After the Liberation of the Southern Nederlands in late 1944, the head of the Philips company contacted the American religious and anticommunist organization the Moral Rearmament. Throughout the...Show moreAfter the Liberation of the Southern Nederlands in late 1944, the head of the Philips company contacted the American religious and anticommunist organization the Moral Rearmament. Throughout the 50s, the Philips family played a major role in facilitating the American organization in the Netherlands, propagating Cold War rhetoric in politics, culture and industry. What in historiography has been called a 'postwar consensus', a period of a supposed 'ideological vacuum' and labour harmony, is problematized by the activity in the Netherlands of this highly ideological network of international industrialists. This thesis tries to research how the Moral Rearmament politicized the fundaments of the 'postwar consensus' by various tactics, and simultaneously traces the dissemination of its political ideas in Dutch society and key industries.Show less
