Manumission is the release from slavery, and therefore, a transition from the most extreme form of subjugation into another position and status in society. Some historians have defined manumission... Show moreManumission is the release from slavery, and therefore, a transition from the most extreme form of subjugation into another position and status in society. Some historians have defined manumission as a formal act, often understood as a gift that severed the bond between slave and master. More recently researchers have emphasized that it was a lengthy process that involved pre-existing dependencies and resulted in new hierarchies. This article takes a fresh look at the process and tries to gain a fuller understanding of manumission by examining it from the position of the manumitted and their social relations. Taking into consideration a wide range of documentary sources from colonial, notarial and Dutch governmental archives, we reconstruct the dependencies that were created in the process of manumission. The dependencies that evolved during manumission processes were related to family and other kinship ties, but also had an urban, communal, religious, economic and institutional logic. Manumission was not only an act at a specific moment, but also a process, and it was not a bilateral, but a multilateral one. With the instrument of manumission and within the limits set by economic reality and the colonial government, the manumittees tried to make meaningful life choices that transformed slave society profoundly. We find that they created complex dependencies across boundaries of status and racial categorization. Show less
While contemporary observers judged Suriname’s legal system to be extremely cruel, arbitrary, and above all outrageously biased, the written record reveals that its criminal court closely adhered... Show moreWhile contemporary observers judged Suriname’s legal system to be extremely cruel, arbitrary, and above all outrageously biased, the written record reveals that its criminal court closely adhered to procedure, weighed slave testimony and did not cast judgement outright. This article asks what place slave punishment and legal procedure had in the Suriname system of slavery, and how and why this changed over time. The Suriname legal system offers an almost continuous record of criminal trials held before its main colonial court as well as a record of its locally passed regulations. Research indicates that the court turned away from severe physical mutilation and capital punishments over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The decline of plantocratic dominance and its overbearing use of force suggests a gradual embedding of the court system, making it a predictable institution promoting (an unequal) social cohesion. This leads us to suggest that the amelioration policies of the nineteenth century were not a transformation in the legal system resulting solely from a metropolitan intervention, but were partly a continuation of a trend in the colony itself. Show less
The paper presents a previously unknown doctoral dissertation prepared in the 1970s in Polish by Abdullah Jalal Fatah under the guidance of Polish sociologist Józef Chałasiński. The thesis,...Show moreThe paper presents a previously unknown doctoral dissertation prepared in the 1970s in Polish by Abdullah Jalal Fatah under the guidance of Polish sociologist Józef Chałasiński. The thesis, entitled ‘Development and Dissemination of the Kurdish Culture in Iraq’, bears the mark of communist ideology but also of Polish heritagisation, in which culture and intellectuals became an important driving force in the process of nation-building and in seeking international recognition. Following David C. Harvey’s definition of heritage, and focusing primarily on its intangible aspects, we suggest that Fatah’s thesis can be read today as an interesting document of Kurdish heritage-making inspired by Polish experience and academic tradition.Abstract in KurmanjiRewşenbîrekî bi peywir: Evdila Celal Fetah, teza wî ya li ser çanda kurdî (1978) û mîratsazkirina bi îlhama Yuzêf Xalasînskî û akademisyenên polonîEv nivîsar tezeke doktorayê ya nenas pêşkêşî xwendevanan dike ku di salên 1970î de, ji hêla Evdila Celal Fetah ve û bi çavdêriya civaknasê polonî Yuzêf Xalasînskî, bi polonî hat nivîsandin. Di bin navê ‘Pêşketin û belavbûna çanda kurdî li Iraqê’ de, ev tez nîşanên bandora îdeolojiya komunîst di xwe de vedihewîne, digel mîratsaziya polonî