The research project 'Plants, People & Work: the Social History of Cash Crops in Asia' received a 500,000 euro grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (N.W.O.) It fits very well in the central 'Global Labour History' research program of the IISH.
This project, submitted by Marcel van der Linden and Willem van Schendel, will be carried out by Ulbe Bosma, Ratna Saptari, and two academics from India (yet to be appointed). The research is expected to take four years and deal with the social role of three important cash crops, tobacco, sugar, and indigo. These crops had been transferred from America to Asia in that time period. The focus is on the initial development and local establishment of these crops in British India (now India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) and the Netherlands Indies (now Indonesia). It will also cover how labour was mobilized and the social and ecological impact of cultivating these crops. More information is available at Working for the World.
The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (N.W.O.) has also approved funds for two other major research projects in which IISH research staff members are directly involved.
Jan Luiten van Zanden was pleased to see the research program The corporate governance of business in the Netherlands during the 20th century; structural change and performance honoured. Corporate governance - the method for governing business companies - is the result of a historical process that is closely connected to national social and cultural values. This research program deals with the changes that occurred in the governance of Dutch business companies and how these changes influenced those companies' achievements. The project is has four parts and is part of the major research program Company Life in the Twentieth Century. More information is available at Corporate Governance of Business in the Netherlands.
IISH staff member Roel Meijer will be a major participant in the third project, Salafism: Production, Distribution, Consumption, and Transformation of a Transnational Ideology in the Middle East and Europe. It was submitted by Harald Motzki from Nijmegen University. Roel Meijer will explore 'Political reformist Salafism and the Sahwa movement in Saudi Arabia'. Today, Salafism is one of the fastest growing religious movements in the world. In Saudi Arabia Salafism was the result of a fusion of Wahabism and the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood. There are now three variants: an apolitical current that emphasizes inner purity, a political reform movement, and a violent wing that advocates jihad. All three have gained ground among Moroccan youth in the Netherlands over the past twenty years.