Flanders

Lisbon city was the common homeland of many nations in the Early Modern period. This paper studies the signs of the Flemish / Dutch presence in the Portuguese capital, between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, a presence with important contributions to Portuguese civil and military technology, cultural life and specially with an active role in the Trade between Portugal and northern Europe of Overseas products (initially sugar, chilli, pastel, and afterwards «Pau-Brasil», tobacco and diamonds), as well as more traditional products, such as wine and salt. It was a community that despite the periods of diplomatic and military contingency in the sixteenth and seventeenth century (after the closure of the Portuguese factory in Antwerp and the religious wars), maintained a continuous presence in Lisbon, becoming noticed either by their wealth, marked by important urban noble houses and countryside manor houses in the outskirts, the direct exploitation of marine salt, their social organization around Lisbon’s Flemish fraternity and the 2nd generation connection with some of the wealthiest local families thus replicating the Portuguese social patterns.

Uma das características da Lisboa do início da Idade Moderna era ser a pátria comum de muitas nações. No presente texto vamos analisar os sinais da presença na capital portuguesa de uma dessas nações, a Flamenga / Holandesa, que entre os séculos XV e XVIII, além das suas importantes contribuições para a tecnologia civil e militar e para cultura, teve um papel activo no comércio de Portugal para o Norte da Europa, não só de produtos do Espaço Ultramarino (numa fase inicial, no açúcar, malagueta, pastel; e depois no pau-brasil, tabaco e pedras preciosas), como também de matérias mais tradicionais, como o Vinho e o Sal. Foi uma comunidade que apesar dos períodos de contingência diplomática e militar, manteve uma presença contínua em Lisboa com maior incidência no século XVII (depois do fecho da feitoria portuguesa de Antuérpia e das guerras religiosas), destacando-se quer pela sua riqueza, assinalada por importantes palácios citadinos e quintas nobres nos arredores, a exploração directa das marinhas de sal, a sua organização social em torno da confraria dos Flamengos, pela ligação da 2.ª geração a famílias locais mais ricas e pela integração nos padrões sociais da época.

Published and available here https://www.edi-colibri.pt/Detalhes.aspx?ItemID=2576&fbclid=IwAR0bbUK8NXDjQkWS3DSShW9Yd1XFHspVar0837GuVAP37CMKugl-42MfeyQ    "In the year of 1496, a new breed of men was created after the
expulsion and forced conversion of Jews from Portugal. Many of those men
emigrated, others, lacking the financial means or convinced of their power
and social importance, stayed as New-Christians – at least apparently.
In the course of time, some of those men became real Christians
but much more maintained their ancestral faith, now hidden. However, and
regardless their true belief, they were not seen neither as fully Christians
nor as Jews in the rabbinical sense. In this dim universe, traditional
classifications are not completely suitable – something always is missed.
The only thing in common those men have is their Iberian Jewish origins.
They were sefarditas.
Caught between two competing and simultaneous allied forces –
King and Church – the sefarditas tried to find a way to survive, prosper and
ascending in a society of orders where each group had their own laws,
privileges and limitations.
Like all the Portuguese Society, they rely on family, friends and on
each other to do business, to marry and to practice the faith. In an
economical perspective, the sefarditas were transversal to all society,
ranging from the poorest to the richest. Nevertheless, the most notable of
them were merchants and financiers and they were in the beginning of
modern capitalism and in the take-off of the world commerce with their
houses and correspondents in all the major trade emporia."

In this paper, the draft evasion during the Napoleonic periode is examined. It has its focus on the Departement de l'Escaut, which is almost the same area as the current Belgian province Eastern Flanders. Several methods of draft evasion were common, such as (self-)mutilation and forgery. The complicity of civilians in draft evasion is extensively examined, as well as the response of the Napoleonic government to the problem.

In 1714 the treaties of Rastatt and Baden ceded the southern Netherlands to the Habsburg monarchy. The southern Netherlands were not contiguous to the rest of the monarchy and furthermore enjoyed their own distinct local rights and traditions.
Early modern composite monarchies worked primarily through the intermediation of power between the sovereign, local elites, the estates and civil servants. Integrating local nobles into the structures of power was an important tool in managing composite monarchies. Léopold Philippe, fourth duke of Arenberg, was a powerful, wealthy and high-ranking noble in the southern Netherlands. Hence he was a key player in the mediation of Habsburg sovereignty in the region. His military career is well known. However, he featured prominently in other important positions on behalf of the Habsburg sovereigns: he was grand bailli (governor) in Hainault; he facilitated the grant of subsidies and credits by the estates to the ruler; and he was a member of governmental advisory boards. This article examines in an exemplary way those areas of activity, illustrating the range of action of a member of the high nobility, and showing how Habsburg power was transmitted to distant provinces which historians have little taken into account in this respect.
Under Charles VI, Léopold Philippe amassed local offices in the military and civil establishments in the Austrian Netherlands. He enjoyed a wide scope of action. As grand bailli he staffed the magistrate of Mons, for example, and he presided over the estates in Hainault, who were responsible for approving taxes. As supreme commander of the armed forces in the Austrian Netherlands he played an important role in stabilizing Habsburg sovereignty during the War of the Austrian Succession, particularly following Maria Theresa’s accession to power.
This paper specifically investigates the negotiation of power between the sovereign and noble elites. On the one hand, Léopold Philippe utilized his social capital in the estates of Flanders, Brabant and Hainault for the benefit of the monarchy by mediating subsidies and cheap credit as well as arranging debt refunding. On the other hand, he used the emperor’s trust in pursuit of his own interests, even opposing Vienna’s official representatives in Brussels to the detriment of government policy.

The present contribution aims at explaining why some Flemish (Belgian) organisations evaluate policy, while others don’t. The study relies on a unique combination of two configurational comparative methods: the Most Similar Different Outcome/Most Different Similar Outcome method and crisp set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. This combination of methods helps us unravel the combinations of conditions that promote or impede policy evaluation activity in a public administration that recently underwent major changes in line with New Public Management. The analysis reveals that the impact of the New Public Management reforms on evaluation activity is not to be overestimated. Such important conditions that explain policy evaluation activity or inactivity are the anchorage of the evaluation function, the availability of skills to evaluate, evaluation demand from organisational management, and the measurability of the outputs and outcomes of the organisation.

