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Disaster Management and Colonialism in the Indonesian Archipelago, 1840–1920

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Natural Hazards and Peoples in the Indian Ocean World

Part of the book series: Palgrave Series in Indian Ocean World Studies ((IOWS))

Abstract

Recent catastrophes have resulted in a growing disaster consciousness in Indonesian society. This chapter traces the early history of disaster management in the archipelago by looking at indigenous and colonial response to disaster in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The chapter discusses three cases: a volcanic eruption and earthquake on the island of Ternate in Eastern Indonesia in 1840; a volcanic eruption, earthquake and tidal wave on the island Sangihe Besar, north of Menado in 1856; and the eruption of the Gunung Kelud in 1919 in central Java. Together they form a snapshot of responses to disaster in colonial Indonesia, with the Kelud disaster of 1919 singled out because it marked the beginning of a new, prevention-oriented, colonial policy towards volcanic hazard.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for History, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Alicia Schrikker

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  1. Alicia Schrikker
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Hull, Hull, UK

    Greg Bankoff

  2. Murdoch University, Perth, Australia

    Joseph Christensen

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Schrikker, A. (2016). Disaster Management and Colonialism in the Indonesian Archipelago, 1840–1920. In: Bankoff, G., Christensen, J. (eds) Natural Hazards and Peoples in the Indian Ocean World. Palgrave Series in Indian Ocean World Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-94857-4_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-94857-4_9

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-94856-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-94857-4

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