This volume explores the intellectual history of the Dutch Empire from a long-term and global perspective, analysing how ideas and visions of empire took shape in imperial practice from the seventeenth century to the present day. Through a series of case studies, the volume critically unearths deep-rooted conceptions of Dutch imperial exceptionalism and shows how visions of imperial rule were developed in metropolitan and colonial contexts and practices. Topics include the founding of the Dutch chartered companies for colonial trade, the development of commercial and global visions of empire in Europe and Asia, the continuities and ruptures in imperial ideas and practices around 1800, and the practical making of empire in colonial court rooms and radio broadcasting. Demonstrating the relevance of a long-term approach to the Dutch Empire, the volume showcases how the intellectual history of empire can provide fresh light on postcolonial repercussions of empire and imperial rule.

The following chapters are available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com

Autorentext

René Koekkoek is Assistant Professor at Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

Anne-Isabelle Richard is Assistant Professor at Leiden University, the Netherlands.

Arthur Weststeijn is Assistant Professor at Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

Inhalt
1 Introduction: Intellectual History in Imperial Practice: René Koekkoek, Anne-Isabelle Richard, Arthur Weststeijn.- Part I Exceptionalism in Visions of Dutch Empire,- 2 Birthing Empire: The States General and the Chartering of the VOC and the WIC: Cátia Antunes.- 3 Empire of Riches: Visions of Dutch Commercial Imperialism, c. 1600-1750: Arthur Weststeijn.- 4 Hyper-Imperialism: The Dutch Vision of Empire and the Expansion of the European World: Benjamin Schmidt.- 5 Comparatively Exceptional: The Paradoxes of 20th Century Dutch Imperialism and Decolonization:Jennifer L. Foray.- Part II Visions of Dutch Empire in practice.- 6 Institutional Memory and Dutch Colonial Culture in Asia 1700-1870: An Archival Approach to the History of Ideas: Alicia Schrikker.- 7 Envisioning the Dutch Imperial Nation-State in the Age of Revolutions: René Koekkoek.- 8 Rule of Lawyers: Liberalism and Colonial Judges in nineteenth-century Java: Sanne Ravensbergen.- 9 The Glass House Revisited: Radio Broadcasting and the Blind Spots in the Late Colonial State in the Netherlands Indies, 1920s and 1930s: Vincent Kuitenbrouwer.- 10 Epilogue.Colonial distances. Dutch Intellectual Images of Global Trade and Conquest in the Colonial and Postcolonial Age: Remco Raben.-