The ESDH expertise group focuses on the lives of ordinary people. How did they cope with forces, such as war, disease and economic crises, that threatened their livelihoods and health? How did they take advantage of opportunities for improvement? History did not happen in thin air but affected people's lives and people affected history.
We therefore look at social processes, such as globalisation, industrialisation, urbanisation and increasing inequality, on the one hand, to examine how these processes affected people's lives. On the other hand, we look at how people's stories and life stories reveal how changes were experienced and how protection was found in family and family contexts. Here we focus not only on the region or the Low Countries, but also on areas all over the world in the period after 1500. In doing so, we often adopt a comparative perspective. Our research and teaching focus on three main areas: the history of family and household, the history of migration and colonial interaction.