Matthias van Rossum
Profiel
Current Research Projects
Between local debts and global markets: Explaining slavery in South and Southeast Asia 1600-1800 (NWO Veni Grant, 2016-2019)
Resilient diversity: The governance of racial and religious plurality in the Dutch Empire, 1600-1800 (NWO Vrije Competitie Grant, 2017-2021)
Historische Verkenningen Vakbeweging (2017-2018)
Biography
Matthias van Rossum (1984) is Senior Researcher working on Global Labour History with a focus on maritime labour history, coercion in labour relations and the dynamics of labour conflicts and social relations.
Matthias completed his dissertation at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 2013. In his dissertation, he studied social and intercultural relations between European and Asian sailors working for the Dutch East India Company in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. This resulted in the study Werkers van de wereld (Uitgeverij Verloren: Amsterdam 2014). Matthias completed the Researchmaster in Economic and Social History cum laude at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His study on the working of conflict and solidarity in intercultural relations among European and Asiatic sailors working on the Dutch intercontinental merchant fleet (1890-1945) was published as Hand aan Hand (Uitgeverij Aksant: Amsterdam 2009) and awarded with the J.R. Bruijn-prijs 2009. Before his PhD, he worked as a teaching assistant (IIS, UvA) and as a junior researcher in a project on the history of psychotropic substances in a global perspective (Metamedica, VUmc) (2008).
After his PhD, Matthias worked as lecturer in early modern social history at Leiden University. He was also project leader of the Dutch Ships and Sailors project (Huygens ING, VU, 2013-2014) and worked as postdoc on the history of forced labour, convicts and internment in the Dutch East-Indies (1700-1942) as part of the Labour Camps project (2014-2015). In 2015, he was awarded the prestigious VENI Grant of the Dutch Science Foundation (NWO). Matthias has published extensively on the Dutch maritime history, the history of sailors and maritime labour markets in Asia, the history of globalisation, slavery and slave trade, and other related topics.
He currently studies the history of slavery and slave trade in early modern (Dutch) Asia as principal investigator in the NWO research project Between local debts and global markets: Explaining slavery in South and Southeast Asia 1600-1800 (NWO Veni Grant, 2016-2019). He is co-applicant to the research projects Resilient diversity: The governance of racial and religious plurality in the Dutch Empire, 1600-1800 (NWO Vrije Competitie Grant, 2017-2021) and Digital Forensics for Historical Documents (KNAW Onderzoeksfonds, 2018-2020).
Monographs
Kleurrijke tragiek. De geschiedenis van slavernij in Azië onder de VOC (Verloren, De Zeven Provinciën reeks: Hilversum 2015). (More information) (Preview)
Werkers van de wereld. Globalisering, arbeid en interculturele ontmoetingen tussen Aziatische en Europese zeelieden in dienst van de VOC, 1600-1800 (Verloren: Hilversum 2014). (More information) (Preview)
Hand aan hand (Blank en Bruin): Solidariteit en de werking van globalisering, etniciteit en klasse onder zeelieden op de Nederlandse koopvaardij, 1900-1945 (Aksant: Amsterdam 2009). (More information)
Course books
Writing history! A Companion for Historians (Amsterdam University Press: Amsterdam 2018). With Jeannette Kamp, Susan Legêne en Sebas Rümke (More information)
Geschiedenis schrijven! Wegwijzer voor historici (Amsterdam University Press: Amsterdam 2016). With Jeannette Kamp, Susan Legêne and Sebas Rümke (More information) (Preview)
Edited volumes
Desertion in the Early Modern World: A Comparative History (Bloomsbury: London 2016). With Jeannette Kamp (More information)
Educational material
Lespakket: Geschiedenis van slavernij in Azië onder de VOC (2018). With Paula van Rooij. The material is open access available here.
