I have several ongoing research interests which all have as a central theme the development of a unique society at the Cape of Good Hope during the 17th and 18th centuries. A hallmark of my work is the careful situation of the Cape within its dual contexts of the Indian Ocean world of the VOC as well as the social and cultural worlds of Northwestern Europe. Currently I pursue research in the following areas:
Entrepreneurship and business history in early modern Cape Town, with a particular focus on the operation of social capital. My interests are more on the actors in the economy, and the ways in which they use business and trade for social advancement, than on the economy itself.
Social stratification and class development in early modern Cape Town, against the background of similar developments in early modern Europe and the Dutch colonial world. The main issue I investigate here is to what an extent the nature of the Dutch East India Company’s rule at the Cape influenced the ways in which society developed and social mobility operated.
Gender and family history at the Cape of Good Hope. Here I currently focus on the position of women in the social and economic world of the VOC Cape, particularly the role of marriage and motherhood and the ways in which these were regulated by both state and church. At present I am also researching female entrepreneurship in Cape Town.
Slavery at the Cape of Good Hope within the context of Indian Ocean slavery. My focus is particularly on the slave experience in Cape society. I have long-standing interests in the operation of law at the Cape and how crime records can be used to reveal the texture of slave lives. In addition, I am also interested in slave families and the role of the church in Cape slave society.
Knowledge networks, books and reading. Here I focus on the role of the VOC as a facilitator in the conveyance of knowledge between the colonial world and early modern Europe. I am especially interested in how knowledge about the Cape was disseminated in Europe, as well as the reception of Enlightenment ideas at the Cape of Good Hope.
I am currently employed as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Johannesburg. My undergraduate and postgraduate teaching responsibilities here closely reflect my research interests, and include the following areas: Comparative Slavery, c. 1500-1900; Gender and Family History from the Reformation to the Cultural Revolution; The Indian Ocean World in Historical Perspective, as well as Pre-Industrial South African History.
