Scholarship awarded to conference on church and slavery

First of its kind

The conference is unique in several ways. As far as we know, it is the first international conference on the relationship between Christianity and slavery to actually take place in the Dutch Caribbean. This was something the project team felt strongly about. The conference will take place in the auditorium of the University of Curaçao, which is involved in the project as an academic partner. The conference aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the complex relationship between church and slavery in the colonial past of the Netherlands - as well as how that history still permeates church and social structures today. ‘The conference explicitly invites reflection on the role of churches in the slavery past,’ Stoutjesdijk says. ‘What does it take to really do justice to that as a church? And what role can churches play when it comes to reconciliation and restoration?’ The input of local researchers as well as local church leaders is therefore essential. However, they often have little to no budget for a conference visit. The KNAW grant will therefore be used to meet this group's travel and accommodation costs.

Strong international interest

Interest in the conference is high. More than 40 paper proposals have been accepted, from both established researchers and young academics. In addition, the preparation committee is very pleased with the strong interest from researchers from the region: from Curaçao, the other Dutch Caribbean islands, Suriname and the broader Caribbean context. This brings an often underexposed perspective fully to the table. In addition to academics, civil society and heritage organisations are also joining. Among others, the Curaçao NAAM (National Archaeological Anthropological Memory Management Foundation), the Dutch Museum Catharijneconvent, the Stichting Heilzame Verwerking Slavernijverleden (Foundation for the Salvation of the Slavery Past) and the Dutch Council of Churches will participate in the conference.

Personal involvement and theological urgency

Martijn Stoutjesdijk works within the PThU on the role of theology and biblical exegesis in the Dutch, historical, debate on colonial slavery. For him, the conference is more than an academic project. ‘Theology should not be aloof from painful histories. The question of how Christianity became intertwined with slavery goes to the heart of our faith story. Precisely because the Bible - the central scripture of Dutch Protestantism - plays such a dual role in this. It forces us to rethink the way we read the Bible, including complicated texts that seem to support slavery.’ For him, the KNAW fellowship is not only a personal recognition, but also an encouragement to take the conversation on these very issues to the region itself - and together with partners there. The conference committee is headed by Prof Rose Mary Allen (University of Curaçao) and further consists of Donate Philbert-Nieveld, MSc and Stoutjesdijk himself. This also ensures close cooperation between Dutch and Caribbean partners in the organisation.

Impact in church and society

The conference is part of a wider movement within church and academia to take the slavery past of religious institutions seriously. The hope is that it will not stop at words, but that the insights will actually lead to changes in attitudes, policies and liturgy. ‘For churches, it is important not only to acknowledge the slavery past, but also to process it theologically,’ Stoutjesdijk said. ‘The conference will hopefully contribute to a culture of listening and learning as well as acting.’