Decolonial Dialogue and the Intricacies of Revolutionary Violence

Abstract

The studies by Rémy Limpach and Azarja Harmanny, researched within the ODGOI project, strengthen the project’s general conclusion that the Dutch violence during the Indonesian Revolution was systemic and structural. While focusing on the practices of violence and especially the use of intelligence and of heavy weapons, the authors both stress the continuations of how violence was executed during the colonial period, the Second World War and the War of Independence. This opens up the question for a decolonial dialogue between Dutch and Indonesian historians and societies, and should be seen as an important step for continuing conversation. In this essay both books are discussed, especially from the perspective of the possibilities and complexities of a decolonial dialogue between the Netherlands and Indonesia.