Subversive seas : anti-colonial networks across the twentieth-century Dutch empire

"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. Kris Alexanderson is Assistant Professor of History at the University of the Pacific"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Half-title 3 Title page 5 Copyright information 6 Contents 7 Figures 9 Tables 10 Acknowledgments 11 Abbreviations 13 Maps 14 Introduction: Transoceanic Mobility and Modern Imperialism 17 Understanding Dutch Maritime History 22 Imperial Discourse and Dissent 28 Scope, Sources, and Chapter Outline 38 Part I At Sea 45 1 Kongsi Tiga: Security and Insecurity on Hajj Ships 47 The Hajj Pilgrim Ordinance of 1922 49 Containing the ''Arab'' Threat at Sea 56 Race, Class, Consumer Power, and Competition 66 Shipping in Muslim Hands: Penoeloeng Hadji 78 2 Java-China-Japan Lijn: Asian Shipping and Imperial Representation 88 Transforming Coolies into Classes 89 Chinese Markets: Infiltration and Resistance 103 3 The Dutch Mails: Passenger Liners as Colonial Classrooms 115 Imperial Learning on Deck 116 Transgression and Indiscretion at Sea 133 Pleasure Cruises and Performativity 142 Part II In Port 151 4 Pan-Islamism Abroad: Regulation and Resistance in the Middle East 153 Dutch Spy Networks in Jeddah 154 Contamination at Kamaran Quarantine Station 165 Hajji Destitution and Imperial Confusion 172 5 Policing Communism: Ships, Seamen, and Political Networks in Asia 184 Seamen as Global Communist Liaisons 186 Red Seas: People, Propaganda, and Weapons 198 Anti-Dutch Boycotts in China: The Xiao Case 210 6 Japanese Penetration: Imperial Upheaval in the 1930s 225 Shipping in a Time of Crisis 227 Pan-Asian Circulation across Maritime Asia 236 The Dutch-Japanese Trade Negotiations of 1934 243 Watching the Japanese 252 Conclusion: Oceanic Decolonization and Cultural Amnesia in the Twenty-First Century 262 Appendix: Testimony from Communist Informant Kamu, 26 January 1928 273 Select Bibliography 276 Archival Collections 276 Nationaal Archief, Den Haag 276 Stadsarchief Rotterdam 276 KITLV, Leiden 276 International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam 276 Stadsarchief Amsterdam 276 Digital Archives 277 Newspapers, Magazines, and Journals 277 Published Sources 277 Index 300