Economy and Society of the Pre-Industrial Low Countries in Comparative Perspective

This programme brings together Dutch and Flemish scholars working on different aspects of the economy and society of the Low Countries between 1300 and 1850. The ambition is to introduce more emphasis on comparative research that identifies differences and commonalities both with surrounding countries and regions, and within the Low Countries.

• Research Directors
• Description of the theme
• Focus points in the program
• Background
• Staff
• Temporary Staff
• PhD Students
• Website

Research Directors

• dr. Jessica Dijkman (Utrecht University)
• dr. Jord Hanus (Antwerpen University) 

Description of the theme

For each subtheme, the comparative perspective is important: conferences and workshops, inspired by one of projects of the fellows, or in collaboration with the other research programs, address the internationalization of a specific theme. Both the Dutch and the Belgian case offer excellent opportunities for comparative research in major ongoing international debates. In this respect, key examples are questions related to the character of early modern growth (as provoked by Jan de Vries and Ad Van der Woude), and questions related to the early industrialisation of Belgium (and its relation to the weak political position and the specific pattern of state formation of the Southern Netherlands).

Focus points in the program

• Comparisons with surrounding countries to assess the specific characteristics of the North Sea area in relation to economic development, demographic behavior, political economy, institutional framework, labor markets, and financial markets;
• Comparisons within the Low Countries, both between Northern and Southern Netherlands and on a regional level, to come to a better economic and social understanding of the diverging dynamics of industrialization, state formation, agriculture and trade, factor markets, and circulation of knowledge.

Background

The basic assumption of the program is that the growth and development of the economy of the Low Countries after 1300 resulted from the interaction between available means of production, institutions and social relations – the latter referring both to social stratification and to the ability of (groups of) economic actors to appropriate the available means of production and/or change prevailing institutions to their advantage. The distinction between these factors leads to three major fields of research:

1) The reconstruction of the real economy is concerned with changes in the production and technology in agriculture, industry, and trade. This field of research encompasses present research on the development of international trade and rural industry, the determinants of technological change, early modern entrepreneurship, and women’s labour. Moreover, research includes the development of both rural-urban and regional interaction within the Low Countries, and the measurement of economic performance through a reconstruction of national accounts from the 15th century onwards.

2) Research on institutional change is concerned with the influence of legal, economic, social and political institutions on economic performance between 1300 and 1850. This part of the program focuses on the institutions used by merchants in domestic and long-distance trade, on the organisation of production in agriculture and industry, and on the formation of markets for capital, labour, and land since medieval times.

3) Research on social relations seeks to explore the social stratification and political economy of the Low Countries. Principal themes are corporatism, public finance, and the process of state formation – all of which are being researched intensively already. The interplay between social relations and economic growth will also be highlighted through research on the provision of public goods like military protection, water management, education, transport facilities, and poor relief.

Examples of projects carried out

- Economic growth and stagnation in the pre-industrial era: Iraq, Italy and the Low Countries, 600-1700 (Bas van Bavel, UU), 2007-2012.
- Circulation of knowledge in the Low Countries, ca. 1400-1700 (Karel Davids, VU, Bert De Munck,UA), 2007-2012.
- Dutch Atlantic Connections. The circulation of people, goods and ideas in the Atlantic world, 1680-1795 (Karel Davids,VU, Femme Gaastra, Gert Oostindie, Henk den Heijer, UL), 2008-2012.
- The evolution of financial markets in pre-industrial Europe: A comparative perspective (Oscar Gelderblom and Joost Jonker, UU), 2009-2012.
- The ascent of the Frisians. The Dutch commercial system and the market for maritime transport, 1550-1800 (Jan Willem Veluwenkamp, RUG), 2009-2013.
- Origins and impacts of institutions (Bas van Bavel, UU).
- Data infrastructure for the study of guilds and other forms of collective action in pre-industrial times.
- “United we stand". The dynamics and consequences of institutions for collective action in pre-industrial Europe (Tine de Moor, UU), 2010-2014.
- Economies of quality and the material renaissance. The forgotten consumer revolution of the Low Countries, 1400-1650 (Bruno Blondé and Bert De Munck, UA), 2010-2014.
- Haantjesgedrag. Lokale elites in een veranderende samenleving: een comparatief onderzoek naar machtsverwerving in Vlaamse en Brabantse dorpsgemeenschappen, 13e-16e eeuw (Tim Soens, UA, and Erik Thoen, UGhent), 2010-2014.
- The national income of the Southern Netherlands, 1500-1900 (Bruno Blondé, UA), 2011-2015.
- In search of the “poldermodel”. Participation and representation in Dutch waterboards in the pre-democratic era (Maarten Prak, UU; Milja van Tielhof, ING; Petra van Dam, VU; Peter Sigmond, ING), 2011-2016.
- Agency, gender, and economic development in the world economy, 1500-1800 (Jan Luiten van Zanden, UU), 2011-2016.

