Recent Dutch-Language Publications

Bijdragen tot de taal- land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, vol. 177, pp. 165–176

Abstract

The Town Councils of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, independently decided in June 2019 and November 2018 to ask their boards to investigate the involvement of these cities in colonial affairs, with an emphasis on its negative aspects, particularly slavery.The Amsterdam study focuses on slavery, while the Rotterdam one opts for a broader approach, dealing with all aspects of colonialism.Curiously, the books do not cross-reference each other.'Amsterdam' , has a quartet of editors who wrote an introduction and supervised the forty (!) essays included, by more than forty experts.The editors contributed a solid introduction (40 pages) and epilogue (15 pages).Both books share a balanced attention for colonial developments in the East Indies and the Americas lead by the East and West Indies Compagnie (voc and wic), in the process of giving the hitherto neglected East Indies slavery its appropriate place in history.About fifteen essays in the 'Amsterdam' volume are on East Indies matters.The essays in 'Amsterdam' are of a diverse kind, some general overviews, some case-studies, and are not intended to offer a comprehensive survey.The introduction, however, succeeds in its ambitious purpose to provide an answer to the two main questions.First, in what way did Dutch town councilors influence the nature and extent of Dutch involvement in worldwide slavery.And secondly, how did this involvement translate into policies and opinions during the slavery period and thereafter, including present day intense debates.Seven themes are explored.The conclusions are crystal clear: the Amsterdam town elite was actively involved in slavery and slave trade in the East and

Authors 1

1. Harry A. Poeze corresponding Aachen 1 KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies The Netherlands Leiden KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies

   Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies

   Affiliation as printed

   1 KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies The Netherlands Leiden

   kitlv/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, Leiden, The Netherlands