Conference Comparing the wars of decolonization: Extreme violence during reoccupation and counter-insurgency,
1945-1975 

Thursday 20 June 2019 Amsterdam Public Library (OBA) 

 

During this conference, the NIAS theme group Comparing the Wars of Decolonization will present its preliminary results. This project engages in comparative research in order to learn more about causes, forms and nature of (extreme) violence by Dutch military forces in their attempt to re-establish colonial authority during the Indonesian struggle for independence (1945-1949).

In her keynote lecture professor Raphaëlle Branche (University of Rouen) will address the public uses of history in relation to decolonization violence in France and other former colonial powers. The conference will conclude with a round table where the outcomes of our project are discussed within the context of the public use (and abuse) of decolonization history.

The theme group Comparing the Wars of Decolonization is part of the large-scale research programme Independence, decolonization, violence and war in Indonesia, 1945-1950, carried out by the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV), the Netherlands Institute of Military History (NIMH) and the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

Conference registration for the conference on Thursday 20 June is possible as of now by using the button below. Please note that registration will be open for the general public from May 6, 2019, and there are limited seats available.

OBA (Public Library Amsterdam), Oosterdokskade 143, Amsterdam
Thursday June 20, 2019
10:00-17:00

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

09.30 Registration & coffee

10:00 – 10:30h Introduction

  • Frank van Vree (director NIOD)
  • Fenneke Wekker (head academic affairs NIAS)

10:30 – 11.30h Keynote lecture:

  • Raphaëlle Branche, The political uses of decolonization history.

11:30 – 12:00h Coffee break

12:00 – 13:00h Session 1: Accounting for violent colonial responses

  • Huw Bennett and Peter Romijn, Communicating excessive violence: Political awareness and levels of responsibility in Indonesia, Malaya and Kenya compared.
  • Pierre Asselin and Esther Captain, Cracking down on revolutionary zeal and violence: Early Dutch and French responses in the Indonesian archipelago and Indochina, 1945-1946.

13:00 – 14:00h Lunch break

14:00 – 15:30h Session 2: Exploring forms and dynamics of extreme violence

  • Brian McAllister Linn and Azarja Harmanny, Technological violence in colonial counter-insurgency: ‘ways of war’ and the role of heavy weapons in escalations of force.
  • Natalya Vince and Stef Scagliola, Sexual violence in wars of decolonisation: comparing the Dutch/Indonesian and French/Algerian wars of independence.
  • Martin Thomas and Roel Frakking: Windows onto the micro-dynamics of insurgent and counter-insurgent violence: evidence from late colonial Southeast Asia and Africa compared.

15:30 – 16:00h Coffee break

16:00 – 17:00h Round table: Comparing the Wars of Decolonization – towards a Global Memory of the End of Empire?

  • Participants: Raphaëlle Branche, Bambang Purwanto, David Anderson and Gert Oostindie

17:00h Drinks

The conference will be chaired by Wim Manuhutu