Introduction

In this introduction to the project Maartje Janse and Anne-Lot Hoek together explore the ways in which we deal with our colonial past, and discuss ways to write a history of the colonial past that includes the dissenting voices that have often been silenced or ignored. Even though it is often suggested that the mindset of people in the past prevented them from seeing what was wrong with things we now find highly problematic, they argue that there was indeed a tradition of colonial criticism in the Netherlands, one that included the voices of many ‘forgotten critics’ whose lives and criticism are the subject of this publication. The voices however were for a long time overlooked by Dutch historians. 

A story presented in the format of a multimedia slider that presents an overview of the publication. By highlighting the various steps of the co-creation process and the main insights that resulted from it the story guides readers through the publication. The story presents a selection of the content of the publication and introduces readers to its structure. Created with the external tool Slices, by editor Kim de Vries in cooperation with the authors, as a last step before publishing.