Comparison between four case studies about Dutch colonial violent conflicts in Indonesia, also questioning the need for a separation in the colonial historiography of the Netherlands between the...Show moreComparison between four case studies about Dutch colonial violent conflicts in Indonesia, also questioning the need for a separation in the colonial historiography of the Netherlands between the VOC and the post-VOC colonial period.Show less
This thesis studies the way in which colonists and revolutionaries defined the value of the French Revolution and its relation to the colonies. It does so by looking at the issue of citizenship for...Show moreThis thesis studies the way in which colonists and revolutionaries defined the value of the French Revolution and its relation to the colonies. It does so by looking at the issue of citizenship for free people of colour in Saint-Domingue. This question was central to the colonial debate between the colonist lobby, the Club d’hôtel Massiac, and the revolutionaries of the Société des Amis des Noirs. Both these pressure groups used the press to influence the public. A look at some of the relevant newspapers shows how revolutionary discourse developed throughout 1790 and 1792 and how colonial events were shaped in the narratives of the Revolution. By reconstructing this colonial debate in the press, this thesis argues that the colonial question became an essential part of revolutionary and counterrevolutionary ideologies throughout the years 1790-92. In these two years, revolutionaries and counterrevolutionaries appropriated the colonial issue in their developing political identities. Questions of colonial reform changed from pragmatic considerations in 1790 to an ideological struggle between revolutionaries and counterrevolutionaries in 1792. The integration of the colonial question in revolutionary narratives was stimulated by domestic developments and by the complex connection between metropole and colony. The discourse in the press showed how much the colonies affected the development of ideologies and narratives in the French Revolution and how the colonial issues were appropriated in pre-existing discourses in France. Despite recent attention to the impact of the Haitian Revolution, little is known about the French reaction to the events on France’s most important colony. However, as this thesis argues, the colonial debate was essential to the experience of Revolution.Show less
This thesis investigates the ‘colonial situation’ in which the Dutch anthropologist Sjoerd Hofstra (1898-1983) conducted his anthropological research on the Sierra Leonean Mende. During Hofstra’s...Show moreThis thesis investigates the ‘colonial situation’ in which the Dutch anthropologist Sjoerd Hofstra (1898-1983) conducted his anthropological research on the Sierra Leonean Mende. During Hofstra’s study (1934-1936), which took the form of two prolonged stays in the town of Panguma and its surroundings, he shared a space with numerous actors; notably, British colonial administrators, Methodist missionaries, and above all the Mende political authorities themselves. Characterized by a multitude of power dynamics, this interpersonal context of anthropological fieldwork influenced Hofstra’s process of knowledge production in profound ways. As will be argued, each of these groups of actors shaped ‘preconditions of access to knowledge’ which had to be met for Hofstra’s venture to be successful.Show less
This thesis is about power relations behind the development of historically themed videogames set in the Global South. The thesis has taken into account games released in the Western World as well...Show moreThis thesis is about power relations behind the development of historically themed videogames set in the Global South. The thesis has taken into account games released in the Western World as well as in the Global South between 2000 and 2020. The main argument is that historically themed videogames set and developed in the Global South do not have the power to add to, differ from or change the representations made about their countries in the Western World.Show less
This study evaluates coverage of the Dutch printed media on the restitution of colonial objects between 1950 and 1995 and compares this to the specific case of the restitution in 2015. Over a 100...Show moreThis study evaluates coverage of the Dutch printed media on the restitution of colonial objects between 1950 and 1995 and compares this to the specific case of the restitution in 2015. Over a 100 articles were extracted from the KB-Delpher database to analyse the changing press coverage by embedding this in wider literature regarding the restitution of colonial objects, (colonial) heritage and decolonization. This study shows that the attribution of value towards 'objects' intensifies the complexities of the decolonization of mindsets and institutionsShow less
This thesis focuses on the period at the end of the nineteenth century when knowledge of the colonized cultures and their histories became an integral part of European imperial policies. In the...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the period at the end of the nineteenth century when knowledge of the colonized cultures and their histories became an integral part of European imperial policies. In the search for tools legitimizing their overseas venture, architecture turned out to be one of the most visual and lasting tools for boosting such efforts. It is precisely by exploring this aspect of empire-building through architecture that my thesis attempts to redress the lacunae of historical research on colonial architecture as a measure for studying colonial history. Conventional historiography has largely neglected this aspect of empire-building, leaving much of it for architects, urbanists and art historians to deal with. Most of the scholarly contributions to colonial architecture have not yet been able to sufficiently expose the underlying imperial designs or the socio-cultural processes behind such building projects. In this thesis, I have made attempts to trace these processes and examine them from a comparative perspective using Foucault’s power/knowledge dimension. By pitching the three former Asian colonies of British-India, Dutch-Indies and French-Indochina next to each other and analysing the hybrid architecture found in their main public buildings, the ways in which the colonial government tried to impress the people through their building styles can be revealed. They resorted to the incorporation of often randomly mixed local architectural elements into buildings which looked European otherwise. This resulted in buildings depicting hybrid architectural styles. Such designs reflected a self-proclaimed European mastery in managing knowledge of the colonized cultures. In trying to claim their legitimacy as new rulers, colonial governments went to great lengths, using the visual qualities of architecture to shield a relatively weak system. The erection of confident and mighty stone facades, however, did little to bury the lingering orientalist prejudices and the inherent unequal status of the colonizers and the colonized. In fact, the knowledge on local histories generated by the colonizers helped create local identities that gave a boost to the upcoming nationalistic movements. But there were interesting differences among the colonies though, that this comparative exercise laid bare. The nuances manifested in the different colonies in terms of the willingness to spend financial resources, the often conflicting objectives between colonial institutions, the effects of shifting colonial policies and the paradoxical underlying principles that defined those policies, and other contextual factors, led to differences in imperial policies and their consequent architectural plans. By probing into these differences as well as by highlighting the similarities cutting across all the three colonies, my thesis contributes to understanding the varying shades of colonialism through the seemingly silent yet starkly telling structures.Show less
