Epilogue

Gijs Dreijer ()
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Gijs Dreijer: Erasmus University Rotterdam

Chapter Chapter 8 in Private Entrepreneurship and European Imperialism, 2026, pp 271-275 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract The epilogue shortly reflects on the present debate in Western societies on the legacies of colonialism and slavery. Taking the case of Rotterdam, the epilogue argues that while much of the societal debate has revolved around the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the Dutch involvement in present-day Indonesia, the debate may want to take into account less obvious colonial links that also existed, for example through the involvement of private entrepreneurs from the city in Africa. Capital earned in Africa for example contributed to the expansion of Rotterdam’s port (today still Europe’s largest) and left many visual imprints in the city, in museums or in architecture. While the epilogue provides no blueprint for how to deal with this past, it makes the case that by broadening and deepening our understanding of the colonial past, public debate should acknowledge the complexities, nuances and paradoxes of colonialism and slavery.

Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-01086-5_8

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