Abstract
In his writings on early Asian trade, van Leur has touched on a number of fundamental problems in Indonesian history.1 In doing so he was actuated by an idealistic urge to break through the Europecentric historical view of Southeast Asia, and was moreover inspired by Max Weber to seek interrelated socioeconomic structures in the development process which, in Asia, was not oriented towards industrial capitalism. The most important of van Leur’s theses are summarised below.
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Van Leur, Eenige beschouwingen betreffende den ouden Aziatischen handel (diss. Leiden), Middelburg 1934;
Van Leur Enkele aantekeningen met betrekking tot de beoefening der Indische geschiedenis (1937);
Van Leur De wereld van Zuid-Oost Azie (1940); and three book reviews, collected in English translation under the title: Indonesian Trade and Society: Essays in Asian Social and Economic History, 1955.
Van Leur,Indonesian Trade, pp. 98 ff, 165–168, 250 ff.
Benda, Continuity, pp. 133–134; Hall, A History, pp. 18 ff. According to Bosch (The Problem of Hindu Colonization’, in: Id., Selected Studies, pp. 12 ff) there was a considerable reciprocal flow of culture bearers between India and Indonesia. While stressing the importance of elite culture-bearers, Bosch corrects van Leur’s negation of the significance of commercial relations, also in connection with culture.
Coedes, Les états, pp. 26–27. These elements were mentioned earlier (in addition to others) by Brandes and Kern; cited by Krom, Hindoe-Javaansche geschiedenis, pp. 35–36, 47–48.
Mabbett, ‘The ‘Indianization’ of Southeast Asia’, in: JSEAS, March 1977, pp. 6 ff. With regard to irrigated rice see also: Pelzer: Pioneer Settlement, pp. 9, 20, 75. Basing his opinion partly on Pelzer, C.A. Fisher takes a contradictory position to van Leur by estimating the original Southeast Asian level as rather low. Fisher, Southeast Asia, pp. 80–83, 86; Id., ‘Southeast Asia’, in: Man, State and Society, pp. 57 ff. See also: Sharp, ‘Cultural Continuities’, in: Ibid., pp. 50 ff; McGee, Southeast Asian City, p. 29.
Fisher, ‘Southeast Asia’, in: Man, State and Society, pp. 55–71.
Weber, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, pp. 230 ff, 568–569, 615 ff; van Leur, Indonesian Trade, pp. 56–57, 64 ff, 70, 80 ff, 110, 221–223, 282.
Geertz, Agricultural Involution, p. 42.
Van Leur, Indonesian Trade, pp. 251–258.
Id., Ibid., pp. 12–13, 296 note 9.
Marx, Grundrisse, pp. 375–413. A useful survey of the most relevant places in Marx’s works is to be found in Sofri, Asiatische Produktionsweise, pp. 15–75. See also: Mandel, Formation, pp. 115–135. Particularly interesting is: Sawer, Question, pp. 40 ff.
Van Leur, Indonesian Trade, pp. 11 ff.
Mandel, Traite, I, pp. 64 ff, 107–108, 111 ff, 143–146.
Tichelman. ‘De transitie in het Westen’, in: De doorbraak vanhet kapitalisme, pp. 70 ff.; Anderson, Passages; Id., Lineages.
For these conditions see: Mandel, Traite, I, pp. 108, 124, 143 ff.
Tichelman, Theses sur le mode de production asiatique, ms. (Proceedings of the Colloque ‘Structures et cultures pre-capitalistes’, Paris 13–15th December 1976, forthcoming); Id., ‘De transitie in de niet-westerse wereld’, in: De doorbraak, pp. 99 ff.
For the influence of these sources see: Sawer, Question, pp. 29 ff, 42 ff.; Krader, Asiatic Mode, although the latter work should be used with caution.
For Marx’s preoccupation with India see: The Ethnological Notebooks. See for the CERM school ideas: Sur le mode de production asiatique.
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Tichelman, F. (1980). Van Leur, Western Penetration and the Degree of Southeast Asian Development. In: The Social Evolution of Indonesia. Studies in Social History, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8896-5_2
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