The interwar period saw the rise of the European metropolis as 'hubs' of transnational anti-colonialism. This thesis focuses on the city of Amsterdam as one of these hubs and adds a spatial...Show moreThe interwar period saw the rise of the European metropolis as 'hubs' of transnational anti-colonialism. This thesis focuses on the city of Amsterdam as one of these hubs and adds a spatial approach to the historiography of the European anti-colonial 'hub'. Researching anti-colonial internationalism from a spatial perspective gives new insights into the interconnectedness of internationalism and specific sites. Transnational organizations and actors who formulated and propagated ideas on anti-colonialism were always grounded in spatial contexts. The approach to space and spatiality in this thesis is inspired by the research project ‘Conferencing the International: A Cultural and Historical Geography of the Origins of Internationalism, 1919-39’, which ran between 2015-2020 and was funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). This project approached internationalism from a geographical perspective, studying how divergent forms of internationalisms manifested themselves in international conferences in the interwar period. Informed by both the research project, the book Placing Internationalism, and the project’s virtual exhibition, this thesis examines the relationship between transnational anti-colonialism and the spaces of anti-colonial activity in Amsterdam.Show less
My thesis proposes to examine the role played by the supplying stations in the early configuration of the VOC empire in Asia. To do so, it will focus on a geographical area denominated as the...Show moreMy thesis proposes to examine the role played by the supplying stations in the early configuration of the VOC empire in Asia. To do so, it will focus on a geographical area denominated as the Supplying Post Zone, a geographical congestion point that marked the contact zone between the Atlantic and Indian Ocean worlds and included St. Helena to the west, the Cape of Good Hope at its centre, and Madagascar and Mauritius to the eastShow less
This thesis details some aspects of the lives of enslaved and free people of color in Early Modern Curaçao. It focuses on bonds of kinship through an analysis of the Dutch term 'geslacht.' Thereby...Show moreThis thesis details some aspects of the lives of enslaved and free people of color in Early Modern Curaçao. It focuses on bonds of kinship through an analysis of the Dutch term 'geslacht.' Thereby it has exposed both how diverse the history of the black community of Curaçao was and how hard it is to research this history in present time. The intersection of enslavement and freedom is at the core of the research and has exemplified the unique role of Curaçao in the Early Modern Atlantic.Show less
Building on recent scholarly work on anticolonialism in European metropoles, this thesis looks into the activists and initiatives that advanced an anticolonial agenda in the interwar Dutch...Show moreBuilding on recent scholarly work on anticolonialism in European metropoles, this thesis looks into the activists and initiatives that advanced an anticolonial agenda in the interwar Dutch metropole from 1927 to 1935. This thesis places its focus on three main groups: activists from the Netherlands, the Dutch colonies and other parts of the global South and turns towards initiatives like the World Congress against Imperialist War (1932) in Amsterdam. Devoting special attention to the Dutch branch of the League against Imperialism (the LAI-NL), this thesis seeks to carve out an hitherto understudied part of Dutch, colonial and global history.Show less
How did racialized ideas about work and rest change in the Dutch East-Indies towards the end of the nineteenth century? In the Dutch colony, the idea that Javanese worker showed a natural tendency...Show moreHow did racialized ideas about work and rest change in the Dutch East-Indies towards the end of the nineteenth century? In the Dutch colony, the idea that Javanese worker showed a natural tendency for laziness and lacked the urge to improve their material condition was highly influential and repeatedly invoked to justify coercive labor practices. Whereas the Dutch used to consider Javanese’s alleged laziness as a stable and in-built feature of their inferior “race”, this study shows that they increasingly started to treat it as a by-product of their deplorable socio-economic circumstances by the turn of the century. Given that the Cultivation System (1830-1870) robbed the Javanese off the fruits of their own labor, the Dutch asserted that the natives had failed to develop the “natural” materialist urges they associated with industrial capitalism. In attempts to cure Javanese agricultural workers of their supposed indolence, the agents of capital therefore endeavored to inculcate work ethic from above via the so-called Ethical Policy of 1901. This study not only documents this discursive change, but also aims to understand and explain it. To this end, it places the historical transformation of the stereotype against the background of the racial capitalist regime change it emerged from: the shift from a system in which natives were excluded from the White economy to one in which they were demanded to assimilate. My findings fill up the empirical lacuna on the circulation of this racial-economic trope in the late nineteenth century and advances the historiography on the topic by thoroughly embedding it within Black Marxist theorizing.Show less
