Abstract
In 2022, after a number of publications of commissioned historical research about the specific involvement of Dutch cities in the Transatlantic slave trade and the colonial plantation system, various mayors in the Netherlands apologized for this historic crime against humanity. The apologies were followed by questions in city councils about repair and restorative justice. But what are the conditions for gaining a deeper understanding of the afterlives of slavery in Dutch society, and is government commissioned research a proper context for this aim? This short essay, firstly, situates research on the afterlives of slavery in a broader epistemological and political context. Secondly, the essay discusses why a well-intended commissioned project to map these afterlives of slavery, as a first step in the follow up of the apologies, foundered prematurely. We observe a tension field between municipal policy logics and the need for truly independent and decolonial research on the afterlives of slavery.
| Translated title of the contribution | On the (im)possibility of commissioned research: Questions and more questions about the afterlives of colonialism and slavery in Amsterdam and Utrecht |
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| Original language | Dutch |
| Pages (from-to) | 277-284 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis |
| Volume | 136 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 1 Dec 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2023 |