Globalise conference - Colonial Pasts, New Approaches and Historiographical Futures
We are pleased to announce the GLOBALISE Conference Colonial Pasts, New Approaches and Historiographical Futures: Explorations of GLOBALISE, the Dutch East India Company Archives and the writing of new histories will be held from 4 to 6 March 2026, with pre-conference activities on 3 March.
The archives of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) offer crucial insights into both Dutch colonialism and the histories of early modern societies in Africa, Asia, and Australia. Traditional historiography has focused on trade and European actors, often overlooking the VOC’s colonial governance, exploitation, and the resilience of local communities. Recent approaches in area studies and global history have used the VOC archives to explore these overlooked dimensions.
The GLOBALISE project is transforming historical research by digitizing and enriching VOC archives through technologies like machine-readable transcriptions and historical contextualization. This opens new possibilities for writing inclusive, comparative, and long-term histories that integrate colonial, global, and vernacular perspectives.
This conference aims to open up discussions about how digital tools and multiple archival sources – both colonial and vernacular – can reshape the way we study the VOC, the Indian Ocean World, and broader patterns of global exchanges and colonial encounters.
Conference Registration
We have very limited availability for in-person attendance because the conference is already completely booked. To join the waiting list to attend in person if spaces become available, please fill out this form.
To join us online only for the conference, sign up on Eventbrite.
Programme
The Conference Schedule with the Keynote Lectures, Roundtables, Panel Sessions, Workshop Sessions and Performance Lectures can be found on the website of Globalise.
