word in History, Mark Mazower traces the long history of antisemitism from its ancient origins to its many transformations in the modern world. The term was coined in the nineteenth century by Europeans who saw assimilating Jews as a threat to their ethnic-nationalist ideals. They combined age-old prejudices with racist pseudoscience, laying the groundwork for the horrors of Nazism and the Holocaust.

Nowadays, the Israel-Palestine conflict has re-ignited debates in both Israel, European countries and the United States. The fight against extremists became intertwined with the question: when is criticism of Israel antisemitic? In De Balie, we dissect a loaded term.

About the speakers
Mark Mazower (1958) is a professor of history at Columbia University in New York, specialised in modern Greece, 20th century Europe and international history. He is the author of award-winning best-sellers such as Dark Continent: Europe’s 20th Century (1998), The Balkans (2000), and Hitler’s Empire: Nazi Rule in Occupied Europe (2008). He also writes regularly for the Financial Times, The New York Times, and the New York Review of Books, among others.

Nadia Bouras (1981) is associate professor and researcher at the Institute of History at Leiden University. She is also affiliated with the Netherlands Institute in Morocco (NIMAR), the center of expertise in Morocco studies at Leiden University. Bouras regularly appears as an expert in the media on current affairs in the field of integration and migration. Her latest publication, Een Klas Apart (2020), studied the history of the Arab School in Amsterdam-Zuid.

Emile Schrijver (1962) is General Director of the Jewish Cultural Quarter in Amsterdam, which includes among others the Jewish Museum, the Portuguese Synagogue, the Holocaust memorial site Hollandsche Schouwburg and the National Holocaust Museum. Schrijver is also professor by special appointment of Jewish Book History at the University of Amsterdam’s (UvA) Faculty of Humanities. In January 2025, he and Ruth Peeters published the book Ooggetuigen van het antisemitisme, a collection of eyewitness accounts of antisemitism, from the first centuries to the present.

Een meerderheid van de Nederlanders – 58 procent – vindt dat we de plicht hebben om ‘echte vluchtelingen’ op te vangen. Maar die stemmen klinken minder luid in een gepolariseerd debat. Hoe ben je solidair, wanneer de politiek het laat afweten?

Wereldwijd escaleren oorlogen steeds verder – zoals in Soedan, Gaza en de Democratische Republiek Congo – waardoor mensen gedwongen worden op de vlucht te slaan, als dat al lukt. Door ondermijning van de internationale rechtsorde lijken vrede en rechtvaardigheid verder uit zicht te raken, en wereldwijd bezuinigen overheden op internationale ontwikkelingsorganisaties. Dit alles zorgt ervoor dat er de komende jaren alleen maar meer vluchtelingen komen. Toch wordt het moeilijker, in plaats van makkelijker om asiel aan te vragen in Nederland en andere westerse landen.

Wat moet er gebeuren nu de politieke steun voor humanitaire hulp wegvalt? En wat betekent het om solidair te zijn met mensen op de vlucht in een tijd van politieke verharding?

In dit programma onderzoeken we wat mensen beweegt om op te staan voor onbekenden. Zijn we ook bereid om solidaire gevoelens om te zetten in daden, nu die solidariteit vanuit de politiek steeds verder te zoeken is? En hoe ver willen – of durven – we daarin te gaan?

Over UNHCR
UNHCR, de VN-Vluchtelingenorganisatie, zet zich in om ervoor te zorgen dat iedereen die moet vluchten voor geweld, oorlog of vervolging het recht heeft om asiel aan te vragen en een veilige plek te vinden.

Sinds 1950 zet UNHCR zich dag en nacht in tijdens crisissituaties over heel de wereld. De organisatie biedt urgente bescherming en hulp aan vluchtelingen, asielzoekers, ontheemden en staatlozen, die soms niks meer hebben. UNHCR helpt levens te redden en een betere toekomst op te bouwen voor miljoenen mensen die gedwongen hun thuis moeten verlaten.

Over Wereldvluchtelingendag
Wereldvluchtelingendag is een internationale dag die door de Verenigde Naties in het leven is geroepen om vluchtelingen over de hele wereld te eren. Het valt elk jaar op 20 juni en viert de kracht en moed van mensen die gedwongen zijn hun thuisland te ontvluchten om te ontsnappen aan conflicten of vervolging.

Over Future Citizens
Tijdens Wereldvluchtelingendag brengt New Dutch Connections een verkorte versie van de theatervoorstelling Future Citizens, waarin het waargebeurde verhaal van Shwan centraal staat. Shwan vluchtte uit Koerdistan en bouwde in Nederland een nieuw bestaan op. Zijn reis laat zien hoe belangrijk vertrouwen, taal en ontmoeting zijn voor nieuwkomers.

