The dissertation is focused on three interrelated aspects: 1) the development of a decolonial theoretical framework and collaborative research methodology with the Kamëntšá people centred on the... Show moreThe dissertation is focused on three interrelated aspects: 1) the development of a decolonial theoretical framework and collaborative research methodology with the Kamëntšá people centred on the respect for Kamëntšá ethics, principles and social norms, and the consequent reconstruction, revitalization and dignification of Kamëntšá knowledge, arts, spirituality and notions of time and space; 2) the history and colonization processes of the Kamëntšá people and Uaman Tabanok, its ancestral lands, with a specific emphasis on the work of the Capuchin missionaries, particularly their concept of enculturation and how it transformed and resignified Kamëntšá culture and religion using its own arts, narratives and rituals which were in harmony with Christianity; and 3) the concept of “cultural heritage” and the role of academic disciplines, research practices, government institutions and cultural policies in the perpetuation of colonialism through the appropriation, interpretation, control and resignification of the objects, monuments and cultures of Indigenous peoples, and their consequent contribution to maintaining inequality, racism and historical social injustices. Show less
In this dialogic piece we insist on the value of keeping alive critical debates about how academic knowledge is produced, when it comes to understanding the complexities involved in laying bare the... Show moreIn this dialogic piece we insist on the value of keeping alive critical debates about how academic knowledge is produced, when it comes to understanding the complexities involved in laying bare the impact of socioeconomic and sociocultural differences crossing borders and contexts. The climate for conversations about difference is constructed and moved by sentiments like rage, shame, guilt, and resentment but also connectedness and shared excitement. Human conversations across difference involve risk-taking but also engagement, evocation and inspiration. Here we make a humble intent to do so, taking as a point of departure our participation in a symposium held to launch Christina Hee Pedersen’s book Collaborative Research Methodologies (2021). We use collaborative writing as a method of inquiry to explore how our understandings of concepts like intersectionality, social in- and exclusion, social justice and different knowledge forms represent a challenge to academic subjects within a pronounced audit culture, filled with competition and unequal employment conditions. We argue that explorative conversations are pivotal to cultivate feminist, anti-racist and decolonial pockets of critical, collaborative research and teaching practices. Show less
Whose international matters, and why? How are geographic regions constructed? What are the channels of engagement between a place, its people, its institutions, and the world? How do we understand... Show moreWhose international matters, and why? How are geographic regions constructed? What are the channels of engagement between a place, its people, its institutions, and the world? How do we understand the non-West’s influence in contemporary global interactions? From humanitarianism and activism to diplomacy and institutional networks, South Asia has been a crucial place for the elaboration of international politics, even before the twentieth century. South Asia Unbound gathers an interdisciplinary group of scholars from across the world to investigate South Asian global engagement at the local, regional, national, and supra-national levels, spanning the time before and after independence. Only by understanding its past entanglements with the world can we understand South Asia’s increasing global importance today. Show less
Oostindie, G.J.; Schoenmaker, B.; Vree, F. van 2023
The call to decolonize African Studies has a profound influence on the field, with varying degrees of success. This article addresses this topic in relation to the author’s personal experiences in... Show moreThe call to decolonize African Studies has a profound influence on the field, with varying degrees of success. This article addresses this topic in relation to the author’s personal experiences in the publishing industry in Namibia. By describing the attempt to publish a historical book about Namibian beer with a well-known German–Namibian publishing house, the lingering power of German–Namibian settler colonialism becomes clear. This article renders visible the power structures within the Namibian book market that perpetuates a whitewashed version of Namibian history and argues that decolonizing knowledge cannot succeed without paying attention to the (private) publishing industry. Show less
During the decolonisation of southern Africa (1960s-1990s), several national liberation movements benefited from support from the Nordic countries, where they established foreign missions and... Show moreDuring the decolonisation of southern Africa (1960s-1990s), several national liberation movements benefited from support from the Nordic countries, where they established foreign missions and mobilized international aid. As a result, a considerable amount of African primary source material has been amassed over the years. This material is now accessible through the Pamphlet Collection of the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI). The Pamphlet Collection contains over 700 boxes with (primary) source material from the entire African continent, including unique material from national liberation movements that is difficult to find elsewhere. Scholars of the Cold War can use this fascinating collection to study African agency during an era that – often wrongly - seemed to be dominated by Great Power competition. This Research Note explores contents of the Pamphlet Collection, with a particular focus on material from southern Africa. Show less
