Submerged Histories is the first interdisciplinary project to investigate why, over the last 15 years, artists, independent historians, descendants of veterans of the independence war and communities connected to colonial histories have begun to demand recognition of the enduring legacies of colonialism in the Netherlands and Indonesia.

Both in the Netherlands and Indonesia, citizens of varying backgrounds are paying increasing attention to what we call the 'submerged histories' of Dutch colonialism. These are histories that are not immediately visible nor recognisable in nationalist representations of the past. This rapidly emerging Dutch and Indonesian collaborative memory activism challenges the muted and underdeveloped critiques of colonial history in both countries by paying attention to what has been submerged or displaced.

Drawing on memory studies, gender studies and social movement theories, Submerged Histories examines the motivations, strategies and future plans of Indonesian and Dutch persons engaged in debates about memory. It investigates their impact on public institutions and their role in setting trends in global social movements.

Submerged Histories therefore investigates how, why and to what ends a range of people in both countries are challenging erasures of colonial histories.