Staff

• Erik Aerts (KULeuven, affil.)
• Bas van Bavel (UU)
• Bruno Blondé (UA)
• Marc Boone (UGent)
• Karel Davids (VU)
• Wantje Fritschy (VU)
• Oscar Gelderblom (UU)
• Hilde Greefs (UA) 
• Marjolein ’t Hart (UvA)
• Lex Heerma van Voss (Huygens ING)
• Christiaan Koninckx (VUB)
• Clé Lesger (UvA)
• Michael Limberger (UA)
• Catharina Lis (VUB)
• Tine de Moor (UU) 
• Bert De Munck (UA)
• Maarten Prak (UU)
• Hugo Soly (VUB)
• Peter Stabel (UA) 
• Erik Thoen (UGent)
• Milja van Tielhof (UU / Huygens ING) 
• Eric Vanhaute (UGent)
• Jan Willem Veluwenkamp (RUG)
• Anne Winter (VUB) 
• Jan Luiten van Zanden (IISG/UU)

Temporary Staff

• Laura van Aert (UA)
• Christiaan van Bochove (IISG)
• Annemarie Bouman (UU)
• Ilja van Damme (UA)
• Heidi Deneweth (UU)
• Jessica Dijkman (UU)
• Jeff Fynn-Paul (VUB)
• Maartje van Gelder (UvA)
• Jord Hanus (UA)
• Danielle van den Heuvel (Cambridge)
• Veerle de Laet (UA)
• Thijs Lambrecht (UGent)
• Jelle van Lottum (Cambridge)
• Dries Lyna (UA)
• Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk (UL)
• Jan Parmentier (UGent)
• Werner Scheltjens (RUG)
• Ariadne Schmidt (IISG)
• Tim Soens (UGent)
• Erwin Steegen (SHCL)
• Griet Vermeesch (VUB)
• Reinoud Vermoesen (UA)
• Jaco Zuijderuijn (UU)

PhD Students

• Annelies de Bie (UA)
• Tim Bisschops (UA)
• Inneke Baatsen (UA)
• Pepijn Brandon (UvA)
• Ann Coenen (UA)
• Hanne Cottyn (UGent)
• Dan Curtis (UU)
• Ellen Decraene (UA)
• Brecht Deseure (UA)
• Brecht Dewilde (KU Leuven)
• Thomas Goossens (VUB)
• Julie De Groot (UA)
• Frasie Hertroys (VU)
• Iason Jongepier (UA)
• Raoul de Kerf (UA)
• Maïka De Keyzer (UA)
• Heleen Kole (UU)
• Jelle Jan Koopmans (RUG) 
• Jan De Meester (UA)
• Elke Ortmanns (UA)
• Kim Overlaet (UA)
• Lodewijk Petram (UvA)
• Hanne Provoost (VUB)
• Johan Poukens (KU Leuven)
• Jeroen Puttevils (UA)
• Claartje Rasterhoff (UU)
• Auke Rijpma (UU)
• Jelle Kars De Rock (UA)
• Tom de Roo (UA)
• Matthias van Rossum (VU)
• Vincent van Roy (UA)
• Wouter Ryckbosch (UA)
• Ruben Schalk (UU)
• Simone Steenbeek (RUG)
• Isis Sturtewagen (UA)
• Janneke Tump (VU)
• Botho Verbist (UA)
• Lies Vervaet (UGent)

Website

For more information on the research program Economy and Society of the Pre-Industrial Low Countries in Comparative Perspective, please visit the program's website.