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
Foragency's second podcast series: The Foragers: Engagements beyond the Human
Following the success of the podcast series ‘Introducing Foraging: a podcast in environmental humanities ’, which ran from 25 November 2024 to 16 December 2024, the team behind the Foragency project is delighted to announce a new podcast series, which will run for the next four weeks.
'Wereldsteden van de Lage Landen: Stadsgeschiedenis van Nederland en België' nominated for the Kleio Class Prize 2026!
In March 2025, the book “World Cities of the Low Countries: Urban History of the Netherlands and Belgium” was published, in which various authors, including SHOC historians Anne Winter and Klaas Van Gelder, wrote about fifty cities that were pre-eminently world cities.
Portrait of SHOC colleague Nel de Mûelenaere in the exhibition “Women shaping Science”
Female scientists make a difference every day — in research, policy and society. With “Women Shaping Science”, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel is putting them in the spotlight through a powerful photo exhibition.
Among Fellows and Footnotes: Bart Lambert in Cambridge
From January to April, our colleague Bart Lambert is a Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge — one of Cambridge’s institutes for advanced study, dedicated to supporting postgraduate researchers and international scholars.
Upcoming events
Practical info27/04/2026 - 10:30 - 27/04/2026 - 12:00SHOC seminar with Katja Bruisch (Trinity College Dublin)
Burning Swamps: Peat and the Forgotten Margins of Russia’s Fossil Economy
What happens if we tell the history of the planetary emergency from the margins?
