Afternoon 7 June 2012, dr. Jord Hanus (Antwerpen University) in cooperation with Rudolf A.A. Bosch MA.
University of Groningen
Prior to the symposium Economies, public finances and the impact of institutional change. Towards a comparative approach of regions in the medieval and early-modern Low Countries and its neighbouring territories, Groningen June 8-9-2012, the Onderzoekschool Mediëvistiek organizes a Masterclass for Research Master and PhD students led by dr. Jord Hanus. On the basis of short (3 p.) position papers prepared by the participants concentrating on the main historiographic and theoretical backgrounds of this theme – a reader will be distributed before – Hanus will discuss the recent developments and main stances in the field. So the students get ready to follow the intricacies of the symposium and to participate actively in its discussions. Each participant will be paired to a speaker of the conference, concentrates on his or her work and prepares two well-founded questions or a short reflection on the conference theme for the discussions.
The main theme of this symposium is the way and the degree to which differences in economic systems and their relative development and the impact of institutional change affected the political economy and fiscal systems of regions, or vice versa. One main problem which has to be tackled is the non-convergence of economic regions, socio-political networks, political borders and even fiscal systems. And in line with this problem: what to think about the question whether a set of variables is supra-regional, interregional, regional, local or even a mix of these? Furthermore, the almost exclusive focus of research on Flanders, Brabant and Holland brings with it a possible neglect of less dominant looking economic regions in the Eastern Low Countries and adjacent German territories. The question is whether the generalizing effects of the application of the « Flandro-Hollandocentric model » of economic, financial and institutional development as pars pro toto for the whole Low Countries and the Lower Rhine Region deepens or actually threatens our understanding of the regional divergence in the interaction between economic and institutional developments?
Further information: Rudolf Bosch, r.a.a.bosch@rug.nl
Registration: Onderzoekschool Mediëvistiek, Martin de Ruiter, ozsmed@rug.nl
L'Agenda des Médiévistes 