Namibia was one of the final African states to gain independence, a political transformation which was the outcome of a decades-long liberation struggle. The global dimension of the struggle has... Show moreNamibia was one of the final African states to gain independence, a political transformation which was the outcome of a decades-long liberation struggle. The global dimension of the struggle has been duly recognised by generations of historians. As a result, archival materials related to this era - as well as the colonial ones preceding it – are to be found all over the world. Through a discussion of relevant archival collections pertaining to Namibian history - though located outside the boundaries of the Republic of Namibia – this article considers the global archival paper trail of Namibian colonisation and decolonisation. We shed light on the origins of various collections located in South Africa, Europe, North America, and beyond in order to reveal the ways in which the utilisation of such global archivalia can shape our understanding of Namibian decolonisation. This applies to government archives, private collections, institutional solidarity collections, as well as those of international organisations. We then delve into some of the promises and pitfalls of the digitisation of archival records, noting issues of ethics and methodology. Ultimately, we hold that historians must balance both internal and external Namibiana archivalia in crafting our arguments about the past, and we must balance both the merits and demerits of the digital turn in historical research. Show less
As museums face more scrutiny and are being demanded to decolonize, there are opportunities for Dominican museums to adopt a critical perspective and turn their collections and exhibitions into... Show moreAs museums face more scrutiny and are being demanded to decolonize, there are opportunities for Dominican museums to adopt a critical perspective and turn their collections and exhibitions into connections to our cultural past, present, and future. Nevertheless, specific research on archaeological collections in the Dominican Republic, the earliest hub of the European invasion, conquest, and colonization of the New World, has been scarce. This qualitative study explored how communities can be engaged to critically analyze museum narratives that perpetuate colonial ideas of Caribbean Indigenous extinction, which contribute to a disconnection from Indigenous heritage collections. Findings suggest opportunities for connections by improving access through the design of education and exhibition initiatives and the representation of cultural practices in ways that are important to the communities. This study provides future scholars with practical suggestions for designing community connections with Indigenous heritage institutions while creating multi-vocal engagements and inclusive meeting points for cultural self-determination. Show less
Renewed calls for decolonizing anthropology in the 21st century raise the question of what work earlier waves of decolonization since the 1960s have left undone. Some of this work should focus on... Show moreRenewed calls for decolonizing anthropology in the 21st century raise the question of what work earlier waves of decolonization since the 1960s have left undone. Some of this work should focus on the classification of human differences, which figured prominently in all phases of the discipline’s history: as a methodology in its racist phases, as an object of study during its late colonial phase of professionalization, as self-critical reflexivity in the 1980s and 1990s, and as a renewed critique in the 21st century. Can a universal methodology of studying classifications of human kinds arise from the discipline’s past of colonial stereotyping? I argue affirmatively, through an approach that recognizes time as the epistemic condition that connects past and present positions to present and future methodologies. Firstly, my analysis distinguishes the parochial embedding in colonial culture of Durkheim and Mauss’ ideas about classification from their more universal intentions. This is then developed into a threefold reflexive and timeful methodology of studying classification’s nominal-descriptive, constructive, and interventionist dimensions—a process of adding temporality to the study of classification. Subsequently, Antenor Firmin’s 19th-century critique of racial classifications, and W. E. B. Du Bois’s theory of double consciousness help to show how this threefold methodology addresses the insufficiently theorized process of being classified and discriminated against through racial categories wielded by the powers that be. These arguments radicalize the essay’s timeful perspective by concluding that we need to avoid modernist uses of time as classification and adopt the aforementioned threefold methodology in order to put time in classifications of human kinds. This reverses modern positivism’s subordination to methodological rules of the epistemic conditions posed by contingent history and shows instead that the universal goals of methodology should be understood as a future ideal. Show less
