Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk new Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences member

Professor Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk is one of the new members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). The Academy’s approximately 600 members are leading scholars from all disciplines and a membership is for life. The new members will be inaugurated on 29 September. Lukas Kapitein and Bas van Steensel (Faculty of Science) were also elected as members.

“Opportunity to work with fellow members to safeguard independent science”

Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk is Professor of History of Gender and Work in Comparative Perspective and Head of the Economic and Social History group. Her research highlights the significance of women’s labour in global history. She has demonstrated, for instance, how crucial women’s work was in the textile industry, from Holland to Java and China. In addition, she investigates social inequality in the labour market, focusing on gender and ethnicity.

Working with societal partners, Van Nederveen Meerkerk is involved in projects that make a tangible impact on society. In 2024, she launched a project on social cohesion in collaboration with sociologists, psychologists, and philosophers. Soon, she will begin her NWO Vici project, working with partners and representatives from postcolonial migrant communities.

“I am deeply honoured to have been elected and see it as a meaningful recognition of my work,” Van Nederveen Meerkerk says. “I hope it will lead to some unusual interdisciplinary discussions, and perhaps even collaborations. It is an opportunity to work with fellow members to safeguard the strength and independence of Dutch science in these turbulent times.”