Team

I am currently a member of the Global & Regional History research group, and the Modern & Contemporary History group at Ghent University. I was previously a member, and director of the research group Social History of Capitalism at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Within these contexts I have aimed to pursue new research into the social and economic transitions that have characterised global history over the past 500 years.

Junior researchers

The following PhD students are currently working on their dissertation under my supervision:

  • Yannis Skalli-Housseini, Fiscal policy and fairness in the 18th-century Austrian Netherlands. Defense expected in 2025.

  • Karoline da Silva Rodrigues, Social mobility and inclusiveness in the Brussels’ construction industry from the 18th century until today. Supervision together with Heidi Deneweth and David Bassens (both VUB). Defense expected in 2026.

  • Nicolas Brenninkmeijer, Wealth inequality and mobility in Belgium, 19th-20th Centuries. Supervision together with Gerlinde Verbist and Bruno Blondé (both UAntwerpen).

  • Ellen Roelandts, Public attitudes towards inequality and redistribution in 19th- and 20th-century Belgium. Supervision together with Cecile Meeusen (KU Leuven).

  • Seorin Kim, Modelling the distribution and transmission of wealth in the 19th- and 20th-Century Belgium. Supervision together with Vincent Ginis (VUB).

Former junior researchers

I have supervised the following completed PhD dissertations:

  • Esther Beeckaert, Rural transformation in the Ardennes: The commons as landscapes of change, 1750-1850 (supervisors: Eric Vanhaute & Wouter Ryckbosch), 2022.

  • Wout Saelens, The comforts of energy? Consumer culture and energy transition in eighteenth-century Gent and Leiden (1650-1850) (supervisors: Bruno Blondé & Wouter Ryckbosch), 2021.

  • Dennis De Vriese, Product quality and governance in the making of the consumer society: selling meat in late- and post-corporative Brussels (1770-1860), 2025.

  • Bas Spliet, The embarrassment of riches: social inequality and consumerism in Amsterdam during the Golden Age (supervisors: Bruno Blondé & Wouter Ryckbosch), 2025.

  • Robin Rose Southard, Provisioning the city: urban food market regulations in 18th-century Brussels, 2025.

Senior researchers

  • Dr. Wout Saelens is currently a postdoctoral researcher at FWO.
  • Dr. Matthijs Degraeve is currently a postdoctoral researcher at FWO.
  • Dr. Dennis De Vriese is currently a postdoctoral researcher for the Ancestor’s Tale project (VUB-UA-KUL)