We study the many forms of political power and agency that have existed before and alongside the emergence of democratic rights, and how ‘citizenship’ has historically been unequally distributed, from the local to the international level.
The value of history, the uses of the past in the present, and contests over truth and justice, are themselves political issues. In Global Political History at VU Amsterdam, we engage directly with the social questions of our time, and the responsibilities of historians to the future.
We ask the questions:
- How have colonialism and imperialism, monarchies, missions, war and conflict, and the rise of internationalist ideologies and movements fostered globalisation?
- Why did nation-states emerge and why do they remain such powerful ideas and institutions?
- How and why have decolonisation, regionalism, and critiques of and movements against international integration developed?
- How are processes of state formation translated into the everyday life of social actors and communities, and vice versa?
Our academic staff teach, research and take MA, ReMA and PhD supervisions in the following areas:
Prof. dr. Susie Protschky (Chair, Global Political History):
- Modern European empires, including the Dutch empire
- War and decolonisation in Southeast Asia
- Indonesian history
- Disaster and environment
- History of photography and visual culture
Prof. dr. Guno Jones (Anton de Kom Chair in the History of Colonialism and Slavery and their contemporary Social, Cultural and Legal Impact):
- Citizenship, violence, post-colonial migration and ‘identity’
- World War II heritage and memory politics
- Interracialized relationships (political constructions, regulations, economics)
- Colonialism and slavery (history, memory politics)
- Decolonization
Associate Prof. dr. Chiel van den Akker:
- Theory of history/Philosophy of history
- Narrative as mode of thinking
- Contemporary readings of Hegel
- Historical judgment
- Agency and responsibility
Associate Prof. dr. Dienke Hondius:
- Modern European History
- History and memory of World War II, the holocaust and genocide
- History and memory of slavery
- Oral history
Dr. Jonathan Singerton:
- European history in global context
- North American and transatlantic history
- Habsburg history
- Diplomacy and international relations
- Democratic movements and political revolutions
- Religious missions and colonialism
Mr Wim Manuhutu:
- Modern European history
- Dutch colonial and postcolonial history
- Indonesian history
- Museum studies
- History of Indian Ocean Slavery and its afterlife
- Modern European history
- Modern Japanese history
Dr Daan de Leeuw, postdoctoral researcher:
- Modern European history
- History and memory of World War II and the holocaust
- History and memory of Nazi concentration camps
- Comparative genocide studies
- Historical geography and historical GIS
Mr Uji Winardi (PhD candidate):
- Indonesian history
- Comparative histories of corruption and political scandal
- Decolonisation
Dr Bettine Siertsema, Affiliated researcher