Scotland is not the only sub-state unit in Europe where relevant political actors make claims for independence. To generate insights on these independence demands, we compare the drivers, arguments and popular support for secession in Scotland, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Flanders. We argue that national identity, party politics and the economy are behind the independence requests, and the exact articulation of these elements varies from case to case. Currently, the most salient of these demands are the ones from Catalonia; Basque demands for self-determination are less prominent than in the past, whereas the demand for a vote on independence is much less articulated in Flanders. Although the Scottish independence referendum has set a precedent for solving independence disputes, we argue that the possibilities of exporting the Scottish referendum experience to other realities are limited.

De communautaire spanningen binnen de Belgische Werkliedenpartij liepen voor de Eerste Wereldoorlog hoger op dan tot nu toe aangenomen werd. Niet alleen zorgde de taalkwestie voor onenigheid, maar Vlamingen en Franstaligen bleken zich te identificeren met andere vaderlanden: de Franstaligen met België, de Vlamingen met Vlaanderen. De Vlaamse socialisten hadden tot de Eerste Wereldoorlog zelfs anti-Belgische trekken omdat zij de Belgische Omwenteling verwierpen als een ongelukkige broodopstand, die door de katholieken misbruikt was om zich van Nederland af te scheuren. De achterliggende gedachte was zelfs dat België een kunstmatige creatie was. Hun Franstalige kameraden eigenden zich 1830 nadrukkelijk toe als een nationale revolutie, die door de burgerij aan de arbeiders ontstolen was. Zij profileerden zich als ‘volbloed’ Belgen, met dien verstande dat verschillende Waalse socialisten al vanaf 1909 de wallingantische toer opgingen.
Kortom, de partijeenheid binnen de BWP is sterk overschat. Er is terecht op gewezen dat socialistische politici in de eerste plaats binnen het Belgische politieke kader dachten. Maar daar de conclusie aan verbinden dat ze allen aan hetzelfde vaderland verknocht waren, is fout. Deze onderschatting van de communautaire verschillen binnen de partij is ten eerste te wijten aan het selectieve geheugenverlies van de meeste socialistische voormannen na de Eerste Wereldoorlog. De zware aanvaringen tussen Vlamingen en Walen pasten niet in het succesverhaal dat de partij na 1918 schreef. Ten tweede heeft de Vlaamse beweging in de loop van de 20ste eeuw een monopolie verworven op het keurmerk van het 'Goede Vlamingschap'. Door zichzelf op te werpen als de voorhoede van de hele natie, is de Vlaamse beweging erin geslaagd haar tegenstanders af te schilderen niet alleen als vijanden van de flaminganten, maar van heel Vlaanderen. De uitvallen van de Vlaamse socialisten naar de Vlaamse beweging zijn dan ook vaak geïnterpreteerd als zovele bewijzen voor hun 'anti-Vlaamse' houding. Uit dit boek blijkt echter dat hun anti-flamingantisme vóór 1914 niet tot een afwijzing van Vlaanderen leidde, noch tot een toenadering tot het Belgische vaderland. Daarvoor waren er te veel tegenstrijdige factoren in het spel, waarvan de belangrijkste factor vanaf de eeuwwisseling de zware communautaire crisis in de partij was. De Gentse socialisten voelden de verwijten van hun Waalse kameraden aan het duistere Vlaanderen immers aan als een onterechte kritiek op hun propaganda-arbeid. Een kritiek die des te harder aankwam omdat hun voorhoederol in 'Arm Vlaanderen' een van de centrale mythen van hun zelfbeeld was.

The lead-tin badges with a sexual image were popular on the territories of Flanders and Zeeland roughly between 1250-1500, after that, their popularity ceased. Some sexual images can be traced to popular stories and plays, in particular fabliaus, but the meaning and  function of badges depicting genitals, especially female variation, are still obscure. In this paper I analyze the latest theories and come with my own, that the vulva-badges, found only in one area of the islands in Zeeland, could be traced back to the reign of the Danish pirates, the Vikings, on the island of Walcheren.
Paper is in Dutch, as it was MA thesis for the University of Amsterdam (UvA) but it can be translated into English.

Abstract: This paper proposes a notion of critique as a public metadiscourse that allows subjects to recognize , rearticulate and/or reconfigure the logics and rationalities that lead to social suffering. It analyses the way critique operates in a controversy triggered by Flemish nationalist politicians who claim that racism is [a] relative [concept]. The author proposes to analyse the associated debate by means of an in-terpretive and functional discourse analysis. This heuristic operationalizes the poststructuralist concept of articulation. The author identifies different types of critical discursive intervention (CDI) that delin-eate the boundaries of the racism-is-relative debate: hegemonic claims, ideological disqualifications, metalinguistic disqualifications, and concretization strategies. Such interventions haven been articulated by citizens, activists, academics, and politicians across a variety of mostly written media between 2013 and 2015. It is through the play of discursive interventions that social actors challenge and negotiate political boundaries for interpretation. The article demonstrates that most critiques on assertions of racism being [a] relative [concept] do not undermine the logics and rationalities informing racism is relative discourse. It also shows that discourse analysts need to differentiate between different modes of critique in order to examine the complex acts of rearticulation that take place in any debate.

