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Were the Dutch-Africans in southern Africa a brother nation to the Dutch or did they simply represent a lost colony? Connecting primary sources in Dutch and Afrikaans, this work tells the story of the Dutch
stamverwantschap (kinship) movement between 1847 and 1900. The white Dutch-Africans were imagined to be the bridgehead to a broader Dutch identity - a 'second Netherlands' in the south. This study explores how the 19th century Dutch identified with and idealised a pastoral community operating within a racially segregated society on the edge of European civilisation. When the
stamverwantschap dream collided with British military and economic power, the belief that race, language and religion could sustain a broader Dutch identity proved to be an illusion.
About the author
Andrew Burnett, Ph.D., (2020) UWA, lives and works in Perth, Western Australia. His interests include the role of language in personal identity, and the growth of colonial nationalism in settler societies. His writing includes a study of the effect of the second Anglo-Boer War on Australian identity.
