Bert De Munck
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View article: Commons and the nature of modernity: towards a cosmopolitical view on craft guilds
Commons and the nature of modernity: towards a cosmopolitical view on craft guilds Open
This paper argues that historical research on late medieval and early modern craft guilds fails to escape teleological and anachronistic views, including when they are addressed as commons or ‘institutions for collective action’. These pre…
View article: The Human Body Must Be Defended: A Foucauldian and Latourian Take on COVID-19
The Human Body Must Be Defended: A Foucauldian and Latourian Take on COVID-19 Open
Ecologists and environmentalists have tried to interfere in the debate about the COVID-19 pandemic with the aim of transcending the approaches of virologists and epidemiologists. While the views of virologists and epidemiologists are often…
View article: Access to the Trade: Monopoly and Mobility in European Craft Guilds in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Access to the Trade: Monopoly and Mobility in European Craft Guilds in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries Open
One of the standard objections against guilds in the premodern world has been their exclusiveness. Guilds have been portrayed as providing unfair advantages to the children of established masters and locals, over immigrants and other outsi…
View article: The extent of citizenship in pre-industrial England, Germany, and the Low Countries
The extent of citizenship in pre-industrial England, Germany, and the Low Countries Open
Citizenship was the main vehicle through which urban authorities granted political and economic rights to their communities. This article estimates the size of the citizenry and citizenship rates for over 30 European towns and cities betwe…
View article: Material analysis versus historical dye recipes: ingredients found in black dyed wool from five Belgian archives (1650-1850)
Material analysis versus historical dye recipes: ingredients found in black dyed wool from five Belgian archives (1650-1850) Open
The relationship between bibliographic and archival research, on the one hand, and object-based study, on the other, forms a very important basis for research into historical production techniques. Several written sources provide insight i…
View article: City and Society in the Low Countries, 1100–1600
City and Society in the Low Countries, 1100–1600 Open
The Low Countries was collectively one of the earliest and most heavily urbanised societies in European history. Present-day Belgium and the Netherlands still share important common features, such as comparatively low income inequalities, …
View article: Access to the trade: monopoly and mobility in European craft guilds, 17th and 18th centuries
Access to the trade: monopoly and mobility in European craft guilds, 17th and 18th centuries Open
One of the standard objections against citizenship systems and trade organizations in the premodern world has been their exclusiveness. Privileged access to certain professions and industries is seen as a disincentive for technological pro…
View article: Relocating Civil Society: Theories and Practices of Civil Society between Late Medieval and Modern Society
Relocating Civil Society: Theories and Practices of Civil Society between Late Medieval and Modern Society Open
Civil society is widely considered as a crucial element in contemporary society. Academics and policy makers have traditionally associated it with voluntary associations and organizations, assuming that associational life is an ideal inter…
View article: Innovation and Creativity in Late Medieval and Early Modern European Cities
Innovation and Creativity in Late Medieval and Early Modern European Cities Open
"Late medieval and early modern cities are often depicted as cradles of artistic creativity and hotbeds of new material culture. Cities in renaissance Italy and in seventeenth and eighteenth-century northwestern Europe are the most obvious…