Pioneers of Capitalism and the Low Countries’ Paradox

Author(s)

  • Bruno Blondé Antwerp University
  • Ive Marx Antwerp University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52024/3qxn6c67

Abstract

In 2013, Maarten Prak and Jan Luiten Van Zanden published an all-encompassing synthesis on the economic history of the Netherlands following the “Polder-model-theory”, in itself a variant of the “Rhineland model”. In their opinion, relatively low levels of inequality, a consensus model, and a strong civil society were cornerstones that accounted for a different pathway to capitalism. This review engages hesitantly with this comparative perspective, especially in regard of the history of present-day Belgium. 

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Author Biographies

  • Bruno Blondé, Antwerp University

    Bruno Blondé is a full professor in economic history at the Centre for Urban History, the Urban Studies Institute, and the Antwerp Interdisciplinary Platform for Research into Inequality of the University of Antwerp. His major research interests include the history of transportation, economic growth and social inequality, material culture, and consumption in the early modern Low Countries.

  • Ive Marx, Antwerp University

    Ive Marx is professor of socio-economic policy at the University of Antwerp, director of the Centre for Social Policy Herman Deleeck, and a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn. He has conducted research on a wide range of topics – including minimum income protection, poverty, and wealth – and has published a number of books, including Minimum Income Protection in Flux (with Kenneth Nelson), two volumes on changing inequalities and societal impacts published with Oxford University Press, and the Handbook of In-Work Poverty (with Henning Lohmann). His latest book is Zero Poverty Society. How to Ensure a Decent Minimum Income to All, co-authored with Sarah Marchal and published with Oxford University Press.

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Published

2024-09-06

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 2 (2024): TSEG

Section

Debate Article

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Bruno Blondé, Ive Marx

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Blondé, B., & Marx, I. (2024). Pioneers of Capitalism and the Low Countries’ Paradox . TSEG - The Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History, 21(2), 107-118. https://doi.org/10.52024/3qxn6c67
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