Zusammenfassung: Der folgende Artikel plädiert für einen Kritikbegriff, der Kritik als öffentlichen Meta-Diskurs konzipiert, welches es Subjekten ermöglicht, all jene Logiken und Rationalitäten, die so-ziales Leiden verursachen, zu erkennen, zu re-artikulieren und zu re-konfigurieren. Veranschaulicht wird dies anhand einer Analyse der spezifischen Kritikformen bzw.-modi innerhalb der von flämisch-nationalistischen Politikern initiierten Debatte um die vermeintliche Relativität von Rassismus. Die Analyse dieser Debatte orientiert sich hierbei an einer interpretativen und funktionalen Konzeption der Diskursanalyse. Für diese Analyseheuristik ist eine Operationalisierung des poststrukturalistischen Ar-tikulationskonzepts zentral. Im Zuge der Untersuchung werden verschiedene Arten und Weisen der kritisch-diskursiven Intervention in diese Debatte identifiziert. Dadurch können gleichsam die Grenzen bzw. Grenzmarker der »Rassismus-ist-relativ-Debatte« skizziert werden: hegemoniale Ansprüche, ideo-logische und metalinguistische De-Legitimierungen sowie Konkretisierungsstrategien. Die identifizier-ten kritischen Interventionen wurden von einer Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Akteure (Bürger, Aktivisten, Wissenschaftler und Politiker) innerhalb verschiedenster Medienpublikationen, im Zeitraum zwischen 2013 und 2015, artikuliert. Die Grenzen politischer Interpretationsräume werden von sozialen Akteu-ren durch dieses Spiel diskursiver Interventionen verhandelt und herausgefordert. Der folgende Artikel veranschaulicht, dass die meisten Kritiken der Behauptung, Rassismus sei relativ, die diesem rassisti-schen Diskurs zugrundeliegenden Logiken und Artikulationsformen nicht radikal genug herausfordern bzw. untergraben. Auf theoretischer Ebene sollte er zudem DiskursforscherInnen für die Differenzie-rung spezifischer Kritikmodi sensibilisieren, da nur durch eine solche differenzierende Identifizierung die komplexen Artikulationsformen einer öffentlichen Debatte angemessen analysiert werden können.

In 1127 Charles the Good, count of Flanders, was surrounded by assassins while at prayer and killed by a sword blow to the forehead. His murder upset the fragile balance of power between England, France, and the Holy Roman Empire, giving rise to a bloody civil war while impacting the commercial life of medieval Europe. The eyewitness account by the Flemish cleric Galbert of Bruges of the assassination and the struggle for power that ensued is the only journal to have survived from twelfth century Europe. This new translation by medieval studies expert Jeff Rider greatly improves upon all previous versions, substantially advancing scholarship on the Middle Ages while granting new life and immediacy to Galbert’s well informed and courageously candid narrative.

“Jeff Rider’s new translation remains faithful to the journalistic organization and impulses of The Murder of Charles of Flanders, which enables him to bring out previously obscured elements of the text as well as the concerns that prompted Galbert to write his important chronicle in the first place. This is an outstanding piece of scholarship that all students of the Middle Ages will appreciate.”—Gabrielle M. Spiegel, Johns Hopkins University

“The 1959 translation of Galbert of Bruges by James Bruce Ross set a high bar for replacement, but it was time for one and Jeff Rider is the scholar who understands this crucial 12th-century text most thoroughly and profoundly. His lucid and readable translation rests on a deep foundation of historical and literary scholarship—all of which is made available to the reader. Rider has ensured that this fascinating book will remain central to medieval scholarship and teaching.”—Nancy Partner, McGill University

“More than just superseding the deeply flawed text of James Bruce Ross from 1959, this new translation is a serious contribution to knowledge, enhancing and advancing scholarship on the Middle Ages. Rider’s introduction is learned and thoughtful, adroitly establishing the context of the De Multro. His scholarly apparatus to the translation is wonderful, always detailed and rewarding to read, never descending into numbing pedantry.”— Mark Gregory Pegg, Washington University

"This is truly a splendid work. Users of the old translation by James Bruce Ross (1959) will be delighted by Jeff Rider’s text and adopt it for teaching. Rider’s unique knowledge of the book’s genesis and the historical figures that feature in it offers fresh insights without taking anything away from the pleasure of discovery that will await all readers."—Walter Simons, Dartmouth College

“This new English translation . . . is a triumph of scholarship . . . Essential.”—R. F. Berkhofer III, Choice

Rider’s translation is clear and accessible to students of all levels. The volume includes an in-depth introduction to the author, his complicated political context, and the character of his work, . . . It also boasts a short essay by Marc Ryckaert and James M. Murray on the history and physical features of the city of Bruges in the Middle Ages and copious notes by Rider to the translation itself. . . . The Murder, Betrayal, and Slaughter of the Glorious Charles, Count of Flanders is unlike any other historical text from the twelfth century available in English translation. The author does not fit easily into the medieval tradition of history writing . . . [T]he text is tremendously appealing for the immediacy of its voice and the clarity of its details; it demands our attention because it seems to speak in an idiom that we understand.—Scott G. Bruce, Speculum

Grâce à des exemples empruntés à l'Antiquité (Grèce) puis à l'époque contemporaine (Espagne, Wallonie, Grèce), on s'est attaché à comprendre comment le rite votif a pu évoluer au sein des manifestations de piété populaire.
En Grèce antique, le fonctionnement cultuel d’un sanctuaire a souvent été étudié dans son ensemble en tenant compte au mieux des divinités concernées et du personnel fonctionnaire, mais plus rarement des grands types de donateurs. Jamais néanmoins, on n'a observé de façon systématique ce qui fait le fondement même de la piété, c'est-à-dire les ex-voto. Quel type d'offrande donnait-on ? Pour quel motif ? Autant de questions auxquelles il a fallu tenter de répondre pour dégager les grands traits de ce rite de dédicace.
En passant ensuite à une étude diachronique comparatiste, il s'est agi de souligner combien la coutume de l'offrande est encore prégnante aujourd'hui : du Nord de la Grèce à l'Espagne en passant par la Wallonie ou Chypre, si les ex-voto changent parfois, la démarche, les motivations et les lieux de dépôt demeurent les mêmes. On note d'ailleurs que la frange entre la superstition, la magie et la religion est toujours aussi mince aujourd'hui que dans l'Antiquité.
C'est donc une pérennité de la démarche cultuelle qu'il est intéressant de démontrer  ici, au travers des textes antiques mentionnant les realia, et des objets votifs déposés actuellement dans les lieux de culte.