In this thesis, I examine the interaction between the business strategy of the Amsterdam banking house Hope & Co. from 1756-1780 and the credit crisis of 1772-1773. Hope & Co. played a...Show moreIn this thesis, I examine the interaction between the business strategy of the Amsterdam banking house Hope & Co. from 1756-1780 and the credit crisis of 1772-1773. Hope & Co. played a central role in the unfolding of this historical event, whereas on the other hand, the crisis had a decisive impact on the Hopes’ business strategy. Before the credit crisis, the Hopes operated prudently and consistently, and the firm acted as a market-regulating institution. However, in the runup to the crisis, Hope & Co. became increasingly involved in large-scale financial speculation in London and Amsterdam. Subsequently, in the aftermath of the crisis, the Hopes returned to a strategy of caution. They diversified their business portfolio by investing in the loan sector and gradually shifted from mercantile activities to financial services. Moreover, as the last major family firm in Amsterdam, Hope & Co. affirmed its market-regulating role, henceforth becoming the banker’s banker. This thesis emphasises the importance of credit governance structures for the resilience of markets and merchant communities. The fact that Hope & Co. established itself as a market-regulating institution poses a challenge to new institutional economics. It raises questions on the role of family firms in (the governance of) early modern credit structures.Show less
During a great part of the twentieth century, the Lawa Railway connected Paramaribo with the interior of Suriname. This railway had been built by the Dutch to catalyse the emerging gold industry at...Show moreDuring a great part of the twentieth century, the Lawa Railway connected Paramaribo with the interior of Suriname. This railway had been built by the Dutch to catalyse the emerging gold industry at the turn of the twentieth century. However, gold finds soon dropped and the railway never became profitable. Therefore, the railway has often been described as a failure. This thesis trancends this failure rhetoric in terms of profit and instead looks at how the Lawa Railway functioned socio-economically. Through a paradigm of Alltagsgeschichte, I unraveled how the people of Suriname have used and repurposed the Lawa Railway. I argue that they primarily used the railway in three guises: to go to school, to recreate and to enhance their livelihoods. At the same time, the train was highly important for medical care. I found, for instance, that it functioned as a policlinic on wheels as well as an ambulance. This study shows how it is possible to transcend a colonial rhetoric of failure, by closely following the 'subject of failure'. Through a story of gold-mining, vending, recreating, illnesses and hardships in the jungle, I have in a holistic way exposed the socio-economics of life in Suriname in the twentieth century and presented a narrative in which the Lawa Railway is the main protagonist.Show less
In dit historische onderzoek wordt de Nederlandse militaire ethiek tijdens de Indonesische Dekolonisatieoorlog geanalyseerd. Met name de reflecties en beschrijvingen van soldaten ten aanzien van...Show moreIn dit historische onderzoek wordt de Nederlandse militaire ethiek tijdens de Indonesische Dekolonisatieoorlog geanalyseerd. Met name de reflecties en beschrijvingen van soldaten ten aanzien van extreem geweld staan centraal, en in hoeverre zij hier in moreel-juridische termen over schreven in egodocumenten. Op theoretisch niveau wordt dit verbonden met een rechtshistorische benadering, in concreto aandacht voor het ius ad bellum en ius in bello gedurende de Dekolonisatieoorlog. Zodoende wordt gedemonstreerd dat deze velden voor sommige soldaten samenhingen, waarbij de achtergrond van de Tweede Wereldoorlog op verschillende wijzen een rol kon spelen.Show less
Following the 'opening' of China after the Opium Wars, the European political and economic presence in the Middle Kingdom surged. An important part of this presence concerned the significant...Show moreFollowing the 'opening' of China after the Opium Wars, the European political and economic presence in the Middle Kingdom surged. An important part of this presence concerned the significant increase in Western religious mission orders within China. In this thesis, these often-overlooked missionaries are put central by examining their interactions with the local Chinese social and political environment. By following the actions and ideas of the Belgium Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, shortly known as the order of Scheut, this research asks new and insightful questions concerning the policies employed by the missionaries and their eventual outcome. By tracing the order’s development in the vicariates of Outer-Mongolia and Gansu, in terms of their approach towards the mission and the subsequently ensuing conflict, it shows how seemingly minor changes in attitude can create two widely different scenario’s and contradicts the perception of missionaries as mere agents of Western expansion. Missionaries, as agents of dialogue, managed to adapt their actions based on the environment they encountered and through their adaption, influenced the manner in which their local environment perceived them in the context of China’s turbulent nineteenth century.Show less
