Plants and peoples’ connections intertwine in multiple histories, often captured in textual accounts and illustrations, such as the Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (1648) and the Libri Picturati (c.... Show morePlants and peoples’ connections intertwine in multiple histories, often captured in textual accounts and illustrations, such as the Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (1648) and the Libri Picturati (c. 1640). These materials originated in the colonial context of Dutch Brazil and circulated among naturalists, physicians, merchants, and wealthy collectors for centuries. Today, we looked at these collections to identify the documented flora. With an ethnobotanical approach, we analyzed whether these plants are still used the same way in Brazil, their origins, and how they were collected. This study pays attention to the Indigenous and enslaved peoples living in the colony, whose rich corpus of botanical knowledge was appropriated within Western epistemologies and used in the colonial enterprise in Brazil, and beyond. Show less
Concerns about the impact of immigration (‘diversity’) on welfare states (‘solidarity’) are widespread among political economists. This article presents an alternative theoretical framework for... Show moreConcerns about the impact of immigration (‘diversity’) on welfare states (‘solidarity’) are widespread among political economists. This article presents an alternative theoretical framework for understanding their relationship. Using social and cultural theory, I argue that it is tautological to suggest that diversity and solidarity covary; both emerge out of the same ideological and material efforts to construct an ‘ingroup.’ I probe this theory with a historical case study of the inclusion of (post)colonial migrants in the Netherlands from 1945 to 1968. Complementing secondary literature with original archival research, I show key state and non-state agents of the emergent Dutch welfare state constructing racial categories by fixing ‘Westernness’ or ‘rootedness’ as a salient determinant of ingroup membership, locating (post)colonial migrants in relation to it, and distributing entry, citizenship and social rights accordingly. An elusive metric of cultural proximity, ‘Westernness’ was under construction at the same time as it was in use, as state officials, social workers, and private charities negotiated its meaning with the public. The article not only compels European welfare scholarship to acknowledge race and racism in its recent past, but also builds theory regarding the influence of identity on redistributive outcomes. Show less
What is 'the news' and how does it differ from 'news'? The latter speaks to power, diversity of news media, and multiple publics. This dissertation is an ethnographic study of 'the news' and 'news... Show moreWhat is 'the news' and how does it differ from 'news'? The latter speaks to power, diversity of news media, and multiple publics. This dissertation is an ethnographic study of 'the news' and 'news' in, respectively, an institutional and a popular public on the Dutch Caribbean islands, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. The metaphor of the ‘glasshouse’ refers to how social life on these islands took shape under Dutch colonial rule and has since evolved as part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Like (real) glasshouses, built as regulated atmospheres to optimize the growth of plants outside their natural habitat, I argue that as part of the Dutch colonial project Curaçao and Sint Maarten were designed and regulated as social environments according to capitalist principles. Yet, as unruly transformations emerge in (real) glasshouses, so do unforeseen flowering and mushrooming take place on Curaçao and Sint Maarten. With a focus on news as a social process that generates common, contested, and at times cathartic senses of belonging, this dissertation aims to broaden the understanding of what 'news' means and does, while showing how everyday dynamics of 'the news' and 'news' articulate the creative transformations around (re)imagining and constructing the island communities. Show less
Besides trading, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and its Western Indian counterpart (WIC) also sought to expand their dominant position by establishing and managing colonies. Central to this... Show moreBesides trading, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and its Western Indian counterpart (WIC) also sought to expand their dominant position by establishing and managing colonies. Central to this strategy was to stimulate an orderly, self-producing colonial population, with a European elite at the top and a sharp distinction between free citizens and people in slavery. The reality was less orderly, however: in disparate colonial settlements such as Batavia, Cochin, Ceylon, Elmina, Suriname, Curaçao and Berbice, people from different backgrounds, religions, and social positions encountered one another and formed relationships – formal and informal, coercive and consensual – which could either challenge or reinforce the social divisions on which colonial hierarchies rested. Regulating Relations, focusing on the abovementioned settlements in the eighteenth century, investigates how norms around marriage, family, and sexuality formed in this complex world: how did colonial authorities attempt to regulate the intimate relations of populations under their control, and how did men and women of various backgrounds give shape to these norms through their own behavior and use of institutions? Show less
The task of ending famine in India was taken up by many at the beginning of the twentieth century. Only decades earlier, famine in India had been believed to be a necessary evil. Now it was the... Show moreThe task of ending famine in India was taken up by many at the beginning of the twentieth century. Only decades earlier, famine in India had been believed to be a necessary evil. Now it was the reason for the increasing activities of doctors, nutritionists, social reformers, agricultural experts, missionaries, anti-colonial activists and colonial administrators, all involved in temporary relief and finding permanent solutions to famine. Show less
