Description
This paper employs social network analysis to examine how Dutch settlers gained access to political actors within seventeenth-century Dutch Tayouan. Around 1650, this city boasted approximately 5,000 residents, with only 100 to 150 Dutch families among them. This paper scrutinizes the networks of these Dutch families, drawing on available sources spanning the period from 1655 to 1662. To achieve this, we rely on baptismal records, as they serve as a reliable indicator of significant social relationships within and beyond the family in Christian communities. Unfortunately, these documents only provide insights into the Christian community, making it considerably more challenging to delineate connections with the rest of the population. Nevertheless, the baptismal registers are not confined to Dutch individuals, as many settlers married Asian women, resulting in mixed families with heterogeneous social networks. This approach makes it possible to find out whether certain groups isolated themselves from the broader society or were open to interactions with other segments of the city. This paper especially explores whether there was a political class that remained distinct from merchants and urban craftsmen, or if close ties existed between these groups.| Period | 18 Dec 2024 |
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| Held at | Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands |
| Degree of Recognition | National |
Research programs
- ESHCC HIS