The results of the 2010 federal elections in Belgium show a growing divide between the French-speaking south (Wallonia) and the Dutch-speaking north (Flanders) of the country. In the north, the Flemish nationalist party New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) achieved a landslide victory with its campaign for complete political autonomy for Flanders. Never in the history of Belgium has Flemish nationalism been politically stronger than today. A secession of Flanders from Belgium is no longer considered an unimaginable scenario. The N-VA has its roots in the “Flemish Movement,” a collective term for a plurality of people and organizations that have pushed for greater Flemish autonomy since Belgium achieved independence in 1830. This article presents an analysis of this movement, its ideology, goals, achievements and relevance to the current political crisis.

Bislang existiert noch keine systematische Erforschung des Nationenbildes von Belgien im deutschsprachigen Raum (Grünewald, 2018; Roland, 2014). Diese Informationen sind aber für Übersetzer*innen und Dolmetscher*innen interessant, um die Kenntnisse und Einstellungen des Zielpublikums über die originalsprachliche Kultur beim Übersetzen berücksichtigen zu können. Mit der vorliegenden Arbeit wird die Datenbasis zu diesem Thema erweitert, auf der Folgestudien zum Nationenbild Belgiens aufbauen können. Es gibt keine eindeutigen Forschungserkenntnisse zum Belgienbild der Deutschsprachigen: Aus einigen individuellen studentischen Untersuchungen (De Kerpel (2015); Hoste (2013); Vereecke (2013)) ergab sich ein neutrales bis positives Belgienbild bei deutschsprachigen Studierenden unterschiedlicher Universitätsstädte, De Brabant (2018) und Buckens (2017) berichteten im Bereich des Journalismus hingegen über ein negatives Belgienbild in der deutschen Presse. Die vorliegende Arbeit basiert methodologisch auf den Studien von Jansen (1993), Hoste (2013), Vereecke (2013) und De Kerpel (2015) und folgt einem Mixed Methods-Ansatz: Zuerst wurde eine Online-Befragung durchgeführt, wonach eine Fokusgruppendiskussion, die auf den Ergebnissen des Fragebogens basiert, organisiert wurde. Bei der Untersuchung des Nationenbild Belgiens wurde besonderer Wert auf die vier Komponenten des Nationenbildes nach Jansen (1993) gelegt: Einstellung, Interesse, objektive Kenntnisse und subjektive Kenntnisse. Im Allgemeinen konnte bei den Studierenden in Germersheim ein positives Belgienbild festgestellt werden. Die Befragten stehen Belgien positiv gegenüber und assoziierten vor allem Positives wie Kulinarisches und die Europäische Union wird mit dem Wort „Belgien“. Das Interesse an Belgien ist mäßig bis hoch, was dem eher geringen objektiven Kenntnisstand gegenübersteht. Da in dieser Studie nur deutschsprachige Studierende in Germersheim befragt wurden und sie eine Momentaufnahme ist, wären weitere Befragungen anderer Teile der Bevölkerung und in anderen Regionen notwendig, um Aussagen bezüglich des Belgienbildes im deutschsprachigen Raum verallgemeinern zu können.

This paper is an English translation of my master's thesis in Cultural Studies. I've  made the translation myself, so no matter how many times I proofread it, errors may still appear.

Manga and anime, which are Japanese comics and animation respectively, have become very popular in Belgium in a seemingly short amount of time. Mainstream storechains have started selling Japanese fan objects. Comic conventions attract more visitors each passing year, and local fan communities like cosplayclubs gain new members on a daily basis. Along with this apparent popularity, a full-fledged Belgian subculture has formed around these Japanese media, in which the concept of fandom plays a central role.

This master’s thesis tries to uncover how these media have gained this much popularity in such a short amount of time, and what has triggered this boom. The starting point of this text is Club Dorothée, which is a French children’s television emission that ran in the ‘80s and ‘90s. This is followed by an overview of the history of anime- and mangafandoms in Belgium. This overview discusses topics such as Dutch manga translations, illegal fanmade publications, and local television planning.

Once these questions have been answered, this thesis attempts to offer an analysis of the subculture that has formed around these media. This analysis is based on Henry Jenkins’ theories on fandom, as this subculture comprises several different fandoms, and on Dick Hebdige’s classic subculture theory (which Hebdige originally wrote on the Punk subculture, but which can be used as a base for general subculture research). One essential part of this analysis is the comparison between the two different generations of mangafans in Belgium, which I refer to as the Club Dorothée generation and the Pokémon generation.

At the end of this thesis, several cultural phenomena that are characteristic of the Belgian mangasubculture are described, such as cosplay, and convention culture. Due to time constraints, this research focusses on Flanders rather than Belgium as a whole. However, it must be noted that Wallonia also has a crucial role to play in these events.

Note that this paper represents the situation as it was in 2014-2015.

Many of Agnolo Bronzino's tapestry cartoons of monumental allegorical, devotional, and narrative subjects avoid or minimise some significant tapestry genres of the Renaissance and Middle Ages, including verdures, millefleurs, and courtly scenes with landscapes. In contrast, Bronzino's friend and colleague Francesco Bachiacca contributed cartoons that invoke
these traditionally northern European subjects, as well as designs for grotesques, for the conventionally Flemish tapestry medium. I argue that Bronzino's first experiments in the medium engaged in a visual dialogue between Italian and Flemish styles that reflects the cultural mix and eclectic taste of the Florentine court of Duke Cosimo I de' Medici and Duchess Eleonora of Toiedo.
While the recent exhibitions in New York and Florence celebrate
Bronzino's art, including tapestries, as distinctly Florentine and Medicean, the first decade of tapestry production in Florence reveals a significant appreciation for northern European art and the cultivation of a variety of styles among members of the pre-Vasarian equipe at the hybrid ltalo-Hispanic, Medici-Toledo court.

Du XVe au XVIIe siècle, la Flandre wallonne, région située aux alentours de Lille et Douai semble avoir été un centre de production héraldique. De nombreux indices montrent l’existence d’une "culture  héraldique" locale .  On ne connaît pas l’auteur de l’armorial  Bellenville,  datant de la fin du XIVe siècle, conservé à la BnF, mais on sait qu’il a été la propriété d’Antoine de Beaulaincourt, lieutenant de la Gouvernance de Lille à partir de 1537, plus tard et jusqu’à son décès roi d’armes de l’ordre de la Toison d’or.  Le grand armorial équestre de la Toison d'or, la cour amoureuse de Charles VI, au XVe siècle, la série de recueils faits pour Alexandre Leblancq et ceux attribués à Jacques Leboucq sont également à replacer dans un contexte régional. Les archives signalent les noms de plusieurs peintres et dessinateurs lillois  impliqués au XVIe et jusqu'au début du XVIIe siècle dans la réalisation de décors ou de documents héraldiques.

