By A. Dirks.

This dissertation project focuses on forced re-education policies for juvenile delinquents in the Netherlands Indies (now Indonesia) and uses this topic to show the interaction between a 'modernizing' Dutch colonial state and the growth of a colonial civil society, between approximately 1872 and 1942. It uncovers specific government and private initiatives – like state re-education institutes, orphanages, and schools – that attempted to turn young delinquents of Indonesian and (Indo-)European heritage into 'proper' Dutch colonial subjects and citizens. The dissertation shows that a colonial civil society - both European and indigenous - was rapidly developing in the twentieth century and had an undeniable influence on state policies. The book also seeks to understand and reveal the influence of racialized government and private reform policies on the lives of the children that were deemed 'delinquent', their parents and communities.This dissertation focuses on forced re-education policies for juvenile delinquents in the Netherlands Indies (now Indonesia) and uses this topic to show the interaction between a 'modernizing' Dutch colonial state and the growth of a 'colonial civil society', between approximately 1872 and 1945. It explains the development of specific government and private initiatives like state re-education institutes, orphanages, and schools that attempted to turn young delinquents of Indonesian and (Indo-)European heritage into 'proper' Dutch colonial subjects and citizens. The dissertation shows that a colonial civil society was rapidly developing in the twentieth century and had an undeniable influence on state policies. The dissertation reveals the impact of racialized government and private reform policies on the lives of the children that were deemed 'delinquent', their parents and communities.

Leiden: Leiden University, 2011. 384p.