Colonialism versus imperialism
Agus Suwignyo (UGM, Yogyakarta), Alicia Schrikker (Leiden University) and Susan Legêne (VU Amsterdam) analysed almost 50 years of publications on colonialism, imperialism and decolonisation in Bijdragen en Mededelingen over de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden – Low Countries Historical Review (BMGN-LCHR,) the leading professional journal covering the history and historiography of the Netherlands and Belgium. Whereas colonialism mainly concerns trade, enslavement and other ways of exploiting people, imperialism is a bigger denominator, referring to the expansion of Europe which is interwoven with its industrialisation and the cooperative exertion of power outside of Europe, Susan Legêne explains. Was this 'microstate' called the Netherlands an imperial superpower like, say, England or France? "Thats was quite the taboo," says Susan Legêne. "Historians have long denied it, arguing that we were not party to the imperial race to conquer the African coastline, territories and countries. We would rather put that blame on England, France, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Italy and Spain. Yet in the meantime, we too kept expanding our territory. In all nineteenth-century armed border conflicts, we see the Netherlands always being in negotiations and rivalry with Indonesians, like in the Malay Archipelago, but also with other European powers.”
Historians around 1970, a colonial perspective
A colonial perspective can be identified in the first publications of BMGN-LCHR from around 1970, in which researchers were meticulous with the sources but still adopted their colonial frame of reference. Those 'first' generation scholars often still had a connection to the Dutch East Indies, according to Susan Legêne. They knew the language and were in contact with their peers in Indonesia. However, in their historiography they mainly focused on the Dutch context; with the exception of one scholar, Indonesian historians did not publish in the reviewed journal until 2010, nor were they mentioned in footnotes by Dutch historians. Even more striking is the total absence of historiography on Suriname and the Caribbean islands during those fifty years. "That says a lot about the importance of these territories to ‘Dutch’ history, and is also quite shocking in light of our present-day thirst for information on historical slavery," says Susan Legêne. According to her, ‘parcelling’ in historiography is largely to blame for the absence of sources concerning colonial history. "Indonesia experts wrote about the Dutch East Indies and Indonesia in Indonesian journals, Surinam experts wrote in academic journals that applied themselves to Surinam studies, and so on." Often, there was little or no communication or cooperation between academics from different countries, Susan Legêne explains. "What made it even more difficult, especially concerning Indonesian historiography, was that publications here were written almost exclusively in Dutch, which meant that only Dutch-speaking people read the publications. This ruled out the possibility of a dialogue with Indonesia, and there was no discussion with the English, German or French historians about, for example, imperialism, either. Consequently, for a long time, the Dutch history of colonialism and imperialism was not a part of their historiography either.”
After 2010: focus on decolonisation, de-imperialisation and connected histories
According to the researchers, the present-day situation is very different. Historians are seeking out an international debate, are searching out critical postcolonial approaches, and are researching how colonial sources are interwoven with the colonial system as such. Also, their publications are covering a much broader area of colonialism than the political and socio-economical topics of the past. For instance, the interwovenness with research history, with the development of museums, with the continued effect of colonial relations in later times; it reflects the increasing versatility of inquiries into colonial history. “Since 2010, we are seeing publications from a new generation of historians, younger people from a variety of backgrounds and expertise within history," says Susan Legêne. Within BMGN-LCHR, interest in the subject has risen sharply along with the rise in societal interest. For 40 years, colonisation or related topics were only highlighted in one article a year, whereas now, a large number of articles are published, and in addition, separate discussion papers, forums and review essays on the topic are also being lined up. It is notable that such contributions are now also directed at readers located in Indonesia and the Caribbean islands, rather than being exclusive to the Netherlands and Belgium as was the case with the pre-2010 issues. Open access turns out to be a key factor in all this.
Communication and cooperation with scholars from Indonesia, Suriname and the Caribbean islands has been renewed, says Susan Legêne. "They are, so to speak, new first acquaintances, based on equality. The earlier generation of Dutch historians worked with Indonesian academics trained by their own teachers, or even by themselves. That is certainly not the case anymore. We are invited into an Indonesian, South-African, Caribbean historiography with which we are to become actively engaged. Moreover, the dynamics in the way we communicate with each other have also changed.” As examples, Legêne mentions the collaboration for the mentoring of doctoral students, the ambition for creating a trans-Atlantic research accommodation around the Anton de Kom Chair, and the upcoming summer school on colonial and postcolonial literature from and about Indonesia and the Netherlands, which is jointly organised by UGM and VU Amsterdam in Yogyakarta.
In the analysis of colonial historiography in 50 volumes of BMGN-LCHR – which, by the way, is the only article written in English – an unusual term is used: de-imperialization. What does it mean? Susan Legêne laughs. “We, the authors, chose the term because it is not necessarily used in the Netherlands, but it is used in Indonesia, as is decolonialisation. It means that they wish to look at their history beyond the oppressive historiographical framework of colonialism and imperialism.” BMGN-LCHR hasn’t reached that stage yet. But it is now covering perspectives of those who suffered under colonialism as well as those who exercised power. Publications include dealing with colonial objects, the legacy of slavery and political responsibility for misdeeds that took place during the colonial era. "We observe a broadening in historiography on this topic. Historians are contributing to, and are also discussing television programmes, films and exhibitions highlighting colonisation and slavery," Susan Legêne says. “The discussion has broadened.”
According to the researchers, it is important to recognise the interconnectedness of different European histories, without making one perspective more important than the other. More and more, historical representation is also starting to play a role in the arrival of migrants from the former colonies to the Netherlands. How can historiography be made inclusive? "To ensure a fully inclusive historiography, we need to discuss European histories, rather than histories of individual nations in Europe," the researchers conclude.