Vincent Kuitenbrouwer
Dr Vincent Kuitenbrouwer is Assistant Professor of the History of International Relations at the University of Amsterdam. His research focuses on the history of the Dutch empire from the late nineteenth century up until the decolonisation era and he has a special interest in the international media networks.
His book War of Words. Dutch Pro-Boer Propaganda and the South African War, 1899-1902 (Amsterdam University Press 2012) analyses the ways in which organisations in the Netherlands supported the Boer Republics in their war against the British Empire on the brink of the twentieth century. More recently he has published on the ways Dutch official and non-official actors used international media networks to defend their (post)colonial interests in Southeast Asia during the interwar years and the 1950s and 1960s. His current work focuses on international radio broadcasting as an instrument of Dutch soft power.
For the project ‘Connecting the Wireless World’, Kuitenbrouwer works on the early history of Dutch international radio broadcasting in the interwar years. In the 1920s the Dutch company Philips pioneered shortwave radio technology and succeeded in establishing the first global radio broadcasting station. The main incentive behind these experiments were colonial, in an attempt to bolster the unity of the Dutch empire, but the fact radio waves transcended its boundaries prompted a discussion about the establishment of a world service to serve national interests. In addition several Dutchmen were active in transnational organisations that devised the ground rules for the use of the ether. By highlighting the Dutch connection in broadcasting, this research adds to the understanding of how global radio was pioneered in its early days.