This contribution describes societies and institutes in the Netherlands that played key roles in scholarly research on the Ancient Near East and Egypt. Public interest followed academic... Show moreThis contribution describes societies and institutes in the Netherlands that played key roles in scholarly research on the Ancient Near East and Egypt. Public interest followed academic developments at a distance. Leading figures, almost all academics, are briefly discussed.After a promising start in the 19th century, development in Dutch Egyptology was mostly limited to religious studies. Assyriology was largely a side-interest for theologians. While other European countries founded national scholarly societies and financed grand expeditions, attention in the Netherland was mainly directed to the Dutch East-Indies, with Oriental studies mostly a function of colonial administration, in combination with Semitic languages (connected to Bible studies).During the first quarter of the 20th century, Oriental studies in the Netherlands were marked by proliferation and specialisation – albeit with a continued emphasis on language studies, and usually from a biblical perspective. The general public was not yet involved. The second quarter of the 20th century saw further diversification of the field, a failed marriage between Ancient Near Eastern and Classical studies, and a broadening audience.After World War II, the range of history, language studies, and archaeology fully developed in the Netherlands. Internationalisation, rising population and student numbers, and economic growth were instrumental. The fourth quarter of the 20th century was characterised by the definitive division between Middle and Far Eastern versus Ancient Near Eastern studies. State-funded research was the norm; the popular audience increased.In the first quarter of the 21st century (not comprehensively addressed in this contribution) state-funded research declined while modest private initiatives (societies of museum and excavation “friends”) can be observed. Show less
In this reflective chapter, we examine the structural biases and empirical challenges underlying human trafficking ‘indicators’ (especially problem, risk and performance indicators) that are... Show moreIn this reflective chapter, we examine the structural biases and empirical challenges underlying human trafficking ‘indicators’ (especially problem, risk and performance indicators) that are routinely used to describe and measure human trafficking, assess risk, identify abuses, evaluate responses, and encourage accountability. While frequently used, such indicators can give an undue illusion of objectivity and reliability when they are neither neutral nor unskewed. In fact, numerous factors affect which elements are privileged as ‘indicators’ and which are obscured. We therefore examine here the selectivity, politics, racialized and gendered concerns that relate to the production and use of human trafficking indicators. Since human trafficking is a complex, highly-contested, and multi-faceted practice, it is not easily reduced to the crude generalizations upon which many indicators rest. We explore how the uncritical use of indicators can both contribute to stereotypical and unachievable ideals of victimhood and engender undue criminalization or withholding of victim support. In doing so, we disentangle some paradoxes around who is deemed ‘vulnerable’, ‘at risk’, ‘worthy of support’ and requiring ‘protection’. We highlight the – routinely overlooked – weak empirical basis and other limitations of many commonplace ‘indicators’ and challenges in building empirically-stronger and more robust indicators. The chapter concludes with overall implications of these critical reflections for policy, interventions, and research. Show less
By the early eighteenth century Edo (present-day Tokyo) was one of the largest cities in the world. Sex and erotic allure could be found in many guises in this commercialized urban setting, both in... Show moreBy the early eighteenth century Edo (present-day Tokyo) was one of the largest cities in the world. Sex and erotic allure could be found in many guises in this commercialized urban setting, both in the city’s streets and in print. This chapter sets out to argue that sex assumed a multiplicity of meanings in this context that ranged from pleasure and procreation to potential pathology. To this purpose, it begins by tracing various discourses surrounding the three phenomena that have arguably received the most sustained attention in research to date, namely the sex trade, male same-sex desire, and the erotically explicit materials known as ‘spring pictures’ (Japanese shunga 春画/ shunpon 春本). The final sections aim to move beyond the standard narrative of the Edo period’s flourishing erotic culture by focusing on the female reproductive body, as well as medical and health discourses, thus aspiring to unsettle the paradigmatic character of this (male) pleasure-centred mode of sex and repudiate the monolithic view of early modern Japanese sexuality as unregulated. Show less
This chapter introduces the reader to the repertoire of personal names recorded in cuneiform texts from Babylonia in the first millennium BCE. It offers a historical introduction to the text corpus... Show moreThis chapter introduces the reader to the repertoire of personal names recorded in cuneiform texts from Babylonia in the first millennium BCE. It offers a historical introduction to the text corpus and outlines the aims and limitations of the present volume within the current state of research. Show less