Anti-racist protestors in both the United States and Europe have scored significant symbolic victories this year, as the statues of slave traders, Confederates, and colonialists have been removed from public spaces. One of the most intriguing historical battles has been taking place in the Netherlands, a country often seen as a liberal bulwark, but whose political establishment largely continues to defend its colonial record.
In the 1600s, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) began colonizing parts of Indonesia. After the abolition of the VOC in 1796, the Dutch government gained controlled over Indonesia, which was then referred to as the Netherlands East Indies. The colonization of Indonesia, which was motivated by Dutch economic interests, was portrayed as a “civilizing mission,” that is, the notion that Indonesians were primitive and backwards and that the Dutch, as Europeans, would civilize and modernise them.
