‘Multiperspectivity is absolutely essential to the investigation into our colonial history’

The past several months have been devoted to discussions with researchers from the Academy's own institutes and with members of the Academy, The Young Academy and the Society of Arts. Project coordinator Marie Beauchamps also spoke to organisations that have launched similar investigations, including DNB (the Dutch central bank), The Royal Society in the United Kingdom, and members of the Racialized Scholars network. The purpose of these conversations was to prepare the research brief. 

Multiperspectivity

‘For me, the main take-away from these conversations is that multiperspectivity is absolutely essential to this investigation,’ says Beauchamp. ‘By that I mean that the research team in the Netherlands should collaborate with local knowledge networks in the former colonies, and take multiple perspectives from a variety of different disciplines into account.’   

Scope of the investigation 

‘Right now we’re hard at work writing the brief for the tendering procedure. We’ve talked a lot about the scope of the investigation. Key topics are the Academy’s institutional structures and procedures, for example nomination of members, advisory reports and awards, and the Academy’s ties to slavery and colonialism. This includes the Academy’s buildings, objects and collections.’ 

Symbolic role 

‘Internal and external discussions have also revealed a strong desire to extend the investigation beyond the Academy’s direct and visible involvement,’ says Beauchamps. ‘We will be asking the research team to also examine the Academy’s broader system of science and scholarship. After all, the Academy also plays a symbolic role in academia, the economy and politics, both in the Netherlands and beyond. That also means taking viewpoints informed by local knowledge and knowledge institutions in the former colonies explicitly into account in the research design and the investigation itself.’

Preliminary market consultation   

The independent investigation will commence in mid-2025 and will take several years to complete. Says Beauchamps, ‘As part of the tendering procedure, the Academy will meet with interested researchers on 18 November 2024. A preliminary market consultation of this kind will help us fine-tune the brief and start connecting researchers who may be interested. After the meeting, the call for proposals will be published in late December or early January. Researchers will then have three months to submit a proposal.’ 

If you have any questions or comments about the investigation, e-mail the project team at koloniaalverleden@knaw.nl.   

Questions about the substance of the preliminary market consultation may be submitted to TenderNed.