Based on rigorous analysis of the propaganda of five Western European separatist parties, this book provides in-depth examination of the ‘nationalism of the rich’, defined as a type of nationalist discourse that seeks to end the economic ‘exploitation’ suffered by a group of people represented as a wealthy nation and supposedly carried out by the populations of poorer regions and/or by inefficient state administrations. It shows that the nationalism of the rich　represents a new phenomenon peculiar to societies that have set in place complex systems of wealth redistribution and adopted economic growth as the main principle of government legitimacy. The book argues that the nationalism of the rich can be seen as a rhetorical strategy portraying independent statehood as a solution to the dilemma between solidarity and efficiency arisen in Western Europe since the end of the Glorious Thirties. It further suggests that its formation can be best explained by the following combination of factors: (1) the creation, from the end of the Second World War, of extensive forms of automatic redistribution to a scale previously unprecedented; (2) the beginning, from the mid-1970s, of an era of ‘permanent austerity’ exacerbated, in specific contexts, by situations of serious public policy failure; (3) the existence of national/cultural cleavages roughly squaring with uneven development and sharp income differentials among territorial areas of a given state.

This paper is the final outcome of my MA Thesis research, carried out at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid throughout 2010.

Diplomacy played a key role during the troubled period of the Thirty Years’ War. Diplomats were chosen for their vital missions from among the social and intellectual elites because of their training and their capability to manage with ease in a hostile environment such as a Prince’s Court. This research focuses on the figure of Peter Paul Rubens, who developed a crucial role in the European political scene even though he was not the archetypal ambassador. This aspect of his career has not been entirely overlooked by historiography, but due its political importance it deserves a deeper review. This essay does not intend to analyze the figure of the painter and diplomat in depth, but to outline -from an updated scholarly approach, based on archival and printed contemporary sources, as well as supplementary bibliography- not only the course of events but also the circumstances in which he conducted his work, the reasons that led him to it and the role his personality played in it.

Located on the southern side of Cologne (Köln), Germany there is a small but beautiful graveyard maintained by the CWGC. There is two Gurkhas from World War 1 commemorated here. They are found outside the main CWGC area along with some Indian Army soldiers and surrounded by a high number of German soldiers.

These two Gurkhas were Prisoner of War and had been held captive by the Kaisers military in World War 1.

We will first examine the history of the 2/8th Gurkha Rifles (2/8 GR) on the Western Front between 1914 to 1915, then have a closer look at the Cemetery where these two brave Gurkhas are commemorated and finally a list of various sites where Gurkhas fighting on the Western Front in 1914-1915 have been commemorated.

En el contexto de la crisis de los Países Bajos y tras la decisión de Felipe II de enviar un ejército formado por tercios españoles para devolver el orden en aquellos dominios era imprescindible contar con un estricto aparato de control económico que evitara los fraudes y la picaresca en la medida de lo posible. Esta misión correspondía a la figura del veedor general del ejército en Flandes, cargo para el que fue designado don Antonio Galíndez de Carvajal, comendador de la Magdalena, el 12 de marzo de 1567. Cuatro años después fue sustituido, como veedor general, por Jordán Valdés. También se estudia una minuta que contiene el nombramiento en blanco, fechada en 1575.

La integración de los Paises Bajos en la Monarquía Hispánica, al convertirse en rey de esta última el joven Carlos V en 1516, trajo consigo la apertura de un difícil proceso de gobierno en el que los intereses del poder central y los de los poderes locales divergían profundamente, lo cual provocó el lento colapso del sistema jurisdiccional, la administración y la convivencia en la región, un deterioro que llevó primero a la Furia Iconoclasta de 1566, después al envío del duque de Alba, a la campaña militar de 1568 y, a la postre, al estallido de lo que habría de ser conocido, en virtud de su duración, como la Guerra de los Ochenta Años 1 .

En este trabajo se estudia la continuada adquisición de bienes artísticos en Flandes por parte de miembros de la familia Velasco, tanto los pertenecientes al tronco principal de los Condestables como aquellos otros miembros que ascendieron socialmente en Países Bajos: Juan de Velasco, secretario de Ambrogio Spinola y secretario de Guerra, y Francisco Marcos de Velasco, marqués del Pico de Velasco y castellano de la fortaleza de Amberes.
In this paper studies the acquisition of artistic objects in Flanders bymembers of the Velasco family. The acquisitions of the Constables of Castile and those of other members who ascended socially in Flanders: Juan de Velasco, Secretary of Ambrogio Spinola and Secretary of War, and Francisco Marcos de Velasco, Marquis of Pico de Velasco and Castilian of the Antwerp fortress.

