Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis (1846-1919). Revolte en melancholie. Romantiek in Domela’s kritiek op de moderniteit
Jan Willem Stutje
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Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis (1846-1919). Revolt and melancholy. Romantic aspects in Domela’s protest against modernity
How became one of the founding fathers of Dutch socialism a revolutionary? The article suggests romanticism played a key role in Domela’s anti-capitalism; romanticism seen as a revolt inspired by pre-capitalist values against modernity marked by industrialisation and expansion of market relations. Domela was one of the most charismatic leaders the Dutch labour movement has ever known. In his romantic revolt he expressed the essence of misery the masses experienced: the feeling that individuals lost their qualitative uniqueness and that humanity was deprived of his communal sense.

Het werk van kinderen in de Nederlandse landbouw 1800-1913
Willemien Schenkeveld
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Children’s work in Dutch agriculture (1800-1913)
This article investigates the work of children in Dutch agriculture in the nineteenth century. According to the censuses, between 1849 and 1909 few children younger than 14 years were employed in agriculture. Agricultural inquiries and child labour investigations from the period 1800-1913 however show that young children carried out a considerable amount of work. Exact statements on the level of child employment in agriculture cannot be made. It is argued that the children’s role in the work process varied much, strongly depending on the type of agriculture. Data on leave days granted to schoolchildren to work on the land, are used to support this argument. Probably the total amount of children’s work in agriculture increased during the second half of the nineteenth century, because of the intensification of crop cultivation.

De terugkeer van Mercurius. De divergerende keuzes van de zakenelite in Antwerpen en het belang van relatienetwerken na de heropening van de Schelde (1795-1850)
Hilde Greefs
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Divergent strategies of the business elite in Antwerp and the importance of networks after the reopening of the river Scheldt (1795-1850)
In this article, it will be argued that networks of relations were of fundamental importance for businessmen during periods of economic transformation and instability. This is exemplified by studying the business elite in the port town of Antwerp after the reopening of the river Scheldt for all maritime imports in 1796 and by comparing the business behaviour of the traditional businessmen and a group of immigrants who moved to Antwerp shortly after the reopening of the harbour. Differences in professional background, business experience and webs of relations of the immigrants and the local business people, will clarify why immigrants dominated maritime trade and Antwerpenaren concentrated on the local business sectors. This research can offer a contribution to debates about changes in the composition of business elites and reactions of ‘old’ and ‘new’ elites during key moments in the history of port towns.

De rol van cultuur en sociale cohesie in de economische geschiedenis
Ewout Frankema en Jan-Pieter Smits
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In this contribution we argue that the economic historical research in the Netherlands and Flanders can benefit much more from close cooperation with its colleagues in history departments than it presently does. We corroborate this notion by discussing some recent developments in the ‘Great Divergence’ debate. The extent and impact of economic inequality is one of the prime concerns of our age, and economic historians are particularly well-equipped to play a key role in this debate. We put forward some ideas to remedy the rather disappointing contribution of the ‘Dutch-speaking’ economic historical community which we observe at present.

Voortbouwen op Braudel of Fogel? Een pleidooi voor interdisciplinaire economische geschiedenis in Nederland en Vlaanderen
Jeroen Touwen
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This article surveys the developments in economic historiography during the past fifty years and attempts to outline a perspective on future development in economic history in the Netherlands and Belgium. A distinction is made between non-cliometric economic history and New Economic History (or cliometrics). Non-cliometric history is economic history which does not explicitly focus on econometric model building, and which is more apt to cooperate with social history. In the Netherlands, this type of economic history has developed strongly, due to the organizational cohabitation of economic and social history, but it needs to explicitly address methodological issues and discuss their value with scholars in the social sciences. I argue that a conscious and explicit application of social science methods (in addition to economic theory) enriches economic history as it enriches social history. Dutch economic historiography will benefit from the ‘Braudelian’ legacy of applying methods and concepts from the social sciences rather than exclusively focusing on the ‘Fogelian’ neoclassical economic model. A clear-cut example of social science methodology usable in economic history is the study of (international) political economy, which supplies concepts and theories that enrich economic history of the modern period.