15 Jul NWO research grant for Professor G.J. Oostindie

Gert Oostindie, director KITLV and professor of Caribbean History at Leiden University, will receive a € 750,000 grant for the research project Confronting Caribbean Challenges: Hybrid Identities and Governance in Small-scale Island Jurisdictions from the NWO. The funding comes from the ‘Caribbean Research: A Multi-disciplinary approach’ scheme.

The four-year project includes two post-doctoral researchers and one PhD position. The post-doctoral researchers, both active in conceptualizing the research proposal, are Jessica Roitman, researcher at the KITLV and lecturer in Economic and Social History at Leiden University, and Wouter Veenendaal, lecturer at the Institute of Political Science at Leiden University.

Confronting Caribbean Challenges investigates how political reforms and intensive migrations affect historically grounded identities and political practices the Dutch Caribbean islands of on St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, Saba, and Bonaire. The program integrates an interest in the past (historical development of hybrid identities), the present (governance, migration and citizenship issues) and the future (sustainable tourism capitalizing on natural and historical heritage).