BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Exploiting the Empires of Others: Reflections towards a Model of E
 uropean Colonial Exploitation - Catia Antunes (Leiden)
DTSTART:20221020T161500Z
DTEND:20221020T173000Z
UID:TALK178886@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Martin Andersson
DESCRIPTION:Early Modern European empires are portrayed and perceived as n
 ationally geared enterprises\, as entangled spaces at the peripheries and 
 as zones of contact. In the Netherlands\, these perceptions have filtered 
 into the public debate that seeks to define material and immaterial respon
 sibilities for the colonial past. What the historiographical perceptions\,
  academic portrayals and public debate seem\, however\, to ignore is the r
 ole played by foreigners (being non-subjects of a specific king or republi
 c) in exploiting the empires of other countries. It is thus important to d
 etermine how and why Dutch entrepreneurs (being those taking risks in matt
 ers of trade or production\, introducing innovations\, making decisions ba
 sed on information that others did not possess and searching for opportuni
 ties where most perceived risk) participated in exploiting the English\, F
 rench and Iberian empires\, as Dutch firms are particularly prominent in t
 he European colonial landscape. Since Dutch entrepreneurs engaged in explo
 iting the resources of those other countries\, what is the future of the p
 ublic debate in the Netherlands\, and Europe at large\, regarding a shared
  responsibility for the colonial past? The answer(s) to these questions ca
 n be found in the multiple public and private archives that house extensiv
 e collections of the firms that operated from the Dutch Republic into the 
 four largest empires in Western Europe. By combining original and recently
  uncovered archival sources pertaining to the relevant men (and some women
 )\, businesses and activities and their relationships with fellow traders\
 , investors and political powers in situ\, this project carries the seed t
 o change commonly held perceptions regarding colonial participation and ho
 w these perceptions are often filtered into the public debate. This socio-
 economic entanglement of empires may have resulted\, I hypothesize\, in a 
 shared European culture of exploitation that is impossible to disentangle 
 within public debates that remain nationally bound.
LOCATION:History Faculty\, Room 6
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR