A small group of freethinkers from the Dutch Republic played a key role in the major intellectual changes of the Early Enlightenment (1640–1720). In the wake of Cartesianism, their rationalist ideas transformed debates about science, theology, medicine, and political theory. This book studies the position of four translators in these debates on the ‘New Philosophy’: Jan Hendriksz Glazemaker, Pieter Balling, Abraham van Berkel, and Stephan Blankaart. It presents a comparative history of ...

In this book, Henk van Rinsum provides an in-depth description of the colonial past of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, from its foundation in 1636. He describes the development of (scientific) knowledge and knowledge transfer about and in the Dutch colonies, especially in the Dutch East Indies. The central theme of his book is the idea of Western superiority – the assumption that we are ‘developed’ and therefore modern, while those in the colonies are ‘not (yet) developed’ an...

Below the famously flat surface of the Netherlands lies a fascinating world of buried mountains and valleys, which can only be unraveled with drillings, geophysical techniques and geological understanding.

Thorough exploration for hydrocarbons, groundwater and minerals produced a wealth of data and knowledge about the Dutch subsurface and its various uses. The second edition of this book, originally published in 2007, provides access to that wealth with a thoroughly revised and updated descri...

The Canadian War Cemetery in Groesbeek is the burial place of 2,618 soldiers from Canada and the British Commonwealth. Most died during the liberation of the Netherlands and the decisive Rhineland Offensive at the end of World War II. This book brings their individual stories to life and offers a moving tribute to the young men who fought for freedom, democracy and peace. With the names of all the fallen and the 1,012 missing on the Memorial Wall, this is a valuable unique reference work that...

This book provides a thorough revision of the image of the public church under the Dutch Republic after the Peace of Westphalia and before the onset of the ‘high Enlightenment’. Traditional church history considers the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries a period of decline. Yet this was the high tide of Dutch expansion when Dutch society was extremely rich. In its five universities and its highly literate population internationally acknowledged scholarship, arts and sciences flowered. D...

First published in March 2001, this work was the first and only book of its kind in the Dutch intellectual landscape, and it rapidly became a classic for multigenerational audiences with an interest in intersectional theory and praxis. By zooming in on the issues that Black, migrant, and refugee (BMR) women placed on the feminist and multicultural agenda of the late twentieth century, the writers in this volume highlight the exclusionary practices BMR women encountered within Dutch institutio...

An adventurous Guide for Regenerative Educators invites readers into a shared exploration on what it means to become regenerative educators in todays and tomorrow’s world. Through biographical letter writing, a deep dive into the multidisciplinary theoretical foundations of these journeys, and the development of a cutting edge innovative methodological approach of co-constructed auto-ethnography, the book sheds light on the interwoven inner-transformations and outer systemic transitions inv...

In talking about Europe, it is common to emphasise the democratic, constitutional and peaceful values that unite Europeans. However, according to Dag Nikolaus Hasse, it is not that easy to find an essence of Europe.

In What is European? he shows that many traditional ideas about Europe are culturally one-sided and historically and geographically distorted, and calls for the discourse on Europe to be de-romanticised and de-colonised. This would better reflect Europe's eventful history and dive...

For four centuries, people from the Netherlands have gone to America by boat or plane, to explore the country, to trade, to colonise, to settle, to do business, to find a new future or simply to visit the country as a tourist. And for four centuries, Americans, of diverse backgrounds, of native, African or European descent, have come to the Netherlands. These are their stories.

This book begins in the seventeenth century, when settlers commissioned by the West India Company settled on the sou...