De voorstelling wordt gespeeld door Soufiane Moussouli, (bekend van Mocro Maffia en Netflix serie iHostage) begeleid door live muziek van Nawras Altaky (stadscomponist Utrecht). Bright O. Richards, oprichter van New Dutch Connections, leidt de voorstelling.

Maurits de Bruijn ontvangt een uitnodiging van een ngo om af te reizen naar Israël en Palestina. Hij aarzelt – ooit nam hij zich voor nooit meer voet op Israëlische bodem te zetten. Toch besluit hij de confrontatie aan te gaan, vastberaden om de werkelijkheid van dichtbij te ervaren in plaats van via schermen, zoals sinds 7 oktober 2023 het geval is geweest.

Wat betekent het voor hem, als Joodse man, om terug te keren naar Israël en daarover te schrijven? Wat ontdekt hij over zijn eigen geschiedenis, en hoe verhoudt hij zich tot het verleden van zijn Joodse grootouders, die in Sobibor werden vermoord? Geweten borduurt voor op De Bruijns eerdere boek Ook mijn Holocaust (2020), en stelt de vraag: hoe schrijf je over iets dat zo allesomvattend is, en hoe breng je het terug tot menselijke proporties?

Maurits de Bruijn (1984) is redacteur bij kunsttijdschrift Mister Motley en maakte samen met Randy Vermeulen de podcast En niemand bleef onaangeraakt. Eerder schreef hij onder andere de roman Man maakt stuk (2024), genomineerd voor de Libris Literatuur Prijs, en het non-fictieboek Ook mijn Holocaust (2020).

Nadia de Vries groeide op in dorpen in de IJmond en keek vanuit haar kinderkamer uit op de torens van de hoogovens. Deze dorpen en haar bewoners vormen het decor van haar nieuwe roman Overgave op commando. Programmamaker Katarina Schul gaat in gesprek met De Vries. Wat kenmerkt haar als schrijver? Wie zijn de personen waar ze over schrijft? En hoe ontworstel je je van de klassenverschillen?

Nadia de Vries (Heemskerk 1991) is schrijver, dichter en cultuurwetenschapper. Haar debuutroman De bakvis (2022) stond op de longlist van de Libris Literatuur Prijs en de Boekenbon Literatuurprijs. Eerder schreef ze het autobiografische Kleinzeer (2019) en Engelstalige poëziebundels. In 2020 werd ze door NRC uitgroepen tot een van literaire talenten van dat jaar. In datzelfde jaar promoveerde ze  aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam als cultuurwetenschapper.

Can independent journalism survive in the age of autocracy? Bektour Iskender, co-founder of Kyrgyz news platform Kloop, reflects on the power of international investigative journalism in confronting corruption, autocracy, and neo-imperial ambition.

In Central Asia, exposing the truth comes at a price. Bektour Iskender founded Kloop to train young journalists and uncover what others wouldn’t touch: stolen billions, rigged elections, environmental devastation. His work reached far beyond Kyrgyzstan, revealing corruption networks stretching from Central Asia and the Caucasus to Western capitals.

For this, Kloop was silenced. Iskender went into exile. But the investigations continued. In this programme, Iskender explores how journalists across Central Asia and the Caucasus are building new forms of solidarity. How international reporting networks like OCCRP are mapping corruption across borders. And how cartography itself can become a tool—not of empire, but of resistance.

Your ticket is valid for the entire day, so you’re warmly welcome to attend other programs as well. You can check the full timetable here. Please note: visitors with a ticket for a specific program will be given priority. Once a venue reaches full capacity, we unfortunately won’t be able to admit additional visitors.

Crimea has been a starting point of the Russian war against Ukraine. By dissecting the tumultuous history of Crimea, Cambridge-scholar Rory Finnin argues why returning Crimea to Ukrainian controle is the only path to a sustainable peace.

The Russian war against Ukraine began in 2014 with the appearance of mysterious ‘little green men’ – masked, unmarked soldiers – who suddenly took over Crimea. Now, the Americans seem willing to simply give up Crimea in negotiations with Russia. But history shows us that a Russian Crimea has no future. The idea of a ‘Russian Crimea’ is a colonial phantasm enforced by decades of suppression and ethnic cleansing of the Crimean Tatars.

Renowned British scholar Rory Finnin, expert on Ukrainian history, shows how a peace deal that makes Crimea Russian territory would lay the foundation for a future of further military escalation from the Kremlin. To understand why that is, we need to understand the history, culture and geography of the contested peninsula. Together with Alim Aliev,  a human rights activist and journalist who is the Deputy Director General of the Ukrainian Institute, and researcher, PhD and co-curator of the Past / Future / Art memory culture platform art curator Oksana Dovgopolova, Rory Finnin will tell the tumultuous story of Crimea.

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With the global rise of the far-right, women’s rights are increasingly under threat. French author Lauren Bastide remains hopeful: feminism can save the world, but only as a revolutionary project that seeks to improve society at all levels, for everyone.

