Polders zonder poldermodel? Een onderzoek naar de rol van inspraak en overleg in de waterstaat van de laatmiddeleeuwse Vlaamse kustvlakte (1250-1600)
Tim Soens
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Decision-making in medieval coastal water management (Flanders, 1250-1600)
The management of the coastal water control system in the medieval Low Countries was characterized by a bottom-up organisation, with apparently broad participation of all people concerned. The joint effort of rural communities facing the threat of inundation and land-loss, is often considered to have been at the very origin of a long-lasting tradition of non-hierarchical, bottom-up decisionmaking - the so-called 'polder-model'. This hypothesis is verified for the latemedieval Flemish coastal plain. Notwithstanding the formal attention paid to participation and broad consultation, the everyday practice of decision-making in rural water management was probably more influenced by hierarchical relations and income strategies of elite social groups than often thought, with the participation of peasant populations even further limited as the commercialisation of the rural economy went on.

Schilderijenconsumptie in de marge van de republiek. Smaak en voorkeur in het Bossche interieur van de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw
Veerle De Laet
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A taste for paintings in the margin of the Dutch Republic. Changing interior preferences in seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 's-Hertogenbosch
The Dutch seventeenth century is commonly known as an exceptional period of economic prosperity and material wealth. A general increase in standard of living contributed to a democratisation of consumer goods formerly unaffordable for the middle class. The arts flourished and a remarkably high production of paintings answered the increased demand for art and luxury goods. Unfortunately, the historiography of the Dutch art market during this century of abundance has always been concentrated on the centre of the Republic. Focusing on the peripheral city of 's-Hertogenbosch, located in the southern confines of the Dutch Republic and characterized by a weak economic profile, this article aims to present a more balanced image of the art market for paintings in the Dutch Golden Age.

De lange houdbaarheid van de ongevallenwet in Nederland 1901-1967
Peter Kerklaan
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The long life of the Dutch Occupational Injuries Act 1901-1967
Administration of the industrial occupational injuries compensation scheme in the Netherlands (based on the Occupational Injuries Act of 1901, abolished in 1967) was an exclusive state affair. Employers could choose however to bear the insurance risk themselves or transfer it to private organisations. This 'opt out' opportunity allowed for competition on premium costs and became immediately a great success. In 1903 a group of influential employers founded a cooperative Bank as a private risk bearer for the Occupational injuries Act. It quickly became the main competitor and critic of the state administrator. During the existence of the scheme, the powerful Employers' Bank continuously and successfully pressed for cheaper administration and meager compensations. The Bank's main political goal, self administration of the scheme together with the trade unions, was however never attained. The unions remained suspicious about employers' true intentions. The scheme was popular among employees due to the relatively fair compensations it granted. The popularity equated the employers' satisfaction with the indirect control they seem to have over public administration. This balance granted the Occupational Injuries Act, in its original draft as a scheme based on private liability principles and including strong cost-reduction incentives, a long and essentially unaltered life.

Een haagse dame en een indiaan. Representaties van een gemengd huwelijk in Nederlandse en Canadese nieuwsmedia (1906-1928)
Marga Altena
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The Lady and the Indian. Representing an interethnic marriage in Dutch and Canadian news media (1906-1928)
This text examines how Dutch and Canadian news media represented ethnic difference through reports on the marriage of Johanna van Dommelen and Angus Montour and how the spouses influenced this news coverage (1905-1928). The analysis shows that the couple, in introducing new topics, changed the focus of reports. Articles about their marriage ended up promoting Indian activism and criticizing media imagery and government policy regarding Indians. Johanna and Angus cleverly exploited stereotypical media imagery about Indians to improve living conditions of the Mohawks. The mixed identity of their marriage, initially experienced as an offence for public taste, proved to be a powerful political instrument. It is a fascinating paradox that racial stereotypes in dominant media discourse provided possibilities for marginal people to express themselves publicly.

Variaties in de herkomstpatronen van nieuwe burgers in Nederlandse steden omstreeks het midden van de zeventiende eeuw
Clé Lesger
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Local variations in the origins of migrants in Dutch cities around the middle of the seventeenth century
In a number of surveys the broad outline of the migration history of the Early Modern Netherlands is adequately summarized. However, much less is known about local variations in the origins of migrants in Dutch cities since comparative research in this field is scarce. In this paper data on the origins of new citizens in thirteen selected Dutch cities have been studied and it has been established that the areas in which early modern Dutch cities recruited migrants varied widely. Among the many factors involved (1) distance, (2) population size, (3) economic function, and (4) relative location go a long way in explaining the observed local variations in the interaction between places of origin and destination of migrants.