SHOC VUB

Vacancy: Postdoctoral Researcher on the Social History of Capitalism Postdoctoral Researcher on the Social History of Capitalism (12th-20th centuries)

Interested? Learn more and apply here: shoc.research.vub.be/en/vacancy-p...

We’re offering a full-time, three-year position in a dynamic research group.

—understood here as the ways in which people engaged with the expansion of capitalism as a process that boosted material production but also generated structural inequality—across any period from the 12th to the 20th century.

SHOC is hiring a postdoctoral researcher to explore the social history of capitalism

Come join us! 📣

The event will take place on Sunday 7 December at 11.30 a.m. at Barboek in M, Savoyestraat 10, 3000 Leuven.

Do not forget to register via the link in the invitation.

We are delighted to share an invitation for a book presentation by SHOC member Jolien Gijbels and Chanelle Delameillieure: ‘Consent: A history of coercion, free will and everything in between’.

She contributed to the VUB’s Resistance Alley, which highlights the stories of WWII resistance members, and interned at VRT, where she helped produce a historical documentary on fertility treatments in Belgium.

Passionate about making historical research accessible to a wider audience, Leonie has already made her mark beyond academia.

For her master’s thesis at the VUB, Leonie investigated the often invisible and unpaid labour of women in the 19th and early 20th centuries, drawing on social surveys and autobiographies. In 2024, she contributed to the Mapping Female Politicians in Belgium and Brussels, 1948–1992 project.

Ultimately, the project aims to build a new framework for understanding opposition to female politicians across different historical and geographical contexts.

Her research, supervised by Nel de Mûelenaere (History) and Silvia Erzeel (Political Science), will take a prosopographical approach to uncover how Belgium’s first female MPs navigated political resistance—and the strategies they developed to counter it.

Introducing Leonie: Uncovering Resistance to Women in Belgian Politics

We’re excited to welcome Leonie Vanlerberghe as she begins her PhD journey exploring the opposition faced by female politicians in twentieth-century Belgium.

Click the following link to read the abstract: shoc.research.vub.be/en/shoc-semi...

SHOC seminar with Alessandro Stanziani (Ecole des hautes études en Earth Capital : The long history of capitalism and its aftermath

The SHOC Seminars are back!

We are delighted to welcome Alessandro Stanziani for a lecture entitled: Earth Capital: ‘The Long History of Capitalism and its Aftermath’. Join us on 15 December for this fascinating event. Registrations are now open via shoc@vub.be.

📖 A must-read for anyone interested in medieval diplomacy, trade, and political networks!
brill.com/view/journal...

Following chivalric rituals, alum trade routes, and urban diplomatic exchanges in Bruges, Southampton and London, the piece challenges traditional core–periphery narratives and answers the recent call in historiography to provincialize New Diplomatic History.

'Rituals, Trade, and Brokers: Ferrante I and the Strategies of Anglo-Neapolitan Diplomacy' reconstructs a resilient diplomatic axis that places Naples during the reign of King Ferrante (1458-1494) at the heart of a polycentric network stretching from the Mediterranean to the North Sea.

🚨 New publication alert!

In her latest article for Diplomatica, SHOC member Imma Petito (joint PhD VUB-Università di Salerno) uncovers the dynamic strategies behind Anglo-Neapolitan diplomacy in the late Middle Ages.

Vicky passed with flying colours and can now proudly call herself Doctor in History! She was warmly supported on the day by family, friends, and (former) colleagues—making the celebration all the more special.

On Tuesday 21 October, Vicky Vanruysseveldt successfully defended her PhD, On the Road with Entertainment, under the supervision of SHOC member Anne Winter. Her research sheds light on the income strategies and mobility of itinerant entertainers in Brabant between 1750 and 1914.

🎓 Congratulations, Dr Vanruysseveldt! 🎉

Vicky passed with flying colours and can now proudly call herself Doctor in History! She was warmly supported on the day by family, friends, and (former) colleagues—making the celebration all the more special.

On Tuesday 21 October, Vicky Vanruysseveldt successfully defended her PhD, On the Road with Entertainment, under the supervision of SHOC member Anne Winter. Her research sheds light on the income strategies and mobility of itinerant entertainers in Brabant between 1750 and 1914.

🎓 Congratulations, Dr Vanruysseveldt! 🎉

More information about this event and tickets:
studiumgent.be/een-vergeten...

This event will be held completely in Dutch.

Image credits: www.instagram.com/palaulaurapa...

Een vergeten geschiedenis van consent – Studium Generale Studium Generale is het podium van Hogeschool Gent dat universiteits- en hogeschoolstudenten, docenten en belangstellenden een forum biedt voor reflectie over maatschappij, kunst, cultuur en wetenscha...

The lecture will be followed by a panel discussion with Douwe Haenen and moderator Anneleen Lemmens. In between, there will be an artistic intervention by Yousra Benfquih, who will deliver a letter about consent, coloniality and language.

Een vergeten geschiedenis van consent – Studium Generale Studium Generale is het podium van Hogeschool Gent dat universiteits- en hogeschoolstudenten, docenten en belangstellenden een forum biedt voor reflectie over maatschappij, kunst, cultuur en wetenscha...

Save the date – 18 November 2025!

SHOC member Jolien Gijbels and Chanelle Delameillieure will give a lecture “A forgotten history of consent” at the MIRY Concert Hall in Ghent on 18 November. Both historians will discuss how ideas about consent, power and the body have changed over the centuries.

The Foragers #2: Preview Screening 'Summer Grass, Winter Worm', of Matjaz Pinter, BoZar, Brussels, 12 Nov. 7 PM.
Details and registration here: tinyurl.com/3ntntw5b

www.hetscheepvaartmuseum.nl/.../bomen-ee....

Pierik, Bob. ‘Bomen en palen aan de kust van vroegmodern Amsterdam. De fluïde grens van de stad aan de hand van smokkelpraktijken’. Holland, Historisch Tijdschrift 57, nr. 3 (2025).