This project experiments with replication of historical research to achieve a more open and reliable knowledge production in the humanities. Although the data repositories that historians use are often open, the way historians actually select and interpret their data that in turn validate their findings remains opaque. By replicating cornerstone studies from three historical subdisciplines, we attempt to make this process more transparent and publicly accountable and thus in line with the principles of Open Science. The envisioned results are (i) replications, (ii) a methodology for doing replication in history and (iii) recommendations to ensure replicability in the humanities.

• dr. Pieter Huistra
• dr. Pim Huijnen

As part of the large-scale CLARIAH project, the Structured Data Hub aims to connect and provide access to structured datasets containing socio-economic and demographic data. The project will also enable the visualisation and analysis of these data, in order to help find answers to important questions about inequality in the world and about historical demography.

CLARIAH (Common Lab Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities) is a consortium of over 40 partners – including all Dutch humanities research institutes, university libraries, heritage institutions, public organisations and businesses – which develops tools for the humanities, in order to facilitate the use of the increasingly large amounts of available digital data.

For more information, see the CLARIAH website.

• prof. dr. Jan Luiten van Zanden
• dr. Ruben Schalk
• dr. Michail Moatsos

Does economic development contribute to and result in more ‘agency’, the power of individuals to decide for themselves? And is the reverse also true? Can we find a link between historical developments (e.g. the advent of literacy) and institutions (laws, family forms, political systems) which promoted agency and the actual economic developments in the various countries of the world? These questions are central in this research project.

Nobel Prize laureate Amartya Sen (1999) already argued that the ‘freedom’ to realize one’s potential is a major determinant and contributing factor of economic development. A crucial factor in this respect is ‘human capital formation’: education will increase the agency of people - enhance their possibilities to shape their own lives – and is at the same time an essential ingredient of economic development. We aim to study these interrelationships in depth, with a specific focus on gender. Given the crucial role of women in socialization (producing human capital of the new generation), we will look closely at (institutions creating) gender differences in agency.

Thus, we study the interaction between agency and economic development at two, interrelated levels: at the micro level of household and family formation (are men and women allowed and able to make their own choices in this respect, or are – for example – marriages arranged?) and at the macrolevel of the state (are people allowed and able to be involved in the political decision making process?). We have developed innovative ways to measure these variables on a global scale. This will allow us to contribute significantly to the important debates among social scientist and historians about these links. Moreover, we think that adding the dimension of gender will deepen the analysis of these relationships.

• dr. Sarah Carmichael
• dr. Selin Dilli
• prof. dr. Jan Luiten van Zanden

In the Clio Infra project, various institutes and scientists are working together to answer questions surrounding global economic growth and inequality. To answer these questions they need information about causes and patterns of economic development, which is why the Clio Infra project is aimed at collecting and sharing data sets on the most important indicators of economic development. This data can be used to explain how and why global inequality came into existence and how it has developed.

For more information, see the project website.

For more information about the thematic data hubs that are part of the larger Clio Infra framework, have a look at the Clio Infra hubs page at the Centre for Global Economic History.

• prof. dr. Jan Luiten van Zanden
• dr. Bas van Leeuwen
• dr. Michail Moatsos