ya ku çand û rewşenbîr tê de rola hêzeke çalakger û bingehîn dileyizin di pêvajoya netewesazkirin û pesenda navneteweyî de. Li gorî pênaseya mîratê ya David C. Harvey, ku bi taybetî li ser aliyên wê yên neguherbar radiweste, em pêşniyazî vê yekê dikin ku teza Fetah wek belgeyeke balkêş a mîratsazkirina kurdî bi îlhama tecrube û adeta akademîk ên polonî bê xwendin.Abstract in SoraniRewşenbîrêk be peyamêkewe: ‘Ebdullah Celal Fetah, doktoranamekey le ser keltûrî kurdî (1978) û kelepûrsazî le jêr karîgerî Yuzêf Xallasînskî û ekadimyay pollend deEm nûsîne basî le doktoraname nenasrawekey ‘Ebdullah Celal Fetah dekat ke le sallekanî 1970 da be zimanî pollendî û be serpereştî komellnasî pollendî Yuzêf Xalasînskî bû. Nawnîşanî doktoranameke, ‘Geşesendin û bellawbûney keltûrî kurdî le ‘Êraq’, karîgerî aydyolojyay komînîzim û kelepûrî pollendî le ser diyar e. Têda keltûr û roşnbîran bûn be hêzêkî cullêner bo prosey nîştîmansazî û danpyananî nêwdewlletî. Bepişbestin be pênasey kelepûrî Devîd Harvî we be giringîdan be layene bercestenekrawekanî, pişnyardekeyn ke doktoranamekey nawbraw le êsta da babetêkî benirx debêt leser kelepûrsazî le jêr karîgerî ezmûnî ekadîmyay Pollenda de.Abstract in ZazakiRoşnvîrêko bimîsyon: Ebdullah Celal Fatah, bi îlhamê Józef Chałasińskî akademîsyenanê Polonya tezê ey ê doktora derheqê kulturê kurdan (1978) û mîrasviraştoxîye deNo nuşte tezê doktora ke verê cû nêamebî zanayene û 1970an de binê rayberîya sosyologê polonî Józef Chałasińskî de hetê Ebdullah Celal Fatahî ra bi ziwanê polonkî ameyo nuştene, ey pêşkêş keno. Tezê bi sernuşteyê “Îraq de Averşîyayîş û Vilabîyayîşê Kulturê Kurdan” hem wayîrê nîşanê îdeolojîya komunîstan o hem kî yê mîrassazîya polonan o ke tede kultur û roşnîvîrî benê hêzê averşîyayîşî yo muhîm seba prosesê neteweviraştişî û girewtişê tesdiqê mîyanneteweyî. Goreyê tarîfê mîrasî yê Davîd C. Harveyî û bi giranîya hetanê ci yê nemadîyan ser o, ma pêşnîyaz kenîme ke tezê Fatahî yo ke hetê tecrube û edetanê akedemîsyananê polonan ra îlham girewto, ewro sey belgeyê mîrasviraştoxîya kurdan o balkêş bêro wendene. Show less
The wholesale and retail market for Asian goods in Europe is still largely unexplored. Historians’ growing interest in consumption patterns is now revealing the importance of Asian products in the... Show moreThe wholesale and retail market for Asian goods in Europe is still largely unexplored. Historians’ growing interest in consumption patterns is now revealing the importance of Asian products in the nascent European consumer market. Earlier studies have already found that the Dutch East India Company moved from shipping only luxury commodities to supplying Europe with products (coffee, tea and sugar) intended for an increasingly broad range of consumers. By compiling and analyzing a database of purchases at the auctions of the VOC in Zeeland in the eighteenth century this article investigates a crucial link between trade with Asia and consumption in Europe. It also reveals that the company catered to the burgeoning slave trade of Zeeland. We find that the auctions were dominated by a small group of wholesalers who potentially had the power to dictate the commercial policy of the company in Asia. Show less
Suriname was one of the most emblematic slave societies of the Atlantic world and saw a court system in which a Governing Council functioned simultaneously as political council to the governor, as... Show moreSuriname was one of the most emblematic slave societies of the Atlantic world and saw a court system in which a Governing Council functioned simultaneously as political council to the governor, as a criminal court and also elected the Civil Court. Studies of the practice of the Governing Council have been limited to a small number of spectacularly brutal cases canonised by abolitionist campaigners. This article reconstructs how various forums for arbitration related to the Governing Council, and how this relationship changed by comparing its practices across the long eighteenth century. I conclude that the Governing Council interacted with several forums, both formally recognised as well as informal, in the colony. Over time, adjudication became increasingly dependent on the authority of the Governing Council. The combination of the political and legal roles contributed to the process of colonial state formation in Suriname. Studies of the practices of similar courts will clarify how the Dutch Empire successfully governed its diverse populations. Show less
