Cultural objects have a protected status on account of their intangible value, as symbols of an identity. This has been so since the early days of international law, and today there is an extensive... Show moreCultural objects have a protected status on account of their intangible value, as symbols of an identity. This has been so since the early days of international law, and today there is an extensive legal framework that ensures this protection.Yet, when it comes to claims by former owners to items such as Nazi looted art, colonial booty, or more recently looted antiquities, the situation is less straightforward. On the one hand, such claims are often not supported by positive law at all. On the other hand, non-binding regulations urge present possessors to find `just' solutions to claims – not as a legal obligation but as a matter of morality. This raises a fundamental question: if we believe that the application of the law leads to injustice, is it not time to change the law or the way it is applied?This study explores how cross-border claims to cultural objects fit in the wider legal framework, and where blind spots or clashes occur. Its aim is to identify new directions that can help further develop this field, with the ultimate aim of fostering just solutions. Show less
"Onder faveur van ’t canon" VOC – Artillerie 1602-1796 studies the development and the VOC’s use of a policy that creates additional advantages for its own military means and opportunities on the... Show more"Onder faveur van ’t canon" VOC – Artillerie 1602-1796 studies the development and the VOC’s use of a policy that creates additional advantages for its own military means and opportunities on the one hand, and simultaneously weakens potential opponents on the other hand. This resulted in important advantages in terms of effectiveness and firepower for the VOC compared to local opponents. Because of this artificial balance, the VOC could economise the military budget without negatively impacting its own power. The policy is analysed by studying the most effective weapon: the artillery. The artillery was utmost complex in terms of management, organisation, administration, and required knowledge and skills. The policy was succesful, but had limitations: it could not be applied against contractor states and in areas where potent local states had access to the weapon’s market. Furthermore, the defense against European opponents during the 18th century became increasingly important. Although the VOC developed in its final days good concepts, the realisation of these concepts was could not be achieved by the VOC nor the Dutch Republic, as this would exceed the existent financial means. Show less
This dissertation studies the changes in the rural economy and society of south-eastern Panjab during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This region was an ecological and political frontier,... Show moreThis dissertation studies the changes in the rural economy and society of south-eastern Panjab during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This region was an ecological and political frontier, where nomadic-pastoral and agrarian ways of life overlapped, and effective power lay in the hands of different husbanding communities, which were each represented by warlords from established clans. This research seeks to understand the impact of colonization upon south-eastern Panjab, where the British East India Company first acquired a foothold in 1803. The Company faced two main challenges. First, the large number of princes, chiefs, and warlords whose domains dotted the region, and whose authority posed a challenge to that of the British. Second, the itinerant ways of local agro-pastoral populations, which made them difficult to monitor and tax. How did the state’s attempts to counter these challenges impact local populations? In particular, how did it affect the households of the husbandman, the warlord and the preceptor, the three key figures in rural society? It is these questions that this thesis seeks to answer. It suggests that while the region was impoverished by colonization, the household-based rural order survived into the twentieth century. Show less
