In Caribbean Studies, resistance and pacification have been successfully applied as a key concept in order to interpret Caribbean societies and to obtain a fair and substantial picture of their complexities and legacies. Offering an approach that allows for the assessment of top down and bottom up developments, the concept is instrumental in tracing major causes and effects and in disclosing the prime movers moulding life in the colonial and postcolonial Caribbean.
Historical events pertaining to different modes of resistance have been given considerable attention, particularly the acts of indigenous people, slaves and maroons as they covertly and openly defied the colonial regime in the pre-emancipation period. Resistance and pacification in the twentieth-century Caribbean, however, have been seriously understudied. Indentured labour, the 1930’s labour movement and World War II as principal themes have inspired a fair number of scholars, but many aspects of the decolonisation era and its aftermath still await the inquisitive stance and analytical skills of contemporary historians.
In this course, the twentieth-century Dutch Caribbean will be addressed. Developments in Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba have included important transfers of power, significant socio-economic adjustments and dynamic migration patterns which can be rewardingly studied in a resistance and pacification framework. Political, socio-economic, cultural and intellectual aspects will be dealt with and when useful a comparative perspective will be applied.
Timetable
Semester II, see timetables.
Method of Instruction
Research Seminar; attendance is compulsory ( see the rules and regulations of the Department of History, art. 2).
Course objectives
A better understanding of the processes underlying resistance and pacification in the modern Dutch Caribbean. Students will be trained in studying literature, discussing major topics and conducting research.
Required reading
James C. Scott,_ Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts_. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990, p. 1-69, 136-182.
Peter Meel en Hans Ramsoedh (red.), Ik ben een haan met een kroon op mijn hoofd. Pacificatie en verzet in koloniaal en postkoloniaal Suriname. Amsterdam: Bert Bakker, 2007, p. 7-17, 133-280.
Gert Oostindie (red.), Dromen en littekens. Dertig jaar na de Curaçaose revolte, 30 mei 1969. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 1999, p. 9-96, 301-324.
Additional required reading:
Frank Martinus Arion, Nobele wilden. Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij, 1979.
Albert Helman, Kroniek van Eldorado. Boek II: Gefolterden zonder verweer. Amsterdam: In de Knipscheer, 1995. [Globe Pocket 33]
Wim Hoogbergen & Dirk Kruijt, De oorlog van de sergeanten. Surinaamse militairen in de politiek. Amsterdam: Bert Bakker, 2005.
Edgar Cairo, De smaak van Sranan Libre. Haarlem: In de Knipscheer, 2007.
Deborah Thomas, Modern Blackness. Nationalism, Globalization, and the Politics of Culture in Jamaica. Durham & London: Duke University Press, 2005 [2nd printing]
Participants are expected to provide for the above mentioned titles themselves.
Examination
The entry test will consist of a 1500 words essay to be handed in by each participant one week before the start of the course. Instruction: In Domination and the Arts of Resistance Scott employs the concepts of “public transcript” and “hidden transcript” in order to examine “the theatre of power” that involves subordinates and those who dominate. Pointedly describe both concepts as elaborated upon by Scott (p. 1-44) and apply them to the case studies presented in Meel & Ramsoedh and Oostindie. Turn the examples and specifications Scott offers ( p. 45-69, 136-182) to your advantage.
The essays will be distributed among the participants by the instructor and discussed during the first two sessions of the course. Subsequently additional required reading will be discussed in class and all participants are expected to give individual presentations and write a research paper. Marking will be based on participation in class (25%) and the quality of the research paper (75%).
Information
With the tutor: P.J.J.Meel@let.leidenuniv.nl.
Blackboard/webpage
No.
Remarks
Reading ability in Dutch is required.
Application Courses, Seminars and Exams
MA course enrolment forms can be downloaded here.