Dit proefschrift fungeert als een instrumenteel symbool (TURNER 1967:31-32) binnen de individuele rite de passage die het postuleren naar de wetenschappelijke graad van doctor nu eenmaal is. Het markeert het einde van de – in dit geval relatief lange - liminale periode waarin zijn auteur zich “betwixt en between” (VAN GENNEP 1909; TURNER 2008) bevond. Het vormt tegelijk ook een limen (drempel) in mijn persoonlijke leven, in die zin dat het – hopelijk ‘nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita’ – een periode van bijna 20 jaar beroepsleven binnen en naast de Nederlandse dialectologie afsluit. In dit werk beschrijf ik en met dit werk bezegel ik mijn overgang naar een ander beroepsleven, dat meer op interdisciplinariteit, beleidsrelevantie en ondersteuning van het culturele erfgoedveld gericht wil zijn. Met die overgang hoop ik de endogene taalvariatie in Vlaanderen en in het Nederlandse taalgebied en al wie met haar dynamische voortbestaan als immaterieel erfgoed begaan is, beter en eigentijdser van dienst te kunnen zijn.
Het onderwerp van deze dissertatie is op zijn beurt ook een rite de passage. Welke stadia vallen te onderscheiden in de rite de passage die de endogene taalvariatie aan het uitvoeren is? De segregatie werd ingezet toen de ‘vanzelfsprekende’ rol die endogene mondelinge taalvariatie gedurende vele eeuwen vervuld heeft in het areaal dat we gemeenzaam aanduiden als ‘het Nederlandse taalgebied’, drastisch veranderd is na en vanwege de opkomst van het Nederlands als algemene normtaal en zijn verspreiding vanaf de 16de eeuw, eerst als schrijf- en veel recenter ook als spreektaal. De status van officiële landstaal en de brede verspreiding via scholing en sociale druk heeft het AN gestaag en onvermijdelijk tot een prestigetaal gemaakt. Het natiebevestigende streven om van de standaardtaal ook de enige taal te maken, heeft de veel oudere endogene en geografisch gevarieerde spreektalen in een ondergeschikte en in toenemende mate precaire positie gebracht, die voor hen existentieel bedreigend is. Deze liminaliteit van de endogene spreektaalvariatie wordt gekenmerkt door haar aanduiding met de term ‘dialecten’; een term die eerst bestaat sinds en ten gevolge van de inherente tegenstelling tot een eenheidsvariant die niet als dialect - maar als (norm)taal - gepercipieerd wordt.
Aan het einde van de 20ste eeuw hebben taalpolitieke ontwikkelingen op Europees en mondiaal vlak voor de endogene spreektalen kansen gecreëerd om uit deze onzekere toestand te geraken en hun rite de passage te voltooien. De transitie is binnen het areaal waar het Nederlands de standaardtaal is niet voltooid, maar nog in volle gang. Het belangrijkste streefdoel van dit proefschrift bestaat er dan ook in om de voltooiing van deze rite de passage voor de endogene taalvariatie te helpen bespoedigen, zodat een maatschappelijk breed gedragen en politiek erkende toestand van nieuwe sociale status bereikt wordt. De ambiguïteit, de ongedefinieerdheid en de toestand van ‘buiten de wet geplaatst zijn’, die kenmerkend zijn voor deze liminale dialectstatus, zullen anders immers onherroepelijke leiden tot de verdwijning van de taalvariatie in kwestie. Het voor officiële ogen onzichtbaar makende keurslijf van ‘dialecten’ waarin de endogene taalvariatie al geruime tijd opgesloten zit, is onpassend geworden. Het is niet langer op passende wijze (‘suitable’) in overeenstemming te brengen met de maatschappelijke waardering en met de op instandhouding gerichte beleidsondersteuning voor alle vormen van cultureel erfgoed, inclusief het immateriële en dus ook het talige erfgoed.
De functie die endogene taalvariatie vervult en de positie die we er als taalgemeenschap aan toekennen zijn het voorbije decennium in Vlaanderen en in Nederland helaas op uiteenlopende manieren geëvolueerd. De liminale dialectfase - gekenmerkt door ambiguïteit, vaagheid en onzekerheid en beleidsmatig geconcretiseerd in de halfslachtige combinatie van verketteren en koesteren, van tolereren en doodzwijgen – lijkt in Nederland ten aanzien van (een deel van) het endogene talige erfgoed inmiddels afgesloten te zijn. Hierna zal de vraag nog aan de orde zijn of dat ook echt zo is. Zeker is wel dat binnen het areaal van het Nederlandse taalgebied de 19de-eeuwse staatsgrens tussen de Europese lidstaten België en Nederland op dit moment nog steeds een limes (grens) vormt van politiek verschillende houdingen tegenover deze rite de passage, tegenover de postliminale positie die endogene taalvariatie daarbij zou mogen innemen en tegenover de wijze waarop dit alles beleidsmatig aangestuurd en ondersteund moet worden.

Dit proefschrift beschrijft dit transitieproces in volle ontwikkeling via de casus van (in hoofdzaak) de dialecten in West- en Oost-Limburg.

Depuis une vingtaine d’années, le fait régional et l’action régionale semblent s’être fortement développés en Europe. La promotion de l’Europe des régions a été sur le devant de la scène dans la conclusion de nouveaux traités jalonnant la construction européenne depuis quinze ans. Et, de manière emblématique, a été établi un Comité des régions. Celui-ci reste à ce jour doté d’une influence formelle modeste mais son établissement atteste d’un intérêt renouvelé pour l’échelon régional, quand bien même celui-ci recouvre des réalités différentes dans les Etats membres de l’Union européenne.    En parallèle à cette affirmation du fait régional, des mouvements et des partis de revendication régionaliste ont marqué les esprits par leur percée dans certains Etats. En Grande-Bretagne, en France, en Espagne ou en Italie, pour ne citer que quelques exemples, des partis régionalistes ont fait la une par leurs performances électorales et politiques, ou par leur propos : songeons au parti nationaliste basque, au Sinn Fein, à la Ligue du Nord, au Vlaams Belang, ou au parti national écossais.    L’objet du livre est d’analyser l’essence de ces partis régionalistes, d’examiner leurs rôles et leurs performances dans les sociétés européennes, de questionner la nouveauté du phénomène et d’étudier dans quelle mesure ils appartiennent à une même famille. Ce travail est réalisé avec la contribution de plusieurs des meilleurs spécialistes de ces problématiques en Europe.

A major challenge for authorities in the modern world is the linguistic integration of minorities. In this context, language policies play a key role as authorities are increasingly faced with the challenge of adjusting their language policies in order to secure the linguistic rights and thus the integration of their multilingual populations. In multilingual democracies, these language policies must include choices about the use or non-use of translation. These choices, when they are systematic, become policies of their own in terms of translation. Thus, translation policies arise in part as a consequence of language policies, and there can be no language policy without an attendant translation policy. This article sheds light on the role of translation policies as part of language policy. Specifically, it shows that translation policies can be a tool for integration and recognition or exclusion and neglect of speakers of minority languages and therefore deserve special attention. This is done by comparing the translation policies adopted in Flanders and Wales, both as applied to autochthonous linguistic minorities and allochthonous linguistic minorities. Lessons can be learned from the similarities and differences of translation policies in these two regions.

