Book club on conservative thinkers

In autumn 2025, Utrecht Library and the University of Humanistic Studies will present a new collaboration: five meetings at Utrecht Library with five professors from the UvH, each discussing a book by a conservative thinker. Thinkers such as Roger Scruton and Jonathan Haidt will be discussed. At each meeting, a professional from Utrecht – for example, from a housing association, a municipality or a school – will reflect on the impact of these ideas in practice.

Initiators Deirdre Carasso, director of Utrecht Library, and Menno Hurenkamp, professor at the University of Humanistic Studies, talk about the series.

How did you come up with the idea of starting a book club, and why specifically about conservative thinkers?

Menno: We live in bubbles and like to seek out people with whom we feel comfortable. Perhaps that is inevitable. Nevertheless, as citizens, we also have a duty to keep our eyes open to the views of people we don’t necessarily encounter on a daily basis. This could be about religion or the relationship between men and women, or about how we are very concerned about solidarity in society, but struggle with the idea that authority is also necessary in society. Or how to give people in trouble a better life by supporting them strongly or, rather, by taking firm action against them. Not that you then have to agree with it. But it does make you a better citizen when you have a sense of arguments that are far removed from your own life. There is an arsenal of serious researchers and philosophers whose conservative views do not always penetrate the city centre of Utrecht, and we wanted to make room for their books.  

Deirdre: The book club is, of course, also for those who identify with the ideas of conservative thinkers but find too few substantive programmes on the subject. The theme of this series of meetings therefore fills a gap. The Utrecht Library belongs to everyone and therefore considers it important to offer a varied programme.  

How did this collaboration come about and where do you see points of contact between the library and the UvH?

Menno: It arose from an ongoing conversation between us. We toyed with the idea of organising a series of discussions between the library and the university – with and about books, of course, because that is what binds us together, but above all with and about people. Ultimately, a university is there for education and research. In addition, it is important that we ensure that society hears about this: that we show society that our work is meaningful and not just about guiding students through their exams and publishing articles. At the same time, we wanted to organise something serious that would be digestible. The speakers talk about the subject in such a way that you don’t have to have read the book of the evening yourself.

Deirdre: We are creating the Utrecht Library together with the city. This is the first time we are working closely with the University of Humanistic Studies, and we are happy about that, because a lot of knowledge has been gathered at the university. This way, we can share that knowledge with the people of Utrecht.

What do you hope to give the guests of the five evenings? When is an evening successful for you?

Deirdre: For me, the evening is successful if it does not become a pro-or-con discussion, but a conversation where we ask curious questions and listen to each other. I am looking forward to the combination of the scientific perspective of the professors and the reflection on that by someone from the field – such as Bastiaan Staffhorst from Woonin or Johan Spronk from ROC Midden-Nederland (school for post-secondary vocational education – ed.). The fact that the evenings sold out very quickly shows that there is a need for this.

Menno: An evening like this is a success when people not only participate in the discussion, but also stay behind afterwards because they want to say something to one of the speakers, because they want to exchange ideas with someone else in the audience, or, of course, because they now actually want to read the book that was discussed.