Nicole Immler | University for Humanistic Studies (original) (raw)

Books by Nicole Immler

Transcript: Bielefeld, 2011

Studienverlag: Innsbruck/Wien/Bozen, 2009

Published articles by Nicole Immler

Slaveries & Post-Slaveries, 2021

While Transitional Justice instruments have been implemented in plenty of post-conflict cases, wh... more While Transitional Justice instruments have been implemented in plenty of post-conflict cases, what little knowledge we have about the effects of these measures shows contradictory findings, indicating that they are often ambiguous and disappointing. Consequently the last decade has seen a specific call for a ‘new agenda for practice’ proposing a transition from Transitional Justice to Transformative Justice. It is a request by scholars such as Paul Gready and Simon Robins (2014) to develop from the bottom-up a concept of justice that is more ‘transformative,’ specifically challenging ‘unequal and intersecting power relationships and structures of exclusion at both the local and the global level’. This article contributes to this consideration by exploring the Dutch debate on its slavery past with the following question: how could reparations—fundamental in the debate around the acknowledgment of the slavery past—facilitate transformative justice? In the Netherlands over the last decade, memory and reparation activists seeking recognition for slavery and the transatlantic slave trade have been influenced by two major events; the 10-point reparation claim put forward by the Caribbean CARICOM countries against the formerly colonizing powers in Europe (2013), and the UN-International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024). This article describes the reparation claims articulated by various groups in and outside the Netherlands addressing the slavery past of the Dutch and some of the institutional responses. Reparations have gained little conceptual attention in transitional justice scholarship, and in investigating the concept of reparation we refer to Lisa Laplante’s (2013) dictum, which is that ‘Reparations can and should be viewed through a lens of justice’. Laplante made an important intervention in the field by asking which reparations contribute to what kind of justice. Reading the Dutch question through the lens of Laplante’s continuum justice model (2013) makes it possible to identify different justice claims made by interested and affected parties. Laplante’s model ranges from a narrow (minimalist) to a broader (maximalist) conceptualisation of justice; distinguishing four types of justice aims: reparative justice, restorative justice, civic justice and socio-economic justice. All four types are relevant when considering the various options a government and a society have in dealing with (historical) injustice. The empirical findings suggest that current reparation claims in Afro-Caribbean and Surinamese communities are less about a specific product (such as an apology or reparations) but rather about a social process of relation building (such as addressing structural injustices). This notion of ‘social repair’ challenges and extends our current understanding of what justice for historical wrongs is about, but—as is argued in this article—it will at the same time also make reparations more acceptable to larger parts of Dutch society. It avoids the narrow ‘blame-and-guilt’ framework associated with reparations in politics and the media, which exacerbates the problem of acceptance in the first place.
The key arguments in this article firstly show that reparation theory is essential in identifying the kind of claims for justice that are being made, and secondly evaluate whether those claims are being addressed. Laplante helps us to see that if these justice goals of social repair are not clearly articulated and addressed, we would be likely to disappoint memory politics and memory activists, who ‘may compromise the overall justice project,’ thus jeopardising the potential for a transformative outcome.
The notion of social repair, as proposed in this article, recognizes a joint struggle for a more fair and equal society.

The International Journal of Human Rights, 2021

In 2015 the United Nations declared an ambitious programme, the Sustainable Development Goals (SD... more In 2015 the United Nations declared an ambitious programme, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With similar aspirations to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the SDGs claim is to make a difference in terms of justice and sustainability on a global scale. Both UN frameworks speak to the global imagination, but what do they do in (local) practice(s)? Recently the claim was made that human rights are ‘not enough’ (Samuel Moyn); but are the SDGs going to be enough? While current research focuses on the governance aspect of the SDGs and the efficiency of their implementation by national governments, little attention has been paid to the localisation process. Exploring the SDGs as a social imaginary of a moral order (Charles Taylor) and linking this to a framework of ‘localizing human rights’, we determine whether and in what way the SDGs might be a source of inspiration in some pioneering city-initiatives. Developing a typology of localisation approaches we argue for a move from the dominant implementation approach towards a translation one (foregrounding culture and human rights) to enable more reciprocity between the local and the global and therewith to take locality more seriously in realising the SDGs promise for change.

Wijsgerig Perspectief, 2021

Het slavernijverleden, vaak beschouwd als een historisch tijdperk, is een erfenis. Dit essay besp... more Het slavernijverleden, vaak beschouwd als een historisch tijdperk, is een erfenis. Dit essay bespreekt de vraag ‘waarom het slavernijverleden nog steeds relevant is’ met de term intergenerationele verantwoordelijkheid, die de politieke filosoof Janna Thompson (2009) in het debat over historisch onrecht heeft geïntroduceerd. Het is een term die de politieke en institutionele dimensie van het vraagstuk op de voorgrond stelt. Om dit filosofische concept empirisch te onderbouwen, laat ik zien hoe het slavernijverleden in familieverhalen naar voren komt. Door generatie als een narratief te onderzoeken, laat ik het ook als een keuze zien – als een politiek statement in de zin van Hannah Arendt (1958) – een ‘inschrijving in de wereld’ om rechten en plichten te bespreken.
To find here: https://www.filosofie.nl/het-slavernijverleden-als-erfenis/

Impact Magazine, ARQ Nationaal Psychotrauma Centrum, 2020

Erkenning – de behoefte om gehoord en gezien te worden – heeft de laatste decennia als fenomeen z... more Erkenning – de behoefte om gehoord en gezien te worden – heeft de laatste decennia als fenomeen zowel in het publieke debat als in de wetenschap toenemende aandacht gekregen. Om erkenning vragen betekent dat iets gezien, toegegeven en hersteld moet worden. In mijn onderzoek Narratives of (In)justice richte ik me op de vraag hoe historische gebeurtenissen nog steeds in onze samenleving doorwerken. Hoe worstelt Nederland met zijn gewelddadig verleden en waar zijn mensen naar op zoek als zij om erkenning vragen?

Tijdschrift Voor Geschiedenis, 2020

Rethinking History, 2020

In the Netherlands, the nation's imperial past is under new scrutiny since a landmark decision of... more In the Netherlands, the nation's imperial past is under new scrutiny since a landmark decision of the Civil Court in The Hague in 2011 held the Dutch state responsible for a mass execution perpetrated in 1947, during the Indonesian war of independence (1945-1949). This paper explores some of the historiographical implications of this triumph of law, arguing that it has had the unintended effect of reinforcing the representation of the conflict along 'national' frames at the expense of the more 'entangled' experiences of the actors involved. The authors hereby respond to Remco Raben's call to write 'trans-colonial' history in order to overcome the dominance of national frames in Dutch postcolonial historiogra-phy. By bringing the prehistory and the afterlife of the court case to the fore, the authors show how 'entangled' the (hi)stories of veterans, victims, and activists are, and how alternative 'frames' than that of the nation state, could contribute to develop the much awaited postcolonial historiography.

