Entangled histories - Unravelling the impact of colonial connections of both Javanese and Dutch women’s work and household labour relations, c. 1830-1940

In this article I investigate changing household labour relations and women’s
work in the Dutch empire. I question how colonial connections affected the
division of work between men, women, and children, not only in the colony –
the Dutch East Indies (i.c. Java), but also in the metropolis – the Netherlands.
Entanglements can be found in the influences of colonial economic policies
on both colony and metropolis, as well as in the more indirect effects of
colonial exploitation and taxation, and, finally in the sphere of sociopolitics
and ideologies. I will analyse the entanglements between the Netherlands
and Java in these domains, comparing similarities and differences, but also
paying attention to the connections and transfers between both parts of the
Dutch empire. Although some of the conditions and developments were
highly specific to the Dutch empire, I aim to show that the method of
comparing and establishing direct and indirect connections between different
parts of an empire can lead to new insights that can also be applied to
other parts of the world and different time periods.