Johannes Pieter (Jan) Laurier (born 15 November 1949) is a Dutch politician. From 2007 to 2011, he was a member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for

GroenLinks GroenLinks (, ) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and t ...

. Laurier studied

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

and during his studies he was active in the Leiden

social movements A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of Group ...

. In 1981 he founded the left wing city paper. Between 1983 and 1993 he worked as a researcher for the research centre on

Land Management Land management is the process of managing the use and development (in both urban and rural settings, but it is mostly managed in Urban places.) of land resources. Land resources are used for a variety of purposes which may include organic agricul ...

and Public Housing and the Leiden Institute for Social Science. In 1987 Laurier joined the Leiden

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

for the Left Leiden, an alliance of the communist

Communist Party of the Netherlands The Communist Party of the Netherlands ( nl, Communistische Partij Nederland, , CPN) was a Dutch communist party. The party was founded in 1909 as the Social-Democratic Party (SDP) and merged with the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party ...

, the left-socialist

Pacifist Socialist Party The Pacifist Socialist Party ( nl, Pacifistisch Socialistische Partij, PSP) was a Democratic socialism, democratic socialist Politics of the Netherlands, Dutch socialism, socialist political party. The PSP played a small role in Dutch politics. It ...

and the progressive Christian

Political Party of Radicals The Political Party of Radicals ( nl, Politieke Partij Radikalen, PPR) was a progressive Christian and green political party in the Netherlands. The PPR played a relatively small role in Dutch politics and merged with other left-wing parties to fo ...

. Laurier himself was a member of the CPN. In 1990 the three parties merged to form

. Between 1990 and 1993 Laurier was

parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are the ...

of GroenLinks in the Leiden municipal council. Between 1993 and 1998 he was

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

for social affairs, integration and employment. He also was vice-mayor. When he was vice-mayor Laurier was arrested during a clearing of a Leiden squat. He refused to give his identity, because no one had committed a crime. In order to release those who were already detained he gave out his identity as vice-mayor. He also joined a marathon occupation of the Bulderbos by members of

Milieudefensie Milieudefensie (Dutch for "environmental defense") is a Dutch environmental organisation, founded on 6 January 1971, by a group of scientists in response to a report by the Club of Rome. It performs research and brings out its own reports (sometim ...

. Between 2002 and 2003 he was member of the municipal council. When he left he was made Knight in the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

.Verslag van zijn laatste vergadering o
leiden.nl
/ref> In 2002 Laurier became director of the Landelijke Cliëntenraad, the national council for people receiving

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

allowances. In 2003 he also became chair of the Woonbond, which represents people who rent their house. In the 2007 Senate election, Laurier was elected with

preference votes In psychology, economics and philosophy, preference is a technical term usually used in relation to choosing between alternatives. For example, someone prefers A over B if they would rather choose A than B. Preferences are central to decision the ...

by provincial councillors from

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laurier, Jan 1949 births Living people Dutch communists GroenLinks politicians Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Aldermen of Leiden Municipal councillors of Leiden