Willem Wubbo Klooster, born in Groningen, the Netherlands, in 1962 . Ph.D. from Leiden University. Professor of History at Clark University, Worcester.
Fellow (1 February 2013 – 30 June 2013)
Toleration in the Dutch Atlantic
The goal is to map out the forms of toleration that existed and assess the conditions under which toleration was woven into the fabric of colonial life, or examine the reasons why it failed. The main questions are the following:
What forms of religious coexistence existed in the colonies, either enabled by or in spite of specific policies of toleration? Did toleration take the form of segregation or did the colonies have a shared culture of people adhering to different religions?
Which groups voiced opposition to toleration and how successful were they in blocking government policies? Which groups actively campaigned to obtain privileges?
How did warfare impact toleration? Did, in the wake of conquest, the legacy of violence hamper peaceful coexistence?
How did trade impact toleration? Was a pragmatic attitude more prevalent in commercial hubs?
Selected Publications
Revolutions in the Atlantic World: A Comparative History (New York University Press, 2009).
(editor) Migration, Trade, and Slavery in an Expanding World: Essays in Honor of Pieter Emmer (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2009).
The Atlantic World: Essays on Slavery, Migration, and Imagination (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005), co-edited with Alfred Padula.