Fidel Castro has died. Over the final years of his long life he admonished his compatriots to complete the mission he started in the 1950s. Will they? Gert Oostindie does not think so: but neither does he expect a sudden regime change....

Fidel Castro is overleden. Afgelopen zondag 27 november werd in het radioprogramma OVT zijn leven en zijn dood besproken met o.a. Gert Oostindie, directeur KITLV. Klik hier om de uitzending te beluisteren...

While the concept of a ‘sharing economy’ is gaining popularity in modern societies, in Eastern Indonesia it is a traditional way of coping with daily life. Based on her fieldwork in Sumba, Jacqueline Vel outlines some of the difficulties that researchers and...

Oral history is a promising source for further research in the KITLV project on Dutch military operations in Indonesia between 1945 and 1950. Interviews with Dutch war veterans give new insights into the use of ...

The two-volume special edition of Jurnal Wacana – Stories and Storytelling in Indonesian – edited by Clara Brakel, Susi Moeimam and Tom Hoogervorst (KITLV) is now online available! The two volumes delve...

Door voormalig KITLV-fellow Anne-Lot Hoek: 'Iedereen wist het, maar niemand kon het zeggen'. "Oorlog werd ‘politionele acties’, structureel geweld werden ‘excessen’. De manier waarop Cees Fasseur en andere ...

When in 2002 Indonesia established a constitutional court nobody anticipated just how important this new institution was going to be. Its rulings are widely reported and they have had an impact on fields ranging from economic policy...

President Jokowi is popular enough to do without military support. Yet New Order-era soldiers have always been close by his side. Now he has gone one further. Who is Wiranto? In a cabinet reshuffle on 27 July he ...

One of the most common social sciences research methods is (online) surveys. While there are many benefits to this method, there are also many pitfalls, like, not being able to get people to fill out the survey you ...

Economics, Empire, Eschatology: the Global Context of Jewish Settlement in the Americas, 1650-70'. In: Itinerario 40, special issue 02, August 2016, pp. 293-310. The Dutch and English offered Spanish and Portuguese ...

KITLV directeur Gert Oostindie sprak met diverse media over de Indië-herdenking. Op 15 augustus vond in Nederland de jaarlijkse Indië-herdenking plaats. Op die datum in 1945 capituleerde namelijk Japan, waarmee de Tweede Wereldoorlog...

Indonesia’s Chinese authored literature reached its peak of popularity in the 1930s. Access to these unique sources is slowly improving. Tom Hoogervorst escaped Jakarta’s archives for a rendezvous with two passionate...

The road to Enlightenment is never easy, but for some people it is easier than for others. Last May I visited Borobudur. This giant eighth century Buddhist shrine and world heritage site is located in Indonesia where now ...

Over 3000 historic photographs and prints with images from the Dutch East Indies, China, Japan, Singapore and Suriname from the KITLV were donated to Wikimedia Commons, the image database of Wikipedia,...

KITLV researcher Wouter Veenendaal has been awarded a Veni grant for young excellent researchers. His research project 'Explaining Political Stability in Small States' examines why small countries...

Confronting Caribbean Challenges researcher, Sanne Rotmeijer, is just back from almost a year doing fieldwork on Curaçao and St. Maarten. She shares her perspective on identity, belonging, and what Brexit and nationalist...

Op 6 juli jl. verscheen een artikel van KITLV-onderzoeker in het dagblad Trouw. "Op Bonaire groeit het verzet tegen Nederland. De echte problemen van het eiland worden genegeerd, zegt Wouter Veenendaal". Wouter Veenendaal is postdoctoraal onderzoeker bij het KITLV...

Walking through the entrance gate to the shopping street ‘Pasar Baru’, Jakarta, was like stepping into my favourite movie, says Jemma Middleton. I recognised the different shops, the old and new architecture, the way a shopkeeper was advertising...

Confronting Caribbean Challenges researcher Jessica Vance Roitman was recently in Havana, Cuba for the yearly Association of Caribbean Historians conference. In this blog, she contemplates her role as a tourist feeding...

Shortly before his unexpected death Cees Fasseur accepted honorary membership of the Association KITLV. The chairperson of the Association, Susan Legêne, made the announcement at the Annual General Meeting on 10th June. The board of...

Kort voor zijn onverwachte overlijden accepteerde Cees Fasseur het erelidmaatschap van de Vereniging KITLV. De voorzitter van de Vereniging, Susan Legêne, maakte dit bekend op de Algemene Ledenvergadering van 10 juni jl. Het bestuur van de Vereniging ...

Javanese literature is the oldest literature in Southeast Asia. Its history goes back to the ninth century. The Dvenadcat vekov Javanskoj literaturi. Obzornija kurs (‘Twelve centuries of Javanese literature. A survey’) sets...

The fasting month in Indonesia comes with new gadgets and ‘special offers’ advertisements. Chris Chaplin wonders whether or not this affects the pious character of fasting. On the 6th June the majority of Muslims across the world welcomed the start...