Conferenties & Workshops
Conferentie 'Decolonization of the Indonesian city', 4/2006
Workshop ‘Economic Decolonization in Indonesia', 11/2005
Workshop 'Street images', 08/2005
Conferentie 'The decolonization of Sumatra', 08/2005
3e Workshop 'Van Indië tot Indonesië', 08/2005
Workshop ‘Indonesia during the Japanese occupation’, 07/2005
2e Workshop 'Van Indië tot Indonesië', 01/2005
Training 'Stadssymboliek', 09/2004
1e Workshop 'Van Indië tot Indonesië', 08/2004
Conferentie 'Stadsgeschiedenis in Indonesië', 08/2004
Workshop 'Stedelijke arbeid in Indonesië', 08/2004
Workshop 'De economische kant van de dekolonisatie', 08/2004
Conferentie 'Decolonizing societies', 2003
Conferentie 'Decolonization of the Indonesian city', 4/2006
Call for papers
The decolonisation of the Indonesian city (1930-1960)
in comparative (Asian and African) perspective
Leiden, 27-28 April 2006
Host
The Netherlands Institute for War Documentation (NIOD, Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie, Amsterdam) and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV, Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, Leiden) jointly host the conference on The decolonisation of the Indonesian city (1930-1960) in comparative (Asian and African) perspective. Venue will be the KITLV building in Leiden . The language used is English.
Theme of the conference
The theme of this conference is the interplay between political independence and urban change in Indonesian cities. Independence forms a watershed in the history of most former colonies. The political shift resulted in a changing balance of power in society - foremost between former coloniser and colonised people- and the rise of new powerful groups: new businessmen, specific ethnic groups, the military, and so on.
In contrast to this defining political event, cities seem to develop gradually, more or less autonomously from the political upheavals. But the new balance of power emerging after independence did make an impact on urban development. Conversely, the changing face of the city reflected the socio-political changes after independence. Independence should not be equated with the proclamation of independence, but is here best considered an extended process stretching over a period both before and after the proclamation.
Topics for discussion at this conference could be:
the struggle for urban space (between social and ethnic groups)
housing (private and public)
urban planning
changing composition of the urban administration
symbolic changes (new statues, street names, etcetera)
other visual changes (disappearance of Dutchmen and Japanese, rise of the motorcar, disappearance of nature, spread of street trade, etcetera)
land rights systems and conflicts about individual plots
initiatives to house the poor
housing styles and modernisation
the relationship between social class and racial categories
the experiences and stories of the urban people
Aim of the conference
Aim of the conference is to gain insight in the urban (social, cultural, economic, administrative) changes induced by political independence. Papers could address any or a combination of the above list of potential topics. Participants are encouraged to stretch the period under investigation to the so-called long decolonisation (1930-1960).
A comparative perspective adds understanding to the particularities or normalness of the Indonesian case. We therefore welcome papers about the decolonisation of other Asian and African countries. Whereas the Indonesian papers can present detailed case studies, the comparative papers should address broader topics.
The organisers hope to publish a selection of the papers afterwards.
Information and application
Prospective participants in the conference are invited to send an abstract of their paper to Freek Colombijn (Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, f.colombijn@fsw.vu.nl). The abstract should contain no more than 150 words.
Proposals for a paper should be submitted before 20 December 2005.