BIOS (Zeitschrift für Biographieforschung, Oral History und Lebenslaufanalysen), 2019

Der Status der Oral History hat sich in den letzten Jahren deutlich verändert. Aus einer Methode ... more Der Status der Oral History hat sich in den letzten Jahren deutlich verändert. Aus einer Methode aktivistischer Geschichtsforscher*innen, die sich am Rande der Geschichts-wissenschaften bewegten, um „Geschichte von unten“ zu schreiben, um jenen eine Stimme zu verleihen, die keine hatten, hat sich mittlerweile eine respektierte Wissen-schaftsdisziplin entwickelt. Ein paar Klicks im Internet machen deutlich: Wachsende Oral History-Archive weltweit beherbergen abertausende von Interviews, insbesondere zur Gewaltgeschichte des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts ebenso wie zur Sozialgeschichte verlorener wie gegenwärtiger „alternativer“ Lebenswelten. Das digitale Zeitalter macht viele dieser Interviews öffentlich zugänglich. Doch welche Herausforderungen ergeben sich daraus für Wissenschaft und Lehre? Angesichts der Vielzahl zugänglicher Inter-views beschleicht mich eine gewisse Ohnmacht und die beunruhigende Frage: Haben die Sammlungen den politischen Effekt bewirkt, den man sich von ihnen versprochen hatte, nämlich den einer demokratisierenden Geschichtsschreibung? Oder ist Oral His-tory vor allem eine Strategie des Sammelns und Archivierens für den Historiker/die Historikerin der Zukunft geworden? Wird über Benutzungspolitiken und -praktiken ge-nug gesprochen bzw. werden die Stimmen gehört?

BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review, 2018

In 2011, the Dutch colonial past entered the courtroom. In a historical judgment the Civil Court ... more In 2011, the Dutch colonial past entered the courtroom. In a historical judgment the Civil Court in The Hague declared the Dutch state liable for the mass execution in Rawagede on West Java in 1947, carried out by Dutch soldiers during the Indonesian War of Independence (1945-1949). Bringing historical injustice to court is a trend. At the same time, the shortcomings and unintended effects of such legal arrangements have become visible. While the debate among historians mainly focuses on the Netherlands, interviews with persons involved in Indonesia show the effects of the lawsuits, and therewith the opportunities and limits of apology and financial compensation as instruments of recognition. Only the confrontation of the Dutch and the Indonesian perspective, as this article argues, will show how closely intertwined questions of historiography and justice are.

In 2011 werd het Nederlandse koloniale verleden een rechtszaak. In een historische uitspraak verklaarde de rechtbank in Den Haag de Nederlandse staat aansprakelijk voor de massa-executie in Rawagede op West-Java in 1947, uitgevoerd door Nederlandse militairen tijdens de Indonesische onafhankelijkheidsoorlog (1945-1949). Historisch onrecht voor de rechter brengen is een trend. Tegelijkertijd wordt in toenemende mate duidelijk wat de tekortkomingen en bijwerkingen van dit type juridische zaken zijn. Terwijl het debat tussen historici zich vooral op Nederland richt, tonen interviews met betrokkenen in Indonesië wat de effecten van de rechtszaken ter plekke zijn en daarmee ook wat de kansen en de grenzen zijn van officiële excuses en financiële compensatie als instrumenten voor erkenning. De confrontatie van het Nederlandse en het Indonesische perspectief, zo wordt in dit artikel beargumenteerd, maakt zichtbaar hoe verstrengeld kwesties betreffende geschiedschrijving en rechtvaardigheid zijn.

In: Understanding the Age of Transitional Justice: Crimes, Courts, Commissions, and Chronicling, ed. by Nanci Adler. Rutgers University Press, 2018

Ever since a landmark decision in September 2011 in the Civil Court in The Hague, we know their f... more Ever since a landmark decision in September 2011 in the Civil Court in The Hague, we know their faces and have heard their voices: Pak (Mr) Saih and Ibu (Mrs) Sariman, Ibu Layem, and Ibu Cawi; a survivor and elderly widows, whose husbands were executed by the Dutch military in a small village in Java, Rawagede (today Balongsari) in the year 1947. At that time the Dutch were fighting a decolonization war, trying to keep ‘their’ colony, while Indonesia––after the Japanese occupation during World War II had ended Dutch rule––had declared its independence and an end to 350 years of colonial power on 17 August 1945. Only international pressure and the realization that the war could not be won, finally pushed the Dutch to formally acknowledge Indonesian sovereignty in December 1949.
The widows and one survivor (respectively their representatives) sued the Dutch government to acknowledge colonial faults, and won. In the Dutch media, on photographs, we see individuals, but behind their faces are many others, who (feel they) have the same history. They represent those who never made it to speak with a journalist or to testify in The Hague. We hear the stories of a few, who, however, as new claimants and consecutive court cases show, tell the story of a larger collective; but which collective? What do we know about these widows and their ideas of justice? What do they expect from the Netherlands 70 years after the decolonization war has ended? And what has happened after the historical injustice was acknowledged (by a court in several decisions), an apology was made (by an ambassador and two ministers) and development aid (for the village) and compensation (to some individuals) was given? Do such measures -- as claimed by the human rights movement --provide victims with recognition, and more, namely emancipation of individuals and transformation of societies (in the sense of overcoming old identity-positions people inherited from the past)?
Transitional Justice has been called the hegemonic discourse of our time, however, as critics say, this statement is based more on faith than facts. The literature and practice is dominated by strong beliefs in Transitional Justice’s toolbox of reparative and restorative measures, while there is much less empirical knowledge about the impact of these measures on individual and social level. Most of the attention is devoted to bringing those measures into place, not to monitoring their effects. This chapter aims to do the latter. Based upon field work, this essay critically assesses the effects of such reparative measures in order to draw lessons from the ‘Rawagede case’ for similar cases of historical injustice; aiming at a better understanding of how justice is experienced from bottom-up. Particularly it explores the challenges of court cases on behalf of a group of individuals in a postcolonial setting, asking whether the legal approach, based upon individual cases, is an adequate approach to colonial crimes.

In: Social Imaginaries in a Globalizing World, ed. by Hans Alma and Guy Vanheeswijk, De Gruyter, 2018

In: Memory Studies, 2012, 5 (3), 270-281

Monetary compensation to victims of historical injustice is a worldwide political and academic th... more Monetary compensation to victims of historical injustice is a worldwide political and academic theme; however, it is rarely seen in the light of family memory. This article, based on evidence from 90 semi-structured interviews, explores the impact of official policies on individuals and families involved in the reparation procedures set up in the 1990s by the Austrian state for the victims of National Socialism. It focuses on the meaning of the oft-voiced complaint 'too little, too late', arguing that there is a difference between what the phrase has commonly been understood to mean (a critical evaluation of the compensation efforts) and what analysis shows it to mean in the frame of 'family memory'. The article argues that while this narrative of anger at first sight boycotts a dialogue, it also has an important performative and empowering function as well as an integrative function within the 'post-memory' generation. Exploring the mutual influence of compensation reception and family memory will help to theorize the role of anger in reconciliation processes.

