Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power — Ann Stoler (Review on Dutch Colonial)
This article written by Ann Stoler (1991), introduced us the feminist attempts to engage gender issue in imperial cultures. She argued that the European women are in their ambigous positions as subordinates in colonial strata and also agents for intensifying imperial culture (the making of racial segregation). It also challanges regular viewpoints of colonial as homogenous communities who have common interest and predicated in making racial difference between “white” and “men of color/native/colonized men”. I’m also not trying to reduce the complexity of gender issue in imperial cultures, since I divided into three stages of historical trajectories for making it easier for me to see the changes in household organization under colonial regime. Well, of course, since I was born in Indonesia, I only focus on Dutch Colonial, so it would be great if there were more extensive review regarding her articles. I also open to critics regarding this article to make it more comprehensive.
Firstly, when colonial for the first time came into frontier land, and given that each European colony had different strategies to make intervention towards the natives. For instance, in 1622, Dutch East Indies (Hindia-Belanda) had a plan to transport poor young Dutch women to Java as a way of making geopolitcs of land colonization by providing them a dowry, clothing, and any other stuff for living in Indies within five years. But, this kind of program didn’t go well because of the possibility of women had a stronger bond than colonial men to Netherlands and also the colonial’s fear of women have the ability to enrich themselves and threaten the company’s monopoly (VOC). Dutch Women have been stereotypzed by colonial men,
Then, second attempt was curbing sexual access to indigenous women, such as Javanese women referred to nyai who were living as a concubine (mistress) to the European man (Dutch-colonial men). A concubinage is considered to be effective strategy by colonial dutch to stabilize political order and maintain “unnatural” liaisons with one another. Dutch men could have accessed to colonized women as well as demands on her labor for domestic and sexual services. Nyai as a mistress lived separately with dutch men, they shared the beds with other European staff. A concubinage was also maintaining gender inequalities between colonial men and colonized women and keeping European supremacy as well. But, what makes it interesting was that moment when Dutch colonial faced impoverished Indo-European women that were becoming concubine for themselves. This case could have potentially disturbed and blurred colonial divide and racial hierarchy. But, certain moments when colonies were already politically stable and economically secured, the European women could have emigrated to land colonization.
Then, the European women (white women) brought an end to concubinage and there was a larger shift in colonial relations who tend to be more racially segregated. Stoler argued that the European women have contributed to increase racial segregation between the European men and men of color because such as Alain Tirefort in this article put it, “the presence of the white woman separated husbands from indigenous life by creating around them a zone of European intimacy.” Thus, all of these three series of changes in colonial policies could have also contributed the changes within household organization. From transporting young European women to foreign land, a concubinage policy, and then marriage between “full-blooded” Europeans, all of these three changes point out that household organization is governed and changed by the power of imperial (in this context was colonial regime).
Reference
Stoler, Ann.1991. “Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power: Gender, Race and Morality inColonial Asia.“ In Di Leonardo, M. Ed..Gender at the crossroads of knowledge:Feminist anthropology in the postmodern era. University of California Press.
