Is Nederlandse adel gedurende de twintigste eeuw maatschappelijk relevant gebleven?

Samenvatting

The Social Relevance of Dutch Aristocracy during the Twentieth Century. In earlier studies, we found that the Dutch nobility still maintains a strong advantage in attaining elite positions within modern Dutch society, despite its very weak legal position since the late 19th century. This article explores some of the possible explanations of this stability in the modern and bourgeois society of the Netherlands. Analysis of data on 3,977 persons born in the 20th century within 113 Dutch noble families, identified from the formal Dutch nobility lists, reveals that the absolute number of Dutch nobles did not decline during the 20th century, despite the fact that 20% of the noble families died out. The participation of Dutch nobility in higher education has increased strongly, apparently unconnected with their noble background. Membership in knightly orders has remained stable during the 20th century, is positively connected with tertiary education, and increases the odds for holding an elite position in the Netherlands. Of Dutch nobility, 13% marry into the aristocracy, with female members of the nobility marrying into the nobility more often than males. This gender difference remained the same during the 20th century. The odds of obtaining an elite position did not decrease significantly for Dutch nobility born before 1940; the smaller odds of doing so found among the nobility born after 1940 can easily be explained by their youth. If we combine husband and wife's elite position into one indicator, female nobles have a greater chance of living in an elite milieu than male nobles. The stable advantage of Dutch nobility can best be explained by their bourgeois origin and by the modernization of their social and cultural capital. 10 Tables, 2 Appendixes, 21 References. Adapted from the source document.