In: Journal for European Studies, 2014

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) programme in 2010 as ... more Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) programme in 2010 as
a success story for the cities and member states involved, the European Commission also registered
a ‘lack of Europe’ in the programme. This is reflected in the scholarly literature, which has largely
focused on the title’s effects on individual cities rather than on its effects on Europe. The startingpoint
of this article is the demand of the European Commission for a stricter implementation of new
guidelines developed since 2006 for enhancing the European dimension. After situating the history
of the event and its idea of ‘unity in diversity’ within the wider context of thoughts on Europe as
an ‘imagined community’, this article investigates how Europe is presented in earlier and more
recent ECoC bidbooks and programmes. We argue that an observed slight shift in the programme’s
content, from a competition-based marketing of local identity towards a more universal value
discourse, could be read as a first step towards (re)formulating the European dimension. We
suggest that this emerging value paradigm also illustrates how such cultural programmes as a kind of
laboratory could contribute to a conceptual reflection on (and beyond) Europe.

In: BIOS, 2011, 1, 53–77.

In: Neighbours and Strangers. Literary and Cultural Relations in Germany, Austria and Cultural Europe since 1989, ed. by Ian Foster, Juliet Wigmore (Eds), Rodopi: Amsterdam/New York 2004, 173–196.

In: Schauplatz Kultur – Zentraleuropa. Transdisziplinäre Annäherungen, hg. v. Johannes Feichtinger, Heidemarie Uhl u.a., (Gedächtnis – Erinnerung – Identität 7) Studienverlag: Innsbruck/Wien/Bozen 2006, 149–158

Im Jahr 2006 werden die Familienerinnerungen von Hermine Wittgenstein, der ältesten Schwester von... more Im Jahr 2006 werden die Familienerinnerungen von Hermine Wittgenstein, der ältesten Schwester von Ludwig Wittgenstein, erstmals vollständig veröffentlicht werden. 1 Das ist der richtige Moment, um die Frage zu stellen, was ein solcher Text für die Wissenschaft bedeutet und welche Bedeutung das Verfassen einer Familiengeschichte für die Autorin wie für die ganze Familie hatte und noch heute hat. Lange gab es Zweifel am Wert dieses Schriftstücks, seitens der Familie wie auch der Wittgenstein-Forschung, denn viele Forscher betrachten Familienchroniken aufgrund ihres subjektiven Charakters als unzuverlässige Quelle -doch eine kulturwissenschaftliche Analyse zeigt neue und spannende Lesarten dieses Textes auf. Einige werde ich nachfolgend präsentieren. 2

In: Erfahrung und Analyse, hg. v. Johann C. Marek, Maria E. Reicher (27. Int. Wittgenstein Symposium, Vol. XII) Kirchberg 2004, 147–150

In: Zeit und Geschichte, hg. v. Friedrich Stadler, Michael Stöltzner (28. Int. Wittgenstein Symposium, Vol. XIII) Kirchberg 2005, 113–116.

Transcript: Bielefeld, 2011

Studienverlag: Innsbruck/Wien/Bozen, 2009

Slaveries & Post-Slaveries, 2021

While Transitional Justice instruments have been implemented in plenty of post-conflict cases, wh... more While Transitional Justice instruments have been implemented in plenty of post-conflict cases, what little knowledge we have about the effects of these measures shows contradictory findings, indicating that they are often ambiguous and disappointing. Consequently the last decade has seen a specific call for a ‘new agenda for practice’ proposing a transition from Transitional Justice to Transformative Justice. It is a request by scholars such as Paul Gready and Simon Robins (2014) to develop from the bottom-up a concept of justice that is more ‘transformative,’ specifically challenging ‘unequal and intersecting power relationships and structures of exclusion at both the local and the global level’. This article contributes to this consideration by exploring the Dutch debate on its slavery past with the following question: how could reparations—fundamental in the debate around the acknowledgment of the slavery past—facilitate transformative justice? In the Netherlands over the last decade, memory and reparation activists seeking recognition for slavery and the transatlantic slave trade have been influenced by two major events; the 10-point reparation claim put forward by the Caribbean CARICOM countries against the formerly colonizing powers in Europe (2013), and the UN-International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024). This article describes the reparation claims articulated by various groups in and outside the Netherlands addressing the slavery past of the Dutch and some of the institutional responses. Reparations have gained little conceptual attention in transitional justice scholarship, and in investigating the concept of reparation we refer to Lisa Laplante’s (2013) dictum, which is that ‘Reparations can and should be viewed through a lens of justice’. Laplante made an important intervention in the field by asking which reparations contribute to what kind of justice. Reading the Dutch question through the lens of Laplante’s continuum justice model (2013) makes it possible to identify different justice claims made by interested and affected parties. Laplante’s model ranges from a narrow (minimalist) to a broader (maximalist) conceptualisation of justice; distinguishing four types of justice aims: reparative justice, restorative justice, civic justice and socio-economic justice. All four types are relevant when considering the various options a government and a society have in dealing with (historical) injustice. The empirical findings suggest that current reparation claims in Afro-Caribbean and Surinamese communities are less about a specific product (such as an apology or reparations) but rather about a social process of relation building (such as addressing structural injustices). This notion of ‘social repair’ challenges and extends our current understanding of what justice for historical wrongs is about, but—as is argued in this article—it will at the same time also make reparations more acceptable to larger parts of Dutch society. It avoids the narrow ‘blame-and-guilt’ framework associated with reparations in politics and the media, which exacerbates the problem of acceptance in the first place.
The key arguments in this article firstly show that reparation theory is essential in identifying the kind of claims for justice that are being made, and secondly evaluate whether those claims are being addressed. Laplante helps us to see that if these justice goals of social repair are not clearly articulated and addressed, we would be likely to disappoint memory politics and memory activists, who ‘may compromise the overall justice project,’ thus jeopardising the potential for a transformative outcome.
The notion of social repair, as proposed in this article, recognizes a joint struggle for a more fair and equal society.