The concept of the mobility budget (MB) has gained much positive attention in Flanders in less than a decade. Many actors embrace the concept as a solution to the dominance of the company car and the problems associated with it; in particular, the MB is framed as a solution to the ‘congestion evil’ in Belgium. The claims made by the proponents of the concept are based on hopes and a few anecdotal policy shifts from companies in Belgium and the Netherlands – a thorough academic assessment of the concept is missing. Therefore, this thesis assesses the potential of the MB with respect to its transport related promises and offers a general reflection on the concept.
I use a stepwise assessment to scrutinise the MB. Firstly, I offer an in-depth analysis of the debate in Flanders to understand how the concept was able to generate enthusiasm among key players and which features are most likely institutionalised. Secondly, I examine the voluntary implementation of the MB by employers in Belgium. Thirdly, I look into expected participation rates by employees with a CC. Lastly, I study the choices made by current CC owners within the MB and if these choices enable changes in travel patterns.
The methods used in this stepwise assessment vary from one step to the other. For the first step I studied articles and papers from actors and reporters, as is commonly done in a discourse analysis. The results for the second step, the implementation of the MB, are based on the outcomes of my questionnaire and the research done by others. In the assessment of the participation rates I also relied on my survey, complemented by a large dataset of travel behaviour in Belgium (BELDAM). For the choice behaviour within the MB, I drew from data concerning a mixture-amount stated choice experiment, which was part of my questionnaire. For respondents I approached employers with a request to co-operate in the research project and to provide me with a sample of target group candidates: CC owners within the company. The final response rate was excellent, and I managed to find 817 useful cases in total.
The MB is predominantly presented as a fixed annual budget provided to the employee with a CC by the employer. The amount of budget is based on the current capital and distance costs of the CC. The budget can be used for a range of multimodal transport options including the car. Some regard the concept of the MB to be a technical-juridical issue; the results from my discourse analysis suggests otherwise, mainly due to the inherent different positions regarding the CC. In the dominant version of the MB, the rather beneficial position of the CC is not to be altered; it is used as a point of reference instead. The results of the discourse analysis demonstrate that the concept is in line with the idea of mobility as a service and pragmatic multimodal policies. More general, I observe that the MB is a neoliberal policy concept, as it draws from economic theory, fosters a particular freedom of choice, promotes self-control and it is presented as the only feasible option in contemporary Flanders.
The MB is promoted as the alternative to the CC. Hence, considerations related to the implementation by employers are expected to be a trade-off between the CC and the MB. Arguments in favour of a CC policy are the role of the car as an efficient work tool, the possibilities for economies of scale in the procurement of company vehicles, the corroborative power of the car as status symbol, and the overall image of the company. Relevant institutional factors and potential barriers to change are company culture, the symbolic meaning of the car, and male-dominant workforce in certain sectors. Factors in favour of the MB are employee satisfaction, cost-control, the promotion of self-control among employees, and public relations related arguments. An important institutional aspect here is the performative power of the MB and the discourse associated with it. Implementation rates of flexible benefit plans and the MB suggest an implementation in a minority of the companies in Flanders. These levels are expected to be especially low in small and medium sized companies that account for a majority of employees with a CC.
Participation by target group members is determined by their attitude towards the MB, the current benefit they enjoy from having a CC, and the potential to use other transport modes. The attitudes of CC owners are relatively negative towards the MB in comparison to other employees. Target group members stress the need for a car for professional reasons or their family situation, or they emphasise the lack of alternatives. More degrees of freedom in the make and type of car are welcomed by many. The CC is used intensively for commuting, business trips and private trips. People with a CC cover an additional 6 800 km for private purposes on average, compared to employees without a CC, which suggests that this benefit in kind is eagerly consumed. With respect to the opportunities for mode switching, I conclude that in four out of every five cases the alternative to the CC is a private car.
The results of the choice models suggest that CC owners are willing to waive their CC or that they are willing to select a cheaper model. However, in almost all cases this is in exchange for an end-of-year bonus or additional leave days. Hence, the main competitors for the CC are not transport related. Moreover, these were offered at a beneficial ratio to the CC, which implies extension of the tax benefits for the CC to other spheres.
All in all, I conclude that the contribution of the voluntary MB for CC owners to the transport policy objectives is very small. For example, the reduction in car use for the daily commute is situated in the range of zero to one percent for car commuters, and close to zero for all road users during peak hours. The most significant effects are to be expected near major centres of employment, which are also the most congested areas. The combination of modest implementation rates by employers, low participation rates by employees, and the private car as primary alternative to the CC are the cause of the small impact. In line with this outcome, I suggest that the MB concept allows some actors to reframe the problem of the CC from under-taxation to a lack of choice, the inflexibility of regulation and the administrative burden of the fiscal system. The main contribution of the MB to transport policy objectives might be more indirect, as it can create more awareness regarding the travel behaviour among CC owners and probably will contribute to a revaluation of fringe benefits.

Living within the microcosm of the Lille elites, the members of the Hangouart family left behind them a wealth of records, enough to complete a monography. Their social ascension over two centuries was not disrupted by the change of sovereignty over Walloon Flanders at the end of the xviith century. A policy of acquisition of a coherent landed estate and a strict financial management have been the keys to this rise : a majorat, transmitted from father to son in the xviiith century, thanks to the « fideicommis », is established in order to avoid any matrimonial dispersion. And, with their income coming from the land, the Hangouarts behave like lords of their lands, wielding thus a political, judiciary and religious power but also a symbolic one over the inhabitants of several villages of the Pévèle and of the Weppes. Their castles dominate the « flat land » and are sometimes surrounded with forests where the lord hunts with his prestigious guests. Ranking among the wealthiest families of Lille at the end of the Enlightnment Age, the Hangouarts set the example of a provincial gentry respectful of the Flemish traditions, far away from the vicissitudes of the Court of France.

