The transfer of sovereignty to Indonesia, now almost sixty years ago, on 27 December 1949, made an end to one of the most dramatic episodes in Dutch history: the Indonesian Revolution. Considering the importance of this episode it is striking that there are biographies on Drees, Romme and Beel, on Soekarno, Hatta and Sjahrir, but that there is no biography on the Dutch key figure in these turbulent years, the controversial lieutenant-governor-general of the Netherlands Indies Hubertus Johannes van Mook (1944-1948). The proposed biography aims to fill this gap.
One of the central questions of the biography on Van Mook is: How is it possible that someone who during his whole life argued that a country's national interest was best served by having a good government, and who spent his whole career seeking ‘a free and happy Indonesia' launched a ‘police action' (also known as agresi Belanda, Dutch aggression)?
Another question for wider discussion is: How did Van Mook's lifelong concern for good government change over time? The biography examines this question from a perspective of regime change: starting with the late colonial period, through war and revolution, toward the postcolonial period.
In the late colonial period good government emphasized the possibility of self-government for the Netherlands Indies. Van Mook's position as Head of the Department of Economic Affairs in Batavia (1937-1941) was complex. He defended the Netherlands Indies economic interests against the mother country's demands, but he supported also the interests of the Indonesian population against big business and free trade. Acting as a political and as an economic unit the Netherlands Indies could play a part in international affairs as Van Mook experienced in his trade talks with Japanese delegations in 1940-1941. These experiences informed his personal and political life in the the war and revolution to come.
As Secretary of State for the Colonies (1942-1944) in the Dutch War Cabinet in London, he defended the Netherlands Indies interests against his fellow secretaries of state. Netherlands Indies needed men and material to reconquer the colony and re-establish administration. As lieutenant-governor-general (1944-1948) Van Mook's concern for good government got caught between Dutch, British, American, and Indonesian interests.
Van Mook's experienes through war and revolution in turn informed his personal and political life in the post colonial period. As United Nations Director Public Administration Division (1951-1959) he tried to introduce good government - which can be seen as a precursor to good governance - into ‘developing countries'. On a personal level he lived a secluded personal life until his death in 1965.
This biography takes a dynamic approach in the sense that it aims to analyse the way Van Mook's personality was formed, connecting his private life to his public life. The biography explores to what extent Van Mook's private life provides context for his public life.
Good government - Van Mook's lifelong concern - is approached as a strategic concept. Van Mook argued, that it should serve as the organizing principle of the colonial state. The primary function of that state was to maintain the stability of Netherlands Indies society, and to defend Netherlands Indies interests against the mother country and the rest of the world. The biography examines how this strategic concept changed over time.
In this biography periodization - a recurrent theme for discussion by historians - is conceived as an interpretive device. The biography adds critical nuance to rigid acts of periodization.