Perhaps more than anywhere in Europe other than Northern Ireland, the Netherlands was a country where one’s religious affiliation could be of as much consequence as one’s nationality. Through a process of verzuiling, or ‘pillarisation’, the country was effectively sliced into neat social groups (zuilen, or pillars) based on religion, so clearly defined that they effectively represented distinct subcultures. Nearly every aspect of social and professional life – education, healthcare, housing, unions, banking – was then decided according to which group one belonged to.
