The Chinese played a vital role in the Dutch colonial economy, and their economic role in the region has remained important throughout the centuries. Starting in the late nineteenth century, China also played a role in their socio-political life. After the Chinese managed to shed discriminatory regulations in the colony in the first decades of the twentieth century, they again had to strive for their rights in the new Republic of Indonesia. This proved to be a difficult process filled with te...

This book reviews what is known about the issue of slavery, and argues that the concept of "afterlives" is more helpful than that of "modern slavery" to those seeking to challenge injustice, violence, inequality and oppression in the twenty-first century.

A comprehensive history of the interaction between religion and colonization.

Religion in today's Democratic Republic of Congo has many faces: from the overflowing seminaries, the Marian shrines of the Catholic Church, the Islamic brotherhoods and the Jewish community of Lubumbashi, to the 'African' churches of the Congolese diaspora in Brussels and Paris, the healers of Kimbanguism, the televangelism of the booming Pentecostalist churches in the great cities, the Orthodox communities of Kasai...

Every Dutchman is well acquainted with the East India Company (VOC). The West India Company (WIC) however, is lesser known. Furthermore very few know of the episode when the WIC was active on the northern Brazilian coast. This period lasted roughly from 1624 to 1654. Yet this has been an important episode for both the Netherlands and the fledgling Brazil. Towards the end of the 12-year truce with Spain, the Netherlands sought to conquer and colonize the Portuguese part of South America and th...

In 1594, the first Dutch ships sailes to 'the East'. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, almost five thousand ships were sent to the Dutch East Indies, attracting a growing number of travellers, with trade as one of the major incentives. In addition to Dutch missionary ambitions, progress and technological innovations not only fed the growing hunger for expansion, but also stirred an appetite for adventure. The hope for a life in welfare is mirrored in the growing numbers of ...