Together with migrants and people from the LGBTQ+-community, women are among the first to suffer when a society takes an autocratic turn. Abortion rights in the United States are being undermined; in Hungary, women are encouraged through tax incentives to have more children – policy measures expressing the autocratic conviction that a woman’s primary roles are those of mother and wife.

How can feminism oppose these tendencies? And what should feminism look like? French author and journalist Lauren Bastide argues that feminism should not be about corporate slogans and individual success stories, but rather be grounded in global solidarity. In this programme, we’ll explore how feminist values can build new alliances across borders. What solutions does feminism rooted in solidarity and intersectionality provide?

Your ticket is valid for the entire day, so you’re warmly welcome to attend other programs as well. You can check the full timetable here. Please note: visitors with a ticket for a specific program will be given priority. Once a venue reaches full capacity, we unfortunately won’t be able to admit additional visitors.

Andrey Kurkov is considered to be one of the greatest contemporary Ukrainian writers. His work, including novels like Death and the Penguin and Grey Bees, is dark, humorous and satirical. As a keen observer of post-Soviet society, Kurkov proved to have prophetic qualities. What role does literature have in times of war? Dutch writer Manon Uphoff will present a literary interlude.

Since Russia fully invaded Ukraine, Kurkov said he wasn’t able to write fiction anymore. Yet, in a time when Ukraine’s culture is under threat, Kurkov’s voice remains vital. Kurkov has become one of the most important voices documenting the war’s impact on Ukrainian culture and identity.

Putin’s calculation is simple: a Ukraine with a permanent war in its eastern region will never be fully welcomed by Europe or the rest of the world

Andrey Kurkov

Your ticket is valid for the entire day, so you’re warmly welcome to attend other programs as well. You can check the full timetable here. Please note: visitors with a ticket for a specific program will be given priority. Once a venue reaches full capacity, we unfortunately won’t be able to admit additional visitors.

About the Speaker:
Andrey Kurkov (1961) is a Ukrainian writer and journalist. His novels, including Death and the Penguin, Grey Bees, and The Silver Bone, have been translated into over 40 languages. He is a keen observer of post-Soviet societies, blending satire, political commentary, and deeply human storytelling.

Manon Uphoff is a Dutch writer, screenwriter, and visual artist. Her novel Vallen is als vliegen (Falling is Like Flying) was named the best Dutch-language novel of 2019 by NRC and was shortlisted for major literary awards. The book has been translated into English, Spanish, and Hungarian, with the English edition recognized by the Times Literary Supplement as one of the best books of 2024. In 2024, Uphoff was inducted into the Akademie van Kunsten. Her latest work, Laat me binnen (2025), is a collection of three stories exploring themes of exile, trauma, and the search for connection.

Forum on European Culture
Who’s afraid of art? Now that tyrants are on the roll and more and more people in the West seem to be falling for the autocratic alternative, the Forum on European Culture brings together international artists, writers, and thinkers to celebrate the subversive power of art and literature.

The ‘Zeitenwende’, announced by Olaf Scholz days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, meant a profound shift in Germany’s self-image. With writer Philipp Oehmke and  political analyst Caroline de Gruyter we explore the implications of this new cultural reality.

After its defeat in the Second World War, Germany transformed from a militaristic regime into a soft power house. Self-conscious pacifism became a core part of the German identity. Is Germany now ready to become a military player of geopolitical significance? And how would that affect the German sense of self? We discuss this with German author Philipp Oehmke, who dissected post-war Germany in his family novel The Schönwalds, and Caroline de Gruyter, journalist and political commentator for outlets including Dutch newspaper NRC.

Your ticket is valid for the entire day, so you’re warmly welcome to attend other programs as well. You can check the full timetable here. Please note: visitors with a ticket for a specific program will be given priority. Once a venue reaches full capacity, we unfortunately won’t be able to admit additional visitors.

More about the speakers
Philipp Oehmke (1974) grew up in Bonn and studied journalism at Columbia University. After four years working for the magazine of the renowned Süddeutsche Zeitung, he switched to Der Spiegel. In 2015 he moved to New York, returning to Berlin in 2020. Oehmke is widely regarded as one of the best journalists of his generation. He is currently heading the culture section of Der Spiegel. His biography of the German punk band Die Toten Hosen spent several weeks on the bestseller list, as did his debut novel Schönwald. Oehmke is currently working on a sequel to Schönwald.

Caroline de Gruyter is a journalist and political analyst. She is a European Affairs correspondent and columnist for the leading Dutch newspaper NRC and a regular contributor to Foreign Policy, EUobserver and De Standaard. She spent more than twenty years covering Europe, from different corners of the continent.

About Forum on European Culture
Who’s afraid of art? Now that tyrants are on the roll and more and more people in the West seem to be falling for the autocratic alternative, the Forum on European Culture 2025 (June 25 – June 29) brings together international artists, writers, and thinkers to celebrate the subversive power of art and literature.