The General Board of the N.W. Posthumus Institute is happy to present you the N.W. Posthumus Institute Annual Report 2022. The report provides you with an overview of activities, results and developments regarding the N.W. Posthumus Institute in 2022, the first ‘regular’ year after the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on society.
On 20 September 2023, Posthumus alumnus Mark van de Water defended his PhD thesis ‘The road to drain or gain’ at the Faculty of Humanities of Leiden University. Supervisors were Professor David Henley and Dr Thomas Lindblad, promotores were Professor Henley and Dr Jeroen Touwen.
The aim of Mark’s PhD dissertation is to explore the link between foreign investment and macroeconomic performance in the context of a colonial economic structure in Indonesia between c. 1910 and c. 1960. The main emphasis is on Dutch-owned private companies, although some attention will also be given to British investors. The target is to identify mutual effects of foreign investment and macroeconomic performance. Three specific questions are addressed: (1) How did volumes of private foreign investment change in response to business cycles in late-colonial and newly independent Indonesia? (2) To what extent did trends in profitability of foreign firms coincide with trends in macroeconomic performance? (3) What was the contribution of private foreign investment to Indonesia’s high dependence on exports of primary products and subsequent extreme vulnerability to vicissitudes in the world market? The point of departure is a series of published annual estimates of accumulated Dutch investment in colonial Indonesia from about 1910, coupled with summary statistics available in the secondary literature.
The N.W. Posthumus Institue congratulates Mark with his promotion.
Recently, the composition of the General Board of the N.W. Posthumus Institute has changed.
Professor Hein Klemann, representative of Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), has resigned as Board Member because of forthcoming retirement. Professor Ben Wubs from now on is the acting representative of the EUR, Dr Jeroen Euwe taking Ben’s place as substitute board member.
Professor Herman de Jong, representative of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Groningen (RUG), also resigned as regular Board Member because of his forthcoming retirement. Professor Jutta Bolt, until now formally substitute member, now is the new regular Board Member on behalf of the Faculty of Economics and Business of RUG, Professor Abe de Jong the substitute board member on behalf of this faculty.
Professors Erik van de Vleuten and Mila Davids have changed their positions, Professor Mila Davids now being the regular Board Member on behalf of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), Professor Erik van der Vleuten now acting as substitute member on behalf of TU/e.
The N.W. Posthumus Institute expresses its gratitutde to all new, current and former Board Members for their efforts for the N.W. Posthumus Institute.
In addition to these changes, we also had a change in the positions of the PhD representatives; click here to view to know more
You can view the current composition of the board here
Posthumus Fellow and member of our Education Committee Selin Dilli is one of the invited speakers at the annual Betweterfestival. The Betweterfestival is an annual event, organised by Utrecht University in close cooperation with numerous partner organisations and is open to anyone who wants to know how the world works, who is nog easily scared by new experiences and who likes to be surprised. Researchers, artists and visitrors mingle in a relaxed festival setting, while thinking about tomorrow’s world and the big questions of today.
Sociologist and historian Dr Selin Dilli’s talk is entitled: ‘Let’s talk about female entrepeneurship’. Selin studies the evolution of female entrepreneurship from 1900 to present. One out of three businesses in the Netherlands are female-owned. What challenges and obstacles do women entrepreneurs still face? What can we learn from the past 100 years to further close the gender gap?
Tickets are available via the Betweterfestival website.
At the General Board meeting of 19 September 2023, Jasper Segerink, Samantha Sint Nicolaas and Karoline da Silva Rodrigues ended their positions as PhD representatives. The N.W. Posthumus Institute and its staff thank Jasper, Samantha and Karoline very much for their efforts for the N.W. Posthumus Institute and the PhD candidates.
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| Jasper Segerink | Samantha Sint Nicolaas | Karoline da Silva Rodrigues |
We are also glad to announce that two of their positions have been filled at the same meeting: the N.W. Posthumus Institute welcomes both Cécile Bruyet and Silke Geven, who will join Konstantinos (Dinos) Sevdalakis as PhD representatives.
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| Cécile Bruyet | Silke Geven | Dinos Sevdalakis |
On 12 September 2023, Posthumus-alumna Weixuan Li successfully defended her PhD thesis Painters’ playbooks: Deep mapping socio-spatial strategies in the art market of seventeenth-century Amsterdam cum laude at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Amsterdam. Promotors were Professor Charles van den Heuvel and professor Julia Noordegraaf, co-supervision was provided by Dr Claartje Rasterhoff and Dr Marten Jan Bok.
The art market in seventeenth-century Amsterdam is often considered a competitive, multi-layered arena in which diverse artists catered to a broad and varied clientele. However, traditional economic and art-historical approaches struggle to fully comprehend this intricate market system. To address this, Weixuan’s dissertation introduces a socio-spatial approach using digital methods to examine the art market and explain the artistic outburst in seventeenth-century Amsterdam. By synthesizing various historical sources digitally, this study analyses artists’ collective behaviour – or ‘playbooks’ – as revealed in their location choices, social relations, and the use of house interiors. Her dissertation interprets the art market not as an economic platform but as a socio-spatial phenomenon wherein artists aligned their behaviours with career goals and social and spatial milieu. Interpreting historical data from a socio-spatial perspective, this study argues that the changes in artists’ playbooks both shaped the multi-layered market structure and influenced artistic innovation in seventeenth-century Amsterdam. It therefore, offers a behavioural explanation, contrasting traditional economic reasoning, for the creative outburst in the so-called Golden Age of Dutch art.
The N.W. Posthumus Institute staff congratulates Weixuan with her promotion.