The International Journal of Human Rights, 2021

In 2015 the United Nations declared an ambitious programme, the Sustainable Development Goals (SD... more In 2015 the United Nations declared an ambitious programme, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With similar aspirations to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the SDGs claim is to make a difference in terms of justice and sustainability on a global scale. Both UN frameworks speak to the global imagination, but what do they do in (local) practice(s)? Recently the claim was made that human rights are ‘not enough’ (Samuel Moyn); but are the SDGs going to be enough? While current research focuses on the governance aspect of the SDGs and the efficiency of their implementation by national governments, little attention has been paid to the localisation process. Exploring the SDGs as a social imaginary of a moral order (Charles Taylor) and linking this to a framework of ‘localizing human rights’, we determine whether and in what way the SDGs might be a source of inspiration in some pioneering city-initiatives. Developing a typology of localisation approaches we argue for a move from the dominant implementation approach towards a translation one (foregrounding culture and human rights) to enable more reciprocity between the local and the global and therewith to take locality more seriously in realising the SDGs promise for change.

Wijsgerig Perspectief, 2021

Het slavernijverleden, vaak beschouwd als een historisch tijdperk, is een erfenis. Dit essay besp... more Het slavernijverleden, vaak beschouwd als een historisch tijdperk, is een erfenis. Dit essay bespreekt de vraag ‘waarom het slavernijverleden nog steeds relevant is’ met de term intergenerationele verantwoordelijkheid, die de politieke filosoof Janna Thompson (2009) in het debat over historisch onrecht heeft geïntroduceerd. Het is een term die de politieke en institutionele dimensie van het vraagstuk op de voorgrond stelt. Om dit filosofische concept empirisch te onderbouwen, laat ik zien hoe het slavernijverleden in familieverhalen naar voren komt. Door generatie als een narratief te onderzoeken, laat ik het ook als een keuze zien – als een politiek statement in de zin van Hannah Arendt (1958) – een ‘inschrijving in de wereld’ om rechten en plichten te bespreken.
To find here: https://www.filosofie.nl/het-slavernijverleden-als-erfenis/

Impact Magazine, ARQ Nationaal Psychotrauma Centrum, 2020

Erkenning – de behoefte om gehoord en gezien te worden – heeft de laatste decennia als fenomeen z... more Erkenning – de behoefte om gehoord en gezien te worden – heeft de laatste decennia als fenomeen zowel in het publieke debat als in de wetenschap toenemende aandacht gekregen. Om erkenning vragen betekent dat iets gezien, toegegeven en hersteld moet worden. In mijn onderzoek Narratives of (In)justice richte ik me op de vraag hoe historische gebeurtenissen nog steeds in onze samenleving doorwerken. Hoe worstelt Nederland met zijn gewelddadig verleden en waar zijn mensen naar op zoek als zij om erkenning vragen?

Tijdschrift Voor Geschiedenis, 2020

Rethinking History, 2020

In the Netherlands, the nation's imperial past is under new scrutiny since a landmark decision of... more In the Netherlands, the nation's imperial past is under new scrutiny since a landmark decision of the Civil Court in The Hague in 2011 held the Dutch state responsible for a mass execution perpetrated in 1947, during the Indonesian war of independence (1945-1949). This paper explores some of the historiographical implications of this triumph of law, arguing that it has had the unintended effect of reinforcing the representation of the conflict along 'national' frames at the expense of the more 'entangled' experiences of the actors involved. The authors hereby respond to Remco Raben's call to write 'trans-colonial' history in order to overcome the dominance of national frames in Dutch postcolonial historiogra-phy. By bringing the prehistory and the afterlife of the court case to the fore, the authors show how 'entangled' the (hi)stories of veterans, victims, and activists are, and how alternative 'frames' than that of the nation state, could contribute to develop the much awaited postcolonial historiography.

BIOS (Zeitschrift für Biographieforschung, Oral History und Lebenslaufanalysen), 2019

Der Status der Oral History hat sich in den letzten Jahren deutlich verändert. Aus einer Methode ... more Der Status der Oral History hat sich in den letzten Jahren deutlich verändert. Aus einer Methode aktivistischer Geschichtsforscher*innen, die sich am Rande der Geschichts-wissenschaften bewegten, um „Geschichte von unten“ zu schreiben, um jenen eine Stimme zu verleihen, die keine hatten, hat sich mittlerweile eine respektierte Wissen-schaftsdisziplin entwickelt. Ein paar Klicks im Internet machen deutlich: Wachsende Oral History-Archive weltweit beherbergen abertausende von Interviews, insbesondere zur Gewaltgeschichte des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts ebenso wie zur Sozialgeschichte verlorener wie gegenwärtiger „alternativer“ Lebenswelten. Das digitale Zeitalter macht viele dieser Interviews öffentlich zugänglich. Doch welche Herausforderungen ergeben sich daraus für Wissenschaft und Lehre? Angesichts der Vielzahl zugänglicher Inter-views beschleicht mich eine gewisse Ohnmacht und die beunruhigende Frage: Haben die Sammlungen den politischen Effekt bewirkt, den man sich von ihnen versprochen hatte, nämlich den einer demokratisierenden Geschichtsschreibung? Oder ist Oral His-tory vor allem eine Strategie des Sammelns und Archivierens für den Historiker/die Historikerin der Zukunft geworden? Wird über Benutzungspolitiken und -praktiken ge-nug gesprochen bzw. werden die Stimmen gehört?

BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review, 2018

In 2011, the Dutch colonial past entered the courtroom. In a historical judgment the Civil Court ... more In 2011, the Dutch colonial past entered the courtroom. In a historical judgment the Civil Court in The Hague declared the Dutch state liable for the mass execution in Rawagede on West Java in 1947, carried out by Dutch soldiers during the Indonesian War of Independence (1945-1949). Bringing historical injustice to court is a trend. At the same time, the shortcomings and unintended effects of such legal arrangements have become visible. While the debate among historians mainly focuses on the Netherlands, interviews with persons involved in Indonesia show the effects of the lawsuits, and therewith the opportunities and limits of apology and financial compensation as instruments of recognition. Only the confrontation of the Dutch and the Indonesian perspective, as this article argues, will show how closely intertwined questions of historiography and justice are.

In 2011 werd het Nederlandse koloniale verleden een rechtszaak. In een historische uitspraak verklaarde de rechtbank in Den Haag de Nederlandse staat aansprakelijk voor de massa-executie in Rawagede op West-Java in 1947, uitgevoerd door Nederlandse militairen tijdens de Indonesische onafhankelijkheidsoorlog (1945-1949). Historisch onrecht voor de rechter brengen is een trend. Tegelijkertijd wordt in toenemende mate duidelijk wat de tekortkomingen en bijwerkingen van dit type juridische zaken zijn. Terwijl het debat tussen historici zich vooral op Nederland richt, tonen interviews met betrokkenen in Indonesië wat de effecten van de rechtszaken ter plekke zijn en daarmee ook wat de kansen en de grenzen zijn van officiële excuses en financiële compensatie als instrumenten voor erkenning. De confrontatie van het Nederlandse en het Indonesische perspectief, zo wordt in dit artikel beargumenteerd, maakt zichtbaar hoe verstrengeld kwesties betreffende geschiedschrijving en rechtvaardigheid zijn.