This thesis focused on the question of how it had been possible for Europeans to become ‘white rajas’ in eastern Indonesian contexts. In order to answer this question, I have conducted a...Show moreThis thesis focused on the question of how it had been possible for Europeans to become ‘white rajas’ in eastern Indonesian contexts. In order to answer this question, I have conducted a microhistorical study on the ‘social life’ of the ‘successful’ missionary Ernst Steller, who had been working on the island of Sangihe Besar. Ernst Steller eventually managed to acquire significant social status in local society, an extraordinary large following, access to a large free labour force, a large plantation, and eventually the ability to dominate local chiefly politics. In order to explain Ernst Steller’s political, social and economic rise, I have utilized Tony Ballantyne’s concept of ‘imperial entanglement’, which positions the missionary as a dependent social actor within local society. As Ernst Steller had been largely dependent on local elites, he became a part of local society, and had to adapt to local culture and institutions. Ernst Steller actively participated in the competitive and ritualistic politics of Sangihe Besar – in the process adapting and manipulating local cultural conceptions and institutions in order to achieve his own goals. Due to his connections to the Netherlands and the Dutch colonial state, Ernst Steller eventually managed to gain an edge over the local elites. Ultimately, Ernst Steller became one of the dominant figures in the Sangirese political arena, together with a small number of European actors who had used similar ways to acquire their political, social and economic positions. These ‘white rajas’ competed amongst each other, perpetuating the competitive and ritualistic political culture of Sangihe Besar. This thesis has demonstrated that 1) missionaries had – given the right political and social circumstances – been able to transform their dependent social positions into positions of political power, and 2) social mobility in Sangirese contexts greatly resembled processes of social mobility in both eastern Indonesian and Melanesian contexts.Show less
This thesis explores slavery in Dutch Mauritius (1664-1710) through an analysis of the extent to which slave resistance in its myriad forms influenced the nature of the slave regime, society and...Show moreThis thesis explores slavery in Dutch Mauritius (1664-1710) through an analysis of the extent to which slave resistance in its myriad forms influenced the nature of the slave regime, society and colonial power. Its main objective is to achieve an understanding of how slavery operated in a marginal VOC outpost by exploring its social world; the various levels of social interactions between slaves, convicts, vrijburgers and company servants; the main characteristics of slave resistance; colonial fear and phobia of insurrections; and the intersections between slavery, law enforcement, and the community. It examines the dynamics of imperialism from below in the same way as Clare Anderson explores the life and work of South Asian convicts transported across networks of the British Empire in the Indian Ocean in the latter part of the 19th century. Despite being framed through concepts of slave resistance and power, the primary objective is to bring into focus the world of the slaves, their origins, the nature of their occupations and living conditions, their experiences and struggles, and their ways of organising, socialising, and dissentingShow less
Eighteenth-century colonial Suriname has been a plural society, divided by people’s race, status, religion and socioeconomic class. Similar to almost every other early modern state, Suriname did...Show moreEighteenth-century colonial Suriname has been a plural society, divided by people’s race, status, religion and socioeconomic class. Similar to almost every other early modern state, Suriname did not know any uniformly codified legal systems nor a constitution that enshrined the rights of its inhabitants. To the contrary, legislation was fragmented, hybrid and often arose impromptu. In addition, Suriname did not know any comprehensive criminal laws or procedure either. This thesis argues that, largely due to these legal lacunae, the colonial authorities could unabashedly treat different population groups on unequal legal and judicial footing. However, this thesis also stresses that several previously accepted assumptions with regard to colonial justice must be nuanced. It concludes that, despite the disparate and biased forms of treatment, colonial justice has been considerably more thorough than deemed before, even with regard to minority groups such as the enslaved and manumitted. There have been no signs that the Surinamese courts functioned as kangaroo courts; all suspects were offered a trial. In addition, verdicts of convicts did not come about arbitrarily but were rather based on jurisprudence. The authorities took into consideration the conclusiveness of the evidence and any aggravating or mitigating circumstances as well. As a result, punishments were much more varied than the merely horrendous corporal and capital punishments that have dominated historiography hitherto. Moreover, from the second half of the eighteenth century, several minority litigants started to search for justice on their own behalf. In the end, the colonial authorities did certainly not always adopt a one-dimensional stance in favour of white colonists at the expense of other population groups.Show less
Based on a corpus of intelligence documents in the archives of the Dutch West India Company, this study looks at the spread and impact of rumors during the revolt in Dutch Brazil in 1645 and the...Show moreBased on a corpus of intelligence documents in the archives of the Dutch West India Company, this study looks at the spread and impact of rumors during the revolt in Dutch Brazil in 1645 and the following nine years of war. This study traces the problems colonial administrators, soldiers, settlers and slaves faced in making grave decisions based on imperfect and potentially false information. The rumor-laden nature of Pernambuco's oral communication sphere, this thesis argues, contributed decisively to the outbreak of the revolt in 1645 and continued to have an impact on the course of the war, most notably in inciting people to switch sides.Show less
