Indonesian Trade and Society Selected Studies on Indonesia Essays in Asian Social and Economic History

Jul 6, 2026

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A scholarly introduction and publication front matter for J.C. van Leur’s selected essays on Indonesian trade and society within Asian social and economic history. The text explains why English translations were edited to overcome language barriers, outlines van Leur’s intellectual background and methodological approach influenced by Max Weber, and evaluates the impact and criticisms of his dissertation. It also situates his later work in the Netherlands East Indies civil service and academic contributions to historical study of Southeast Asia and colonial trade networks.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages492

Reading Time20 h 40 min

Foreword

Translation initiative and editorial purpose

Van Leur’s background and dissertation method

Reception, strengths, and criticisms

Civil service in the Netherlands East Indies

Academic work and studies on Southeast Asia

# INDONESIAN TRADE AND SOCIETY # SELECTED STUDIESON INDONESIA Editorial Committee W.F.WERTHEIM,ChairmanP.W.VAN MILAAN,Secretary C.C.BERG C.Tj.BERTLINGTH.P.GALESTIN Published for THE RoYAL TROPICAL INSTITUTE-AMSTERDAMUnder a grant fromTHE NETHERLANDS ORGANIZATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF PuRE RESEARCH-THE HAGUE VOLU ME ONE JoHANNA FELHOEN KRAAL G.H.VAN DER KOLFF F.H.VAN NAERSSEN H.OFFERHAUs F.R.J.VERHOEVEN # INDONESIAN TRADEAND SOCIETY Essays in Asian Social and Economic Historyby J.C.van Leur Copyright 1955 by N.V.Uitgeverij W.van Hoeve THE HAGU E Second edition 1967 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form,by print,photoprint,microfilm,or any other means,without written permision. # FoREWORD Tn a world becoming more and more a cultural unity,theI diversity of languages is an ever greater obstacle to scholarlyprogress.And certainly scholarly work published in the languageof such a small cultural area as the Dutch runs a great risk ofeluding the attention of the international scholarly world.It wasas a result of this consideration that in I948 a committee wasestablished for the editing of English translations of studies onIndonesia written in Dutch.Since I952 the committee has beenaffiliated with the Royal Tropical Institute at Amsterdam. As the first volume in the series of works to be published underits auspices,the editors let their choice fall on the work of ascholar who has made an important contribution -though oneup to now little noticed outside the Netherlands -to a betterunderstanding ofAsian history and the historical relation betweenEurope and Asia:the late Dr van Leur. Jacob Cornelis van Leur,who was born at Utrecht in I908,spent a large part of his youth in the province of Zeeland,whereeven in his school years he manifested a great deal of interest inhistory,and especially in the rôle the Zeeland towns Middelburg,Veere,and Flushing had played in the past as centres of worldtrade. In the years he spent in studying for the Netherlands East In-dies civil service at the University of Leiden he had ampleopportunity further to develop his broad interest in the cultural,economic,and social history of Europe,and of Asia as well.I Hisoriginal,but often rather bold and heretical hypotheses severaltimes brought him in opposition to his professors. In his dissertation Van Leur made an attempt at analyzingearly Asian society with the aid of the methodology of sociologyand economic history developed by Max Weber-a methodology which at least for Indonesian history had not yet been applied.That Van Leur came to such surprising and often revolutionaryconclusions lay not only in the method applied,however,butjust as much in the broad,catholic knowledge and the sharplycritical attitude regarding the theories current at the time whichdespite his youth he was able to bring to bear.When in hisintroduction he attributes "novalue except that ofa compilation"2to his dissertation,he is being extraordinarily modest.It is truethe value of the work does not lie in the fulfillment of that tradi-tional ideal of the student of history,the making available of newsource material.But Van Leur has accomplished something inhis dissertation that is at least as important.He has thrown thelimelight of a new methodology on source material long sincepublished and thereby enriched the historical discipline with anumber of new hypotheses. It was to be a long time before Van Leur's findings were toattract the attention in the Dutch scholarly world which theydeserved,however.Alongside an amazing maturity his disser-tation also exhibited a number of weaker aspects,some of themthe defaults inherent in his good qualities-such as the tendencysometimes to state his new propositions and theories all tooabsolutely,-but some of them also having to do with hisyouthfulness.Not the least of these weaknesses,perhaps,was hisstyle,on the one hand lapidary,on the other extremely circum-locutory,and along with it h

FAQs

Why was a committee created to edit English translations of studies on Indonesia?

To reduce the barrier created by linguistic diversity and to ensure Dutch-language scholarship on a relatively small cultural area reached the international academic world.

What methodological influence shaped van Leur’s dissertation on early Asian society?

He used a methodology combining sociology and economic history developed by Max Weber, applied in ways not yet common for Indonesian history at the time.

How did the foreword assess the strengths and weaknesses of van Leur’s dissertation?

It highlights the work’s new hypotheses and methodological spotlight on previously published sources, while also noting weaknesses such as overly absolute propositions and a style that could be terse or excessively circumlocutory.

Jul 6, 2026

Upload by Liam