I am a PhD candidate in the Economic and Social History Research Group. My background is in both economic history and (business) economics. I am interested in long-term economic development and the role of individuals and institutions, mainly in relation to social and individual well-being, and in studying the consequences of structural transitions and disruptive changes. My expertise is on associative organisations and collective action in relation to housing and healthcare in the Netherlands in contemporary history. 

My PhD project focuses on the role of associative organisations in the fields of public housing and public health in the Netherlands in the 19th and 20th centuries. Specifically, I investigate the political and social contributions of housing associations (woningcorporaties) and healthcare associations (specific focus on the kruisverenigingen) and their main umbrella organizations (the Nationale Woningraad and national Groene, Wit-Gele, Oranje-Groene Kruis). The research examines how these associations influenced policy-making and economic coordination and how they impacted individual’s and communities’ well-being, particularly in terms of access to housing and healthcare.

To understand potential shifts in the political and economic involvement of these associations, the research uses a framework from Streeck and Schmitter (1985) to study changes in the dominance of the associative order – an economic coordination system which operates based on inter- and intra-organizational cooperation and consensus. By using a diachronic comparative history of the Dutch economy, it allows to study both the shifts between economic orders as well as within the associative order and the consequences of these changes for larger societal outcomes.

This project forms part of the SCOOP research program, which studies sustainable cooperation across societal domains. My PhD is supervised by Prof. Bas van Bavel (UU), Dr. Selin Dilli (UU), and Prof. Rafael Wittek (RUG).