In: Understanding the Age of Transitional Justice: Crimes, Courts, Commissions, and Chronicling, ed. by Nanci Adler. Rutgers University Press, 2018

Ever since a landmark decision in September 2011 in the Civil Court in The Hague, we know their f... more Ever since a landmark decision in September 2011 in the Civil Court in The Hague, we know their faces and have heard their voices: Pak (Mr) Saih and Ibu (Mrs) Sariman, Ibu Layem, and Ibu Cawi; a survivor and elderly widows, whose husbands were executed by the Dutch military in a small village in Java, Rawagede (today Balongsari) in the year 1947. At that time the Dutch were fighting a decolonization war, trying to keep ‘their’ colony, while Indonesia––after the Japanese occupation during World War II had ended Dutch rule––had declared its independence and an end to 350 years of colonial power on 17 August 1945. Only international pressure and the realization that the war could not be won, finally pushed the Dutch to formally acknowledge Indonesian sovereignty in December 1949.
The widows and one survivor (respectively their representatives) sued the Dutch government to acknowledge colonial faults, and won. In the Dutch media, on photographs, we see individuals, but behind their faces are many others, who (feel they) have the same history. They represent those who never made it to speak with a journalist or to testify in The Hague. We hear the stories of a few, who, however, as new claimants and consecutive court cases show, tell the story of a larger collective; but which collective? What do we know about these widows and their ideas of justice? What do they expect from the Netherlands 70 years after the decolonization war has ended? And what has happened after the historical injustice was acknowledged (by a court in several decisions), an apology was made (by an ambassador and two ministers) and development aid (for the village) and compensation (to some individuals) was given? Do such measures -- as claimed by the human rights movement --provide victims with recognition, and more, namely emancipation of individuals and transformation of societies (in the sense of overcoming old identity-positions people inherited from the past)?
Transitional Justice has been called the hegemonic discourse of our time, however, as critics say, this statement is based more on faith than facts. The literature and practice is dominated by strong beliefs in Transitional Justice’s toolbox of reparative and restorative measures, while there is much less empirical knowledge about the impact of these measures on individual and social level. Most of the attention is devoted to bringing those measures into place, not to monitoring their effects. This chapter aims to do the latter. Based upon field work, this essay critically assesses the effects of such reparative measures in order to draw lessons from the ‘Rawagede case’ for similar cases of historical injustice; aiming at a better understanding of how justice is experienced from bottom-up. Particularly it explores the challenges of court cases on behalf of a group of individuals in a postcolonial setting, asking whether the legal approach, based upon individual cases, is an adequate approach to colonial crimes.

In: Social Imaginaries in a Globalizing World, ed. by Hans Alma and Guy Vanheeswijk, De Gruyter, 2018

In: Memory Studies, 2012, 5 (3), 270-281

Monetary compensation to victims of historical injustice is a worldwide political and academic th... more Monetary compensation to victims of historical injustice is a worldwide political and academic theme; however, it is rarely seen in the light of family memory. This article, based on evidence from 90 semi-structured interviews, explores the impact of official policies on individuals and families involved in the reparation procedures set up in the 1990s by the Austrian state for the victims of National Socialism. It focuses on the meaning of the oft-voiced complaint 'too little, too late', arguing that there is a difference between what the phrase has commonly been understood to mean (a critical evaluation of the compensation efforts) and what analysis shows it to mean in the frame of 'family memory'. The article argues that while this narrative of anger at first sight boycotts a dialogue, it also has an important performative and empowering function as well as an integrative function within the 'post-memory' generation. Exploring the mutual influence of compensation reception and family memory will help to theorize the role of anger in reconciliation processes.

In: Journal for European Studies, 2014

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) programme in 2010 as ... more Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) programme in 2010 as
a success story for the cities and member states involved, the European Commission also registered
a ‘lack of Europe’ in the programme. This is reflected in the scholarly literature, which has largely
focused on the title’s effects on individual cities rather than on its effects on Europe. The startingpoint
of this article is the demand of the European Commission for a stricter implementation of new
guidelines developed since 2006 for enhancing the European dimension. After situating the history
of the event and its idea of ‘unity in diversity’ within the wider context of thoughts on Europe as
an ‘imagined community’, this article investigates how Europe is presented in earlier and more
recent ECoC bidbooks and programmes. We argue that an observed slight shift in the programme’s
content, from a competition-based marketing of local identity towards a more universal value
discourse, could be read as a first step towards (re)formulating the European dimension. We
suggest that this emerging value paradigm also illustrates how such cultural programmes as a kind of
laboratory could contribute to a conceptual reflection on (and beyond) Europe.

In: BIOS, 2011, 1, 53–77.

In: Neighbours and Strangers. Literary and Cultural Relations in Germany, Austria and Cultural Europe since 1989, ed. by Ian Foster, Juliet Wigmore (Eds), Rodopi: Amsterdam/New York 2004, 173–196.

In: Schauplatz Kultur – Zentraleuropa. Transdisziplinäre Annäherungen, hg. v. Johannes Feichtinger, Heidemarie Uhl u.a., (Gedächtnis – Erinnerung – Identität 7) Studienverlag: Innsbruck/Wien/Bozen 2006, 149–158

Im Jahr 2006 werden die Familienerinnerungen von Hermine Wittgenstein, der ältesten Schwester von... more Im Jahr 2006 werden die Familienerinnerungen von Hermine Wittgenstein, der ältesten Schwester von Ludwig Wittgenstein, erstmals vollständig veröffentlicht werden. 1 Das ist der richtige Moment, um die Frage zu stellen, was ein solcher Text für die Wissenschaft bedeutet und welche Bedeutung das Verfassen einer Familiengeschichte für die Autorin wie für die ganze Familie hatte und noch heute hat. Lange gab es Zweifel am Wert dieses Schriftstücks, seitens der Familie wie auch der Wittgenstein-Forschung, denn viele Forscher betrachten Familienchroniken aufgrund ihres subjektiven Charakters als unzuverlässige Quelle -doch eine kulturwissenschaftliche Analyse zeigt neue und spannende Lesarten dieses Textes auf. Einige werde ich nachfolgend präsentieren. 2

In: Erfahrung und Analyse, hg. v. Johann C. Marek, Maria E. Reicher (27. Int. Wittgenstein Symposium, Vol. XII) Kirchberg 2004, 147–150

In: Zeit und Geschichte, hg. v. Friedrich Stadler, Michael Stöltzner (28. Int. Wittgenstein Symposium, Vol. XIII) Kirchberg 2005, 113–116.