Reports
Precaire polder: rapport in het kader van het onderzoeksproject Historische Verkenningen Vakbeweging (Amsterdam 2018). With Moira van Dijk, Loran van Diepen, Rosa Kösters and Bob Scholte. (See the open access online version)
‘Rapportage historisch onderzoek naar het VOC-schip Rooswijk’ (IISG, 28-11-2017). With Mike de Windt and Jan Lucassen. (More information) (See the open access online version)
Special issues
De Nederlandse smokkelhandel, 1600-1800, special issueTijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis 13:1 (2016). Edited with Karwan Fatah-Black (See the open access online version) (More information)
Havens in Holland, special issue Historisch Tijdschrift Holland 45:3-4 (2013). Edited with Sanne Muurling and Demelza van der Maas (More information)
Holland in de wereld, de wereld in Holland, special issue Historisch Tijdschrift Holland 43:3 (2011). [Edited with Minte Kamphuis, Daan de Lange and Arjan Nobel] (More information)
Contributions to edited volumes
‘Terugblikken om meer te zien! Een historische reflectie op vakbeweging, strategie en onderzoek’, in: Saskia Boumans, Wim Eshuis (red.), Positie en strategie vakbeweging. Beschouwingen, analyses en voorstellen (De Burcht: Amsterdam 2018) 84-91. [With Moira van Dijk] (See the open access online version)
‘Dutch East India Company in Asia, 1595-1811’, in: C. Anderson (ed.), A Global History of Convicts and Penal Colonies (Bloomsbury 2018) 157-182. (More information)
‘Changing Tides: Maritime Labour Relations in Europe and Asia’, in: P. de Zwart, K. Hofmeester (red.), Colonial Institutions and Shifts in Global Labour Relations (Amsterdam 2018) 239-264. (More information)
‘Desertion’, in: M. van der Linden, K. Hofmeester (red.), Handbook Global History of Work (Berlin/Boston 2017) 515-530. (More information)
‘Coolie transformations – uncovering the changing meaning and labour relations of coolie labour in the Dutch Empire (18th and 19th century)’, in: S. Damir-Geilsdorf, U. Lindner, G. Müller, O. Tappe, M. Zeuske (eds.), Bonded Labour, Global and Comparative Perspectives (18th-21st Century) (Bielefeld 2016) 83-102. (More information)
‘Redirecting Global Labor History?’, in: C. Antunes, K. Fatah-Black (red.), Explorations in History and Globalization (Routledge: Londen 2016). (More information)
‘Leaving work across the world: An introduction’, in: M. van Rossum, J.M. Kamp (eds.), Desertion in the Early Modern World: A Comparative History (Bloomsbury: London 2016) 3-14. [With Jeannette Kamp] (More information)
‘‘Working for the Devil’: Desertion in the Eurasian empire of the VOC’, in: M. van Rossum, J.M. Kamp (eds.), Desertion in the Early Modern World: A Comparative History (Bloomsbury: London 2016) 127-160. (More information)
‘From Contracts to Labour Camps? Desertion and Control in South Asia’, in: M. van Rossum, J.M. Kamp (eds.), Desertion in the Early Modern World: A Comparative History (Bloomsbury: London 2016) 187-202. (More information)
‘Claiming their rights? Indian sailors under the Dutch East India Company (VOC)’, in: M. Fusaro, B. Allaire, R. Blakemore, T. Vanneste (eds.), Labour, Law and Empire (Palgrave: London 2015) 263-267. (More information)
‘‘To sell them in other countries and to make their profit’. The Dynamics of Private Slave Trade and Ownership under the Dutch East India Company (VOC)’, Serfdom and slavery in the European economy 11th - 18th centuries. Proceedings of the XLV Settimana di Studi (Prato 2014) 593-618.
‘The Rise of the Asian Sailor? Inter-Asiatic Shipping, the Dutch East India Company and Maritime Labour Markets (1500-1800), in: S. Bhattacharya (red.), Towards a New History of Work (Tulika Books: New Delhi 2014) 180-213. (More information)
Peer reviewed journal articles
‘The Carceral Colony – Colonial exploitation, coercion and control in the Netherlands East-Indies, 1810s-1940s’, International Review of Social History 63, S26 (2018) 65-88. (Online preview version)
‘Private slave trade in the Dutch Indian Ocean world – a study into the networks and backgrounds of slavers and enslaved in South Asia and South-Africa’, Slavery and Abolition 38:1 (2016) 95-116. (Online preview version) With Linda Mbeki
‘Van geschiedenis naar praktijk – maar hoe? Een reactie’, Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 130:2 (2017) 273-276. (More information). With Jeannette Kamp, Susan Legêne en Sebas Rümke
‘Een maritiem manifest — een pleidooi over maritieme geschiedschrijving, data en wegen voorwaarts’, Tijdschrift voor Zeegeschiedenis 36:1 (2017) 71-79.
‘Sampans, hout en slaven. De overzeese infrastructuur voor scheepsbouw en -onderhoud van de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) in Zuid- en Zuidoost-Azië’, Tijdschrift voor Zeegeschiedenis 36:2 (2017) 3-21.