Unlike most city histories, this book focuses exclusively on the city’s connections with colonialism and slavery. Rotterdam, the second-largest Dutch city, is one of Europe’s leading ports. Its... Show moreUnlike most city histories, this book focuses exclusively on the city’s connections with colonialism and slavery. Rotterdam, the second-largest Dutch city, is one of Europe’s leading ports. Its maritime expansion was intrinsically linked to Dutch colonialism, including slave trading and colonial slavery in the Americas, Africa and Asia. This painful history sits uneasily with the city’s modern cosmopolitan image and its large population of ‘new Rotterdammers’ with colonial roots. The present volume provides a summary of the research that has documented this history, with chapters on the contribution of colonial trade to economic development; the city’s involvement in slavery; the role of the urban political elites; the impact on urban development and architecture; the ‘ethical impulse’; colonial art and ethnographic collections; colonial and postcolonial migration; and finally the resonance of this history in postcolonial Rotterdam. 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
Scope: The aim of these guidelines is to provide recommendations for decolonizing regimens targeting multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (MDR-GNB) carriers in all settings.Methods: These... Show moreScope: The aim of these guidelines is to provide recommendations for decolonizing regimens targeting multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (MDR-GNB) carriers in all settings.Methods: These evidence-based guidelines were produced after a systematic review of published studies on decolonization interventions targeting the following MDR-GNB: third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (3GCephRE), carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), aminoglycoside-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (AGRE), fluoroquinolone-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (FQRE), extremely drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (XDRPA), carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannn (CRAB), cotrimoxazole-resistant Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (CRSM), colistin-resistant Gram-negative organisms (CoRGNB), and pan-drug-resistant Gram-negative organisms (PDRGNB). The recommendations are grouped by MDR-GNB species. Faecal microbiota transplantation has been discussed separately. Four types of outcomes were evaluated for each target MDR-GNB:(a) microbiological outcomes (carriage and eradication rates) at treatment end and at specific post-treatment time-points; (b) clinical outcomes (attributable and all-cause mortality and infection incidence) at the same time-points and length of hospital stay; (c) epidemiological outcomes (acquisition incidence, transmission and outbreaks); and (d) adverse events of decolonization (including resistance development). The level of evidence for and strength of each recommendation were defined according to the GRADE approach. Consensus of a multidisciplinary expert panel was reached through a nominal-group technique for the final list of recommendations.Recommendations: The panel does not recommend routine decolonization of 3GCephRE and CRE carriers. Evidence is currently insufficient to provide recommendations for or against any intervention in patients colonized with AGRE, CoRGNB, CRAB, CRSM, FQRE, PDRGNB and XDRPA. On the basis of the limited evidence of increased risk of CRE infections in immunocompromised carriers, the panel suggests designing high-quality prospective clinical studies to assess the risk of CRE infections in immunocompromised patients. These trials should include monitoring of development of resistance to decolonizing agents during treatment using stool cultures and antimicrobial susceptibility results according to the EUCAST clinical breakpoints. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Show less
This study discusses the transformation from a colonial into a national economy in Indonesia and Vietnam. It focuses on two intertwined processes of economic decolonization and reconstruction in... Show moreThis study discusses the transformation from a colonial into a national economy in Indonesia and Vietnam. It focuses on two intertwined processes of economic decolonization and reconstruction in the two countries after the Second World War, paying special attention to political and institutional factors involved in these processes. The study demonstrates that, although differences in the political situations resulted in the adoption of divergent strategies, Indonesia and Vietnam were in fact pursuing similar long-term goals, namely: attaining a national independent economy. The Indonesian government was determined to get rid of the economic legacy of Dutch colonialism by placing the whole economy under the strong state control and ownership, in accordance with the spirit of Guided Democracy and Guided Economy in the late 1950s and the early 1960s. This effort resembled much the socialist transformation of North Vietnam in the 1950s and the various means by which the government of South Vietnam concentrated economic power in its hands during the late 1950s and the early 1960s. Show less
‘Orienting India: Interwar Internationalism in an Asian Inflection, 1917-1937’ is an intellectual history of (Pan-) Asianist individuals, initiatives and movements in South Asia in the years... Show more‘Orienting India: Interwar Internationalism in an Asian Inflection, 1917-1937’ is an intellectual history of (Pan-) Asianist individuals, initiatives and movements in South Asia in the years between the two world wars. The First World War, the Bolshevik Revolution and the establishment of the League of Nations all gave a strong impetus to individuals and movements who sought to operate internationally. Within this proliferation of internationalist activism, Indian artists, intellectuals, activists, feminists, religious revivalists, trade unionists, and others framed their thoughts and actions on an Asian scale. Their projects for Asian unification ranged from specific causes, such as drawing international attention to the dismal working conditions in Asian industries, to political unification in a future Asian federation. In examining these different expressions of Asianism, this study seeks to demonstrate that (Pan-) Asianism was an important part of the Indian public sphere in the interwar years, and that this regionalist enthusiasm occurred across the political and religious spectrum. Show less
