Paardenboeren in Vlaanderen. Middelaars en commercialisering van de vroegmoderne rurale economie in de regio Aalst 1650-1800
Reinoud Vermoesen
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Flemish farmers. Go-betweens and the commercialization process of the early modern rural economy. The Alost region 1650-1800
Although there is very little discussion on the fact that early modern Flemish peasants were commercially active, their specific relation towards 'the market' remains vague. By scrutinizing the household economy of hundreds of families in the surroundings of a small Flemish town, I detected the crucial position of a limited number of rural go-betweens (farmers), who controlled agrarian and industrial in- and output circuits. They acted as brokers between townsmen and peasants and were the real 'cocqs du village' in this early modern peasant economy.

The visible hand of shipping interests in American migration policies 1815-1914
Torsten Feys
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The visible hand of shipping interests in American migration policies 1880-1914
As Goldin observed, the perplexing part of us immigration restriction history is that it took so long to close the doors. A key actor in this debate has generally been overlooked. This article argues that shipping interests, including those of the Holland America Line (hal), were the driving force behind the proimmigration lobby and successfully helped prevent the early passage of restrictive laws selecting European migrants based on racial prejudices. It also shows that while American authorities improved inspections at the gates, the shipping companies increased their efforts to guarantee the landing of their passengers. The analysis of shipping lines as middlemen between the migrant and the state aims to reassess their influence on migration flows and early migration policies.

Joodse identiteit en ondernemerschap in het Nederlandse bioscoopbedrijf tot 1940
Fransje de Jong en Judith Thissen
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Jewish identity and entrepreneurship in the Dutch film exhibition business before 1940
Before the Holocaust, Jewish entrepreneurs played a prominent role in all segments of the international film industry. While their visibility generated wide public attention at the time, it has rarely been the subject of scholarly research. As a result, a rather simplistic popular image of highly assimilated entrepreneurs who cared little about their Jewishness still dominates the existing literature. This case study investigates how Jewish film exhibitors in the Netherlands integrated the Jewish religious calendar into their business practices during the Interwar period. Our analysis, which is based upon the Jewish weekly press as well as the leading Dutch film trade journal, reveals that the relationship which these entrepreneurs maintained with the Jewish community was far more complex. They kept their theatres open on the Sabbath, but privately honoured it with family, friends and colleagues. On Yom Kippur they stopped working but did not close their theatres, except when the clientele was overwhelmingly Jewish (Tip-Top Theater in Amsterdam). While they did not openly present themselves as Jews to the general public, they occasionally reached out to the Jewish community by organizing special screenings of Jewish theme films, either for profit or for charitable purposes (e.g. screenings for children around Purim and Chanukah).

'Toekomst te huur'. Migratie, etniciteit en stigmatisering: de Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago en de Bijlmermeer in Amsterdam
Chris Quispel
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Migration, ethnicity and stigmatization: the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago and the Bijlmermeer in Amsterdam
In this article a comparison is made between the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago, possibly the most extreme example of the pathologies that can occur in an American black ghetto, and the Bijlmermeer in Amsterdam. The Bijlmermeer is a series of high rise buildings in Amsterdam with a high number of non Dutch inhabitants. Special attention is paid to one of these buildings, the Gliphoeve. During its short existence (1972-1983) the Gliphoeve, with a population that for 90 percent existed of Surinamese, was the closest thing to an American ghetto that ever existed in the Netherlands. In both cases the decision to build high rise flats was made because architects and city planners believed that in this way better living conditions could be created. Both projects were extreme failures. Though there are significant similarities, in the end the differences seem to have been more important, the most important being the extremity of the American situation and the very different role of governments and governmental institutions.

Een monsterverbond? Werkgeversorganisaties en het gebruik van de Wet op de arbeidsongeschiktheidsverzekering om overtollige werknemers te laten afvloeien
Dennie Oude Nijhuis
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A monster alliance? Employer organisations and the use of the Dutch disability insurance for redundancy purposes.
This article investigates the 1973 decision to interpret the Dutch disability insurance's labour market consideration article in a 'broad' manner. The conventional literature on Dutch welfare state development has described this decision as a deliberate broadening of the original interpretation of the article. Through the use of archive material, this article shows that this was not the case. The article also takes issue with recent employer-oriented writings on the role of employer interest groups in welfare state development.