Colonial administrators were penalized for having too much local knowledge

Evidence

In empire’s “lettered cities” of administrative work, virtue was defined by limited and selective familiarity with the Indies. Those with too much knowledge of things Javanese were penalized, as were those with not enough. — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 261

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing: what specific careers were broken by ‘too much knowledge’ of Java — and what counted as ‘too much’? Could connect to how deep immersion in colonized culture threatened colonial authority.