Spaces on Ships

Secrecy and Privacy in the Dutch East India Companies

Author(s)

  • Djoeke van Netten University of Amterdam

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52024/tseg.11044

Keywords:

East India Company, VOC, Privacy

Abstract

Djoeke van Netten examines the interplay between privacy and secrecy in the ships of the Dutch East India Companies (1595-1799). Space aboard a ship was scarce and privacy a rare privilege. Netten starts with a discussion of the sources available as well as those lost to history. She then continues by examining what can be known about the protection of and access to (secret) information and (private) belongings aboard ships. Cases where privacy was violated and secrets revealed emerge as some of the most informative historical events to be examined in this context. As she confronts her historical examples with relevant theoretical and historiographical concepts, she concludes by raising important questions for further research on privacy and secrecy aboard ships.

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Author Biography

  • Djoeke van Netten, University of Amterdam

    Djoeke van Netten (1980) is a senior lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Amsterdam. She works on the crossroads of the history of knowledge and maritime history, with a focus on printed books and maps. Recently she has researched and published several articles on secrecy and openness, especially on the Early Dutch East-India Companies.

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Published

2021-11-29

How to Cite

van Netten, D. (2021). Spaces on Ships: Secrecy and Privacy in the Dutch East India Companies. TSEG - The Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History, 18(3), 107-124. https://doi.org/10.52024/tseg.11044