Onderzoek uitgelicht. ed. by Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 men, 2016 (2), 27-33. Article review by Ellen-Rose Kambel

In: Time for Reparations. A Global Perspective, ed. by Jacqueline Bhabha, Margareta Matache, Caroline Elkins, 2021

2011 saw a landmark decision in the Civil Court in The Hague. For the first time, the statute of ... more 2011 saw a landmark decision in the Civil Court in The Hague. For the first time, the statute of limitations blocking liability for mass executions by Dutch military in the decolonization war in Indonesia (1945-49) was partially suspended. As a result, the Dutch government had to take responsibility: apologies and compensation to the victims followed. In 2013, a similar historic court judgement forced the UK government to pay compensations and apologize to some of the victims of their colonial policies in Kenya. Court rulings in favour of the plaintiffs appeared to signal success for human rights and transitional justice. However, as follow-up court cases and field research show, the strictly legal framing of these processes is fraught with problems. Among the most central is the fact that court cases, at their heart, address individual claims even where, as in the contexts under discussion here, the core issue motivating the litigation is the structural and systemic violence pervading a whole society. Critics have pointed to the problems of law suit-dominated discourse for the practice of transitional justice. Most of the attention, they suggest, is devoted to bringing these litigation efforts to fruition, not to monitoring their medium and long-term effects (Thoms, Ron and Paris 2010). This chapter follows up on these demands for localizing transitional justice (Shaw, Waldorf and Hazan 2010, Lundy and McGovern 2008). This perspective aims to strengthen the empirical versus the normative approach.

In: Holocaust as Active Memory: The Past in the Present, ed. by Marie Louise Seeberg, Irene Levin, Claudia Lenz, Ashgate: Adleshot 2013, 113-137.

In: Mediation, Remediation and the Dynamics of Cultural Memory, ed. by Astrid Erll, Ann Rigney. Berlin–New York: de Gruyter 2009 (Media and Cultural Memory 10), 205–228

In: Tapestry of Memory: Evidence and Testimony in Life Story Narratives, ed. by Nanci Adler, Selma Leydesdorff. Transaction Publisher, 2013, 219-236.

In: Jenseits des beredeten Schweigens. Neue Perspektiven auf den sprachlosen Augenblick, hg. v. Sandra Markewitz. Aisthesis: Bielefeld 2013, 73-99.

In: Drei Generationen. Shoah und Nationalsozialismus im Familiengedächtnis, ed. by Martha Keil, Philipp Mettauer, Studienverlag, 2016

In: Transitional Justice: Between Criminal Justice, Atonement and Democracy (SIM Special 37), ed. by Anja Mihr. Utrecht, 2012, 154-183

In: Verrohungen der Interkulturalität. Die Europäischen Kulturhauptstädte Luxemburg und die Großregion (2007), das Ruhrgebiet (2010) und Istanbul (2010), hg. v. Thomas Ernst, Dieter Heimböckel. Transcript: Bielefeld, 283–311, 2012

Nach einem historischen Überblick darüber, wie sich die Kulturhauptstädte seit Begin konzeptionel... more Nach einem historischen Überblick darüber, wie sich die Kulturhauptstädte seit Begin konzeptionell entwickelt haben, zeigen wir anhand aktueller Beispiele, welche Themen im Bereich der europäischen Dimension in den jüngsten ECoC-Programmen >in the making< sind. Die Beispiele analysieren wir aus einer soziologischen und kulturwissenschaftlichen Perspektive im Hinblick auf die ursprünglichen Ziele von ECoC, nämlich ein europäisches Bürgerbewusstsein zu stimulieren und damit zu einer politisch-kulturellen Einheit und Identität Europas (>Einheit in der Vielfalt<) beizutragen. Dabei zeigen wir, in welcher Weise jene neuen Ansätze richtungs- bzw. zukunftsweisend sein könnten – für Entwicklungen auf stadtpolitischer Ebene, für das ECoC-Konzept wie auch in de europäischen Kulturpolitik

In: Recollecting. Raub und Restitution, ed by Alexandra Reininghaus (Catalogue of the Museum for Applied Art), Passagen: Wien 2009, 87–95.

In: Das Gewebe der Kultur. Kulturwissenschaftliche Analysen Österreichs in der Moderne, hg. v. J Feichtinger, P Stachel. Studienverlag 2001, 289–310,

Die Erinnerung und die Wirklichkeit müssen in einem Raum sein. Ich kann auch sagen: die Vorstellu... more Die Erinnerung und die Wirklichkeit müssen in einem Raum sein. Ich kann auch sagen: die Vorstellung und die Wirklichkeit sind in einem Raum. (Ludwig Wittgenstein) Wittgensteins Werk kann in vielfacher Hinsicht als ein "Prolog zur Postmoderne" gelesen werden. i In der Verweigerung der Linearität, im Versuch einer "organischen" Philosophie findet Wittgenstein seine Antwort auf den Kontinuitätsverlust und die Delegitimierung zu Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts. Was dies für Wittgensteins Heimatbegriff und -bezug bedeutet haben mag, soll im Spannungsfeld von Biographie und Werk gezeigt werden. Im größeren Rahmen wird am Beispiel der Wittgensteinschen Familienerinnerungen -von Wittgensteins Schwester Hermine 1944-49 verfaßt -Identifikationsstrategien einer Familie des Wiener liberalen Bürgertums nachgegangen. Während im Deutschen Kaiserreich das identitätsstiftende Merkmal der Nation den öffentlichen Diskurs zur Jahrhundertwende bestimmte ii , brachte der Nationalgedanke die k.u.k.-Monarchie, welche durch Pluralitäten (Vielfalt der Sprachen, der verfassungsmäßigen Struktur, der kulturellen Symbole) bestimmt gewesen war, zu Fall. Diese Rahmenbedingungen prägten das individuelle und kollektive Bewußtsein der Bürger der Habsburger Monarchie und manifestierten sich im kulturellen Gedächtnis der Nachfolgestaaten durch identitätsstiftende Sprach-, Denk-und Lebensformen. iii Ausgehend von der Theorie des kulturellen Gedächtnisses iv wird nach dem Konzept von "Heimat" im Sinne von Identitäten zu fragen sein. Wenn das Heimatmuseum im Sinne Pierre Noras ein "Gedächtnisort" (lieux de memoire) v par excellence ist, eine Legitimitätsversicherung des Kleinbürgertums und Manifestation ihrer Kultur im Monument vi , so befassen sich die folgenden Überlegungen mit abstrakteren Räumen: mit Denkgebäuden und Gefühlslandschaften des liberalen Bürgertums im Wien der Jahrhundertwende. Es ist dies ein Versuch "translokale" Gedächtnisorte zu bestimmen, bezogen auf die Frage: Gibt es einen Heimatbegriff, der seine Besonderheit aus dem sozialen Kontext des Wiener Fin de Siècle, dem pluralistisch verfaßten Raum der Monarchie, ableitet? vii Die theoretische Zugangsweise basiert auf

