1869, Ep. 106 with Arnout van der Meer, author of Performing Power

1869, the Cornell University Press Podcast

Transcript: https://otter.ai/u/vx2yyXywDSWhWxkx67o2G9MpVt0?f= This episode, we speak with Arnout van der Meer, author of Performing Power: Cultural Hegemony, Identity, and Resistance in Colonial Indonesia — https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501758584/performing-power/ Arnout van der Meer is an Assistant Professor in History at Colby College. His research explores the importance of material and visual culture, such as dress, architecture, deference rituals, and symbols of power, for both the legitimization of colonial authority as well as its contestation in turn of the twentieth century Indonesia. We spoke to Arnout about how a photographic collection of Dutch colonial officials in Java sparked his interest in researching the topic of his new book, how the use of cultural history has unveiled new insights on the development of Indonesia that have up to this point been missed by other more traditional historical approaches, and how individual acts of rebellion against Dutch colonial power by Indonesians helped subvert the state from the grassroots up. If you’d like to read his new book, you can download the free open access ebook on our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu. You can also use the promo code 09POD to save 30 percent on the paperback. If you live in the UK use the discount code CSANNOUNCE and visit the website combinedacademic.co.uk.