Looking at the past to understand the future
SHOC (Social History of Capitalism) is one of the recognized Large Research Groups of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Our core objective is to study the social history of capitalism from a bottom-up point of view. We conceptualize capitalism as a social process that exponentially boosted material production but also generated structural inequalities throughout the medieval, early modern and modern world. We aim to engage with the interactions and negotiations which shaped these outcomes, incorporating non-human, technological, and subaltern perspectives. Considering different contexts across the world allows us to disentangle the relationship between specific social configurations and the effects of capitalist expansion on welfare, social relations, migration and the environment in the long run, from the late middle ages until the 20th century.
Recent news
NEW VACANCY: POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER IN SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY (13TH-20TH CENTURIES)
NEW VACANCY: POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER IN SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY (13TH-20TH CENTURIES). Application is open until 7 June 2024. For more information: click hereNew publication by SHOC member Anne Winter
We are proud to announce a new publication by SHOC member Anne Winter! ‘To Help Him Recover from His Losses’: Royal Begging Licences in the Austrian Netherlands, 1760s-1780s is now available online via this link.Goodbye and thank you, Heidi!
These days it is slightly quieter in the corridors between offices, and at the lunch table there is just a little less exuberant laughter.Nicolas Brenninkmeijer joins SHOC
Nicolas Brenninkmeijer joins HOST as a PhD student on the project “Wealth inequality and its intergenerational persistence in Belgium (19th-20th centuries)”. He is supervised by prof. dr. Wouter Ryckbosch at the VUB, and profs. drs.
Upcoming events
- Practical info-
Lecture by Prof. dr. Stacey Hynd (University of Exeter): ‘Children at War: Histories of Child Soldiering in Africa’s Conflicts, c. 1940-2000’
We cordially invite you to this event, organised as part of the DIGICOLJUST-2 and 'Rebel Soldiers on Trial' projects, organized in collaboration with the ULB.