Maarten Manse at the GLOBALISE Conference, Amsterdam 2026

Maarten Manse will participate in 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, held in Amsterdam from 4–6 March 2026. The conference brings together international scholars to explore new historiographical and digital approaches to the VOC archives and to rethink colonial and global histories through inclusive and comparative perspectives.

Manse will present the paper “Recasting the Terms of Empire: Indigenous Translators and Scribes in the VOC Archives, and how they Mediated the Legal Vocabulary of Empire through Treaty-making in Southeast Asia (c. 1680–1780)” in Session 3 (Mediators, Knowledge and Contestation) on Thursday 5 March, 09.00–10.45. The paper examines the role of indigenous intermediaries in shaping legal and diplomatic language within the Dutch colonial archive.

In addition, I will be discussant in a panel on Wed 4 March 15.00 - 16.30, Session 2C: Currencies, Politics and Labour.

More information: https://globalise.huygens.knaw.nl/globalise-conference-4-6-march-2026-amsterdam/