Research

The Chair Group Contemporary History accommodates a wide range of research projects and historiographical approaches with the overarching framework of “(Un)Sustainable Societies”. These include:

1. Present research themes

Planetary perspectives

• Contextualizing (poly)crises
• Environmental humanities & the history of environmentalism
• Remembering sustainability & the history of commons
• The Rural: local histories in global contexts
• Talking about/responding to environmental change and armed conflicts in meaningful ways
• The mental dimension of climate change

• Other-than-human agencies

Negotiating diversity

• The history of (social) diversity in Europe
• What is European identity?
• Illiberalism in Europe
• Social polarization (in Europe but also at our university)
• Usages of the past today: political and identity formations

Mobility

• Of people and ideas
• Exile and diaspora (cultural and psychological dimensions)

• Jewish identity through the ages 

Colonialisms

• Colonialism and settler colonialism: which relationship?
• Histories of ‘development’ in the Global South
• Regions in world history

• Europe/the West in decline?

2. Methods

• Heritage and memory in Europe
• Linked open data
• Interdisciplinary approaches and skills
• Analyzing sources specifically relevant for contemporary history (born-digital sources, AV, oral history, photography, etc.)
• AI-literacy and AI as a research method
• Learning how to read books

3. Approaches

• Intellectual history / history of ideas and beliefs
• Postcolonial and intersectional approaches

PhD supervisions

Ongoing

Joris van Iersel (Faculty of the Arts, University of Groningen, the Netherlands), “The Democratic Potential of Trade Unions: Empowering Migrant Workers in Times of Crisis,” (Supervisors: Jason Resnikoff and Peter Verovsek).

Talisha Schilder (Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, the Netherlands), “Indigenous Interl(ink)ages: Daya tattooing as heritage-making across colonial borders in Borneo” (co-supervisors: Shanada Barnabas & Prof. Lidewijde de Jong, Institute of Archaeology).

Dengiyefa Angalapu (external PhD candidate, Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, the Netherlands), “Environmental Change and Local Perceptions of Artisanal Refining: The Paradox of Illicitness” (daily supervisors: Iva Peša, History).

Mariana Agusta Noya Letuna (Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, the Netherlands), "Climate Change Communication in Indonesian Media: Framing Strategies and Digital Engagement for Enhanced Awareness" (daily supervisor: Marc Esteve Del Valle, Media Studies).

Arman Eslambolchi (Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, the Netherlands), “The Left, women, and the media around the Iranian Revolution in 1979” (working title) (supervisors: Clemens Six; Donya Ahmadi & Willem Figueroa, IBIO).

Anjar Dwi Astuti (Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, the Netherlands), “(Re)Construction of Dutch Colonial History through Indonesian Literary, Educational and Visual Narratives” (supervisors: Clemens Six; Mayada Madbouly, Middle Eastern Studies; Shanade Barnabas, Classical and Mediterranean Archaeology).

Puck de Boer (Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, the Netherlands), “Trials of Honour: Violence, masculinity and emotions in the modern Italian military (1861-1919)” (supervisors: Rachel White, Francesco Buscemi & Clemens Six, History).

Alle Dorhout (Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, the Netherlands), “Nederlands Afrikabeleid 1953-1990, ‘from profits to principles’” (supervisors: Clemens Six, History; Michel R. Doortmont, IRIO).

Sagnik Bhattacharya (Department of History, University of Bern, Switzerland), “How Subalterns Speak: Indigeneity and the Global History of the Adivasis of Eastern India (1930s-1990s)” (supervisors: Clemens Six; Christof Dejung, University of Bern).

Mariska van der Velde (Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, the Netherlands), “Low Saxon heritage in the Netherlands: exploring the relationship between intangible rural heritage, identity, power and belonging” (supervisors: Maarten Zwiers & Clemens Six, History).

Baltazar Acebedo Jr. (inter-faculty PhD project, Faculty of Arts & Faculty of Religion, Culture & Society, University of Groningen, the Netherlands): “The Appeal of Filipino Catholics to the Vatican for ‘Asianization’ of the Philippine Catholic Church: Their Struggle During the Decolonization Movements from 1945 to 1999” (supervisors: Clemens Six; Todd Weir, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies).

Dithi Mukherjee (external PhD candidate, Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, the Netherlands): “Natural Disasters and the Evolution of Environmental Perceptions in Bengal (India), c. 1818-1878” (supervisors: Anjana Singh & Clemens Six, History).

Edgar Manuel Baltazar (Sandwich PhD project, RUG Faculty of Arts & UNAM, Mexico), “Social Representations of the Guelaguetza: Processes of Community Empowerment and Folklorization among the Mexican Community of Poughkeepsie, New York” (supervisors: Anne M. Martínez, American Studies; Clemens Six).

Arnab Dutta (Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, the Netherlands): “In Search for an Alternative Europe: Germanism and Continental Europe in the Bengali Imagination, 1919-1945” (supervisors: Clemens Six & Dirk Jan Wolffram, History).

Nathalie Fridzema (Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, the Netherlands): “Before Web 2.0: A Cultural History of Early Web Practices in the Netherlands from 1994 until 2004” (supervisors: Susan Aasman, Rik Smit, both Media Studies, & Jesper Verhoef, History).

Tholithemba Lorenzo Ndaba (Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, the Netherlands): “An environmental history of mine dumps in Johannesburg” (supervisors: Iva Pesa and Margriet van der Waal).

Walker Swindell (African Studies Centre, Leiden University, the Netherlands): “A multispecies history of mining in Kabwe, Zambia” (supervisors: Jan-Bart Gewald, Leiden University, and Iva Pesa).

Nadine Smit (North West University, South Africa): “The Water Legacy of the Far West Rand Gold Mining Region, 1924-2024: A Socio-Environmental Perspective”, (supervisors: Elize van Eeden, North West University, and Iva Pesa).

Completed

Thao Nghiem (Faculty of Arts & Faculty of Religion, University of Groningen, the Netherlands), “Navigating Superstition, Science, and (Non-)Belief: Religious Engineering and Dynamics of Secularism in Contemporary Vietnam, 1945-2005” (cum laude, supervisors: Todd Weir & Erin Wilson, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies; Clemens Six).

Marc Engelen (Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, the Netherlands, & University of Bayreuth, Germany): “The Advent of Christianity in Rwanda: A Transculturation Case Study” (supervisors: Clemens Six & Raingard Esser, History).

Latest publications

AFREXTRACT Collective, Abundance/Extracted: Living with Mining and Oil in Africa (African Studies Centre Leiden, Occasional Publications, 2026). 

A. Aricindy, C. Six, W. Wasino, H. Tri Atmaja, A.  Wijaya & E. Sri Hartatik, “Constructing meaningful education in the diaspora: a critical reflection on the Indonesian curriculum at the Indonesian school of The Hague”, Pedagogy, Culture & Society 2026, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2026.2678552

A. Chukwudumebi Obute, Iva Pesa, and Jackson Tamunosaki Jack, “The Niger Delta in the Environmental Humanities”, Kiabara: Journal of the Humanities 33:2 (2026), https://kiabarajournal.org/issues/10 

Matthijs Lok, Marjet Brolsma, Robin de Bruin, Stefan Couperus, and Rachel McElroy White, eds., Antiliberal Internationalism in the Twentieth Century: Beyond Left and Right? (London: Routledge, 2025).

Rachel McElroy White, "A Reformist Mirage? The Service des Centres Sociaux (1955-62) and the Algeria that Never Was," Expressions maghrébines 24, no. 2 (2025): 241-253. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/exp.2025.a978460 

Jeremia Pelgrom and Clemens Six (eds.), Settler Colonialism as a Structure? Groningen: University of Groningen Press 2025. (open access)

Iva Pesa, “A History of the Copperbelt through Plants”, in: Jan-Bart Gewald, Sabine Luning, and Harry Wels (eds.), Gaping Holes: Towards Multispecies Histories and Ethnographies of Mining in Southern Africa (Leiden, Brill, 2026), 162-178

Stefan van der Poel, De ballingschap van Stefan Zweig. Brieven, dagboekaantekeningen en lezingen (Utrecht, IJzer 2026)

Stefan van der Poel, ‘Ontheemd in deze wereld. De ballingschap van Stefan Zweig’ in: De Parelduiker. Tijdschrift over schrijvers, literatuur en hun geschiedenis jrg 30 nr 4 (2025) 70-88.

Jason Resnikoff, “Contesting the Idea of Progress: Labor’s AI Challenge,” New Labor Forum, v.33, n.3, 2024, 6-14.

Jason Resnikoff and Salem Elzway, “Whence Automation? The History (and Possible Futures) of a Concept,” Labor, vol. 21, no. 1, 2024, 27-41.

Jason Resnikoff, Labor’s End: How the Promise of Automation Degraded Work (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2021).

Clemens Six, “Decolonising Rural Spaces: FAO in India and British-Malaya, c. 1947-1965”, Itinerario: Journal of Imperial and Global Interactions 49/3, 2025, 579-599.

Jackson Tamunosaki Jack, Jabulani Shaba, and Iva Pesa, “On Jerabos and Kpo Fire: Extractive Violence and Environmental Resistance on the Zambian Copperbelt and the Niger Delta”, African Geographical Review (2026), https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19376812.2026.2680231 

Jesper Verhoef,“Nederland in de jaren negentig: Mythe, historiografie en onderzoeksagenda.” Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 138, no. 4 (2025): 362-379. https://doi.org/10.5117/TvG2025.4.005.VERH

Jesper Verhoef, “Doing LGBTQ Internet histories Justice: A queer web archive manifesto.” Internet Histories 9, no. 1-2 (2025): 180-197. https://doi.org/10.1080/24701475.2024.2357897

Jesper Verhoef, “The rise of chronic reachability and the accelerated, flexible society. The social construction of the pager, 1987-1999,” Mobile Media & Communication, 12, no. 3 (2024): 617-636. https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579231219353

Rachel White, "Catholic Conceptions of Social Justice from 1891 to Pope Francis" in Social Justice in Twentieth Century Europe, edited by Martin Conway and Camilo Erlichman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024), pp. 53-77. 

Rachel White, “A Jesuit Soldier-Photographer’s Images of Violence during the Algerian War,” Journal of War & Culture Studies 20, no. 2 (forthcoming 2027).

Maarten Zwiers, “A Garden in the Cotton Fields: Fannie Lou Hamer and Cooperative Economics on the Freedom Farm.” In Rural Imaginations for a Globalized World, edited by Esther Peeren and Tjalling Valdés Olmos, 387-402. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004731943_022.

Maarten Zwiers, “Swamp Things: The Wetland Roots of American Authoritarianism.” In Planetary Hinterlands: Extraction, Abandonment and Care, edited by Pamila Gupta et. al., 147-162. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24243-4_9.   

Maarten Zwiers, “Plantationocene Geographies: Petro-Multinationals, Agribusiness, and the Racial Ecology of the Cold War Mississippi Delta.” The Global South 16, no. 2 (Spring 2023): 49-67. https://doi.org/10.2979/gbs.2023.a908602.