Race, Colonial Slavery, Capitalism and the Making of the Modern World

There is a current upsurge in contemporary historiography around the “ new histories of capitalism.”  The focus of this current has been on the historical emergence of American capitalism. This talk will shift the gaze of this new historiography by arguing that the emergence of European colonial empires which included practices of slave trade, plantation slavery and various forms of indentured labour was central to the production of modern capitalism. The talk will also argue through an examination of comparative slave regulations how race became a central element in the making of capitalism.

Respondent: Ciraj Rassool 

In 2021, the Tropenmuseum will open its new galleries on slavery and colonialism and their afterlives in the present. As part of our preparation for this discussion one of the questions that has emerged is whether our focus should be national, European or global.

This challenge of perspective is by no means restricted to the museum. Indeed, it reflects on-going conversations in heritage and memory studies, where the question of whether colonial memory is national or European continues to receive critical attention. Importantly, there is also growing public debates about whether the representation of slavery in Dutch museums should be restricted to trans-Atlantic slavery or should it also address slavery in the former Dutch East Indies. What yield, we want to ask, might be gained by choosing one perspective over the other? How do we as the Tropenmuseum position ourselves in this story in relation to other institutional exhibitionary ambitions around this theme, whether it is the Rijksmuseum, Scheepvaart Museum, or the Mauritshuis? How do we address the global entanglements and ramification of the system of slavery for a public that is predominantly Dutch? Displaying Slavery and Colonialism: A National, European or Global Story, will take these questions as starting point to help shape our future displays at the Tropenmuseum.