Is Islam compatible with Western political and socioeconomic institutions? If yes, what explains the problems of authoritarianism and underdevelopment in many Muslim-majority countries? In this year’s acmes annual lecture, Ahmet Kuru will address these questions by referring to his award-winning book Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment: A Global and Historical Comparison (Cambridge University Press, 2019). In his lecture Ahmet more »

On 11 May, this multidisciplinary event on reparations will bring together practitioners, scholars, and students, in the year that marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Rome Statute (1998), which led to the creation of the International Criminal Court and the Trust Fund for Victims. Participants will be invited to reflect about how more »

Last year, the UNESCO World Heritage recognized the lasting cultural significance of the unfree ‘colony of benevolence’ at Veenhuizen (now home to the National Prison Museum). This round table brings together three leading researchers on domestic colonies to discuss the international significance of this colony, which opened its doors 200 years ago. This round table more »

Am 15. Mai ist es genau 375 Jahre her, dass 1648 in Münster mit dem spanisch-niederländischen Friedensvertrag der erste Teil des Westfälischen Friedens geschlossen wurde. Seitdem gelten Münster und Westfalen als Symbol für den Versuch in einer Welt von Einzelstaaten dauerhaft Frieden zu schaffen. Aus diesem Grund organisiert das ZNS, in Kooperation mit der Stadt more »

Belonging – or not belonging – lies at the core of many of the recent ‘crises’ and ongoing processes of change that continue to shape as well as to shake up contemporary Europe. New forms of socio-spatial inclusion and exclusion have been both embraced and contested – and always (re)negotiated – as part of ongoing more »

Graag nodigen wij u uit voor het symposium: Het Huis van Thorbecke in de koloniën. De veranderende plaats van de voormalige koloniën in de CBS-definities van westerse migranten, de Molukse kwestie en de overheidsexcuses voor koloniale slavernij tonen de actualiteit van (post)koloniale burgerschapskwesties. Het zijn kwesties die vragen om interdisciplinaire uitwisseling. Het symposium vindt plaats more »

On 8 June, the Centre for Environmental Humanities organises ‘Writing as Activism: Dutch Literature in the Climate Crisis’, an event with award-winning writers Geert Buelens and Maarten van der Graaff. Buelens and Van der Graaff will read from their recent literary work and discuss how they bring environmental activism into their creative writing. The readings will be in Dutch (English more »

The purpose of this conference is to reassess the role of national parliaments and national policy-making processes in the 1970s in light of the increasing global challenges and extra-parliamentary pressure that occurred. What can be seen as decisive turning points shaping the political history of the era? Were they the same in each country, or more »

Liberal democracies face multiple external challenges from autocracies across the world, as well as internal challenges from populist politicians, nativism, and the normalization of incivility in media and political discourses. Character assassination (CA) often accompanies these political and social conflicts, especially when unresolved ideological and moral issues are involved. Social conflicts become aggravated when moral more »

Activiteit van Duitsland Instituut Amsterdam Hoe kunnen we vandaag, gezien internationale fenomenen als globalisering, klimaatverandering of de crisis van de liberale democratieën, Duitse geschiedenis schrijven? Hoe ziet de toekomst van het vakgebied eruit? Tijdens deze conferentie bespreken wij lopende onderzoeksprojecten en verkennen wij toekomstige wegen. Met een keynote door Helmut Walser Smith over "The Tocquevillian more »