Who did all the work? The hidden labour of colonial science

This project makes visible the hidden labour of non-western assistants in the making of scientific knowledge in the Dutch East Indies, 1890–1962. The contribution to science of local interpreters, informants, hunters and guides usually remains hidden in scientific publications. This project creates a unique database with information on these assistants, based on our research in a large corpus of books, archives and photographs. This inventory will make it possible to rewrite the history of Dutch colonial science as a collective project involving many non-western actors.