The Lit Archipelago: Coast Lighting and the Imperial Optic in Insular Southeast Asia, 1860-1910 (2005)
This article looks at patterns of movement, technology, and colonialism through the lens of the lighthouse. Specifically, it seeks to gauge what the contribution of lighthouses, beacons, and buoys were to British and Dutch programs of colonial state-formation in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The first quarter of the piece asks where these structures fit into the larger scheme of maritime technology and expansion in Southeast Asia during this time. The next segment of the essay delves into the geographic and temporal dispersion of these "tools of empire." The third section of the article interrogates the politics of lighting, as internecine cooperation and competition (both between the British and Dutch, and even internally in both camps) helped dictate deployment on the ground. The essay ends with an examination of shifting technologies of lighting, as new developments in lenses, fueling, and construction made certain structures quickly obsolete.
...MoreDescription On “the contribution of lighthouses, beacons, and buoys ... to British and Dutch programs of colonial state-formation in the latter half of the nineteenth century.” (from the abstract)
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