In: ‚The making of…’ Genie: Wittgenstein & Mozart. Biographien, ihre Mythen und wem sie nützen, hg. v. Nicole Immler. Innsbruck/Wien/Bozen, 2009, 11–30

Das so genannte ‚Wittgenstein-Haus' in Wien ist der Ort, an dem in den 1970er Jahren erstmals in ... more Das so genannte ‚Wittgenstein-Haus' in Wien ist der Ort, an dem in den 1970er Jahren erstmals in Österreich eine breitere Aufmerksamkeit für die Person Ludwig Wittgenstein entstanden ist: in der gesellschaftspolitischen Debatte darüber, ob man das Palais -welches Wittgenstein zusammen mit dem Architekten Paul Engelmann für seine Schwester Margarethe Stonborough erbaut hatte 1 -tatsächlich abreißen könne, oder ob Wittgensteins Werk nicht doch als ‚Denkmal' zu schützen sei. Mit der Bewahrung des Hauses vor dem Abriss (heute Sitz des bulgarischen Kulturinstituts) beginnt eine Erfolgsgeschichte, die sich zunächst von Wittgensteins Ansehen im angloamerikanischen Sprachraum herleitete und 1996 in der Benennung des ‚großen' Wittgenstein-Preises kulminierte, dem höchst dotierten Wissenschaftspreis der Republik. 2 Die Erfolgsstory Mozarts muss nicht nur angesichts der Feierlichkeiten der Mozartjahre 1991 und 2006, insbesondere in dessen Rolle als Ikone der Musikstadt Wien, hier nicht näher beschrieben werden. Das Mozartjahr 2006, geprägt auch von lebhaften Debatten über die Verwendung des Namens ‚Wittgenstein' für eine neue Elite-Universität in Österreich, schien ein guter Zeitpunkt dafür zu sein, auf einem Symposium über die Inszenierung dieser beiden gesellschaftlichen Identifikationsfiguren sowie über Wechselwirkungen zwischen Wissenschaft und Markt nachzudenken. 3 Damit ist die Frage beantwortet: Warum Mozart und Wittgenstein ? Keine gemeinsame Feierstunde (Mozarts 250. Geburtstag bzw. Wittgensteins 55. Todestag), sondern ein anlassbezogenes und inhaltliches Experiment. Die Gegenüberstellung sollte helfen, interdisziplinär über das "making of ..." von Biographien -zugespitzt auf die Kategorie ‚Genie' -nachzudenken.

Zu verführerischen Lesarten von (auto-)biographischen Texten

Vienna Circle Institute yearbook, 2023

Das Familiengedächtnis der Wittgensteins (2011) could be considered as a metabiography, as litera... more Das Familiengedächtnis der Wittgensteins (2011) could be considered as a metabiography, as literary scholar Caitríona Ní Dhúill has called it (2020); less concerned with authenticating a particular narrative about the biographical subject than with exploring competing biographical accounts and wider questions of "textuality, memorialisation, life-course models, the uses of the past, and the narrative interpretation of its traces" (Ní Dhúill, Metabiography: Re ecting on Biography. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2020, 24). The metabiography of the Wittgensteins is achieved through a two-step-process; rst by exploring the making of biography, by assessing previous Wittgenstein biographies, showing the changing fashions of biographical approaches in Wittgenstein studies; and secondly by writing a relational biography about Ludwig Wittgenstein and his oldest sister Hermine Wittgenstein; a sort double biography, contrasting two very different (auto)biographical kinds of writing in an interrelated way. Making use of the concept family memory (Halbwachs, Das kollektive Familiengedächtnis. In: Das Gedächtnis und seine sozialen Bedingungen. Repr. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt, 203-242, 1925/1985), this biography puts relationships instead of exceptionalism and disconnectedness (key feature of well-known biographies such as that by Ray Monk or Alexander Waugh) at the centre. My study is part of a more recent shift in the eld of Wittgenstein biography A picture held us captive. And we could not get outside, for it lay in our language and language seemed to repeat it to us inexorably. (Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations §115) Note: I added the English translations of quotes by myself, where no of cial one could be found.

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

In the communication of pain, language matters. Telling someone to feel pain is not just a descri... more In the communication of pain, language matters. Telling someone to feel pain is not just a description of one's pain, it is-as philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein informs us-also asking for recognition of that pain. This requires a shared language which communicates it. Do we need a new language which can communicate and recognize the pain of the colonial past more effectively? Commencing with the recent apology for waging "a colonial war" in Indonesia by the Dutch prime minister, this article suggests an intervention in postcolonial recognition politics by exploring the idea of the multi-voicedness. Multi-voicedness (Meerstemmigheid) has become a catchword in current public and scholarly debates about the Dutch colonial past and its legacy, in which decades of recognition politics have tended to privilege clear-cut binary identities favouring certain voices above others. There is little conceptual clarity around what the term multi-voicedness entails and even less about its utility in postcolonial discourse. Although commonly associated with juxtaposing different perspectives, this article argues that introducing the lens of multi-voicednessmore specifically the idea of the dialogical self (Hubert J.M. Hermans 2004)-into the recognition discourse, contributes to a better understanding of transnational recognition politics. Capturing the diaspora's multi-voicedness permits wider scrutiny of what is otherwise a too simplified identity and generation question implicated in post-colonial recognition politics. It will be argued that recognition claims, although supposedly part of an emancipatory struggle, are silencing the multi-voicedness of entangled Indonesian-Dutch family history, the driver for the fight for justice in the first place.

Understanding the Age of Transitional Justice, 2019

Social Imaginaries in a Globalizing World, 2018

Esclavages & Post-esclavages, 2021

Que signifie « réparer » lorsqu'on demande réparation pour des torts coloniaux ? Les demandes de ... more Que signifie « réparer » lorsqu'on demande réparation pour des torts coloniaux ? Les demandes de justice transformative pour le passé esclavagiste des Pays-Bas ¿Qué significa "reparar" cuando se pide reparación por daños coloniales? Los pedidos de justicia transformativa por el pasado esclavista en los Países Bajos O que significa "reparo" quando se pede reparação pelos prejuízos coloniais ? A justiça transformativa em relação ao passado escravista dos Países-Baixos

Tijdschrift voor geschiedenis, 2020

Beyond national history. The Rawagede Massacre told as an entangled historyIn a historic first, t... more Beyond national history. The Rawagede Massacre told as an entangled historyIn a historic first, the ruling of a civil court in The Hague in 2011 obliged the Dutch state to take responsibility for a mass execution perpetrated by Dutch military in the West Javanese village of Rawagede in 1947. Sixty-four years after the end of Indonesia’s struggle for independence (1945-1949) some justice has been served. This article explores several of its unintended historiographical effects. Taking the armed conflict between states as a frame of reference was an inevitable starting point for the court case, but the consequence is that national perspectives (Dutch colonizer / Indonesian colonized) are centered. Consequently, the entanglement of local experiences and transnational dynamics remains invisible. By presenting the so-called ‘Rawagede case’ as a form of entangled history instead of consisting of two antagonistic opposites, we believe that space can be created, within both the Dutch and In...

