My thesis analyses the relationship between the Capuchin missionaries of the "Missio Antiqua" and the Portuguese colonial empire between the seventeenth and eighteenth century.
This thesis concerns the transfer of firearms technology from the Dutch East India Company to Siam at the end of the seventeenth century. It shows that the transfer of both weapons and of experts...Show moreThis thesis concerns the transfer of firearms technology from the Dutch East India Company to Siam at the end of the seventeenth century. It shows that the transfer of both weapons and of experts with skills related to firearms were organised through diplomatic exchange and gift giving. Changes in this transfer were mainly shaped by the Siamese, although they were unable to force the Dutch to fulfill all their wishes.Show less
This thesis is an analysis of the intersection of kinship politics and religion in the 20th century Philippines. It discusses their cultural influence and effects on the protests and revolution...Show moreThis thesis is an analysis of the intersection of kinship politics and religion in the 20th century Philippines. It discusses their cultural influence and effects on the protests and revolution against the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship. A social history conducted through interviews of witnesses, activists, and Filipino immigrants is used to contextualize major events of the 1980s. The years 1981-1987 were chosen due to the historical importance of events such as the visit of Pope John Paul II, the assassination of opposition leader Ninoy Aquino, and the EDSA revolution which toppled the dictator.Show less
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
