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NAVIGATING COLONIAL POLITICS: DEWI SARTIKA’S SCHOOL FOR NATIVE GIRLS IN BANDUNG Raistiwar Pratama and Marjolein van Pagee
FIGURE 1 Sakola Kautamaan Isteri, girls' school in Bandung. Collectie Wereldmuseum TM-FV-0507098.
In 1904, Raden Dewi Sartika opened the first school for native girls in Bandung, teaching ‘domestic sciences’, including crafts such as batik, sewing, and lacemaking. This essay explores the ways in which Sartika’s efforts, knowingly or unknowingly, aligned with the ethical agenda of ‘elevating’ the native women. Authors Raistiwar Pratama and Marjolein van Pagee first look at the 'Mindere Welvaart Report' of 1914, to which Sartika contributed, after which her educational vision is explored. How did Sartika negotiate the ethical agenda? What are the ways in which her school became a tool of ‘imperialist feminism’?