Economic and Environmental History
The mission of the Economic and Environmental History group, led by Ewout Frankema, is to offer temporal depth to societal debates and social theories on sustainable and equitable welfare development.
Research themes
Legacies of colonialism and slavery
We examine how colonialism and slavery have contributed to the rise of globalisation, capitalism, inequality, migration, environmental change, unfree labour systems and racialised hierarchies.
Environmental and food crises throughout history
We investigate the historical roots of current environmental crises and analyse the structural factors and actors that hinder moving to more sustainable long-run patterns of economic development.
Roots of health and educational inequalities
Our research combines the long-term analysis of slow-moving societal factors and individual-level elements, comparing countries or regions in different stages of development.
Economic inequality and migration
We seek to understand why some countries have joined the ranks of wealthy nations while others have not (yet) in the context of migration.
Education
Education by Economic and Environmental History
Our courses question aspects of the deep roots of human development by focussing on long-term processes of change. We offer courses on subjects like agrarian history, colonialism and slavery, and the history of food production. Of course, we also offer the opportunity to do a BSc of MSc thesis under our supervision.
Publications & Projects
Our research is characterised by the combined application of quantitative, qualitative and comparative historical research methods. We draw theoretical inspiration from the social sciences. We focus on long term economic growth, (in)equality, sustainability, governance, agricultural and rural development, landscape and heritage. We publish the results of our research in scientific journals, professional journals, scientific and popular books, and proceedings.
Highlighted projects
- Tragedy of the Tropics: Colonialism, Commodities and Commons in Southeast Asian Deforestation since 1850
- Industrialisation of pig production in Western Europe as influenced by government policies
- Empowered Women, Healthier Nations? How female political rights impacted public health spending in interwar Europe
Highlighted publications
Chair Holder
Ewout Frankema is full professor and chair of the Rural and Environmental History Group. His research agenda focuses on a deeper understanding of the long-term economic history of developing regions (Africa, Latin America, and Asia). His work is based on a holistic conception of historical evolutionary processes in which he aims to link the distinctive fields of economic and social history, colonial history, rural history, neo-institutional economics, political economy and environmental history.
prof.dr. EHP (Ewout) Frankema
Professor/Chairholder Rural and Environmental History
People of Economic and Environmental History
Meet the people of Economic and Environmental History.