Oral History in der akademischen Lehre, 2020

Wachsende Oral History-Archive weltweit beherbergen abertausende von Interviews, zur Gewaltgeschi... more Wachsende Oral History-Archive weltweit beherbergen abertausende von Interviews, zur Gewaltgeschichte des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts ebenso wie zur Sozialgeschichte verlorener wie gegenwärtiger Lebenswelten. Das digitale Zeitalter macht viele dieser Interviews öffentlich zugänglich. Doch welche Herausforderungen ergeben sich daraus für Wissenschaft und Lehre? Um diese Frage geht es in diesem Aufsatz. An der Universität für Humanistik in Utrecht unterrichte ich das Fach „Narrative Research and Oral History: Theory, Method and Practice“. In meinem Seminar sprechen Zeitzeugen und Zeitzeuginnen durch ihre Egodokumente zu den Studierenden. Der Kurs bringt Selbstzeugnisse, Oral History und narrative Theorie in einen Dialog und erschließt damit den Studierenden die narrative Dimension des menschlichen Daseins. Ich zeige, in welcher Weise narrative (Erzähl-)Theorien hilfreich sind, um Oral History-Interviews in ihrer Komplexität zu analysieren; um simplifizierte Identitätskonstruktionen oder ...

BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review, 2018

'onrechtmatig handelen van de Staat'. Tegelijkertijd werd vastgelegd dat de Staat zijn 'plicht to... more 'onrechtmatig handelen van de Staat'. Tegelijkertijd werd vastgelegd dat de Staat zijn 'plicht tot bescherming van de lichamelijke integriteit en het leven 1 Ik wil de anonieme reviewers bedanken voor hun inspirerende opmerkingen bij eerdere versies van dit artikel, en mijn collega's die, net als het redactiebureau, de moeite hebben genomen om mijn Nederlands te corrigeren. 2 In Nederlandse en Indonesische bronnen verschillen de aantallen tussen de 150 en 433 mannen. Rémy Limpach, De brandende kampongs van generaal Spoor (Amsterdam 2016) 323-336. 3 Wouter Veraart, 'Uitzondering of precedent? De historische dubbelzinnigheid van de Rawagedeuitspraak', Ars Aequi (april 2012) 251 en 259. 4 Liesbeth Zegveld, 'Civielrechtelijke verjaring van internationale misdrijven' (Amsterdam 2015) 12. article-artikel van zijn onderdanen, waaronder (destijds) de inwoners van Rawagede', zoals de eisers het noemden, niet was nagekomen. 5 Het nos Journaal van 14 september 2011 bracht het bericht over het Rawagede-vonnis als een grote overwinning van de slachtoffers. Ook internationale media besteedden aandacht aan de zaak. Nog sprekender waren de televisiebeelden van de lokale herdenkingsdag op 9 december 2011, toen de Nederlandse ambassadeur in Indonesië, Tjeerd de Zwaan, namens de Nederlandse regering bij het monument in Rawagede voor de eerste keer officieel excuses aanbood 'voor de tragedie, die op 9 december 1947 in Rawagede plaatsvond'. 6 Kort daarop kreeg iedere weduwe een compensatiebetaling van twintigduizend euro op een speciaal daarvoor geopende bankrekening. Dit bleek echter niet alleen maar goed nieuws. 'Rawagede-weduwen geplukt' kopte de voorpagina van de Volkskrant op 24 december 2011. Het dorpshoofd had de helft van het geld van de weduwen afgenomen om het te verdelen onder de nakomelingen van alle slachtoffers. De betalingen leidden tot grote sociale onrust in het dorp. Zegveld interpreteerde dit als een schending van de rechten van de weduwen. 7 Ook de media veroordeelden de herverdeling. 8 Ging het hier om een schending van een toegekend recht of om een vertaling van een Nederlandse rechterlijke beslissing naar plaatselijke omstandigheden, zoals het dorpshoofd beweerde? Dit incident roept verschillende vragen op: hoe hebben de weduwen en hun families de erkenning van Nederlandse kant ervaren? Wat waren de gevolgen voor hen, hun gezin en de dorpsgemeenschap? Hadden ze-zeventig jaar na afloop van de dekolonisatieoorlog-van de Nederlandse overheid gekregen waar ze op hadden gehoopt? En dan nog een principiëlere vraag: in welke mate correspondeerden de Nederlandse maatregelen voor compensatie met hun ideeën over rechtvaardigheid? Deze vragen zijn inmiddels nog urgenter geworden nu het Rawagede-vonnis van 2011 (dat nog uitgaat van een exceptioneel geval van geweld) als model is gaan dienen voor andere Indonesische weduwen, wier mannen eveneens slachtoffer waren van militaire standrechtelijke executies, zoals in Sulawesi in 1946-1947. In september 2013 werd de zaak van de weduwen uit Sulawesi met de Nederlandse Staat geschikt met de bepaling 5 Rawagede-uitspraak, 14 september 2011: 'Op de Staat rustte volgens eisers ten tijde van de executies op grond van het Nederlandse recht de plicht tot bescherming van de lichamelijke integriteit en het leven van zijn onderdanen, waaronder (destijds) de inwoners van Rawagedeh.' (3.3) https://www.recht.nl/ rechtspraak/?ecli=ecli:nl:rbsgr:2011:bs8793 (geraadpleegd op 3 oktober 2018).

Media and Cultural Memory / Medien und kulturelle Erinnerung, 2009

Neighbours and Strangers, 2004

The International Journal of Human Rights, 2021

In 2015 the United Nations declared an ambitious programme, the Sustainable Development Goals (SD... more In 2015 the United Nations declared an ambitious programme, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With similar aspirations to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the SDGs claim i...

Rethinking History, 2020

In the Netherlands, the nation's imperial past is under new scrutiny since a landmark decision of... more In the Netherlands, the nation's imperial past is under new scrutiny since a landmark decision of the Civil Court in The Hague in 2011 held the Dutch state responsible for a mass execution perpetrated in 1947, during the Indonesian war of independence (1945-1949). This paper explores some of the historiographical implications of this triumph of law, arguing that it has had the unintended effect of reinforcing the representation of the conflict along 'national' frames at the expense of the more 'entangled' experiences of the actors involved. The authors hereby respond to Remco Raben's call to write 'trans-colonial' history in order to overcome the dominance of national frames in Dutch postcolonial historiography. By bringing the prehistory and the afterlife of the court case to the fore, the authors show how 'entangled' the (hi)stories of veterans, victims, and activists are, and how alternative 'frames' than that of the nation state, could contribute to develop the much awaited postcolonial historiography.