16 January 2026

Johan Leman

Civil society and what government and media never can provide

Over the past decades, civil society has been attacked from two sides: by government and by the media. In the meantime, social media have been added to the mix, supposedly […]

14 January 2026

Johan Leman

Cultural elites are in need of deep reflection…

Musa al-Gharbi, an American sociologist, belongs to the kind of social scientists I most enjoy seeing at work. He does not rely on a series of ideologically inspired gimmicks that […]

9 January 2026

Johan Leman

Being a democrat = being willing to engage in constructive compromise

“The only limit to my power is my morality” (Trump). “A great statesman is someone who consistently does only what he said beforehand he would do and never makes concessions […]

17 December 2025

Johan Leman

Let’s frame migrations correctly

On the occasion of the International Migrants Day (18 December), I propose to frame the figures in a factual and objective way, before passing judgment and shaping policy. The only […]

11 December 2025

Johan Leman

About Saint Nicholas, and Christmas and New Year’s wishes

There has been quite a bit of fantasizing around the Brussels Christmas nativity scene, a bit like in the old days with Saint Nicholas, with Black Pete and the question […]

5 December 2025

Johan Leman

Society in 50 Years…

It is not unusual for young people to be concerned about their future. Today, this also includes following debates about pensions and trying to anticipate how other issues might look […]

21 November 2025

Johan Leman

The Drug Trade in Brussels’ Canal Zone

I do not claim to be an expert on the subject. Far from it. But I would like to give an impression – right or wrong – of what I […]

17 November 2025

Johan Leman

2026: Difficult times ahead in Brussels and beyond…

Molenbeek expects 4,000 people to be removed from the unemployment register and end up at the Public Centre for Social Welfare. The City of Brussels expects 8,000. To suggest that […]

7 November 2025

Johan Leman

Bataclan, 10 years later

At Foyer, people don’t like to talk about the jihadism of ten years ago. Some people in their thirties even absolutely refuse to hear about it. The page must be […]

27 October 2025

Johan Leman

What lessons should be learned from square Lemmens in Kuregem?

In September 1980, I published an article in La Revue Nouvelle entitled “Un quasi-ghetto à Anderlecht”. I wrote about square Lemmens, using terms such as “isolement étonnant de ce quartier” […]

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Blog

Johan Leman is a social and cultural anthropologist and president of Foyer VZW since 2003, where he was director from 1981 to 1989. He is an expert on integration policy and the fight against racism. From 1989 to 1993 he was chief of cabinet of the Royal Commissioner for Migrant Policy and from 1993 to 2003 he was director of the Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism.

In this blog, he gives his opinion and views on current events in and around Molenbeek.