The Social World of Batavia: Europeans and Eurasians in Colonial Indonesia
by Jean Gelman Taylor
University of Wisconsin Press, 2009 Paper: 978-0-299-23214-6 | eISBN: 978-0-299-23213-9 Library of Congress Classification HN710.J23T39 2009 Dewey Decimal Classification 303.4825980492
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
In the seventeenth century, the Dutch established a trading base at the Indonesian site of Jacarta. What began as a minor colonial outpost under the name Batavia would become, over the next three centuries, the flourishing economic and political nucleus of the Dutch Asian Empire. In this pioneering study, Jean Gelman Taylor offers a comprehensive analysis of Batavia’s extraordinary social world—its marriage patterns, religious and social organizations, economic interests, and sexual roles. With an emphasis on the urban ruling elite, she argues that Europeans and Asians alike were profoundly altered by their merging, resulting in a distinctive hybrid, Indo-Dutch culture.
Original in its focus on gender and use of varied sources—travelers’ accounts, newspapers, legal codes, genealogical data, photograph albums, paintings, and ceramics—The Social World of Batavia, first published in 1983, forged new paths in the study of colonial society. In this second edition, Gelman offers a new preface as well as an additional chapter tracing the development of these themes by a new generation of scholars.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Jean Gelman Taylor is professor of history at the University of New South Wales and author of Indonesia: Peoples and Histories.
REVIEWS
“The best analysis in English or Dutch of the colonizers’ interaction with Asian and Eurasian women and the distinctive Indo-Dutch, Mestizo culture that resulted.”—Michael Adas, Journal of Asian and African Studies
“Jean Gelman Taylor analyzes the formation, development, interaction, and eventual disappearance of the various groups which constituted the colonial society of Batavia and gave it its distinctive Mestizo character. She shows how this society, far from being static, underwent an evolution; how it opened or closed itself to external influences, transformed immigrants or was changed by them, and loosened or tightened its links with the European homeland through time.”—Michèle Boin in Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde
“A most welcome update of Jean Taylor’s study of the role of women in the construction of Dutch colonial cultures in the East Indies, from the 17th to 19th centuries. This new edition provides a updating of her earlier arguments, drawing on new discoveries and sources and bringing the story into the twentieth century. A particular emphasis is given to visual depictions of colonial Indonesia. Once again Jean Taylor demonstrates her originality and insight in a revision which will ensure that Social World of Batavia remains a seminal scholarly work.”—Nigel Worden, University of Cape Town, author of Slavery in Dutch South Africa
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Acknowledgments
Guide to the Text
Preface to the Second Edition
Introduction
1: Origins of the City of Batavia
Population
Institutions and Laws
2: Growth of the Settlement Society
3: The Web of Colonial Society: Batavia and Environs in the Eighteenth Century
4: The Assault on Indies Culture
The Enlightenment in Batavia
The British Interregnum
5: The Destruction of VOC Society and the Creation of the New Colonial
6: The Inner Life of Late Colonial Society
Epilogue
Further Explorations of European-Asian Encounters
Maps
Appendix 1: Family Trees
Appendix 2: Governors-General and Their Wives
Appendix 3: Family and Position in VOC Batavia
Notes
Glossary
Selected Bibliography
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
The Social World of Batavia: Europeans and Eurasians in Colonial Indonesia
by Jean Gelman Taylor
University of Wisconsin Press, 2009 Paper: 978-0-299-23214-6 eISBN: 978-0-299-23213-9
In the seventeenth century, the Dutch established a trading base at the Indonesian site of Jacarta. What began as a minor colonial outpost under the name Batavia would become, over the next three centuries, the flourishing economic and political nucleus of the Dutch Asian Empire. In this pioneering study, Jean Gelman Taylor offers a comprehensive analysis of Batavia’s extraordinary social world—its marriage patterns, religious and social organizations, economic interests, and sexual roles. With an emphasis on the urban ruling elite, she argues that Europeans and Asians alike were profoundly altered by their merging, resulting in a distinctive hybrid, Indo-Dutch culture.
Original in its focus on gender and use of varied sources—travelers’ accounts, newspapers, legal codes, genealogical data, photograph albums, paintings, and ceramics—The Social World of Batavia, first published in 1983, forged new paths in the study of colonial society. In this second edition, Gelman offers a new preface as well as an additional chapter tracing the development of these themes by a new generation of scholars.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Jean Gelman Taylor is professor of history at the University of New South Wales and author of Indonesia: Peoples and Histories.
REVIEWS
“The best analysis in English or Dutch of the colonizers’ interaction with Asian and Eurasian women and the distinctive Indo-Dutch, Mestizo culture that resulted.”—Michael Adas, Journal of Asian and African Studies
“Jean Gelman Taylor analyzes the formation, development, interaction, and eventual disappearance of the various groups which constituted the colonial society of Batavia and gave it its distinctive Mestizo character. She shows how this society, far from being static, underwent an evolution; how it opened or closed itself to external influences, transformed immigrants or was changed by them, and loosened or tightened its links with the European homeland through time.”—Michèle Boin in Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde
“A most welcome update of Jean Taylor’s study of the role of women in the construction of Dutch colonial cultures in the East Indies, from the 17th to 19th centuries. This new edition provides a updating of her earlier arguments, drawing on new discoveries and sources and bringing the story into the twentieth century. A particular emphasis is given to visual depictions of colonial Indonesia. Once again Jean Taylor demonstrates her originality and insight in a revision which will ensure that Social World of Batavia remains a seminal scholarly work.”—Nigel Worden, University of Cape Town, author of Slavery in Dutch South Africa
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Acknowledgments
Guide to the Text
Preface to the Second Edition
Introduction
1: Origins of the City of Batavia
Population
Institutions and Laws
2: Growth of the Settlement Society
3: The Web of Colonial Society: Batavia and Environs in the Eighteenth Century
4: The Assault on Indies Culture
The Enlightenment in Batavia
The British Interregnum
5: The Destruction of VOC Society and the Creation of the New Colonial
6: The Inner Life of Late Colonial Society
Epilogue
Further Explorations of European-Asian Encounters
Maps
Appendix 1: Family Trees
Appendix 2: Governors-General and Their Wives
Appendix 3: Family and Position in VOC Batavia
Notes
Glossary
Selected Bibliography
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE