This essay traces the roots of marginalization of the Dutch Caribbean in Caribbean studies, approaching these roots as an integral part of a shared Caribbean intellectual history. In the era of twentieth-century Caribbean anticolonialism, nationalism, and decolonization, local intellectuals emerged in the public arena throughout the Caribbean region. The author studies the intellectual interplays and incubations taking place, asking if and how Dutch Caribbean thinkers and writers were involved. Her analysis finds that neglect and erasure impacted Dutch Caribbean studies first and foremost from within. Mid-twentieth-century Dutch Caribbean anticolonial intellectuals have confronted strong oppression and retaliations, leading to obscured publications as well as to considerable societal and archival silences. This reflects on the self-image of the Dutch Caribbean and an observed otherness attitude among Dutch Caribbean intellectuals.

Ces limitations concernent à la fois les sources archivistiques et les publications. Elles ont été signalées également par Cuales 1998 et Rodriguez 2017.

No abstract

In 1877, the Dutch parliament declared that the use of penal sanctions in a civil dispute was contrary to the classic-liberal legal principles it was eager to follow in diose days. Based on these principles was the concept of stricdy separated civil, penal and administrative jurisdiction, a concept modeled on modern legislation, guaranteeing equal justice for both civilians and authorities. As a consequence of this liberal direction, from then on the infliction of penal laws by authorities would be justified only when the general interest was at stake.