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This paper aims to explain the high scores of 15-year-old native pupils in The Netherlands and Flanders by comparing them with the scores of pupils in countries with the same highly stratified educational system: Wallonia, the German Länder, the Swiss German cantons, and Austria. We use the data from the Programme for International Pupil Assessment (PISA) 2006 together with the specific PISA data of Germany and Switzerland. We apply a multilevel model that takes into account the individual-, curriculum-, and system-level features in these highly stratified educational systems. The high scores of the Dutch pupils can be explained by the size of The Netherlands' vocational sector. The high Flemish scores can be partly explained by the high curriculum mobility. Central exit exams are not a good explanation of the high Dutch scores. Despite being limited to highly stratified systems, we still find educational policies and arrangements to have significant effects on the educational performance of pupils. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Medieval historical sources suggest that cetacean exploitation was, for large parts of Europe, restricted to the social elite. This appears to have also been the case for the Netherlands and Flanders. It remains unclear, however, how frequently active hunting was undertaken, and which species were targeted. Zooarchaeological cetacean remains are often recovered from Medieval (AD 400-1600) sites in the Netherlands and Flanders, however the majority of these specimens have not been identified to the species level, leaving a substantial gap in our knowledge of past cetacean exploitation. By applying ZooMS, as well as morphological and osteometric analyses, these zooarchaeological specimens were identified to the species level. This analysis revealed that the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), and grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) were frequently exploited. Active whaling appears to have been undertaken as well, especially in Flanders and in Frisia (the northern part of the Netherlands). Zooarchaeological cetacean remains appear to be present with relative frequency at high-status sites such as castles, as well as ecclesiastical sites, confirming the historical evidence that the social elite indeed did have a taste for cetacean meat. However, cetacean products were also available outside of elite and ecclesiastical contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although scholarship on the general ideological orientation of right-wing populist parties is well established, few scholars have studied their ideas about gender. De Lange and Mügge therefore ask how differences in ideology shape right-wing populist parties' ideas on gender. Drawing on the qualitative content analysis of party manifestos, they compare the gender ideologies and concrete policy proposals of national and neoliberal populist parties in the Netherlands and Flanders from the 1980s to the present. They find that some parties adhere to a modern or modern-traditional view, while others espouse neo-traditional views. Moreover, some right-wing populist parties have adopted gendered readings of issues surrounding immigration and ‘Islam’, while others have not. The variation in stances on ‘classical’ gender issues can be explained by the genealogy and ideological orientation of the parties, whereas gendered views on immigration and Islam are influenced by contextual factors, such as 9/11. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]