The Young Demographers, in cooperation with the Association for Young Historical Demographers (AYHD), the Geographical Institute and the Department of Demography and Geodemography of the Faculty of Science, Charles University, invite you to the 15th Conference of Young Demographers. The conference is scheduled for 7–9 February 2024, and will take place at the Faculty of Science, Charles University, Albertov 6, Prague 2. Although the conference is mainly focused on (historical) demography, all young (in mind) researchers from various fields of population studies (sociology, epidemiology or maybe even economy) are welcome. The working language of the conference is English.
The N.W. Posthumus Institute is proud to present the new Research Master brochure with the info on the 2023-2024 Interuniversity Research Master courses.
New this year is the Summer School Crises and History, which will be hosted by Utrecht University on 1-5 July 2024.
The full programme includes the following courses:
Please note that the course ‘Keys to the Treasure Trove’ will not be offered anymore as of the academic year 2023-2024.
You can download the online version as pdf below.
~ because of scope in Dutch only ~
Op 5 oktober 2023 vindt bij SPUI25 in samenwerking met de Werkgroep de Moderne Tijd en de Faculteit Geesteswetenschappen van de Universiteit van Amsterdam de 13e Jacob van Lenneplezing plaats. Spreker Rick Honings zal dan spreken over het onderwerp ‘De ontdekking van Insulinde: op reis in Nederlands-Indië in de negentiende eeuw’.
In de vroege negentiende eeuw, na de ondergang van de VOC, werd Indië voor het eerst een echte kolonie van Nederland. Vanaf dat moment gingen allerlei soorten reizigers op pad om de binnenlanden van Java, Sumatra en de ‘buitengewesten’ te verkennen: natuuronderzoekers, predikanten, zendelingen, taalgeleerden, ambtenaren, militairen en gelukszoekers, en later ook vrouwen en toeristen. Zij schreven volop reisverhalen om het ‘moederland’ te informeren over het koloniale project. Hoe reisden ze in die periode in Indië?
In deze lezing volgt Rick Honings drie negentiende-eeuwers op hun reis door de kolonie. De natuuronderzoeker Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt was een van de eersten die na het Engels Tussenbestuur in 1816 de Indonesische archipel verkende. De Oostenrijkse wereldreiziger Ida Pfeiffer begaf zich met gevaar voor eigen leven tussen de ‘koppensnellers’ op Borneo. En de sigarenfabrikant en schrijver Justus van Maurik bezocht Java als een vroege toerist. Welke woorden gebruikten ze om uiting te geven aan hun ervaring van de tropen? Hoe presenteerden ze zichzelf in hun werk? En wat zeggen de publicaties van deze negentiende-eeuwers over hun manier van denken?
De lezing is vrij toegankelijk, maar aanmelding vooraf via de website van SPUI25 is gewenst. De Jacob van Lennep-lezing keert jaarlijks op de eerste donderdag van oktober terug en beoogt de Nederlandse literatuur en cultuur van de negentiende eeuw onder de publieke aandacht te brengen.
The organisers of the workshop ‘Future Thinking and Practices in Premodern Economy, Society, and Culture’, to be held at the University of Antwerp on 23 and 24 November 2023, call for additional papers, exclusively for (max. 6) participants of Dutch National Research Schools (in addition to other participants already invited).
This November, The ‘Back to the Future’ research team organises a two-day international workshop that welcomes PhD students who deal with past futures from social, cultural and socioeconomic perspectives to apply. Focus is the pre-modern world. The organisation aims to unite diverse perspectives on the history of the time to come. To create a collaborative platform where various ideas converge, researchers from European universities outside of the Benelux will participate as well.
This workshop forms part of the research project ‘Back to the Future. Future Expectations and Actions in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe, c.1400-c.1830’ at the Centre for Urban History of the University of Antwerp. The event is also made possible by contributins from the Huizinga Institute and the N.W. Posthumus Institute.
Conducting research on historical future thinking and practice sheds light on how people in the past conceptualised and coped with what lay ahead. Exploring this facet offers insights into how individual and societal perspectives, aspirations, and concerns were projected onto the future.
In recent decades, the theme of time, temporality and the future has gained significant popularity within various academic disciplines. Understanding how different cultures and eras perceive and manipulate time enhances our comprehension of historical context. It enables us to grasp how people structured their narratives of development, anticipated change and grappled with uncertainty.
The event offers a platform for PhD students to showcase their work through 25 to 30-minute presentations, followed by engaging group discussions. Each PhD participant will give a presentation and participate in the round table discussions. 1.5 hours are reserved for every two attendees, ensuring a thoughtful and engaging experience. The tentative programme can be found below:
| Thursday, 23 November | |
| 09:30 – 10:00 | Coffee & Tea |
| 10:00 – 10:30 | Welcome |
| 10:30 – 12:00 | 2 Speakers & Roundtable |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Lunch |
| 13:00 – 14:30 | 2 Speakers & Roundtable |
| 14:30 – 15:00 | Break |
| 15:00 – 16:30 | 2 Speakers & Roundtable |
| 16:30 – 17:00 | Conclusions / Summary of the Day |
| 19:00 – 21:00 | Workshop Dinner (optional) |
| Friday, 24 November | |
| 09:30 – 10:00 | Coffee & Tea |
| 10:00 – 10:30 | Presentation by ERC Project ‘Back to the Future’ |
| 10:30 – 12:00 | 2 Speakers & Roundtable |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Lunch |
| 13:00 – 14:30 | 2 Speakers & Roundtable |
| 14:30 – 15:00 | Break |
| 15:00 – 16:30 | 2 Speakers & Roundtable |
| 16:30 – 17:00 | Conclusions / Summary of the Day |