‘A profitable debate?’, Slavery and Abolition (2016) (Online preview version). With Karwan Fatah-Black
‘Entrepreneurs at sea: Trading practices, legal opportunities and early modern globalization’, The International Journal of Maritime History 28:4 (2016) 774-786. With Maria Fusaro, Richard J. Blakemore, Benedetta Crivelli, Kate J. Ekama, Tijl Vanneste, Jan Lucassen and Matthias van Rossum, Yoshihiko Okabe, Per Hallén, Patrick M. Kane (See the open access online version)
‘De Nederlandse smokkelhandel, 1600-1800’, Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis 13:1 (2016) 1-21. With Karwan Fatah-Black (See the open access online version)
‘Smokkelloon en zilverstromen: illegale export van edelmetaal via de VOC’, Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis 13:1 (2016) 99-133. With Jan Lucassen (See the open access online version)
‘The ‘Yellow Danger’? Global Forces and Global Fears in the North Sea and Beyond (1600-1950)’, special issue International Journal of Maritime History 27:4 (2015) 743-755. (More information)
‘‘Vervloekte goudzugt’. De VOC, slavenhandel en slavernij in Azië’, Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis 12:4 (2015) 29-57. (See the open access online version)
‘Slavery in a ‘slave free enclave’? Historical links between the Dutch Republic, Empire and Slavery, 1580s-1860s’, WerkstattGeschichte 66-67 (2015) 55-74. With Karwan Fatah-Black (More information) (See also the open access online version)
‘Lost in translation? Maritime identity and identification in Asia under the VOC’, Journal for Maritime Research 16, nr. 2 (2014) 141-154. (See also the online version)
‘Beyond profitability. The Dutch transatlantic slave trade and its economic impact’, Slavery and Abolition (2014 – online version). Met Karwan Fatah-Black
‘“Amok!” Mutinies and Slaves on Dutch East Indiamen in the 1780’s’, International Review of Social History 58, Special Issue (2013) 109-130. (See also the online version)
‘Roundtable contribution on Balachandran, Globalizing Labour?’, International Journal of Maritime History XXV, nr. 1 (2013) 309-314. With Marcel van der Linden (See also the online version)
‘Een marginale bijdrage? Van ‘winstgevendheid’ naar de economische impact van de Nederlandse trans-Atlantische slavenhandel’, Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis 9, nr. 4 (2012) 71-78. With Karwan Fatah-Black (See also the open access online version)
‘Wat is winst? De economische impact van de Nederlandse trans-Atlantische slavenhandel’, Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis 9, nr. 1 (2012) 3-29. With Karwan Fatah-Black (See also the open access online version)
‘A ‘Moorish world’ within the Company. The VOC, maritime logistics and subaltern networks of Asian sailors’, Itinerario – International Journal on the History of European Expansion and Global Interaction vol. 36, nr. 3 (2012) 39-60. (See also the online version)
‘De intra-Aziatische vaart: Schepen, ‘de Aziatische zeeman’ en ondergang van de VOC?’, Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis 8, nr. 3 (2011) 31-68. (See also the open access online version)
‘National and international labour markets’, in: M. Fusaro, A. Polonia (red.), Maritime History as Global History, special issue Research in Maritime History vol. 43 (St. John’s, Newfoundland 2010) 47-72. With Lex Heerma van Voss, Jelle van Lottum and Jan Lucassen
‘Kleurrijke zeelieden: groepsvorming, klasse en interculturele verhoudingen op een mondiale arbeidsmarkt (1890-1945)’, Tijdschrift voor Zeegeschiedenis 29, nr. 1 (2010) 69-76.
Articles in other academic journals
‘The Dutch Ships and Sailors Project’, DHCommons 1 (2015). [With Victor de Boer, Jurjen Leinenga and Rik Hoekstra] (See the open access online version)
‘Slavernij, geweld en recht onder de VOC: Een inleiding op nieuwe verkenningen’, Acta Historica 3, nr. 4 (2014) 5-10. [With Merit Guldemond] (See the open access online version)
‘Veelzijdige havens’, Historisch Tijdschrift Holland, themanummer Havens in Holland 45, nr. 3-4 (2013) 98-101. [With Sanne Muurling and Demelza van der Maas] (More information)
‘Werelds worden – redactioneel’, Historisch Tijdschrift Holland, themanummer De wereld in Holland 43, nr. 3 (2011) 6-11. (More information)
‘“De Chineezen van Holland”: vissers, vreemdelingen en klassenstrijd op de Nederlandse koopvaardij (1890-1940)’, NETwerk: Jaarboek Visserijmuseum 21 (2010) 25-33.
‘“Goed scheepsvolk noodig?” Logementhouders en arbeidsmigranten in Rotterdam, 1915-1925’, Historisch Tijdschrift Holland 40, nr. 1 (2008) 18-38. (More information)
Published datasets
‘Generale Zeemonsterrollen, Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, 1691-1791’, Dutch Ships and Sailors, www.dutchshipsandsailors.nl (April 2014).
‘Sugar trade Holland, 1590-1820’, Centre for Global Economic History, www.cgeh.nl (August 2013). [With Oscar Gelderblom]
‘Freight exchange Holland in Sont trade, 1501-1808’, Centre for Global Economic History, www.cgeh.nl (August 2013).
‘Slave trade Holland, 1596-1829’, Centre for Global Economic History, www.cgeh.nl (August 2013).
Review articles
‘Een walvis in het museum. Het Scheepvaartmuseum 2.0?’, Historisch Tijdschrift Holland 44, nr. 4 (2012) 24-31. (More information)
‘Retourtje New York – Amsterdam: NY400 en ‘Holland’’, Historisch Tijdschrift Holland 41, nr. 4 (2009) 321-323. (More information)