Abstract
This research programme will investigate the legacy of collaboration during the Second World War in a new way. For a long time the debate on collaborationist behaviour focused on social judgement in terms of ?right? and ?wrong?, and subsequently on ?shades of grey?. This programme chooses a different and innovative approach. Our hypothesis is that we may gain a better understanding of the social consequences of the war and collaboration by examining the paths and strategies of exclusion from and integration in Dutch society of the former national socialist milieus during the long post-war era. Thus, the main issue is no longer to assign labels such as ?right? or ?wrong?, but instead make these attributions themselves into objects of research. Furthermore, emphasis will no longer be on the individual ?perpetrators?. Instead, the research will also include the spouses and children who may not have been politically active but whose lives, as a consequence of belonging to the collaborationist camp, were also profoundly affected. Thus, this programme links up with research into other groups of people marked by the experience of war and occupation, societal reconciliation following a period of violence, and the conceptualization of notions of ?good citizenship? as a means to advance integration. To date no systematic international comparative research has been carried out on the legacy of Dutch collaboration.