In the search for a Taiwanese identity rooted in the land of Taiwan the Japanese colonial past plays an ambiguous role. The Japanese colonial sites became a constituent part of the new identity and... Show moreIn the search for a Taiwanese identity rooted in the land of Taiwan the Japanese colonial past plays an ambiguous role. The Japanese colonial sites became a constituent part of the new identity and cultural narrative of Taiwan in the 1990s and 2000s, when a memory boom was experienced in Taiwan representing new politics both cultural and economic which differed from the previous political periods of Japanese and postwar KMT (Kuomintang; Chinese Nationalist Party) rule. Min-Chin Chiang presents the extreme complexity of sharing the Japanese colonial past in postcolonial Taiwanese society. In this book she examines possibilities of decolonization through community-based heritage activities. Problems and ambiguity stemming from the tentative transformation from colonialism to locality help to trigger further thinking or warn against the ideological trap of taking mutuality in ‘sharing’ the past for granted. Hence, decolonization does not necessarily mean ‘removing colonial material traces’. Preserving colonial sites through recognising the contested nature, actively exploring and engaging controversial voices, insisting with finding out historical depth of every memory version attached to the site, and transforming structural inequality with persistent locality building would better contribute to trigger a decolonizing process. This is the significance of the colonial sites as ‘heritage’ for the postcolonial society. Show less
Dit boek beschrijft het koloniaal bestuur en de lokale politieke op Aruba tussen 1816 en 1955. Deel één beschrijft de Arubaanse ervaring met koloniaal bestuur tot 1922. Aruba was onderhorig aan het... Show moreDit boek beschrijft het koloniaal bestuur en de lokale politieke op Aruba tussen 1816 en 1955. Deel één beschrijft de Arubaanse ervaring met koloniaal bestuur tot 1922. Aruba was onderhorig aan het bestuur op Curaçao, waar de gouverneur de spil in het bestuur was. De Koloniale Raad had weinig bevoegdheden en de eilanden buiten Curaçao waren niet vertegenwoordigd Raad. Daar voerden commandeurs, na 1848 gezaghebbers, het bestuur. Lokale colleges als het Vredegerecht, de Adviserende Commissie en de Raad van Politie hadden weinig invloed. De invoering van stemrecht in 1869 bracht weinig verandering. Wel drongen landraden aan op bestuurshervorming en investeringen ten behoeve van Aruba. De grondwetswijzigingen van 1901 en 1922 beloofden hervorming, maar die bleef uit. Deel twee beschrijft de de Separacionbeweging. In 1924 vestigde de olie-industrie zich op Aruba. In 1946 formuleerden de Verenigde Naties het zelfbeschikkingsrecht. Arubanen streefden naar afscheiding van de kolonie en een directe band met Nederland: Separacion! In 1948 stelde de commissie Aruba-Curaçao een federatie tussen de eilanden voor; de separatisten trokken aan het kortste eind. In 1954 kwam het Statuut voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden tot stand en een jaar later de Staatsregeling van de Nederlandse Antillen. De epiloog spreekt de ontwikkelingen sinds 1955. Show less
The Netherlands Antilles and Aruba are still tied to the Netherlands through the Charter for the Kingdom of 1954. This document is a little known, but ingenious attempt at the decolonization of the... Show moreThe Netherlands Antilles and Aruba are still tied to the Netherlands through the Charter for the Kingdom of 1954. This document is a little known, but ingenious attempt at the decolonization of the Dutch Caribbean within the structure of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This study describes the status of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba under international law. It discusses questions such as: What basis is there for the islands__ claim to self-determination and decolonization? May the Netherlands force the islands to become independent states? Why do the islands call on the help of the Decolonization Committee of the United Nations to obtain another constitutional status within the Kingdom of the Netherlands? For the first time, the results of more than 50 years of debate within the Kingdom of the Netherlands on decolonization and self-determination are now made available to international readers, with full reference to international law and developments at the United Nations. Relevant comparisons are made to other remnants of the Western colonial empires in the Caribbean and Pacific regions, and in the Indian Ocean. It presents an overview of existing forms of overseas constitutional relations, in light of the international law concerning decolonization and self-determination of small islands. The Kingdom of the Netherlands is currently going through turbulent times. The Netherlands Antilles is falling apart, with each of its five island territories trying to obtain a separate constitutional position within the Kingdom. The aim of Cura_ao and St. Maarten is to become autonomous Countries within the Kingdom, while Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba have opted for a stronger role for the Netherlands in the government of their islands. The international law concerning decolonization and self-determination will probably continue to play a large role in this process of constitutional reform. Show less