This article offers insight into the role of the state in land financialisation through a reading of urban hegemony. This offers the basis for a conjunctural analysis of the politics of planning within a context in which authoritarian neoliberalism is ascendant across Europe. I explore this through the case of Antwerp as it underwent a hegemonic shift in which the nationalist neoliberal party the New Flemish Alliance (Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie; N-VA) ended 70 years of Socialist Party rule and deregulated the city's technocratic planning system. However, this unbridling of the free market has led to the creation of high-margin investment products rather than suitable housing for the middle classes, raising concerns about the city's gentrification strategy. The consequent, politicisation of the city's planning system led to controversy over clientelism which threatened to undermine the N-VA's wider hegemonic project. In response, the city has sought to roll out a more formalised system of negotiated developer obligations, so embedding transactional, marketoriented informal governance networks at the centre of the planning system. This article highlights how the literature on land financialisation may incorporate conjunctural analysis, in the process situating recent trends towards the use of land value capture mechanisms within the contradictions and statecraft of contemporary neoliberal urbanism.

Full analytic report of the problem of Aalst Carnival 2019, the role of some players, an abstract of two pages and in front the suggestion for a decision: in the abstract, the conclusions from the detailed sections, using paragraph numbering making it easy and quick to check the sources.

Annex is here
https://www.academia.edu/41121892/Appendix_to_the_Study_analysis_and_proposal_to_UNESCO_on_Aalst_Carnival

Due to the wrong handling of the whole issue by the antiracist organisation of Belgium, UNIA, which defended, for personal reasons the Nazi-type stereotypes by the float. Due to the refusal of the burgermeister to engage in dialogue and the fact that those responsible for the Carnival float were fully aware of what they were doing,  a no-delisting from the UNESCO list is no option at all.

A definite delisting, however will punish the whole Carnival and the whole city. They do not understand the wrongdoing because they are used to similar stereotypes used in Belgium by the media and intellectuals. They should be informed correctly of what was not addressed, probably wilfully, by UNIA and the burgermeister.

My suggestion is to apply a suspensive verdict whereby, condemning UNIA and the burgermeister, the Aalst Carnival stays on the list temporarily but can’t claim anymore the UNESCO name. They could be put normally on the list again by the beginning of 2023, if certain conditions are fulfilled such as those proposed hereafter in (3.10.) E.g. the end by self-regulation of racist oriented mockery of Jews (in a town without Jews) and other ethnical groups. Aalst should organise events, exhibitions, cultural activities and entertainments related to the rich Jewish culture with the purpose of fostering a better understanding of “the Jews”. Any other decision: no-withdrawal as well as full withdrawal can only provide today bad and dangerous results for both parties involved.

Digitization, new entrants and the disruption of business models prompt concern about the media’s societal mission. The article investigates how media managers conceptualize societal responsibility in an era of turmoil. Based on 20 semi-structured interviews with executive managers of private media companies in Norway and Flanders, the study reveals important differences in the definition of the public interest. While Flemish media managers emphasize brand value, Norwegian managers emphasize societal values, such as educating the public. When comparing managers of traditional and newer companies, a third, more straightforward market logic is also elicited, illuminating the vulnerability of traditional values.

During the meeting in Baku in December 2013, the
Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 UNESCO
Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural
Heritage, inscribed shrimp fishing on horseback
in Oostduinkerke (Flanders, Belgium) in the Representative
List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
of Humanity. On the one hand, this can be considered
as an interesting example of sustainable development
with regard to the relation between local
groups and communities, policy makers (in the fields
of culture and tourism), beaches and the sea, and
on the other hand an occasion to stimulate reflection
on the relation between traditional know-how,
cultural spaces and intangible heritage. The recent
history of how the nomination file was assembled,
of the follow-up after inscription, and of the special
roles played by heritage brokers and a local museum
specialized in the history and ethnology of fishing,
allow to discuss opportunities and challenges of the
new paradigm of safeguarding intangible cultural
heritage. In order to interpret these findings, two
models are used as sensitizing devices. For one thing
the famous article in actor-network theory – on the
sociology of translation and the “domestication of
the scallops”, by Michel Callon – will be mobilized,
whereas the Harvard Business Blue Ocean model,
developed by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne,
can function as an eye-opener.

A Constitution for Flanders has been preoccupying Flemish politicians and scholars for over twenty years. On 23 May 2012, the majority parties presented in the Flemish Parliament the Charter for Flanders. Since Flanders only has embryonic constitution-making power, this is not a proposal for a Constitution but merely a proposal for a resolution. As a (non-binding) resolution, the Charter has no legal implications, but rather an important political value. First, the text reveals a strong connection with the EU. The Charter’s drafters interwove the fundamental right provisions in the Belgian Constitution with those in the Charter of Fundamental Rights for the European Union, which resulted in an expansive fundamental rights catalogue. Furthermore, the Charter contains a clear political commitment; ‘it gives the impetus to a Constitution of Flanders in the framework of the constitution-making Flanders ought to acquire’. The Charter’s preamble also confirms that Flanders is a nation with its own language and culture. The lack of participation of opposition parties and citizens in the drafting process was met with fierce criticism. The dossier slumbered in the competent commission without any parliamentary debate for two years. In 2013, the Christian Democratic Party announced that the dossier would be reactivated. However, this did not occur before the ‘Mother of all elections’ (regional, federal and European elections) in May 2014. As a consequence, the proposal for a Charter expired. It is unclear if the new Flemish Government composed of the Flemish-Nationalists, the Liberals and Christian-Democrats will revive the Charter for Flanders. Hopefully, this reactivation will at least be accompanied with intense parliamentary debates and textual clarifications. Especially, since the drafters consider the Charter a stepping-stone to a (legally binding) Constitution for Flanders.

Une légende apparue au milieu du XIVe siècle, rapportée presque simultanément par Jean d’Ypres, abbé de Saint Bertin et Jean d’Outremeuse, raconte que les armoiries au lion auraient été prises par le comte de Flandre Philippe d’Alsace (+ 1191) à la suite d’un fait d’armes. L’emblème  au lion aurait remplacé une représentation plus ancienne, un bouclier gironné qui  passa depuis et pour longtemps comme la marque héraldique des premiers comtes de Flandre.