Abstract
Technology lies at the heart of colonial civilizing missions and post-colonial development and aid. However, it has received little attention from historians. This program proposes to fill that gap. In particular, it will illuminate the complex social contexts of technological change in the Dutch East Indies. It will study change in specific colonial technologies through the interactions between experts and non-experts in both Europe and colonial settings. The planned comparative study on the European dimension of colonial technological change in the twentieth century will break new ground. It promises to benefit from and to contribute to scholarship not only in the history of technology but also in colonial and post-colonial studies.