EnglishThe position of children under the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in Sri Lanka has been a hitherto fairly neglected subject in the historiography on the VOC. Recent studies have demonstrated... Show moreEnglishThe position of children under the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in Sri Lanka has been a hitherto fairly neglected subject in the historiography on the VOC. Recent studies have demonstrated the importance of focusing on children in colonial contexts during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, especially when analysing political rationalities of colonial power and religion. While the VOC was an early modern mercantilist company, it sought to impose intellectual, moral and bodily discipline on the local population. The Company wanted to create subjects through education and the introduction of Protestant religion, explicitly targeting children. Why did an early modern mercantilist Company-state attempt to create loyal subjects? How was the Dutch Reformed Church involved in this process of subject-making in Sri Lanka, and what was the importance accorded to children? Using ordinances, visitation reports, minutes from church council meetings and school thombos (parish registers containing school data), I will show why children in eighteenth century Sri Lanka were targets of Dutch colonial subject-making.NederlandsDe positie van kinderen onder de Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) in Sri Lanka is een tot nog toe weinig verkend perspectief in de historiografie over de VOC. Recente studies over kinderen in de negentiende- en twintigste-eeuwse koloniale context hebben laten zien dat dit een belangrijk uitgangspunt is voor het bestuderen van de politieke visies achter koloniale en religieuze machtsstructuren. Hoewel ze een vroegmoderne, commerciële compagnie was, wilde ook de VOC morele, intellectuele en lichamelijke discipline opleggen aan de lokale bevolking. Door het gebruik van educatie en het invoeren van de protestantse religie wilde de Compagnie hen omvormen tot loyale onderdanen, en zij richtte zich daarbij expliciet op kinderen. Waarom probeerde een vroegmoderne, mercantilistische Compagnie-staat haar bevolking door een proces van ‘subject-making’ aan zich te binden? Hoe was de Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk betrokken in dit proces in Sri Lanka, en welke rol en welk belang werd hierin aan kinderen toebedeeld? Met behulp van visitatierapporten, minuten van de Kerkenraadvergadering en ‘school thombos’ (kerkelijke dorpsregisters die schooldata bevatten) laat ik zien waarom kinderen in het achttiende-eeuwse Sri Lanka het doelwit waren van een Nederlands, koloniaal disciplineringsbeleid. Show less
In the last decade, a heated public debate broke out in the Netherlands about the extreme violence that Dutch security forces perpetrated in Indonesia between 1945 and 1949. Similar discussions... Show moreIn the last decade, a heated public debate broke out in the Netherlands about the extreme violence that Dutch security forces perpetrated in Indonesia between 1945 and 1949. Similar discussions cropped up in France and the United Kingdom. Exhaustive comparative research into excessive violence in Indonesia, Algeria, Indochina, Malaysia, Kenya and other places during the decolonisation wars has nevertheless only been sporadic. This forum is based on the initial findings of a recent research project and a conference that explored the options for more targeted comparative research. The provisional results that we share here demonstrate that although the armed conflicts strongly differed from each other, there were more similarities than differences in the ways in which extreme violence was used in them and the explanation for it. We conclude that all cases involved some form of institutionalised impunity, which enabled the type of situation in which the forces in the service of the colonial rulers were able to use extreme violence. Show less
The United Kingdom of the Netherlands was a state of contrasts. Not only did its political system combine elements from the Old Regime with the modern, postrevolutionary Napoleonic administration;... Show moreThe United Kingdom of the Netherlands was a state of contrasts. Not only did its political system combine elements from the Old Regime with the modern, postrevolutionary Napoleonic administration; it also brought together two territories with very different political backgrounds. This article explores how the new regime in the Netherlands dealt with these contrasts by focusing on the establishment of the provinces in the years 1813-1815. It argues that the appropriation of pre-modern institutions and sentiments by the authorities in post-Napoleonic Europe was an important asset for the development of the new unitary state, but that at the same time a regionally differentiated approach was indispensable to lending this policy credibility. Show less
Between 1815 and 1830 Northern and Southern members of the States General clashed over how to behave as political representatives. This article presents this conflict as evidence of the continuity... Show moreBetween 1815 and 1830 Northern and Southern members of the States General clashed over how to behave as political representatives. This article presents this conflict as evidence of the continuity of the meeting practices employed in the States General since the Dutch Republic. Examples from three different periods show the continuity of three elements of the Northern meeting practice. Pragmatic, secluded and dignified meetings aimed at achieving consensus among the provinces or among members, Chamber, king and government. Deliberations on a resolution or a bill had to take place in an orderly and harmonious manner to ensure the willingness of the provinces or the Dutch people to obey the law. Hence, the political legitimacy of the state was constantly at stake during sessions of the States General and directly connected with correct procedure and behaviour. The continuity of the three practical elements nuances the impact of the constitutional ruptures which on first sight clearly separate the States General of the Dutch Republic from its successor in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Show less
![Review of [Eer tegen eer. Een cultuurhistorische studie van schaking tijdens de Republiek, 1580-1795] by [Hage, R.]](/sites/all/modules/custom/islandora_solr_search/images/defaultimg.png?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=31a70b794851b4ceb92b&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=11)
