Subversive Seas
Anticolonial Networks across the Twentieth-Century Dutch Empire

This revealing portrait of the oceanic Dutch Empire exposes the maritime world as a catalyst for the downfall of European imperialism.

Kris Alexanderson (Author)

9781108472029, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 25 April 2019

312 pages, 16 b/w illus. 1 map
23.5 x 15.9 x 2 cm, 0.65 kg

'Elegantly written, a joy to read, and aided by plentiful footnotes, Alexanderson's study is all the stronger for its concluding discussion of the decolonization of Indonesia in the post-1945 era and the subsequent historiographical 'decolonization of the Dutch colonial past', to which her book ably contributes.' Nicholas J. White, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

This revealing portrait of the Dutch Empire repositions our understanding of modern empires from the terrestrial to the oceanic. It highlights the importance of shipping, port cities, and maritime culture to the political struggles of the 1920s and 30s. Port cities such as Jeddah, Shanghai, and Batavia were hotbeds for the spread of nationalism, communism, pan-Islamism, and pan-Asianism, and became important centers of opposition to Dutch imperialism through the circulation of passengers, laborers, and religious pilgrims. In response to growing maritime threats, the Dutch government and shipping companies attempted to secure oceanic spaces and maintain hegemony abroad through a web of control. Techniques included maritime policing networks, close collaboration with British and French surveillance entities ashore, and maintaining segregation on ships, which was meant to 'teach' those on board their position within imperial hierarchies. This innovative study exposes how anti-colonialism was shaped not only within the terrestrial confines of metropole and colony, but across the transoceanic spaces in between.

Introduction: transoceanic mobility and modern imperialism
Part I. At Sea: 1. Kongsi Tiga: security and insecurity on Hajj ships
2. Java-China-Japan Lijn: Asian shipping and imperial representation
3. The Dutch mails: passenger liners as colonial classrooms
Part II. In Port: 4. Pan-Islamism abroad: regulation and resistance in the Middle East
5. Policing communism: ships, seamen, and political networks in Asia
6. Japanese penetration: imperial upheavals in the 1930s
Conclusion: oceanic decolonization and cultural amnesia in the twenty-first century.

Subject Areas: Colonialism & imperialism [HBTQ], Maritime history [HBTM], Regional & national history [HBJ]